Leilin kept his right foot planted on Scarface's right leg, his arms folded across his chest, his cold gaze sweeping over the Wizards present.
A massive killing intent and an icy aura suddenly descended upon the entire area.
Every Hunting Squad
"I am the newly appointed Deputy Team Leader of the Hunting Squad — Leilin Farrell! This fellow just showed me disrespect, so I taught him a minor lesson! Do any of you have objections?"
Leilin swept his gaze around the crowd and asked coldly.
Defeating one Wizard to establish authority was one thing, but striking again would be going too far.
Moreover, there were over a dozen Hunting Squad Wizards present, every one of them a hardened veteran, and dealing with them all would be somewhat troublesome even for Leilin.
After hearing Leilin's words, the Wizards present exchanged glances with one another. Then one who seemed to hold some standing stepped forward and asked, "Since you are the newly arrived sir! Then would you be willing to release Wali first!"
"No!" Leilin shook his head.
"This Wizard dared to offend me, the Deputy Team Leader of the Hunting Squad! Until he receives the lesson and punishment he deserves, I reserve the right to press the matter further…"
"It seems he's not ready to back down yet!"
The Wizards present, upon hearing Leilin's words once more, all felt their hearts go cold in unison.
This Wizard Leilin was clearly intent on driving things to the bitter end!
The standoff immediately set in.
Fortunately, after a few minutes, a voice arrived to relieve them from their predicament.
"Wizard Leilin! What do you think you're doing?"
A wad of blood-colored mist condensed upon the grounds, eventually taking the form of a somewhat ethereal figure.
"Team Leader Xishan!" The other Hunting Squad Wizards bowed in succession.
"Mm." Xishan nodded casually, then turned his eyes — which seemed to emit a sharp gleam — toward Leilin.
"Leilin, what is the meaning of this? I expect an explanation!"
"Can't you tell for yourself, Lord Xishan?"
Leilin applied slight pressure with his right foot, and the scar-faced man beneath it immediately passed out.
"This Wizard not only offended me, but also tried to use dangerous magic right here in public! I was merely exercising my authority as Vice Team Leader to stop him!"
Leilin's voice carried a hint of amusement. "If you don't believe me, we can always go check the spell surveillance records..."
It might have been an illusion, but after hearing Leilin's explanation, the mist-formed figure wavered, as if on the verge of dissolving from sheer anger.
"Good! Very good!"
Xishan nodded with a cold smirk, then turned his gaze to the assembled Wizards.
"Wally has offended a superior Wizard and attempted to cast spells in a public area. Sentence: three months' imprisonment in the Black Tower, and full revocation of this year's resource allocation!"
"Does that satisfy you, Vice Team Leader Leilin?" Xishan deliberately placed extra emphasis on the last few syllables, seemingly making a pointed remark.
"Of course! I'm very satisfied!"
Leilin smiled and withdrew his right foot, giving Xishan a slight bow.
This outcome was already quite favorable, and he knew when to quit while he was ahead.
"Furthermore! You — come with me!" Xishan pointed at Leilin.
Leilin shrugged and walked calmly away from the grounds under the awestruck, fearful gazes of the Hunting Squad Wizards, leaving only the solitary Wally still lying on the ground.
"He... he's actually that strong!"
After Leilin left, one of the Wizards on the scene blurted out in disbelief.
"Strong is one thing — the real issue is that he actually dared to talk back to our Team Leader! Heh heh..." Another Wizard let out a schadenfreude-laden laugh.
Their Team Leader Xishan was no kind man! And as the Hunting Squad's leader, many of his torture methods were enough to drive an official Wizard straight into a mental breakdown.
"Leilin? Leilin! I remember now! It's him! Leilin from Zone Thirteen!"
At that moment, one Wizard finally remembered Leilin’s identity.
"That gentleman who killed nine Dark Wizards and captured eight official Wizards? That’s right, he was also called Leilin, and he was also transferred back to headquarters. It can’t be such a coincidence, can it?"
A Hunting Wizard with strange face paint spoke up, his expression bitter.
Leilin, who had successively killed and even captured opposing official Wizards—including a half-elementalized powerhouse—was by now a name that thundered through their ears.
Only now did these Wizards realize just who they had provoked.
"No wonder! If it’s that Leilin! He certainly has the right to be proud!"
A slightly older middle-aged man looked in the direction Leilin had gone, his expression unusually complex. The ordinary members of their Hunting Squad were only at the half-elementalized level, and quite a number of Wizards at that strength had fallen to Leilin’s hands. In the Wizarding world, strength was held in the highest regard.
At first, not knowing Leilin’s identity, they had thought his behavior was a provocation, but now looking back, they instead felt it was the bearing of a true expert.
……
The Wizards of the Hunting Squad saw Leilin again at that evening’s banquet.
