"Hm! The result appears to be not too bad! You can try increasing the quantity the next time round!"
A ball of milky white light emitted from Leylin's hand, as it scanned across the many confining spirit spheres on the table, before Leylin gave a smile of satisfaction.
"Alright! I will bring these with me then. I will bring your medicine back at the earliest period of 10 days to latest 15 days!" Leyin made his promise.
"I would naturally believe you, after all we are under the constraints of the Trial's Eye and signed an unbreakable pledge…" Though the old witch looked as though she trusted Leylin, Leylin still felt the mistrust in her heart.
However, this was not an unusual situation.
After this deal was successful, her amount of distrust will drop tremendously and the connection with benefits between both parties would also be closer.
After leaving the old witch's small inn, Leylin hurriedly headed back to his villa.
It had been a while since his spiritual force had a great increase, so now he couldn't wait to attempt and brew the Tears of Mary, once again enjoying that delight of experiencing a huge boost in the spiritual force.
After activating the entire defense formation, Leylin went to the room at the ground floor of the villa by himself.
This place had undergone remodelling and things were now in order. At the lowest level was an area for experimenting with spells, which had absorption runes for reinforcement at the four corners.
As for the secret room situated at a corner, it had already underwent a special reformation to become a Potioneering lab, and contained all of the various high grade apparatus.
Clearly, for these things to be obtainable, Leylin had used his relationship with the old witch, with the resources he had seized to purchase and exchange for them.
Otherwise, with his current financial resources, even if he were to brew potions every day, it would take him more than 2 years to purchase all of the apparatuses.
After all, he could not possibly use all his magic crystals for building his laboratory as he would need some for his daily expenses and other necessities.
And from the previous time, with the haul from the plunder, the laboratory was built from scratch.
"A.I. Chip!" Leylin made a command in his heart.
[Beginning brewing of the Tears of Mary! Obtaining administrative rights from the Host to monitor the whole process and make informed reminders. Beginning to coordinate with Host's spiritual force energy waves...]
The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
...
"Let's begin!" Leylin took a deep breath and picked up a confining spirit sphere which had a spirit sealed within in.
In the blink of an eye, it was the dawn of the second day.
Leylin gasped for air and sweat dripped down his face continuously. However, his vigour was brimming with energy as he smiled and fixed his eyes on the transparent liquid he held in his hand.
The test-tube was made from nitrogen crystal glass and was extremely strong. It even had the effect of extending the expiry of the medicinal properties. Hence they were always stored by Magi and only used for important potions.
Looking at the crystal clear and transparent potion, a look of dejection appeared on Leylin's face.
Thinking back, it had been 3 to 4 years since he took the potion formula from his mentor, Kroft.
He managed to brew a dose for the Azure Potion soon after it was given to him, yet there was no progress in brewing the Tears of Mary. He only managed to simplify some of the processes and brew the Blood Vengeance Potion. However, it was only useful for acolytes.
Right now, he held this potion which was a final product completely based on the ancient formula! It had a tremendous effect even in breaking through the spiritual force bottlenecks of ancient Magi.
"Besides, the success rate is not too bad!"
Leylin looked at the 3 broken confining spirit sphere on the floor, and his face revealed a pleased look.
In the final stage of the brewing process, he specially added a few steps which required the use of the A.I. Chip. It was not only successful in the restoration of the formula, but also increased the rate of success in brewing. Surprisingly, the success rate hit an astonishing 30 to 40%!
In other words, the 16 confining spirit spheres he received from the old witch could be used to configure 5-6 portions of this finished product.
This discovery made Leylin feel extremely happy.
After all, the origin of the ingredients of these potion were extremely savage, and it was not easy to obtain. Hence, he wanted to increase the success rate.
Due to the restraints from the Trial's Eye, he had to abide by the agreement and give forty percent of it to the old witch.
Although this percentage was rather high, Leylin considered them to be worth it.
The old witch was also under the restraints of the Trial's Eye. Once she was caught, she could not reveal any news of Leylin at all, hence he would be absolved from all risks.
"A.I. Chip, what is the result of the analysis of the medicinal properties of this potion?"
Leylin looked at the test-tube in his hands and suddenly asked.
[Beep! It has been completed, the medicinal properties has been recorded and stored in the data bank.]
[Ancient potion — Tears of Mary. Original ingredients: Powerful spirits filled with grievances and despair. Effect: Great increase for an official Magus's spiritual force, and a chance to helping a Magus breaking through a bottleneck.]
The A.I. Chip's analysis was extremely concrete. And the last few words it uttered, led Leylin into deep thoughts.
In the Magus World, potions which could directly increase the spiritual force was extremely exorbitant.
Just like the exchange point in the Four Seasons Garden, the prices of several potions which could increase the spiritual force was even above that for the crystallised elemental energy particles.
Compared the spiritual force potions, potions which could aid a Magus in breaking through the bottleneck was even a tier higher.
Even though the chance of Tears of Mary which could aid the breakthrough was extremely little, it would cause Magi to go crazy after it.
"It seems like this effect has to be concealed. Since I already have a contract with Old Devil, she would not be able to reveal any news of the potions to outsiders, so I can rest my worry for the time being…"
Leylin withdrew a golden watch that was decorated with diamonds.
"It's still early now, and I have an appointment for lunch with Crew only in the afternoon. I can even try the effect of the potion now!"
Leylin took the transparent dose of potion and went into the spell testing area below the experiment lab and sat in a cross-legged position.
"Activate!"
Leylin chanted an incantation. Soon after, the nitrogen glass test-tube seem to open like a flower engraving, revealing the potion liquid within.
A rather bland and sweet smell which seemed to be able to induce sleep and hypnosis began to envelop the room.
...
Under the effect of this fragrance, Leylin entered the meditative state in an instant...
While doing his meditation, Leylin felt as if his spirit had calmed down and floated on the clouds, enveloping the sun. This extremely harmonious and serene feeling flowed through his thoughts.
"What a pleasant experience!" Leylin opened his eyes after an unknown period of time.
Meditation was a physically taxing activity for Magi, and many would often choose to enter a deep sleep right after. This was to make up for the consumption of vitality during the process.
This effect would be even more apparent when a meditation technique was of a higher grade.
Compared to before, even if Leylin's vitality was 8.5, after the meditation of the Kemoyin's Pupil every day, he would feel extremely exhausted and could not wait to fall asleep immediately.
As for today, after a round of meditation technique, he felt extremely comfortable in every part of his body. His spiritual force was extremely robust, and his condition in a state that was difficult to enter again.
This was an indescribable feeling, as if ripping off a layer of the nature, everything to his senses was extremely distinct. It also felt like someone who always had been in darkness suddenly seeing the light.
"This feeling is just awesome!"
Leylin grinned.
At this moment, he realised two warm streaks of moisture flowed down his face.
"These are… tears!"
"With the current control of my physical body and the help of the A.I. Chip, I actually teared unknowingly…" A look of admiration appeared on Leylin's face, "The effects of these ancient potions has far surpassed my expectations!"
Only at this moment did he consider to check his stats.
During the meditation, the A.I. Chip showed a stream of data, but Leylin was able to look at this data only now.
[Ancient potion — Tears of Mary assimilation in progress!]
[Due to the effects of the potion, quality of meditation increases, spiritual force increased by 0.5]
[Due to the effects of the potion, quality of meditation increases, spiritual force increased by 1.0]
[Ancient potion — Tears of Mary reaching threshold, Host's spiritual force greatly increasing...]
[Kemoyin's Pupil's meditation technique completed, huge boost in Host's spiritual force, recalculating data...]
After which, the A.I. Chip reloaded Leylin's statistics.
