Watching the spiritual storm unleashed by Wizard Xishan almost tear space apart, the hunting squad wizards present all cried out in disbelief.
"I heard long ago that Lord Xishan reached the standard for promotion to Second-rank twenty years ago, but for the sake of his future path, he deliberately suppressed his advancement..."
A female wizard with her face wrapped in gauze murmured, her eyes openly filled with adoration for Xishan. "As expected, the Squad Leader is the strongest!"
"So powerful!"
Leilin gritted his teeth, another surge of spiritual power erupting from his sea of consciousness. At the same time, a blue light flickered in his eyes. "Chip! Estimate the opponent's strength!"
"Ding! Task established. Commencing collection of scattered energy, constructing speculative model..." the Chip's mechanical voice sounded. A string of data streams appeared before Leilin's eyes, then resolved into a single conclusion.
"Target Spiritual Power estimate: 79.9. Spiritual Elementization Affinity: Necromancy. Elementization Progress estimate: 85%-90%!"
"These figures? So he's already crossed the promotion threshold!"
The prerequisite for a First-rank Wizard to advance to Second-rank was for their Spiritual Power to reach 80, and their degree of elementization to exceed 80%. However, many genius wizards didn't want to advance under such basic conditions. They wanted to gain greater benefits during their promotion and pave the way for the future. Therefore, they would often choose to suppress their spiritual power, keeping it at the threshold, while continuously elevating their level of spiritual elementization—usually to at least 90%—before choosing to advance. A Second-rank Wizard produced this way not only possessed combat strength far surpassing their peers, but their future advancement would also be somewhat easier than that of ordinary wizards.
And Xishan! He was actually such a genius wizard! Judging by this strength, he was even superior to the previous leader of the Potionology group, Tigait, whom Leilin had faced earlier. But that was also somewhat normal; Tigait was the leader of the Potionology group, and compared to combat prowess, he placed greater emphasis on his achievements in Potionology. Xishan, however, was responsible for the Four Seasons Garden's Hunting Squad, so his combat strength was naturally far beyond that of his contemporaries.
Leilin was secretly alarmed, then glanced at his own status.
"Leilin Farell. Warlock, First-rank. Bloodline: Komoy Giant Serpent. Strength: 7.1. Agility: 6.7. Constitution: 8.5. Spiritual Power: 58.9. Mana: 58 (Mana determined synchronously with Spiritual Power). Spiritual Elementization Progress: 70%. Status: Healthy."
"My spiritual power and elementization progress are too far behind his. And this is him not even using his full strength! Otherwise, my external spiritual pressure would have collapsed long ago!"
Leilin smiled bitterly in his mind. Of course, he wasn't using his full strength either. Not only his elementization progress, but even his spiritual power had been partially suppressed using the technique he'd obtained from the old hag, so naturally, he was no match for his opponent!
Under Xishan's assault using the Spiritual Eye secret technique, Leilin's spiritual power retreated steadily, dangerously close to his physical body. "Pfft!"
Leilin's face suddenly paled, and he stumbled back three steps. Each step left a deep imprint on the ground, and faint wisps of white steam rose from around them. His eyes filled with blood vessels for an instant, then quickly cleared. He wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Xishan with some unwillingness.
"Squad Leader is indeed formidable!"
In this situation, the victor was already clear. The female wizard from earlier immediately shouted her approval. "Silence!" Xishan glared, and the female wizard immediately fell silent, though her expression was one of grievance. Clap, clap! Xishan, his face expressionless, applauded.
Following the sound, two rows of apprentices in formal attire promptly came onto the scene. Facing this chaotic sight, they showed no surprise whatsoever, and instead quickly set about cleaning up. They even used zero-level spells like Cleaning Spell and Purification Spell, accelerating the progress. Several minutes later, the entire hall was spotless again. Even the damaged long tables had been replaced, and various dishes steaming with fragrant aromas were newly laid out.
"Well? Wizard Leilin! Your answer?" Xishan glanced at Leilin, whose face was somber.
"Since it's the Squad Leader's wish, I have no choice but to comply!" Leilin replied, his face full of reluctance.
"Mm! Very good!"
Xishan nodded. "Then! Everyone, let us raise our glasses to Leilin's future accomplishments!" Clank! Numerous tall wine glasses struck together, producing a crisp, pleasant sound.
…
"My lord, the area primarily under our Hunting Zone Three's responsibility stretches from the Green Leaf Highlands over there to the Bone Marsh here. In this region, the output of the Ganges Secret Realm is sparse. There's only one type of Phantom Spring Water, a resource valued by both sides' wizards..."
An older-looking wizard from the Hunting Squad, with streaks of white in his hair, was leading Leilin on an inspection tour of Hunting Zone Three's territory. Unlike areas completely under their own control, the places managed by the Hunting Squad were interlocked with the enemy's sphere of influence, deeply penetrating their territory. It wouldn't be surprising at all to spot one of their formal wizards within sight even now.