Chapter 182 - 332 - 339

Notta Highlands

"Have you made inquiries about this already?"

Leylin asked Celine, who was at the side.

"Based on intel from a few close friends, the person targeting us at this joint conference is Skrill of the Eight-Clawed Spiders!" Celine smoothed her hair out, revealing her pale neck. One could also see her well-developed chest.

"Skrill? That spider man?" Leylin turned a blind eye to Celine's unintended seduction. The Crystal Mask that Celine trained in had a special effect, in which the Magus would unwittingly bewitch the people around them.

This was not very effective on a semi-converted Magus, and even less so on Leylin.

"He's merely a semi-converted Magus. With a few helpers, you'd be able to take care of him, right?"

Leylin glanced at Celine.

"If it was only him, I could somewhat contend against by using some help my mentor left me, but…"

Celine's eyebrows showed her gloominess at this. "There seems to be another power supporting Skrill.."

"I see!" Leylin nodded.

"Of course, all I hope for is that my lord maintains the Nature's Alliance's current standing. Celine has no wish for anything more." As if afraid Leylin would change his mind halfway through, she quickly spoke and clarified herself.

"Don't worry. Since I've already agreed, you can trust me."

Leylin didn't pay any attention to whoever was working behind the scenes.

The bloodline imprint of the Icy Jade Scorpion Emperor was completed, and once his body could adapt to the icy radiation, he could regain his strength as a rank 2 Warlock!

A rank 2 Warlock, and especially one like Leylin with a powerful bloodline, had a strength that far exceeded that of a regular rank 2 Magus.

Whatever Nature's Alliance had, it wasn't enough for a rank 2 to covet it, was it?

"A.I. Chip! How much longer will it take until my body adapts to the icy radiation?"

Leylin closed his eyes and asked.

[Beep! Based on the current data on Host body, estimated time left: 56h 34min.]

The A.I. Chip quickly gave an answer.

"Two days later, which is after the joint conference ends?" Leylin muttered to himself and then checked his stats again.

[Leylin Farlier. Rank 2 Warlock, Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 21.1, Agility: 14.4, Vitality: 27.9, Spiritual force: 79, Magic power: 79 (Magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force).]

After so many days of hard work and treatment using all sorts of potions, he could only draw out a small amount of his solidified spiritual force. This was not enough to break through the bottleneck of rank 1.

This strengthened Leylin's resolve to use the freezing innate ability. If not, who knew how much longer it would take for him to regain his strength as a rank 2 Magus!

"After mending my sea of consciousness, my battle power will be even more powerful than it had been on the south coast since I'm no longer affected by my emotional instability…" Leylin calculated in his mind.

"I look forward to it!"

In the icy caves, with the Icy Jade Scorpion Emperor's Breath, as well as its Icy Jade Scorpion's bodies, he had thoroughly eliminated the issue of emotional instability.

However, this was not a complete elimination. Perhaps after he advanced to a higher rank, the chaos and tyranny in his bloodline and genes would explode forth once more.

However, with the detections by the A.I. Chip, Leylin was sure that while he was a rank 2 or even rank 3 Warlock, the emotional instability would not affect him.

Getting rid of this issue, he now possessed all the advantages of being a warlock with an ancient bloodline with no disadvantages at all. How much more power could he display?

When strength and intelligence were combined, there was nothing that could hinder a Warlock in a pursuit of the truth.

"My lord, what's on your mind?"

Celine leaned over.

"Nothing much!" Leylin tugged her into his lap, a hand slipping down while following the curves of her waist.

"M-my lord, not here. Outside–there are people outside!"

Celine blushed, rejecting Leylin's embrace.

Outside, Obo and Ilya outside ducked their heads in embarrassment. All the thoughts they had died down after seeing the strength that Leylin flaunted every once in a while.

...

Notta Highlands. The ground in this desolate area was filled with a white quartz gravel.

Usually, this place would be filled with creatures of the darkness, but they had now left the area.

At the heart of the Notta Highlands, a bright ball of light that spanned for around ten metres was hanging in mid-air like a little sun, emitting light and warmth.

Under it gathered Magi of different tribes who looked different and wore clothes of various colours.

Even if it was just passive radiation and energy fluctuations that were emitted, the gathering of so many Magi forced the creatures to avoid them.

After all, this was still within the eastern capital of the Twilight Zone, and not a place for the creatures to flaunt their prowess. Any Magi that was stronger than them, could exterminate all the higher ranked darkness creatures.

However, if this was outside the Twilight Zone, where human activity was low, the situation would be reversed.

The creatures of the darkness had an absolute advantage based on their numbers. There would even appear formidable creatures that could rival a Magus, which would encircle and annihilate Magi.

"Lu lu!"

Meanwhile, another horse carriage bringing a few Magi passed through. The Horned Horse pulling the carriage seemed to sense the strength of the Magi, and neighed in worry.

The Magi merely shot a glance at this area. Upon finding out that it was a small-scaled guild, they promptly lost interest and continued along their way.

However, there were a few Magi that exchanging glances in secret, staring at the carriage without even blinking.

*Rattle!*

Obo and Ilya respectfully opened the door to the carriage, bowing as they welcomed the two professors inside.

Celine alighted first, her face unusually flushed and clothes slightly untidy. However, she soon regained her calm.

"That's quite a lot of Magi!"

Leylin also descended from the carriage, scanning the area and commenting with a smile.

He had sensed the aura of large amounts of energy while on the carriage, and now, using his naked eyes, he knew that there were at least 400 official Magi gathered here.

This was no small number, and these were merely the representatives from various large organisations. They still had much more guards than their headquarters.

Only Celine, whose guild was about to fall apart, would come with the full power of her guild, leaving no one behind to protect the headquarters.

These 400 Magi seemed to intentionally cause pressure on the area, the radiation from their bodies slowly yet steadily emitting, and even causing the land here to have a different smell.

"Four hundred nuclear reactors piled together, exposing all their strength. If this happened in my previous world, it would be a huge issue!"

Leylin's lips curved up in a grin.

"But upon closer inspection, there are still some differences between Magi in the subterranean world and in the south coast."

Leylin observed and thought.

As there was less light, or perhaps because they had never been under the sun for a long period of time, the Magi in Twilight Zone were paler.

In terms of clothing style, there was a large variety. There were even some bizarre Magi who were completely naked and did not have any clothing on their skins.

Some nature-elemental Magi advocated being in harmony with nature and felt that clothes would interfere with this process. Hence, they had this strange behaviour. Though this was not acknowledged by many Magi, this was a matter of principle, and for this reason, others could not oppose this logic.

Leylin also found another point. These Magi did not have any distinctions such as light and dark Magi.

Black and white robes were merely the formal attire of the Magi here. There was no special meaning.

He saw many Magi donning black and white robes joking together, and it didn't seem like they were going to attack each other.

"Perhaps the distinction between light and dark Magi is a situation unique to the south coast!"

Upon seeing this scene, Leylin's eyes flashed.

"My beloved Celine, it's been about a year since we had last met, yes?"

At this moment, an upper-class woman wearing clothing filled with gems and tassels, looking as if she were about to attend a ballroom dance party at a palace, approached them, greeting with a smile.

"This is Mistress Sache of the Obsidian Throne guild. She's a good friend, as well as an ally of our guild!" Celine explained in Leylin's ear and then proceeded to press her cheek to Mistress Sache's as a greeting.

"Hello, Mistress Sache! This is the famed professor of our guild, Mister Leylin!" Celine introduced him to Mistress Sache."

"Hello!"

Mistress Sache looked Leylin up and down, her eyes glimmering with curiosity.

"I remember that with the conditions of your Nature's Alliance, as well as permission of the joint conference, you could only recruit one famed professor, right? It looks like Celine is betting everything on you!"

Leylin also observed this Mistress Sache.

Along the journey the conference, Celine had given Leylin a simple introduction to this ally guild, the Obsidian Throne.

Mistress Sache was very tall, and her nose was pointed. Paired with her blue eyes, she gave off a unique feeling that was similar to the European style in Leylin's previous world.

"I will do my best, Mistress Sache!"

Leylin was naturally aware that though there had been precedents of finding outside help for the joint conference, things still had to go according to the rules.

A small-scale guild like Nature's Alliance could, at most, allow one person to vie for their ranking under the name of a famed professor.

How did one tell which guild they were from? This was actually very simple. Just by looking at the high-grade meditation technique the Magus cultivated in would make everything clear.

After advancing to become an official Magus, high-grade meditation techniques produced different effects that made them easy to distinguish between.

Killing Intent

The only high-grade meditation technique in the Nature's Alliance, the Crystal Mask, had been recorded by Leylin. It was a technique based on illusions that used energy from plants as supplements. There were merely two levels to it.

As specific materials required to advance to the second level were only able to be acquired from another world, there had never been another rank 2 Magus in the entire history of Nature's Alliance.

Leylin possessed the Kemoyin's Pupil, and had already confirmed his path as a Warlock. Naturally, he wouldn't change his meditation technique.

As a result, with one glance, outsiders would be able to tell that he was not a Magus trained by Nature's Alliance.

