Wizard Lord:I can Extract Anything

"Only the final leap of the soul remains?"

Richard repeated these words, feeling somewhat puzzled.

According to the feedback effect, a breakthrough in physical constitution should also drive a breakthrough in mental power. And a breakthrough in mental power signifies a qualitative transformation of the soul.

Yet Ulysses claimed these creatures were still missing that final leap.

"Exactly, the final leap," Ulysses said slowly. "This is the difficulty of pure physical evolution.

While pure physical evolution can push mental power beyond mortal limits through what you call the feedback effect, this kind of breakthrough is merely an increase in quantity. In terms of quality, their souls remain those of mortals."

"Huh? So pure physical evolution is a dead end?" Richard exclaimed in shock.

"Not exactly a dead end," Ulysses shook his head. "Those Abyssal Scum follow the path of pure physical evolution, and they even have two Dominators among them.

The final step of pure physical evolution requires the aid of a certain item to complete."

"What item?" Richard quickly asked.

"Soul Sea Light."

Hearing this name, Richard froze in place.

Needing this item—wasn't pure physical evolution practically suicidal?

Soul Sea Light was a unique product of the Sea of Souls. To obtain it, one had to hunt a Sea of Souls creature called the Soul Sea Lantern Fish.

The combat power of this creature was nothing short of a dimensional crushing blow to beings below the fourth level.

Souls below the fourth level would be sucked into the lantern on its head, and without special means, escape was impossible.

Even the most experienced Third Circle Soul Wizards would steer clear of this thing when navigating the Sea of Souls.

"Isn't this just asking for death?" Richard couldn't help but retort.

Ulysses shrugged indifferently. "There are other paths, but this is the only one I know. And those Abyssal Scum seem to have their own methods.

But you're not some wild practitioner—you have at least two paths available to you."

"Two paths?"

Ulysses said with an air of wisdom, "One is the advancement path of your Wizard World. The other... naturally, is the path to becoming a deity.

In our Divine Civilization, there are three and a half methods to ascend to godhood. The three complete ones I can't disclose to outsiders, but that half-method isn't restricted.

If you ever find yourself unable to continue as a Wizard, that half-path might help you ascend."

Hearing this, Richard's heart skipped a beat. Once, the Great Wizard had seemed utterly beyond his reach. But now, he could at least begin to consider the possibility of becoming one.

"Thank you," Richard said sincerely.

"Nothing to thank me for," Ulysses replied coolly. "Our interests are already bound together. Your strength benefits me as well."

Then, he gave a sly smile.

"Besides, over this ten-thousand-year Fate Contract, I'll need to recoup my investment. Even if my profits are smaller, a win-win is better than a lose-lose."

Richard was momentarily stunned by these words, then couldn't help but laugh.

This World Master was truly a fascinating character.

"Enough idle talk—how do you plan to deal with this toad in front of us?" Ulysses steered the conversation back to the immediate problem.

"I can tell you plainly that I might not be able to defeat this toad. Although his soul hasn't made the final leap, his physical body has already reached the realm of a World Master—albeit the weakest kind."

Richard studied the Toad King, pondering for a moment before suddenly speaking: "Tell me, if there's a Toad King in this swamp, then shouldn't there also be a Serpent King among the Black Snakes that prey on these toads? Otherwise, given that Black Snakes feed on toads, they should have fled this swamp long ago."

Ulysses paused, then nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. When I became the master of the Crow Realm, I exterminated many creatures that fed on our Shadow Crows."

Hearing this, Richard smiled. "So the key to breaking this deadlock must lie with that Serpent King."

...

Inside the Secret Realm, the giant Black Snake Ulysses had thrown in was firmly restrained by the World Tree's mycelium. Suddenly, a Mystic Realm Fissure opened, and Richard and Ulysses returned.

"World Mushroom, bring that snake here."

The World Mushroom obeyed, delivering the Black Snake to Richard's side. Richard instructed it to remove the mycelium bonds, then deactivated the sealed mode of his Personal Armor, unleashing the powerful Life Radiation of a third-level organism.

The moment it came into contact with this radiation, the Black Snake recoiled in fear, coiling into a tight ball.

Seeing this, Richard's expression confirmed his suspicions. "Just as I thought—this Black Snake isn't one of the Precursors' Biological Weapons."

All of the Precursors' Biological Weapons shared one trait: they feared nothing, not even death. Their Cores of Life had been altered by the Precursors, stripping them of their instinct for self-preservation. Otherwise, enemies could easily repel these mindless Poisonous Insects by simply radiating their own life force.

Richard grabbed the Black Snake, lifting it to eye level, and sent a mental message: "Little one, tell me where your Serpent King is."

This particular Black Snake had reached the level of a second-tier organism. Even with snakes' naturally small brains, it should have some capacity for communication. Sure enough, after Richard's inquiry, the snake let out a series of rapid hisses.

