Watching
"I've heard Lord Xishan met the standard for promotion to Second-Rank Wizard twenty years ago, but he deliberately suppressed his advancement for the sake of his future path..."
A female wizard, her face wrapped in gauze, murmured, her eyes filled with undisguised adoration for Xishan. "As expected, Team Leader is the strongest!"
"Truly powerful!"
Leilin gritted his teeth as another massive surge of Spiritual Power erupted from his sea of consciousness.
At the same moment, a flash of blue light swept across his eyes. "Chip! Estimate his strength!"
"Beep. Task initiated. Commencing energy dissipation analysis to construct predictive model..." The Chip's mechanical voice replied.
A stream of data scrolled before Leilin's vision before resolving into a single conclusion.
"Target Spiritual Power estimate: 79.9. Spiritual Elementalization selected attribute: Necromancy. Elementalization progress estimate: 85%-90%!"
"These numbers? So he has already crossed the threshold for promotion!"
The prerequisite for a First-Rank Wizard to advance to Second-Rank was for their Spiritual Power to reach 80, and their Elementalization progress to exceed 80%.
But many talented wizards didn't wish to advance in this most basic state. They wanted to gain greater benefits during promotion, paving the way for their future.
Therefore, they often chose to suppress their Spiritual Power, holding it at the critical threshold, while continuously raising their Spiritual Elementalization level. They wouldn't advance until it reached at least 90%.
Second-Rank Wizards produced this way not only possessed combat power far beyond their peers, but their future advancements also became somewhat easier compared to ordinary wizards.
And Xishan! He was precisely such a talented wizard! Judging by this strength, he even surpassed the former leader of the Apothecary Division whom Leilin had faced earlier, Tiget.
But this was to be expected. Tiget was the leader of the Apothecary Division, so compared to combat power, he placed greater emphasis on his attainments in Potionology.
Xishan, however, was in charge of the
Leilin was inwardly shocked, and immediately glanced at his own status.
"Leilin Phaleron, Warlock Rank One. Bloodline: Komodo Giant Serpent. Strength: 7.1. Agility: 6.7. Constitution: 8.5. Spiritual Power: 58.9. Mana: 58 (Mana is synchronously determined by Spiritual Power). Spiritual Elementalization Progress: 70%. Status: Healthy."
"My Spiritual Power and elementalization are far behind his, and he hasn't even used his full strength. Otherwise, my Spiritual Power in the outside world would have already collapsed!"
Leilin laughed bitterly to himself.
Of course, he hadn't used his full strength either. Not only was his degree of elementalization restrained, but he'd also suppressed a portion of his Spiritual Power using techniques he'd obtained from the old witch, so naturally he was no match for his opponent!
After Xishan activated his Spiritual Eye secret technique, Leilin's Spiritual Power retreated wave after wave, teetering on the verge of reaching his actual body.
"Phah!"
Leilin's face suddenly turned pale, and he staggered back three steps.
Each step left a very deep footprint in the ground, with wisps of white vapor rising from around them.
Leilin's eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot veins, which quickly faded. He wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at Xishan with some unwillingness.
"Captain, you are truly formidable!"
At this point, the outcome was already clear. The female Wizard who had spoken earlier immediately cheered.
"Silence!" Xishan shot her a glare, and she immediately fell quiet, though her expression was quite aggrieved.
Clap, clap! Xishan clapped his hands with an expressionless face.
After the sound of applause, two rows of apprentices dressed in formal attire immediately came out onto the field.
Faced with the utter mess, not a trace of surprise showed on their faces. Instead, they quickly set about cleaning up.
Among them, some third-tier apprentices even cast Zero-level Spells such as Stain Removal and Cleaning to speed up the progress. Colored Wizard lights of various hues flickered across the hall.
After just a few minutes, the entire hall was spotless again. Even the damaged long tables had been replaced, and an array of steaming, fragrant dishes was set out fresh upon them.
"Well? Wizard Leilin! What is your answer?"
Xishan glanced at Leilin, who wore a dark expression across from him.
"Since it is the Captain's wish, then I have no choice but to comply!" Leilin replied, his face full of reluctance.
"Mm! Good!"
Xishan nodded. "Then! Everyone! Let us raise our glasses to Lei Lin's future achievements!"
Bang! Numerous tall glass goblets crashed together, producing a crisp and pleasant ringing sound.
……
"Sir! The area our Hunting Squad Three is mainly responsible for stretches from that Green Leaf Highland over there to the Bone Dryness Swamp here. In this sector, the Ganges Secret Realm yields very little — only a type of Illusory Spring Water, which both sides of Wizards value quite a lot…"
A Hunt Squad Wizard who looked no young, streaks of white running through his hair, was leading Lei Lin on a patrol through Hunting Squad Three's territory.
Unlike the areas completely occupied by their own side, the places the Hunt Squad was responsible for were interlocked with the enemy's forces, each side penetrating deep into hostile territory. It would not be at all surprising to spot an enemy formal Wizard within sight right now.
