543 - 551

Lava World

Knowing that it was a trap, those who still jumped straight in were idiots!

Leylin was obviously not an idiot. Since the other party had revealed that they had the ability to interfere with astral gates, Leylin obviously would not ignore them.

In fact, in these five years, he had been silently surveying the other world. He had even attempted projecting spiritual seeds, all in order to thoroughly understand the other party's ability to interfere.

Through the five years of probing that seemed to only last a day, he had long since understood the methods they could use like the back of his hand. He'd even prepared a contingency plan.

"It's offensive pattern number 3. Activate corresponding countermeasures!" Leylin's eyes glinted with intelligence.

[Task initiated. Spatial anchor being projected. Tracing target's coordinates…] The A.I. Chip began to operate methodically.

A layer of mysterious spatial undulations was emanated from Leylin's body.

[Target coordinates have been determined. Proceed with attack?] The A.I. Chip asked with a robotic voice.

"Yes!" A smile appeared about Leylin's lips.

*Bang!* *Boom!* A glass meter exploded, and many pieces of apparatus burst into flames. Collins, who was watching on, was about to go berserk.

"What's going on? Who can tell me what's going on?" Collins roared, his eyes red.

Even Breaking Dawn Magi would find it difficult to obtain this high-grade spatial interference apparatus. This time, so many pieces had readings that went off the charts, and his master would probably murder him.

"The other party seems to have grasped some sort of spatial technique and is counter-attacking!" An old man pushed at the lens in his glasses and concluded.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know how valuable research on spatial techniques is? How did he get it?" Collins' first reaction was that of disbelief.

"But that's the only explanation! If the other party's spatial knowledge reserves are vaster than ours, we'll probably have to be on our guard against the following spatial attacks!" The old man spoke rapidly.

"Spatial attacks?" Collins was stunned, and immediately after, saw the earth-shattering spatial turbulence that submerged the area…

"The effects aren't half bad!" Listening to the prompt from the A.I. Chip, Leylin's mood immediately improved.

Arcane Arts and knowledge regarding spatial coordinates were obviously insanely expensive. They were rarely seen, even in the Morning Star area.

However, he had the A.I. Chip and did not need very complete information. Hence, he had purchased just a few incomplete ones.

Though he could not be considered a great master in this area, attacking a few guys who were similarly newbies wouldn't be a problem.

"You dare—" An enraged voice sounded. Another Magus with a black moon rune on his forehead suddenly appeared at the boundary of the world, trying to intercept Leylin.

"I am your opponent!" Along with the sounds of a lion growling, another Warlock with hair that seemed to be cast out of gold appeared in front of that Magus.

"Wayde…" The Radiant Moon Magus called out in a low tone, his expression revealing his fear.

"The other plan has been launched! Is that the Radiant Moon Magus from Jupiter's Lightning?" Leylin turned and took a glimpse, storing the other party's appearance in his memory.

*Whoosh!* As he was breaking through the protective sphere of a world, enormous astral forces had been activated and Leylin felt himself go dizzy. His body seemed to turn into a streak of light and then completely disappeared.

Compared to a prepared teleportation formation, the strength one required to move freely about the astral plane was much higher.

The huge pressure was as if a slab of steel was pressing down on Leylin's body.

Cold, stifling, frenzied! Leylin immediately felt his bones creaking, and the defensive aurora on his body began to shatter bit by bit.

'Perhaps even the pressure tens of thousands of meters under the sea can't compare to this…' This was the last conscious thought Leylin had. Before he completely fainted, the only thing he could do was to use Multilimb Strength and cover his body with dark green energy.

...

In a world of lava, large crevices could be seen in the earth, magma surging inside like a network of red rivers.

Space distorted on the surface of a large black rock, forming a translucent gate of light. It incessantly generated lightning in the surroundings.

The lightning crashed down more and more frequently as the entire area was filled with a dazzling white light.

*Boom!* The white light exploded, forming an eye-piercing radiance. When all the light vanished, the original gate of light and the lightning had all disappeared, leaving behind only charred traces that recounted the strange events that had just occurred.

"Hah… I've finally entered!" Leylin furrowed his brows, sensing the large amount of fire elemental particles surrounding him. "This concentration… Magi would believe it if someone said this was the fire elemental world!"

Intense pain could be felt from various parts of his body, causing him to groan and bend his back.

"A.I. Chip!" Leylin immediately ordered, "Check my current condition!"

[Beep! Host body's soft tissue damage is at 30.87%. Fractures found at 7 areas, and signs of bruising observed on internal organs. Immediate treatment is recommended!] The A.I. Chip loyally intoned, transmitting a 3D human figure to him. The blue image held many signs of wounds.

Even with Leylin's current vitality, he was still injured to this degree. Other regular Magi would probably have completely disappeared without a trace.

His astonishing vitality and Warlock bloodline were slowly mending the injuries in his body, allowing his tightly furrowed eyebrows to relax.

"That was really dangerous. I almost died outside the protective sphere…" While recalling what had just happened, Leylin couldn't help but break out in cold sweat.

The protective sphere! This was the edge of a world, and even included part of the void. It could be said to be a large world's strongest defence!

In general, every world had this protective sphere, though its strength varied. The most famous protective sphere was probably the World of Gods' crystal wall.

Its powerful isolation ability was enough for even Magi at ranks 7 and above to be forced to return in defeat. It included a large world and various planes, forming the World of Gods' unique culture of strength. It even cut off attempts at peeping from other worlds, save for that one time when the ancient Magi had invaded them.

Before reaching the Lava World, Leylin was able to regain consciousness with the protection of Multilimb Strength, preventing him from being in a bad situation.

If one wanted to use a metaphor, a large world's protective sphere was like customs upon entry to a country. If Leylin had not woken, he would need to force his way in, and would definitely be met with attacks, especially from the malicious intent of the World Will.

The method Leylin had employed this time was akin to slipping through a barrier. He had not been discovered by the World Will, and the focus on him was evidently minimal, which would aid in his later movements.

"And this!" Leylin pulled a silver necklace full of astral light from his neck. After sensing that the connection was undamaged, he could completely relax.

This necklace represented his connection with the astral gate in the Magus world. As long as the connection there was not broken, he could teleport back at any time through the gate.

Right when Leylin had left the Magus world, Collins' attack had been in order to completely cut off this connection, leaving Leylin stranded in another world and unable to find his way home for eternity.

Gilbert and the other two had been defeated using this method.

Of course, Collins had been made a fool of by Leylin, and would probably not be able to emerge for a long time. The largest danger had been obstructed by Wayde, and Leylin finally had some time to do what he wanted.

Saving the two dukes also fit with Leylin's plans for benefits.

After all, he was not strong enough to go head to head against Jupiter's Lightning. He needed a few other people to relieve the pressure, and Gilbert and Emma were very good candidates for this.

Furthermore, Gilbert was Leylin's mentor, not someone he could abandon so easily.

After considering for some time and finding the best way out for himself, Leylin still chose to come forward and save them.

"But… This world is so huge. Where am I to find them?" Leylin watched the lava lake that stretched as far as he could see, as well as the burning clouds in the sky, and couldn't help but laugh bitterly.

[Beep! Testing surroundings…] At this moment, the A.I. Chip immediately projected the analysis of the surroundings before Leylin.

"This…"

Leylin's soul force was sent out to explore, and he immediately sensed the difference from what he was used to. In the Lava World, his spiritual force seemed sluggish, a result of the laws of this world not being harmonious with his own.

"As expected, with a switch in worlds, the dimensions, energy levels and even the the interactions between particles are starkly different. The changes in laws are definitely a huge obstruction to Magi who travel between worlds."

A thread of understanding flashed in Leylin's eyes. This was the precious experience that many ancient Magi had gathered through their blood and sweat.

"Thankfully, I've already condensed my point mass. Soul force is still useful in most worlds, and only needs some slight alterations. If it was still spiritual force, I'm afraid…" Relief rose in Leylin's heart.

Soul force was a high-grade power, and could be used in many worlds. Its practicality trumped that of spiritual force.

Leylin estimated that if he still used spiritual force here, he would probably have to deal with the awkwardness of not fitting in. He might even need to cultivate it from the beginning and turn his spiritual force into the spiritual strength unique to this world. Though there would be no bottleneck, it would definitely require a lot of effort.

Now, with the use of soul force, this issue was mostly solved.

"It's no wonder that ancient Magi placed Morning Star as the minimum rank to attack other worlds. So there's this factor!" Leylin touched his chin.

[Beep! Data on surroundings completely gathered. Generating elemental map. Analysing world's laws. Beginning fine-tuning of host body's soul undulations…]

Assistance

Over five years of progress and the addition of a large amount of information on the soul from Leylin's end that he'd acquired through trade and missions, the A.I. Chip's analysis on the soul had reached a whole new level.

Though it still could not completely enumerate soul force, it was not far from this goal, and could perform many unbelievable deductions and integrations.

Things like altering the soul undulations being emitted by him were only one part of it.

'Mm! The concentration of fire elemental particles is the highest here. If I modify the spell models of the Magus World, I might achieve an even more astounding bonus to my power!' Leylin touched his chin and watched the elemental map, his eyes glowing.