Based on the rules at the joint conference, Magi like himself were able to make an appearance, but small-scaled guilds could only choose one such Magus, and the chosen Magus could not be be changed.

"Dont worry, I have faith in Leylin!" Celine said confidently.

Leylin appeared to be a peak rank 1 Magus. This kind of strength was a equivalent to a medium-scaled guild's trump card. Naturally, Celine wasn't very worried.

"Is that so? That's great!" Mistress Sache covered her lips with a black foldable fan, and smiled coquettishly.

"What? Did you receive some information too?" Upon seeing her reaction, Celine immediately set up a soundproof barrier around the three of them.

"Yes! I received intelligence from my boy toys. Skrill of the Eight-Clawed Spider Guild seems to harbour unkind intentions towards you. Moreover, he has the support of a medium-scaled guild called the Dense Fog Forest!"

After saying that, Mistress Sache looked at Leylin and said, "And they seem to have made preparations against you, an external support."

"Medium-scaled guild! Dense Fog Forest!" Sure enough, Celine's face registered a slight change.

These medium-scaled guilds possessed at least one peak rank 1 Magus as their trump card. The number of official Magi and their knowledge greatly surpassed that of Nature's Alliance. How could this not worry Celine?

"Is there anything valuable enough inside Nature's Alliance that the Dense Fog Forest guild is coveting?"

Leylin immediately wondered.

Being a medium-scaled guild, Dense Fog Forest guild possessed resources and minerals that Nature's Alliance could not compare with. Furthermore, even if the Nature's Alliance were to fall to an unrated guild, the Dense Fog Forest guild might not be the one that would gain control of their territory and resources.

"So the Dense Fog Forest has to be allies with the Eight-Clawed Spider. Once the Nature's Alliance falls and loses its seat within the guild alliance, Eight-Clawed Spider would be able to take over its resources. With a little more edging from the Dense Fog Forest, the committee of the alliance would not hesitate to hand the empty seat over to them.

"What resources do the Nature's Alliance and Eight-Clawed Spider have in common? Only one! The icy cave!"

Leylin needed just a bit of time to understand the nature of this power struggle.

As long as one found out who the beneficiaries, or those indirectly gaining benefits were, the situation would then be made clear.

After all, nobody would be willing to do thankless jobs.

During this period of time, Leylin had somewhat gotten familiar with the resources Nature's Alliance possessed. Honestly speaking, these resources weren't valuable enough for Dense Fog Forest to be interested in.

The only possibility for this was that the secrets within the depths of the icy cave had been exposed!

"In the past, the icy cave had only been an area rich in production of frozen materials, with the Icy Jade Scorpion as a specialty. It isn't that valuable, which is why it was allocated to Nature's Alliance. However, within the cave's depths actually lies an icy world of a larger scale. The icy world even has the remains of a creature with the strength of a Morning Star Magus and a drop of blood from an even more powerful bloodline!"

After obtaining the information held within the Icy Jade Scorpion's bloodline, nobody could be more knowledgeable about the icy cave than Leylin. Bluntly speaking, this was a big treasure trove, especially for a bloodline Warlock!

Leylin's eyes sparkled, with a tinge of chilliness within.

"Only benefits like this would be valuable enough for Dense Fog Forest to act secretly. Looking at the situation, information about these benefits has not been spread. If it was, the entire Twilight Zone would have been in an uproar, and numerous Magi would have formed groups to explore it."

"Celine, Please ask around and find out how the Oaken Leaf Guild and Emerald Vine Guild been doing lately."

Leylin ordered Celine suddenly.

"Yes, my lord!" Celine straightened her body and walked over to a corner. The runes from the secret imprint on her body continuously brightened. Thereafter, she returned, a worried expression on her face.

"They have all received Skrill's invitation. His influence is now similar to a spider web, extending to these two guilds…"

"Just as I thought…" Leylin sighed.

This was the final point of confirmation.

Right now, Leylin was certain that the Dense Fog Forest must have found out about the Icy Cave's uncanniness, and decided to bribe the Eight-Clawed Spider to crowd out other guilds so that they could monopolise the entire icy cave!

"Find an opportunity to kill them!"

The flash in Leylin's eyes caused Celine to be nervous, as if an ancient monster was seated beside her.

Currently, Leylin had impolitely claimed the entire icy world. Should the Dense Fog Forest dare tread on his property, he would not let them off easily.

"Actually, if we just want to resolve the crisis Nature's Alliance is facing, there's a better way, which is to reveal the secret of the Icy Cave! Even Dense Fog Forest cannot oppose the entire Twilight Zone. Under the pressure of the joint conference, the Dense Fog Forest would be akin to an ant that could easily be crushed. However, this would not be in my best interests!"

With Leylin's strength, he could probably gain benefits merely by following the majority of the Magi, but there was just too much uncertainty.

Should those overpowered Rank 3 Magi be lured out, Leylin did not have confidence that he could snatch anything from them.

If that were the case, he would only get the leftovers, and that would truly be a pity.

Not to mention, should the Twilight Zone still have the presence of Morning Star Magi that could destroy the entire icy world, Leylin would definitely be reduced to tears.

As a result, for Leylin, it was best to let the secret of the Icy Cave Guild stay a secret until he advanced to become a Morning Star Magus. He would later then return and reap all the benefits!

"But… If that's the case! The Dense Fog Forest would have to be eliminated, and that needs to be done fast before their leader has the time to react!"

In his heart, Leylin had already meted the death penalty to Dense Fog Forest and Eight-Clawed Spider.

With just a few thoughts, Leylin had already roughly understood the gist of the problem.

To him, since this possibility was the greatest, he would rather kill the wrong person than to not let the matter go. Dense Fog Forest and Eight-Clawed spider needed to be eradicated, and he would even be able to conveniently seize their high-grade meditation techniques and collection.

What was more wonderful was that this could be done in the name of revenge for Nature's Alliance, which would be killing two birds with one stone.

While pondering, Leylin emanated a massive spiritual force with traces of killing intent, which caused Celine to retreat. Even Mistress Sache gave an excuse and walked away.

"What happened?" Celine worriedly asked.

Naturally, she didn't know that with merely a word or two, Leylin had managed to deduce the truth, which had helped him make the decision to kill.

"Nothing much!" Leylin smiled, hiding the truth from her.

For interests of such a huge scale, Leylin did not feel at ease revealing his plans to others, even to Celine, whom he had gone to bed with!

"I'm thinking about what Mistress Sache said about her boy toys. What did she mean?"

Leylin cleverly changed the topic.

"Boy… toys?" Celine's face changed, and she replied: "You- you know, some Magi may have strange interests and bizarre hobbies. Mistress Sache has sadistic tendencies and is also skilled in this area, so…"

"Oh! Sadism and masochism? I know!"

A look of understanding flashed in Leylin's expression, but he then rolled his eyes. There really were all sorts of Magi.

"Leylin… Are you skilful in things like that?"

After some moments, Celine returned to Leylin's side and asked shyly.

"Don't worry!" Leylin replied matter-of-factly.

Since the culprit had been identified to be merely a medium-scaled guild, Leylin didn't have anything to fear. What he was concerned with was how he had to proceed in order to prevent higher ranked Magi from interfering.

It was at this moment that a commotion arose among the Magi; they dispersed in two directions, revealing a line of people.

"The nine enforcers are here!"

Celine whispered to Leylin.

"Hm?" Leylin stared at the nine Magi walking over.

There were both male and female enforcers, but they were no longer young. Their hair was white, and many of them wore glasses. They held dictionary-like books and feather pens or scales, and their eyes glistened with wisdom, giving them a scholarly aura.

However, their energy fluctuations left Leylin dumbfounded.

"Peak rank one! Peak rank one! Peak rank one! They are all peak rank one! How… weak."

Leylin rolled his eyes. "The subterranean world only possesses this much strength?"

Honestly speaking, if these nine enforcers only had this much strength, using Toxic Bile before he had gotten injured would have resulted in the instant death of these nine enforcers. He would even have killed or injured the surrounding Magi as well.

"What is going on?"

Looking at the surrounding Magi paying their respects to the nine enforcers, Leylin pondered.

"Looking at the situation, either the subterranean Magi have flaws that make it hard for them to advance, or the higher rank Magi have a more intimate circle, and hence do not participate in the conferences of us rank one Magi…"

Leylin stroked his chin, "Whatever it is, I have to reevaluate the strength of Magi in Twilight Zone!"

The Fallen City

"Since everybody has gathered, then I can begin the announcement! Let the 325th Eastern Region Magi joint conference begin!"

After looking around, the council member in the middle immediately spoke.

Even though his voice was not loud, he could be heard by every Magus present.

Once he spoke, the books, calligraphy brushes, weighing scales, and the other items in the arms of the nine enforces immediately emitted faint rays of white light that floated in the air.

"I summon the Fallen City!!!"

Nine rays of light shot out from the books and other materials in a flash and converged into a big white sun.

*Boom! *

The tall pagoda violently shook and a big crack from the abyss opened.

