For these wizards, the previous mediation of conflicts was nothing more than a minor matter. But the evaluation of school rankings directly impacted their own interests!
The atmosphere in the center of the venue immediately turned grave.
"Ahem!" The commissioner standing at the very center gave a light cough. After the venue fell silent, he began: "This evaluation will proceed as always — first, we'll announce the list of schools and their rankings, after which challenges may be issued in turn. Each school may attempt up to three challenges. Lower-ranked schools may challenge higher-ranked ones, but higher-ranked schools may not interfere with lower-ranked schools. Schools of the same rank may also resolve disputes through challenges. If all attempts fail, they must wait until the next evaluation..."
As the commissioner spoke, Leilin noticed that Xiling's body had begun to tense.
"Your own strength isn't enough, and those resource points were allocated to you by the Joint Council — they aren't even yours. What's the rush?"
Leilin felt a twinge of exasperation.
In his view, one should only hold territory commensurate with one's strength. While Mentor Xiling was still around, there was naturally nothing to fear. But after Xiling had taken over the Alliance of Nature, the wisest course would have been to scale down the school and hand over the resource points in their possession.
If he hadn't stepped in this time, Xiling's final outcome might not have been pretty.
Of course, with Leilin around, things were entirely different. Besides, that Ice Cavern was something Leilin was determined to obtain.
After the commissioner announced the start, the entire venue immediately came alive.
Numerous wizards exchanged glances. Though each harbored their own thoughts, none made a move right away, as if everyone were waiting for something.
After a long silence, a grey-robed wizard finally stepped forward from a corner.
"Our Good School wishes to challenge the Sea Flower Society!"
"Hmm! The Good School is unranked, and the Sea Flower Society is a small school. The challenge is valid. Wizards from both sides, take the field!"
A wizard wearing spectacles flipped through the enormous book in his hands and nodded.
The wizard who emerged from the Sea Flower Society was an old man with blue hair and strange runes adorning his face. Being singled out for a challenge naturally put him in a foul mood.
Did this not mean that their Sea Flower Society was in decline?
At this thought, a flash of killing intent flickered through his eyes. He resolved to teach the other party a lesson they would never forget.
The grey-robed wizard opposite him wore a blank, wooden expression.
After the commissioner confirmed once more, two waves of magic erupted across the venue.
Simultaneously, a pale yellow energy barrier shot out from a corner, effectively shielding the spectator seats and the commissioners from the aftershocks of battle.
Leilin watched with considerable interest.
He still didn't have a thorough understanding of the strength of the official wizards of the Dark Polar Region, and this was an excellent opportunity.
From the earlier mediation matches and this current one, he had already gleaned a great deal.
The underground wizards faced immense external pressure, and there wasn't a single one among them who was a purely academic researcher.
These wizards were all quite formidable. They constructed their Spell Models with impressive speed, had mastered numerous techniques for instant casting and silent casting, and their average combat power was a full tier above that of the wizards from the South Coast.
Moreover, most of them had mastered one or two extremely destructive spells without any qualms.
In this regard, they far surpassed the wizards of the South Coast.
Boom!
At that moment, the battle took a sudden, dramatic turn.
The grey-robed wizard waved his hand, and two enormous black forks of light materialized, crossing each other as they stabbed toward the Sea Flower Society wizard.
"Fork of Dark Kinus!" The Sea Flower Society wizard called out the spell's name with a wary expression, rapidly layering several barriers of light before himself while darting sideways.
"Silit! You can't escape!"
The grey-robed wizard let out a piercing cry. The clothes on his back tore open, and a pair of enormous feathered wings unfurled.
Whoosh! Whoosh! The black feathered wings were as hard as steel, their tips gleaming with a sharp edge. Propelled by the wings, the grey-robed wizard shot skyward.
The two grey forks of light flew to the wizard's feet, transforming into a pair of things resembling eagle talons.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Grey shadows flickered across the venue. With his wings deployed, the grey-robed wizard's speed was astonishing — he became almost a blur of light and shadow.
The black shadows slammed into the light barriers again and again.
Crack!
The Sea Flower Society wizard's defensive barrier let out a sound like tearing cloth, then shattered with a boom.
Thud! The enormous eagle talons plunged mercilessly into the Sea Flower Society wizard's chest, drawing a piercing scream from him.
At the same time, a visible ring of withering was rapidly spreading outward from the wound.
"I concede!!!"
Before the other eagle talon could reach his body, the wizard immediately shouted at the top of his lungs.
But a cold glint flashed through the grey-robed wizard's eyes, and the grey eagle talon accelerated by another three parts!
