Xiling herself had only just broken through to the rank of formal
Even the few Wizards Xiling had managed to recruit through her own efforts were merely at the formal Wizard level at best, still significantly below Shigley's strength.
This was what gave Shigley his unbridled arrogance.
Facing Shigley's relentless pressure, the smile on Xiling's face grew more strained. At the same time, she sent voice transmissions to Obo and Ilya, warning them not to make any moves that might provoke the other party.
Watching this scene, Obo and Ilya felt as though their hearts were being cut by knives. They clenched their fists tight.
At that moment, Xiling spoke again: "I came here this time to welcome an Honorary Professor who has just joined our faction. He wishes to enter the Frost Cavern..."
"Honorary Professor?" Shigley's brow furrowed.
"Could it be Waglin or Nova? With their level of strength, even if they joined, they'd only be a burden..."
Shigley sneered.
"No! The professor we've invited this time is a traveling Wizard from the Eastern Capital! In truth, I was quite surprised that he was willing to join the Alliance of Nature..."
A hint of a smile appeared on Xiling's face. "And he has already arrived!"
"Heh... What kind of strength could such a traveler possibly have? Xiling, you'd better not have been deceived!" The contempt on Shigley's face remained unchanged. "Hmm? Someone's here. Where?"
"Right here!"
From behind Shigley came Leilin's cold voice.
Shigley's body went rigid. As a formal Wizard, someone had still managed to evade his perception and slip behind him with ease — what kind of strength did that require?
If it hadn't been a greeting but a magical attack, killing him would probably not have been difficult at all.
He turned his neck stiffly, and there he saw a young Wizard in black robes standing behind him, a smile on his face.
But the aura emanating from the other party was terrifyingly powerful!
The instant he appeared, dense Shadow elemental energy particles flooded the area, completely pushing away the elemental particle halo around Shigley.
"This dense elementalized spiritual power aura. F-First-rank peak!" Shigley's words came out stuttering.
Mother of the Earth! A first-rank peak Wizard was a local overlord even in the Dark Extreme Region — why would one casually join a small faction like the Alliance of Nature and become an Honorary Professor?
Shigley felt his mind struggling to keep up.
"It seems someone isn't being very respectful toward our Alliance of Nature's faction leader?" Leilin gazed at the Wizard with interest.
"Surgical transplant? Or physical modification from a Meditation Method? I'd really like to study it..."
Though he didn't say these words aloud, Leilin's gaze still made Wizard Shigley shudder with a cold chill.
"My Lord! You jest! Our Octospiders and the Alliance of Nature have always been on friendly terms — why would I ever cause trouble for Faction Leader Xiling? Ha ha... ha ha..."
Shigley bowed deeply to Leilin, lowering his head far down, and offered an ingratiating smile.
"Is that so?" Leilin glanced at Xiling.
"It is, Lord Leilin!" Xiling first shot a cold look at Shigley, and only after seeing a pleading look in his eyes did she speak calmly.
"In that case, you may leave first. I still have matters to discuss with Xiling!" Leilin instructed coolly.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you, my Lord!" Shigley immediately fled back to the fortress as though granted amnesty, not daring to step outside again.
"Xiling, it seems your Alliance of Nature isn't doing too well around here?"
Leilin looked at Xiling, his eyes briefly passing over the two flushed-faced Third-rank Apprentices behind her.
"I apologize for the embarrassment, my Lord!" A bitter smile appeared on Xiling's face.
"Ever since my mentor passed away, our Alliance of Nature hasn't produced a single new formal Wizard. With only me holding things up alone, we've appeared somewhat in decline... But with your joining, my Lord, I'm certain this situation will improve..."
A first-rank peak Wizard was already the trump card of a mid-tier faction. With this figurehead, the Alliance of Nature would naturally gain far more room to develop.
"As you wish. But we had an agreement beforehand — I hope you remember it. Otherwise, if you bring some truly troublesome problems back to me, I won't actually step in to help you deal with them..."
Leilin reminded her. His agreement with Xiling was simply that she would provide a high-level Meditation Method, accumulated Wizard spell资料, and the convenience of this occasion, in exchange for a nominal professorship.
In reality, Leilin was merely lending his name to the Alliance of Nature. Though he had his own plans, he didn't want Xiling using his reputation to stir up trouble.
"Rest assured!" Xiling promised. She was a very clever woman and naturally knew not to cross Leilin's bottom line.
