"Chip! Scan! Search for matching information: Power of the Soul! High-level Meditation Method!"
Fortunately, Leilin had the Chip, which was directly connected to his soul. With just a passing thought, the Chip's voice rang out immediately: "Ding! Task established. Commencing scan!"
In moments, a blue screen of light was projected in front of Leilin, stretching downward for quite a distance.
Leilin focused his attention and carefully examined the information.
"High-level Meditation Method — Ethereal Phantom Body. Five layers in total, perfectly complete. As long as..."
"Ancient Soul Power Secret Technique — Duoze Ritual! Can enhance the Power of the Soul, boosting the power of fourth-rank and above sorcery by 50%. Only trading for Filth Bird eggs!"
"Power of the Soul Crystal! Five hundred grams of Morning Star Warlock's Power of the Soul Crystal, exchanging for an equal mass of Astral Stone!"
"Ancient Bloodline — White-Scale Phantom Tiger cub! Not only possesses keen senses for detecting the Power of the Soul, but after signing a contract, also grants the heaven-defying effect of slowly strengthening the soul. Price negotiable!"
An enormous flood of information immediately dazzled Leilin's eyes. Every single item on the screen made his mouth water.
But right now, he suddenly felt poor — absurdly poor!
Everything he had previously plundered from the Dark Zenith Domain and his other accumulated resources amounted to mere commodities that could sell for astronomical prices in Magic Stones. To a Morning Star, however, they were barely worth mentioning.
And other assets — like purified bloodlines and experimental data from the Quicksand Organization — were completely unusable in the open.
Leilin was horrified to discover that the only thing he could bring to trade here was the Astral Stone he had previously looted from the Ouroboros Circle's main treasury.
"No good! I have to find a source of income immediately!" Leilin stared at the items on the screen, his eyes faintly reddening.
These Morning Star Warlocks had collected far too many incredible things. Possessing even a fraction of them and handing them over to the Chip for experimentation would cause his soul power's deduction progress to skyrocket. That was of supreme importance to Leilin!
"But... a source of income suitable for a Morning Star, and a stable one at that..."
For a moment, Leilin found himself troubled. If such a path existed, other Warlocks would have long since monopolized it. There would be nothing left for him — unless it was a brand-new approach or idea.
Leilin idly flipped through pages and finally came across some other items that piqued his interest.
"Teleportation Request: Need to reach the Sunset Mountain Range within three days. Anyone with a teleportation point, please contact me. Price negotiable!"
"Help Request: Rebellion of the Eastern Domain ocean dragon whales. Need at least three Morning Star-class powers to suppress it. Guaranteed payment of 1,000 grams of Astral Stone per person, with additional spoils..."
"Assistance needed to attack Mager Basin. After conquest, receive 5% of annual production profits!"
...
On the other side of the trading market, numerous wills clustered together, exchanging information at breakneck speed, reaching agreements almost instantaneously.
"If there's no other source of income, I'm afraid I'll have to take on some jobs here — hired muscle and the like..."
With a dark expression, Leilin followed one of the earlier listings and located a pitch-black will.
"Pardon me, but do you sell High-level Meditation Methods here?"
What materialized before Leilin was a dark orb of light, with energy of extreme gloom and dread constantly converging around it. Even as nothing more than a will projection, it gave Leilin an intensely terrifying sensation.
"Hmph!" The other party responded reluctantly, clearly not very interested in the transaction. Unlike other goods, knowledge and secret techniques could be sold multiple times, so prices tended to be lower — making it Leilin's first target.
After all, he already possessed another top-tier Meditation Method, Wings of the Sun. If he could add this one on top, combined with his previous accumulations, the Chip's research might advance significantly and yield even more results.
"What's the asking price?" Leilin steeled his patience and began haggling. The Astral Stone he had on hand wasn't much, but the treasures here were limitless. He needed to be frugal.
Besides, the conditions proposed by several other wills were far too outlandish. Even Leilin couldn't accept them — especially that Filth Bird egg, which Leilin had immediately blocked.
The Filth Bird was a trans-dimensional powerhouse on par with the Eye of Judgment. Its egg was worth an equal exchange for an ancient secret technique?
Just thinking about it made Leilin feel the absurdity was off the charts. And as for the Power of the Soul Crystals, he could produce those himself, so they held little value to him.
All in all, since these sellers had posted their exchange offers, they naturally hoped to command higher prices. As a result, very few trades were completed here, with a vast number of idle souls and wills loitering around — the instant a bargain appeared, they would swarm toward it like sharks scenting blood.
Every Morning Star Warlock was a polymath, and with the aid of spiritual probing, each one was a wily old fox. Finding a steal here wasn't impossible, but the time and effort required were enormous.
This was a conclusion Leilin had reached only after multiple rounds of observation.
So he completely abandoned the idea of snatching a bargain and got down to honest trading with the other party.
