However, no one noticed that Golden Eye Piercing Illusions's gaze was different from the worshipful looks of the others.
His gaze as Leo left was so intense it seemed to burn through the space itself.
"Let's just wait and see when he can't hold back and makes a move," Leo and Yaoyao whispered as they returned to the mothership.
Although he pretended to be nonchalant, he still paid attention to the changes in Golden Eye Piercing Illusions. When he saw that he had returned without any injuries, there was indeed a fanaticism in his eyes that was different from others.
"This guy is hiding his strength very well. We don't even know his strength yet, but he knows almost everything about ours."
"If things really turn against us, we'll be in a very passive position," Yaoyao said worriedly.
"Don't worry, he only knows our surface strength. Through this battle with the Level-Six Lord of Souls, as long as he's not a senior Level-Six Stigmata Great Wizard, we can handle him with the Black Metal Module and the Shadow Plane."
The longer they spent together, the more Leo could sense the covetous look the Golden Eye Piercing Illusions Stigmata Wizard had for him. However, he still couldn't figure out what it was about him that made the wizard so eager to possess him.
Leo guessed that if it weren't for the mandatory regulations of the wizarding civilization, Golden Eye Piercing Illusions would have already attacked him!
"Great Lord of the Universe, that shadow is emitting fluctuations again."
Just as Leo and Yaoyao were talking, Tortai, the little red snake from the Shadow Plane, sent a message.
Upon hearing that the shadow that had lost contact last time was now fluctuating again, Leo and Yaoyao immediately stopped talking and tore open the Shadow Plane space to enter.
Spatial fluctuations appeared, Leo instantly arrived at the location where 4741 shadows were bound. The little red snake Tortai stood guard beside him, and the shadow that had connected to life last time was indeed emitting continuous fluctuations.
Leo reached out and grasped the shadow; a voice appeared in his mind.
"If you are truly the great and omnipotent Lord of the Universe, could you bestow your divine power and allow my beloved Marisa to return to my side?"
The mournful sound echoed in Leo's mind again and again through the shadows.
Leo smiled. Last time, the other party blocked the connection, but this time they actually sent a request on their own initiative.
With a touch of his finger on the shadow, a drop of blood radiating intense energy merged into it. Empowered by the blood, Leo felt his connection with the life opposite him deepen.
An image of a beautiful, snow-white humanoid figure dressed in a long white robe appeared in his mind, with an endless snowfield in the background.
Drops of blood, glowing white, were dripping from his fingers into his shadow. Blood was the medium through which he communicated with his shadow; only by dripping his own blood into his shadow could he contact Leo.
As he murmured, all the details entered Leo's mind.
A wicked smile curled at the corner of Leo's lips.
"The merciful Lord of the Universe will listen to the difficulties of every kind believer. My dear child, what difficulties have you encountered?"
When Leo's voice entered the mind of this fair-skinned, handsome, humanoid being through the shadow, a light suddenly appeared in his grief-stricken, numb, and desperate eyes, as if he had seen hope; the drowning man had grasped at a straw!
"Does Lord of the Universe really exist?" he murmured in disbelief, even wondering if he was hallucinating.
"Poor child, doesn't your finger hurt?"
"Pain."
So, am I hallucinating?
"No."
The fair-skinned, handsome man looked at the wound on his hand and felt the incredibly real pain, completely convinced that the voice in his mind was not fake, but real.
"Poor child, can you tell me about the problem you're facing now?"
Leo's voice was gentler than ever before, like a divine hand caressing a wounded soul. When it touched the heart of the handsome, fair-skinned man, it seemed to awaken the deepest sorrow within him.
"Great Lord of the Universe, our world is called the Snowfield World. We, the Snow Elf, have multiplied for generations. We love peace and abhor all killing."
"But a thousand years ago, our world was opened up by an evil world called the Black Domain World."
"It was a dark and blood-red world, a synonym for cruelty and evil. Life there seemed to exist only for killing. We were no match for them; they had already taken over a third of the Snowfield World."
"Countless creatures perished in the Snowfield World, and the Snow Elf suffered a devastating attack. Now..."
"Now they've made a condition: if you offer them one million of the purest Snow Elf women, they'll retreat to the Black Domain World."
Do you believe in such a treaty?
Leo's voice entered the Snow Elf's mind.