[Leylin Farlier. Rank 1 Warlock. Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 7.1, Agility: 6.7, Vitality: 8.5, Spiritual Force: 36.8, Magic Power: 36 (Magic Power is in synchronisation with Spiritual Force). Elemental essence conversion: 35%. Status: Healthy]
"7 points! One portion of Tears of Mary actually directly increased my spiritual force by 7 points!"
Leylin could not conceal the excitement on his face.
"That means that even if my body develops a resistance to the potion in the future, I can still quickly increase my spiritual force so that it meets the requirements to break through to a rank 2 Magus?"
"Also, I can use the crystallised Darkness energy particles that I've been collecting again!"
The stats of a Magus were all intercorrelated.
Previously, Leylin's spiritual force and concentration of bloodline was enough, yet the elemental essence conversion was lacking. Hence he could use the Darkness crystals to fill in the gap and achieve a 35% elemental essence conversion. However, after that time, Leylin's elemental essence conversion was enough, but his spiritual force was lacking instead. Hence, according to the A.I. Chip's estimations, before his spiritual force reaches certain value, using the crystallised Darkness energy particles would render no effect.
Hence, the 500g of crystallised Darkness energy particles he took from the old witch previously, with the amount he exchanged at the Four Seasons Garden had been kept aside by him.
-x-X-x-
Noon came shortly after, and Leylin took a shower with a happy mood. He donned a set of comfortable white robes and went to Crew's villa.
"Welcome, Leylin! My dearest friend!"
Crew gave Leylin a hug, looking somewhat bewildered.
"Your aura seemed to have increased again, it really makes people envious!"
Previously, he had already been astonished by Leylin's age and potential. Towards a Magus who had such unlimited potential, establishing connections beforehand would often reap unexpected benefits.
However, Leylin's rate of improvement far exceeded his expectations.
"This is just the result of a successful experiment!" Leylin gave a modest laugh.
In truth, this was the result after Leylin had used concealment spell to hide most of his spiritual force. If not, with Crew's intelligence, he would definitely be able to guess at something.
Crew did not buy Leylin's humble words, but the aspect of spiritual force was always among the most guarded secrets of Magi, so any prying would result in hostility.
Hence, Crew could only amicably smile and hold Leylin's hand.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Come, let us go to the slave market!"
...
The slave market was in Zone 4 of the Nightless City and took up a very large area. Moreover, it was overt, even having a signboard.
"Lord! Come to us, we have various types of slaves. There are even two snake girls from eastern mountain deserts, and their skills are top notch, you know!"
"Lord! Look over here, beautiful rabbit girls, fiery fox tribes. There are also beauties from the cannes tribe, with incredible strength comparable to Grand Knights. They are extremely good looking and long lasting. Moreover, they only cost 800 magic crystals each…"
"Look here quickly, this is the princess of the Dirk Dukedom! Her bloodline is extremely royal. The Dirk Dukedom is a dukedom comparable to kingdoms
There were many shops in this slave market, hence, to attract people over to their stores, these shops had all kinds of gimmicks.
Leylin walked alongside Crew as he listened to the various calls of the shop owners.
The provocative rabbit girls and fox girls revealed a large amount of skin, only having on a few pieces of clothing the size of a palm to cover their private parts. Their fluffy white rabbit tails and fiery red fox tails were bunched together. It was an extremely sharp contrast to the shy expressions of those rabbit and fox girls.
"How is it, sir? Do you want to take a look at this princess' figure?"
Crew was obviously interested in the slave that was referred to as a princess. He made a stop in front of that shop.
Leylin was judging the girl behind the shop owner. She was tall, her pupils were golden, and she emanated an extremely noble aura. This was something that definitely could not be imitated, and had to have been developed from a young age.
This beautiful young lady was wearing a gown that one would usually see at a palace banquet, and she was even wearing a diamond-encrusted tiara, as if she was a princess who had ran out to play—that is, if you didn't consider the blank and resigned expression on her face.
"She's quite a beauty!" A look of desire appeared on Crew's face. "Now that I think about it, even though I've played with tons of women, I don't think I've ever trained a princess before!"
"This is definitely a genuine princess. Her father was the former Duke!"
The shop owner was extremely eager to market his goods. "Moreover, this woman has not suffered any violations of the body, and is a complete virgin…"
"Dirk Dukedom, I seem to have heard of its past. A coup d'etat occurred, right?" Crew stroked his chin and pondered. "It better not have any leftover troubles!"
"No way, no way! The previous duke wanted to control his own forces, and broke all ties with magicians. He had already been forsaken by the Magus family backing him, and in reality, this coup d'etat was orchestrated by that Magus family…"
The shop owner explained to Crew in detail.
Leylin noticed that after that princess heard of the events, her head was bowed. Fear and hatred began to show on her face.
Although this expression lasted for but a moment and was concealed well by her, how could it have been missed by the magicians present?
"Not bad! Does she have a fierce personality? Challenging… I like her." Crew was immediately aroused by her, and asked, "Tell me directly! How much?"
"Two thousand magic crystals! That's the lowest price I can give you!" The shop owner answered confidently.
"Two thousand magic crystals!!!" Crew's eyes bulged. "Just for a regular human who isn't even a knight? Do you think I was kicked in the head by a donkey as a child?"
"This is a unique situation! I only managed to get this princess at a great cost, and you can only find her in this shop in the Nightless City! Other princesses all have Magus families backing them, and goods like this are only available now. Whether you'll be able to get your hands on someone like her in the future will depend on your luck…"
The shop owner expended a huge effort on convincing him.
"Two thousand magic crystals is much too expensive! It's enough to fund a few of my large-scale experiments!" Crew helplessly shook his head.
He turned to Leylin. "Sorry for the wait. Let's go!"
Leylin shrugged and ignored that princess of a ruined dukedom, walking out of the shop alongside Crew.
"I was sure that you would insist on buying her, but now…" Leylin was somewhat shocked. He had seen firsthand Crew's pervertedness and fetishes, so he could not believe that Crew would give up this easily.
"You don't know…" Crew blinked, his face revealing a smirk and a clever look.
"This slave's price tag is too expensive. As long as they're not magicians who are desperately in need, she will never be considered by anyone." The old geezer explained to Leylin.
Official Magi always required resources. Unlike Crew, who had no more hope of advancing anymore, was extremely lecherous, and only wanted to live in retirement, they would never have any interest in such kinds of slaves.
"I have several ties with the magicians in this kind of circle. As long as I notify them, nobody would snatch her from me!"
"Hehe… By then, this shop owner will only be able to hold this stock in his hands. Later, when I look for him again, I will be the only one to whom he can sell the slave. I am confident that I can haggle the price down to a thousand magic crystals or below…"
"Then what reason have you prepared to convince your friends?" Leylin asked in curiosity.
"Hehe… Of course, such a collaboration to push down prices would be done in turns!" The old geezer did not hesitate to reply.
"If you have any interest in her, then after I'm done with her, I can lend her to you to toy around with for a few days!"
The old geezer seemed extremely generous at this moment.
"No one can surpass your skills in such an area…" Leylin felt as if he was utterly defeated, and no longer knew what to say.
After which, Leylin, who had been following Crew, finally approached a shop that seemed slightly strange.
This shop was obviously a lot larger than the surrounding shops, and there were also two green, magically summoned creatures standing guard. Just by the presence and the construction costs of this shop, the value of the other shops were immediately lessened.
In addition, there was a thick curtain draped in front of the door, and one could not see anything inside unless they lifted the fabric. This heightened the curiosity of the Magi.
"We're here! This is the slave market that my friend opened!" Crew gave a series of passwords in a practised manner, and received permission to pass from the two magically summoned creatures.
"This is only open to members, and members can only bring one regular customer. The requirements are stringent, but it's only at this sort of place that you'll be able to get lots of great goods!"
