Chapter 183 - 340 - 347

Invasion And Siege

Continuing the trial of the joint conference, the Dense Fog Forest would most likely not be destroyed, but there would be bloodshed. In addition, a decrease in their evaluation was a possible punishment, which would be a big loss in benefits!

Needless to say, the "seriously injured" Leylin was here too!

Since there was so much hatred, the only way to end this would be through complete destruction, was something that the other party could not tolerate.

Thus, they would take advantage of Leylin being in the midst of recovery by gathering all their manpower, and destroy the Nature's Alliance!

This was what Leylin also hoped for.

"I had specially given him a few days to rally his men. I hope he doesn't let me down!" Leylin sneered.

Shortly after, he turned and looked towards the canyon's exit.

"Coming!"

At this moment, Magi wearing black Chinese-styled gowns stood in a circle outside the Canyon, silently crowding around several figures in the middle.

The leader of the group, a middle-aged man with a face worthy of veneration, was the escaped guild leader of the Dense Fog Forest.

"Tsk Tsk! Gus, you really should be embarrassed, being reduced to this miserable state after getting injured from an honorary professor in a small-scaled guild!"

So 'Gus' was his real name, and the previously used name, 'Xerxes,' was fake!

Another man who stood tall beside Gus, was an elderly man in his 50s or 60s. He had wrinkles all over his face. With his slanted nose, sharp, narrow pairs of eyes, it made him look even more sinister than Gus.

Even as he mocked Gus, no anger was seen in the eyes of the surrounding Magi from the Dense Fog Forest, as if they never heard what was said.

The reason for their change in attitude was that this old man was radiating huge waves of energy.

Among the emptiness in the middle of the circle formed by the old men, radiations of spiritual force could be observed. Impressively, it was the strength of a powerful peak rank one Magus!

"If you had been me, the result would not have been any better!"

Gus sighed in the face of mockery, but deep down, was still fearful of Leylin's strength.

Having profound knowledge of Gus' strength, the old man turned solemn too; "If Leylin has already recovered from his injuries, then I want twice the compensation!"

"If it's doubled, let it be doubled!" Gus promised immediately with clenched teeth.

"I have actually used an ancient 'light protector' rune. That's the reason why I could recover fast in such a short period of time. The other party could not possibly have such a thing…"

This was the confidence Gus had, as he hailed from a medium-scaled guild. To him, as a small-scaled guild, it was impossible for Nature's Alliance to have such an asset.

"Je Je! You're right. Besides, they are at most at the same level with you, how can they stop us two on their own?"

The old man chuckled.

"My Lord guild leader! The broken signal has been repaired!" At this moment, a semi-converted elemental Magus walks over and spoke to Gus

"Great! Attack immediately! I want the Nature's Alliance guild removed entirely from the Twilight Zone!"

A malevolent look swept across Gus' face, and he suddenly raised his hand.

More than a dozen of different coloured bright lights fluttered out of the Canyon. Unexpectedly, each one was a rank one Magus!

As a medium-scaled guild, it was not a big problem if the Dense Fog Forest nurtured or recruited official Magi. considering the long, accumulated history of the more than 30 Magi.

This time, Gus planned to use a large number forces from his guild.

*Bang!*

More than a dozen brilliant lights rushed to the entrance of the canyon, but were immediately stopped by a membrane formed from a defensive layer of light.

"It's just defensive formation made by an insignificant small-scaled guild! Destroy it!"

From the layer of bright light, a screeching sound was heard and black light converged, forming the shape of a large axe. The head of the axe even had strong black iron chains coiled around it which were threads of bright, cold and threatening light.

*Ka Cha!*

The giant hatchet ruthlessly struck!

In the wake of the loud strike, the entire membrane of light fell apart, disintegrating and dispersing into small specks of light that gradually darkened.

"Enemy Attacking!"

As an official Magus, Celine was the first to react. Her face turned deathly pale and a gush of cold wind sent her to the entrance of the experiment lab within the icy mountain.

*Shaaa!* The black light flashed past, a mole no smaller than the size of a young boy crawled out, his two long, grizzly beards dragging across the floor.

"This Celine! Causing trouble this time! If I am still alive later, you'll have to send me 10 times as many berries as before!"

The mole stroked his beard, with an unwilling look on his face.

"Damn it! If it wasn't for the deal that I made with that stupid old man at that time, I wouldn't have to be stuck here defending his place!"

"All of the acolytes, meet me here now!"

Celine did not even have the time to force a smile, let alone talk to the mole. She just communicated directly with the rest of the acolytes in the guild.

She was extremely sure that the attack this time around was from the Dense Fog Forest's men!

In fact, during a war between the official Magi, acolytes were just cannon fodder! By sending them out was only a disgrace, and even causing needless casualties.

Currently, they had a slim chance of survival!

Celine's eyes flashed with a tinge of hope, and started shouting towards the laboratory, "My Lord Leylin! It is the Magi of the Dense Fog Forest! They have violated the rules of the joint conference and launched an attack on our guild!"

But what took with Celine by surprise even more than the sudden attack was the fact that there was no reply from inside.

Celine repeated the message thrice, and it was only after she could not wait any longer and broke the layer of ice, that Leylin's voice responded. "I'm still in the midst of recovering! If this gets interrupted, I'm afraid that there will be immediate repercussions…."

"How much longer do you need?" Celine clasped onto her handkerchief tightly.

"Ten minutes!" After some silence, Leylin's voice was heard again.

"Alright! I will fight for you during this period of time!" Celine took a deep breath towards the acolyte that was previously there and cleared her throat.

"As the guild leader, I command you to protect this place at all costs! It might be hard to you, but with the help of spell formations, I need you to persevere just for ten minutes!

"Yes, my Lord! We will fight to the end!"

After being distracted for a moment, the acolytes below started an uproar one after another, Obo and Ilya were among those acolytes.

It was obvious and they clearly understood what the future had in store for them if their guild was defeated today.

"That's great! Let's activate it! Grandpa Cedric!!!"

Celine took a deep breath.

"Okay, alright! I can't stand youngsters like you all!" the mole shook his head and suddenly plopped to the ground!

In some instant, black rays of light spread out, forming a big spell formation runes on the ground.

A barrier of light rose and combined with the original spell formation, engulfing Leylin and the experiment lab within.

*Boom! Blast!*

At this moment, a group of enemy Magi arrived at the scene, and the acolytes that were not able to get into the barrier in time were severely injured.

A small boy was cut in half by a blade of light. His upper torso was still wailing as he tried to breathe.

Another female acolyte, who was decimated into a pool of blood by a green sphere that fell from the sky, did not even had time make a sound.

More and more acolytes were instantly buried to death, by huge broken structure of the building that was shattered by magic spells, also without being able to make any sound.

As Celine looked at the devastating scene in front of her, she was unable to control herself and broke down into tears. They were the future potential Magi of Nature's Alliance, where her sweat and blood were poured in.

"I found it! It's here!"

This new barrier of light, which was visibly thicker and stronger than the ones before, caught the attention of the enemy Magi quickly. Very soon, more than a dozen rays of light enveloped the entire place, creating faint shadows in the middle.

*Clang!* Celine threw a communication device on the ground.

"The signal is disrupted! Hold on!"

She placed her palm on the barrier, as a huge wave of spiritual force and magical power was poured forth and injected into the barrier.

The rest of the acolytes followed suit, though their spiritual powers were very weak. With a mere touch, most of the acolytes' faces turned pale, as though they had been beaten up by a large hammer.

*Boom!*

Both sides did not exchange many words, and more than a dozen colourful energy beams bombarded the spell formation.

*Bang!* Numerous acolytes lay paralyzed on the floor, most of them having fainted. Celine could barely even stand up straight and was on the verge of collapsing.

Upon seeing two shadows behind the numerous Magi, Celine's expression was filled with despair.

At this time, it has not even been half the time that Leylin had requested. Fighting against the two peak rank one Magi had made Celine lose all hope and strength to fight back.

In the laboratory behind Celine, Leylin quietly waited, a cold and detached expression on his face…

"It should be roughly about now, right?" He muttered.

In fact, Leylin could have fought back, but he had waited until the Nature's Alliance had racked up a disastrous amount of casualty…

As for the dead acolytes, they did not have much importance to Leylin, and their deaths weighed lighter than specks of dust in his heart.

As long as the opponent left irrefutable evidence of an attack, what were the deaths of a few acolytes? Also, these acolytes were under Celine's guidance. If he really wanted to gain complete control of the Nature's Alliance, more blood would have to be shed!

Now, however, it was time.

Gus and the rest of them had done so much damage to the Nature's Alliance that even if Leylin were to kill them all, it could be reasoned as self-defense.

This excuse may not be very good, but it was definitely better than having none! The acolytes that have died and the data that have been perished

"Magus Gus! Why? Just why?"

Celine retracted her hands and looked at the barrier which was damaged by the combined attacks of the enemy. The guardian animal too was severely injured as it spat out blood, smiling bitterly.

"Benefits! Naturally, everything is for our own benefits!"

Gus' voice was ice cold, as if not having any of the emotions that a normal person would have. He had also turned a blind eye to Celine's charms.

"You hindered my path, and I just want to settle the dispute, that's all!"

Ruthless Retaliation

"What gains are you referring to? I can give them up straight away!"