"Obo, Ilya — haven't you greeted my Lord yet?" Xiling then quickly called out behind her.
Only after hearing her words did Obo and Ilya seem to wake from a dream and step forward to bow.
"Obo and Ilya greet my Lord!"
They lowered their heads deeply, not daring to look at Leilin again, though their voices carried an indescribable sense of admiration.
First-rank peak! Obo and Ilya had never imagined that a Wizard of this caliber could appear within their Alliance of Nature.
And now, with such a top-tier Wizard presiding over them, the Alliance of Nature seemed poised for an uprising.
Obo and Ilya were incredibly excited. They had been taken in by the Alliance of Nature since childhood and had naturally developed deep feelings for it, hoping to see the faction grow stronger and stronger.
Even the resentment from having Xiling's position undermined seemed to have lessened somewhat.
"Very well. Xiling, where are the things I asked for?"
Leilin waved his hand, dismissing the two Third-rank Apprentices, and asked Xiling directly.
Seeing that Obo and Ilya had not caught Leilin's eye, Xiling could only sigh inwardly. She then produced a pale golden leaf and a roll of dark yellow parchment.
"This is the map! As for this leaf — it is the original of our Alliance of Nature's only high-level Meditation Method, the Crystal Mask! I would like you to safeguard it!"
The expression on Xiling's face was extremely sincere.
This attitude surprised Leilin somewhat.
He took the map and examined it. It was densely packed with various cave markings and annotations — clearly, the Alliance of Nature had been surveying the Frost Cavern for quite some time.
But even so, they had yet to explore the cavern's deepest levels, which spoke to the vastness of the Frost Cavern. And this was precisely why Leilin needed the map.
Otherwise, wouldn't he have to wander through the Frost Cavern like a headless fly for months or even years before collecting enough Ice Jade Scorpion breath crystals?
"And this Crystal Mask?"
Leilin understood the significance of a high-level Meditation Method original. In a sense, this was the token and symbol of the entire Alliance of Nature. By doing this, Xiling was essentially handing over authority.
Moreover, by surrendering the Meditation Method original, Xiling was making it clear to Leilin that she had not tampered with the technique in any way.
Facing Leilin's gaze, Xiling raised her head to meet it without flinching, her eyes filled with hope and... pleading?
Leilin curled his lips and reached out to take the pale golden leaf. A thread of silver spiritual power probed directly into it.
"Spiritual power data interface detected. Authorize data transfer?" The Chip's prompt sounded immediately.
"Authorize!" Under Leilin's command, massive streams of information and diagrams began flooding into his mind. At the same time, he understood why Xiling had been so generous as to hand over the original.
"This Crystal Mask only has two layers?" Leilin looked at Xiling in disbelief. "Shouldn't any high-level Meditation Method have at least four layers?"
In the ancient era, high-level Meditation Methods were no simple matter. They represented at least one path leading to the Morning Star throne!
In other words, any technique called a high-level Meditation Method should contain at least four layers, allowing a Wizard to cultivate to the Morning Star realm!
"The latter half has been lost, my Lord." Bitterness crept onto Xiling's face.
"In truth, most of the high-level Meditation Methods in the Dark Extreme Region have some degree of loss. There's no path to advance further..."
As Xiling spoke, Leilin suddenly thought of Siegfried's Power of the Earth.
That high-level Meditation Method from the Earth and Fire Society seemed to have only three layers as well, at most allowing a Wizard to cultivate to the third rank before the path simply ended.
"Even in ancient times, high-level Meditation Methods were not common goods. And our Dark Extreme Region has seen several major wars. Although Wizard lineages were not completely severed, many branches and contents were lost..."
Xiling explained.
"Furthermore, even with only two layers, no Wizard in our Alliance of Nature has ever been able to cultivate the Crystal Mask to completion. The second layer requires a Phantom Crystal from the Mist World to meditate upon, and unfortunately, that material has been extinct in the Dark Extreme Region for over ten thousand years..."
Clearly afraid that Leilin would look down on this incomplete technique, Xiling hurriedly presented another set of materials.
"These are all the spell templates our Alliance of Nature has accumulated to date, including research materials for four second-level spells..."
She produced a crystal ball from her robes and handed it to Leilin. "Furthermore, our annual tribute can be increased to one million Magic Stones!"
"Second-level spells?" Leilin was delighted inwardly, though his expression remained unchanged. "Rest assured — since I've already agreed to help you, I certainly won't go back on my word..."