Crew obviously had a mountain of experience, and he brought Leylin into an office.
"Lucia, my friend! I have brought you business!"
What exceeded Leylin's expectations was that this slave trader Lucia was, in fact, a female magician.
She wore robes with a high collar, yet a small heart shape was cut out at her bosom area, revealing deep cleavage.
"Crew! Have you grown sick of the snake girl from before?"
Lucia bowed at her slender waist and greeted Crew, quickly retreating back.
Looking at Crew, who wanted to take some liberties with Lucia, but was also embarrassed, Leylin rubbed his nose in shame.
He had a feeling that he could have been ripped off by this lecherous old geezer.
"Is this the customer that you have brought?"
Lucia gave a slow smile as she advanced, and Leylin's nose was filled with a very concentrated smell of perfume. While strong, it did not repulse him, but was rather like a strong drink that made men brim with the desire to explore further.
"What a handsome fellow!"
Lucia chuckled and gave Leylin a tight hug, her two large, satiny lumps of softness pressing directly against Leylin's chest, and giving rise to a passion within.
"Young Magus, what kind of slave are you looking for? Fox girls, rabbit girls, or snake girls? Sister has everything here, and can even give you a discount!"
The beautiful slave owner with a provocative figure blew against Leylin's ear as she whispered in a low voice.
"This… I apologise!"
Leylin gently pushed Lucia away, causing Crew to roll his eyes at him and Lucia to coquettishly laugh. "Oh my! Looks like our customer got embarrassed!"
"It is really your hospitality that makes it hard to breathe!" Leylin bowed and kissed Lucia on the back of her slender and pale palm, before receiving a jealous look from Crew.
It was not that he could not contain his urges, but that this beautiful slave trader was also a rank 1 Magus! Moreover, according the A.I. Chip's detection, her elemental essence conversion was at least 50%!
Although Leylin was rather aroused, he did not want to have a knife stabbed in his back while bedding this woman. Moreover, how could a female slave trader be a simple character!
"Actually, my reason for coming here is to purchase a few special slaves!" Leylin made his request.
Once the official matter was raised, Lucia put on a serious face.
-x-X-x-
"No problem, we have the largest warehouse. As long as you make a request, we'll immediately find a compatible slave for you!"
Lucia stated with confidence.
"Also, even if we don't have it here, as long as you pay enough deposit, we can even organise a team to catch slaves and train them and teach them, customising them to your needs…"
Such a business model and industrialised chain of processes, also the special service provided for esteemed guests led Leylin to recall the VIP statuses back in his previous world.
"No need for that, my requirements are extremely simple!"
Leylin smiled, "First of all, it's 5 slaves with the strength of Grand Knights. The race is to be humans, gender is unimportant. I need those with intact intelligence with no obvious flaw or damage on their bodies…"
He did lack a few workers in his villa to do odd jobs and maintain his image.
Furthermore, it was impossible for Leylin to take care of all miscellaneous tasks by himself.
Deep inside Leylin's heart, he also had another plan. He had received one portion of resources for the Branded Swordsman from his trade with Dorotte. Even though it was incomplete and virtually impossible to break through with those materials, with the A.I. Chip's deduction and Leylin's own experiments, he had also garnered some results.
At the moment, he was thinking of trying out the fruits of his labour on a Grand Knight.
These Grand Knight slaves would definitely have spirit seeds planted or some form of branding that would ensure they were 100% loyal. Their bodies were extremely strong as well and were the best people to experiment on to become Branded Swordsmen.
"We have five Grand Knights here, you may pick them later. Each one will cost 700 magic crystals. Moreover, your big sister I will give you a discount. Amongst the 5 Grand Knights, there would be two beauties!"
Lucia smiled. "I believe that apart from their duty as guards, they will definitely fulfill the other 'duties' as well!"
For Magi whose vitality surpasses that of normal humans, normal girls would not be able to satisfy their needs. Hence, cultivating some Knights and Grand Knights as maidservants was a common practice. Hence Lucia did not lack any goods in this aspect.
Towards such a benefit, Leylin only nodded his head, not feeling anything special.
The Grand Knights were only a small matter. Leylin immediately stated his true purpose of coming here.
"And then, I require an acolyte grade slave, it's best if the strength is of a level 3 acolyte! Also, they have to know simple Potioneering and alchemy!"
At this point, Lucia no longer had a relaxed expression. Even Crew looked at Leylin in surprise.
In the Magus World, there were many tiers for slaves. Maidservants who have been nurtured, princesses or female nobles whose countries have been destroyed only belonged to the lowest tier of entertainment and consumption. Apart from the special cases of princesses and the likes, their prices were all extremely low.
Further up, it would be the level of Knights and Grand Knights who could be of use to their owners. The increase in expenditure was not small. If they also wanted slaves from different races of a beautiful slave, the prices would often be taken up another notch.
However, none of them could be considered high-grade slaves.
In the south coast, there was only one type of slave that was considered to be high-grade. They were the magician slaves!
Whether regular humans or knights or Grand Knights, their bodies were unable to resist the energy pollution that Magi unwittingly emitted. In addition, they did not have any spiritual force to defend their Magus masters, nor help out with spell formations and the like.
Hence, upon advancing to an official Magus, many would usually recruit a few acolytes to assist them in their own experiments.
However, on the south coast, some things still had to be adhered to. Even if one was in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, the mentors could not use the acolytes as their guinea pigs and experiment on them as they wished, and had to tempt them with magic crystals or swindle them into a contract.
Rather than using the pampered acolytes, using slaves could solve this problem entirely.
Due to the existence of a spirit brand, slaves were typically loyal to a fault. In addition, the moment that a master buys them, their lives would immediately belong to their master's. No matter how the Magi experimented on the slaves, they would not cause any trouble!
"Handsome fellow, you're quite gutsy!"
Lucia seemed quite bewildered as she looked at Leylin. "Level 3 acolytes aren't that cheap!"
"Does that mean you have them?"
Leylin picked at his eyebrow.
The origin of magicians slaves was quite simple. They were either wanted criminals or captives after a war.
In addition, their existence was not the most welcome, and even in Poolfield Kingdom's Ellinel Market, Leylin did not see any shop that dared to publicly sell acolyte slaves.
Leylin had only asked without expecting for there to be any results and had met with an unexpected surprise.
Nightless City was the entire South Coast's main trading centre! To think that it was possible to find high-grade slaves in a random slave shop!
"Don't worry. As long as you can find someone, the price isn't an issue!"
Leylin threw a black pouch to Lucia.
"I didn't think a little guy like you has magic crystals!" Lucia checked the contents of the pouch and nodded, immediately ringing a red hand-bell on the table.
*Ding-ling-ling!*
With the ring of the bell, a maidservant pushed open the door, "My Lady! Do you have any orders?"
"Go bring Damien here!" In front of her servants, Lucia put on a frosty expression with no traces of smiles. Her every movement was filled with a domineering aura.
As for this maidservant, she did not even dare raise her head in front of Lucia's orders and hurriedly led the room.
"Come! First, have a taste of this 'chugu'! This is a special product from the Sicily Islands!"
After the door was shut, Lucia resumed her enchanting demeanour and brought out a fiery red flask, pouring a drink that seemed to be a mix between coffee and chocolate, for Leylin and Crew.
Leylin took a sip and the mellow yet invigorating taste swirled in his throat.
"The taste is excellent! It's rather similar to the Coco Fruit. Moreover, it had the effect of increasing vigour. If it can be popularised, it will definitely gain the attention of Magi!"
Leylin said indifferently.
"Lucia! You're too much, how could you not give me several flasks of such great stuff!" Crew began to raise his loud.