Meanwhile, his aura had already begun to change. A dim layer of light flickered into existence and quickly covered his body. The entire space seemed to distort for a while, but at the same time, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

Leylin suddenly sighed deeply, and his body seemed to incorporate itself seamlessly into the surroundings.

"I've finally rid myself of that feeling of being spied on! World Will…" he sighed, tone showing his relief. "Luckily, the protector of this world is similar to the consciousness of Gaia, and not some living being. If not, I wouldn't have been able to dupe them so easily…"

After travelling to another world, there was an issue of how to deal with the ill intent from the world.

The undulations of Morning Star Magi were as obvious as a lit torch in the darkness. It would definitely attract the attention of the world, and things would be even more troublesome in a world that was not their own.

If he completely infuriated the World Will, it was like inviting a god of death to his side. It would bring about unceasing bad luck.

Even Morning Star Magi would be played to death, forget anyone else.

Leylin's aura changed, and he was now just like the occupants of this world, not standing out in the least.

"This way, I have completely descended into this world. I wonder where Mentor Gilbert and the others are…" Leylin furrowed his eyebrows, and a tremendous and terrifying soul force was sent out to scan the surrounding areas.

Though soul force had no form and was intangible, the instant a Morning Star power exploded, the entire space would seem to halt, and even the lava would stop roaring.

The world was a fiery red! With the spread of his soul force, he could see much more of the lava river network. This place seemed like it was near a crater, with practically no signs of life.

The reason why he said there was practically none, was because Leylin had found a plant.

This was a plant similar to a Black Metal tree. The roots were fixed firmly in the ground, almost entering the lava, and the whole trunk had a black luster. Even the high temperature of the lava did not cause this tree to wither at all.

"At least there's some signs of life, or else I'd have assumed only elemental beings could survive in this world…" Leylin nodded, but his expression suddenly changed as he glanced in a direction.

There, he had keenly felt the undulations of some being, and it was a large one at that!

"The aboriginals?" Leylin chuckled. His body merged into the air, and began to move in the direction that the energy had come from.

Not long after, he reached his destination and watched a large battle.

At one side of the battlefield was a group of beings, each two to three metres tall and looking similar to humans. Even when boiling hot lava made contact with their glistening black skin, it did not result in a large reaction, which meant their resistance to heat was very high. They also had a single little horn on their heads.

There were about ten or so one-horned beings, holding black lances and other weapons as they surrounded and attacked a giant monster.

This monster was completely red. There was a thick layer of rocks on its body that looked like a shell, lines of lava flowing down like little streams.

It was ten or so metres tall, looking like a large worm with its lower body submerged in lava. It seemed to be a being that lived only within the lava.

*Pak!* With a ferocious sweep, several of the one-horned beings were flung away, and the creature spat out a golden liquid from its mouth. The liquid was of an unbelievably high temperature, and the moment the liquid landed on the ground, it began to burn fiercely. Even the one-horned beings were in trouble, and those that had the golden liquid splashed on them immediately showed signs of burns appearing on their bodies.

"Kkngsg_fkamg-…" The few leaders of the one-horned race immediately began to yell using a very strange method. They did not seem to employ vocal chords, instead making sounds directly from the lower abdomen. It was similar to the ventriloquists from his previous world.

"As expected, I can't understand it at all…" Leylin was speechless, but luckily, issues like this were not a huge problem. Secretly following them for a period of time and having the A.I. Chip analyse their language would work, but Leylin had an even better method.

*Whoosh!* A thread of dim soul force quickly disappeared into the head of a one-horned being who was heavily injured.

"Ugh…" That one-horned being began to struggle vigorously, and yet could only whimper uselessly. His fellow clansmen thought he was crying out in pain, and hence this did not arouse their interest.

Meanwhile, images flashed in front of Leylin's eyes like in a movie.

Soon enough, this being's entire life was presented before Leylin, from his birth, including his growth, to his death. Everything was clearly recorded by the A.I. Chip.

[Beep! Identified unnamed language. Saving in database!] [Beep! Generated map of vicinity, as well as basic information on Lava World and the races…]

From the great amount of memories, the A.I. Chip had found much useful information and began to organise them systematically, sorting them into the corresponding fields of knowledge.

"Good! Set the name of this unnamed language as 'Lava Language' and transmit it to my memories!" Leylin immediately used this function.

In less than a second, Leylin had learnt the language of this world. Though they had different bodies, that was a problem easily solved by magic and some illusions.

Only at this point did the meaning of the yells of those one-horned beings emerge in Leylin's mind accurately.

"Wook'ma, leave!" A being with a body larger than the rest of the one-horned clansman stood in front of the lava worm, pushing a one-horned being with a smaller stature away.

*Chik chik…* The giant lava worm roared, opening its mouth and swallowing this one-horned being.

The one-horned being called Wook'ma was stunned as she sat on the ground, eyes losing their focus.

"Damn it, Wook'la's finished. The ceremony is a failure. How were we so unlucky as to encounter a lava worm?"

The other one-horned beings' faces were filled with remorse, and one of them began to curse, "It must have something to do with Klin clan. When the time comes, I'll definitely kill them…"

Hearing this, bitter laughs sounded from the other one-horned beings. In this situation, being able to survive was already a luxury. What was the point of saying things like that?

The terrifying spit of the lava worm had already reached Wook'ma, and it was much too late for rescue attempts. A few of these clansmen closed their eyes, unable to watch.

Wook'ma had only just grown to adulthood, and was usually a passionate, bright child. To think she would die here… A few other young clansmen were already roaring while they pounced forward.

*Roar!* The expected pain did not come, and Wook'ma opened her eyes curiously, finding a strange being in front of her.

This being looked very strange. He had no horns, no black skin, and physically looked small. He looked about the size of a three or four year old in the clan.

However, it was this small figure that had easily blocked the attack of the lava worm, and from the opponent's howls, there was a trace of… fear?

Yes, Wook'ma was sure of it. The powerful lava worm was actually afraid of this little thing.

"Are you alright?" The weird being in front of her spoke, using the language of her tribe. Wook'ma naturally understood.

"I- I'm fine! Are you of the ant tribe? Though you don't have their feelers, your skin colour and physique match!" Wook'ma seemed to have forgotten the danger in front of her and began to strike up a conversation with Leylin.

Leylin was speechless at the actions of this tribe, and instead exerted strength in his arms.

*Ka-cha! Ka-cha!* A giant red hand that was ten or so metres long fished the lava worm up easily. Its five fingers exerted a force one by one, causing the lava worm to roar in pain.

Layer after layer of rock fragments peeled off and fell from its body, and by the time the magma armour had disappeared, its physique had obviously become much smaller. Even its aura had strangely weakened.

"Hm? Interesting." Leylin watched the magma shell dropping off. The golden liquid from before was transported through a series of complicated pathways through which its effects were amplified, turning from ordinary lava to the powerful golden lava.

"An amplification spell formation? But I don't see any resemblance to one…" Leylin's eyes shone with interest, the large hand exerting more force. More layers fell from the lava worm's body.

Yet another layer of magma fell, and the lava worm was now only two or three metres long. Its aura suddenly weakened till it could not match up to the most ordinary one-horned clansmen.

'A.I. Chip, remember these patterns!' Leylin secretly commanded. There were many paths and research methods in these other worlds, and also ample experimental materials. All of these were things that Magi would go berserk over, and also one of the main reasons they were willing to risk death to explore other worlds.

*Boom!* The last of the magma slid off, and the lava worm that had seemed enormous had turned into a fat, meaty worm that was just over a metre long.

Unihorn Race

"Thank you for saving Wook'ma, revered Powerful One!"

Rather than the young female, two other one-horned beings came forward with their right arm on their chest, doing a strange action.

"May I know the Powerful One's name?"

Leylin noticed an investigative glint that had been concealed well in their eyes. There were even traces of suspicion, but he had already come up with a plan.

"I am Ley, of the winged people! I am currently travelling to learn more about different cultures, so there is no need to thank me. The great will of lava was the one who orchestrated all this…"

With the memories of that one-horned tribal, Leylin's speech was just like that of the Lava World's aboriginals, and his disguise was seamless.

The so-called winged people were a shield Leylin had found for himself.

Through the other party's memories, he had found that all the different races of Lava World looked totally different from regular Wooks, and only the winged people tribe were somewhat similar. As for the wings? With his skills in magic as a Morning Star, creating two wings was too simple.

"So you are a friend of the winged tribe! Welcome to the Blazing Thorn Land!"

The winged people were a peace-loving minority in the Lava World. They were usually scattered throughout the land, and did not cause any trouble with any large organisations. Hence, these two one-horned beings, even if they didn't let their guards down completely, lost a lot of their suspicion. They invited Leylin enthusiastically to a city nearby to rest.

Leylin, who had other intentions, naturally rejected them for a while, before going with the situation and agreeing.

Overjoyed, the two clansmen immediately used whatever they had at hand and conducted a banquet in Leylin's honour.

What surprised Leylin the most was that their meal today was the lava worm. It had to be said that when one repressed the disgust at placing the lava worm's meat in their mouth, the expected terrible taste did not appear. The meat was actually similar to chicken, and also had a fragrant and sweet juice; it was a rare delicacy.

This was especially true in the Lava World. Food that had high water content was actually one of the rarest ingredients!

"Lord Ley, thank you so much! Also…" Wook'ma thanked Leylin with a tone full of admiration, passing over a large portion of the meat of the worm.