The Magi looked very calm during this kind of disastrous earthquake and only used their powers to protect themselves and their apprentices, as well as their luggage, horses, and so on.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! *

A few huge stone statues suddenly broke through the ground floor, emerging like tall mountains that cast large shadows on the surface.

"These are the Twilight Zone's ancient Magi: Ignis, Nikolat, and Morfe."

As this was happening, Celine casually introduced the Magi joint conference to Leylin.

Since ancient times, the joint conference was not just organized by anybody but fixed in this location.

In the legends, the Fallen City was an ancient city to consecrate the Ancient Magi.

The nine huge stone statues in the middle were in fact the nine most famous Magi in the ancient times.

As a matter of fact, the nine Magi of the joint conference were also emulating these few Magi.

*Crash!*

Big chunks of stone fell, like how bamboo shoots fall off in springtime when it rains

A piece of solid stone beneath Leylin lifted him up as it rose to the last position at the top.

Leylin looked around.

The Magi were now seated exactly in the center of the Fallen City.

The entire building appeared similar to the ancient Colosseum of Rome, just like what the people of ancient Greece practiced. The circle of outdoor seats surrounded the middle area.

Outside the conference, twelve slim, spotless marble pillars glistened in the sunlight and appeared to support both heaven and earth.

"The joint conference controlled the way to summon the Fallen City. It's a pity that we cannot find any materials related to the end of the war… or a single living creature. Otherwise, we can restore the glory of the ancient Magi…."

Celine, who was beside Leylin, gasped in admiration.

Many Magi went to their respective places and formed a circle, surrounding the altar in the middle.

Leylin looked, the ones in the front were the middle-level Guilds, followed behind them by the low-level guilds, like him and Celine, that sat in the middle section closer to the back seats. As for the rest, the unranked guilds, they sat in the outermost section.

Each seat took up a lot of space as a suitable distance was maintained between each one, which allowed the Magi to be able to see each other without feeling restricted.

This site was enough to accommodate ten thousand people, but now there's barely a few hundred Magi. Naturally, the there was ample space between each Magus.

"How were these nine council members selected?"

Leylin pulled Celine closer into his embrace, and whispered into her ear

"Each large-scaled guild would send a representative, before us Magi present voted for them!" Celine was slightly embarrassed, but she still explained it to Leylin.

"Oh! Basically, the Eastern Twilight Zone only has about nine high-leveled guilds?"

Leylin stroked his chin, this kind of strength was similar to the south coast. Only that he was unsure of the numbers of rank 3 Magi present.

But deep down he had some reservations. Although high-grade meditation techniques were widely taught and of a higher grade than in the south coast, most of them were incomplete, and needed a few special otherworldly materials for their practitioners to advance. This meant that there would be fewer higher rank magi in the Twilight Zone and they possibly would be weaker than their south coast counterparts due to the Twilight Zone being isolated from the external world.

"The first point of the conference's agenda is to observe a minute of silence in tribute of our Magi ancestors! They were true pursuers of knowledge, the founders of the the Twilight Zone!"

The nine council members in the front immediately stood up, as they solemnly and respectfully bowed their heads.

And in their hands, a pure, white flower bud slowly bloomed.

The petals of the flower bud looked like countless rays of light that created a dreamy illusion.

Immediately after, the Magi disorderly stood up to observe the minute of silence, the rays of light in their hands transformed into the shape of the white flower bud.

"This is the light daisy, a specialty of the Twilight Zone that is used to represent the recollection of the dead and our grief!"

Leylin's eye flashed and concentrated some of his spiritual force to observe Celine's actions.

The magic of transforming the flower was only a magic trick, one that even acolytes could easily learn. Celine's abilities were immediately recorded by the A.I. Chip, which then provided the composition of the spell model and the spiritual force.

*Zoom!* Leylin followed swiftly with a layer of white light twinkling in his hands.

In a flash, numerous light daisies in the open space bloomed as formless ripples continuously circulated, and pure light rays of flower petals dispersed and spread to the sky.

A rain of petals floated down, some of them dispersed atop the sculptures of the nine ancient Magi.

"Hm?" It was at this moment that Leylin suddenly raised his head.

To his eyes, numerous petals seemed to use some form of mechanism or magic, and the nine stone statues at the heart of the center were subtly trembling.

A desolate, ancient aura filled with abundant energy surfaced in the center.

And looking at the surrounding Magi who were calm earlier on and had seized the moment to close their eyes, Leylin realized that they were actually in concentration.

Leylin also released his energy, letting his spirit and that aura connect.

*Boom!* Like the eruption of lava, like the coming of a tsunami wave, an intense vibration incessantly shook Leylin's heart and at the same time, many confused thoughts crossed his mind.

"This is… a high-level meditation aura!"

Leylin gave Celine a somewhat intoxicated look, and immediately came to his senses.

"Regarding what these Twilight Zone Magi said, they're lacking materials only obtainable from other worlds and their meditation techniques cannot be improved, and now this aura that comes from an ancient meditation technique is to guide them on which path to follow!"

Although this acted only as a guide, there were still many benefits for a rank 1 Magus. Moreover, who knows, there might be geniuses that could use this ancient aura and be able to make modifications on their meditation techniques and skip the steps of using rare and ancient resources.

"It's a pity! In fact, there is no ancient technique that inspires me. Furthermore, rank two Magi have already decided their path and are continuously intensifying further. So those Magi who have been promoted to the second rank also don't look up to these…"

After waiting for the rain of petals to pass, the nine huge stone sculptures regained their tranquility and many of the Magi were then obsessed with keeping their eyes closed.

"Alright! Now to the second point of the agenda, let's come to an agreement!"

The Magus that stood in the middle and who held the weighing scale said softly, with his voice being channeled through an unknown device, was heard by every other Magus present.

Soon after, two Magi walked up to the front and debated loudly with him, and occasionally displayed the recordings of light.

And the Magus holding the weighing scale would make his judgement after having listened to both parties.

Magi from both sides would generally accept the result, and occasionally those who did not would start to challenge each other at the center of the site.

"Can we believe this council member's verdict?" Leylin asked Celine, who was beside him.

"Gandor the council member is a fair and wise senior, and we usually trust his judgements. Moreover, the golden weighing scale that he holds symbolizes fairness. His personal beliefs forbid from violating fairness and justice.

Celine explained softly to Leylin, "Do not ask such questions out loud, otherwise the other Magi will despise us!"

"Oh!" Leylin nodded his head indifferently.

However, he was somewhat bored looking at the issues that were discussed one by one here.

Although there are contradictions in this joint conference, he understood clearly that it was for the protection of the entire strength of the Twilight Zone's Magi and instead of internal conflicts, we should be focusing on foreign enemies.

Humans were not the only rulers in the Twilight Zone, there were also many darkness creatures out there, just like the neighbouring elven empire beside the humans that left many intelligent beings wary of them.

But Leylin was not convinced by this concept. To him, if the Dark Magi were to come in power, they would have already started a war and would be constantly fighting. And through such bloody wars, a selection of the acolytes would be conducted. They would start off from a low-intensity battle which would then gradually increase in difficulty. In this manner, an elite force of magicians could be created!

It was not worth having such an indecisive situation.

This situation was similar to current state between the light and dark Magi.

"Leylin! It is the guild evaluation right after, you need to be careful!" Celine cautiously reminded Leylin.

"Dont worry!" Leylin replied calmly, and at this moment, two unfriendly gazes were laid on him.

Leylin's brows furrowed as he looked at the source of discontentment.

At the seat of the Eight-clawed spider, Skrill lowered his head without delay, but his eyes had a sinister tint.

"You will never survive today's ordeal! From today onwards, Celine is mine!"

"What trump card do you have? Or is the Dense Fog Forest going to interfere?"

Leylin remained calm, knowing that Skrill had slipped away like a beaten-up dog at the sight of him. He strongly believed that Skrill had some sort of backup to rely on.

But to Leylin, the strength of a middle-scaled guild was not enough to threaten him!

"Alright, continuing to the fifth agenda of the conference! The guilds' evaluation" A council member declared.

In a split second, the Magi on site all looked on with eagerness and attention.

Challenge

For these Magi, mediating the conflicting views from before was merely a small matter. However, the evaluation of guilds could directly affect their interests!

Hence, the atmosphere turned solemn very quickly.

*Cough cough!* The council member in the middle coughed lightly, and only after it quietened down did he begin to speak, "The evaluation process will go the same way as before. We will first announce the results before the evaluations are open to challenges. Each guild has, at most, three chances. Lower rated guilds can challenge higher rated guilds, but higher rated guilds are not to interfere with the lower rated guilds. Guilds of the same evaluation can challenge each other to settle any conflicts, and those who are defeated have to wait until the next time…"

Leylin found Celine stiffen from worry after hearing the council member's words.

"Even if you don't have enough strength, those resources are all given out to you by the joint conference. They're not yours in the first place, so why are you so worried?"

Leylin was a little speechless.