"Young brother you have the foresight. I am preparing to open a new shop and promote this drink item as my brand item…" Lucia looked at Leylin in surprise, before smiling in an enchanting manner. "How about this, do you want to invest in this as well?"
"My apologies, I don't have enough magic crystals. Especially after this round of purchasing slaves, I'm afraid I'd have to amass another fortune before considering such an investment…"
Leylin naturally refused such a suggestion.
As for Lucia, there was no disappointment on her face; it only seemed that she had asked on the spur of the moment.
"Lucia, why don't you consider me?" Crew put on an eager expression.
"You?" Lucia looked at Crew with disdain, "A fellow who only knows how to throw magic crystals on women, I have no faith in you at all. 27 years ago, it was you who took my investment and…"
After Lucia talked about past events, Crew's face reddened, and he kept his head down like a small boy who had done something wrong.
As for Leylin, he only cared about sipping his drink, pretending not to see or hear anything.
"My Lady! May I come in?"
This atmosphere was quickly broken by a request to enter the room.
"Is it Damien? Come in!" Lucia smoothed her hair and sat behind her desk once more.
*Creak!* The door to the office opened, and a silver-haired level 3 acolyte entered.
This acolyte was not young, and his face was wrinkled like the skin of a tangerine. In contrast, his clothes were neat and tidy, and not a single hair was out of place. He seemed to be in good spirits, looking nothing like a slave.
"Damien! This is Magus Leylin, and he has expressed his desire to buy you. Now, he'll ask you some questions." Lucia pointed to Leylin, who was seated on a sofa at the side, and introduced Damien to him.
"It is my honour to meet you, my lord! I hope I am able to service you in the future!" Damien bowed respectfully.
"You don't have to be so polite! I hope you'll meet my requirements too!" Leylin looked undisturbed.
"In that case, if you blend the liquefied form of a Sun Flower and the stem of a Three Night Flower, what will happen?" Leylin asked a question related to Potioneering without any second thoughts.
"There will be a substitution reflect, and it will produce…" From the looks of it, this old geezer called Damien did have some attainments in Potioneering. He only needed to think for a short while, before fluently answering.
Next, Leylin asked a series of other questions.
At the beginning, Damien's expression was relaxed, but as they got further along, cold sweat started to form on his back.
A little over ten minutes later, Leylin stood up, feeling satisfied, and told Lucia, "I want him. How many magic crystals?"
Through the little test that he had just conducted, Leylin concluded that Damien's attainments in Potioneering and alchemy were definitely considered pretty good amongst acolytes who were in the same tier as him. It would definitely be worth it to buy him.
"16500 magic crystals!" Lucia smiled, "Adding on to those 5 Grand Knights, it amounts perfectly to 20000 magic crystals!"
"No way, this is too expensive! His age is already so high. Normally, acolytes only have a maximum lifespan of 150 years…"
As for Damien, he stood there quietly by the side, as if the person they were haggling over was not him.
After Leylin left Lucia's store with Crew, 6 more figures followed behind them.
There was Damien, and the other 5 Grand Knights. Amongst the Grand Knights, there were two good looking girls with sexy figures, who also didn't have any bulging muscles that destroyed their aesthetic beauty.
-x-X-x-
After fiercely negotiating the price, Leylin finally cut the price down to eighteen thousand magic crystals and bought the slaves.
Furthermore, right in front of Lucia within the shop, Leylin used his own spirit brand and branded the six slaves' minds.
That meant from thereon, the fates of these slaves were all grasped within Leylin's palm.
Also, the nature of the soul brand was such that they had to be completely obedient to Leylin. Even if they were asked to kill themselves, they had to do so without a moment's thought!
One could go so far as to say that if Leylin felt a sudden urge, these slaves' brains could simply explode like a watermelon.
"Haha… I'll stop bothering you and be on my way then!"
Once they were on the street of their villas, Crew silently judged the two gorgeous female Knights behind Leylin with a mischievous twinkling in his eyes as they returned to their respective homes.
"That old geezer!" Leylin was speechless as he shook his head, before bringing the six slaves into his villa.
"This is my villa. You'll be staying here from hereon, and you can choose your rooms in the back. Nobody is allowed into my bedroom and the basement! Understood?"
Leylin turned and swept his eyes over his six newly-bought slaves as he ordered.
"Understood, master!" The six of them split up and left.
"Damien, you stay behind!" Leylin stopped the level 3 acolyte.
"Master, do you have any more orders for me?" Damien questioned respectfully.
"From today onwards, you are the butler of this villa and will be in charge of managing this place when I'm not around. Also, regarding the villa's defense spell formation, I'll give you the authority to modify it. Your task is to tidy up the entire villa, and stock up on items needed for everyday use…"
Leylin began to give a series of instructions.
In a trading centre such as Nightless City where the Magi were in charge, there were many things that only a Magi could do. A typical Knight or Grand Knight didn't have a sea of consciousness, so how could they even control their spiritual force, chant incantations and the like?
In order to maintain the operation of his villa even after Leylin left, an acolyte-level butler was indispensable.
"Also, tell me how you became a slave." Leylin was slightly curious.
At the mention of this, Damien's expression darkened and he trembled, a look of suffering appearing on his face.
It was clear that his past was an extremely painful experience for him.
However, due to the control of the soul brand, he still had to adhere to Leylin's command. "I was from the Steel Fort and was born in a regular little town. I was fortunate enough to be tested to have an affinity for magic and was accepted by my mentor into the Moonlight Shadow. Master may not have heard of it, as it is but a small Magi organisation. Even though I had to allow my mentor to experiment on my body, I was still lucky enough to survive and even became a level three acolyte…"
Until this point, Damien's expression was still normal, but a traumatised look emerged on his face.
"Right after that was… the war! That darned war! As the powers lording over our district, the Wetland Gardens Academy began to support the expansion of other small organisations just because our leader was against them. Moonlight Shadow was conveniently used in the war, and my mentor, as well as many other seniors, died in battle. I was held captive and eventually became a slave…"
Leylin nodded in agreement. In the unwritten rules of the Magus World, Magi were typically not allowed to hold acolytes captive and use them as slaves, or else there would be no order in society.
But there was one situation where the Magi was evidently not protected by any laws or agreements — it was when they were the prisoners of war!
The prisoners of war and sub-human acolytes from established academies were the chief sources of magician slaves!
Leylin watched Damien, who was somewhat indignant and sorrowful, and suddenly felt a surge of fear.
At the beginning, if not for Abyssal Bone Forest Academy warding off the attack from the enemies, he wouldn't be able to escape at all and his fate might have been to be killed by an official Magus or captured as a prisoner, and later be sold off as a slave.
"That's why I'm so desperate for power! Only by possessing strength can I take control of my future!"
Leylin waved Damien away with a gesture of his hand.
"Familiarise yourself with the surroundings first. I want to go out and will only be back in the evening."
...
The villa that Leylin was renting was extremely spacious, and there were rooms specifically meant for the servants to live in. Having six slaves moving in wasn't crowded at all, and on the contrary, added a bit of life into the villa.
Damien revealed his abilities as an exceptional butler and kept Leylin's villa neat and tidy. This allowed Leylin to relax and discard thoughts about odd jobs that needed to be done around the villa, and focus on brewing the ancient potion, Tears of Mary, in the basement.
Countless days later, Leylin went to the old witch's shop alone and passed on to her the two portions of Tears of Mary that she was entitled to, based on their contract. They also set a timing for their next transaction.
After obtaining the ancient potions, no matter how hard the old witch tried to conceal her excitement, Leylin was still able to see her become feverish with elation.
She also stated that she was more than capable of handling even more spirits and that Leylin should prepare himself for that.