"What is it?" Leylin answered, finding the situation funny.

"May… May I see your… wings? I've heard that the wings of the winged people are the most beautiful things in the world!" Wook'ma's eyes were full of admiration, but that only had Leylin feeling like laughing and crying at the same time.

"The most beautiful? I'm afraid us winged people can't take that title, but I can fulfill your request." Leylin nodded, not caring if this was just the pure fantasies of a little girl, or if someone was trying to sound him out.

After he stood up, the clothes on his back tore open, revealing a pair of large, snow-white wings. When spread out, they were a good four or five metres long, and the wings that looked like that of an angel wrapped Leylin within. At the edges of these fine, pure white feathers, there were traces of a golden luster.

'With this appearance, I could even pretend to be an angel in my previous world…' Leylin thought with a laugh. At the same time, he saw that behind Wook'ma, who looked full of admiration, the other two one-horned clansmen were surprised.

Based on their previous conversation, Leylin knew that one was called Wook'e, and the other was Wook'bor. They were part of the largest one-horned clan nearby, the Wook Clan.

In the Lava World, matured one-horned clansmen had to hunt for food by themselves, a rite of passage.

However they had been unlucky, or rather been plotted against. That was why they had encountered a lava worm, and an enraged one at that. If not for Leylin acting, these people might all have died here.

"Mister Ley, I heard that you're a traveller. Can you tell me stories about other places?" Wook'ma's hands were under her chin as she laid on her stomach in front of Leylin like a curious baby.

Combined with her almost three-metre-tall stature and horn, she gave off an appearance that would scare any regular child into crying in his previous world. The contrast was stark.

"This… Please wait for a while. I still want to discuss something with your uncles!" Leylin smiled. All the information he had obtained had come from the unlucky guy who had died. If he was asked about some other matters, that might expose his identity, and he had hence quickly changed the subject.

"Alright! Wook'ma, go to bed. We still have things to discuss with Mister Ley!"

Wook'e stood up. He sent the pouting Wook'ma away and chuckled, finding this embarrassing, "My apologies, Mister Ley, she's only a child!"

"Indeed, I don't blame her," Leylin shook her head. The glint from his eyes made the two clansmen afraid to look him in the eye. "But… Why did you try to probe me?"

"Nothing gets past Mister!" Wook'e and Wook'bor exchanged a glance and began laughing wryly.

The blazing bonfire gradually died out, and only the red lava river in the distance slowly emitted dark red rays. The flickering flames covered the faces of these beings, giving a feeling of light and darkness being unable to be determined.

Leylin, who was listening to these two speak, also had a grim expression as he nodded or shook his head from time to time, looking to be deep in thought.

...

The next day, Wook'e and Wook'bor announced that Leylin would temporarily join and return with them. This immediately resulted in many cheers, with Wook'ma's the loudest.

Seeing Wook'e and Wook'bor's confident expressions, Leylin had the urge to laugh.

Last night, they had told him about some conflict between organisations and some persecution they were facing. Though Leylin had not understood much, nor could he be bothered to, his expression looked like he understood completely. His outward hatred immediately netted a favourable opinion from these two.

From the looks of it, they seemed to think of him as a reliable power. Or rather… as a saviour of sorts?

Leylin found this hilarious, but had to endure it.

"Mister Ley, what are you thinking about…" Wook'ma immediately began to cling to him, and Leylin pressed against his forehead with nothing to say.

Leylin could work independently and find where the large creatures gathered, searching the strongest one's soul and therefore obtaining more information in a convenient manner. However, this would cause a huge ruckus and arouse needless suspicion, as well as the attention from the world's will. The cons outweighed the pros.

Even without attention from the world's will, the Lava World was a world and definitely had someone with a battle might of at least the Morning Star realm. The moment he besieged and enraged large powers, even Leylin could not be certain he would be able to escape safely.

His motive was to save the two Kemoyin Dukes, which was why he had to maintain a low profile until he found them.

Though this method of blending in was slightly troublesome, the advantage was the safety, and there weren't any loopholes.

What allowed Leylin to feel at ease was that time flowed different in other worlds and in the Magus World. One year might have passed in the Magus World while only a month or even a few days had passed here, which was why he still had plenty of time.

"Since Jupiter's Lightning set up a trap here, they must have found this world's coordinates long ago and occupied an area here…"

Leylin's thoughts began to gain clarity.

"Perhaps even that Radiant Moon Magus has quite a few clones here in charge. They might have set up some traps and are waiting for me to get caught, which is why I can't make mistakes…"

After following the group for a few days, a silhouette of a black city could be seen in the distance.

That was a giant city of rock. Whether it was the houses or city walls, they were all made of giant black boulders. Though the city wall was low, the men of another race who were standing tall above it were robust and valiant.

"We're home!" Many single-horned clansmen immediately cheered, but at the thought of their siblings who had died, they could not help but begin to lower their heads and weep.

...

'This is a place where intelligent beings gather, but my soul force has yet to make any discoveries of them…' His concealed soul force swept through the place, but Leylin's expression did not change despite his sighing inside.

In a palace constructed of large black rocks, Leylin saw the leader of the one-horned race's Wook Clan. These leaders were usually called the "Intellectual One."

"Revered Intellectual One, please accept the blessings of a guest from far away!" Following custom, Leylin placed a few portions of lava worm meat in front of a wrinkled one-horned being as a gift.

At this moment, only the two of them were in the large palace. Wook'e and the rest had long since hurried back.

"Lava worm? These beings usually like to stay in lava and seldom come out. After being aggravated, they will explode with terrifying lava attacks. It's all thanks to you that Wook'ma and the rest could return safely!"

The elderly Intellectual One nodded, grabbing at the lava worm and beginning to eat without reservations. Juice splashed everywhere and fell from the corner of its mouth, droplets landing on the straw mat.

This was a tradition of the one-horned race. Enjoying the gift in front of the guest was a sign of respect.

Leylin appeared to be sitting at a side respectfully, though in actuality, his soul force had already covered the surroundings.

"This intellectual being has pretty good abilities, at the strength of a rank 1 or 2 Magus. It's a pity that it's still too weak…"

The old one-horned clansman obviously did not notice Leylin's gaze that held pity, and when it was done with the meal, it touched its lips. "Well then, is there anything I can help you with? Just say the word!"

"Of course! I have a difficult problem that I need your help with…" Leylin smiled slowly while softly stating his request.

Rank

It was the early morning and the air was refreshing, a situation that seldom occurred. Even the lava rivers weren't boiling hot right now.

The large black city gates opened slowly, and a small caravan made its way through.

Within the caravan were many black one-horned clansmen. Their mode of transport was a giant creature that looked like a snail. Their shells towered high, a few openings in them made expressly for the easy retrieval of items.

There were no goods in the huge shell of the largest mount, and only a space that was specially cleared for Leylin to sit in, with his legs crossed.

Though this snail's movements weren't especially quick, it was advantageous in that there were practically no jolts from the travel. Even the temperature of this place was different from that of the surroundings, and it left Leylin feeling very satisfied.

At the thought of the unwillingness to part on Uma's face, as well as Wook'e and Wook'bo's stunned expressions, Leylin had the urge to laugh.

He had no plans on interfering with matters relating to other races. That 'Intellectual One' had also known from the aura undulations that Leylin had intentionally emanated, that he was not to be provoked, and did not want to keep a time bomb like Leylin around.

Hence, everything clicked together. The one-horned race immediately agreed to bring Leylin along on their next travel. With the travelling merchants as the guide, they brought Leylin to a bigger city.

In all honesty, compared to the city where many different races lived together in harmony, the black city that the one-horned race had built was like a town in the countryside.

"Woking City! The largest city in the Blazing Thorn Land. I hope it won't let me down!" Leylin's eyes flashed with a glint that nobody could see through, while his hands began to move quickly.

Large amounts of Magus materials were fished out of his spatial ring and arranged to form a small-scale spell formation.

The whole process was covert, and not the slightest sound was made. It was not just the one-horned beings outside. Even the snail that Leylin was sitting on did not feel it.

*Buzz…* An extremely slight undulation that only Morning Star ranked Kemoyin Warlocks could detect was transmitted into the distance.

"Go!" Two dull spiritual flames appeared on Leylin's hands, quickly disappearing into the spell formation.

Following that, Leylin closed his eyes, a thread of soul force linking with the spell formation. His mind seemed to pass through the snail shell and arrive outside, spreading further.

A long while later, Leylin opened his eyes and shook his head.

'It still isn't working! This is the limit of what I can do. I'm afraid the two Dukes aren't in this region…' Leylin sighed, his expression complicated.

A world was much too large. It could be said that the Lava World far surpassed the central continent in terms of surface area. To find two people in such a large area, a needle in a haystack couldn't even begin to describe it.

Though Gilbert and the rest were Morning Star Warlocks and would definitely make a name for themselves wherever they were, one had to remember that Jupiter's Lightning definitely had an organisation here. It was possible that before he could even find Gilbert, the Radiant Moon Magi would be at his doorstep wanting his life.

'But… Morning Star strength is rare even in other worlds. If I was a Magus from Jupiter's Lightning, I would probably scheme to seize control of large-scale organisations and find a way to lure other members to come over as well…'

Leylin began to envisage the plans that Gilbert and the others would make after coming here suddenly, and immediately had several trains of thought.

