Leilin regarded the grey fog giant opposite him.
After Cis had merged into the giant, not only had the giant's offensive power surged, but its movements had become far more agile as well.
"Using the principle of elementalizing a wizard's spiritual power to elementalize the body itself? Not a bad concept!"
But Leilin's vision was far too keen, backed by the accumulated academic knowledge of the entire South Coast. After just a few glances, he had already deduced the general principles and operating method behind the fog transformation technique.
"Too bad — a wizard's true body is the foundation that carries spiritual power! Once you elementalize your body, you've lost any chance of advancing further!"
Leilin sighed, his gaze toward his opponent tinged with something like pity.
But this attitude clearly provoked Cis on the other side. He let out a furious roar, and the grey fog giant immediately charged forward once more.
Leilin showed no fear as he maneuvered the black energy serpent to engage the giant in close combat.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shockwaves from the battle continued to expand. Boulders the size of small hills were shattered outright by the two combatants, sending stone fragments flying in every direction, their trailing edges sparking as they dragged out long fiery tails.
"This level of power?!"
Not only Xiling, but even the wizards on the opposing side were momentarily stunned.
At that moment, a flash of black light flickered through Leilin's eyes atop the serpent. Countless black fireballs shot out from the shadows.
The fireballs continuously merged and condensed, forming an even darker, more blazing black miniature sun!
The wizard spell Leilin had personally created — which had once slaughtered countless wizards and made his name feared throughout the entire South Coast — the Shadow Fireball, had finally bared its vicious fangs once more in the Dark Polar Domain!
And this time, the wizard facing it was one at the peak of the First Level!
Cis's expression on the other side was grim. He had clearly sensed the tremendous destructive energy contained within the Shadow Fireball.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He struck first, taking a deep breath. Two visible streams of white air surged into his mouth.
The air current was so immense that even mini-tornadoes formed in the surrounding atmosphere. Plant debris and small stones on the ground were lifted directly into the air.
After the massive intake, the fog giant's chest swelled to a visible degree, like a colossal frog.
"Minor Compressed Air Orb!" The giant opened its mouth and spat out a pale cyan concentrated air cannon that hurtled toward Leilin like a bomb.
"Go!"
The air cannon generated tremendous wind pressure, sending Leilin's clothes flapping wildly.
Leilin merely pointed calmly at the Shadow Fireball in the air.
The black Shadow Fireball immediately elongated, forming the shape of a black spear. It tore through the void with rippling distortions in the air and hurtled to intercept the air cannon.
Pfft — like puncturing a balloon.
The black spear punched through the center, piercing clean through the air cannon.
The entire Minor Compressed Air Orb burst apart like a deflated balloon and collapsed in an instant.
The black spear's momentum was far from spent. It drove with ferocious force into the fog giant's chest.
A flash of black light — a point of flame appeared on the giant's body, continuously burning, stubbornly spreading. Within seconds it had crawled across half the giant's chest.
Cis, merged with the fog giant, naturally felt the pain too, his face contorting in agony.
"Ahhh..." The Shadow Fireball was burning not just his physical body, but also his intangible spiritual power. And even his very soul! Cis finally began to scream.
"If I'm going down, you're not getting away unscathed!" A look of grim resolve surfaced on Cis's face as he hurled the entire fog giant toward the black serpent.
"Self-destruct!"
With a thought from Cis, the entire fog giant exploded.
The black serpent bore the brunt of the blast, engulfed by the massive surge of fog and firelight...
BOOM!!!
The ground trembled ceaselessly, as if a major earthquake had erupted. Dust plumes shot up dozens of meters high, completely obscuring the scene within.
A moment later, a figure shot backward out of the dust.
"It's the School Master!" Several Misty Forest wizards rushed forward to help.
Cis looked to be in terrible shape. Not only was there a gaping hole in his chest, but his entire body was covered in wounds.
Suddenly! The light across his face shifted. His original features vanished, revealing the gaunt visage of a middle-aged man.
"It really is the Misty Forest School's School Master!" Xiling murmured nearby, her crystal ball flickering with light.
"School Master! Are you all right?"
Several semi-elementalized elders caught Cis and immediately pressed forward with concern.
"He's hurt too, but not as badly as me — he still has some combat ability left. Let's move now!"
Though Cis appeared gravely injured, his mind was perfectly clear.
"Yes, sir!" The wizards prepared to leave, and Shageli hurried to follow behind them.
"You can all leave — but not him!" Leilin's voice carried from within the fog.
An instant later, a streak of ice-blue light shot out, striking Shageli square in the back as he was frantically trying to activate some kind of scroll!
A layer of blue ice instantly enveloped him, freezing him into a blue humanoid statue.
The dust settled, revealing Leilin's figure.