"My Ethereal Phantom Body isn't just a complete five-layer system — it also includes supplementary Illusion elemental affinity. It's absolutely worth at least 5,000 grams of Astral Stone!" The dark will projected an air of take-it-or-leave-it indifference.
"Hm! But its requirements for the practitioner are far too high. And we're all Warlocks — a
Leilin furrowed his brow. With his prior understanding of High-level Meditation Methods, a few offhand remarks were enough to make the other will hesitate.
"Besides, you've already sold this Meditation Method many times over, haven't you? How can it still command the same price as before?" Seeing an opening, Leilin pressed his advantage.
...
After a grueling round of commercial negotiations no less complex and treacherous than those in his previous life, Leilin finally succeeded in acquiring the High-level Meditation Method — Ethereal Phantom Body at a lower price. But the Astral Stone he had obtained from the Ouroboros Circle headquarters dwindled by nearly half in one go.
Now he understood clearly: the real wealth undoubtedly still resided with the three Grand Dukes. What was in the treasury was merely scraps.
After purchasing the Meditation Method, his remaining Astral Stone was insufficient. Leilin browsed a bit more, didn't find anything else he particularly wanted, and promptly found a corner where he withdrew his soul power from the Morning Star
"Phew..." Back in the Ouroboros Circle headquarters, inside the core laboratory of the Technical Division, Leilin let out a long breath and gazed at the black crystal in his hand.
"Ding! High-level Meditation Method — Ethereal Phantom Body recorded. Data stored in the High-level Meditation Method database!" The Chip's emotionless voice sounded.
"Excellent!" Watching the steadily advancing progress bar gave Leilin at least some small comfort for his utterly emptied wallet.
He left the Technical Division and headed to the Bloodline Laboratory from last time.
This was the Ouroboros Circle's core laboratory, accessible only to the three Morning Stars. Naturally, after Leilin had taken control, he had repurposed it as his own Bloodline Laboratory. The Son of the Sun bloodline activation experiment from last time had been conducted here as well.
"Formation Spirit? How are the experimental subjects faring?"
Leilin asked.
"The experimental subjects are currently functioning well. Bloodthirsty Loach survival count maintained above twenty! Cultivation solution consumed: 32.7 tons!"
The Formation Spirit projected a set of data in front of Leilin, who nodded repeatedly. The Bloodthirsty Loach population had plummeted at the very beginning, but once the remaining specimens began adapting to the Son of the Sun bloodline, they were finally able to survive for extended periods and maintain a stable population.
Leilin walked over to the cultivation pool from last time.
The liquid inside had turned dark green, with occasional streaks of gold flashing beneath the surface. The pool's area had also grown to a full ten times its original size.
Splash! Water sprayed outward as a golden monster lunged at Leilin, mouth gaping to reveal rows of razor-sharp fangs, a jet of golden fire spewing from its throat.
Sizzle! The flames hadn't even reached Leilin before a layer of white light membrane deflected them. A massive hand formed from pitch-black lightning swatted the creature back into the water.
"Hm! Quite spirited!" Leilin smiled, examining the evolved Bloodthirsty Loaches.
Perhaps calling them Bloodthirsty Loaches was no longer appropriate, for what stood before Leilin was an entirely new species born from the stimulation of the Son of the Sun bloodline.
Their bodies had grown ten times larger, covered in golden scales. Strange horn-like growths had sprouted on their heads, and beneath blood-red eyes gleamed vicious fangs, accompanied by aggressive, hostile roars.
Whoosh! Whoosh! As if the earlier attack had triggered some chain reaction, countless golden lines surged up from the pool floor, turning on each other in a frenzy of attacks and snarling. Some of the Bloodthirsty Loaches had even grown pairs of razor claws on their underbellies, launching ferocious assaults against their own kind.
"After evolution, the Bloodthirsty Loaches' aggression increased dramatically. After each bloody battle like this, the survivors advance even further. The strongest Bloodthirsty Loach is predicted to survive for 45 days and 21 hours — its bloodline was derived from the previous Bloodthirsty Loach King..." The Formation Spirit continued its narration in Leilin's ear.
"Is that the one?" Leilin had also noticed the golden Bloodthirsty Loach at the very center of the pool. It bore no resemblance to its original species whatsoever, having grown into a far more powerful creature. Sleek scales flowed over its body like liquid, forming a streamlined silhouette. The blood-red glow in its eyes hadn't diminished, but now there was a glint of intelligence within as well.
"That's sufficient! Begin the next phase!"
After observing for a while longer, Leilin issued the command.
Boom! The ceiling above the cultivation pool suddenly opened, and from translucent crystal vessels, another batch of exotic liquids came pouring down.
As if stimulated by some trigger, even the most powerful Bloodthirsty Loach immediately threw itself into the melee...