'I'm afraid I'll have to go to other large cities. Intelligence groups there must have the information I want!' Leylin's eyes shone, and he pointed at the spell formation in mid-air.

A layer of crimson flames immediately started to rage, swallowing the spell formation and the two soul fires within.

In the crimson flames, the spell formation that had originally been large and oversized shrunk down into little droplets that rolled around and disappeared into a soul crystal.

When the crimson flames had died out, all that was left was a red crystal the size of a fist.

At the heart of the crystal were two fine silver-white flames that intertwined, forming the strange shape of the Ouroboros.

'Alright! The sensing technique has been set. I won't need to go through the troublesome task of setting up a spell formation every single time in the future.' Leylin looked relaxed as he kept the crystal properly. Immediately after, he felt the whole group come to a halt.

"What's going on?" Furrowing his brows, Leylin opened the shell of the snail and went outside.

"Mister Ley, there's a battle going on outside. The undulations have already reached the Earth grade, hence I've ordered the group to stop!" A giant one-horned clansman came before Leylin, looking very respectful.

Initially, he had had qualms regarding Intellectual One's plans, but after Leylin had shown some tricks, the other party was immediately taken in. His gaze towards Leylin was full of deference.

"Oh? I didn't notice that just now." Leylin nodded, spreading a pair of large white wings from his back. A powerful strength flowed through them, allowing his body to fly into the air.

This expansive view immediately allowed him to view the scene far away.

Energy undulations were spread recklessly, and two figures moved to and fro in the lava, filling the whole sky with magma droplets.

"Indeed, energy at the Earth grade," Leylin nodded.

This world naturally did not have the same classification system as the Magus World, but several beings with extraordinary strength still existed here, though the differences in ranking were not as distinct.

From what Leylin knew, individuals who had exemplary abilities only had a few divisions. Exemplary, Earth, Sky, Star!

Based on Leylin's understanding, 'Exemplary' referred to knights and acolytes, and they were beings which possessed the slightest bit of extraordinary strength. They were the lowest stratum. Earth referred to the equivalents of official Magi, or perhaps those who could reach rank 2. Similarly, Sky were the strong ones, as strong as rank 3! And those of Star rank were beings who existed in legends and myths, and were on par with the Magus World's Morning Star Magi.

The classification of 'Stars' allowed Leylin to guess that Lava World definitely had been influenced by the Magus World. Or, at least, there had been a few Morning Star Magi that had paid attention to this world.

If not, the classification of Stars would not be so similar.

As for strength, the one-horned race that Leylin had seen up to this point depended completely on their body. Only the Intellectual One he saw that day seemed to have awakened some magical ability, which was rather decent.

The two beings of another race that were fighting in front of Leylin paled in comparison to the Intellectual One from before, whether in terms of the intensity of their energy or undulations.

However, after observing for a long while, Leylin made a discovery, "A summoning ability? And it's the power of a totem?"

These two were obviously not of the one-horned race. One of them was extremely obese, to the point that their waist couldn't even be seen. A long nose hung from its face, making it look like an upright elephant, except that its skin was bright yellow.

The other was green, and from the big-headed race. It had an exceptionally small body and very nimble arms, with many runes and spell patterns rolling from its fingertips and being carved into the ground.

"Ignite!" With its voice, the image on the ground suddenly brightened, a layer of soil solidifying to form a berserk bear-like creature.

A pentagonal spell formation appeared on the elephant clansman, and in the next moment, the space seemed to shatter. A large double-headed cheetah descended from another space.

The two creatures looked each other face to face, and then began to tear at one another viciously, powerful energy undulations sweeping through the region.

'There's a shadow of the Magus World here! It seems that the ancient Magus World once took over many worlds and made use of the strengths of this place, giving rise to many strength-based systems. Looks like the rumours were real!'

Leylin watched on with interest, occasionally finding traces of some systems similar to that in the Magus World from their usage of energy.

However, his attitude of watching leisurely had clearly offended the two of them.

"You damned bird person. What are you looking at?" The elephant man roared, and it summoned a large goshawk, its sharp feathers and claws like steel as they emanated glints that inspired terror.

The goshawk cawed out and pounced towards Leylin, its large talons seemingly able to tear through anything.

The other opponent seemed to have slowed his movements, standing aside and waiting to watch a good show.

"Really…" Leylin couldn't help but shake his head, watching the goshawk that was throwing itself at him speechlessly. Never did he expect that watching such a spectacle could cause trouble.

'Summoning methods can technically be divided into elemental summoning, spatial summoning, bloodline summoning, all the way to the greatest, which is world summoning! The summoning methods here are probably those of the lowest level, spatial summoning. They can only instantly summon contracted beings of this world before the summoner…'

Leylin touched his chin, watching the goshawk that was pouncing over, and suddenly laughed.

For some reason, after seeing that smile, the elephant man on the ground felt a chill, as if he had done something very wrong.

Soul force invaded the insides of the goshawk's mind. Leylin immediately found a spell formation that symbolised a contract. It was twinkling, and as if it had discovered the invasion of another being, it began to retaliate.

However, soul force was far too powerful. With just a sweep, the elephant man's low-grade spiritual force was utterly defeated, and the spiritual branding had also been erased. The large goshawk felt giddy and suddenly found the white-winged person in front of it favourable, circling around Leylin.

"Impossible!" The intense spiritual attack, as well as the erasing of his mark immediately caused the elephant man to be seriously injured.

He involuntarily cried out and spat a mouthful of fresh blood, crumbling down on the spot.

The other opponent seemed to be scared out of its wits and stayed rooted to the spot.

How could this summoning partner of his be defeated in such a straightforward manner? The green-skinned clansman felt like his thoughts came crashing down.

He was beginning to pity his opponent. Just a casual act had provoked such a terrifying existence. They had to be at least of the Sky rank!

Woking City

"Mister Ley!" The rest of the Wooks celebrated upon Leylin's return, worship in their eyes. There was a respect for power that was imprinted into their very bloodlines, and now it had shown itself.

"It's all settled, let's continue!" Leylin returned to the seat in the giant snail shell, looking calm.

Indeed, the two rank 1 Magi did not warrant Leylin's attention. However, it had surprised Leylin how much the A.I. Chip had advanced after deriving the energy transformation formulas of the rank 1 Magi.

[Beep! Decoding of 15 rank 1 Fire element spells, 7 rank 2 spells and 3 rank 3 spells has been completed.]

Leylin's face broke into a smile after hearing the notice from the A. I. Chip.

Due to the difference in the rules of the Lava World, spell models of the Magus world could not directly be used in it, and had to be slightly altered.

For other Magi to do such a thing would require a lot of research; something that was potentially troublesome. The spells had to each be studied and analysed individually.

However, Leylin had the ability to analyse the spells in batches and instantly managed to understand many of the spells.

'In this case, I can recover most of my strength before we reach Woking…' A streak of light flashed and he slowly closed his eyes.

The giant caravan started to move slowly after the short pause, the Wook clansmen at ease.

After all, with the almighty Mister Ley overseeing them, there was not much to worry about during the journey, be it the bandits of the wilderness or disasters of nature and beasts.

As a matter of fact, with Leylin around, they were rarely affected by natural disaster, and even avoided huge crises many times.

After some time, The one-horned race eventually worshipped Leylin like a god. They had never been at such ease before, usually losing more than half their merchants and consuming large amounts of supplies for every trip.

Their parting with Leylin was full of reluctance. The chief of the caravan tried his best to persuade Leylin not to leave, even hinting that he could stay even if the Intellectual One refused.

But how would Leylin agree? He left with a smile.

Woking City, the largest city in the Blazing Thorn Land.

The entire city was built in a huge barren desert, with raging winds roaring every once in a while. The place appeared desolate.

But Leylin knew that such living conditions were considered exemplary in the Lava World. In the Lava World, the intelligent creatures thrived best in the areas where there was no lava flow. Other than the pure fire elemental creatures, few species would enjoy living near the edge of the lava. In here, other than the shortcoming that the temperature was slightly higher, it wasn't very much different from that of the deserts in the Magus World, and hence was considered conditions that were good enough.

"Nevertheless, these non-human species are really…"

The dress code and appearances of the Magi in Woking City differed greatly from what he was used to. Leylin was a little speechless at the unique structure of the buildings and the large crowd of passersby, who were predominantly non-human.

To Leylin's surprise, the one-horned race whom he had encountered early were actually more human than most, at least they looked similar to normal humans.

With non-humans who had numerous eyes and limbs were barely considered normal, Leylin was completely shocked when he saw a humongous green caterpillar, with hat and stick, in a store. It, ignorant of his gaze, was in a heated argument with the store's owner.

Despite his adventure experience in the Magus world, Leylin had mostly only been exposed to humans. Although the central continent held many non-humans, humans were still the majority while the rest eked out an existence in the shadows, even if they were mixed bloods who looked human.

However, in this place, Leylin felt like he was the odd one out. This feeling of isolation was new to him, and interesting.

"No wonder the antique books say that the process of conquering a foreign world is actually a great challenge for Magi. It's extremely difficult to even think of such a thing now, especially the act of going against the whole world by oneself. Truly, insane…"

Flames fumed in Leylin's eyes as he mumbled under his breath, his eyes flashing with excitement. "I really wish to give it a try… The feeling of conquering a world…"

His exclamation was well and good, but time had arrived that he settle serious matters.

