Chapter 85: Chapter 75: Huo Nan’s Regret (2)

However, some Wizards often used the Jumping Skill on their followers, indirectly increasing their followers’ agility and dexterity.

Weakness Beam, on the other hand, fired a ray with a debilitating effect. Upon hitting an enemy, it would decrease their strength and weaken their body.

If the Magic Power was strong enough, it could even turn a Grand Knight into a helpless, paralyzed wreck on the spot.

One spell was a buff, the other a debuff. Both were exceptionally practical.

For a Wizard, unless they reached a realm where they could overwhelm everything with sheer power, the combination of their Magic was crucial.

A proper combination of spells allowed a Wizard to defeat enemies in the most effortless and swiftest manner.

A powerful Wizard had to be able to instantly choose the right spell to defeat their enemy, no matter the situation.

And to achieve that, one must master a sufficient number of powerful spells.

Quantity and quality both had to be considered.

This was why Wizards were forever on the path of pursuing knowledge.

Of course, the vast majority of Wizards couldn’t manage both quantity and quality.

After all, a person’s energy was finite.

When they couldn’t have both, most Wizards had no choice but to forsake quantity for quality, specializing in a few select spells.

But Pei Ze was different.

With the Eye of Omniscience, it only took him seven or eight days to learn a One-Ring Spell.

If he consumed his Spirit to accelerate the process at full tilt, he could learn up to four or five One-Ring Spells in a single day.

Give him a month, and he could learn every single One-Ring Spell in existence.

The only reason he hadn’t done so was because it wasn’t necessary.

Many One-Ring Spells had redundant functions. Pei Ze only planned to focus on learning the unique ones, which totaled about twenty to thirty.

After all, his Spiritual Power was needed for many things now, and he had none to waste on unnecessary spells.

With a mere thought, the spell models for Jumping Skill and Weakness Beam instantly formed in Pei Ze’s mind, and all related knowledge flooded into the depths of his consciousness.

He closed his eyes to absorb it all for a moment. After digesting the knowledge, Pei Ze opened his eyes and let out a long breath.

’I’ll have to wait until I’m back at the academy to buy new spell models.’

’For now, I’ll focus my energy on constructing the Will Rune and improving my spells.’

Suddenly, Pei Ze’s expression shifted. With a casual lift of his hand, he manipulated the wind-type Energy Particles to create a gust of wind, which sent Xiaoyi, who had been about to sneak out the window, tumbling head over heels.

"Yee."

Xiaoyi, having steadied itself, cried out in protest.

"Stay put in the room."

Pei Ze released Wuyu, telling it to keep a close eye on Xiaoyi, then closed his eyes and began his daily Meditation.

...

CRACK!

After hearing his subordinate’s report, the crystal glass in Huo Nan’s hand instantly shattered, sending shards and wine splashing all over the floor.

However, he couldn’t be bothered with that. His face was ashen, his eyes filled with a mixture of shock and rage.

’Pei Ze actually came back alive and unharmed!’

’Damn it! How is this possible?!’

Huo Nan glared at the subordinate kneeling before him, his expression dark. "Speak. What exactly happened?"

"M-My lord, I-I don’t know what happened either!"

Cold sweat dripped from the subordinate’s forehead.

"Last night, we followed your orders exactly. We pretended to be overwhelmed and secretly allowed a large number of heretics to break through. There were twenty to thirty Demon Cultivators among them alone. Logically, there’s no way Pei Ze should have survived!"

Huo Nan’s expression flickered with uncertainty.

He believed his subordinate wouldn’t dare lie to him; after all, it was something that could be easily verified.

"Did Pei Ze really get that many merit points?" Huo Nan suddenly asked.

The subordinate’s expression froze. He lowered his voice. "The logistics department has already verified it. Pei Ze’s merit points are all legitimate."

Huo Nan fell silent.

After a moment, he said in a low voice, "Go to the logistics department and bring me Pei Ze’s Recording Ring."

The subordinate immediately acknowledged the order and scrambled to his feet, hurrying away.

Before long, he ran back with a Recording Ring and respectfully presented it to Huo Nan with both hands.

Huo Nan took the ring, turned the face of it against the center of his forehead, and closed his eyes.

About four or five minutes later, he opened his eyes again, his face now filled with profound shock and disbelief.

’Silent casting... That brat actually mastered silent casting as an apprentice!’