For this reason, these hunting zones were also the most frequent battlegrounds within the secret realm.
Every day, apprentices and even formal Wizards died here at the enemy's hands, becoming the enemy's merit points.
"Black Bone Forest Academy? It's been so long!"
Lei Lin stood atop a high ridge, gazing at the distant scenery, murmuring to himself.
In that instant, his old life within Black Bone Forest Academy, and all the people he had known there, seemed to come vividly back to life.
"But Instructor Guofate is only an Apothecary — he probably wouldn't be sent to the battlefield, unless he offended someone…"
Lei Lin thought about it. The only people he could possibly encounter on the battlefield now would be formal Wizards from Black Bone Forest Academy.
And the Academy instructors he was actually familiar with were only
The rest he barely knew at all — even if he killed them, he wouldn't feel the slightest twinge of guilt.
He might even hope to run into someone from the Lilithel family! That previous hunt — he had kept it locked in his memory all this time!
"Vice Squad Leader, sir! We've already been delayed here for over fifteen minutes! That's the critical threshold — if we stay any longer, the enemy's scouting Wizards could scan our energy fluctuations and draw a siege upon us!"
The Wizard who was guiding Lei Lin on his patrol bowed and offered a reminder.
In Hunting Squad Three, Lei Lin as Vice Squad Leader was the undisputed local emperor.
After all, his strength was more than sufficient — he was the foremost among the Four Seasons Gardens here. And on top of that, he was these Hunt Squad Wizards' direct superior! That was a truly terrifying combination!
If Lei Lin took a dislike to any Wizard, he could simply issue a command and send that Wizard straight into the enemy's encirclement to die.
And if the other party tried to resist, Lei Lin could execute them on the spot for disobeying military orders!
Therefore, when their very lives were in someone else's hands, dignity and honor were the first things to be thrown aside.
Upon arriving here, Lei Lin had only needed to use a few simple tricks to bring these Wizards into submission.
"Got it! Old Man!" Lei Lin replied mildly.
Most of the Hunting Squad Wizards went by nicknames, and the Wizard beside Lei Lin happened to go by "Old Man."
"The Liliter family, since they failed in their bid for the position of Black Bone Forest Academy Head last time — that means their strength back then absolutely could not have exceeded that of a Second-Class Wizard. They probably didn't even have a single Second-Class among their ranks..."
Lei Lin swiftly calculated the Liliter family's strength.
"That Borsain's grandfather I killed back then was a senior elder with real power in the Liliter family, his strength at the peak of First-Class Wizard. He should have been a bit weaker than Xishan, roughly on par with Tigart..."
A flash of blue light flickered through Lei Lin's eyes as he silently issued a command: "Chip! Using the data on Xishan collected last time, construct a simulation scenario and test the outcome of a battle between me and Xishan..."
"Ding! Task established. Beginning data retrieval. Constructing simulated humanoid!"
The Chip reported back faithfully.
"Let's go!" Lei Lin said to Old Man beside him. With a visible look of relief on the other man's face, they swiftly departed the area.
As they moved, streams of data flickered rapidly before Lei Lin's eyes.
With his current level of Spiritual Power, multitasking like this was an extremely simple matter.
After a brief moment, the Chip produced its results.
"Combat outcome: Subjects Two and Three self-destruct and perish! Main body and Xishan perish together! Probability: 89.7%"
"What? Pull up the detailed imagery for me!"
Lei Lin was startled. He had set the parameters at full power, with traps laid in ambush, supplemented by the surprise assault of Subjects Two and Three — the branded swordsmen. Yet this was still the outcome? It was somewhat beyond his expectations.
Buzz!
A pale blue light screen projected before Lei Lin's eyes, displaying scene after scene like a three-dimensional monitor.
In the images, Lei Lin first launched a surprise attack while Xi Shan was off guard, dealing him a devastating blow in one strike. Xi Shan quickly recovered and fought back against Lei Lin with a mixture of shock and fury.
Two figures flashed rapidly across the screen, but Xi Shan's physical toughness clearly exceeded Lei Lin's expectations.
After several minutes of intense combat, Xi Shan used his secret technique once more, and the injuries on his body immediately recovered by more than half.
At this point, Lei Lin also activated Subjects Two and Three, who had been lying in wait.
Subjects Two and Three roared, every brand on their bodies blazing to life as they launched searing flames from their longswords, engulfing Xi Shan completely.
The vertical third eye on Xi Shan's forehead opened, projecting a black defensive barrier of light that completely withstood the attacks of both branded swordsmen.
Moreover, from that eye, he seemed able to emit a white beam of light that dealt devastating damage to the soul.
In the end, Lei Lin had no choice but to order Subjects Two and Three to self-destruct, finally destroying Xi Shan's third eye.
But in the final moment, Xi Shan let out a maniacal laugh as two additional figures split away from his body — three bodies standing in separate positions, grabbing Lei Lin and detonating themselves in a berserk final assault…