"Testing my strength?"
Leilin sneered coldly: "If that's really the case, then I'll have to kill you and then imprison your soul, burning it for ten thousand years!"
The icy tone in his voice seemed to drop the surrounding temperature by several degrees.
"Hehe... I was just joking with you! This time, it was definitely an accident! An accident!"
"Also, to make it up to you, big brother, Melinda has prepared a wonderful gift for you! Open the Astral Gate!"
"A gift?"
Leilin furrowed his brow, but still quickly made his way to the Astral laboratory and opened the Astral Gate. Light like blue flames formed a spatial corridor.
When it came to Melinda, Leilin maintained a high level of vigilance, so the Astral Stone energy and formulas he input could only pass through inanimate objects. If any foreign energy or even spiritual power attempted to infiltrate, the corridor would immediately shut down.
But this time, Melinda didn't seem to be playing any tricks. A square black box was teleported directly through.
Although each activation of the Astral Gate was enormously costly, in the Central Continent, this convenient method of transporting materials was still very popular, especially within the Warlock Alliance's Morning Star
On top of the black box were numerous seals. Leilin glanced over them casually — they appeared to be some kind of preservation formulas and Ice Runes.
"Hah!" With a single breath, the runes on the surface of the black box cracked apart one by one. The lid opened automatically, revealing what was inside, and a smell of blood wafted out.
"Hmm? This wizard?"
Inside the black box was unmistakably a wizard's head! Moreover, this was a wizard Leilin knew very well — the leader of the wizards who had ambushed him in the Dark Polar Region! A Full Moon Radiant Moon
"Not just the face — the soul resonance matches too!" Leilin nodded after reviewing the Chip's scan results.
For wizards, forging flesh and blood tissue was certainly simple enough, but the soul aura lingering around the head, along with the unwillingness and hatred it carried, was extremely difficult to replicate.
"Hehe... How about it? This wizard's name is Maliye, and he was the Flame Throne's top loyal hound! It took me considerable effort, and I had to wait until the Flame Throne was away, to finally take him down! Now Melinda presents this gift — is big brother satisfied?"
"Satisfied! Very satisfied!"
Leilin raised his hand, and Maliye's head floated up into mid-air. The hatred on its face was vivid and lifelike, surpassing even the wailing of ten thousand wronged spirits.
Dark wizards could extract a great deal of information from fresh brain tissue. Though Maliye had been a Radiant Moon Wizard, even in death he could not escape such a fate.
"This time, delivering this gift — there's probably an element of intimidation in it too, isn't there?"
Being able to slay a Full Moon Wizard meant that, even if not a Dawn Sun Throne holder, one was not far off.
Leilin had long known that Melinda was no simple character. Reborn, she already possessed fifth-level strength, and could even kill Maliye. While it was true that Maliye had been previously severely wounded at Leilin's hands, Melinda's immense power could not be ignored!
"I admit it — the current you is worthy of cooperating with me!"
Massive black flames rose from Leilin's hand, and Maliye's head slowly melted within them until nothing remained.
"Hehe! I knew big brother was the best! Hmm! Wait a moment — she's coming out!"
The girl's voice suddenly grew more mature: "Little Wizard! We meet again!"
"Great, another split personality!" Leilin secretly rolled his eyes. "Just tell me straight — what exactly do you want me along for?"
"slaughtering the Flame Throne — interested?" The witch's voice on the other end was blunt.
But this time, Leilin didn't brush it off as he had before: "Yes! But we don't have enough strength!"
"I know the Flame Throne's weaknesses, and when it's at its most vulnerable! Besides, I'll bring a few more friends along..."
Melinda on the other end seemed very confident, clearly possessing extraordinary knowledge of and extensive intelligence about the Flame Throne.
"If that's the case, why come to me?
Leilin voiced his doubts.
"Because you're the strongest warlock in the Bloodline Alliance! And after the Flame Throne falls, we'll all reap enormous benefits. Having even more people to share it with would be a waste..."
"Besides, those decrepit Bloodline Warlocks only have eyes for the warlock who inherited the bloodline of a sixth-level existence. Truly stubborn and short-sighted..."
Melinda seemed to hold the fifth-level Bloodline Warlocks of the Alliance in considerable contempt.
"You can certainly tell them about our operation this time, but I guarantee they won't be interested. And even if you bring them along, your share of the spoils after the operation won't increase by a single bit... This communication channel is extremely secure — no need to fear eavesdropping or anything like that. I'll give you this communication method after we're done, and we'll stay in touch this way from now on!"