From his perspective, one would be able to obtain territory that was proportional to one's own strength. While Celine's mentor had still been around, there had been nothing to fear, but once Celine took over Nature's Alliance, she should have reduced the scale of the guild and given out the resources she had. That was the most sensible course of action.

This time, if not for Leylin sticking his head into the matter, things would not end well for Celine.

Of course, the situation would be vastly different with Leylin around. Furthermore, the icy caves were something Leylin needed to have, by hook or by crook.

Next, after the declaration from the council members of the start of the event, the site began to get livelier.

Many Magi exchanged glances. Though they had many thoughts, none of them made their move right away, as if they were waiting for something.

After a long silence, a Magus in ashen robes stood out from a corner.

"We from Gulde wishes to challenge the Seaflower Society!"

"En! Gulde is an unrated guild, while the Seaflower Society is a small-scale guild. The challenge is permitted; may the Magi of both guilds enter the stage!"

A Magus wearing presbyopic glasses flipped through a thick book and nodded.

The Seaflower Society sent out an old geezer with blue hair and some strange runes on his face. His guild had been pointed out and challenged, so naturally, he was not in a good mood.

Didn't this imply that their Seaflower Society had already fallen this low?

At this thought, killing intent flashed in his eyes as he made up his mind to make this an unforgettable lesson for his opponent.

Meanwhile, the Magus in ashen robes was stupefied.

Upon waiting for the confirmation from the council member once more, two fluctuations from spells exploded at the site.

At the same time, a light-yellow dome of energy shot out from all corners, protecting the audience and council members from any stray attacks from the battle.

Leylin watched on with interest.

He wasn't very clear about the strength of the official Magi in Twilight Zone, and this was a good opportunity for him to find out.

Through the few mediations from before as well as what was currently happening, he was able to understand many things.

As subterranean Magi were faced with powerful enemy forces, there were no scholars who solely focused on just research.

These Magi were quite formidable, and they were fast in setting up their spell models. They had also grasped the technique of the instantaneous and silent release of spells, and on average, their battle power was one level higher than that of Magi from the south coast.

In addition, most of them had grasped one or two spells with immense killing power, and they had no apprehensions about using them.

This was another characteristic of theirs that allowed them to surpass the Magi of the south coast by a large margin.

*Bang!*

All of a sudden, the scene of the battlefield changed.

The ashen-robed Magus waved his arm, and two large black crosses appeared, which criss crossed and pierced towards the Magus from the Seaflower Society.

"The Cross of Anginus!" The Magus from the Seaflower Society yelled out the name of this spell in fear, continuously adding a few more protective layers in front of him and evaded at a flying speed.

"Serator! You can't escape!"

The ashen-robed Magus hissed for a long while, and his clothes split open at the back, revealing a pair of giant wings.

*Whoosh! Whoosh!* The black feathers on the wings were like steel, the tip revealing a luster seen on sharp objects. With the impetus from the wings, he soared into the sky.

Two grey crosses of light flew to his feet, forming something like two sets of eagle claws.

*Sou! Sou! Sou!*

The grey figure constantly flashed, and after producing his wings, his speed increased until he almost became a shadow.

The grey figure constantly collided with the defensive layers.

*Ka-cha!*

The defensive layers of the Magus from the Seaflower Society seemed to produce a tearing sound before it was being completely ripped apart.

*Pu!* Large claws mercilessly tore at the chest of the Magus from the Seaflower Society, and the man let out a miserable cry.

Meanwhile, one could see with their naked eyes, the withering of flesh spanning out from the Magus of the Seaflower Society's wounds.

"I admit defeat!"

Before the other claw reached his body, this Magus immediately yelled.

However, a cold glint appeared in the gaze of this ashen-robed Magus, and the grey claw increased its speed by thirty percent

"That's enough!" A council member holding a scale shouted coldly, and the powerful spiritual force of a peak rank 1 Magus swept across. A brownish-yellow hand rose from the earth and protected the injured Magus from the Seaflower Society, protecting him from the attack of the ashen-robed Magus.

"My apologies, my lord! I was unable to hold back in time!"

The ashen-robed Magus descended onto the ground and removed the effects from his spells regaining his appearance as a regular human. He bowed, looking respectful.

"Hmph! Gulde's challenge was successful, so it is now promoted to be a small-scaled guild. The Seaflower Society will now be demoted a ranking and is now in the unrated category. All the resources that have been allocated to the Seaflower Group guild by the joint conference will be transferred over right away, and our council members will supervise this process."

This council member furrowed his brow and snorted, but still announced loudly.

"Many thanks, my lord!" The ashen-robed Magus bowed once more.

Meanwhile, the Magus from the Seaflower Society became deathly pale and fainted.

Leylin, who watched on, was not too surprised. After all, since the ashen-robed Magus had taken the initiative to challenge the Seaflower Society, it was natural that he must have been confident.

After that, a few unrated guilds chose to challenge some other guilds.

Most of the challenged guilds were small-scale guilds that were declining, and almost all of the challenges were successful. Only one small-scale guild won, protecting what belonged to them.

This contest mostly happened between small-scale and unrated guilds. The medium-scale guilds rarely went onstage, and as for large-scale guilds, they were remote existences that only served as witnesses and judges.

"Dear council members, we of the Eight-Clawed Spider wish to challenge the Nature's Alliance guild!"

Suddenly, Skrill's voice sounded out.

"Hm?" The Magi present shifted their gazes towards him.

Usually, challenges between similarly ranked guilds rarely happened unless there was enmity between them.

As the Eight Clawed Spider Guild was already a small-scale guild, they would only cause Nature's Alliance to lose their resources if they were victorious. What they would obtain would be meagre.

"Skrill! If you had any conflicts with Nature's Alliance, why did you not mention it during the mediation period and instead wait until now?"

The council member holding the scale furrowed his brows.

"My apologies, my lord! The animosity between us and Nature's Alliance is not appropriate to be declared here, but please approve my request!" Skrill bowed, sounding resolute.

The lines on the council member's forehead became deeper.

Honestly speaking, he did not want there to be internal friction between two small-scale guilds. However, Eight-Clawed Spider was not a medium-scale guild, and challenges between guilds of the same ranking were allowed.

The moment Nature's Alliance was defeated, not only would they lose their spot, but they would also have to hand over all their resources to be re-distributed by the joint conference. Skrill could only, at most, obtain a portion of these resources.

As there were no benefits to it, few Magi chose to do this.

However, Leylin knew that they would definitely choose to take the icy caves! Knowing the situation, the abyss in his pupils grew darker, and a sneer appeared on his lips.

"Alright! Guild leader of Nature's Alliance, Celine, who will you send onstage?"

The council member looked towards Celine.

"I invite our famed professor, Mister Leylin, to represent my Nature's Alliance guild and battle!" Celine gave a slight bow.

Leylin sighed and stood up.

"I am also sending out our famed professor to represent we of the Eight-Clawed Spider onstage!" At the other side, Skrill immediately bowed and moved aside to reveal the figure behind him.

It was a human figure completely wrapped in black mist. There were also numerous black tendrils fluctuating around it.

"Hm? They both sent out famed professors!"

The surrounding Magi broke out into a discussion.

Though small-scaled guilds could invite famed professors to act as external support, only one professor was allowed to act. Since there were very few Magi working alone, such situations rarely appeared.

Now, with two suddenly appearing, it was no wonder that the Magi were surprised.

There were a few Magi who could somewhat see through part of the strength of Leylin and the person wrapped in mist, and they shrunk back in fear, their eyes showing their terror.

"En! You have both chosen famed professors to battle?"

The council member holding a thick book looked at Leylin, and some probing spells even flashed, before he flipped through his book.

"Professor Leylin of Nature's Alliance guild does not belong to any other guild, and can thus represent Nature's Alliance!"

"Magus Skrill, please get the Magus behind you to reveal his face for inspection!"

The council members spoke to Skrill.

Seeing this, Skrill could only speak to the person wrapped in the mist in a low voice.

The black mist then dissipated, revealing a face that was foreign to all the Magi here.

"Xerxes greets all of you!"

What appeared in front of the audience was a very androgynous face. Even the voice was neither male nor female; one could not tell this person's gender.

The Magus called Xerxes seemed to want to provoke Leylin, shooting him a glance from the corner of his eyes.

"En! The famed professor from the Eight-Clawed Spider meets the requirements as well. I hereby announce…"

Six Stars

Just when the council member was about to announce the start of the fight, Leylin suddenly interrupted him.

"What? Do you want to admit your defeat right now, Celine?"

Of course, Skrill did not dare to be brazen with Leylin. In fact, regardless of whether it was Leylin or Xerxes, he could not afford to offend either of them. Hence, he could only taunt Celine.

"Rubbish!" Celine retorted angrily, worriedly looking at Leylin at the same time.

"Leylin… He… He wouldn't just give up because of his inability to clearly see through Xerxes's strength, would he?"

Celine clenched her fists, and even started breaking out in cold sweat.

Honestly, with her talents and meditation skills, Celine was very confident previously that she would be able to defeat all the Magi that had competed in the previous rounds.

However, upon seeing Leylin's strength, her confidence had dissipated into thin air.

