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 Le
af 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 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….”
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