Melinda cut off the communication immediately after finishing, leaving Leilin alone with his thoughts.
After a long while, Leilin rubbed his chin: "It seems this Melinda's true identity is far from simple — she may even have a deep connection to the Flame Throne!"
In truth, deep down, Leilin was already fairly inclined toward Melinda's plan.
Through the memory extraction and other information gleaned from Maliye's head, Leilin himself had obtained a great deal of data and intelligence. At the very least, the fact that the ambush in the Dark Polar Region had been carried out under the Flame Throne's direct orders could now be confirmed.
And given Leilin's temperament, once he encountered something like this, he would definitely retaliate ruthlessly.
However, following Melinda's script was absolutely out of the question. Even if she suddenly had a change of heart and wasn't secretly plotting against him, she would certainly swallow up a huge portion of the benefits.
Leilin had no desire to fight a Dawn Sun Wizard to the death only to end up with nothing. Therefore, extensive advance intelligence gathering and making multiple preparations beforehand had become absolutely necessary.
From the perspective of ordinary wizards, both Leilin and Melinda would seem like madmen, completely devoid of the rationality and composure expected of wizards.
With two fifth-level cultivators wanting to bring down a sixth-level Dawn Sun King — it was an utter joke!
But in truth, both Leilin and Melinda possessed tremendous confidence in themselves. They were no ordinary Radiant Moon Wizards.
And beneath their most composed exteriors lurked fervent adventurous spirits. Both were the kind who would settle every score. Thus, under their shared hatred, they had come together to form a fragile alliance.
"However, who else will Melinda go to?"
Leilin was somewhat puzzled. "At most, there are only about twenty-odd Radiant Moon Wizards in the Central Continent. Our Warlock Alliance accounts for five of them. The rest, like Jesiya who left to establish his own territory, are rare — most serve under other Throne holders... Could Melinda be planning to win over other Throne holders too?"
The total number of Radiant Moon Wizards across the entire Central Continent was not large. Even accounting for hidden wizards within the great factions, Leilin estimated the total would absolutely not exceed thirty.
And he had already killed two of the Flame Throne's Radiant Moon subordinates. Combined with the Maliye Melinda had delivered today, it was entirely possible the Flame Throne no longer had any high-level combat forces, which might explain why the Throne holder had personally appeared today to intercept Leilin.
This possibility was actually quite real. Under the current Flame Throne's command, there might truly not be a single Radiant Moon Wizard left to be found.
By now, the Flame Throne must have come to hate the two culprits responsible for all of this — Leilin and Melinda — to the very bone.
If not for the formidable protection of the Morning Star Space, which had records of standing against Dawn Sun Wizards, the Flame Throne would likely have stormed their gates long ago.
As for Melinda? That woman was far too mysterious. Her hidden trump cards likely exceeded even Leilin's, and she surely possessed concealed methods he couldn't even begin to account for. He hadn't given a moment's thought to her safety.
"From what she said, after killing the Flame Throne, there seems to be some incredibly significant benefit waiting..."
A fluorescent glow from the Chip flickered in Leilin's eyes, and countless images and scenes flashed past.
This was proof that the Chip's processing capacity had been pushed to its limits, beginning to run its projections.
"Her words are highly credible. In that case, it seems I don't need to invite Wade and the others after all. Of course, advance intelligence gathering can still be entrusted to the Bloodline Alliance!"
Leilin made his decision.
Not only the Bloodline Alliance — he also planned to issue orders to the Ouroboros Ring in the near future, directing the Comoin Warlocks to fully investigate intelligence related to the Flame Throne, especially anything connected to Melinda.
He had a premonition that the relationship between these two was definitely not simple, and that when the final truth was revealed, it might shock everyone.
But more than gathering information, what caught Leilin's attention most was a detail Melinda had let slip during their conversation.
"So within the Bloodline Alliance, there's already a warlock whose bloodline origin has reached the sixth level?"
A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes. "That fifth-level Radiant Moon Warlock who hasn't shown his face yet — he might be busy with exactly this matter..."
Even though the Comoin bloodline had been elevated to the Snake Emperor tier, its bloodline origin was still fifth level — still a step below a bloodline that reached straight to the sixth level.
That warlock's bloodline bottleneck would only manifest after entering the sixth level, making things much better than for warlocks like Leilin.
Of course, before any sixth-level bloodline appeared, warlocks possessing fifth-level bloodlines could fully be considered the elite among warlocks, and it was they who single-handedly upheld the Bloodline Alliance.
And the inheritors of sixth-level bloodlines — they represented the hope of ascending to Dawn Sun and raising the Bloodline Throne!