"Training the soul's strength is the most critical aspect for a Beast Soul Master — and Wizards have no issues with that. After sealing a fifth-level Beast Soul, combined with the other measures I've prepared beforehand, I should be able to push my True Soul to the peak of the fifth level at Full Moon..."
Lei Lin stroked his chin, his eyes flickering with bright light.
"Chip! Based on my earlier calculations, what's the success rate of this method?"
[Ding! Task established. Inputting data, building primary model, running simulation... Ding!] The Chip responded faithfully.
"Not bad. If I reach the peak of the fifth level, my final plan gains yet another layer of certainty..."
Lei Lin murmured thoughtfully.
He had come to the Purgatory World for one fundamental purpose — to break through the Bloodline Shackles! That eternal curse that plagued all Warlocks!
Due to the Bloodline Shackles, even though Warlocks could advance rapidly in their early stages — even surpassing Wizards of the same rank in raw strength — those shackles were the very chains that bound their progress! Just look at the current Central Continent: among Wizards, there were quite a few who had reached the sixth-level Sun Throne, yet among Warlocks, there was not a single one. If not for the Morning Star Fortress and a handful of fifth-level Warlocks holding the line, the entire Warlock legacy might well have already been severed — that alone spoke volumes!
Based on Lei Lin's own understanding of bloodlines, as well as the guidance he had received from the Ancient Tree of Wisdom within the Scarlet Ruins' illusion, he had developed a far deeper awareness of these Bloodline Shackles.
"The Bloodline Shackles! At their root, they are still a bottleneck of Bloodline Force, one that has permeated every single cell and even the very genes of a Warlock. It closely resembles the 'Gene Lock' hypothesis from my previous world — except far more terrifying, because it has also remade the soul, transforming into shackles at the level of the soul itself..."
"And to break free from the bondage of Bloodline Force, you need at least one power that surpasses it! And also... Origin Blood!"
Lei Lin's eyes burned with fervent light, even containing a trace of... fear!
A power surpassing Bloodline Force — Lei Lin had been unaware of any such thing before, but after reaching the fifth level, particularly once his horizons had broadened, he had identified two possibilities from his extensive otherworldly experiences. The first was Dreamforce at its peak — not the trough-level kind! The second was Rule Force — complete Rule Force. It had to be at least ninety percent mastery, not some half-finished product like the Flame Throne, whose wielder hadn't even grasped half of the fire rules.
Either way, neither was something easily obtained.
Take Dreamforce first. The dream power that Lei Lin normally drew upon, while it seemed incredibly potent on the surface, was in reality nowhere near its true peak.
After all, peak-level Dreamforce was capable of giving rise to beings at the level of Demonic
In Lei Lin's estimation, perhaps... only a true Dream Demonic God could summon Dreamforce at its peak! And the infuriating unpredictability of Dreamforce made executing this plan an extraordinarily difficult endeavor.
As for Rule Force, there was even less to discuss. Lei Lin currently hadn't even fully grasped one percent of the Flame Rule. To truly touch the power of rules, the earliest that could happen would be after reaching the sixth level, and to fully master them would require nothing less than a seventh-level
This created a paradox — to break the Bloodline Shackles, one had to master either Dreamforce or Rule Force, otherwise advancement beyond the sixth level was impossible! Yet both of these powers could only be attempted after reaching the sixth level, and without breaking the Bloodline Shackles, there was no way Lei Lin could ever advance to the sixth level in the first place!
This vicious cycle alone was enough to crush all Giant Serpent Warlocks' hopes of breaking through the Bloodline Shackles into oblivion! Let alone satisfying the conditions that came after.
Fortunately, the gift from the Wisdom Ancient Tree and his experiences in the Infernal World had given Lei Lin a way to somewhat circumvent this chasm.
As for the second condition — Blood of Origin! The blood of the being from whom the Komohen Giant Serpent bloodline originated!
This was also the root of the sliver of fear Lei Lin harbored.
His bloodline origin was an eighth-level being, the Supreme One of the Hale Continent, the sovereign of all serpents — the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents! He was supposed to draw blood from an eighth-level existence? Heh… perhaps he should first figure out how to die more comfortably…
But no matter how difficult it was, Lei Lin would never give up, for this was a stumbling block on his path to the pinnacle of ninth-level Warlocks and his pursuit of eternity.
Without removing it, there was absolutely no way Lei Lin could advance to a higher realm.
Still, having to draw blood from an eighth-level existence — the sheer difficulty of it was enough to make Lei Lin laugh bitterly.
But regardless, setting aside whether he could even win a fight, to draw blood from that being, he at least had to find her first.
That was why Lei Lin had no choice but to go to the
Based on the intelligence and documents Lei Lin had gathered, the likelihood of her being there was quite high.