Leylin stopped a long-haired, two headed green being that was drooling out some unknown liquid.

"I need to get some information, is there any place can fulfil my needs? If u can bring me there, this will be yours!" Leylin took out a pinkish crystal and tossed it in front of the non-human, making his eyes brighten up.

"I– I'll bring you there!" The sturdy man by the side of the two-headed being hemmed and hawed, as if he had to invest a lot of energy in speaking each and every word.

"Great! After you!" Leylin's eyes flashed with a trace of a smile.

...

Clearly, the two headed being was pretty familiar with streets of Woking, every step of his long legs taking him a few meters ahead. He was originally worried that Leylin could not keep up with him, but after seeing Leylin at ease he sped up.

When they reached a remote alley, the two-headed fellow turned around and stammered, "Right– right here!"

"Is it?" Leylin looked around. The huge shadow of the building covered the region, blotting out the sun and leaving the entire place in darkness.

A tinge of a sombre mood was felt, and there was not a single person around.

"Hehehe, look, what Strap brought us!" A green, multi-limbed being who looked like a grasshopper climbed along the side of the wall. The pair of crimson eyes on top of its triangular head stared at Leylin with a malicious intent.

"Ant Tribe? Or Winged Tribe? Whatever, Old Hawk will surely pay a high price for his meat anyway… "

In concert with his voice, many other non-humans climbed out of the corners, all looking bloodthirsty and ferocious.

"I knew it… I just knew it would turn out this way…" Leylin sighed helplessly, "Why do you want to force me to use violence when we can resolve this peacefully?"

Leylin's puzzled look made the nonhumans tremble, feeling as if they had done something wrong.

"Just as well! In any case, I'm short on quite a few foreign specimens!"

Leylin played with the ring on his finger, gracefully taking out a silver surgical knife. He looked focused and devoted.

...

"Oh no! Please let me go! I don't know anything, they forced me…"

Half an hour later, the alley was filled with the reek of blood. All the non-humans had disappeared, leaving behind only the two headed being kneeling on the ground, begging for mercy.

However, it was a high-pitched female voice this time, coming from the other head.

"Really?" Leylin wiped the silvery surgical knife, mirth in his eyes. It terrified the two-headed being, whose hair stood on ends.

"I can help! I know the best information broker in the city, it's Old Jake. I'm telling the truth! He even knows things about other worlds! I can bring you there right now!" The being revealed its intelligence at the boundary between life and death, finally securing its life from the surgical knife Leylin had placed in front of it.

"Good! Bring me to him now!" The surgical knife stopped right before the being's eyes, only a millimetre away.

"Yes, Master! I will bring you there now…" The creature wept, even wanting to die. If not for the fact that it was in its resting period and if it had let its younger brother go out instead, it would never have come near a malefic like Leylin.

It was useless to say anything now, though. It knew very well that it would end up like the scattered piles of flesh and bones if it did not bring Leylin to his destination and help him get what he wanted.

It was no doubt that he was the local tyrant. In a short while, he had brought Leylin to an extensive basement area.

Leylin got excited upon entering the place. This atmosphere of this place was pervaded with feelings of passion, madness, and death, causing the darkness elemental particles to be very concentrated here.

'It wouldn't take too long for this kind of place to give normal humans a mental disorder…' Leylin stroked his chin, followed after the two-headed being.

"What brings you here Strap? Do you wanna play some games?" A creature with the head of an ox patted the two headed creature's shoulder with great strength. His right leg was missing, instead replaced with a giant metal limb.

Leylin smelled an odour similar to that of marijuana from the ox-head, coming from the crimson drink in his hand. It seemed to be an alcoholic drink of this world.

"No, I'm here for Old Jake! You see…" The two headed being pointed at Leylin and started to whisper to the ox-head with flattery.

"Off you go!" The Ox-head took another look at Leylin, perhaps it was the attractive thin figure of Leylin that set him off guard.

Underground Wrestling Match

Passing through a rusty metal door, Leylin entered a large underground arena.

There were cheers, howls, even berserk roars sounding incessantly. At times one could hear the sound of weapons clashing, at others the sound of a body being pierced.

The atmosphere was insane. The audience, who were composed of multiple races, waved pieces of paper in their hands as they yelled towards the middle of the arena.

"This…" Leylin looked down towards the centre with interest, and immediately made a discovery.

In a large cage made of steel was a were-lion with golden fur. It was matched against several large monsters.

These monsters looked like eight-legged crocodiles with mouths full of sharp teeth.

Their mouths actually looked like saws with all the sharp teeth, boasting a viciousness and frightening power that would cause weaker beings to faint.

Their opponent, the were-lion, was unarmed, and could only fight these monsters with its own fists. Heaps of muscles bulged on its body, holding in store its formidable strength.

Just as Leylin glanced over, it mercilessly grabbed onto one of the crocodiles' tails and ruthlessly flung it onto a metal bad. A large number of metallic thorns stabbed into the creature's body, and blood gushed out. The injury looked fatal.

In exchange, the were-lion's back now had several bloody scratches that were dripping with blood.

"A place for underground wrestling, with bets and alcohol?" Leylin nodded, beginning to have some expectations towards Old Jake.

The heads of such underground organisations were usually the people who acquired intel the most effectively. He would definitely have a huge network.

After all, selling information was very profitable, and he would definitely not let this opportunity go.

"Come with me!" The ox-head limped as he led the way, guiding Leylin through several bar counters where many were raising their wine cups and roaring madly. He then opened a small wooden door.

This door truly was tiny. Leylin's physique would be considered slender among the races of this world, and even he had to lower his head, half bowing before he could enter.

*Boom!* The sturdy wooden door closed, isolating the room from the clamour outside.

The moment before the door closed, Leylin vaguely saw the were-lion successfully taking care of two other monster crocodiles. Though it had paid a large price, it had still managed to keep its life.

Large numbers of bets failed, and those who had lost their money bellowed, the cacophony almost overturning the entire arena.

And still, when the wooden door closed, it was as if everything outside had no relation to this place.

"Serenity and insanity are only separated by a single door. Isn't that feeling amazing, Mister Ley from the one-horned race's territory?"

A dwarf that was around a metre tall walked out. It had on a long silver robe, the bottom dragging on the ground. It held the same wine cup as the rest, an excited blush on its face.

Its eyes, however, were cold. They were like a mass of ice, not a single ripple within them.

'A rational lunatic!' That was Leylin's first impression if this dwarf. For it to be able to take control of such a large organisation, it was evidently not a simple character.

"You know me?" Leylin had arrived at the Lava World a few days ago, and he had only made contact with the one-horned race. The knowledge that the other party had found information on him so quickly caused him to be delighted. In this case, there was a higher chance of his plans being realised.

"Of course! There are few who can defeat the summoner, Klito. A Sky ranked master is definitely worthy of my respect!" The dwarf bowed slightly, and Leylin was moved.

It must have been a member of the ant race with its brown skin and two little antennae. For some reason, it had broken away from its community and formed a large underground organisation in Woking City.

"Was it the merchants of the one-horned city?" Leylin pondered over it for a moment and immediately answered. Pretty much the only ones who knew him in the entirety of Woking City was that lot.

"Indeed, it was them! Since they were escorted by Mister Ley, I've already sent down orders that all their goods will be sold off at 10% higher than the market price!"

The dwarf of the ant race invited Leylin to take a seat, and personally poured a glass of something similar to red wine for him slowly.

The slight smell of alcohol, mixed with all kinds of fermented items that had anaesthetic effects immediately surrounded Leylin's nostrils.

"The alcohol of other races is really terrifying. They aren't even afraid of harming their bodies…"

Leylin shook his head, a little speechless. Though he was not afraid of these with the quality of his body, his tastes were well-developed. Such a crudely-made thing was not worthy of his attention, even if this alcohol was the best out of this dwarf's collection.

"Alright, respected guest! May I know your purpose in seeking out pitiful old Jake?" Seeing Leylin putting the wine cup down without taking a sip, Jake's expression did not change. He'd taken the initiative to bring up the topic, his eyes smiling.

"Everything!" Leylin chuckled lightly.

"Everything?!" Jake cried out involuntarily. "What do you mean by everything?"

"All the intelligence you have. Everything you know. That includes this region, as well as other areas. Whether it's a big or small issue, I want everything as long as it's valuable…" Leylin's voice was low, and had a unique charm to it.

"Hehe… Mr Ley, do you know how much this information will cost?" Jake laughed, but his voice turned cold.

"I know, but I can definitely afford it!" Leylin answered without hesitation.

"What are you going to use to pay for it?" Jake had already assumed he'd met a lunatic, or someone with a screw loose.

"Your life. Is that enough?" Leylin spoke coldly.

"Crap!" Upon hearing Leylin's words, Jake immediately bowed and retreated, throwing himself behind a study table with a jump. With a push of some mechanism, a defensive layer of energy appeared instantly.

Its movements were fluid, as if it had trained for this countless of times.

Only after the layer rose did its expression become calm. A sneer raised on its lips, "Mr Ley, don't you think you're going too far for a mere guest?"