There was a glint in Celine's eyes…

"This is your final chance! If this happened before the joint conference, I might have given it a thought, but now…"

Gus shook his head and said, "There is no further need for you to stall for time! There has been no Magus who has ever been able to survive after being hit by my Fog Giant's self-detonation. Even if Leylin manages to survive the blow, he's probably incapacitated unable to move a single muscle."

Celine felt complete despair as her last hope was shattered.

"Get on with it!" She closed her eyes and exposed her pale neck.

"Where is Skrill?" Gus asked at the end while he formed a ball of distortion-filled with destructive energy.

"I have no idea. Leylin personally carried out the interrogation!"

"Then you are no longer of use!"

The indifferent Gus released the ball of distortion in his hands.

*Pu!* A layer of a black scaly shield appeared out of nowhere in front of Celine, and it managed to block the explosion from the attack.

After the smoke dissipated, a black-robed Magus had already appeared in front of Celine.

"Leylin!" Gus' eyes widened in fear as he fearfully uttered the name.

"Tell me! How do you guys want to die?" The corners of Leylin's lips curled into a vibrant smile.

"Do it!"

Gus' face flushed red as he shouted.

"Double the amount! Bear in mind that it is double the amount!" The old man with a hawk nose beside him released large amounts of elemental rings, forming a brass ring with mysterious runes on the surface.

While executing this attack, he did not forget to turn back and remind Gus about his remuneration.

Grey mist started to form immediately and the Fog Giant from their previous encounter appeared once again. Unlike the last time, rays of light which resembled starlight started to emerge from every Magus who was present and connected to the body of the giant, making the giant's aura rise to a frightening level.

The brass ring was thrown around the waist of the giant and it strapped tightly around it in that instant.

"Roar!"

The giant let out a devastating roar. While its lower body was shrinking non-stop, the mist on its upper body started to aggregate once again, and formed a body of muscle with a toughness that was as strong as granite.

"A combination spell!"

Celine, who was behind Leylin, couldn't help but to let out a sound at the sight. Even her breathing began to get rough.

"The opposing side has two peak rank 1 Magi, along with ten or so Magi elders. Meanwhile, Leylin…"

Celine had no time to process the thoughts in her head before her jaw dropped at the sight.

Silver!

A faint sliver of light started to appear on Leylin's body.

At this moment, even the air seemed to be frozen. An oppressive pressure could be felt descending onto the battlefield.

"Materialised spiritual force! A rank 2 Magus!"

The hawk-nosed old man made a strange sound. Despite bleeding profusely from his mouth and nose, the old man started to recall his spells, risking recoil in doing so while he retreated in haste.

It was a pity that this was all too late!

A pillar of silver light streaked across the sky and arrived at the top of the old man's head.

"No!" The old man exclaimed in anger, and an incomplete protection ruin on his neck exploded, resulting in an inferno of crimson flames.

Following that, the old man stopped in his tracks for a moment and nearly fell to the ground.

He had obviously felt the peak elemental spiritual force residing in the flames being instantly destroyed by the silver materialised spiritual force when the two forces collided.

As the spiritual force being manipulated was dispelled, the inferno of crimson flames lost sight of its target and began spreading to the surroundings.

The silver spiritual force soon descended down on its target. It formed a silver cross-shaped sword after having elongated and pierced the old man in the chest.

*Drip! Drip!*

The old man was bleeding profusely and droplets of blood could be seen dripping onto the ground. He tried humming, but no energy particles were triggered.

The solidified spiritual force of a rank 2 Magus far surpassed the spiritual force of an converted Magus in terms of quality. The spiritual force residing inside the old man's consciousness was no match for the silver spiritual force and was completely locked down with a single hit.

This rationale was very similar to what had happened to Leylin, when he had been confined by the Gargamel on the mountain of white bones.

After Leylin had completely recovered his rank 2 Magus power, even a peak rank 1 Magus was nothing more than a slightly stronger ant in Leylin's eyes.

"He…! He…! He…!"

The sight had the Magi from the Dense Fog Forest at a loss.

With just one single blow, the peak rank 1 Magus was on the verge of death! They had only heard of this kind of terrifying power in legends.

Gus' face started to turn pale from despair before it finally became a grim.

"Roar!" Under his manipulation, the gigantic Fog Giant ferociously charged in Leylin's direction.

Leylin started to slowly open an ancient scroll in his hands which was radiating with destructive energy that could be felt in the surroundings.

"Scorching Touch!" A bunch of red powder started to spill out, and two long and narrow energy beams which carried the destructive force of a rank 2 spell shot out from Leylin's hands. The fog giant was immediately scorched and two large holes were created from the attack.

*Boom!* A large amount of the mist started to dissipate and all the Magi who were connected to the mist giant started to collapse to the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Leylin appeared in front of Gus.

*Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!*

While he was moving, several snow-white ice arrows were abruptly shot out.

*Zoom! Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!*

Confronted with the might of the arrows, the innate defensive spell formations of rank 1 Magi were shredded easily like pieces of paper. The heads of numerous Magi exploded, similar to watermelons exploding.

"You…"

At the sight of this unbearable scenario, even Gus, who was preparing a spell, could not help but feel anger and a sense of despair.

The number of rank 1 Magi that had died constituted almost half of the Dense Fog Forest's forces. All his efforts to accumulate this power all these years had gone down the drain as he lost 70 to 80% of his forces.

But at this moment, Gus had no time to think about this as Leylin arrived in front of him.

"Protection of Andes!" Gus shouted loudly and a colony of black ants emerged from his face, clothes, shoes and all over his body and formed a peculiar-looking black shield.

"A futile effort!" Leylin looked indifferent and raised his right hand.

A layer of black rays started to gather around his palm and formed a bunch of black scales. "Kemoyin's Scale! Partial Snake Transformation!"

*Po!*

Leylin's palms were filled with an enormous amount of energy which penetrated the shield. The colony of ants on the shield let out a shrill sound as they tried to gnaw at the black scales, but it was to no avail.

"Your last resort is just a scroll engraved by a rank 2 Magus? How disappointing!"

The silver ray of light in Leylin's eyes started to shine brightly, and with his right hand, he grabbed Gus' wrist.

*Pak!* The scroll, which was already triggered halfway, suddenly lost all its luster and revealed its true appearance of what seemed to be a broken piece of goatskin paper as it fell to the ground.

"Do you have any last words?"

Leylin asked Gus as he sealed his spiritual force.

"You will be punished by the joint conference. I swear on that!" Gus' eyes turned red.

*Pak!* After which, his brain exploded, white brain juices, blood, and fluids spurting everywhere.

"Just this? How pointless! "

Leylin retracted his right hand.

He appeared in front of the hawk-nosed old man and placed his hands on the head of an old man who was on the verge of death.

"Do you choose death or subservience"?

The old man who was bleeding profusely and nearing death struggled to open his mouth. "I… I'm willing to be subservient to you, my lord!"

"Set a pact now and surrender a strand of your spirit source, or else you will end up like the others!"

The tone of Leylin's voice was very indifferent, and the pile of corpses surrounding him made the old man have no thoughts of defying the order.

"I, Iren, am willing to serve under your command and become your most humble servant! Your future commands shall be my eternal mission!"

Even with his eyes blurred with tears, the old man still struggled to speak.

A fluctuating thread from the abyss was established between the two.

"Very good!" Leylin recalled the silver spiritual force that was restricting the old man.

"My lord!" Iren kneeled down to give his regards, the wounds on his body already beginning to heal on their own.

He had been restricted by Leylin and lost his ability to recover. Once he was freed from the silver spiritual force that was restricting him, there were far too many ways for Magi to heal themselves.

"Please accept your humble servant's loyalty!" Although he had regained his freedom, the old man Iren had no desire to fight against Leylin as he had been deterred by Leylin's actions.

With Iren's words, a glowing spirit source floated out of his forehead and flew to Leylin's hands.

After losing his spiritual source, Iren's face turned pale and beads of sweat could be seen dripping down.

Leylin for his part kept the spirit source carefully.

A Magus' spirit source was very important to them, and if Leylin were to destroy the source in his hands, the old man would suffer a severe blow and might even die straight away. The best-case scenario would be for him to have a mental breakdown.

It could be said that once Leylin had the spirit source, it was akin to him holding the old man's fate in his hands.

"All good and done!" Leylin clapped his hands.

This kind of one-sided process and astonishing means from Leylin had made it difficult for Celine to process anything.

"My lord! You…." Celine had no idea of what to say.

"Have you … ascended to rank 2?" She said this carefully after deliberating over it for a while.

"Yes!" Leylin happily smiled "The injury I suffered has, instead, made me break through the restraints to my meditation technique and allowed me to rise to the realm of rank 2."

Celine did not have the courage to continue probing despite knowing it was not the truth.

A rank 2 Magus! This was already a power that belonged to large-scale guilds! Facing this insurmountable gap in power, Celine could only accept whatever Leylin had to say.

"Wake those acolytes up and follow me!"

Leylin pointed to a few of the acolytes who were lying on the ground that included Obo and Ilya.

"Hm? What for?" Celine's face was filled with doubts.

"Naturally, it will be to retaliate!"

Leylin's face broke into a cold smile, "Since the opposing party has been so eager to find us, how can we not repay what they have done?"