Right now, Celine realised that she did not understand Leylin a single bit.

"Magus Leylin! Do you have any problem?"

The council member holding the books asked.

"I recall that during the evaluation, other than these battling methods, aren't there other ways as well?"

Leylin looked around the arena and took in Skrill's taunting, Celine's anxiety, and Xerxes's killing intent. He laughed abruptly and then questioned.

Once the word went out, all the Magi looked stunned.

"Yes, there is such a rule. You can even be exempted from fighting through your research contributions." The council members quickly responded with little emotions.

"However, the results of your research have to be made public, and must be recognised by the council members. Furthermore, since Nature's Alliance is a small-scale guild, the information you provide has to be at a rank of at least 5 stars"

Research with a rank of 5 stars was equivalent to research conducted by peak rank 1 Magi, and is obviously not easy to obtain.

Celine had the same idea previously, but unfortunately, the council members' evaluation of research was extremely strict. Furthermore, the nine biggest large-scale guilds were already at the level where you could find the region's finest research. Hence, very few things would interest them.

Moreover, a lot of time and effort was required to obtain research data of this level. The time invested in the research is no less than the time taken in inviting a semi converted elemental Magus. Hence, after conducting the research for a period of time, Celine gave up on that idea.

"Should you research data not be at the level of 5 stars, it would mean that you lose your independent research without garnering any gains. We hope you can think it over!"

"Please do not worry, I am very confident in my own research!" Furthermore, Magi have always been virtuous people searching for the truth, so in this path of the search for knowledge, I do not mind sharing the results of my research with my fellow man"

Leylin's words were immediately well received by the crowd of magi.

Many high-level magi that are on friendly terms would gather to exchange their own experiences so that they could improve together.

"We can see the glory of ancient times in your being!"

The nine council members nodded their heads, "Please present your information!"

"I object!" Skrill immediately shouted. He agitatedly pointed towards Leylin, his eight-clawed spider legs seemingly trembling "We were first in issuing our challenge. Even if the information were to be presented, it can only be done so after the challenge!"

"Objection overruled! Magus Leylin's ways are in accordance with the ancient rules!"

A few council members immediately suppressed Skrill's objection. Magus Xerxes, on the other hand just coldly started, his thoughts unable to be determined.

Looking at the scene before him, Leylin snickered to himself.

Under the witness of so many Magi, a battle to the death would be like a monkey show set up for an audience. Was that really in his best interests?

Even though many Magi would be willing to do so under the influence of the interests involved, Leylin was not one of them!

Furthermore, in front of the nine peak rank 1 Magi, along with the Magi troops, Leylin would not be able to kill. Otherwise, as Leylin's injuries were not yet completely healed, he would not be able to defend against the joint attack of nine peak rank 1 Magi. He also did not want to offend the nine large-scale guilds that the nine peak rank 1 Magi belonged to.

After all, the large-scale guilds must have Magi of at least rank 2. Leylin did not want to find trouble at all.

Hence since he was not able to kill, there was no point in accepting the challenge and putting on a monkey show for others.

Naturally, Leylin would choose the most effortless method.

He smiled, his every movement resembling how the ancient royalty were trained. He seemed calm, and together with the unique warlock's charm that he had, this convinced many of the Magi.

The eyes of Mistress Sache, whom Leylin had previously met, lit up like two balls of fire.

Immediately, Leylin passed his already prepared research data to the council members.

This was, in part, the flawed articles he had seen in the Nature's Alliance. The research had already progressed to the final stages, but unfortunately, because of the lack of crucial steps, the articles were not able to be developed into a meditation.

However, Leylin was different. He was a rank 2 Warlock, and had the support of the entire knowledge vault of the south coast. He could be said to have a bird's eye view of the whole situation. Together with the incredible mathematical operations of the A.I. Chip, with a few tweaks here and there, Leylin would be able to produce research of a high calibre.

Leylin was able to obtain the data without much trouble, and the information did not cost very much. However, when presented externally, these data were considered to have at least a rank of 5 stars, the equivalent importance of a peak rank 1 Magus. This was sufficient to allow the Magi present to vie for the information .

Sure enough, upon receiving the crystal ball filled with research formulas and graphical information, the faces of the council members became more solemn.

Their faces were serious while they perused the crystal ball in succession, and all the while, they were animatedly engaging in discussion.

In the end, they even gathered in a circle, agitatedly discussing and letting out cries of argument from time to time.

Meanwhile, Skrill's heart grew heavier, while Celine's face revealed a smile. The Magi outside were anticipating the results, eager to see Leylin's research data.

With regards to all the goings on, Leylin pretended not to notice and continued to calmly stand upright.

Just based on this cultivation of calmness during the chaos, Leylin received the admiration of the Magi here.

"Hu!"

Eventually, the council members returned to their seats. The council member sitting in the middle even removed his presbyopic glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

*Bang!* He aggressively slammed his gavel downwards, which meant that the official evaluation of the research would begin.

"According to the council members' unanimous decision, the information Magus Leylin has provided regarding the biological structure and bloodline of dark elves is to be classified as having a rank of 6 stars!"

*Hua!* The venue resonated with cries of wonder. The fact that Leylin's provided information would be able to be pass the test was within the expectations of many of the Magi. This was because Magi were not stupid; if they were to present any information, it must be because they were confident that it would suffice.

However, little did they expect that the information Leylin provided would actually have a rank of 6 stars!

Research of this nature must be close to the standards of a rank 2 Magus.

"These data will be recorded in the collective data vault. All Magi present will be able to use these contributions…"

After the council member had made the announcement, he immediately beamed. "Magus Leylin's aspirations and intensive studying spirit has obtained my admiration. May I know whether there will be a chance in the future to invite Magus Leylin to my institute to undergo an interview?"

"It would be my honour!" Leylin bowed slightly.

Meanwhile, on the side, Celine seemed a bit dazzled.

"Master! We have succeeded!" Only when the sound if Ilya cheering entered her ear did she return to her senses, her eyes watery with tears that were on the verge of falling.

At this moment, all the difficulties they had experienced in the past, along with the ridicule they had to suffer, appeared in her mind. "Teacher, can you see this…"

"Hmph!"

Skrill's face was extremely dark. He glared at Celine, "Consider yourselves lucky this time around. I hope that luck will always follow you!"

After which, without turning back once, he left the venue, with Xerxes unhurriedly following behind him.

This time around, the plot of the Eight-Clawed Spider was fruitless, and with the possibility of inducing rage from the Dense Fog Forest, Skrill did not want to stay at the conference for a single minute longer.

"Leylin! Thank you!"

After Leylin returned to his seat, Celine held his hands, her face filled with a genuine smile.

"It was nothing!" Leylin smiled.

Actually, Leylin was very sure that this matter was far from over.

After their open and aboveboard plans have failed, the opponent could only utilise underhanded means now.

"Underhanded means? But those are my favourites!"

Leylin smiled coldly. Right now, during the joint conference, the only restrained party in this case wasn't merely his opponent but himself as well. After all, he had started off as a legitimate dark Magus. Bloodshed and killing were very common to him.

When that happened, it would be too late for the other party to have regrets.

With regards to Leylin's contributions, the Nature's Alliance was able to be exempted from the challenge this time around, and could be considered to have survived an ordeal.

After the evaluation, there was nothing much to see at the conference.

There were only a few guilds left to compete with one another. During the majority of the time, the apprentices would compete in a friendly context. This was also one of the reasons why Celine had brought Obo and Ilya to the conference.

Leylin had completed his task at hand, and so he sat with Celine, who was beaming, as they watched other Magi compete.

"Leylin! I can't believe that I would see you here!"

At this moment, a Magus with a gold-plated, robotic right hand walked over, his face radiating with happiness.

"I can't believe this, you actually joined the Nature's Alliance without telling anyone!"

"Hello, Siegfried!"

Leylin greeted him. "There was no other choice since they had something very tempting to me in their hands! Moreover, I'm only a honorary professor, which means I can also guild."

"Oh, I know!"

Siegfried's face revealed a smile that all men would be able to understand. It was obvious that Leylin was bewitched by Celine, was it not?

"Come! Let me bring you to meet some of the high-ranking officers in the Earth Fire Association!"

Compared to his previous interactions with Leylin, Siegfried was now more cordial.

After all, Siegfried was currently not able to discern Leylin's true abilities. However, based on the presentation of his high-end research standards and academic attainments, it was worth it to rope Leylin in.

In addition, a few high-level guilds council members had all expressed their friendliness in succession, which made it even more plausible to try and rope Leylin in.

Mist Transformation

A carriage travelled across the dark plains unhurriedly.

Two wildebeests pulled the carriage. Due to the unhurried nature of the journey, these two steeds snorted as they gnawed at the plants along the path from time to time.

Around the carriage, a layer of light illuminated the surrounding land.

This was due to a constant illumination magic being applied to the horse carriage.

"Leylin, you made Obo and Ilya lower the speed of the carriage, and you also had me prepare this. What is this all about?"

Within the horse carriage, Celine asked Leylin as she suddenly raised her head and lifted a crystal ball that glowed with runes.

