The Alliance of Nature only had one advanced Meditation Method, and Leilin had recorded a copy of it — the Crystal Mask, an advanced Meditation Method that focused primarily on illusion magic, supplemented by a small amount of plant-system energy. It consisted of only two simple layers.
Moreover, because the second layer required special materials from another world, there was no confirmed record in the Alliance of Nature's history of any wizard ever reaching the second tier.
Leilin himself possessed the Eye of Komoin and had long since committed to the warlock's path, so he naturally wouldn't switch to cultivating something else.
This meant that outsiders could tell at a glance that he wasn't actually a wizard nurtured by the Alliance of Nature itself.
According to the precedent set by previous Joint Council meetings, such wizards could still participate, but a small school was only allowed to select one representative, with no substitutions permitted.
"Don't worry — I have confidence in Leilin!" Xiling's voice was brimming with assurance.
What Leilin was displaying was peak first-tier strength. A wizard of that caliber could serve as a trump card for even a medium-sized school. Xiling naturally had nothing to worry about.
"Is that so? How wonderful!" Madame Saqie unfolded a black folding fan to cover her lips and let out a soft, coquettish laugh.
"What? Did you receive some intelligence too?" Seeing this, Xiling immediately deployed a soundproofing barrier around the three of them.
"Yes! I picked up several pieces of information from my adopted little wolf dogs — Shigeli of the Eight-clawed Spider still seems to harbor ill intentions toward you! And behind him, there's a medium-sized school — Mist Forest — backing him up!"
Madame Saqie revealed the intelligence, then glanced at Leilin. "Furthermore, they seem to have made preparations regarding you as well, this outside helper of yours!"
"A medium school! Mist Forest!" Sure enough, Xiling's expression shifted slightly.
These medium schools didn't merely have peak first-tier wizards as their trump cards. Their number of formal wizards and their overall depth of resources far exceeded what the Alliance of Nature could muster. How could Xiling not be worried?
"What could the Alliance of Nature possibly have that Mist Forest would covet?"
Meanwhile, Leilin immediately arrived at this question.
As a medium-sized school, Mist Forest's resources and mineral holdings were far beyond what the Alliance of Nature could compare to. Moreover, even if the Alliance of Nature were demoted, the one to take over its seat wouldn't necessarily be Mist Forest.
"So Mist Forest would need to rope in the Eight-clawed Spider as an ally. Once the Alliance of Nature declines and loses its seat, the Eight-clawed Spider could step in to take it over. With a little more pressure from Mist Forest, the Joint Council members wouldn't refuse..."
"And what mineral resource is unique to both the Alliance of Nature and the Eight-clawed Spider? Only one — the Ice Cavern!!!"
Power struggles like these — Leilin only needed to think briefly to more or less figure out half of it.
Moreover, you could determine the truth simply by looking at who the final beneficiary or indirect beneficiary was.
After all, nobody would do something that was all effort and no reward.
Leilin had spent enough time to get a general understanding of the Alliance of Nature's assets. Honestly, those benefits alone weren't worth Mist Forest deigning to take notice of.
The only possibility was that the deeper secrets of the Ice Cavern had been exposed!!!
"The Ice Cavern was previously just a place rich in cold-attribute materials, with the Ice Jade Scorpion as its only decent specialty. Its value wasn't particularly high, which was why it was assigned to the Alliance of Nature. But deeper within the cavern, there was a far more vast frozen world — containing the remains of a creature with the strength of a Dawn Star
Thanks to the inherited fragmentary information from the Ice Jade Scorpion King's bloodline, nobody knew the Ice Cavern's secrets better than Leilin. Without exaggeration, that place was a massive treasure trove — especially for bloodline warlocks!
Leilin's eyes grew brighter and brighter, eventually carrying a sharp hint of coldness.
"Only benefits of this magnitude would be worth Mist Forest's covert intervention. And from the looks of it, this intelligence hasn't leaked either. That makes sense — if it had, the entire Abyssal Pole Region would have been stirred up, with every wizard organization rushing in to explore..."
"Xiling! Find out how the
Leilin suddenly ordered.
"Yes, my lord!" Xiling straightened, walked to the side, and the runes on her secret method marks began to glow in rapid succession. When she returned, her expression was grim.
"Both of them have been recruited by Shigeli. His influence has already spread through those two schools like a spider's web..."
"As expected..." Leilin sighed.
This was the final confirmation.
Now he could be certain that Mist Forest had discovered the Ice Cavern's extraordinary secrets, which was why they'd bribed the Eight-clawed Spider to keep pushing out other schools and monopolize the entire Ice Cavern!
"It seems I'll have to find an opportunity to eliminate them!"
