“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.
WMW Chapter 549
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 he 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-horn
ed 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 red 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.”
WMW Chapter 550
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.
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