"But…. The joint conference…."

Celine had only spoken a few words, but she decided to swallow the rest. At this moment, she had no other choice.

Abyssal Breath

"My Lord! That's the Dense Fog Forest's headquarters!"

Old man Iren pointed to a fog-shrouded forest in the middle of the basin, with a look of respect on his face.

Currently, Iren was completely submissive to Leylin and existed as his servant.

Leylin walked behind him with conflicted feelings. Together with Obo, Ilya, and the other rank 3 acolytes, their faces were red with emotions.

Rank 2 Magus! Their famed professor was actually a rank 2 noble Magus who actually defeated a lot of enemies with just one blow!

They were proud of this kind of glory.

"The Dense Fog Forest is still a medium-scale guild, with an extremely strong Magi formation barrier. With several protected and contracted beings as the first line of defense, does this not mean that we are…"

Iren had revealed all of Gus' defensive lines backhandedly.

"We do not need anything! I alone am sufficient. All of you keep in mind, without my orders, no one is allowed to step into the basin!"

Leylin's face was stern. After which, he transformed into a gust of wind and disappeared in mid-air.

*Ssiii*

A sound could be heard as he travelled. Celine and the rest saw an illusory shadow of a snake appearing in mid-air. The huge snake forcefully appeared and seemed to transform into the face of a terrifying devil. The shape of the devil's face seemed to resemble Leylin.

After half an hour passed they had obtained permission to enter the Dense Fog Forest, and they saw huge amounts of rotten corpses!

A few huge high-energy beings whose size resembled small mountains could also be seen dead on the floor, their corpses, not yet fully decomposed, had emitted an unpleasant small.

"Your task is to completely search this area, and take away any resources that are of value!"

Leylin slowly landed on the corpse of a huge beast. That scene had made many absolutely horrified.

"Yes! Yes, My Lord!"

Initially, Celine had doubts over why Leylin had wanted to bring a batch of acolytes over. However, now she fully understood his intentions.

...

After having searched the Dense Fog Forest, Leylin had arrived near the premises of the headquarters of the Eight-Clawed Spider guild.

This time around, Skrill appeared beside him.

If Leylin could subdue even Iren, naturally Skrill was not a big issue.

"Go! Announce that the Eight-Clawed Spider will be disbanded! And that all the Magi shall join Nature's Alliance!" Leylin ordered Skrill.

"As you wish, my Lord!" Skrill bowed to Leylin, evidently afraid of him.

His fear was to the extent that he was willing to accept such orders.

With regards to the subsidiary guilds of the Dense Fog Forest, Leylin did not intend to exterminate all of them fully.

In any case, since they had no chance of knowing the Icy World's secret, it would be for the best to subdue all of them to increase Nature's Alliance's strength.

Furthermore, all of the Dense Fog Forest Magi had been exterminated without any exceptions under Leylin's rank 2 Magi spell that covered a vast area. There was no longer any living beings within the entire basin.

It could be said that the Dense Fog Forest guild had disappeared from the face of the earth.

Looking at the uproar from the guild headquarters, together with Iren and the people that went forth to subdue them, Leylin smiled icily.

"Next, perhaps it's time for the rank 2 Magi?"

How long had it been since such a large-scale attack, and such a vile way of exterminating an entire guild, had happened in the entire eastern Twilight Zone?

No matter how dim-witted the large-scale guilds were, they would have to make a stand.

Moreover, according to the latest news, the dark elven empire was starting to become restless, and it was also nearing the time when the darkness creature horde beyond the Twilight Zone was approaching. It was precisely during this period of time where Magi were supposed to collaborate that Nature's Alliance's move could be said to be going against the tide.

"So what?"

Leylin's face revealed a smile that seemed to suggest that he did not care, "It is precisely because of this that I am making a move now!"

"The combining of forces to deal with external forces not only restricts the Nature's Alliance but all the other large-scale guilds as well!"

"Would they be willing to, under these conditions, lose a rank 2 Magus? How can the strength associated with a medium-scale guild measure up to a newly promoted rank 2 Magus? Furthermore, we still possess sufficient evidence to prove that the Dense Fog Forest had started the fight first, and had even encroached into our headquarters and caused a large number of casualties…"

With strength and evidence, even large-scale guilds would not act recklessly.

With regards to this, Leylin understood the logic very clearly.

After 10 minutes or so, Skrill and Iren returned.

"My Lord! The Eight-Clawed Spider guild has officially disbanded. This is our high-grade meditation technique—Abyssal Breath!"

Skrill respectfully half-knelt and passed a black crystal wand to Leylin.

"Mm. Well done!" Leylin took the wand gently, with a thread of his silver spiritual force reaching into it.

Increasing the power of Nature's Alliance was only part of the reason why Leylin had destroyed the guilds. The main objective behind his actions was actually to collect the high-grade meditation techniques!

As time passed, Leylin frowned, which caused Skrill to start trembling.

"Only rank 3?" Leylin sighed. The Eight-Clawed Spider guild's meditation technique had the same flaws as Celine's Crystal Mask. Not only was it hard to develop, it was only rank 3.

This implied that the Magi from the Eight-Clawed Spider guild could at most be promoted to rank 3, and not beyond.

"I, your subordinate, am ashamed! Our high-grade meditation technique does only have 3 levels! Personally, I have been stuck at rank 1, and can only use the irrigation of the abyss' strength…"

Skrill lowered his head and quickly explained.

"Of course, I know!" Leylin knew that this Abyssal Breath mostly used the strength of the abyss to continuously change the body to adjust to a physical state more fitting to the abyss. Skrill's half-human half-spider appearance was the way it was due to the imitation of a special being from the abyss.

And this is merely rank 1 of the Abyssal Breath. According to the introduction of the meditation technique and the A.I. Chip's deductions, if one were to promote the meditation technique to its highest level, one would be able to return to their original state and have the physical appearance of a normal person.

Only then would the Magus, who had been entirely transformed by the abyss, be known as the spawn of the abyss!

But of course, these were only deductions made by the A.I Chip.

According to Leylin's estimations, to reach the state of the abyss' spawn, one would have to develop the Abyssal Breath higher than rank 5.

Honestly, one could not be sure whether the high-grade meditation technique even had a rank 5.

"However, after all, this is a high-grade meditation technique and is a grade higher than the Crystal Mask. This can improve the A.I. Chip's meditation techniques information database!"

Leylin kept the black crystal wand.

Because many ancient Magi were passionate about researching about all living beings in the world, they looked for patterns, obtained strength, and frequently interacted with beings of different realms. Hence, many ancient meditation techniques had a strong and strange aura.

With respect to the Abyssal Breath, Leylin estimated that it had a deep relationship with the abyssal world, and could even have been released by a strong and powerful being living within the abyss.

"Dense Fog Forest has other auxiliary guilds, namely 3 other small-scale guilds, and 15 unrated guilds. All of you shall break into 3 groups, Iren and Skrill will lead 2 groups to sweep the unrated guilds while I will be in charge of the small-scale guilds!"

Leylin immediately gave out his orders.

"As you wish, My Lord!" the surrounding Magi all bowed with respect.

Leylin nodded. Iren was a peak rank one magus, and Skrill was a semi-converted elemental Magus. To put them in charge to deal with the unrated guilds was a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

The unrated guilds did not stand a chance with the teams led by the two of them.

Furthermore, upon performing this deed, these newly subdued Magi would have no way out, and would only be able to come under Leylin's wings.

...

Several days later, explosive news spread across the entire Eastern Twilight Zone that caused a sensation in the Magi world, and even continued to spread in the 4 other zones.

After having existed for a few hundred thousand years, large amounts of contracted guardian beasts, countless official Magi, and even a peak rank 1 Magus that oversaw a medium-scale guild, the Dense Fog Forest, were entirely destroyed!

The one responsible for it was actually Nature's Alliance! This news had revealed that the honorary professor of Nature's Alliance had made a breakthrough to rank 2!

A peak rank 1 Magus was considered as a large power, while a rank 2 Magus was the goal of many official Magi, which were also known as the elites of the human forces!

Typically, a rank 2 Magi would only appear in large-scale guilds. The presence of the one or two old and experienced rank 2 Magi was that of the trump card of these guilds.

Nature's Alliance, on the other hand, was only a small-scale guild!

At this point in time, the entire eastern Twilight Zone was shocked.

Under Leylin's control, the actions of Nature's Alliance went extremely smoothly.

Not only did Nature's Alliance attack all of the Dense Fog Forest's auxiliary guilds and wiped out all traces of its history, many Magi had joined Nature's Alliance and enhanced its strength, such that it had been promoted to a medium-scale guild! These were all within Leylin's expectations.

Moreover, the taking over of the Dense Fog Forest's resources was also proceeding smoothly.

This, of course, was not in accordance with the rules set by the council members and had sparked their displeasure.

However, under Leylin's suppression, Nature's Alliance continued doing whatever they wanted to without any hesitation. The guild sent out many troops and their strength increased day after day.

With regards to small matters like the strength of the guild, Leylin could not be bothered to oversee them and would casually instruct his acolytes to handle them.

The newly-joined Magi that were now part of Nature's Alliance were all given roles as professors or guest professors, but in actual fact, they would only listen to Leylin's bidding.

Celine's powers were suppressed to the maximum, but she could only force a smile, and could not complain much.