"It's obviously to wait for somebody!" Leylin reclined on the cushioned seat as he squinted his eyes.

"Is it...Skrill from the Eight-Clawed Spider?"

Celine was an intelligent woman, and her expression changed immediately.

"Not only that, but perhaps also Magi from the Dense Fog Forest. After all, I am here!"

Leylin chuckled and suddenly walked out to the front of the carriage.

"Prof...Professor, look!"

The horse carriage stopped, and Obo, who had been riding, stuttered. In front of him, a dense wall of fog formed and blocked the way.

Although there were areas in the Twilight Zone with dense fog, such thick fog was abnormal. The power of the Magi who were mingled within the fog had given away their determination to massacre them tonight.

"A fog barrier! A specialised spell only known to Magi from the Dense Fog Forest. It really is them!"

Celine sighed from behind, "What should we do?"

After having experienced so many things, Leylin had already taken a leading role in Celine's heart. Since this was the case, once she encountered a problem, she would seek out Leylin's opinion first.

"As planned, all of you do not have to interfere with this, just keep yourselves safe!"

Leylin hopped down from the horse carriage and walked towards the wall of fog.

Under the illumination of the light, the grey fog seemed to congeal like a serum, with spiral waves occasionally forming.

"No matter how well-mannered, organised, or awe-inspiring they are, a Magus will always be a Magus! For the sake of benefits, taking a small risk like this is nothing!"

Leylin smirked.

Under such circumstances, if all of them were to perish here, Leylin would be able to take care of any repercussions later by tidying things up a little after having killed them.

As such he wasn't surprised but was rather happy instead.

"It really saves me the time of gathering them all in one bunch like this!" Leylin immediately raised both his hands and pressed on the wall of fog.

*Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!*

With Leylin as the centre, a layer of frost began to spread and froze the wall of fog.

In a very short amount of time, the wall of fog had turned into walls of ice that revealed inverted images of the objects in the surroundings.

This frost power came from the aftermath of the icy radiation he had received, which he had just released all at once.

"En! Not bad!" Leylin looked at both his hands.

His hands now were snow white, like jade, and even revealed a lustre deep inside them.

"With the adaptation to increased tolerance to the icy radiation completed, I can begin to freeze the imprints inside my bloodline!"

Leylin smiled and gently tapped on the icy wall.

*Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!* *Ka-cha!*

Fine cracks appeared and spread rapidly from where his fingers had tapped.

Seconds later, the web of cracks covered the entirety of the ice walls, which subsequently shattered and turned into fine shards of ice that fluttered into the wind.

*Rumble!*

With a huge rumbling sound, the wall of fog crumbled like toy bricks breaking apart.

Several figures were soon revealed after the dispersion of the fog wall.

"As expected, it's you Skrill! And also, Xerxes!"

Celine gritted her teeth.

The ones obstructing their way were Skrill, Xerxes, along with several old geezers. Their bodies radiated the might of semi-converted elemental Magi, with traces of grey fog that continuously swirled around their fingers.

Expressions of alarm could be seen on the faces of the geezers as they were rather frightened by Leylin's apparent ease in his dispelling of the fog wall.

"You are indeed a peak rank 1 Magus, Mister!"

Amongst this group, the androgynous Xerxes, who was distinctly the leader, said and bowed.

"These are issues that we have with the Nature's Alliance, would Mister Leylin please choose to back down for the moment? After this matter, no matter what conditions you have agreed on with them, we will multiply them manifold!"

As he finished speaking, it was like as if seal that had come undone as a violent power coursed through Xerxes' body, which made Celine turn pale. As for Obo and Ilya, they had almost fainted.

"A peak rank 1 Magus! He is actually a peak rank 1 Magus!"

Celine clutched the hem of her robes tightly.

Under the presence of another Magus of equal standing, one might choose to compromise. However, Leylin shook his head and outright refused Xerxes's suggestion. To him, anyone who coveted the icy cave could only be a certain type of person, a dead one!

"Pardon me for my impudence then!"

In the next moment, Xerxes, who still had a calm air, underwent a tremendous bodily change.

Similar to a fiery volcanic eruption, intense energy waves emanated from his body, and countless grey energy particles condensed and formed a tide of energy waves.

"Fog Giant!"

Along with Xerxes' incantation, a giant elemental genie appeared.

From waist down this genie was a mass swirling fog and its upper body had the shape of a man. It's whole body was greyish white, and the muscles on both arms were extremely defined. Its ginormous stature was also extremely impressive.

"In my name, I order you to kill him!" Xerxes pointed at Leylin.

The Fog Giant roared, and two fists the size of hills smashed towards Leylin's direction!

"Attacking with such power from the start? Are you planning to kill me?"

The slight smile about Leylin's lips did not falter.

"Looks like he's guessed that I know about the Icy Caves and thought I was a contender, so he's planning to kill and silence me?"

In actuality, this opponent had guessed correctly, but what they did not know was that Leylin's strength far surpassed them, and had the same intentions of killing them!

"Wind!"

As he faced the Fog Giant's attack, Leylin merely recited a syllable.

*Weng!* A violent black tornado formed between him and the giant. The large number of wind blades pushed the giant's fists back.

*Hsss!*

Following that, a spiritual force more powerful, more sinister than Xerxes' descended upon the battlefield.

Black darkness elemental particles swept through like a tide, crushing the energy wave that Xerxes had formed into nothingness.

In the Twilight Zone, darkness elemental particles were very concentrated. On top of that, the solidification of Leylin's spiritual force as a rank 2 Warlock could overpower his opponent.

Countless darkness elemental particles gathered around Leylin, to the point that they could be seen with the naked eye.

As a light wind lifted him into the air, the elemental particles fused with the tornado! Its volume had expanded immediately and it turned into an ancient creature with a ferocious, violent aura.

This was a tall and lanky giant beast that was around seven to eight hundred metres long. It had dense black scales on its body, and a pair of amber eyes that were as large as a water jar. It carried with it a malevolent, bloodthirsty aura!

Meanwhile, Leylin stood on this large black giant snake, appearing to be calm.

Just the confrontation between this giant snake and giant was enough for Skrill, Celine and the others to try their best to take shelter and quickly retreat to another area.

"This is a battle between peak rank 1 Magi! Just a single ripple of energy can easily destroy you. Be careful!"

While Celine retreated, she protected the two acolytes and warned them.

Meanwhile, Obo and Ilya were staring at the person on top of the large giant snake enviously, their expressions filled with yearning and hope.

Celine could only smile wryly at this scene.

How could one reach the peak of rank 1 so easily? These two acolytes were the core seeds of her guild. One would already thank the heavens if they could rise to become an official Magus in the future, but to reach Leylin's level? Difficult!

"He… He's actually this strong?"

On the other end, while Skrill knew Leylin was at the peak of rank 1, he had no idea how powerful Magi like Leylin could be, and he could only gape in response.

"How is Lord Xerxes?" Seeing the Fog Giant beaten down by the giant black snake, Skrill was extremely anxious.

"Don't worry! Our guild leader is very strong, and he hasn't even brought his trump card out yet!"

The other two semi-converted elders immediately comforted him. In their eyes however, there was very little confidence.

"Distinguished Leylin, you truly are an opponent worthy of respect!"

At this moment, Xerxes suddenly exclaimed, "This next attack will be my last. I hope you won't disappoint me."

"Mist Transformation!" Xerxes muttered in a low voice.

Large amounts of fog were sent out from his body, and it constantly gathered at the body of the Fog Giant. Meanwhile, Xerxes' body shrunk until all was left was a pile of clothes.

Meanwhile, the Fog Giant rapidly increased in size until it was 50% larger than before, and fluctuations could be seen on its face. With a grey flash of light, Xerxes' face appeared there.

"I remember now! This is Mist Transformation, the strongest attack of the guild leader of the Dense Fog Forest! He once used this attack to kill a Magus who was similarly at the peak of rank 1! Be careful, Leylin! This Xerxes is the disguise of the guild leader of the Dense Fog Forest!"

Celine, who was standing not too far away suddenly seemed to remember something and reminded him loudly.

"I see!" Leylin nodded.

The effects of his opponent's spell were not half-bad.

The original Fog Giant's attack power was only around 60, but after Mist Transformation, the A.I. Chip warned Leylin that the number had increased to almost 79.

This was practically the limits of what a rank 1 Magus could do! It was no surprise that his opponent could kill Magi of similar rank with this attack.

Severe Injuries

Leylin glanced at the Fog Giant that was in front of him.

After Xerxes fused with the Fog Giant, not only did its strength increase, but its movements also became more agile.

"Based on the principle of elemental essence conversion, can the physical body itself be converted into an element? An interesting train of thought!"

How knowledgeable was Leylin in this area? He had stored all the academic knowledge from the south coast in the A.I. Chip, and with a few glances, he could roughly deduce the theory and application behind this ultimate attack formed from fog.

"It's a pity that a Magus' body is the only place where spiritual force can be stored. The moment the physical body is converted, it will then lose the chance to go one step further!"