He was deathly pale, blood at the corner of his mouth, his spiritual power fluctuating wildly between strong and weak — unmistakable signs of serious injury.
"If Lord Leilin says so, then leave him behind!"
Cis forced the words out, and upon receiving his order, the semi-elementalized wizards immediately carried Cis in retreat without sparing another glance at the scene.
"Leilin!" Xiling rushed over, undisguised worry in her eyes.
"I'm fine!" Leilin waved his hand. "Everything recorded?"
"All recorded! I'll send a message to the Joint Council committee members right away to file a complaint!" Xiling's face was flushed with indignation.
"No! Not yet!" Leilin shook his head.
"Also, take this Shageli with you — he's a key witness."
"Understood!" Though Xiling still had some doubts, having just witnessed Leilin's overwhelming display of power, she didn't dare raise any unnecessary questions now. She quickly tidied the battlefield, and moments later two horned horses neighed as the carriage slowly set off once more.
To give Leilin space to recover, Xiling moved outside to squeeze in with Aobo and the other two.
Inside the carriage, only Leilin and the frozen statue of Shageli remained.
A ring of black energy particles instantly formed a barrier, isolating the interior of the carriage from the outside world.
Leilin's whole body shuddered, and he rose to his feet.
There was not a trace of serious injury about him now.
"A mid-journey ambush, with a witness in hand — I can strike at their weak point and sue them into oblivion. But at most it would shake the Misty Forest School's standing. Uprooting them entirely still isn't realistic!"
Leilin understood this with crystal clarity.
Moreover, when the other side had ambushed them like this, Leilin striking back — even killing one or two of their wizards — was perfectly acceptable. But if he kept pressing the attack and wiped out their headquarters, that would violate the rules of the Underdark.
The prevailing order in the Dark Polar Domain was for wizards to maintain outward unity, jointly resisting dark creatures and the Elven Empire. Massive internal bloodshed was absolutely prohibited!
Such a charge would be trouble even for a Second Level wizard, let alone Leilin, who hadn't fully recovered yet.
Therefore, he had to lure the other side into making an even greater mistake before he could rightfully bring the hammer down.
"Now that they've seen my strength, they'll be even more uneasy!"
Leilin smiled and stroked his chin.
"And the seeds of enmity have already been sown. Once they believe their strength is comparable, and with me 'heavily injured' on top of that — plus the enormous profits from the Ice World — they certainly won't think of reconciliation first. They'll want to eliminate me as a threat as soon as possible!"
A mid-sized school's foundations would naturally be quite rich, and beyond the School Master, there were many other powerful wizards. If they all swarmed in together, even a peak First Level wizard would have his hands full.
Cis had held back this time precisely because he trusted in his own superior strength.
Next time, he would certainly bring everything he had.
But that was exactly what Leilin wanted. They had already attacked his doorstep, threatening to destroy the school! Under circumstances like these, even a devastating counterattack that wiped out the enemy in turn would be perfectly justified, wouldn't it?
Besides, the interval would give Leilin enough time to use the Ice Bloodline Imprint and restore his full strength.
Once he recovered to Second Level Sorcerer, coming and going would be as he pleased. As long as he didn't run into some Third Level monster like last time, he would at least always have the power to protect himself!
"Next!" Leilin turned his gaze to Shageli, frozen in the ice.
At this point, the spider-man couldn't even move his eyes, only able to show a pleading expression.
Leilin smiled faintly and walked over...
Only when the carriage reached the Great Waterfall did Leilin finally step down, his face deathly pale.
Shageli had already been released from the ice, though he appeared to be in a comatose state, and Xiling had ordered him locked up immediately.
This was, of course, at Leilin's direction.
After learning through certain means that Shageli knew nothing about the Ice World — at most only that the Misty Forest had designs on the Frozen Cavern — Leilin naturally put aside any thought of killing him.
In his view, Shageli could still make a decent subordinate. At the very least, his semi-elementalized strength was sufficient for accomplishing many things in the Dark Polar Domain.
Besides, he was a useful witness. Though Leilin didn't particularly trust in such things, they could at least reduce some hassle.
He didn't fear trouble, but he did dislike it, and trimming it where possible was always a good choice.
Finally, the
He was even a bit wary of Xiling.
Not that he worried about her rebelling outright — but the woman was far too clever. Once she wielded considerable power, she might well prioritize her own interests before following Leilin's orders.
Rebellion was unlikely, but using her position to feign compliance while doing as she pleased — that sort of thing might not be rare.
Therefore, he had to introduce his own people to create division and maintain control.
In Leilin's future vision, the Nature's Alliance's strength would expand enormously, and all of that would require his own trusted hands.
Otherwise, being deceived would be the least of his worries.
He believed that once Shageli witnessed the destruction of the Misty Forest, he would certainly make the wise choice. Besides, Dark Wizards were very skilled at controlling souls! ...