For the first time, Huo Nan regretted agreeing to help Pei Yonggao deal with Pei Ze.

One could only imagine the bright future awaiting a genius who mastered silent casting as an apprentice and could single-handedly eliminate over a dozen Demon Cultivators once he successfully advanced to Wizard.

The thought of offending such a future genius Wizard was enough to make his skin crawl.

For a moment, Huo Nan’s expression became exceptionally grim.

His subordinate carefully observed his expression and tentatively asked, "My lord, what should we do next?"

Huo Nan’s head snapped up. He shot him a cold glance and roared, "Useless trash! Get out!"

The subordinate’s body trembled, and he scrambled out of the room.

In a flash, Huo Nan was the only one left in the room.

His expression flickered uncertainly for a long while before he suddenly gritted his teeth. ’It’s come to this. I have to kill Pei Ze now. Otherwise, once he becomes a Wizard, he’ll never let me go!’

Huo Nan knew full well that if he failed to kill Pei Ze this time, he would lose all his value in Pei Yonggao’s eyes. The latter would certainly not waste any effort protecting him.

At that point, he wouldn’t even have to wait for Pei Ze to become a Wizard. Mo Weng, the man standing behind Pei Ze, could deal with him effortlessly.

With things having developed to this point, he had no way out.

It was either kill Pei Ze, or be killed!

...

On the second day after the assault on the stronghold, the City Guard Army began to sweep for the remaining heretics.

Early in the morning, all the Wizard Apprentices and Knight Students at the garrison received a summons to assemble in the command hall.

Upon entering the command hall again, Pei Ze keenly noticed that there were significantly fewer people.

The difference was most apparent in the number of Wizard Apprentices.

Originally, there had been 120 teams, which meant 120 Wizard Apprentices.

But now, there were just over a hundred people left in the hall.

’The ten-plus Wizard Apprentices who are gone... did they die in the battle that night, or were they withdrawn due to injury?’

If it was like this for the Wizard Apprentices, it went without saying for the Knight Students.

The number of casualties and withdrawals due to injury among the latter was at least three or four times that of the former.

It was just that the positions they left vacant were quickly filled by new Knight Students, so the reduction in their numbers didn’t seem as drastic.

"Pei Ze." Fan He walked over, a hint of amazement in his eyes as he looked at Pei Ze. "I heard you took out more than twenty Demon Cultivators in one night and earned over seven hundred merit points. Amazing, truly amazing!"

Fan He was both envious and full of admiration.

If he put himself in Pei Ze’s shoes, had he been the one defending Zone 28, he would have been a corpse by now.

After all, there was no way he could have held off that many Demon Cultivators.

But not only was Pei Ze unscathed, he had also earned a huge number of merit points. His strength was truly admirable.

The world of Wizards had always revered the strong.

Before, although Fan He had thought highly of Pei Ze, he had treated him more as an equal, not pulling rank as an upperclassman.

But now, as he spoke with Pei Ze, there was a subtle hint of reverence in his words and demeanor, as if he now placed Pei Ze on a higher pedestal than himself.

A short while later, Gu Lin also arrived.

The three of them started casually chatting about the upcoming sweep operation.

"Although Ah Beipu’s faction’s stronghold was destroyed, quite a few remnants managed to escape."

Fan He had a relative who was an officer in the City Guard Army and was also involved in this operation, so he had more information than the others.

"Fortunately, Lord Ai Yuan from the High Tower Academy, along with over a dozen Wizard mentors, have already set up a barrier in the Outer City North District. Any creature tainted with a demonic aura will trigger an alarm the moment they touch the barrier, allowing the City Guard Army stationed nearby to capture them immediately."

"In addition to that, the City Guard Army has also dispatched its main forces to guard all major transportation routes. If the heretics dare to show their faces, they will be met with a crushing blow."

"Our next mission should be to assist the City Guard Army in cleaning up the remaining heretics hiding in the North District."

After hearing Fan He’s words, Gu Lin mused, "The remaining heretics have been scared out of their wits and are no real threat. But if they’re determined to hide, finding them won’t be easy."

Heretics might not be good at much else, but their hiding skills were top-notch.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to hide under the Wizards’ noses for so many years.

Fan He smiled. "Don’t worry about that. The Wizard lords will surely have a way to find them."

He paused, his expression turning serious, and said in a low voice, "Also, don’t let your guard down. I heard there’s a ’Frenzied Drinker’ among the heretics still at large."