After all, during the "Festival of Ten Thousand Serpents" held at regular intervals, there were almost always rumors of the Supreme Mother appearing and bestowing her blessings upon the Holy City.
So apart from lying in wait at the Holy City, Lei Lin had no better option.
Of course, if she ultimately did not appear, Lei Lin's only remaining option would be to reveal himself. He was certain that once she discovered his trail, she would come rushing over — but doing so would mean completely surrendering the initiative, which was something Lei Lin refused to do.
What he hoped for was to quietly lay low within the Holy City, secretly seeking the right opportunity and means to keep the initiative firmly in his own hands.
"Even though I have a rough outline and contingency plans, why does it all feel so far-fetched?"
Lei Lin smiled bitterly. With his strength as a fifth-level Warlock at best, to challenge the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, and even to master the power of dreams or rules — no matter how he looked at it, it seemed utterly far-fetched.
But he did not regret choosing the path of a Warlock. After all, for Lei Lin back then, as nothing more than an apprentice, there was no hope of obtaining any other advanced Meditation Methods.
Besides, with his mediocre aptitude, if he had not chosen the path of bloodlines, he would probably still be a second or third-level Wizard scraping by on the South Coast.
Without the boost of bloodline power, even if he still had other tricks up his sleeve, he could never have achieved the near-invincibility within his tier that allowed him to secure far more resources.
The paths of Wizards and Warlocks were both governed by the same principle: the greater your strength, the more you gained, while the weak would only be slowly left behind, ultimately losing all hope. Even if they lived longer than ordinary people and wielded immense power, they could never escape the clutches of death!
"On the path toward eternity, naturally, the faster you go, the greater your advantage!"
Lei Lin deeply reminded himself that because he had taken the path of bloodlines, he was now a fifth-level Radiant Moon Wizard — a formidable powerhouse even by the standards of the ancient era.
Moreover, thanks to the amplification of bloodline power, his advances through each level had been remarkably swift. Compared to his lifespan of several thousand years, he was still essentially in infancy — and that was without accounting for the numerous life-extending spells he possessed.
Those fifth-level Wizards, even with various life-enhancing spells, had spent an enormous amount of time climbing to the fifth level, and living another thousand years was considered quite remarkable.
By comparison, Lei Lin held an immense, almost unconscious advantage.
Of course, after returning to the most fundamental level, everything became fair once more. Since Lei Lin had gained greater strength and a longer lifespan, he naturally had to bear the corresponding restriction — the bloodline shackles!
Once he shattered this restriction as well, that would be the moment Lei Lin truly soared to the heavens!
"So what if it was a gamble? If I cannot attain eternity in this life, then what meaning is there in my transmigration? To let my body rot in a foreign world, my true soul annihilated, reduced to filthy mud?"
A fierce, brilliant light erupted from Lei Lin's eyes.
"On the contrary, even if I fall on the path toward eternity, I will have fulfilled my dream and lived an incredibly extraordinary life!"
"Everything is already on the line, so naturally I must increase every possible probability of success. Although Half-Moon and Full Moon are nothing but ants to an eighth-level being — differing only slightly in size — at the threshold of life and death, even a one-in-a-hundred-million improvement in success rate is worth having!"
Lei Lin communicated with the Chip. "The fifth-level Soul Sealing Formation — what's the analysis progress?"
[Ding! Analysis 100% complete. Optimization available!] The Chip projected an ancient soul-sealing formation before Lei Lin, its symbols imbued with the distinctive style of the infernal world.
[After optimization, beast soul resistance will be reduced, and command compatibility will increase by 15%!]
"This rate is slightly lower than the previous fourth-level Soul Sealing Formation, but considering that the soul-sealing formations the
A layer of dark luminescence had appeared at some unknown moment, forming a barrier that isolated the tent's interior from the outside world.
Immediately after, Lei Lin flipped his palm, and a crystal ball materialized in his hand. Inside the crystal ball was a small white snake with blood-red eyes, repeatedly flicking its forked tongue as though testing the ball's seal.
The aura of a fifth-level white devil radiated outward continuously. Had Lei Lin not set up the barrier, Belinda outside would certainly have sensed it.
"The fifth-level devil white phosphorus snake — even as a beast soul, it is exceptionally powerful and rare among fifth-level beings. Of course, since this is the Hale Continent, unless I want to become a wanted fugitive hunted by everyone, I can't use it often. It would even be best to silence anyone who sees it..."
"We meet again, Patriarch Kendrick!"
Lei Lin smiled faintly as a wisp of half-moon-level soul power probed into the crystal ball. Immediately, he felt vast and violent soul power sweeping toward him, carrying with it fragmented remnants of hostile will.
Since the intent had always been to refine it into a beast soul, its memories had naturally been destroyed long ago. But the creature had instinctively retained its hostility toward Lei Lin — a minor nuisance, to say the least.