Leylin had suddenly been promoted to a rank 2 Magi, and just his strength alone would make Celine's previous plans prove futile. Furthermore, in terms of trickery, back in the southern coast the underhanded means that Leylin had employed did not pale in comparison to that Celine's.

Under these conditions, Celine could only give up.

Due to her special status, other official Magi would still be slightly respectful towards her and would not reject her requests towards small matters.

Furthermore, these Magi were still under Nature's Alliance, even if only in name, which gave Celine some comfort.

Dragon King's Mystic Might

Nature's Alliance headquarters.

The headquarters had now undergone renovations. The reconstruction had started from the bottom, with magic spells fixed up and the acolytes who had died in battle buried.

Powerful energy fluctuations were concealed within these few building structures. They were like multiple stars aiming to bring out the moon, crowding around a laboratory right in the centre.

Whether it was the original acolytes of Nature's Alliance or the newly-joined Magi, they would always unconsciously slow their footsteps when they passed by and exhibit their respect.

In the middle of the laboratory.

Leylin stood by a table, deep in thought while gazing at the few items on the silver desk.

These ten or so items were very simple. There were green leaves, red earrings, a short brown rod, and even the black crystals that Skrill had previously given him.

The silver surface of the table was made using a special alloy. It was incomparably hard and had a high resistance against specific magic experiments. Hence, it was widely used in this area.

Currently, the shining, sparkling metallic surface reflected Leylin's troubled expression.

These were naturally the numerous high-grade meditation techniques Leylin had forcefully obtained.

Though the Twilight Zone had obtained a larger number of complete inheritances from the ancient Magi, high-grade meditation techniques weren't anything common. Some unrated guilds only had the simplified versions that had been altered based on incomplete high-grade meditation techniques, which were completely useless to Leylin.

There were also a few guilds who had the same high-grade meditation technique as the Dense Fog Forest. However, they only had the first or second levels, and these were slightly modified. Leylin could immediately recognise this.

These guilds must have been the Magi guilds that had split up from the original Dense Fog Forest.

This was not uncommon. It was not unusual for Magi in the Twilight Zone to split up based on differences in opinion while still having a good relation with the original guild. This was somewhat similar to a branch of the original guild.

Hence, though Leylin had technically destroyed ten or so guilds, what Leylin actually gathered were only six high-grade meditation techniques.

Of course, the rate of advancing was much higher here than in the south coast, but Leylin was still in a bad mood.

This was because out of the six high-grade meditation techniques, there were five that were incomplete!

This was not something that could be explained just by the chaos of war. Only after checking some documents regarding this guild did Leylin gather a more reasonable explanation.

In ancient times, the inheritance of high-grade meditation techniques was not open to everyone in one go.

Only one or two levels would be passed down at a time, and only after Magi succeeded would they gradually be passed down more.

This was to ensure the secrecy of the high-grade inheritances. The other reason was to prevent Magi from seeking instant returns.

However, after the fall of the ancient Magi in the final war, there appeared a huge problem—a discontinuity in the passing down of meditation techniques! The higher-ranked Magi had fallen before they could pass down the other portions of their meditation techniques, which had resulted in the Magi of the Twilight Zone being unable to advance further.

The level of Morning Star Magus was the bare-minimum requirement to participate in the final war, and hence, the high-grade meditation techniques left in the Twilight Zone mostly had two or three levels, and there was a lack of information on the essential later portions.

In ancient times, rank 2 and rank 3 Magi were considered to have just finished their apprenticeships, and as such, they were naturally not required to enter the battle. They had survived and passed down their meditation techniques.

However, it wasn't as if there were no surprises.

Leylin extended his hand and picked up something like a part of a white bone joint from the table.

Though it had an interesting appearance, this was actually a tool used for storing information. Leylin connected his spiritual force to it and information about a high-grade meditation technique appeared.

Ancient symbols appeared at the beginning of the meditation technique, emitting an ancient aura. There was even the sound of a dragon's roar.

"Dragon King's Mystic Might! High-grade meditation technique for Dragon Magi split into four levels—Infant Dragon, Young Dragon, Adult Dragon, Elder Dragon!" Leylin slowly read through the content regarding this high-grade meditation technique.

In ancient times, 'Magus' was a term that was inclusive of all powerful beings, whether they were of other races, humans, or even high-energy creatures. As long as they possessed intelligence had strength, and pursued the truth, they could all come under the umbrella of being a Magus!

This Dragon King's Mystic Might was obviously a high-grade meditation technique meant for the Dragon race to train in!

"Based on the A.I. Chip's estimations, as well as a few illustrations from Dragon King's Mystic Might, creatures of the dragon race, would accelerate their growth rate if they trained in this high-grade meditation technique. They would develop twice as fast as their peers, and would enter the sequence of being a mature dragon earlier…"

Leylin unhurriedly caressed this bone.

This Dragon King's Mystic Might was what the Dense Fog Forest had in storage, but it was a pity that this was merely a decoration for Dense Fog Forest, as it was comprised of only humans.

This was a high-grade meditation that was meant for another race and was unsuitable for the human body. Even Warlocks that had the bloodline of dragons could not do this!

However, after Leylin discovered this Dragon King's Mystic Might, it was like he had gained a treasure.

Though he could not train this technique either, he could see the traces of a new bloodline in this high-grade meditation technique.

Similar to the Kemoyin's Pupil, the Dragon King's Mystic Might was a high-grade meditation technique that had very stringent requirements in terms of bloodline. It was probably even more strict than the Kemoyin's Pupil.

This would be of immense help to him in completing the next few parts of Kemoyin's Pupil.

The Kemoyin's Pupil that Leylin had acquired only had three levels and lacked the most important part, which was a description about the Morning Star Realm at the fourth rank. Dragon King's Mystic Might could be used to make up for this.

In addition, the other high-grade meditation techniques had their unique features, which could be used to improve the A.I. Chip's database.

No matter how different they were, they were high-grade meditation techniques and had to have some similarities. This was what Leylin was going to rely on to complete Kemoyin's Pupil and Sacred Flame.

"Even so, the last few portions of the Dragon King's Mystic Might are missing!"

Leylin felt a little regretful.

He still wanted to know what was after the fourth level of the Dragon King's Mystic Might.

"In ancient tales, after the Elder Dragon were the Ancient Dragons, top creatures that could contend against great rank 5 Magi! And after that, there were the beings that only existed in legends—the Immemorial Dragons! However, the Dragon King's Mystic Might lacks content after the fourth level."

Leylin looked at the description of the fourth level of the Dragon King's Mystic Might. "The Morning Star realm for humans is equivalent to the Elder Dragon in our Dragon race. At this position, the power of domain has penetrated into our bones, and our dragon might have also been developed to the limit. In addition, all our spiritual force, magic power, physical strength and even bloodline will, under influence of some rules, concentrate into 'point mass'. This point mass is what humans call 'Morning Star', and what we call a 'Dragon Crystal'."

"So at the Morning Star realm, it is where Magi pathways will become condensed. All creatures of the Magus World at this realm are all the same. Point mass formed from hundreds and thousands of energy all can refine one's strength. Hence, there is a difference like that between heaven and the earth between Morning Star and rank 3 Magi."

Leylin gradually understood.

In his mind, the A.I. Chip constantly recorded information regarding high-grade meditation techniques to fill its database.

After goodness knows how long, a prompt from the A.I. Chip appeared in Leylin's mind. [Beep! Recording of six high-grade meditation techniques complete. Dragon King's Mystic Might, Abyssal Breath… Completeness of high-grade meditation techniques at 14.7%, beginning to infer actual level of the meditation technique…]

Following this, the Magi strength chart in Leylin's database experienced some changes.

On top of the rank 1 and rank 2 Magi, information regarding rank 3 Magi constantly generated. This was the most accurate information the A.I. Chip had gathered after doing simulations with multiple high-grade meditation techniques.

[Beep! Requirements to advance from a rank 2 Magus: Spiritual force reaches the boundary of 200, solidification 100%. Paired with the momentum from the essence of the Wisdom Tree, probability of advancing to rank 3: 46.9%.]

"I'm a Warlock, so I have an added requirement from my blood. However, my bloodline directly came from a Giant Kemoyin Serpent at the Morning Star, rank 4 level and completely fits the requirements. It even aids me when my rank is too low!"

"In addition, having almost a 50% chance is not a low percentage! It's no wonder Alistair had made his move and did not hesitate to betray his faction!"

Leylin touched his chin.

The conditions that the A.I. Chip inferred were based on the most regular Magi that trained in high-grade meditation techniques. This meant he was not included in there.

"A.I. Chip, if I use myself as a model, what are my chances of advancing to a rank 3 Warlock?" Leylin asked silently.

Immediately after, a virtual 3D image that looked similar to Leylin was projected in front of him, and large amounts of information streaked through.

[Chances of Host body advancing to rank 3 Warlock: 61.72%!]

This was with the added bonus from the Giant Kemoyin Serpent Bloodline. It was a matured body that had reached the Morning Star Realm. To break through rank 2, it was still able to provide an impetus.

"Looks like breaking through is not an issue. The most important part is to accumulate more spiritual force!"

Leylin suddenly sighed, looking at his data.

[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).]

