Unlike the ordinary wizards of the South Coast who lacked advanced Meditation Methods and had no clear understanding of their path, Lei Lin had a very clear picture of his advancement.
Ordinary wizards, after spending an immense amount of time pushing their Spiritual Power and elemental transformation to the required standards, would then have to seek out or develop an advanced second-rank wizardry template compatible with the innate talent template they had chosen at the first rank, and attempt to solidify it within their Sea of Consciousness.
This was entirely a matter of luck. Even if one managed to succeed, friction and energy loss would occur between the two wizardry templates, significantly dragging down the second-rank wizard's combat power.
But Lei Lin was different. He possessed an advanced Meditation Method! Every advancement would generate an innate wizardry template perfectly suited to his own condition! All he needed to do now was raise his Meditation Method to the next level—cultivate the Eye of the Kemonin to the second stage—and he would smoothly advance to second-rank Warlock!
For wizards who cultivated advanced Meditation Methods, once their Meditation Method reached the necessary level, it would automatically propel the wizard's own advancement, far surpassing ordinary wizards in speed.
"I've already met the basic advancement requirements for the second stage of the Eye of the Kemonin! Next, I need to accumulate Spiritual Power and ignite a massive burst of energy in an instant, to push the Eye of the Kemonin through its breakthrough…"
The contents regarding the second-stage breakthrough of the Eye of the Kemonin, this advanced Meditation Method, slowly flowed through Lei Lin's mind.
"This is a process of continuous accumulation! In my current state, it should take about two to three years! However, through certain special means—such as burning large quantities of ownerless Spiritual Power—I could accelerate the process…"
Lei Lin's eyes glowed faintly, seemingly radiating a dangerous light…
Time slowly drifted into night.
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, blocking out every trace of moonlight. The entire Ganges Secret Realm sank into total darkness.
One magical lantern after another flickered to life, strung together like pearls, casting faint glimmers of light across the Four Seasons Garden headquarters.
Yet even with the numerous lanterns permanently enchanted with Light Spells, the sheer vastness of the headquarters still left plenty of dark corners and deep shadows.
Beside a flower bed, one black figure after another steadily emerged from the shadows.
These figures wore black robes streaked with blood-red patterns, the stench of blood so thick it was almost palpable. There was not a shred of human emotion in their eyes—only the raw desire for slaughter and destruction!!!
"How about it? The wizard army of the Dark Wizard headquarters—no worse than the White Wizards, right?"
Lei Lin and Xishan stood off to the side. Naturally, they had used their authority to dismiss the patrolling wizards and personally opened the Formation Spirit's defenses to receive these newcomers.
Xishan turned to Lei Lin with a grin.
"No worse? They're far superior, even…" Lei Lin took a deep breath.
Due to the harshness of their living conditions, Dark Wizards placed extremely high demands on combat ability. Basically, anyone who had survived until now possessed at least one or two killer techniques.
The armies trained by White Wizards also went through grueling and bloody training, but at best they only surpassed Dark Wizard corps in terms of teamwork and coordination—when it came to individual combat prowess, they were definitely still a step behind.
"It's been two days since the last attack, and we have at most three more days before the HQ Investigation Team arrives! That's when things will get really troublesome…"
A look of displeasure crossed Xishan's face. "What about Vad? Hasn't he been dealt with yet?"
"He's hidden himself well! The people I sent out haven't found him!" Lei Lin spread his hands, putting on an expression of helplessness.
"Anyway, there's no way he can escape the secret realm, and the news can't leak out either. After two more days, it won't matter even if he links up with the investigation team!"
"Let's hope so!" Xishan stared coldly at Lei Lin for a long while before squeezing the words out through clenched teeth.
He certainly suspected that Lei Lin was dragging his feet and deliberately letting Vad off the hook, but as Lei Lin had said, as long as Vad couldn't get the word out, it was a minor matter. In terms of the bigger picture, bound by the Eye of Judgment contract, Xishan believed Lei Lin wouldn't go so far as to betray their interests.
After all, if things were exposed now, Lei Lin would have absolutely no chance of returning to the Four Seasons Garden — he would only be hunted down by them!
"Isn't it a bit risky to start transporting personnel now? What if we're discovered?"
Lei Lin eyed the Dark Wizards arrayed behind Xishan and asked with some concern.
The White Wizards at HQ weren't fools, especially with members of the Lightning Legion around. His own and Xishan's little schemes were already suspicious enough — if they were caught having dealings with Dark Wizards on top of that, it would immediately draw serious attention.
"We have no choice! Our timeline is extremely tight! Within three days at most, two at the minimum, we have to bring in enough manpower and transfer control of the defense formation's authorization!"
Xishan's face was cold and hard. "I can temporarily stash them in a few abandoned laboratories and warehouses. It'll only be a day or two — we don't even need to prepare much in the way of food or clean water..."
"You lot, hide yourselves in the West District warehouses! I've already cut back as much as I can on patrols and sentry posts along the way. Here are their shift rotation maps and early warning runes!"
Xishan directed the orders to the Dark Wizards behind him, then tossed a roll of parchment to the lead figure.
The leading Dark Wizard accepted it in silence, then with a flick of his robe, his entire body dissolved into a wisp of black smoke, vanishing along with the other Dark Wizards.
The entire operation was carried out without a sound, a testament to the Dark Wizards' remarkable discipline and training.