From the looks of it, in order to obtain more of these precious potions, she was willing to gather and prepare the ingredients at all costs.
Leylin was quite pleased with this temporary ally of his.
Though he didn't know the reason why she needed the potions so urgently, this was a situation that benefited him too.
After the two of them came to a consensus, Leylin returned to the villa and took care of all the matters in the villa. He then proceeded to the outside of the city and returned to Four Seasons Garden's headquarters on a Dragon Crown Nighthawk.
After joining Four Seasons Garden, besides the allocated amount that all Magi were entitled to, the great amount of resources in the library was something he something he coveted.
However, as a member of the organisation, he obviously was unable to stay in Nightless City all day long unless he was retired.
The missions this month were simple and could be completed in a few days, which gave him a lot of free time that he decided to spend in Nightless City.
At the moment, he had to return to Four Seasons Garden and take on the monthly tasks. Unless he wanted to renounce the portions he was allocated and the little power he had, he had to follow this sort of lifestyle.
If he were a typical Magus and were to use this way of life to slowly amass enough knowledge and resources for him to break through, it would take more than a hundred years!
But Leylin was different. Not only did he possess a high-grade meditation method, he was also extremely knowledgeable about the path one would need to take to become a rank 3 Magus. In addition, he had also stocked up and done preparations to ensure he had the best materials and ingredients!
In order to gain power and wealth, one needed to come up with alternative methods that might be frowned upon by others. He had never been a principled person.
Leylin had two main sources providing him with materials. One of them was the Four Seasons Garden, and even though the portion allocated by them was meagre, it still was a constant flow and the items were gained based on merit.
The other source was the dark Magi organisation he had recently joined. While it was slightly dangerous, the profits were plentiful.
With these two sources, one from an honest organisation and the other from an unscrupulous group, the rate at which he gathered his resources and increased his strength was far from what anyone could predict.
"Next, I'll have to lay low, gather all my resources, and wait for the second transition of my bloodline."
Leylin had planned everything for the next few years well ahead.
The current him was just like the Dragon Crown Nighthawk he was sitting on — before it flew, it would silently save its energy, anticipating a time in the future when it could soar through the skies!
...
Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, one year had passed.
The mountain that was the Four Seasons Garden's headquarters was still standing strong and proud as always. Magi travelled through the passages within the mountain, looking like ants as they travelled around.
"Leylin! The theory of the ecology that you tested in the secret plane aroused my interest. How about it? Shall we have a discussion about it?"
At the moment, in a room for rest and relaxation, a male Magus with fire-red hair was speaking with Leylin.
"Of course! I also hold an interest in the experiences and thoughts Magus Truman had while taking care of the Lava Goldfish."
Leylin looked about the same as he did a year before, the main difference being the blackness in his eyes that seemed to have another layer of depth to them.
"I was planning to take a trip to the library anyway. We can talk there!" Leylin invited Magus Truman.
"But of course! I'm very familiar with your reputation as the child of the library," Truman teased.
In answer, Leylin merely gave a light chuckle and did not take his comment to heart.
In the span of this one year, he had been lying low most of the time, completing his missions without complaints and receiving his allocated resources every month, mostly living in seclusion.
The place where he spent the most time in was the Four Seasons Garden's giant library.
The Four Seasons Garden was on a much larger scale than Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and the records and resources in the library were abundant.
In addition, with Leylin's status as an official Magus, he had access to much more materials than what acolytes could get their hands on.
Though some high-grade knowledge and potion formulas needed to be exchanged for using the specified amount of contribution points, the resources that the Four Seasons Garden provided free of charge was extremely helpful for Leylin.
He spent about half a year gathering the information he had access to and saving them into the A.I. Chip, thereby largely enriching its database.
In order to prevent others from noticing the strangeness in his actions, Leylin would sometimes spend time in the library despite having saved all the information that was in there. For this pretense, he had rejected the invitations of countless beautiful female Magi. That had gained him several nicknames that were along the lines of 'the insensitive wooden block' and 'the child of the library' which quickly spread.
The Four Seasons Garden's library was constructed within a huge hill, and acolytes could often be seen entering it.
As official Magi, Leylin and Truman naturally received special treatment and received an isolated room in order to facilitate their discussion. There was also a soft sofa and multi-coloured snacks within the room.
-x-X-x-
"The theory of ecosystems has long since existed. For example, many Magi find that growing wild grasses alongside Tortoise-Backed Mountain Grass will increase the yields of both by 30%!"
Leylin sat on the sofa and began to articulate upon his theories.
"All I did was expand on this ring of connection. Adding multiple factors, it would proliferate to tens or even hundreds of species, forming a large ecosystem and increasing the outputs of various resources inside the secret plane…"
Truman's eyes seemed to be giving off light. "What a novel theory! Being able to choose the most compatible ecosystem for the millions of resources in the natural world — I admire your knowledge and background in this area!"
Leylin just gave a faint smile. He was obviously unable to analyse that much data on his own, so the A.I. Chip did most of the work.
The research that he had made public was only on a superficial level.
He was prepared to employ the many key experiments and procedures in his very own secret plane in the future and was unwilling to help Four Seasons Garden increase their output for free. After all, he was no do-gooder.
"However, I am also curious about the Lava Goldfish that you're rearing, Truman." Leylin remarked with an anticipatory look in his eyes.
Lava Goldfishes were a unique species in the Magus World. Usually, they thrived in lava, which made them extremely difficult to breed.
As for their fish scales, they were necessary ingredients for many alchemy procedures. The blubber and flesh were a kind of nourishment which could recover a Magus' energy and enable them to be revitalised after a weary meditation session. Hence, it was highly sought after with an extremely high price.
"Actually, it's no big deal. These Lava Goldfishes' habits are very predictable. Once you understand them, then you can make a relevant section inside the secret plane…"
Of course, Truman only briefly stated the methods.
"I hope to use this information of breeding the Lava Goldfishes to exchange for your theory of ecosystem. Moreover, as the value of your information is above mine, I am willing to top up 5000 more magic crystals!"
Truman made a sincere request.
"It's no problem at all!" Leylin nodded and smiled. The purpose of releasing this information was to exchange it for resources and knowledge with other magicians.
After a year of hard work, he had finally managed to grasp the general methods in operating a secret plane. Apart from that, he also learned about some of the habitats that the most expensive plants needed to thrive in. If he was given a secret plane to govern now, it would definitely not be in deficit, and actually, make profits.
Although Leylin was a dark Magus and participated in plundering operations that the organisation he was in arranged, he never excluded the possibilities of extracting more magic crystals using a light Magus' methods.
"Speaking of which, Leylin, you're done with your missions for the month. Do you have any plans? I have a good friend whose experiment requires a high levelled Potions Master, so if you were to go…"
Truman sent Leylin an invitation.
Apart from their duties inside Four Seasons Garden, many magicians often had a part time job through their connections in the organisation, earning additional magic crystals and resources.
Of course, some did it purely as their interest or hobby, or merely just to help a friend out.
"My apologies! The mission for this month was extremely taxing. I wish to take this well-deserved break to recuperate in Nightless City!"
Leylin rejected Truman's invitation tactfully.
Right now, he no longer prioritised these tiny organization's resources or connections. Moreover, he was in the crucial period of boosting his prowess, so he did not have that much time to bother about other trivial matters.
"That's really regretful…" Truman's face reflected the disappointment that he felt. Only after exchanging several more words with Leylin and their specialised information did they separate.
"Lord Leylin!"
After parting with Truman, Leylin went to the landing pad of the Four Seasons Garden. The acolytes here all recognised Leylin and they bowed to greet him.
"How is Hawke's current condition?"
