The head of the Black Bone Forest Academy standing before all the professors was, remarkably, a female wizard.
This was somewhat beyond Leilin's expectations, and her face gave him an oddly familiar feeling.
Leilin couldn't help but study her features more carefully: golden curly hair, a face as delicate as a porcelain doll, two eyes that sparkled like stars, skin white as snow, a petite frame, and a hint of baby fat on her cheeks that made her look exceptionally sweet and charming.
And from her, the fluctuation of second-rank peak condensed spiritual power was clearly radiating.
"Hmm! This energy fluctuation pattern is different from that of ordinary wizards—it should be some ancient branch of wizardry. So she's another lucky one who obtained an ancient inheritance?"
"Lord Leilin!" The female wizard across from him slowly curtsied, her voice as melodious as an oriole's song. "Welcome back! Black Bone Forest will always be your home!"
Clearly, she was expressing goodwill toward him, and her voice instantly reminded Leilin of the bonfire back at the apprentice camp.
A face was rapidly recalled to memory, only the changes afterward had been so dramatic that Leilin had forgotten what she once looked like.
"Are you... Nisi?" Leilin said slowly.
The female wizard before him was none other than that girl Nisi, who had once been deceived by her mentor, suffered a failed experiment, and been turned into a grotesque monster.
Compared to her former nickname of "Pig-face," the current Nisi was practically the embodiment of beauty.
"It's me! And—thank you, for all your support and encouragement back then!" Nisi's chest rose and fell rapidly, clearly brimming with things she wanted to say.
Then she swept a glance around the surroundings. "Lord Leilin is no enemy! All of you, stand down!"
"As you command!"
The Rock Ape bowed respectfully and led the other skeleton soldiers back to their original positions.
"Everyone! Allow me to introduce you! This is Leilin Farell—our Black Bone Forest Academy's eternal pride! Let us give him the warmest welcome!"
Nisi then turned to address the professors behind her, her words and bearing brimming with leadership composure, a stark contrast to the somewhat timid girl she had once been.
"So he's that Leilin!" "The Poison Sovereign?" "No, I heard he was..."
Leilin's reputation, even in the days before, had been thunderous within Black Bone Forest, and it immediately set off a wave of whispered chatter. Those wizards of sufficient rank who had received earlier intelligence about his arrival regarded him with even more deference.
Nisi raised a hand, and the murmur below fell silent at once, demonstrating her formidable control.
She looked at Leilin and smiled, as if the entire graveyard had brightened with sunlight. "I know you must have many questions, and I have much I want to say, so why don't we continue downstairs in the receiving hall!"
"Mm." Leilin nodded, and under the escort of numerous wizards, made his way into the underground complex of the Black Bone Forest Academy.
The surface of Black Bone Forest Academy was layer upon layer of tombs, but below ground lay an enormous complex capable of housing several thousand wizards and a multitude of attendants and laborers, resembling a vast and intricate beehive.
In one of the main reception halls, Leilin set down the cup of black tea in his hand and listened as Nisi recounted her experiences since they had last parted.
"...And that's how it went. I inherited that sage's legacy, successfully advanced to full wizard, and after more than two hundred years, reached the second rank. I was then elected head of Black Bone Forest Academy!"
Nisi tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Mm. You've worked hard!" Leilin looked at Nisi before him. Though she had described it all very simply, Leilin could imagine the tremendous cost and transformation this girl had undergone to reach this point.
However, since the person involved didn't wish to dwell on it, he naturally had no desire to pick at old wounds—not to mention there would be nothing to gain from it.
"I had thought there would still be some insects and garbage to deal with when I came back to Black Bone Forest, but it seems you've saved me a great deal of trouble!"
Leilin said with a smile, his meaning clear.
Back when he had studied at Black Bone Forest Academy, three wizard families had controlled everything—even the election of the academy head could only be drawn from those three families.
And Leilin had developed a grudge against one of them, the Lilisite Family, which had forced him to leave far from home. Although he had later dealt them a devastating blow, various circumstances had prevented him from thoroughly eliminating their foundations within the academy.
But looking at the fact that Nisi had become head of Black Bone Forest Academy, and that no one from the Lilisite Family had appeared to stir up trouble this time, much was already clear.
