Soul Annihilation

After last night's verification, the Purple Totem Pillar was indeed the reason his elemental affinity had surged.

With the issue of magical power refinement efficiency resolved, there was nothing more to do with magic for the time being.

After leaving the Ancestral Court and traveling tens of thousands of miles, Lei Mo had learned Lade Ilier's magic and deepened his relationship with the beast-eared young lady.

He had also received the introductory inheritance of Life Magic. Once he confirmed that Margaret would remain with the Bloodhoof Tribe, he could finally relax.

He needed to pursue his own path to becoming strong. This world was far too dangerous! For eighteen years—no, nineteen—Lei Mo's tightly wound heartstrings had never relaxed.

Lei Mo's path to godhood remained bleak. The Purple Totem Pillar's secret had only solved the issue of refining magical power; he still had no feeling whatsoever for the fluctuations of the Laws.

Then he could only venture out and roam the world.

To seek insight, to seek inspiration, to kill.

Among the Tauren tribes, he was too much of an outsider and found it too difficult to fit in.

Though the Chaos Plateau was fraught with conflict, the Tauren's overwhelming strength meant that even wars were merely clashes between tribes.

The Bloodhoof Tribe was located in the eastern corner, practically isolated from worldly disputes. Even when there was conflict, it was with magical beasts and nature.

The plateau corner where the Bloodhoof Tribe was located was said to border human territory, but the Seti Mountains still stood between them.

The Seti Mountains stretched for tens of thousands of kilometers, and even their outlying branches gave rise to countless mountains, rivers, and valleys.

The tribe had a temporary camp at the westernmost foothills of the Seti Mountains.

Yes, it was the place where Lei Mo's gathering team had stayed for three months. That valley was merely one of countless small valleys within the Seti Mountains.

After leaving the main group, Lei Mo increased his speed.

As a Saint Realm expert, not daring to fly too high was already shameful enough. He had no psychological burden about swiftly skimming along at low altitude.

The first place he came to was this valley. Lei Mo had no map of the Seti Mountains, and reaching this place was already his limit.

He did not dare fly into the core region of the Seti Mountains.

If he really did that, he would probably become the excrement of a Saint Realm magical beast within three days.

Coming to this valley was also part of Lei Mo's plan. From here onward, he would forget that he was a Saint Realm expert and slowly travel along the outskirts of the Seti Mountains toward human territory.

It had already been more than ten days since he had left the Bloodhoof Tribe's group. Margaret was probably still on the road and had not yet crossed the Kemi River. He wondered how she was doing.

Huh? Why do I keep thinking about that beast-eared girl? Cairne is my friend, yet I keep forgetting that he's in the group too.

He had been training too hard lately and always needed beautiful images to soothe his mood. Lei Mo comforted—or perhaps excused—himself.

This Life Magic was truly useful. Camping in the wilderness was simply wonderful.

Lei Mo placed a hand on a clump of shrubs and fed Life Magic power into it. The plant, which somewhat resembled ivy, grew according to the image in his mind and completed its growth within dozens of seconds.

A small treehouse appeared, supported by the surrounding giant trees and made entirely of green vines. It blended into the environment, hanging dozens of meters above the ground without any visible entrance.

As Lei Mo floated closer, the shrubs automatically parted. Once he entered, they closed behind him.

Margaret was only a Level Five Shaman Priest, yet she had still given Lei Mo the basic introductory inheritance, allowing him to use Life Magic.

As for the experience she taught him, only a few inherited spells were truly important. Margaret's understanding of Life Magic beyond that was still quite shallow.

Without an inheritance, Lei Mo believed that using Life Magic depended on an idea, followed by constant practice and research.

Lei Mo lacked everything except imagination. This Treehouse Magic, for example, was his own creation and counted as a Level One spell.

Creating magic was not difficult, especially Level One magic. The difficult part was establishing the magic model and incantation.

As long as one had magical power and sufficient mental strength, a bout of wild manipulation could certainly produce some magical effect.

Whether it counted as Level Zero or Level One depended on luck. Without a fixed model or the support of an incantation, it might consume magical power equivalent to a Level Five spell while possessing power inferior even to Level One.

He could certainly cast it again next time, but its power, consumption, and range would all be unknown.

That was terrifying. If forbidden magic were handled this way, friendly armies might be wiped out along with the enemy.

Lei Mo's Level One Treehouse Magic had no fixed model and no incantation, so the house he made each time was slightly different, and its consumption was equally unstable.

Lei Mo was still researching and deducing it. This was extremely time-consuming, and the higher the magic's level, the more time it required for deduction.

Therefore, relying on this method to deduce magic above Level Six was unrealistic in the short term.

Lei Mo needed to cast this Treehouse Magic every time he camped, which was why he had developed some interest in it.

The Fire Element magic he had learned from Lade remained exactly as it had been.

He truly had no spare mental energy for it. Besides, Fire Element magic was indeed convenient for wilderness survival. One snap of his fingers could light a campfire, and one Fire Element Summoning could stand watch through the night.

It was just that the Fire Element was too conspicuous at night, like a beacon in the darkness.

Lei Mo did not expect to rely on it in battle. It only served as a warning.

Recently, he had an idea. He wondered whether he could make some sort of treant while resting at night, though it would definitely be a puppet rather than a real treant.

Even the Chief Sovereign of Life could not create life, but a treant standing guard would certainly be far better than a Fire Element.

Margaret had taught Lei Mo three Life Magic spells: Growth Acceleration, Life Healing, and Soul Annihilation, which had the power of a Level Five spell. He had named the last one himself.

Yes, only three. The Edicts branch was just that difficult. Without an inheritance, one could only rely on personal comprehension and research.

Soul Annihilation was considered to have Level Five power because Margaret had used it to kill a Level Five magical beast. Lei Mo felt that Soul Annihilation was definitely more than Level Five. It was only judged at Level Five because Margaret herself was merely Level Five. This might well be a terrifying trump card, but Lei Mo had not tested it yet.

His intuition told Lei Mo that this spell was important to him. He had to train it properly, and he possessed an advantage in doing so.

Lei Mo's mental strength had already reached the Saint Realm level. Although his magical power had yet to catch up, with the Purple Totem Pillar, refining magical power was no longer a problem for him.

As his research into Life Magic deepened, Lei Mo felt his mental strength continuing to grow. Though he could not see his own sea of consciousness, his eyesight was growing sharper and sharper. It was likely already comparable to an eagle's, allowing him to clearly see tiny flying insects several kilometers away.

He also felt that the mountains, rivers, flowers, grass, insects, and fish between heaven and earth were becoming increasingly familiar and lovable. Lei Mo judged this to be the result of his continuously growing mental strength, yet he still could not sense any fluctuations of the Laws or Edicts between heaven and earth.

During this time, Lei Mo had been preparing to find a few Level Six or Level Seven magical beasts to test Soul Annihilation on.