I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

Besides, the New Year is such a festive occasion, it's not a loss to pay a visit.

What this bastard didn't know was that after he said those words, the ore that was originally buried deep underground began to awaken one by one.

—Deep within the snow-covered earth, something opened its eyes.

In the unverified parables of the Ursus elders, this scarred land is not the same lifeless thing as always; sometimes it responds to the prayers of certain people, breathes briefly, and exhales the treasures buried deep within the earth.

Everyone just treats this as a fairy tale.

Now, deep within the untouched earth, the sound of soft breathing echoes.

Then, a bright red spot suddenly lit up!

Those were not the eyes of a ferocious beast, but rather the even hotter, burning core of a furnace, flames deep within the earth's veins, about to burst forth with restless residual heat.

Nine feet below the ground, the sound of metal scraping against metal echoed.

Illuminated by flowing flames, an iron coffin drifted downstream, following the river of the Originium mine... its destination was Chernobog.

To be more precise—it's Chernobog's Twelfth Mine!

Countless steel and ore warped and vibrated, emitting a resonance that was barely audible to the naked ear. The subtle sounds overlapped and transformed into a tidal wave, which then contracted towards the iron coffin in the center of the earth's veins.

This process is repeated three times in total.

No one had ever witnessed this magnificent scene, and the only person who could detect the ley line anomaly—Duke Koschche—was still inside Talulah's body, waiting for the moment when her consciousness would reawaken.

Before he knew it, he had written nearly 500 words of fluff. A dark red notification popped up in front of Li Lin.

Its edges resemble flowing flames, or sparks flying from rough stones colliding in the darkness.

[Tier 0 Exclusive Secret Technique/Originium Arts: Fire in Stone.]

[Rank: Pseudo-canon.]

[Nature and Characteristics: Casting, Fire]

In the very beginning, a spark from a stone illuminated the darkness, and monkeys and insects stared at each other in bewilderment.

On the system desktop, four cards suddenly appeared below Li Lin's avatar: two visible and two hidden.

One of them was the newly awakened [Stone Fire], and the other was the "Seven Sacred Songs" that he had obtained beforehand, which was only a fragment-level, first-level secret manual after being transformed into a secret manual.

When Li Lin focused his attention on the two covered cards, the cards automatically flipped over.

Current total conversions: 0

One of them corresponds to Talulah's Originium Arts, while the other is transformed from the Originium Arts of Duke Kosichear the Black Serpent, corresponding to the Blade Phase and the Moth Phase respectively.

It seems that Talulah is less a flame of forging and revolution, and more a blade of constant struggle and resistance.

As for Koschke, it's no surprise that he symbolizes constant change and irrational chaos, perfectly matching the moth's principles.

[Hint: Collecting other corresponding elemental secrets will upgrade your exclusive secret.]

[Current progress: 0/9]

Li Lin shouted, "Deep Blue, add some points!"

This meme is unlikely to die down.

[Merger progress 1, 2...]

"Stop, stop, stop!" Li Lin hurriedly called for a halt, going back on his word.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Both copies of the secret manual had been completely used up, with only Kosiché's copy remaining.

[Second-Order Secret Technique: Mottled Mimicry]

[Rank: Remnant]

Sexual characteristics: Moth

My face is soft, my bones are malleable, and my skin curls like a leaf; each transformation takes me further from my true form. (The transformed secret technique is relatively safer than the original.)

[Safe usage count: 3 time.]

[Use during the safe period will not reduce its lifespan!]

This time, Li Lin didn't dare to try anything recklessly.

Just then, a creaking sound came from outside the window. Li Lin hurriedly put on his clothes and gloves, then turned around in silence to look.

The short visitor crouched on the windowsill, her red hair peeking out from under her hood. Her eyes were like a wolf's, or like the biting wind whistling across a blade.

Lyudmila, a second visit.

11. What's wrong with the code name "Dog Egg"?!

While Li Lin was sizing up Lyudmila, Lyudmila was also sizing up Li Lin.