"I've never felt that way towards the weak!" Leylin's voice was dull, and that caused Jake's face to flush.

As if Leylin's words had touched on some nerve, Jake instantly grew furious.

"Get him!" It called out suddenly, and a pink mist filled the room. Two figures rushed out from within, emanating powerful energy undulations.

"The two mice finally dare show themselves. You're only at the Sky rank, is that so amazing?" Leylin laughed slightly, a dark green layer of energy appearing from his body as a large hand grabbed forwards.

*Boom!* Space itself seemed to freeze in place, and the two fierce black figures halted abruptly. Leylin held each of them by the neck.

What appeared in his hands were two other dwarves that looked very similar to Jake. Energy undulations similar to that of a rank 3 Magus were continually emitted from them, but to Leylin this was far too weak. They were like a candle in a hurricane, a random wisp of wind enough to destroy them.

"Is this all you have to depend on? Any others?" Leylin opened his mouth, and a vortex appeared in the air. The pink mist that had pervaded the air was sucked into Leylin's stomach.

One of those that Leylin was holding suddenly seemed to recall something, and even began to stutter, "This powerful? You– You're a Star rank…"

He sent the two flying, and they fell with a thud, fainting from their injuries.

*Swish!* Seeing Leylin unravelling his trap and defeating two Sky ranks so easily, Jake, who was within the defensive layer, could only grit his teeth and remove it, kneeling before him.

"Revered Master Ley, please forgive the petty me for offending you unknowingly. Jake is willing to hand over all power and information to you…"

"You're smart and understand the situation. Good, I like people like you!" A smile appeared on Leylin's face, but to Jake it looked like that of a devil.

"I don't want your organisation or anything like that. I just need some information from you. Because you're tactful, I'll only purge a portion of your memories. Don't worry…"

Hearing Leylin's words, Jake immediately knelt in gratitude, while forcing a laugh inside.

Just a Star rank was enough to destroy Woking City, and he had no means of fighting back.

...

A few hours later, Leylin who had obtained what he wanted, left the Underground Wrestling Arena, satisfied.

The atmosphere in the arena was still very heated. Now, however, there were great battles between various races. Leylin even saw a few one-horned clansmen who were mere cannon fodder.

The soundproofing effects of the wooden door were superb. There seemed to be some spell formation, and even though Leylin had caused a mess inside, nobody outside found out.

Even that ox-headed person would not know that over the course of the past few hours, the leader of their organisation had thoroughly bowed down at the hands of this young being of a different race.

Of course, Leylin spurned the head of an underground organisation. After using methods of psychological hints to confirm that it had handed over all the information, he had immediately modified its memories and even created a fake experience. This completely concealed the happenings of the day.

After leaving the arena, Leylin found a random inn and, after paying with precious gems, received a large house.

Of course, this wealth had been obtained with the generous sponsorship of Old Jake.

Emberwing Race

The Lava World was vast, and a few hundred years would not be enough to traverse the entire world.

Based on the information hr obtained from Jake, this continent that Leylin was on was the largest in the Lava World, called 'Blazing Crown'.

Around Blazing Crown, was an ocean formed of lava. Within this lava ocean were all kinds of terrifying high-energy beings, and it was a much more dangerous place than the oceans in the Magus World.

Hence, communication between Blazing Crown and the other continents was minimal. Even the most powerful extraordinary ones rarely left the continent.

To Jake's knowledge, Blazing Crown was the heart of the Lava World. The other 'continents' were merely slightly large islands.

'What an interesting world! An ocean formed of lava? If those fire-elemental Magi were to find out about this place, they would be willing to migrate over even if it cost them a fortune.' Leylin touched his chin, beginning to browse through the intelligence he had obtained from Jake.

Though the information was very complicated, the A.I. Chip had recorded everything and could quickly filter out the wrong and useless information, leaving behind the great amounts of valuable intel. It then combined a few pieces that seemed to be linked.

Soon, Leylin managed to form an image of the true Lava World.

This was a world of flames. Fire elemental beings and lava creatures occupied over 80% of the area here. The one-horned race, as well as the ant race that Jake was a part of, could only somewhat survive at the edges of the continent.

On the complete map of the continent, there were no signs of the single-horned city. Woking City was merely a black dot at the edge, and was basically a remote and desolate place.

Three organisations stood at the apex of Blazing Crown.

There was the Divineflame Empire made entirely of fire elemental beings. The Atlan Union was made up of the Emberwing race, a life form similar to humans, and then the Allied Kingdom was made up of the rest. There weren't any others at the same level as them.

Of these three, the Divineflame Empire was the most powerful. The Atlan Union and Allied Kingdom had to collaborate to stave off their invasions.

Wars were incessantly fought as they tried to seize good territory from the lava and fire elemental beings. It was to the point that huge military campaigns were launched every few years.

As for the divisions in their ranks, it was the same as what he'd already encountered. The weakest was Exemplary, followed by Earth, Sky, and Star.

As for those above the Star rank, beings that possessed the strength of Radiant Moon Magi, he hadn't come across any such thing. Although it could just be that Jake's organisation hadn't acquired that level of information yet.

Even so, Leylin's current strength allowed him to do as he liked in the Lava World as long as the other Star ranks or Jupiter's Lightning didn't set their sights on him.

"If I were Gilbert and the others, I would either find a place and hide myself completely, or build an organisation in secret that would give off a distinct signal to the outside, letting any rescuers know where I am.…"

Leylin's eyes flashed, and the A.I. Chip immediately began to search through the data.

Soon enough, a distinct heading attracted Leylin's attention. "Riot at Eastern City of Atlan Union. Rebel army 'Triserpent Sect' has taken responsibility for the event. There are conjectures that this could be a retaliation in response to the large-scaled attack of the Union…"

"Triserpent Sect?" This phrase that was full of meaning immediately got him to make a mental association.

"Isolate all information about the Triserpent Sect!" Leylin commanded. With the keyword found, the A.I. Chip's search went more quickly. Almost instantly, information relating to the Triserpent Sect was projected in front of him.

Through reading this information, Leylin gained a deeper understanding of this organisation.

The Triserpent Sect, which was also called the Triserpent Resistance Army, was an up-and-coming organisation, and its development was rapid. With the goal of overthrowing the rule of the Atlan Union, their operations were unpredictable and very much supported by the lower class commoners.

It was said that there were three heads of the Triserpent Sect, and they were terribly powerful, the Atlan Union's attempts at cornering and annihilating them were to no avail.

However, days ago, the Atlan Union had suddenly announced that they had achieved victory while trying to eliminate the Triserpent Sect. Not only had they destroyed many of its branches, they had even killed the head.

The news of rebellion that Leylin had seen was retaliation launched by the Triserpent Sect.

"Triserpent Sect? Interesting! Is it really the three dukes, or is this bait?" Leylin touched his chin, but it was obvious that in the Atlan Union, there were clues of the location of the two Morning Star dukes!

For this reason, Leylin had to go there no matter what.

'I keep having this feeling that the Atlan Union is very suspicious.' Leylin touched his chin and sank deep into thought.

The three dukes had no grudge against the Atlan Union. Why would they suddenly attack them? Unless… They had made some astounding discovery in the Atlan Union!

'Come to think of it, Jupiter's Lightning found this world first. It would be strange if they did not painstakingly manage it. Hence, if the ones working behind the scenes in the Atlan Union were Jupiter's Lightning, that would explain everything…'

Leylin wondered as explored different possible solutions.

Compared to the Divineflame Empire that was against all foreigners and full of fire elementals, the Atlan Union formed of the Emberwing race similar to humans were easier to manipulate.

On top of that, their strength was only second to the Divineflame Empire in Blazing Crown, and was more suited to the needs of the Morning Star Magi of Jupiter's Lightning.

However, while this made sense logically, Leylin believed things could not be so simple. The same intuition that had helped him obtain astonishing harvests during dangerous moments was blaring sirens at him.

'No matter what it is, I need to go the Atlan Union! As for the Triserpent Sect, we'll see…' Leylin sighed.

...

Boiling lava and fiery red light formed the only luster of the Lava World. And yet, even under this dazzling redness, life was growing stubbornly.

This was a grassland, and little steel trees similar to the one Leylin had seen before and filled the area, along with vegetation whose leaves had jagged edges. A few slender channels of lava could be seen every once in a while, flowing past like little streams in the grasslands. Yet, they could not harm the area at all.

These plants that were like grass that had their roots firmly and deeply in the ground, even boring into the lava and absorbing its energy for their growth.

The stubbornness for life had Leylin feeling surprised.

"Uncle Ley! Why do you like watching this iron-thread grass?" A very fair girl cloaked in read darted over, the sparse red feathers covering her forehead bouncing up and down.

This girl was no different from an ordinary human child, if one disregarded the feathers on her forehead and on the back of her hand.

This was the Emberwing race. In the Lava World, besides fire elemental life forms, they were the largest racial group, and formed the largest group in the Atlan Union.

"I just like them for their resilience!" Leylin chuckled as he handed over a large piece of meat to her. "Take this! I'm afraid we'll have to part here."

"Uncle Ley, are you leaving?" The little girl sucked on her finger, looking reluctant.

Though they had met on the road, the powerful aura of this clansman even had her father in awe. Based on her father's guesses, this Mister Ley must be at least an Earth rank working hard to temper oneself and fervently hoping to advance to a higher realm.

