"I signed a contract under the witness of the Eye of Judgment, swearing never to harm the interests of Four Seasons Garden! If I violate it, I'll be judged…"
This was Leilin's biggest concern.
If he had a choice, he wouldn't want to make enemies with this faction either. After all, from the very beginning up to now, Four Seasons Garden had treated him reasonably well.
"That's easy! This is a solution made from the feathers of the Filth Bird. With it, you can use it to nullify your contract with Four Seasons Garden!"
The giant tossed a bottle of grey liquid straight to Leilin.
"They actually have something like this — something that's supposed to be extinct!" Leilin caught the bottle and had the Chip verify its authenticity. After that, he couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.
Such thorough preparation — calling it long-planned wouldn't be an exaggeration at all.
"Hehe… This isn't mine. It's a rare item that the 'Lord' behind me specifically left for you!"
The giant didn't take credit. That matter-of-fact tone only made Leilin more wary.
"So, what's your answer?"
"Recognizing the strong is an instinct for Dark Wizards. I need to confirm your strength first!" Leilin thought for a moment before speaking slowly.
"You'll see…" The giant's voice began to fade away.
At the same time, a massive amount of green mist engulfed the area, enveloping Leilin within it.
A long while later, the mist dissipated, and Leilin walked out with a grave expression, looking as though he had something weighing on his mind.
"So it really is him…"
After that, Leilin composed himself and headed back to his camp as if nothing had happened.
The next day, Leilin continued on his journey.
The Ganges Plain sat on the border between the White Wizards and Dark Wizards, making it the most lawless region around.
Here, even within city walls, brawls, thefts, and murders occurred every day, and occasionally even battles between wizards broke out!
Under these circumstances, the city garrison guards were more like professional corpse haulers, simply responsible for clearing the streets each day.
And after the Ganges Secret Realm was discovered, the flood of wizards pouring in only brought even more chaos to the place.
Along the way, Leilin himself witnessed over fifteen incidents of feuds and vendettas, seeing one practically every stretch of the road.
If Leilin's group hadn't been dressed in a manner so mysterious — somewhat resembling the legendary wizards — they probably would have run into trouble themselves on a regular basis.
As they exited an ordinary city, Leilin suddenly narrowed his eyes, having spotted several rather familiar figures.
"My Lord, what is it? Are there problems with those apprentices?"
Number Two and Number Three stepped forward and asked.
"Nothing!" Leilin replied casually. Even if it really was them, the current Leilin existed in a completely different world from them. He had no intention of reestablishing any connection — letting it go like this was better for everyone.
But sometimes, fate was a truly strange thing — impossible to avoid no matter how hard you tried.
Just as Leilin's group was spurring their horses to leave through the city gates, they happened to run into the very apprentices Leilin had spotted earlier.
"Leilin! Hey! Leilin!!! Is that you?!" Among the apprentices, a tall young man standing at the front had already started shouting excitedly.
Earlier the distance had been too far, but now that the two groups met face to face, the apprentices on the other side recognized Leilin immediately.
"It really has… been a long time!" Leilin watched the group of apprentices approaching in the distance and couldn't help but smile and greet them.
With his constitution and vision, enhanced multiple times over, Leilin could easily make out that among those advancing apprentices, the one who had shouted was tall and broad, with brilliant golden hair, thick brows and large eyes, and a high-bridged nose.
There was also a female apprentice, with a graceful figure, platinum-blonde hair, and ruby-red eyes. From her presence, a peculiar charm radiated outward at all times.
Leilin recognized these two apprentices at a single glance — it was George and Besta, whom he hadn't seen in years!
"But wait — isn't George an apprentice of the Nine-Ring White Tower? How did he end up together with Besta from the Wetlands Garden?"
The thought flickered through Leilin's mind before being pushed aside for the moment, because George was already heading over with Besta and the others to greet him.
"Leilin! It really is you! I thought I was seeing things at first!"
George, that friend he'd met during his travels, was just as warm as ever, stepping forward and pulling Leilin into a big hug.
As for Besta, that woman, she stood off to the side with an embarrassed look, fidgeting with her fingers.
Back in the day, she'd caused Leilin no small amount of trouble. Of course, after Leilin had secretly cut off a few of her dog claws and taught her a lesson, she had become much more subdued.