A flash of blood-red light crossed Leilin's eyes, making Xiling's heart clench. It was as though some primordial beast crouched right beside her.
Leilin had already unceremoniously claimed the entire frozen world as his own territory. Since Mist Forest dared to reach their hand here, it naturally had to be cut off!
"Actually, if the goal were merely to resolve the Alliance of Nature's crisis, there would be a better approach — simply disclosing the Ice Cavern's secret to everyone. In that case, even Mist Forest couldn't stand against the entire Abyssal Pole Region. Under the pressure of the Joint Council, they'd be nothing but ants — crushed to dust. But that wouldn't serve my interests!"
Sure, following behind the horde of pioneer wizards, Leilin could still obtain some benefits with his strength. But the uncertainty of such an approach was far too high.
If those third-tier wizard old monsters were also drawn into the mix, Leilin had absolutely zero confidence in snatching anything from under their noses.
And in that scenario, he'd only end up with scraps — far too regrettable.
Let alone the possibility that the Abyssal Pole Region still had Dawn Star Wizards who could breach the entire frozen world outright — in that case, Leilin would be reduced to tears!
So for him, the best outcome was for the Ice Cavern's secret to remain hidden forever — until he himself advanced to Dawn Star Wizard, then return to claim the greatest spoils without anyone being the wiser!
"But... if that's the case, then Mist Forest must be completely annihilated. And it has to be done quickly, before their leaders have time to react!"
In his mind, Leilin had already sentenced Mist Forest and the Eight-clawed Spider to death.
After merely turning a few thoughts over in his head, Leilin had roughly pieced together the entire chain of events.
For him, since this was the most probable explanation, it was better to kill the wrong target than let anyone slip through! Both Mist Forest and the Eight-clawed Spider had to be destroyed, and he could also loot their advanced Meditation Methods and treasures as a bonus.
Even better, he could do it all under the banner of avenging the Alliance of Nature — truly killing multiple birds with one stone.
As he deliberated, a thread of killing intent mixed with his vast spiritual power leaked outward, forcing Xiling to stumble back several steps. Madame Saqie promptly made an excuse and left altogether.
"What's wrong?" Xiling stepped forward and asked with some concern.
She naturally had no idea that from just a handful of remarks, Leilin had deduced the truth and developed a killing intent.
"Nothing!" Leilin smiled, concealing everything from her as well.
This kind of immense benefit — Leilin simply couldn't risk letting anyone else in on it. Even though he'd already slept with Xiling, that didn't change a thing!
"I was just wondering what Madame Saqie meant by 'little wolf dogs.'"
Leilin smoothly changed the subject.
"Little... little wolf dogs?!" Xiling's face flushed red, then she quietly explained. "You... you know how some wizards have rather peculiar tastes. They enjoy rather exotic pleasures, and Madame Saqie happens to have certain sadistic tendencies, plus considerable skill in that area, so..."
"Oh! A masochist-sadist combination. Got it!"
A look of understanding flashed across Leilin's eyes, though he also rolled his eyes inwardly. The wizard world really did contain all sorts.
"Leilin... about this whole matter — are you confident?"
After a brief pause, Xiling came to Leilin's side and asked in a low voice.
"Relax," Leilin responded casually.
Now that he knew the mastermind behind everything was merely a medium-sized school, Leilin had nothing to fear. What he was actually worried about was how to handle things without drawing the attention or interference of higher-tier wizards.
Just then, the wizards on the open ground stirred, then parted to either side, revealing a group approaching.
"The nine Executive Commissioners have arrived!"
Xiling quietly explained to Leilin.
"Oh?" Leilin watched the nine wizards walking down the central path.
These nine Executive Commissioners included both men and women, but none were young. Their hair was graying, many wore glasses, and they carried thick, dictionary-like books or quill pens and scales. Their eyes gleamed with wisdom, and they had the unmistakable bearing of scholars.
But the energy fluctuations radiating from them left Leilin somewhat dumbfounded.
"Peak first-tier! Peak first-tier! Peak first-tier! All peak first-tier! So... weak!"
Leilin's eyes rolled inwardly. "Is the underground wizard world really this limited in strength?"
To be blunt, if all nine Executive Commissioners were at this level, Leilin — before his injury — could have simply unleashed a single Gall of Extreme Poison and killed all nine of them on the spot, while also taking out a large swath of surrounding wizards in the process.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Watching the surrounding wizards bow to the nine Executive Commissioners one after another, Leilin sank into thought.
"Either the underground wizards have some kind of deficiency that makes advancement extremely difficult, or higher-tier wizards maintain their own exclusive circles and simply don't attend meetings like ours..."
Leilin stroked his chin. "Regardless, I'll need to reassess the true strength of the Abyssal Pole Region's wizards!"