"Enough!" The commissioner holding the scales let out a cold shout. A powerful wave of peak-level wizard spiritual power swept across the field, and an enormous earth-yellow hand burst from the ground, shielding the already-injured Sea Flower Society wizard and blocking the grey-robed wizard's attack.
"My apologies, sir! I couldn't hold back in time!"
The grey-robed wizard descended to the ground, dismissed the magical effect, and returned to his normal human form. He bowed respectfully, his expression deeply deferential.
"Hmph! The Good School's challenge is successful — promoted to small school! The Sea Flower Society is demoted one rank to unranked! Their Joint Council resource points will be immediately transferred! This will be supervised by our committee!"
The commissioner furrowed his brow and snorted coldly, but still made the announcement in a loud voice.
"Thank you, sir!" The grey-robed wizard bowed once more.
The Sea Flower Society wizard, meanwhile, had turned deathly pale and collapsed unconscious.
From his seat, Leilin observed the outcome without much surprise. After all, since the grey-robed wizard had chosen to issue the challenge, he naturally had a high degree of confidence.
In the following rounds, several more unranked schools chose to challenge.
Most of those they targeted were small schools on the verge of decline, so the challengers succeeded one after another. Only one small school managed to win and retain what was theirs.
These contests mostly took place between small schools and unranked schools. Medium-sized schools rarely participated, while the large schools remained above it all, playing the roles of witnesses and arbiters.
"Esteemed commissioners — we, the Eight-Legged Spider, wish to challenge the Alliance of Nature!"
At that moment, Shigeli's voice suddenly rang out.
"Oh?" The wizards present all turned their gazes toward him.
Same-rank challenges between schools were rare unless there was a preexisting grudge. The Eight-Legged Spider was already a small school, so even if they brought down the Alliance of Nature, at most the other school's resource points would be freed up — and there would be very few that the Eight-Legged Spider could actually claim.
"Shigeli! If you had a grudge against the Alliance of Nature, why didn't you raise it during the earlier mediation? Why wait until now?"
The commissioner holding the scales frowned.
"My apologies, sir! My enmity with the Alliance of Nature is not something that can be declared openly here, but please allow my request!" Shigeli bowed, his voice firm and resolute.
The commissioner's frown deepened.
In all fairness, he didn't want to see two small schools grinding each other down. But the Eight-Legged Spider was not a medium-sized school, and this kind of same-rank challenge was indeed permitted.
Once the Alliance of Nature was defeated, they would immediately lose their school seat, and all of their resource points would have to be handed over to the Joint Council for redistribution. Shigeli would be able to select at most one.
There was very little profit in this, which was why few wizards ever chose to do it.
But Leilin understood perfectly — the other party would definitely choose the Ice Cavern! At this thought, the darkness in his eyes grew deeper still, and a cold smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Very well! Xiling, head of the Alliance of Nature — whom will you send?"
The commissioner looked at Xiling.
"I nominate our honorary professor, Mr. Leilin, to represent the Alliance of Nature with full authority!" Xiling gave a slight bow.
Leilin sighed and rose to his feet.
"I, too, nominate our honorary professor to represent the Eight-Legged Spider!" Shigeli immediately bowed as well, stepping aside to reveal a figure behind him.
It was a humanoid shape completely shrouded in black mist, with numerous dark tendrils constantly shifting and changing around it.
"Oh? Both sides are sending honorary professors?"
The surrounding wizards immediately began murmuring among themselves.
Small schools were allowed to bring in honorary professors as external support, but only one slot was available. Powerful independent wizards were few and far between, so this sort of thing rarely happened.
Now that two had appeared in succession, it was no wonder the wizards were so surprised.
Moreover, a few wizards who had partially caught a glimpse of both Leilin's and the misty figure's strength flinched back, their eyes filled with caution.
"Mmm! Both choosing to send their honorary professors?"
The commissioner holding the enormous book looked at Leilin — he even sent out a brief probe of detection magic — then flipped through the book in his hands once more.
"Professor Leilin of the Alliance of Nature is not affiliated with any other school. He may represent the Alliance of Nature!"
"
The commissioners addressed Shigeli.
At this, Shigeli could only lean in and whisper a few words to the figure in the mist.
Then the black mist dissipated, revealing a face that most of the wizards found completely unfamiliar.
"Greetings. I am Seath."
Before everyone appeared a very androgynous face, with a voice that was neither distinctly male nor female, making it impossible to determine a specific gender.
And this wizard called Seath cast a provocative glance toward Leilin's side.
"Mmm! The Eight-Legged Spider's honorary professor also meets the requirements. Then I announce..."