Leylin walked to a cage with a giant creature within it. A pair of large red eyes stared back at him. The beast opened its jaws and revealed rows of razor sharp fangs that resembled swords, with a crimson tongue that had reverse scales.
"Lord, your mount's appetite is great. Yesterday, it had even eaten a whole red bread pig. Its temper was rather nasty, though this could be due to it being caged for a long period of time…"
The acolyte who was in charge of these mounts was obviously skilled in his work. He was also extremely diligent as he replied Leylin.
*Creak!*
A scarlet rune appeared on Leylin's finger, forming the shape of a key and entering the keyhole of the metal cage.
"Roar!"
With an impressive roar, a green wyvern charged out of the cage.
This creature had sharp talons and claws, and its whole body was covered in murky green scales. On its back was also a pair of large green wings. The membrane of the wings shone with a green lustre under the light.
[Venom Wyvern. Strength: 13.5, Agility: 19.8, Vitality: 11.2, Spiritual Force: 9.8. Special abilities: 1. Acidic breath: A corrosive poison will be spat on the mouth, with an area of effect of 20 metres. Average power: 16 degrees. 2. Toxic Rip: The Venom Wyvern's claws and fangs have toxic properties, with a huge numbing effect on the spiritual force.]
The Venom Wyvern's stats were displayed by Leylin's A.I. Chip.
"Rawrrr!"
The gigantic Venom Wyvern continued to roar. At the same time, there was a fawning look in its eyes that was incredibly humane as it lowered its head and rubbed gently against Leylin's body.
"Alright! Alright! I will give you an upsize for your meals when I get back!"
Leylin could not help but laugh as he rubbed this Venom Wyvern which had the mentality of a puppy missing its owner.
"Hawke, bring me to Nightless City now!"
Leylin got onto the back of the Venom Wyvern in one leap.
"Rawrr!" The Venom Wyvern snarled and the wings on its back jolted, unfolding segment by segment until they were fully extended, and were at least three times larger than its body.
With a fierce hurricane, the Venom Wyvern spread its wings and swooped into the air.
"Hah… They're finally gone. Just having that Venom Wyvern standing here is enough to make me feel uncomfortable," a female acolyte who was feeding a Dragon Crown Nighthawk, gave a long sigh of relief.
"With that guy around, all these Nighthawks lost their appetites!" The female acolyte patted the Nighthawk in front of her that was eating cheerfully, seemingly just as relieved as her.
"That Venom Wyvern's power is probably close to that of an official Magus. How strong must Magus Leylin be to be able to tame it?"
The male acolyte following behind Leylin had a very contrasting opinion from the female acolyte and his eyes reflected his envy and admiration for Leylin.
The Venom Wyvern's flying speed was twice as fast as the Dragon Crown Nighthawk had been. It was thus much more convenient for Leylin to travel between Nightless City and the Four Seasons Garden.
Upon reaching the Nightless City's landing pad, Leylin issued some orders for the acolytes to take care of his Venom Wyvern and gave Hawke another red bread pig before returning to his villa.
"Master!" Damien and a few Grand Knights bowed respectfully.
Leylin looked around, finding that the villa was still in the same state as it was before he had left. The human slaves that he had bought later on were carefully cleaning the staircase railing and all the pieces of artwork.
Damien was wearing a butler's uniform, looking impeccable as he stood behind Leylin.
"Master! After you left, your neighbour, Magus Crew came over once. Also, I've already paid the continuity fees to the communal centre. Here is the inventory."
After which, Damien gave a report of what he had done in this period of time.
"Okay." Leylin paid no mind to his words and nodded along. This Damien seemed to have undergone specialised training while he was a slave and was very proficient in these matters. Leylin had branded him and there was no way that he could revolt, so Leylin could place his trust in him.
"That's enough for now. Make me some dinner and milk tea!" Leylin ordered indifferently.
"Hawke can be used for transportation and can sweep away most acolytes, but he won't be useful in battles with official Magi."
After a moment, Leylin, who was lying comfortably on a couch with pretty maids servicing him with their soft little hands, reflected with a hint of regret.
In the south coast, some Magi had top grade magic creatures as pets. These pets matured quickly, to the point that after their master advanced, it was possible for their own strength to reach the level of an official Magus.
In battle, how much help would an assistant with the same rank render?
Unfortunately, no matter how much Leylin searched and gathered them, he couldn't find these high-quality pets, and could only purchase a Venom Wyvern to use as a mount.
Magi and their pets had to agree upon a strict spirit contract, and there were some that even required them to share their life force!
Leylin was obviously not going to waste his chance on this Venom Wyvern and used the simplest and cruelest spirit brand to forcibly control it. It was going to be a temporary mount, and he was planning to substitute it with a better option at the next best opportunity.
"But it's a shame!"
Leylin turned his hand and a crystal that was like an amber revealed itself in his palm. In the middle of the crystal was a drop of green liquid that had a unique aura emanating from it constantly.
"The Venom Wyvern's blood essence has a trace of the bloodline of the ancient creature — the Thousand Venom Dragon!" The A.I. Chip prompted.
That was why he had purchased the Venom Wyvern.
While he was in Nightless City, Leylin had constantly been collecting creatures that might have ancient bloodlines in them and tried to purify their blood with the A.I. Chip.
However, a majority of his experiments were a failure, and the blood essence in his palm was the best result he had.
"A.I. Chip, have you found out the reason?"
-x-X-x-
In order to obtain the bloodlines of more ancient creatures, Leylin had conducted numerous experiments. However, none of them were successful.
The best result was what was in his hand — the quintessence of some ancient creature.
To most Magi, this was probably a precious treasure, but for Leylin, this was far from enough.
[Beep! After 124 practical experiments and a comparison with 9718 simulated experiments, the conjecture is that the Host's concentration of bloodline essence is not enough. Unable to unearth deeper purification. Recommended to look for the blood essence of creatures with the power of rank 3 Magus and above as stimulus to purify bloodline.]
The A.I. Chip gave a prompt answer.
"As expected…" Leylin had already surmised this conjecture, and now it seemed to tally with the A.I. Chip's calculations.
After a long period of time, the ancient bloodline in the mystical creatures in the south coast had been thinned out so much that if not for the amazing ability of the A.I. Chip, Leylin would not even be able to refine this blood that was full of impurities.
To obtain a pure ancient bloodline, it was necessary to gain blood samples from even stronger monsters.
The A.I. Chip had gathered that at the bare minimum, blood samples from a rank 3 creature had to be obtained.
That meant that as long as Leylin was able to obtain the blood of a monster that was rank 3 or higher, the A.I. Chip would be able to purify and extract a perfect sample of the ancient bloodline.
"But… A creature that is rank 3 or above?" Leylin smiled wryly at his thoughts, "I'd probably die just from a snort from them! I'd obtained the blood from the Black Horrall Snake that originally had the strength of a rank 3 Magus. Thankfully, its might had weakened to the equivalent of an acolyte, and that alone was a giant stroke of luck. It's as if a tasty meat pie had fallen from the heavens! "
The Giant Kemoyin Serpent's bloodline that Leylin was in possession of was purified from the Black Horrall Snake previously found in the Dylan Gardens.
That Black Horrall Snake was a powerful creature that rivalled the strength of a rank 3 Magus at its adult stage!
The Black Horrall Snake back then had definitely matured into an adult. However, due to the limiters inside the secret plane, coupled with prolonged hunger — and perhaps also with the other methods from the great Magus Serholm — it caused the Black Horrall Snake's state to deteriorate in its slumber, eventually turning pitiful enough to be attacked by a group of level 3 acolytes.
This was obviously a present that the great Magus Serholm left for his inheritor. It was an intentional setup and not a coincidence.
The great Magus Serholm was a rank 4 Warlock, and as compared to Leylin who was a rank 1 Warlock, he was the sun while Leylin was but a firefly.