Leylin sighed, seemingly looking upon his opponent with pity.

This attitude had obviously infuriated Xerxes, and with a roar, the Fog Giant charged over.

Leylin fearlessly manipulated the large giant serpent and had it coil around his opponent.

*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The scale of the battle increased in size, and giant rocks the size of hills were smashed by the two of them, flying in all directions. There were even some sparks at the tail, creating a trailing flame.

"To this extent?!"

Not only Celine but also the other Magi were stunned.

Meanwhile, while on the back of the giant snake, black light flashed in Leylin's eyes. Numerous black fireballs flew out from the shadows.

The fireballs converged and condensed, forming a small, blazing black sun that was even more sinister looking.

Latent Fireball, the spell that Leylin had invented, had a reputation that could rock the south coast with the numerous Magi that had been killed by it, had finally revealed itself once again in Twilight Zone.

And the Magus he was facing was at the peak of rank 1!

Xerxes' expression became serious, evidently sensing the destructive power hidden within Latent Fireball. *Hah! Hah!*

*Pant!* *Pant!*

Making the first move, Xerxes took in a deep breath, and two streams of white gas that could be seen with the naked eye rushed into his mouth.

This stream was extremely powerful, to the point that even a tornado appeared in the air. Even bits of plants and little rocks began to float.

After taking in this large amount of air, the Fog Giant's chest expanded at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. It was as if it was a giant frog.

"Secondary Energy Air Cannon!" The giant opened its mouth, puffed out, and a light green compressed air bomb-like cannonball attacked Leylin.

"Go!"

The air cannonball brought with it immense wind pressure, and Leylin's clothes rustled loudly from the wind.

Meanwhile, Leylin indifferently pointed at the Latent Fireball in the air.

The black latent fireball immediately stretched out, formed a black lance that caused distortion ripples in the air, and charged to the front of the air cannonball.

*Pu!* Like a balloon that had been pierced, the black lance pierced through the air cannonball.

Following this, the Secondary Energy Air Cannon exploded and deflated.

The black lance's power continuosly extended as it ruthlessly used its momentum to plough into the chest of the Fog Giant.

Black rays flashed and some flames blazed on the body of the giant, tenaciously extending till they covered half its chest.

Xerxes, who had fused with the Fog Giant, winced, and had evidently felt pain.

"Ah…" The Latent Fireball burnt not only the physical body, but also the formless spiritual force, and even the spirit! Xerxes began to scream pitifully.

"Don't think you can get away with this when you've gotten me in this state!" Xerxes' looked resolute, bringing the Fog Giant in front of the black giant snake.

"Self-detonate!"

With this thought, the entire Fog Giant exploded.

The black giant snake was drowned in fog and fire.

*Rumble!*

The ground constantly vibrated, as if a large earthquake had happened. Dust floated tens of metres high and blocked the whole scene from view.

Moments later, a human figure was launched out from within the dust.

"It's the Guild Leader!" A few Magi from the Dense Fog Forest immediately went up to help.

Xerxes did not look to be in a good state, with a large hole in his chest and numerous wounds all over.

All of a sudden, rays of light fluctuated above his face, and his original face disappeared, revealing that of a middle-aged man who looked to be a pacifist.

"It really is the guild leader of the Dense Fog Forest!" Celine muttered not far away, the crystal ball in her hands constantly flashing with light.

"Guild leader, are you alright?"

A few semi-converted Magi elders immediately asked concernedly, after catching hold of Xerxes.

"He's also injured, but his injuries are slightly lighter than mine. He can still battle. Let's leave quickly!"

Though Xerxes looked to be seriously hurt, his ability to think was not compromised.

"Understood!" The few Magi made to leave, with Skrill following closely behind.

"All of you can leave except for him!" Leylin's voice sounded from within the cloud of dust.

Shortly afterwards, an icy blue ray of light shot out, striking Skrill who was trying to activate a scroll!

A blue layer of ice immediately formed around him, turning him into a blue, human-shaped ice sculpture.

The dust settled, revealing Leylin's figure.

He was now extremely pale, with some blood at the corner of his lips. The fluctuations of his spiritual force were unstable, and he looked to be seriously injured.

"Since Lord Leylin has spoken, we'll leave him behind!"

Xerxes struggled to answer, and upon hearing this, the semi-converted Magi supported Xerxes and retreated, not even sparing a second glance in his direction.

"Leylin!" Celine immediately rushed out, not hiding any of her worry.

"I'm fine!" Leylin waved his arms, "Have you recorded everything down?"

"Yes. I'll send them to the council members of the joint conference and indict them!" Celine looked furious.

"No, not yet." Leylin waved his arms.

"Also, bring Skrill along as well. He's an important witness!"

"Yes!" Though Celine was still doubtful, she naturally did not dare ask more questions after having seen Leylin showing off his might.

As she wanted to give Leylin space to recuperate, Celine went outside and squeezed in with Obo and Ilya.

In the carriage, there was only Leylin and the frozen Skrill.

A layer of black elemental particles instantly formed a divide that split the interior and exterior of the carriage into two completely different sections.

Leylin stretched and stood up.

It did not even look like he was injured at all.

"A surprise attack midway and having a witness is crucial enough to indict the other side for serious penalties. However, this will, at most, shake Dense Fog Forest's position. It isn't practical if we want to completely uproot them."

Leylin understood this well.

In addition, since their opponents had tried to kill them, it was alright for Leylin to fight back and even kill one or two Magi from their side. However, if he did not let this matter rest and eradicated them completely, then that would be going against the laws of the subterranean world.

Magi grasped the bigger picture in the Twilight Zone and attempted to unify against the elven empire and darkness creatures. Hence having such internal conflicts were disapproved of within the committee.

Even a rank 2 Magus would find it difficult to deal with this situation, much less Leylin, who had yet to completely recover.

Hence, he had to tempt his opponents to slip-up even more, and then respond while protected by a valid excuse.

"After seeing my strength, I'm sure they must be feeling uneasy!"

Leylin grinned while stroking his chin.

"Besides, the seeds of enmity have been planted. Believing we're almost equally powerful and considering my status as 'heavily injured', paired with the tremendous benefits from the Icy World, I believe they wouldn't consider trying to settle this with us. Rather, they'll try to eliminate me as soon as possible!"

Medium-scaled guilds had an ample number of hidden cards. Furthermore, besides the guild leader, they had many powerful Magi that, when they banded together, would cause a great deal of grief even to a peak rank 1 Magus.

Xerxes had not gone all out this time, naturally because he believed in his might.

The next time, he would come out at full strength!

However, this was what Leylin wanted. Their opponent was already at their doorstep, and wanted to eliminate the guild! Under this circumstances, it was reasonable for him to strike back brazenly and destroy the enemy, right?

Besides, the buffering time before this that had happened was enough for Leylin to use the freezing bloodline imprint to regain his full strength.

Once he regained his strength as a rank 2 Warlock, he would be free to wander freely. As long as he did not meet anyone like that old rank 3 freak previously, he would definitely be able to protect himself.

"Next up!" Leylin shifted his gaze to Skrill, who was in the block of ice.

The Spider Man's eyes were unblinking, and he was only able to display a pleading expression.

Leylin smiled gently and advanced…

When the carriage reached a waterfall, Leylin descended from the carriage with a pale appearance.

Meanwhile, Skrill had already been retrieved from the ice and was now merely unconscious. Celine ordered for him to be imprisoned.

This was obviously Leylin's plan.

Using a few methods, he found that Skrill did not, in fact, know much about the Icy World. All he knew was that the Dense Fog Forest was drooling over the icy caves, and Leylin's killing intent died down.

From his perspective, Skrill would make a pretty good subordinate. He was semi-converted, and that was enough to do many things in Twilight Zone.

In addition, he was an able witness. Though Leylin did not believe in this method, this was enough to mitigate some potential troubles.

Though he was unafraid of trouble, he did dislike it. It was not a bad idea to reduce it as much as possible.

Lastly, Nature's Alliance was much too weak. To complete his grand plan, he would need a few capable subordinates.

Leylin could not really trust Celine.

It wasn't in fear of her betrayal. This woman was far too intelligent, and after gaining a large amount of power, she might prioritise her own benefits over Leylin's words.

She might not betray him, but there might be instances where she paid lip service to him, using her position and getting overconfident.

Hence, it was necessary to pull in and control people who would definitely side with him.

In Leylin's eyes, Nature's Alliance's power would expand greatly, and would require his own staff.

If not, it was easy to be hoodwinked.

After seeing the demise of the Dense Fog Forest, he was sure that Skrill would make a sensible decision. After all, dark Magi were also very adept at controlling emotions!

Frost Innate Spell

A few days later, rumours had begun to spread around the Twilight Zone.

The rumours claimed that the guild leader of the Dense Fog Forest longed for the resources held by the Nature's Alliance and the other small-scale guilds, and had been plotting to absorb them on the sly. There was even news that the Dense Fog Forest wanted to openly rob and murder the guild leader of the Nature's Alliance!