The injury to his sea of consciousness had only recently healed, and during the time where he had solidified his spiritual force, rather than improving, it was already very fortunate that he was able to maintain his strength.

It was for this reason that the numbers for his spiritual force did not rise.

Now, with the repairs to his sea of consciousness completed, his spiritual force could increase once more.

Leylin couldn't help but ask, "A.I. Chip, based on my current speed, how long will it take me to be able to meet the requirements to advance?"

A few minutes passed, and the A.I. Chip gave an answer. [Host body is estimated to reach the limit after 200 years, 12 days and 13 hours.]

"That long?" Leylin's eyes widened.

He had increased his lifespan after advancing to become a bloodline Warlock, and after rank 2, he could live past 500 years, but 200 years! That was an extremely long period!

Rank 3 Magus

One property of high-grade meditation techniques was that they tended to get harder to cultivate towards higher cultivation levels.

Typically, many Magi would not be able to wait for their meditation techniques to be promoted because they tended to die of old age before their meditation techniques could be cultivated to a higher level.

This was why Magi were all passionate about collecting data since they wanted to increase the pace of the cultivation of their meditation techniques.

"Hu…" Leylin let out a long breath.

"Looks like it is imperative that I use potions or other methods to hasten the pace of the increase in the level of my meditation cultivation. 200 years is way too long!"

There were many differences between the resources of the Twilight Zone and of the south coast; perhaps it would be possible to find spiritual force potions suitable for a rank 2 Warlock. Leylin remained confident in the resources that the Twilight Zone possessed.

[Beep! Rank 3 Magi simulation data has been completed. Completion level: 69.24%]

The A.I Chip intoned. Behind the data on rank 2 Magi, a new data was quickly generated.

[Rank 3 Magi, estimated spiritual force: between 200-400! There are three stages in the spiritual force: vapour, liquid and crystal forms. The differences in strength between every rank is estimated to be between 3 to 5 times!]

The A.I Chip projected a large paragraph of information before Leylin.

"Towards the end, the spiritual force span within one rank will be of a large amount and is terrifyingly difficult to achieve!"

Leylin sighed.

An acolyte's spiritual force was within 20 degrees, whereas that of a rank 1 Magus was between 20 and 80, that of a rank 2 Magus between 80 to 200, and upon reaching rank 3 the spiritual force was between 200 to 400.

The larger the spiritual force span, the more obvious the differences between the displayed strength.

As a result, newly promoted rank 3 Magi and rank 3 Magi with crystallised spiritual force would have an unimaginable difference in strength.

After understanding the strength of the rank 3 Magi, Leylin had recognised the formidability of a Morning Star Magi.

He had known vaguely that rank 3 Magi would enter a very long transmutation transformation period. Should the Magi be promoted successfully, they would have a rank equivalent to that of a Magus from ancient times!

"That makes sense! Even in ancient times, Morning Star Magi were the rulers of a region and hence could have had a role in the Final War. How can it be so easy to level up one's rank?"

Leylin stroked his chin "Only through the continuous concentration of the spiritual force, can it crystallised and turn into point mass, before promoting to a Morning Star Magi!"

At this moment, the path that a Morning Star Magus took had appeared in its entirety within Leylin's mind.

First, the elemental essence conversion. Only when the elemental essence conversion had reached 80% were Magi qualified enough to transform their essence and be promoted to rank 2.

Upon promotion to rank 2, all spiritual force would have to have a substance form, appearing as the smallest spiritual force particles!

''

These spiritual force particles, upon approaching rank 3 would gradually be condensed. Through the three stages of vapour, liquid, and crystal, they would condense further to form point mass!

At this point in time, these Magi would have entered the Morning Star level!

"The path of a Magus is indeed getting tougher! Merely 80% of elemental essence conversion would easily kill many Magi. Needless to say, the barrier at the end would be an even more difficult task!"

Leylin exhaled deeply. "Thankfully my path ahead is clear, I only have to follow the path accordingly!"

"A.I Chip. Set up a long-term mission: Deduce what happened to Kemoyin's Pupil and Sacred Flame!"

Leylin immediately ordered.

The A.I Chip automatically projected two progress charts that deduced the mission progress. The progress had not even reached that of 1% and had been increasing incredibly slowly, but at least Leylin could see hope.

Amongst these, Kemoyin's Pupil was the main meditation technique that Leylin was cultivating and was the path that he had decided to take a long time ago, and as such, it could not be easily changed.

On the other hand, Leylin had gained interest in Sacred Flame, the meditation technique that had its roots from the prophetic Botelli family.

Even after having accumulated so many high-grade meditation techniques, from what Leylin could see, the value of Sacred Flame was above that of the other meditation techniques, and could even be on par with that of the Dragon King Mystic Might due to its ability to predict the future. This ability was honestly a tad too terrifying. Even though there was the possibility of errors, Leylin still longed for it.

"Based on the A.I Chip's deductions and information database on high-grade meditation techniques, one day it will be able to prophesize things. Of course, if I am able to continuously add in new high-grade meditation techniques, the process will be accelerated…"

Leylin was very clear on this line of reasoning.

*Boom*

Suddenly, a wave of invisible spiritual force passed through numerous barriers and exploded next to Leylin.

"Is it finally here?" Leylin's eyes revealed a hint of a smile, and he immediately flicked his hand.

The numerous high-grade meditation techniques had disappeared after a silver flash, and Leylin turned into a phantom before arriving in front of Nature's Alliance's headquarters.

Following the directions of a thread of spiritual force, Leylin arrived at a location.

This area was originally a wasteland, but in the middle of it now lay a silver-white metallic building.

Leylin went up to the door and raised his hands with the intentions to knock.

*Ka-cha*

But before Leylin had transformed his thoughts into action, both steel doors, decorated with floral patterns, had opened automatically and revealed the interior of the building.

In the middle of the huge living room sat an old man on a steel chair who smiled gently at Leylin.

"Distinguished Leylin! You have indeed been promoted to a rank 2 Magus!" The old man stood up and smiled while having given up his seat.

This Magus wore burlap clothes and had an average appearance, like that of an ordinary old man, but Leylin had not dared be brazen in front of him.

"I'm lucky to have advanced a little further on the path in search of the truth!"

Leylin appeared extremely humble. From this old man, Leylin could feel that he had a deep solidified spiritual force that had surpassed his own accumulation.

Of course, having a high spiritual force was one thing, but having the actual strength was another. Leylin, had, in addition, the strength of his bloodline and a few other hidden trump cards, did not think he would be at a disadvantage, but felt no need to show his abilities.

"Hahaha… Please take a seat! You still don't know my name, do you? I'm Logan, the Melhawk Guild's leader!"

Logan beamed and introduced himself.

"Magus Logan, the protector of the Eastern Twilight Zone, I have long heard of your name!" Leylin smiled and replied, and at the same time sat down on a chair.

"Eh?" Though the chair's exterior still had the glow of steel, it did not have the hardness of one and instead felt like a sofa that had caved into a certain arch. It comfortably supported Leylin's body.

"How's that? This is a steel lifeform I had specially acquired from the external zones!"

Logan revealed a smile as he observed Leylin's expression.

"Not bad!" Leylin indifferently evaluated the chair. Though this steel lifeform could not compare to the organisms entirely constructed from the elements of the Steel World, this was already very hard to come by.

"If I'm not wrong this entire room is a huge steel lifeform, right? And we are currently speaking to its body?"

"Haha! 'Dark Steel' has an innate gift in concealing its life aura. You are the first person to be able to guess this so quickly!" Logan chuckled, and hit the table top, "Dark Steel, come and say hello!"

*Ka Cha Ka Cha*

The steel flowed like liquid and formed a rough face on the table top. "Hello, Mister Leylin!"

At this point, because there was no need for Dark Steel to hide anymore, Leylin could clearly feel a wave of energy that was of a certain standard. Should it be a Magi, it would be of peak rank 1.

After conversing for some time, Logan entered the main topic.

"Magus Leylin, I think you should be clear about my intentions, no?" At this point in time, the old man's face became more solemn.

"Of course!" Leylin nodded his head.

"In that case, with regards to the matter of Nature's Alliance Guild violating the rules and exterminating the Dense Fog Forest Guild, and subduing all other subsidiary small-scale guilds, what is your explanation?"

Logan glared at Leylin as if he would make a move on Leylin should he say something not conforming to what Logan expected to hear.

"With regards to this?" Leylin smiled mildly and took a step back, his fingers crossed, and seemed to be very uneasy.

"The Dense Fog Forest first robbed and killed us, then barged into Nature's Alliance's headquarters and engaged in so much killing that they almost exterminated the Nature's Alliance guild. As a result, out of self-defence, we naturally retaliated. If I remember correctly, shouldn't this be in accordance with Eastern Twilight Zone's laws for revenge?"

Leylin continued smiling and passed the crystal ball with Celine's previous records to Logan. "Furthermore, we have eyewitnesses as well. If you would like to hear the words from one of them, you can leave with me now to meet him…"

"But the dark elven empire is left running amok, and the tide of darkness creatures is approaching. Distinguished Leylin, aren't you being too reckless? If you were to just showcase your abilities, Gus would probably surrender…"

Upon receiving the crystal ball, Logan did not immediately look into it, but the gloomy clouds on his face had dissipated to a large extent, though his brows were still furrowed.