"These things are dependent on luck. At most, I'll take more notice in the future. It's not the time to think about this now!"
Leylin pulled up his stats.
[Leylin Farlier. Rank 1 Warlock. Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 7.1, Agility: 6.7, Vitality: 8.5, Spiritual Force: 58.9, Magic Power: 58 (Magic Power is in synchronisation with Spiritual Force). Elemental essence conversion: 70%. Status: Healthy]
In this year, he had been continuing his trade with the old witch. Using the processed spirits she had gathered, he had obtained a large quantity of the ancient potion- Tears of Mary!
With the help of the ancient potion, Leylin's spiritual force shot up rapidly.
Leylin had spent quite some time in the Four Seasons Garden and through the exchange of contribution points, he had gathered the formulas of potions that could increase an official Magus' spiritual force.
However, he found that those potions' effects were nothing compared to the ancient potion.
With its help, Leylin increased his spiritual force at a shocking rate, as if he had no limits.
Presently, he had no choice but to use concealment methods to hide his tremendous spiritual force. He stayed indoors whenever possible, avoiding areas where rank 2 Magi might appear. He didn't want there to be any chances of others finding out.
Unfortunately, even with the A.I. Chip constantly upgrading the concealment method, it was not possible to hide his spiritual force entirely.
The moment he had a break, Leylin would rush back to Nightless City to hide and avoided all social interaction.
After reaching a certain level in terms of his spiritual force, Leylin had once again used the crystallised Darkness energy particles to push his elemental essence conversion to 70%!
However, after his elemental essence conversion reached 70%, Leylin received a notification from the A.I. Chip that his body and spirit had developed a resistance towards such crystals. Unless he found more precious resources to raise his elemental essence conversion in the future, he could only rely on meditation and time and progress at a slower rate.
"Potions made by ancient Magi are really different!"
A look of satisfaction crossed Leylin's face. "The agreement with the old witch cannot be broken. Moreover, finding new ways to conceal my spiritual force is becoming a matter of urgency."
In all honesty, he should be collecting the spirits himself. Directly branding the spirits of slaves who helped out would ensure that this matter was kept secret.
However, the preparatory stages for the brewing of the Tears of Mary required someone with the might of a rank 1 Magus. Moreover, it had to be a Magus who was specialised in spirits.
As for Leylin, his current attainment in the knowledge of spiritual force and spirits only allowed him to brand level 3 acolytes. It was basically impossible to brand an official Magus.
Anyway, the old witch had made her vow in front of the Trial's Eye, so she could be trusted for the time being.
"However, the amount of spirits provided by the old witch seems to have decreased. In the past few trades, she also seemed distant and unfocused and didn't even participate in the activities organised by the dark Magi organisation. It seems there's something of extreme importance going on. I'd better check on her tomorrow and hope that there won't be any trouble…"
This ally of his was recently acting strangely, inciting worry in Leylin's heart.
"Master! Your dinner's ready!"
Damien's voice sounded while he was deep in thought, enjoying the service from his maids.
"Alright! I'll be right there!"
Leylin opened his eyes, the blackness in his pupils gaining another depth in them...
After a day of entertainment and rest, Leylin was feeling refreshed. Wrapped in a black cloak, Leylin covered even his face and paid a visit to the old witch's shop.
"What happened to you?"
The moment Leylin saw the state the old witch was in, he wrinkled his eyebrows.
The first time he'd seen her, the old witch looked like a dead person. The scent of death and decay was even more apparent now, and she looked like she was a corpse which had just crawled out of an old tomb. The undulations from her spiritual force were also extremely feeble.
This condition immediately alarmed Leylin.
For Magi, injuries on one's physical body were insignificant, but if one's spiritual force showed signs of weakening, that immediately meant that one's might was decreasing.
The old witch was still Leylin's ally, and he didn't want his supplier to suddenly disappear.
"Nothing much! Just a recent experiment that's approaching its crucial stage!" Her body was already as weak as it could get, and just speaking resulted in her panting. However, the light in her eyes was even more radiant, as if on the verge of burning up.
Leylin had seen such a fervent heat in a person's gaze before-- in his previous life, in the eyes of lunatics and crazy people.
"You'd better not keep anything from me. Remember, we're allies. Haven't we been working well together in this past year?"
Leylin obviously didn't believe her vague explanation.
"When it's time, I'll definitely tell you everything."
The old witch gave a mysterious grin. "Also, I've found the spiritual force concealment method that you requested the previous time."
"What? What?!" This was so unexpected that a smile surfaced on Leylin's face.
He had always been searching for this content on the sly and attended a few of the dark Magi's bazaars and meets to exchange resources, but to no avail.
He wasn't expecting much when he employed her help, and it was a pleasant surprise that she had actually gotten what he wanted.
"This is information regarding the compression of spiritual force. Take a look!" She passed a green leaf to him.
Leylin reached out and took it, and then placed it on his forehead.
A cool feeling was emitted from the leaf and permeated Leylin's skull, going straight into the depths of his brain.
[Spiritual force data interface has been detected. To accept the connection or not?] The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
"Accept!" With Leylin's command, a massive stream of information entered Leylin's sea of consciousness. It was constantly broken down, recorded and analysed by the A.I. Chip.
"Overall, the compression of spiritual force is to stack the spiritual force together continuously, arising in a different frequency of energy waves. From there, one can achieve the purpose of concealing their spiritual force…"
After browsing through for a while, Leylin smiled in satisfaction.
"This piece of information is very useful to me, but it seems to be incomplete. Where is the rest of it? Take it out! What do you want? Magic crystals? Potions? Resources? Just give the word!"
Leylin appeared to be extremely rich and overbearing.
"Hehehe… Just with the first half of this information, your spiritual force will be untraceable to all rank 1 Magi. Once you have the second half, even a rank 2 Magus won't be able to discover your spiritual force energy waves. Although you can definitely afford it, I wish to make a trade with you using another method…" The old witch said with a cryptic laugh and hooted.
"What method?" Leylin's brows furrowed, guessing that it was going to be extremely troublesome.
"I will give you the first half of the information now as a gift of thanks for being my ally!" The old witch appeared to be extremely generous, "As for the second half, I need you to do something for me!"
It was obvious that the old witch was using the second half of the information as bait to have Leylin help her with a certain matter.
"I need to know the specifics."
Leylin did not refuse, but he did not agree either.
"Hehe… Don't worry, I won't ask you to hold back a rank 2 Magus or anything like that. I just want you to accompany me to explore some ruins."
The old witch revealed her true motive.
"Exploring ruins? What ruins?" Leylin probed curiously.
"The remnants of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect!"
-x-X-x-
"The Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect?!"
Leylin's looked lost for a second, and immediately made a sound of astonishment. "Do you mean that sect that's full of lunatics who think that spirits are the ultimate resting state of all living beings and like to massacre and sacrifice human flesh from time to time? Do you mean that wicked Magi sect?"
"Exactly! The Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect was just a small sect in the south coast during ancient times. I didn't expect you to know of them!"
The old witch gasped at Leylin.
"The ruins of this kind of crazy sect is definitely going to be annoying. There might be some troublesome curses or mechanisms in there…"
Leylin was very clear about his abilities.
A year ago, he could barely win over a Magus with 50% elemental essence conversion and was considered an elite within the tier of rank 1 Magi.
After a year of constantly increasing his spiritual force and elemental essence conversion, the current him was at the top, second only to those who were on the verge of breaking through and already met the requirements in terms of their spiritual force and elemental essence conversion.