Compared to Li Lin's open and aboveboard approach, this assassin was more cautious. She carefully observed Li Lin's face and torso, finally settling on his striking, lifeless eyes.

Do you need guards?

She suddenly said, "I came to Chernobog for revenge, but now that the revenge is over, I need to stay here for a while longer."

"You can hire me if you need to."

"Are you male or female?" Li Lin's question and request almost made everyone's vision go black. "No gay friends, and I don't want a sister with big hooks."

Lyudmila swayed slightly, and after a moment she answered, "Female."

"You say you're a woman, so you're a woman? What if you have a big hook down there...?"

Li Lin instinctively started to joke around, but then suddenly remembered that the person in front of him was a ruthless killer, so he quickly changed his tune, "Alright, alright, I believe what you, you little devil, have to say."

Having chosen to back down, Master Li, not wanting to go any further, naturally opted to hire the assassin in front of him.

Li Lin hired Lyudmila for the same price as he paid his servants, and the assassin from Syracuse agreed.

After all, finding a suitable place to stay in such a large city as Chernobog is not easy.

As the saying goes, rice is expensive in Chernobyl, and living there is not easy. If Lyudmila takes on any job casually, she will probably be approached by the Chernobyl police very soon.

Choosing to stay with Li Lin allows him to monitor the only person who knows his whereabouts, and he can also frame him if necessary. The desolate mine is also a good place to escape.

This is, of course, a last resort.

Assassins from Syracuse also value integrity. Under normal circumstances, Lyudmila would meticulously complete the tasks assigned to her by her employers, which is the creed of a "wolf" trained in Syracuse.

"But when the girl before him removed her hood, her long, red hair smelled of soap. She raised her head like a small animal, the coldness in her eyes not yet completely gone, but already warm. Li Lin gazed at her features, a sense of familiarity welling up inside him..."

Lyudmila looked up: "I didn't realize you were so boring, using this kind of narration to describe others."

Li Lin declared emphatically, "When she looked up, she saw only a handsome, dashing, and debonair woman standing before her..."

He began to describe himself.

Lyudmila sighed: "Don't you have any targets you want me to eliminate?"

After sitting on the bed and thinking it over for a while, Li Lin asked, "Do you want to pay extra?"

Lyudmila rolled her eyes at her: "Nonsense."

"As a model youth of Ursus, I study at the Youth University every day. How could I possibly have such violent tendencies?" Li Lin's expression changed, and he looked like a good lackey of the Ursus emperor.

There is absolutely no way Li Lin will pay any money, especially not extra money.

Lyudmila opened her mouth, but then hesitated and stopped herself from speaking: she felt that her thinking was as far behind Li Lin's as a mountain.

"By the way, what's your name, little sister?"

Lyudmila was unaware that once she fell silent, the initiative in the conversation would shift to Li Lin, a move that was usually extremely dangerous.

Perhaps to protect his image, Li Lin opted for a more gentle approach to striking up a conversation.

"Now we face a serious problem: what should I call you?"

Lyudmila frowned upon hearing this. This was indeed a problem that urgently needed to be solved. Since her real name could not be revealed, she had to adopt a code name.

On this land, many people have given themselves code names for easier movement.

So she shook her head: "If you'd like, you can help me come up with a new nickname that's easy to use."

"it is good!"

Li Lin nodded in satisfaction and held up five fingers: "I have two code names here, you can choose one."

“These are clearly five fingers…” Lyudmila began to complain without any instruction.

"These codenames are Dog Egg, Doug Egg, Sobachke Yaito, Inu no Tamago, and Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

Li Lin was smug.

He said there were two code names, so there are two code names.

Lyudmila realized she was wrong, terribly wrong, especially regarding the designation, by giving Li Lin autonomy.

"My code name in Syracuse is Kingkiller, so I'll stick with that."

The kingslayer pulled up his mask, hurriedly got up and left, as if he didn't want to stay a second longer.

"I'm going out for a walk. Call me if you need anything."

She was afraid that if she stayed any longer, Li Lin would drag her intelligence into an abyss, turning her into a dog that he would lead around.