"He offended me! The dignity of a rank 2 Magi!"

Leylin squinted his eyes, the atmosphere suddenly became tenser. "He almost interrupted my promotion. Only by offering all his blood, will it be enough to cleanse his sins!"

"Are these all the excuses that you have?" Logan looked right into Leylin's eyes.

"These are all facts! Not excuses!" Leylin retorted without restraint.

Two rays of silver glow seemingly collided in mid-air and produced a crisp sound.

"Haha…."

All of a sudden, Logan's face revealed a smile, resolving the tension in the atmosphere.

"Since the opponent started it first, and offended you, then I would have nothing else to say…"

"Thank you for your understanding and support!"

Leylin smiled respectfully.

All of these were actually within his calculations. After all, Magi were all smart people, especially the more so the older one gets!

A medium-scale guild or a rank 2 Magi, this decision did not need deliberation to choose between!

3 Years

The Magus world was extremely pragmatic; no one would make life difficult for a rank 2 Magus just for a guild that was already exterminated.

Given that the demise of Nature's Alliance would benefit quite a few other guilds, if Dense Fog Forest still had survivors who could repeatedly report them and collude with the authorities, there would have been a small bit of hope. However, Leylin had directly uprooted them. Under the massive Toxic Bile attack on their headquarters, not even a dog had survived. Thus, this matter had been met with little resistance.

This was another reason why Leylin had to exterminate the headquarters of Dense Fog Forest, not only to protect the secret of the Icy World.

Since the way forward had been decided, the other matters were much easier to take care of. Hence, Logan immediately remarked, "In that case, the joint conference will handle this situation appropriately. Dense Fog Forest's remaining strength should also be handed over to another guild!"

"Don't worry, I'll get Nature's Alliance on the path to becoming a medium-scale guild once I go back. However, will the council members cooperate?" Leylin asked. Eastern Twilight Zone's joint conference was held once every 20 years, and the current one had just ended.

"That's not a problem! The nine enforcers can make an exception for you, but the matter would still have to be presented at the next joint conference for the sake of formality!" Logan waved his hand.

"That'll work!" Leylin immediately returned the favour saying, "For the upcoming wave of Dark Creatures as well as the looming threat of the Dark Elven Empire, I will help with the defence. After all, I'm a part of the human race as well!"

After being reassured by Leylin, Logan chuckled, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out.

"In that case, Leylin, since you're a newly promoted rank 2 Magus, you must have many new perspectives and enlightenments. Now is a good time for us to discuss our viewpoints!"

Logan beamed, and with a flick of his hands, the steel table folded inwards, and two cups of steaming, warm, beverage floated up.

"I'm extremely honoured. I too have many questions pertaining to meditation techniques that I wish to consult Mister Logan on!" Leylin said, smiling and raising his cup.

A few hours later, Leylin left Logan's estate. After he left, the exterior of the steel building immediately changed. The four thick legs on the steel building stretched out, and the building slowly moved away.

Meanwhile, at the side, Leylin's mouth revealed a smile which showed his good mood.

This time around, not only did this move help prevent any future troubles, the experiences Magus Logan offered to him were all very useful. Because he had experienced a rapid advancement into a rank 2 Warlock, he had lacked some understanding in regards to rank 2, especially in regards to the path of pursuing the truth!

Even though these things did not look very important right now, they would definitely create a lot of inconvenience for him when he attempted to condense the point mass as a rank 3 Magus.

Now, there was a chance to remedy this.

Moreover, Leylin's depth of knowledge, acquired from the accumulation of information from a different part of the world, greatly surprised Logan. The insight he had gained from this exchange was no less than Leylin's.

...

Ever since Leylin had returned, Nature's Alliance's strength had reached a new peak. Rapidly, all the remaining factions within the Dense Fog Forest was absorbed, and the influence of Nature's Alliance had even spread its net even wider.

Regarding these actions, the joint conference enforcers turned a blind eye; they eventually even produced a formal letter that openly announced Nature's Alliance's promotion to a medium-scale guild, a move which left many Magi dumbfounded.

Through the development during this period, Nature's Alliance had broken through from a declining small-scale guild to a peak medium-scale guild! After all, with a rank 2 Magus like Leylin overseeing the guild, it could be considering as a trump card that could surpass most medium-scale guilds.

However, Leylin obviously knew Logan's bottom line.

The nine existing large-scale guilds had already stretched the resources of eastern Twilight Zone to their limits; the remaining resources were insufficient to support the birth of yet another. Leylin had no intentions of vying to make Nature's Alliance a large-scale guild, and hence Nature's Alliance finally stopped growing and began to consolidate their strength, which left many Magi heaving a sigh of relief.

Honestly, Nature's Alliance's expansion this time was way too aggressive and depended solely on Leylin's powers. The guild's foundations were very unstable.

However, after passing this period, everything they took in would have been assimilated, and their abilities would naturally improve as a whole!

As the ceremonial guild leader, Celine had been so busy lately that no one knew of her whereabouts.

Leylin was far too busy to care about tangible powers. Hence, since Celine was the original guild leader and as someone who shared an intimate relationship with Leylin, she had obtained a great portion of this power.

At this point in time, Celine was full of gratitude for Leylin.

Nature's Alliance had once again achieved glory under Celine's leadership, and the extent of its success exceeded that of the past. If her mentors knew about this, they would have been very pleased.

Leylin did not care about any of this. After the situation had more or less stabilised, he continued staying in the headquarters of Nature's Alliance and sank into the deciphering of high-grade meditation techniques along with his own cultivation.

No matter what resources and materials he required, an instruction to his subordinates was all it took for them to be collected immediately and sent to him. Hence, Leylin became even more reclusive.

He could feel that he had improved at a pace that was way too fast, and hence, he needed to reinforce his foundations for a while. As a result, he chose to enter seclusion.

Time passed bit by bit without anyone noticing.

...

Three years later, the borders of eastern Twilight Zone.

At the outskirts of a small town stood a small wooden house. Some animal skins were hung on the walls of the house, which attracted many envious stares.

Many townspeople passing by would greet the female owner of the house through the walnut wood fence.

"Good morning, Madam Ginny!"

"Good morning Aunt Veeya!" Currently, Jenny had already grown to become a mature woman, her face revealing more of the charm of a young lady, while she smiled and conversed with the lady at her side.

After Aunt Veeya had left, Jenny looked at the burlap clothes she wore, and the basket of wheat bread in her hands; her face revealed that she was distracted.

"How time flies! Three years have passed just like that!" Jenny muttered to herself. It must have been 1 or 2 years since she had defected from her family, and it had been another year since she had escaped with Baelin to this place, and changed her name to Ginny.

Initially, when she had decided to elope with Baelin and was escaping the Argus Family's assassination attempts, they had encountered numerous dangers during their journey. Thankfully, Baelin was already a Grand Knight, and hence they reached the peak of commoners' lives. In addition, Jenny was an acolyte with the knowledge and experience of nobility. After escaping the incessant pursuit of soldiers and the many dangers nature had in store, Jenny finally crossed the border and arrived unharmed.

Although this small town was positioned at the border of the eastern Twilight Zone and was extremely remote, it was considered a safe location and no one had ever called on them.

"But…" Jenny gritted her teeth. Vengeance for her father! Her own hatred! Was she to just give up on them?

After several chaotic memories came to mind, Jenny unknowingly clenched her fists, until a voice roused her.

"I'm back! Do you want to see what I got?" Baelin, who was wearing a hunter's outfit and carrying a bow and arrows, dramatically raised the pot in his hand.

"Yellow oil! This is high-grade yellow oil! I exchanged a grey-toothed snake for it! If you spread it on bread, it's something that even royalty might not be able to enjoy!"

"You!" Jenny rolled her eyes and led Baelin into the house.

Though the house was not big, all necessities had been provided through Baelin's capabilities. Even though they had to maintain a low profile, they were still living better than commoners.

In regards to the lives they were leading now, Baelin was naturally very content, but Jenny seemed to have other ideas.

After the door was closed shut, Jenny solemnly turned her head around.

"We need to leave!"

"Leave? Why? The environment here is so good!" Baelin was at a loss. Immediately after, his face tightened. "Could it be that the men from your family have tracked us down?"

"No! It's war! The horde of darkness creatures is approaching soon, and the Dark Elven Empire might even commence their attack!"

Jenny smiled wryly. "You haven't discovered anything after all the constant hunting you've been doing?"

"Now that you mention it, there does seem to be something like this!" Baelin rubbed his head. "Currently, the number of Dark Creatures has increased by a large amount. A few days ago I was chased by a giant wolf that was the size of a hill for almost an entire day!"

"Now you understand! With regards to the horde of darkness creatures, towns like ours are the least safe. Any small wave of attacks will be able to demolish the town. We have to move closer to the central region, or even the capital before we are safe from them!"

"But!" Baelin scratched his head, "I'm worried about our identities…"

"Although the Argus Family has very deep connections within the eastern regions, we are in the northern region, where they have much less influence. Don't worry, there won't be any problems!"

Jenny comforted him on the surface, yet she was not too confident on the inside. What she said only applied to regular humans; she had no confidence if the powers of Magi were involved.

Even if that was the case, they still needed to move!

Jenny was extremely aware of the looming threat of the horde of darkness creatures. Baelin was just a Grand Knight, even with her might as a level 2 acolyte, they would only be swept away by that force.