"I've already uprooted the Lilisite Family entirely, and the other two families have been dealt blows—they can no longer interfere freely in the academy's affairs. When you think about it, the root cause of all this is thanks to you. If you hadn't first killed their peak first-rank Grand Elder, who was on the cusp of reaching the second rank, it wouldn't have thrown the balance of power among the three families into disarray. That was the fuse that started everything..."
Nisi gazed at Leilin with a smile.
Though she made it sound easy, the bloody turmoil behind those words needed no elaboration. After all, Black Bone Forest Academy was merely a small faction. Its previous strongest member, Sly, had been only an average second-rank wizard, whereas Nisi stood at the peak of the second rank—so suppressing him had been a simple matter.
"Since the Lilisite Family is already completely destroyed, that saves me some trouble this time..." Leilin smiled. "There are a few people—I'd like to ask about their whereabouts..."
At this, Nisi's eyes dimmed slightly. "I think I know who you're asking about. Our companions who came with us—
"Even Jiamen, with his fifth-level talent..." Leilin shook his head with a somber expression, though in truth he knew full well the cause of his death—and could never admit it.
"And Jiamen's mentor,
Nisi recounted this very calmly. She had not been particularly close to Jiamen or Duolote, and her grief over their deaths was far less than what she had felt when Gulicha and Duoluo'er fell.
In truth, the study and research of wizards was riddled with danger. That two of that original group of apprentices from the South Coast had survived at all—let alone achieved such dazzling accomplishments—was already an exceedingly rare thing.
"Mm. And my mentor—Guofate. What about him?" Leilin continued.
"Apothecary Guofate passed away peacefully of natural causes a hundred years ago. He went very serenely. His grave is just behind the academy—would you like me to take you there?"
After hearing Nisi's words, Leilin fell into complete silence. Scene after scene from the days of receiving Guofate's teachings surfaced in his mind.
He was not particularly shocked that Guofate had died of old age—only a faint sadness stirred within him.
Guofate had been only a first-rank wizard. Even with his mastery of Potionology, his lifespan had a ceiling. Before taking Leilin as a disciple, he had already lived for untold years. Without breaking through to the second rank, dying of old age was entirely normal.
In fact, his ending was already considered quite good within the wizard world.
Leilin felt no particular sorrow—only the realization that time was indeed the great enemy of all living things, which only strengthened his resolve to pursue eternity.
After a moment of silence, Leilin's voice continued: "Thank you, Nisi! I plan to stay here for a while. And there are a few more people—I need your help tracking down their whereabouts... Ni Lan, Biji, and also—
Leilin calmly rattled off a few names.
"Three people? I've noted them. Give me at most a week, and I'll have answers for you!" Nisi said promptly.
"Thanks. I'd like some time alone."
Leilin sank back into the sofa and waved a hand, looking somewhat weary.
"Then I'll take my leave!" Though Nisi was the master here, she appeared to obey Leilin's words unconditionally. She gave a slight bow and carefully withdrew.
……
"Guofate Reli..."
The weathered black gravestone had its letters blurred by the passage of years, yet Leilin slowly read aloud the name carved upon it.
He now stood in a vast cemetery. Countless black tombstones and inverted crosses blanketed the surroundings, filling the air with an eerie, stark chill.
And the grave before him belonged to his former mentor—Guofate.
"Master... I've returned." Leilin stood there quietly, silent for a long while, until finally a single sentence slipped out.
Cold wind blew ceaselessly, setting the black trees on either side rustling with a desolate sound.
"Professor Guofate passed away peacefully, and he left no descendants..."
Nisi approached. "Also—that matter you asked me to investigate last time, I've already made some progress."
"Go ahead." Leilin's voice was perfectly calm, yet it sent a chill down Nisi's spine, as if she were facing a natural predator.
"First, Ni Lan. It has been confirmed that she passed away 129 years ago. Her family was also completely wiped out 67 years ago in an experimental leak... People from Polar Night City have also reported back—that Anna did indeed exist for a time. She even once expanded her influence to the surroundings of Polar Night City. A very resourceful woman. She remained unmarried her entire life and ultimately died alone in old age. After her death, her organization rapidly collapsed... As for Biji..."
Nisi glanced at Leilin. "She... disappeared."
"Disappeared? Explain more clearly!"
Leilin's brow furrowed.
"After you went to the Trist Family to rescue her last time, Biji set off on a solo journey across the continent. After that, she was never heard from again—it seems she may have been trying to follow in your footsteps..."