Richard hadn't studied serpent language—and even if he had, the snake tongue of the Green Forest World might differ from that of the Wizard World. So after hearing the hisses, he turned to Ulysses.

"Ulysses, I have a challenging task for you."

"What task?" Ulysses asked warily. If Richard called it "challenging," it probably wasn't pleasant.

"How about making this Black Snake one of my followers? What do you think?"

"...That doesn't sound like a funny joke."

"It isn't funny, and unfortunately, I'm not joking. Of course, you could take on a different task. What do you think about using soul messages to teach it instead?"

"...I'll try preaching to it first."

Ulysses took the Black Snake from Richard's hands. Converting such a primitive creature was no easy feat. "Let me ask—why do you need its faith in the first place?"

Richard shrugged. "I need to communicate with it, but I don't understand snake language."

"...If it's just communication, there are other methods we could use."

With that, Ulysses radiated an authoritative holy light, and a beam shot straight into the Black Snake's body.

In the next instant, Richard could understand what the Black Snake was saying.

"Don't eat me, don't eat me! I'll take you to see the Serpent King!"

Hearing this, Richard chuckled. "Heh, this little guy seems quite cooperative."

He took the Black Snake from Ulysses' hands and asked with a grin, "Has your Serpent King ever had conflicts with the Toad King near the Crystal Tower?"

Under the pressure of a third-tier creature's aura, the Black Snake trembled. "Y-yes! That stinking toad has fought the Serpent King many times."

"Who won?"

"Neither, but the Serpent King is... a little weaker."

Richard stroked his chin, a sly smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"A little weaker, meaning the Serpent King was injured, right?"

"Hiss! How did you know?!"

Richard waved a hand dismissively. "You don't need to know how I know. Just understand that you'll be taking me to him soon. Got it?"

"Understood, understood!"

"So you'll also be signing this contract, right?"

As he spoke, Richard pulled out a Soul Contract from his pocket and held it near the Black Snake.

"Leave your soul imprint on this."

The Black Snake stared at the Soul Contract. Its instincts screamed that signing this would lead to no good outcome.

But could any outcome be worse than death?

The Black Snake glanced at Richard, who was watching it intently. It could sense a terrifying killing intent emanating from him—a warning left by the creatures Richard had slain, telling others not to provoke this man.

If it refused the contract, it was almost certain it would die here—or suffer something far worse than death.

So without hesitation, the Black Snake left its soul imprint on the contract.

As the contract dissolved into flames and vanished into the air, Richard opened a Mystic Realm Rift and left the Secret Realm with the Black Snake and Ulysses in tow.

The moment they returned to the realm, the Black Snake immediately perked up.

But before it could slither into the swamp, its body froze in place.

It could feel an invisible force restraining it. If it dared to flee, this power would instantly shatter its soul.

"Little one, don't even think about running," Richard sneered. "Didn't you read the contract before signing it?"

The Black Snake stiffened. Given the circumstances, refusing the contract meant instant death—did the contents even matter?

Bound by the contract, the Black Snake had no choice but to abandon its escape plans and lead the two intruders deeper into the swamp.

...

The Poison Swamp was vast, shrouded in mist, hiding countless terrifying creatures.

As Richard followed the Black Snake, the number of venomous snakes around him grew with every step.

Some coiled around trees, others lurked in the water—the moment any creature drew near, they lunged with gaping jaws.

Even among their own kind, these snakes showed no mercy.

In fact, within this swamp, snakes were often the most common prey for other snakes.

Clang! Another reckless viper struck Richard's Personal Armor.

Without batting an eye, Richard crushed the serpent and casually tossed it into his pocket.

The venom of these poisonous snakes held significant research value. If he could fully understand it, his Magic Potion skills would undoubtedly improve considerably.

Moreover, even if he didn't study it, this stuff would make excellent snake stew.

"Little one, how much further?"

"Not far, just ahead."

The Black Snake leading the way had quite an extraordinary bloodline. In this snake-infested swamp, other snakes always yielded to him—never the other way around—even the third-tier snakes did the same.

Richard speculated that this Black Snake was likely blood-related to the Serpent King.

Just as Black Snake had said, it wasn't long before Richard laid eyes on the Serpent King.

In the murky swamp, a massive golden serpent with dragon horns—a Dragon Blood serpent—coiled atop the corpse of a dead World Tree Sub-body, hissing as it flicked its forked tongue.

Behind it, a festering black wound oozed dark, putrid blood.

The Serpent King gazed at Richard, its golden Dragon Eyes shining as bright as the sun.

"Outsider, you shouldn't have come here."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Richard asked with keen interest.

The Serpent King slithered down from the tree, flicking its tongue as it approached Richard.

"Because this world is dying."

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