"Even so, it's still a pretty good haul. What do you think — want me to make a move?"
Xishan still hadn't given up on his earlier plan.
But this time, Leonno was unusually silent.
Xishan knew perfectly well why they hadn't acted against Leilin before — they'd figured whatever he'd obtained in the secret realm ruins wasn't all that precious, and they could take their time wearing him down. No need to be so nakedly aggressive about it. After all, they were White Wizards! When dealing with fellow wizards, you had to maintain a certain reputation!
But now, no matter how hard Leilin tried to hide it, his combat record was simply impossible to conceal.
Moreover, the aura and energy fluctuations Leilin had just radiated had made Leonno more than a little suspicious.
Even if Leilin had obtained some devastatingly powerful Magical Items or secret techniques inside the secret realm, things like that could shift the balance on a battlefield during wartime.
So Leonno was tempted.
There was nothing in the world that was absolutely off-limits. The only reason they hadn't acted before was that the reward didn't justify the cost.
But now, everything had changed.
"We can give it a little try — but be mindful of the limits." Leonno held a finely glazed celadon cup in both hands, took what seemed like a leisurely sip of the steaming beverage inside, and then spoke slowly.
"Understood!"
Xishan nodded and vanished into the darkness.
...
On the other side, Leilin followed the signs along the way and arrived at the Hunting Unit's territory.
By this point, wizards and apprentices along the roads had become scarce. The air seemed heavy with a bloody, oppressive scent that made everyone feel as though a boulder sat on their chest.
"What an... uncomfortable atmosphere!"
Leilin looked up at the sky, which seemed to have darkened by several shades, and couldn't help but frown.
In the Hunting Unit's area, he could still occasionally spot one of its members.
These members all wore black wizard robes trimmed with a border of blood-colored lace — one look and it was clear they were not the type to welcome strangers.
Leilin could smell a thick, metallic scent of blood on some of them, and on others, he even detected... the faint presence of their own kind.
Clearly, these wizards had most likely been Dark Wizards before being recruited into the Hunting Unit.
"But this area is enormous. The real question is — how am I supposed to find Xishan?"
Holding his appointment letter, Leilin pondered briefly, then raised his eyebrows.
He casually picked out one of the Hunting Unit's wizards and stepped in front of him.
"What?" The wizard who'd been stopped was tall and broad, with a massive scar slashing diagonally across his forehead, splitting his entire face in two.
This gruesome wound made his already ferocious face appear all the more terrifying.
His eyes shot out a vicious glare as he stared at Leilin with naked hostility, and faint energy particle fluctuations actually began to shimmer around his body.
"High alertness! And absolutely uninhibited!" Leilin appraised inwardly, but then broke into a bright smile on the outside. "I'm a new wizard transferred to the Hunting Unit. I was hoping you could tell me where to find Xishan—"
"New members in the Hunting Unit are always personally escorted in by Captain Xishan! You spy!"
The moment Leilin uttered a single sentence, the wizard across from him erupted into a furious roar.
Leilin was startled, but then he noticed several other Hunting Unit members stopping to watch with eager, expectant expressions, and he instantly understood.
"Hazing the new guy — what a despicable tradition!"
The scar-faced wizard roared in fury, and then two metallic long blades materialized in his hands. The blades were roughly two meters long, their edges gleaming with a chilling light.
"Storm!"
The wizard shouted a single syllable, and in an instant, the left blade erupted with fierce, fire-like crimson, while on the right blade, wisps of white mist condensed into a frozen edge!
The scorching heat on the left and the frigid cold on the right began to merge, forming a colossal metal storm of intermingled red and blue that surged toward Leilin.
"Metal System Wizardry: Improved Blade Storm — incorporating ice and fire elemental runes, combined with his own elemental enhancement — the power is at least thirty-five degrees!"
A faint glow flickered through Leilin's eyes as he instantly estimated the spell's power and origin.
"A spell of this magnitude — an ordinary newly promoted wizard would be killed instantly! What a lunatic!"
But then, a trace of triumphant smile appeared on his face. "Heh... and here I was, worrying about finding someone to make an example of!"
Although making a move right from the start would reflect poorly, Leilin wasn't an ordinary member — he was the Hunting Unit's deputy leader! Besides, the other party had struck first. Even if this was reported to Leonno, he had nothing to fear.
And if getting rid of this deputy leader position was the outcome, Leilin would probably be even happier.
These thoughts flashed through his mind in under a second of real time, but the scar-faced wizard's metal storm had already arrived in front of Leilin.
The intense wind pressure accompanying the storm immediately tore the corridor walls on both sides to shreds, and the streams of compressed air that formed wind blades actually carried the destructive force of real weapons!
Crack! Crack!