Even though the assassination was not successful, there were rumours about both Celine and the Nature's Alliance honorary professor, Leylin, being seriously injured.

These rumours first started spreading within a small circle of Magi, but very soon more people came to know about them. What was stranger about this situation was that the Dense Fog Forest had not sent anyone to refute the rumours, but had instead added fuel to the fire.

The largest propagator would reap the most benefits! Even though medium-scale guilds or even large-scale guilds had done the same, it was rare to see such unfiltered, unsightly tactics like those of the Dense Fog Forest.

Immediately all small-scale guilds of the Eastern Twilight Zone became cautious and distanced themselves from the Nature's Alliance.

At the narrow valley behind a big waterfall, Nature's Alliance's headquarters.

Celine looked inside the laboratory within a large icy mountain that was a short distance away and sighed.

Upon returning to Nature's Alliance's, Leylin had practically stayed in the laboratory the entire time.

"I need time to heal! Remember, whatever the matter may be, don't disturb me!"

That was Leylin's words then, but the cold icy look within his eyes had caused Celine to be even more fearful.

Obviously, Celine had instructed the release of the rumours within the Twilight Zone as to ensure that the Dense Fog Forest would have some reservations before making their next move.

However, Dense Fog Forest's silence was not expected, and this made Celine's heart very heavy.

In these kinds of situations, the natural thing to do would be to first flare up and then to maintain silence.

"I hope Leylin can recover soon!"

Celine's eyes revealed a sense of worry.

At this point in time, Leylin was the only person she could depend on.

At this moment, within the laboratory that had already transformed into an icy mountain, Leylin seemed to have been leisurely observing his palm.

On his palm that was as white as jade there appeared to be a glowing white layer radiating from it.

"Frost!" Leylin gently recited an ancient spell in the Byron language.

*Whoosh!*

A cold wind whistled, and many snowflakes rotated on his palm and formed a small frost tornado.

"I can't believe that after the frost had taken effect, not only has my sea of consciousness fully healed, a power within in my body regarding an ability related to frost energy has also been awakened!"

Leylin casually toyed with the mini frost tornado on his palm, his eyes revealed that he seemed to be distracted.

In his mind, his rejuvenated body had received a set of data from the A.I. Chip.

[Leylin Farlier. Rank 2 Warlock, Bloodline: Giant Kemoyin Serpent. Strength: 21.1, Agility: 14.4, Vitality: 27.9, Spiritual force: 104.3, Magic power: 104 (magic power is in synchronisation with spiritual force)] [Beep! A new innate talent has been created within the Host's body, transferring data]

The A.I. Chip's voice intoned.

[Host's innate spell: Increase in affinity and control of frost energy particles. Reduction by 40 degrees of frost related attacks! Ability to manipulate frost energy in a small area!]

This is similar to having a new innate spell, even though it is only rank 1.

"No! That's not all!" Leylin immediately ordered the A.I Chip to show his graph on elemental capabilities.

In fact, everyone has an affinity with various element types, only that it is extremely small and almost negligible.

Talented acolytes had affinity with various element types far greater than that of the normal levels, at least 50 times and above, and that was also the Magi world's official levels.

Originally, Leylin had the most affinity with the darkness element type followed by the fire type, and then the plant type which was such a small amount that it could be ignored. With regards to his affinity with the other elemental types, they were so minute that it could only be represented in decimal points.

As for now, the graph representing Leylin's elemental affinities had experienced minor changes.

The darkness element type still had the longest bar, and even exceeded that of previous levels. This strengthening of Leylin's innate gift could be attributed to the numerous triggering of Leylin's bloodline, and because he chose to cultivate in the darkness element. Thus, he obtained an increase in the element, which was a lot higher than that of other elements, even exceeding that of the total of the remaining elements.

The next highest ranked element Leylin had an affinity with is that of the red bar that represented the fire element, which had also experienced an increase, though of a smaller magnitude.

After the fire element, was that of the green bar representing the plant element type. It was extremely short, indicating that Leylin's innate gift in this area was not as developed as the other elements.

After this, there was an additional bar.

It was a shade of pale blue, representing the element pertaining to freezing, frost, and ice.

Originally, the affinity levels were extremely low, to the point that the A.I. Chip did not represent it in the histogram. However, now the frost element type had obviously obtained a large-scale increase.

Under the detection of the A.I. Chip, Leylin now possessed an innate talent in the frost elemental affinity!

"So, this is the way to increase elemental affinity after birth…"

Leylin sighed deeply: "What a pity. This is not of any use to me anymore."

The elemental affinity typically represented the path a Magi took. When Leylin was still a rank 1 Magus, he had already chosen the darkness elemental particle type to develop in, even choosing to convert his elemental essence in it.

This was the most sensible decision because the darkness type had the highest elemental affinity, which meant that the results it could produce along this path would be the greatest!

Hence, he was currently not able to change his elemental type, nor wished to change it.

Furthermore, his innate ability with the frost elemental type was too low, and could not even measure up to that of the plant type!

To have an insignificant increase of innate ability was of little value!

"However, this can be something worth thinking about!" Leylin stroked his chin, and appeared to be in deep in thought.

Since the elemental affinity type could be changed and influenced by skills acquired after birth, what about that of the spiritual aptitude?

Honestly, compared to the newly increased frost elemental affinity, Leylin would much rather have hoped for an increase in spiritual aptitude.

His spiritual aptitude had been examined when he first entered the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy; it was of the most common grade 3 aptitude. Amongst the many acolytes this is considered as a medium level!

After his bloodline as a Warlock had experienced numerous advancement, upon the A.I. Chip's re-examination, his spiritual aptitude had now received a boost, and was now considered a good level within that of the other grade 3 aptitudes.

However, it was still far from enough.

Compared to geniuses with grade 5 aptitudes, Leylin knew that he still had a long way to go. If not for the help of the A.I. Chip, the support of large doses of potions, and the good fortune of acquiring the bloodline Warlock heritage, he would not know where he would have been now.

As a result, he had been continuously searching for the easiest ways to alter his spiritual aptitude.

However, these methods were rarely seen in the Magi world.

There were probably ways to increase one's elemental affinity, but with regards to spiritual aptitude. Its involvement with many other aspects and its intangibility, made it difficult to conjecture.

At most, only a handful of Magi who were skilled in high-grade meditation techniques could have, when promoted to a new level, forcefully increase their spiritual aptitudes by a small amount.

At this moment, Leylin involuntarily laughed.

"Perhaps I was too greedy. The spiritual aptitude involves the spirit. I had not been as in-depth in my previous research, and am now lacking in skills as well. After I get promoted to a Warlock of a higher rank, and have commenced discussions with a few other higher ranked Magi, perhaps I would be able to find solutions to rectify problems of this nature!"

Leylin thought to himself.

"Regards this the frost innate spell…" He glanced at the pale blue bar chart again, "I can only put it aside for now!"

However, in his heart, he had already been making plans. For the innate ability he had in the frost element type, perhaps in the future this gift would be useful, in particular when he would decide to explore the Icy World or when side effects from the removal of his Warlock bloodline.

These abnormal changes had been caused by the radiation from the Icy World and might not be that simple an affair after all.

"No matter what, being able to increase an area of ability, albeit not being able to raise it any further in the future is still pretty good!"

Leylin opened his eyes and his face revealed a smile.

"Furthermore, what's most important is still this!"

Rays of silver spiritual forces radiated from Leylin's eyes into the frost tornado within his hands.

*Whoosh*

Together with the rapid wind movements, the frost tornado's physical form expanded multiple times, and the edges of the spiral formed sharp knife blades.

The surrounding areas were seemingly frozen as pressure radiated from Leylin's body.

"Finally, I've managed to recover all my abilities as a rank 2 Magus!"

Leylin's smile became bigger. Having recovered his peak strength from when he was on the south coast, and having removed the emotional instability of his bloodline, the power he now possessed was greater than ever before.

In actual fact, on the night of his return to the Nature's Alliance headquarters, Leylin had used the runes that the Icy Jade Scorpion Emperor was carrying on its back and had made a mark of the frost bloodline!

Furthermore, Leylin had secretly left Nature's Alliance headquarters and had chosen a safe place to practice the defrosting process.

With regards to his personal safety, Leylin had never liked or wished to depend on others.

He had left for treatment, and had not allowed for anyone to discover him. During his defrosting period, he had created a protective ice layer around him, one that was harder than steel, and hence could have assured his own safety.

Furthermore, under Leylin's deliberate control, the entire thawing process was extremely fast. It took just one night for him to have solved the problem.

Under Leylin's meticulous calculations, it was no wonder that he had smoothly restored his original abilities without any big hiccups.

The so-called 'treatment' here was merely a facade Leylin had let out to lure others into taking the bait.

"It's about time, I have already ordered Celine to secretly release the news. Through the interrogation these few days, Skrill has already given in, and will soon be sent to the committee members of the conference just like that of the crystal ball!"

Leylin's eyes shined with a tint of deep thought. Imagery evidence could be falsified, but if a witness was present, the Dense Fog Forest, who was a medium-scale guild, would definitely still be in trouble.