James's face flushed red, and he suddenly roared: "Form Three!"
In an instant, tiny beads of blood seeped densely from the surface of his skin.
The massive amount of blood dyed his clothes crimson, making him look as though he'd just been dragged out of a sea of blood.
Along with the surging blood, a vast and terrifying wave of Spiritual Power erupted violently from James's body.
The greatsword in his hands instantly turned blood-red, its radiance swelling several meters in the blink of an eye!
Crack!
The black metal shield in front of the bandit leader shattered under the blood-red blade.
Immediately after, James swung the blood sword and brought it down狠狠地 on the black-robed bandit leader's body.
Sizzle!
The black-robed bandit leader was sent flying backward. At the same time, the ring-shaped Magical Item on his body cracked apart in midair, crumbling into fine powder that drifted away on the wind.
"Nice one, James!"
"Senior James is incredible!"
The Wetland Garden apprentices on the scene immediately burst into cheers.
James wasted no time, turning the blood sword toward the remaining bandits.
It looked as though he intended to wipe out all the enemies in one go. After all, Form Three placed an enormous burden on his body and came with extremely troublesome side effects.
"James is the strongest..." Besta watched the awe-inspiring James, a blush spreading across her face, her eyes practically sparkling with stars.
"What a bunch of losers — making me do this myself!"
Suddenly, a strange, hoarse voice echoed across the clearing.
The moment they heard it, the previously cocky bandits all dropped to their knees as though they'd seen a deity, their bodies trembling violently.
Accompanying the voice, a massive black palm materialized out of thin air and slapped toward James as though swatting a fly.
"Bang!"
The black palm struck once, effortlessly knocking the blood sword from James's grip, then clenched into a fist and punched! James's chest caved inward, and he vomited a torrent of blood as he hurtled backward.
"A... a
James, lying sprawled on the ground, let out a look of utter disbelief before losing consciousness.
"A Wizard?" The color drained from Besta's face in an instant. Her bones seemed to dissolve, and she collapsed limply to the ground. "We're finished!"
They had heard rumors before that some Black Wizards who had already broken through to Wizard had mixed in among bandits — but they never imagined they would actually run into one.
That was a towering Wizard! How could one possibly bother with a group of insignificant apprentices?
But reality, by its very nature, arrives precisely when you are least prepared.
A figure clad in a black robe edged in gold, face shrouded in a layer of dark mist, materialized before Leilin and the others in the blink of an eye.
"Roar!" George let out a tremendous bellow and charged straight at the Black Wizard.
His Green Giant transformation was powerful, but it carried a side effect — an uncontrollable loss of rationality that struck at random and grew far more pronounced during the transformation itself.
Now, acting on pure instinct, he lunged at the Black Wizard whose overwhelming pressure filled the clearing.
"George, don't!" Xirui screamed, despair written across her face.
"A mere little apprentice dares to attack the great Wizard?"
The Black Wizard cackled, and a grotesque claw wreathed in green phosphorescent flame reached out toward George.
Splat!
A fireball wreathed in raging black flame shot out and struck the claw squarely.
Black flames roared across the sky, tinting a swath of the heavens a dark, ominous hue.
The green claw lasted fewer than a few seconds in the black fire before being utterly reduced to ash.
"Who goes there?!" The black-robed Wizard's voice carried shock and fury.
A soft sigh answered him.
A flash of dark light rippled over Leilin, and he appeared directly in front of George's Green Giant form.
But George was far gone — drool streaming from his mouth, eyes glazed, reason completely abandoned. Even seeing Leilin, he simply grabbed at him.
The Green Giant's arm was corded with bulging muscles, whipping up a violent gust of wind.
Facing this attack, Leilin merely extended his right hand!
Boom!
The enormous fist was caught and held firm by Leilin's slender, pale palm.
Compared to the Green Giant, Leilin's frame was laughably small — like an infant beside a colossus. Yet this Leilin blocked the full-force blow with ease.
The scene was almost comical, but not a single person present could laugh.
"A W-Wizard?!!"
Alexander's jaw dropped open like a toad's. "Leilin is actually a Wizard!! Heavens..."
"What kind of impossibly stupid thing have we done?" Lana and several other apprentices stood frozen in shock.
As for Besta, the woman had practically melted into the ground, unable to utter a single word.
The only one who might have shown any joy was Xirui.