This time, however, no one with poor judgment dared to go provoke him.
Leilin sat at the right side of the long table, quietly observing the Wizards present.
The Hunting Squad had fewer Wizards than the Potion Group, but still numbered around fifty or so. Their energy signatures were powerful, with nearly everyone having reached the threshold of half-elementalization—all elites among the official Wizards.
"Gentlemen!" From the head seat, Xishan cleared his throat.
Instantly, the room fell silent. The Wizards present stood respectfully, awaiting Xishan’s command.
"Before the feast begins, allow me to introduce a new member!" Xishan’s face was beaming with a bright smile.
"This is Wizard Leilin! He will be joining our Hunting Squad and taking up the position of Deputy Team Leader! Please welcome him!"
At Xishan’s introduction, Leilin cooperatively stood and offered a slight bow to all sides.
"Deputy Team Leader Leilin!"
Those Wizards who had witnessed Leilin’s prowess now dared not make any further moves? They all bent in a bow, nearly at a full ninety-degree angle.
"Hmm! Very good!"
Xishan nodded with satisfaction at the scene, then continued: "Wizard Leilin's strength! Many of you here have witnessed it firsthand. Therefore, I hereby announce that Deputy Team Leader Leilin will serve as the commander of our Hunting Zone Three from now on..."
"Wait!" A voice rang out, interrupting Xishan's speech.
Xishan's brow furrowed as he turned toward the source of the voice. However, his expression quickly softened: "Deputy Team Leader Leilin, do you have an objection?"
"Of course I do!" Leilin's face was equally grim, even somewhat unsightly. "Hunting Zone Three? As far as I know, that appears to be Black Bone Forest Academy's territory!"
Within the Ganges Secret Realm, aside from the areas separately occupied by White Wizards and Black Wizards — places garrisoned by massive wizard armies — there were also various scattered territories.
Some of these regions lay along the border between the two powers, others were remote, and some were situated right on the front lines.
As a result, before either side had fully mobilized, deploying large armies to fight over them wasn't practical. These places thus became the default battlegrounds where scattered wizards from both sides could clash freely.
No matter what they were called elsewhere, the territories under
"That's correct! Our primary enemy in Hunting Zone Three is Black Bone Forest Academy! Is there a problem?"
Suddenly, Xishan slapped his forehead. "Oh! I almost forgot. I've seen your file — Wizard Leilin, you once... were also an apprentice at Black Bone Forest, weren't you? Could it be that you have some... difficult feelings about this?"
"Hmph!" When Leilin had joined Four Seasons Garden, he had made no attempt to conceal his origins. After all, aside from his gains at the Dilun Garden, there was nothing particularly unusual about his background.
But being seized upon and leveraged by someone else — that clearly wasn't a pleasant feeling.
"I severed all ties with Black Bone Forest Academy the moment I entered Four Seasons Garden. Do you still have doubts, Team Leader?"
Leilin shot back bluntly.
"Hmm! Very good!" Xishan clapped his hands with a smile.
"Then! Prove it to me! Use the heads of Black Bone Forest wizards to prove your loyalty to Four Seasons Garden!"
"And if I refuse?"
"Then! I'm sorry, but I will arrest you on charges of insubordination!"
The smile on Xishan's face turned cold, and the third vertical eye on his forehead slowly opened.
Buzz!
A powerful and bloody Spiritual Power, like a dense net, instantly filled the entire room.
An equally powerful wave of Spiritual Power, one filled with deep darkness, descended upon the scene.
Crack! Crack!
The air seemed to be torn apart in an instant, letting out sounds of shattering.
Whoosh! As if a Level 10 gale had sprung up from nowhere, a violent storm suddenly descended upon the venue, scattering the delicacies on the dining table in all directions.
"It's a Spiritual Power storm! Fall back!!!"
The Wizards present retreated one after another, their faces twisted with extreme terror.
"Your Spiritual Power has improved considerably—what a pity, it's still not enough!"
From across from Leylin, Wizard Xishan's voice suddenly rang out, tinged with a note of surprise. Then, the voice turned cold. "Then let me show you what a true peak first-level Wizard looks like! Spirit Eye!!!"
As his words fell, a massive phantom of a vertical eye materialized behind Xishan's back.
This vertical eye was incredibly sinister. Its pupil was pitch black, strikingly similar to the one on Xishan's forehead.
Boom!!!
After the phantom of the vertical eye appeared, the Spiritual Power storm at the center of the venue intensified several times over. At its very edges, fine black cracks even began to appear, leaking strands of silver light from within.
"Group Leader Xishan's strength has actually reached the level of tearing through the void with Spiritual Power alone. At this level, one more step up and it would be the Spiritual Materialization of a second-level Wizard!"