"I don't believe it. More than ten million Snow Elf have died at their hands. How could they retreat to the Black Domain World for just one million Snow Elf? This is their conspiracy, a trick to weaken them!"
The Snow Elf's face was contorted with rage, as if she were recalling the deaths of her kin on the battlefield, the unbearable past, and the humiliation of being oppressed.
"But our cowardly chieftain agreed; he actually believed their lies and decided to select a suitable woman from the entire tribe."
The Snow Elf, filled with immense sorrow, wished he could kill their chieftain, but he was too weak to do so. He could only run deep into the forest to try and seek help from the Lord of the Universe, who had inexplicably appeared in his mind.
He wasn't an ignorant Xiao Bai, especially since the emergence of the Black Domain World made him extremely resistant to the voice that suddenly appeared in his mind. Therefore, he immediately severed the connection during the first attempt. But now the situation was extremely critical; his lover was about to be sent to the evil Black Domain World by that cowardly and incompetent clan leader.
Even if the Lord of the Universe appears in his mind is the most evil being, he will still make a deal with the other side in this situation.
"Where are your gods? Do they just stand by and let you be bullied by the other world?" Leo asked, his tone slightly angry.
"Gods..."
"The great God of the Snow Elf did not answer our prayers, he did not protect his people," the Snow Elf said, his grief deepening at the mention of the god.
"Great Lord of the Universe, I beg you to bestow your divine power to help us defeat the Black Domain World and save our world. I am willing to pay any price for this."
The Snow Elf man knelt directly on the snow, and drops of ice beads fell from the corners of his eyes, hitting the ground with a crisp, light sound.
Leo stared at the ice bead lying on the ground, its interior shrouded in white mist. His pupils dilated instantly, and his Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily.
He recognized the ice bead that had fallen from the Snow Elf's eye.
This is a high-grade material, called Ice Essence in the Wizard World. It is a top-tier ice-type material that can only be used by Level Three Great Wizard and above. It is extremely expensive, costing more than ten times the price of an energy crystal of the same volume.
"Poor child, poor Snow Elf race. But unfortunately, I am the very rule that maintains the universe's operation, and I cannot directly help you defeat the Black Domain World, because they are also my children." Leo refused the Snow Elf man's request.
"What do we do? What about Marisa? She's on the list of those to be sacrificed..."
Unable to control his emotions, the Snow Elf man smashed ice beads, which Leo found so tempting, onto the ground.
This is all money!
Judging from the Snow Elf' nonchalant attitude, Ice Essence must be the most ordinary thing in their world.
"But..."
"Although I can't help you directly, I can provide you with power to grow quickly and let you deal with those beings from the Black Domain World on your own." Leo's persuasive voice entered his mind.
"Can I? My strength is only level two; I'm no match for them at all."
"I can help you advance to level three in the shortest possible time, even to the level of your gods. Don't you still have the confidence to defeat those beings from the Black Domain World?"
"Don't you want to lead your people to final victory? Don't you want to launch a counterattack and invade the Black Domain World to avenge your people who died tragically?"
"Don't you want to? Or are you just a weakling who hides behind others, a pathetic wretch who only knows how to shed tears?"
"No, I think,"
"I wish I could storm into the Black Domain World right now and wipe them all out. I beg the great Lord of the Universe to help me."
The Snow Elf knelt on the ground with utmost piety. Under Leo's frenzied brainwashing, he had completely changed his initial thoughts. This was not an evil god, but the greatest and most merciful lord.
"One of the rules of the universe is that everything is based on equivalent exchange; if you want to gain power, you must pay a price."
What do you need me to give? I can give anything.
The Snow Elf's face was resolute, as if he would be willing to give up his soul if Leo asked him to.
"You can hunt down prey of certain levels and pour their blood into the shadows to gain energy to enhance your strength."
"It's that simple?"
The Snow Elf didn't believe that power could be gained so easily; it was too simple.
"Poor child, do you mistake me for an evil god from another world? If it weren't for the principle of equivalent exchange, I could have directly upgraded your level."
"It was my fault; I shouldn't have questioned the great Lord of the Universe."
"Go quickly, time waits for no one."
Upon hearing Leo's words, the Blood Elf immediately got up from the ground, his hand sliding across his waist, and a snow-white longsword appeared in his hand.