By now, George was tightly bound by countless black chains that had extended from beneath Leilin's feet.
The Green Giant form then began to shrink like a deflating balloon, white vapor pouring from its entire body, until George gradually returned to his normal human shape.
"George!" Xirui rushed over and helped him out of the chains.
George was now completely unconscious, his body still twitching involuntarily, his face covered in unsightly green spots, his lips a ghastly white.
"Leilin... sir, please save him!" Xirui cradled George's face, her expression desperate.
"Don't worry!"
"This is just a rejection response from the Green Ironwood cell transplant — very easy to fix!"
A ring of milky-white light appeared on Leilin's hand and pressed down on George's forehead.
As the milky glow dissolved into fine white threads that seeped into George's nose and ears, the green spots on his face receded at a rapid pace. Within seconds, George had calmed down and slipped into what looked like an ordinary, peaceful sleep.
Once he had finished tending to George, Leilin rose and turned to the black-robed Wizard who had been waiting at the side the entire time.
"I never expected to encounter a Wizard out here as well."
The Wizard, face still wrapped in black mist, spoke in a voice deliberately altered to be genderless — clearly a carefully disguised tone.
"I didn't expect that going out incognito for a casual stroll would lead me to a Black Wizard either," Leilin replied with a faint, indifferent smile.
He had on occasion participated in raids alongside the Hand of a Thousand Leaves, but those operations targeted high-difficulty objectives like the Nine-Ring White Tower.
As for a Wizard using his position to rob apprentices on the roadside — that was something Leilin found genuinely beneath contempt.
In Leilin's estimation, this Black Wizard was clearly in a sorry state. His Spiritual Power fluctuations were weak, suggesting he had only recently entered this rank, and the elementalization of his Spiritual Power had barely progressed at all.
"Then, for your sake, I'll let them go!" the black-robed Wizard said immediately.
Risking a fight with an equal over a trivial windfall was something no sane Wizard would ever do.
"Thank you."
Leilin replied flatly.
Just as he expected the other to leave, the Black Wizard spoke again. "Also, I happen to possess some exclusive intelligence — regarding the Ganges Secret Realm. How about it? Interested in hearing it?"
"Information on the Ganges Secret Realm?" Leilin regarded the Black Wizard with a measured look of suspicion.
Given this person's strength, it was highly unlikely he had acquired anything genuinely useful. Besides, Leilin had always been wary of things that fell from the sky like free pies.
"I'll listen."
Still, Leilin agreed. He wanted to see exactly what this Black Wizard was scheming.
"All of you — leave now!"
The black-robed Wizard addressed the surviving bandits.
"Yes, sir!!!"
The bandits scrambled away in a panic, vanishing within moments.
Heavens! They had thought they were robbing a group of Wizard Apprentices — they never imagined the procession included a full Wizard!
And judging from their true leader's deferential attitude, this Wizard was extraordinarily powerful.
If such a person took a dislike to them, killing them would be no harder than crushing an ant.
So the bandits dragged up the fallen apprentices and fled like the wind, vanishing from Leilin's sight, leaving behind nothing but a field of wreckage.
"You all wait here for me!"
Leilin glanced at his own party. The moment the words left his lips, every apprentice present immediately bowed their bodies low — even Besta.
These apprentices had long been conditioned at the Academy to show unwavering deference to any Wizard of higher rank. Failure to do so meant severe punishment!
Seeing this, Leilin allowed himself a quiet, inward smile, then departed with the mist-shrouded Wizard.
"We've come far enough — you can talk now."
After following the black-robed Wizard a considerable distance, Leilin frowned and called out, halting the figure ahead.
"What exactly is this intelligence? Out with it. If it proves genuinely valuable, be it Magic Stones or anything else, I won't be stingy..."
"This location isn't safe. I need to take you somewhere that's guaranteed to be beyond the reach of any detection spells," the black-robed Wizard began to explain.
"Is that so?" Leilin looked somewhat skeptical but continued walking.
"Here — this is the spot!"
The black-robed Wizard led Leilin to a peculiar, haphazard pile of stones.
"I've set up an isolation array here that ensures no third-party Wizard can overhear our conversation..."
The Wizard, whose gender was still impossible to determine beneath the veil of black mist, strode directly into the stone formation. But Leilin hesitated briefly and stopped in his tracks.
"What's the matter? Don't you trust me?"
The black-robed Wizard spoke.