"Brother Ley, are you already leaving?" Not long after, another large man of the Emberwing race rushed over. He had obviously just heard the news, and looked anxious.

Leylin now had a few fine red feathers on his forehead. This was the appearance of the Emberwing race.

In the Atlan Union, it was much too eye-catching if he were to continue pretending to be of the winged race.

"Yes! Working hard in this world can't stimulate my progress anymore. Hence, I've decided to join the army! Perhaps competing against those evil fire elementals of the Divineflame Empire will help me advance to a higher level!"

Leylin's expression was callous, "Besides, I've had a dream since I was young. I wanted to punish those flame bastards with my iron fist… Just in time for me to steel my skills in the upcoming battle at the Death Grand Canyon Battle!"

"D… Death Grand Canyon!" The large man's eyeballs protruded. That was the frontlines of the battle between the Atlan Union and Divineflame Empire. That was also where the most casualties were.

"You…" The large man only moved his lips, but seeing the resolute look on Leylin's face, he did not say more.

"My good brother, help me kill a few more fire elementals!" The large man could only pat Leylin's shoulders as if wishing him luck, and he watched Leylin's figure disappear into the horizon…

"Hah… I've finally arrived…" Leylin saw the outline of the Emberwing race in the distance, and let out a long breath.

The moment he had obtained intel on the Triserpent Sect, he had immediately set off and hurried here in secret.

However, as the Lava World was much too big, and Woking City was located in a very remote area, he had expended much time and effort to reach this place.

As for the large man and family of Emberwing race, they were only a few companions he had joined out of loneliness on the way here.

"Compared to the Magus World, many Exemplary ranks join the army directly in the Lava World and hold high rankings. If I want to obtain any information or intel, that would be the most convenient place."

Testing and Passing

Compared to the Magi of the Magus World who liked to work behind the scenes, the strong in the Lava World were more willing to take the stage and take control of the organisations.

The kingships of large-scaled kingdoms were taken up by Star ranks. In that case, it was understandable for there to be a large number of Exemplaries in the higher ups of the Atlan Union's army.

Furthermore, the army was the quickest place to advance in status, especially during wartime. As long as one was capable, had outstanding results, and nobody obstructed them, people were usually promoted rapidly. This was a method that was much better than others, and also the way that Leylin liked the best.

"But… There's so much hardship in being a soldier. I don't want to be trampled on…" Leylin's eyes swivelled around as he had an idea.

Days later, in a special building within the city.

"Are you here to apply for the Special Task Force? Come with me!" A female Emberwing race member said. She was dressed in a military uniform and was expressionless, yet looked to be formidable. She carried a stack of documents and forms and turned to leave, leaving Leylin and the rest with a view of her elegant back.

"This doll is really…" A burly man beside Leylin began to complain.

"How callous. I like it…" Another pale young man's eyes glowed green, leaving Leylin speechless.

Those with Leylin were all of the Emberwing race. However, what made them distinct from the rest of their clansmen, was the obvious energy undulations from their bodies.

Since this world had Exemplaries, it was obvious that they had special treatment and missions. Things like the Special Task Force were formed for this reason.

With enough strength, Emberwing clansmen were allowed to be selected into the Special Task Force. Not only would their positions be high, they had the best treatment in the army.

Leylin wanted to sneak in, and he obviously formed a fake identity and signed up successfully.

What Leylin cared about was that the Special Task Force often needed to deal with riots that had to do with Exemplaries. As long as he was there, he would definitely bump into the Triserpent Sect.

For this reason, he was in no hurry at all. He would swing in and sneak into the Special Task Force and hide away there while gathering more information.

After all, he was not quite sure about the background of the Triserpent Sect, and he needed to remain cautious.

If this was a trap and he still charged right in, wouldn't he be seeking death?

Leylin and the young male Emberwing looked just as nervous and excited as the rest while they followed the female soldier to a large square.

A middle-aged soldier in silver armour was already waiting there, his expression grim.

"We're beginning the test now! Who's first?" The middle-aged instructor's voice was so loud that everyone's eardrums seemed to have gone numb.

"Me!" That pale young man seemed to be too anxious to show off and darted to the front.

"Fine. Use all your strength and attack the black obelisk ahead!" The military instructor stepped aside and revealed a giant black crystal before everyone.

"Hah!" The young man took a deep breath, and a layer of fire-red light was emitted from his body. Streams of air were dispelled as dust filled the air.

*Rumble!* He threw a punch, and it landed on the black crystal. While it did not budge the slightest, a dim layer of red light appeared on the surface.

Red light filled the obelisk with some difficulty, and fine rings appeared on the surface.

A total of five red rings appeared, before completely disappearing. Upon seeing this, a look of satisfaction flashed by the young man's expression.

"Mm! Fifth level of Emberwing Technique. Exemplary status. Pass!" The officer nodded, with no surprise in his expression.

"Next!" His voice was icy-cold, causing the young man's original complacency to disappear.

"Me!" The one who went up was plump, and similarly used Emberwing Technique. However, only three ringed runes appeared on the obelisk.

"Third level of Emberwing Technique. Fail!"

The officer's voice was callous, and two soldiers immediately went forward and dragged him out.

"Ah… Wait! Give me another chance, I can definitely…" From a distance, the sounds of his wails and pleas could be heard, causing great fear amongst the crowd in the square.

"Next!" The officer's expression remained cold as he continued.

One young man after another went up, and most passed the test, though there were a few who failed. The officer was ruthless as he commanded the soldiers to chase them out.

Leylin watched this scene coolly from below.

Emberwing Technique! He had heard of it before, and knew that it was used by the Emberwing race. It could be said to be found everywhere, and practically everyone knew it.

There was nothing special about levels one to three of Emberwing Technique, and was similar to the breathing techniques of the Magus World. It could increase one's vitality and endurance slightly, with some tolerance towards fire elements.

Once one got to the fourth level of Emberwing Technique, it would be similar to a meditation technique and allow the Emberwing clansmen to have a rapid increase in strength.

The fourth and fifth level was the strength of an Exemplary rank, while six and seven meant Earth rank. Eight and nine were considerably powerful existences and were comparable to the Sky rank. Once one advanced to the tenth level, of which there had been no precedent in history, that was the door to the Star realm!

Though the fundamental parts of Emberwing Technique could be found everywhere, the fourth and fifth levels were kept somewhat secret, and were considered the essence of the race. As for the next few levels, they were kept secure, and could only be passed on in a few places. The reason why so many young people wanted to enter the Special Task Force was probably because they wanted information on the later levels of the technique.

As for the tenth level, that was something only the family of the head of Atlan Union possessed. Most had never even heard of it.

A grave, burly, middle-aged Emberwing clansman went forward. Extending a scarlet palm, six fire rings immediately appeared on the obelisk, and even the officer couldn't help but give the man a second look, "Sixth level of Emberwing Technique. Earth rank. Pass!"

"How amazing! It's someone at level 6, the Earth rank!"

"These sorts of people can survive anywhere. What is he doing here?"

"It must be for the information regarding the eighth and ninth level of the technique! It's only passed on in the army…" The appearance of what was the best results till now immediately gave rise to loud discussions in the queue.

The man from before stood expressionlessly aside in answer to the looks of curiosity or reverence, and the officer couldn't help but have an expression of approval.

"Next!" The officer yelled again, eyes scanning through the crowd that was beginning to thin.

'I'm afraid that this burly man is the one with the best results in this batch. It's not a bad harvest! At least one is passable!' The officer was stuck in this train of thought, but then he saw another slender clansman stand up.

"Hm?" Though this above average looking man seemed frail, the officer's eyes brightened as he lapsed into thought.

'This little guy doesn't seem to be simple!'

Leylin obviously cared little about what the officer thought. In actuality, he was now performing research and gathering information on the path of Emberwing Technique.

'Interesting. Interesting! At the beginning, it's Knight training, and after that, there seems to be content infused with some conscient runes…'

He was interested in such techniques.

"But I need to get through this!" Leylin shook his head at the ruckus in the crowd due to his being in a daze for too long.

A Morning Star Magus' point mass was a minute dot that could contain the terrifying strength of a Morning Star without leaking any energy. With the A.I. Chip's help, there was no issue with simulating the energy belonging to Emberwing technique.

'It's a pity… The strongest person here is only the officer, who is at the Sky rank with the eighth level of Emberwing Technique. The next few levels, as well as that of the Star rank, can't be obtained as of yet!'

Leylin slowly extended his palm. Yet, it seemed like a layer of melting flame came to life, spreading across its surface. This immediately silenced the crowd.

"Hah!" Leylin controlled his strength, looking as if he was attacking with all he had.

*Rumble!* The entire obelisk began to tremble as bright fiery runes appeared one after another.

One, two, three… The light from bright flames were dazzling, and spread till there were seven on the obelisk. There even seemed to be half a ring extra.

The officer's eyes shone and he immediately asked, "Seventh level of Emberwing Technique. Peak Earth rank! Very good. What's your name?"

"My name is 'Ley', my lord!" Leylin performed a military salute, something the officer immediately found pleasing.

At this moment, the silent crowd suddenly became boisterous, hearts filled with jealousy that could not be suppressed while observing Leylin's handsome face.