However, with her drive to survive and encouragement from her hatred, Jenny had advanced into a level 2 acolyte in these three years, and could now cast rank 0 spells with some effort.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you then!" Baelin smiled boorishly. "However, can't we leave in two days? Uncle Veeya's birthday is approaching, we have to at least congratulate him before setting off!"

Aunt and Uncle Veeya were a couple in the small town that had played a huge role in Baelin and Jenny's settlement here. Hence, no matter what, Baelin had wished to leave the town after the birthday celebration.

"Two days is doable!"

Jenny bit her lips. Large-scale battles often took a long time to prepare, so two days was not a significant amount.

However, it was regretful that, sometimes, the events in the world have anomalies.

For those in northern Twilight Zone, the Wheel of Fate was beginning to slowly turn…

A Coincidence

On a dark field, a group of cavalry chased after a lone figure.

The fleeing figure was a strange sight. He floated a few metres above the ground and had a pair of white translucent wings sprouting from his back. Each flap of these wings propelled him forward a great distance.

Behind the winged figure was a group of knights chasing after it! These knights rode on large spiders, each with eight brown, clawed legs. There were also icy blue stripes on them, and their eyes shone with bloodlust.

These were Underground Winter Spiders, the mounts of elite dark elves.

The knights riding on these spiders were not humans, but tall, slim creatures with exquisite skin; they had beautiful androgynous contours on their faces, with sharp ears and silver eyes that granted them vision in the dark.

*Bang!* The figure that was escaping in front suddenly turned his head, which revealed his handsome features and pointed ears, before he started chanting something undecipherable while swinging his arms backwards.

Five crimson red fireballs were fired out of his palm but were all dodged by the Underground Winter Spiders, exploding on the ground.

Surprisingly, the escaping figure was a dark elf as well!

"They really think highly of me huh, even sending the Underground Winter Spider knights after me!" The silhouette continued to escape but was unable to break away from the knights chasing after him.

Not only could these Underground Winter Spiders move at an incredible speed, they could crawl over any terrain, regardless of whether it was in mountains, fields or even the misty canyons. Their advance could not be stopped.

"Memphis! How dare you betray the glory of the Dark Lord? I will make you suffer, and offer your head as a sacrifice to the Sovereign Mother!"

The knight in charge wore a thin layer of leather armour. The Underground Winter Spider below him was a bit larger than the ones around it, and its upper body was covered with golden stripes.

He inhaled deeply, and the Underground Winter Spider increased its speed. Immediately after, he aimed his bow and shot an arrow that flew elegantly, the arrowhead containing a secret, constantly-glowing rune.

*Zoom!*

A black ray of light emitted out of his hand, piercing through the sky and eventually landing on Memphis' back!

"Ahh!"

A fiery red barrier of light appeared behind Memphis' body, but when the arrow came into contact with the shield, the barrier could not even last a second and shattered instantly.

The black arrow continued its flight, and with its unknown strength pierced Memphis from behind, protruding out of his chest.

Memphis screamed, and the glowing arrow in his back disappeared. He collapsed to the ground, his flowing blood forming a pool of red streaked with silver.

*Hiss Hiss!*

The knights in the front surrounded him.

"Cut off his head!" The knight in charge heartlessly said and motioned to his men, resulting in two of his men walking up.

At this moment, the expression on the knight's face changed. "No! Fall back!"

But it was too late.

*Bang!*

A strong wave of energy emanated from the body of Memphis, who was suddenly holding a scroll.

Two huge balls of light were shot out, and the two approaching knights were burnt to ashes, creating a huge cloud of smoke and dust.

After waiting for the aftermath of the explosion to subside, the knight in charge stepped forward with an irritated look on his face, but by that moment Memphis had already disappeared from the ground.

"Find him for me!" His face contorted in anger. "He has been injured by my curse; he will not be able to travel far!"

...

Baelin aimed with his crossbow, and it cut through the air with a *swoosh,* hitting the wild boar in front of him.

The wild boar squealed loudly, bleeding nonstop, but all Baelin did was to pull his crossbow bolt out.

"Haha! Uncle, Baelin's present is here!"

After a fierce battle, Baelin smiled slightly while looking at the beast lying on the floor.

At this moment, a silhouette appeared from the other side of the battle field.

"Eh? Who is this?"

Baelin walked up, and the silhouette turned around, revealing a handsome white face….

Two hours later, Jenny was on her way home when she saw the dark elf that Baelin brought back. Putting her hand on her forehead, she groaned in despair and shouted, "You idiot! We've already offended the higher-ups and caused enough trouble...."

Hearing Jenny's complaints, Baelin innocently touched his head "I had no choice, seeing how pitiful he looks...."

"Pitiful? Do you know what that is? It's a dark elf! He is a purebred dark elf!"

Jenny's face was flushed.

"This may be the border, but if you bring a dark elf, it could bring so much trouble to the town!"

In these recent three years, the Dark Elven Kingdom had frequently caused much insecurity and restlessness among the people!

Just with one look at the dark elf's luxurious clothing, Jenny only had one thought, and that was whether or not the dark elf was like her, a member of nobility on the run because of a failed power struggle.

Thinking about this connection, Jenny started to break out into a cold sweat.

Regarding the cruelness of power struggles, she finally understood and knew that regardless of where this Elf hid, in the end, it would just be extending an endless cycle of fleeing and being hunted down. On top of this, her own people would suffer the consequences!

Thinking up to here, her eyes flashed with ferocity, but could only sigh when she saw the confused and helpless Baelin. Her tone also changed to one that was milder.

"Whatever happens, we must send him away quickly. I'm sure you don't want to cause Aunt and Uncle Veeya any more trouble, right?

Baelin scratched his head. "Oh, alright!"

...

At Baelin's former hunting ground, a bunch of Underground Winter Spider knights surrounded a pit where Memphis the dark elf was concealed.

A small Underground Winter Spider that was no bigger than a dog placed one foot into the cave, and then clicked at the knights.

"He said that aside from Memphis', a human's scent was found"

"Human?" the expression on the leader's face sank, but then he suddenly started laughing maliciously. "No wonder Memphis is well known for peace! He has already been making connections with the humans"

He gestured to his men, "Follow them. I don't care who dares to protect him, I want to chop their heads off personally as sacrificial offerings!"

"Yes my Lord!"

The Underground Winter Spider knights responded in order. The relationship between the people of the Dark Elven Kingdom and Twilight Zone was not the best. Crossing the border by a little bit was not such a big issue, but currently, it looked as if a new war was about to break out. Even so, they could still kill a few more men, steal their food, and enslave their women!

At this point in time, the eyes of many Underground Winter Spider knights flashed red.

An hour later, a horse wagon pulled by an old, slow, horse.

Baelin was guiding the horse, while Jenny was lying on a pile of straw with the dark elf that Baelin had previously saved.

The elf's clothes were cut open at the front, revealing a skinny body. His delicate chest was marred by an arrow wound bordered by a black aura, shaped like a spider and continually expanding.

"How is he?" Baelin turned to ask.

"The external injuries are almost healed, but a curse was cast on him, and I do not have any ideas or methods to cure it!" Jenny raised her hands.

Although this injury was shocking, what surprised Jenny even more was the Elf's vitality, which had allowed him to persevere and survive this long while suffering from the combination of such a serious injury and curse.

"The more that I think about it, the more I feel that this is not such a good idea. Judging from the curse, it is obvious that there is an official Magus after this fellow. If we do this, we will definitely infuriate his opponents!"

Jenny's face turned gloomy.

Upon hearing that, Baelin could not help but tremble—this was an instinct that had been cultivated over many years. "Is an official Magus something like Lord Leylin?"

"Yes! Do you now understand how much trouble you have brought us?" Jenny gave Baelin an arrogant look.

"But haven't we already saved him?" Baelin bitterly laughed. "What else can we do now then?"

All of a sudden, a burst of flames from afar roused Baelin from his thoughts.

In the dark, vast surroundings, this blaze was getting more and more obvious, almost dyeing the colour of the entire sky a fiery red.

"That is…. Our town!!!" Baelin stopped the horse, a frightened look on his face, "What happened? Why would this big fire suddenly appear?"

Jenny had a bad premonition. At this time, Baelin turned the horse without hesitation and headed towards the direction of the fire.

"Are you crazy?" Jenny cried out loud.

"Uncle Veeya and the rest are still inside, I want to save them!"

"They can't be saved; can you calm down a little?" Jenny said with an agitated tone.

"What? How can you be like that? Have you forgotten? Aunt Veeya has treated you so well all this time!" Baelin said as he choked on a breath of air.

"This is not…"

"Sigh…."

While the two were arguing, the dark elf in the wagon suddenly coughed and woke up.

"A human!" He blurted out in the Twilight Zone' Language.

Jenny's heart went cold. The dark elves spoke a different language from humans, and this elf's proficiency in their language was jarring.

In the subterranean world, knowledge was a trademark of nobility, and mastery of foreign languages was prominent amongst them.

When she was young, Jenny had been taught the languages of dark elves, gnomes, and even grey dwarves by a private tutor. Learning them despite the physiological differences was simply a nightmare! And yet, this dark elf spoke so cleanly that it took Jenny by surprise.