This might was considered quite good in the entire south coast and he could be ranked highly here,but, if he had the misfortune of bumping into a rank 2 Magus, all that awaited him was death. At the most, he had a little hope of escaping with all his might, but what were his chances of survival? The A.I. Chip chip calculated that it was less than 10%!
In ancient times, elite Magi organisations were sure to have rank 4 Magi taking charge, and it was obvious that there were multiple rank 2 and 3 Magi.
The mechanisms left behind by Magi with such levels of strength were definitely not something Leylin could ward off, even though thousands of years had passed.
"Don't worry, we're just seeing a small part of it! I've also invited a few other friends. I just need one item from there, and all other gains will be left for you to divide amongst yourselves!"
The old witch gave her word.
"It looks like this item must be of massive importance to her. If that's the case, it might be possible for me to…"
After hearing her words, Leylin's eyes darted around as he considered.
"I need to think this over."
Out of cautiousness, Leylin decided to obtain more information first before answering her.
"Alright, but make it quick. I plan to leave in five days, so contact me using the secret imprint before then!" The old witch gave a quick nod and passed a dozen spirit spheres to Leylin.
"This is the latest batch of spirits! However, I need 20% more of your potions this time. I'll exchange some items to make up for this! How about two hundred thousand magic crystals and a Wolf Spirit Flower?"
Leylin glanced at the old witch, whose spiritual force undulations were waning.
If she was the one using all those spiritual force potions, she definitely would not be in this state. From the looks of it, all the potions she had obtained had been given to someone else.
"Sure!" After giving it a thought, Leylin agreed.
In order to increase the efficiency of the Tears of Mary and break through the nature of spiritual force, which always hit a bottleneck, he would always meditate for a period of time first. When the increase in his spiritual force slowed, he would then use the potion.
Based on the A.I. Chip's calculations, this combination was the best method to consume the potion.
Hence, he still had some Tears of Mary in his possession.
...
Five days later, on a flat ground in the eastern part of the Nightless City.
A shining bright moon hung in the sky, reflecting a silvery lustre on the earth.
The silhouettes of the trees dancing in the wind continuously projected malevolent shadows on the ground, just like monsters of various shapes and sizes.
*Whoosh!*
Countless black figures converged, forming the shadows of 3 figures on the ground.
Two of the three people had worn a thick layer of black robes and used a veil to cover their faces. It seemed to give off the vibe of something eerie and crafty.
"Old Devil! When is Blood Rogue coming?" A cloaked figure spoke to the person that did not put on a veil but had a small demon mask on instead.
"Soon!" The voice of an old woman sounded from under the mask.
"By the way, I don't have a problem with you getting Blood Rogue to come since he's from our organisation and he's quite strong. Who's this person though?"
The cloaked person projected to the old witch, evidently dissatisfied.
"Don't worry, she's a good friend of mine. She's definitely trustworthy!" The old witch guaranteed.
"She'd better be. If not, no matter how tempting your rewards are, I'll take my leave!"
"Don't worry, she's…" She projected to him once more.
"I see!" She told the cloaked person some information, and it immediately became silent.
Minutes later, a blood-red flame soared at the site and a silhouette covered in a crimson cloak directly appeared on the ground.
"My apologies, I'm a little late!"
Leylin spoke and glanced through the people around.
He was obviously familiar with the old witch, and he had also seen the cloaked man in the dark Magi organisation before. He went by the nickname Brass Ring. As for the other, Leylin had no idea who it was.
"Blood Rogue, you're here! Let me introduce you, you already know Brass Ring, and this here is Jaye, a good friend of mine!"
The old witch first gave a brief introduction.
At this moment, Leylin, who had gone back to his experiment lab and tested the spiritual force concealment spell that he had gotten from the old witch, coveted the latter half of the spell even more.
Moreover, regarding the ruins of an ancient organisation such as the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect, Leylin was also somewhat interested in them. Hence, after a period of consideration, he finally agreed to the old witch's invitation.
However, as she had invited others, Leylin naturally made a deal with the old witch and came here with his identity as Blood Rogue in the dark Magi organisation.
Since he was using that identity, he naturally couldn't ride his Venom Wyvern.
The present Leylin's face was all red, and he had the appearance of a malevolent demon. There were even horns on his demon mask.
"Blood Rogue! Long time no see!" Brass Ring acknowledged his comrade.
Leylin's had gained a reputation from his identity as Blood Rogue from the few operations within the organisation. It could also be said that he was infamous, and coupled with the way the bald Venom Snake had suddenly vanished with no warning, Brass Ring was slightly fearful of this Blood Rogue.
Dark Magi respected power, and Brass Ring naturally would not underestimate Leylin.
"Brass Ring! And Jaye, hello!" Leylin greeted and smiled.
"Alright, since we're all here, let us set off!"
The old witch nodded her head and her figure disappeared in the darkness. Following which, after various flashes of light, there was no one left on this patch of ground, and darkness once again enveloped the area...
The old witch led Leylin and the others on a hastened journey. As they were all official Magus, their travelling speed was extremely quick, far surpassing the speed of horses. In the span of two days, they had already traversed across the entire Teljose plains.
Following which, Leylin and the others walked towards an extremely ordinary looking town.
This western styled town was no different from others, and the total headcount would not exceed ten thousand people.
As for the professions in this town, lumberers and farmers comprised the bulk of it. On the paths, there were even rubbish and dung strewn.
"It smells quite bad here!"
Brass Ring grumbled.
From the strange attire of the four of them, it was obvious that they could not enter the small town in broad daylight. The old witch first let them hide outside while she went in by herself.
After that, they strutted in without fear to the sight of numerous people who were in a deep sleep along the roads.
"This…" Leylin breathed in with his nose, "The pollen of the Sea Anemone Flower, and the liquid secretion from the Pungent Rat's joints! This dosage is enough for them to stay asleep for at least three days and three nights!"
"Hehe… And even if someone were to chop off one of their legs or kill them, they wouldn't even wake up. That's enough for us to conduct our exploration…"
"Is three days enough? Isn't it more convenient to just kill all of them? We can even take this opportunity to obtain a few bloodthirsty spirits and the like." Brass Ring casually brought up.
This was the way a typical dark Magus thought. They revelled in bloodshed and violence and preferred to slaughter in order to solve most of their problems.
"After the exploration, I'll let you do anything you want with them, but now, you have to listen to me!" The old witch stared at Brass Ring, a strange undulation emitting from her body.
*Teng Teng!* Brass Ring had to retreat a few steps. "Are you mad? You want to use this in this situation? Are you looking to die?"
"Don't provoke me, or you'll absolutely regret it!" Her voice was hoarse.
At this moment, Brass Ring suddenly came to the realisation that the old witch in front of him was one of the elders in the organisation. She had connections and her powers were unknown, and if not for an incident many years ago, her power would be much stronger now!
At this moment, the other Magus called Jaye stood behind the old witch and expressed her support for her.
"Alright, alright! Let's make a compromise and not act this way!"
Leylin began to resolve the dispute, "Among the light Magi's standard operating procedures during times of calamity, a town whose civilians had all fainted or were all massacred are two different matters altogether. The first scenario would only have acolytes dispatched to investigate, as for the second scenario, there will be official Magi dispatched!"
"For the sake of our safety, Brass Ring, it's better for you to hold it in!" Following which, Leylin turned around and asked the old witch, "Time is indeed a concern. Old Devil, I'm sure you can tell us some things by now, can't you?"
The old witch looked at Leylin deep in the eyes before reluctantly agreeing. "Alright then!"
"... This is a small scale secret plane that I stumbled on during my travels. It should be an experiment lab of sorts. The area will not exceed 100 mu, so we can definitely finish exploring it within 3 days!"
"Small scale secret plane?" A flash of disappointment was shown on Leylin's face.
In the south coast, the secret planes were also categorised.