As long as this young man did not die in battle, he would become the rising star of the Special Task Force, or even the entire union!

"Hm?" At this moment, Leylin acutely felt a gaze land on his back.

"It's the large man from before at the sixth level. This feeling of jealousy and hostility? Though it's normal, why is there killing intent?"

The corner of Leylin's lips rose in a cold smile. An enemy of this level was too boring.

When all those who had failed cleared out, the officer stood before Leylin and the rest, voice booming.

"Welcome to the Special Task Force! I am your officer, Schiker. You'll soon find that the Special Task Force is the best place to be. As long as you complete your missions, we can give you techniques, money, status or land…"

It had to be said that the officer was silver-tongued. In a short amount of time, he had incited the hot-bloodedness of the youths.

Leylin's expression was also one of excitement, though he found this all ridiculous on the inside.

"Now, follow me to participate in your first mission!"

Powerful undulations were emitted from Schiker's body. Only then did the members realise that their officer was actually at the Sky rank!

Mobius

Different from ordinary troops, this elite group formed of Exemplaries needed to start on missions right away.

The Atlan Union had spent much manpower and physical resources on supporting the Special Task Force, and they were naturally not to be underestimated. However, this method of mentoring through fighting had resulted in the dissatisfaction of some members.

Of course, with Sky rank Schiker around suppressing them, it was as if nothing had happened.

"Hi, Ley! I'm Mies. This is our first time on the battlefield, how are you feeling? Nervous?"

The pale young man who had been the first for the testing leaned towards him, looking to fawn on him.

"Alright," Leylin answered indifferently, and then pointed towards the burly man who had mastered the sixth level of Fireplume. "What's his name?"

"Him? He's Loke, and rumours have it that he was an expert at being a mercenary. Look at that pretentious display, as if all eyes are on him…"

Mies played the role of a lackey very well as he immediately stood in line, his instinct now to help his boss beat down the number two.

"Oh!" Leylin said lightly, and did not continue inquiring.

As fresh recruits, they had gotten a set of new clothes that were very pliable, and could even protect against high temperatures and ordinary knife slashes. As far as this world's treasures went, they were alright.

"Look at these clothes, how chic!" Mies looked at the completely black uniform, and could not help but be infatuated with it as he arranged his collar.

Watching him act so foolishly, Leylin had little to say, "We're on a mission. Focus!"

Upon hearing this, Mies froze for a moment as he continued to move quickly. Immediately afterwards, he looked in the direction of Schiker guiltily. Seeing that the officer hadn't been focusing in their direction, he relaxed and heaved a sigh of relief.

After the excitement, Mies calmed down. He looked uneasy, his slight nervousness apparent as he looked towards Leylin, "Ley, what kind of mission do you think we will be assigned to?"

In his eyes, this comrade was exceptionally mysterious, and had a calm that most lacked. Even just staying by his side gave him a feeling of security.

"Whatever it is, it won't be easy," Leylin spoke dully.

In actuality, he was guessing that the mission was a test for the recruits. There was no better proof than real battles. Through intense fights, the weak would fail and be eliminated, while the strong would survive and gain even more resources. This was the ruthless order of nature.

Leylin guessed that this operation might be tailored just for them. Were it not so, the difficulty would be too high. Most of the members, maybe even the entire squad, would be wiped out.

The Atlan had enough strength and backing. That was enough to attract numerous willing participants, and there was no fear of the lack of manpower.

'But… Am I going to bump into the Triserpent Sect on the first mission?' A trace of doubt streaked through Leylin's mind.

He had yet to gain enough information and knew little of how things stood with the Triserpent Sect. It was not a good idea to make contact with them recklessly.

Thankfully, Schiker, who was standing in front, began to speak coldly, and dispelled Leylin's doubts, "Our mission this time is to eliminate an extremely evil, bloody sect, a branch of the Mobius Organisation. Kill all members!"

They were now far away from the barracks and city, and had come to an open, desolate area. Large amounts of red lava reflected an orange splendour that even dyed the horizon crimson.

With the bonus from Fireplume, these Special Task Force members all maintained a vigorous physical strength, and were still in good condition even after running across a long distance.

"Mobius Organisation?" Mies immediately cried out in surprise, "That disgusting sect that likes blood sacrifices and dismemberment?"

"A disgusting sect that likes blood sacrifices and dismemberment?" Leylin's brows furrowed, seeming having heard the large Emberwing man he had befriended previously speak.

The sect seemed to be very secretive, and the higher-ups held enormous strength. There were rumours that it was being spread even in the Divineflame Empire, and could not be destroyed.

Of course, with their extreme methods, they weren't that welcome.

"That Mobius Organisation?" "Heavens! I hear that they're insane. To avenge one of their bishops, they massacred a city…"

The members began to discuss this softly, the sounds of endless whispers mixing together.

Seeing this, red light emitted from Schiker's face. "Silence!" he shouted as tremendous sound waves covered the region. If not for having sensed a sound-proofing barrier being set up just prior, Leylin would have assumed that Schiker was a spy, intentionally notifying the Mobius Organisation.

"We're soldiers. It is our duty to obey orders. Isn't it just a Mobius Organisation? What are you afraid of? Don't forget, you're now Special Task Force members. The moment you disobey an order, I'll immediately execute you. Even if you can escape, you'll have to deal with being the target of a kill order from the union!"

Schiker's words were eerily cold, and with the powerful forcefield undulations of a Sky rank, the original tendency towards disorder was wiped out.

"Do you want to betray the union?" Schiker's dark words immediately had the Special Task Force members grow resolute as they answered in unison, "No, definitely not!"

"Good! These are the warriors our union needs!" Schiker seemed satisfied. "The organisation has only a few Earth ranks in charge. What does that count for? After succeeding, just the rewards alone are enough for you to spend for quite a few months! You might even accumulate points towards becoming nobility… Now, we'll allocate tasks…"

"Hm?!" While Schiker was immersed in his unceasing narrations, he had failed to realise the interesting change in Leylin's expression.

With a sweep of his soul force, the concealed undulations and even a full view of the structure below was presented in front of Leylin, and he laughed.

'Looks like the union received relevant intelligence and know the military strength inside the stronghold like the back of their hands. Based on Schiker's plans, our side should have had a large chance of success, but it's a pity…'

With a scan of his soul force, Leylin found that there were quite a few Earth rank priests in the Mobius Organisations. On top of that, there even a few bishops wearing red religious attire, emitting the terrifying undulations of Sky ranks.

'This is obviously a trap, though I don't know if this is aimed specifically at Schiker. Whatever it is, he's in trouble…'

Leylin's expression held traces of pity.

"Good. This is the overall plan. Move!" Schiker obviously knew nothing of Leylin's thoughts right now. On the contrary, he wanted to watch how Leylin, Loke and the rest performed and grade them.

*Rumble!* Along with a giant explosion, the barren land that was initially empty blew up, revealing a large building with a number of floors.

What first appeared was a glorious distorted black sculpture. The lines were simple and crude, and yet they gave Leylin a demonic impression.

Under the sculpture were many decorative designs that gave it a style similar of that of an altar. There were limbs and livers from living beings on it, and the blood had not dried yet. The fresh blood kept dripping and filling the spell formation.

The process of a sacrifice had obviously been interrupted, and a few low-ranked worshippers let loose roars of ire.

"Leave none alive. Crush them!" Schiker howled.

He didn't actually need to yell. The Special Task Force members had long since seen red and pounced forward, boiling hot rays flickering on their bodies. Fireplume activated, giving them immense support.

*Pu!* A palm filled with flames extracted itself from the body of a worshipper, and the accompanying flames burnt this vicious-looking worshipper to ashes. "You must all die!"

Loke's chilly voice swept through, voice spreading, and Schiker nodded unceasingly while watching in secret.

Meanwhile, Mies might seem cowardly, yet seemed to have had his thirst for blood kindled, especially after seeing his side winning all engagements. Many members were in high spirits as they went deeper in.

"What is this Ley doing?"

Schiker nodded in satisfaction, but when his eyes were on Leylin, his face scrunched up in dissatisfaction.

Leylin, who he'd thought should rush to the frontlines, was wandering around within the group. Even when he did make a move, it looked like he was cowering and seemed listless, falling behind Loke by a large margin in terms of his kill count.

"Hm? That's not right. His way of moving forward implies he's having reservations about something. Has he discovered something?"

Schiker instantly became cool-headed, going through Leylin's actions and the information he had gotten previously. As he saw his troops continuously heading in after their victories, his pupils shrank as he realised that his members had lost their formation.

"Crap. Come back!"

Schiker shouted loudly, but it was much too late.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!* Large amounts of sparks exploded, forming a heat wave that wiped out most of the Special Task Force members. Even with the protection of Fireplume, the high temperature surpassed their limits caused them to turn into charred corpses.

"Keke, Schiker, we meet again!"

A few figures wrapped in light stood before Schiker, accompanied by warriors and worshippers, donning garments of their sect.

"Sky rank! Two Sky ranks!" Mies, who was lucky to have survived, watched the two tall figures in the air and cried out in pain and despair.

"It's you… So it was a trap." Schiker remained collected.

"Yes. This is a trap specifically to deal with you! What happened fifteen years ago can be settled properly now!" The two bishops in red clothing held hatred in their eyes.