"Where is this place?" the dark elf asked as he sat up and looked at the lost Baelin.

"This is the Twilight Zone. Who are you?"

"I'm Memphis, and I need to go now. I've given you enough trouble already; I'm really sorry!"

The dark elf named Memphis had an apologetic look on his face.

Destiny

Memphis struggled and wanted to get up. But immediately, the spider made of dark aura on his chest let out a hiss. His face went pale, and he fell back down as large beads of sweat rolled down his face.

*Shuffling*

Baelin suddenly heard a mild, yet periodic rumble.

"It's coming from the town! Did someone survive?" Baelin beamed with delight.

In contrast, Memphis' face suddenly changed. "It's the footsteps of the Underground Winter Spiders! They have caught up with us!"

A short while later, the silhouettes of five Underground Winter Spider Knights appeared before Baelin's eyes.

"Memphis! You're really here!"

"That's great, we actually found you!"

"His head will definitely give us some merit!"

The knights started chuckling, talking in their language. Jenny only managed to understand a few terms, whereas Baelin had a blank face as he could not understand it at all.

Very quickly, the blank look on his face turned into one of horror.

This was because the knights were sharing the backs of the Underground Winter Spiders with groups of severed human heads, which were still dripping with blood!

He could even see a few familiar faces amongst them.

"Unc—UNCLE VEEYA! What did you do to them!?" Baelin's veins popped out with anger, and he unsheathed the cross sword on his back.

"Haha…" Although the Underground Winter Spider Knights could not understand Baelin's reproaching them, they could infer his fury from his body language. One of them used a spear to pick up a head and started taunting Baelin

At the same time, another knight held a spear and rushed forward.

"Aaaaah… I'm going to kill all of you!" Baelin's eyes were bloodshot, and he too rushed forward.

"Secret technique! Cross Star!" Baelin's life force abruptly exploded and formed an illusory armour around his body.

"Kill!"

Cross blade and spear collided, and Baelin and the Underground Winter Spider knight both retreated a few steps.

Underground Winter Spider knights were the pinnacle of an army whose regular soldiers each matched human Grand Knights. Combining their own ability with runes and their mounts, their strength vastly surpassed that of the average Grand Knight.

However, Baelin himself was no ordinary Grand Knight and could fight him evenly.

Unfortunately, Baelin had to fight not one opponent, but five!

After seeing the life force explode out from Baelin's body, a few knights looked at each other, shouted a few words Baelin could not understand and rushed forward.

*Pew*

A black ray shot through the sky and landed on the shoulders of an Underground Winter Spider Knight, piercing into the knight's shoulder with some difficulty.

Jenny stood on the carriage, bow in hand. Her face was calm whilst she shot arrows non-stop.

Naturally, she could see the situation clearly. Under present circumstances, the only way to survive was eliminating this small party.

The problem was that they were badly outnumbered, and each of their opponents was stronger than Grand Knights; exterminating them would not be easy.. Jenny smiled bitterly in her heart.

As was to be expected, Baelin was slowly surrounded by the knights and seemed unable to endure any more attacks. The illusory armor around him began to appear as if it would explode any moment.

*Creak! Creak!*

One of the Spiders, under its rider's commands, leaped past Baelin's resistance and arrived before the carriage

The black spear pierced forth, and the resulting winds caused Jenny's face to change.

"Ouch!" Nearby, Baelin let out a groan. His armor had disintegrated, and blood was gushing out from all of his wounds.

*Buzz! Buzz!*

Suddenly, Jenny felt a strong energy wave explode violently next to her. She turned her head and saw Memphis struggling to open a scroll in his hands.

A grey ripple swept out, the ring of light seeming to be a spirit avoiding both Jenny and Baelin as it reached the Underground Winter Spider Knights. It was like a halo that bound the knights and their mounts.

The knights that had been bound by the halo immediately felt the enormous power they were proud of dissipating. Even their mounts began trembling as if they could not stand under their own weight.

"A Weakening Imprint! Retreat!" A knight immediately shouted.

But at this time, Baelin lost all self-restraint. "Die!"

"Cross Blade!" He violently used the last bit of his spiritual energy and executed the killing stance of the cross sword technique.

A blade of light in the shape of a cross mercilessly slashed through the four surrounding knights.

Their faces became lifeless, and in a few moments, they disintegrated along with their mounts.

*Whoosh* Jenny seized this chance and used a single arrow to pierce through the neck of the last escaping knight.

Memphis let out a smile, but abruptly spat out black blood, after which he fainted.

Half a day later, on the carriage, Jenny looked at the defeated Baelin, and Memphis beside her, and was speechless.

"Why? Why must we kill? Why must there be war?" Baelin muttered under his breath, the world having lost all colour.

"This is an answer that I've been looking for, but unfortunately I have not reached a conclusion!"

Currently, Memphis was using the sap from a green plant to wrap the wounds on his chest. He laughed bitterly, "The two of you have saved me. I, Memphis, swear upon the honor of the dark royalty that I will repay the two of you!"

"Let's not talk about that for now. The conflict you mentioned previously, is that real?" Jenny was obviously more concerned about this issue than other matters.

"It's real! I have suffered from persecution and attempted assassination from others just because I advocated for peace!"

Memphis' eyes glowed, and his voice sank.

"What's our plan now?"

Jenny looked at Baelin.

"I have decided! I must do my best to prevent the war this time around. I don't want to see more people shedding blood!"

Baelin's voice was coarse but held an unquestionable resolve.

"You're crazy!" Jenny was trembling: "Based on your ability alone??"

"No! There's still him!" Baelin pointed to Memphis. "I will escort him back to the Dark Elven Empire and try my best to stop the war!"

Having made that decision, Baelin suddenly felt like he was heating up.

He ripped opened his clothes, revealing a gold coin that had a peculiar exterior. On one side of the coin was a skeleton, whereas on the other side was a lucky bird; the rim of the coin gave off a dim glow. Baelin had pierced through the gold coin, run a string through it, and hung it on his neck.

Baelin caressed the gold coin, his eyes showing signs of even more determination, "Mister Leylin! Master! You support me as well, don't you?"

...

Eastern Twilight Zone, Nature's Alliance headquarters.

Currently, Nature's Alliance had stabilised its strength as a medium-scale guild and had countless hundreds of acolytes, far from what it was like in the past.

Moreover, the increased presence of Magi strengthened their defenses greatly. They were now a few ranks higher than before.

In the forbidden area in the middle of Nature's Alliance, within a huge laboratory.

Leylin blanked out and immediately looked towards the golden crystal in his hands. Currently, the crystal was emitting a faint heat, and the golden light generated from within enshrouded it.

"A portion of the spiritual force has been received?" Leylin suddenly laughed.

"It looks like Baelin has already started walking along with his destined spiritual path! The strength of fate will accumulate in his body!"

Leylin glanced at the A.I. Chip's progress with the recovery of the meditation techniques.

Sacred Flame, the high-grade meditation technique that Leylin longed for, the same one that could predict the future, had finally been fully recovered. There were even a few areas that were being constantly improved.

On the other hand, Kemoyin's Pupil had not advanced at all in the past three years, remaining at halfway to completion. Leylin assumed that the lack of high-grade meditation techniques meant that advancing it to the fourth grade was exceedingly difficult.

After all, the only one rank four technique in his possession could only be cultivated by Dragons, while the others had no information that could assist in the progress of Kemoyin's Pupil.

On the other hand, Sacred Flame had been recovered much earlier, and even went through a few modifications to remove the negative repercussions.

It was a pity that the A.I. Chip only managed to simulate it to the third rank. This meant the technique only went this far, and that left Leylin feeling slightly regretful

"Since the gears of fate have started to turn, then I can only continue to scatter more of these 'seeds' so as to anticipate a harvest in the future!" Leylin stroked his chin and looked towards the experiment table.

The silver-white table top had a few peculiar objects on it. Among these items were a black ring, a five-coloured pendant, and a tattered notebook.

"A.I. Chip! Begin!" Leylin's eyes shot out a blue glow, and he picked the few objects up.

[Limited AI programming has been completed, inputting data!] The A.I Chip intoned.

After a few minutes, Leylin picked up the black ring. A ray of light shot out, and out came the figure of a scholarly looking Magus.

"I am the legendary Grand Magus Merlin, you lucky fellow! You will receive my advice and become the Twilight Zone's strongest genius!"

Leylin's mouth quivered. The Grand Magus figure seemed to have life, as it spoke with charm.

These were the limited Artificial Intelligences that Leylin had been designing. He had the ability to control the programs remotely, which made them very useful.

Having been pleased with himself after the adjustments, Leylin placed the few items into an empty bag and walked out of the laboratory.

"My lord!"

Along the way, no matter whether they were official Magi or acolytes, all of them lowered their heads in respect. Some acolytes would even bow from a distance, and quickly walk away.

"I can't believe that even I would receive such treatment!" Leylin abruptly laughed.

If high-level Magi had not intentionally exercised restraint, the strong radiation that emitted from their bodies would be a type of contagion that could even be lethal to low-level acolytes.

As a result, previously in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, there were many forbidden areas, which were actually the living areas and experimentation areas of high-level Magi.

In the past, when Leylin had seen those Magi, he would also bow from a distance before quickly avoiding them.

But now, it was time for others to do so instead.