983: Illusion and Reality, Underworld Sky Wheel Magic!!
A Second-Ring Wizard from the White Ice Tower, who was also a senior wizard mentor of this academy, looked up and hurriedly asked his assistant, an ordinary First-Ring Wizard, "Check the real-time monitoring data from the White Ice Tower..."
That wizard took a block of ice from his pocket. The ice reflected the reconnaissance capabilities that the White Ice Tower, as a high-level Wizard Tower belonging to a thousand-year-old wizard force with over a billion invested, should possess. At this moment, a Frost Magic Eye appeared at the top of the tower made of white ice crystals that pierced the sky next to the Rose Building.
This giant Frost Magic Eye immediately scanned the surroundings and began to observe what was happening.
This ordinary First-Ring Wizard chanted an incantation and activated the White Ice Tower's Frost Magic Eye. He watched the surroundings through the ice in his hand. "Such a complex formation. When was it set up?"
A look of surprise appeared on his face.
"It's a magic circle from the School of Summoning; it seems to be summoning something. The wizard formation was hidden by a spell model from the School of Enchantment, but its scale is massive. Logically, if it were being set up in our White Ice Tower area, it would be impossible for us to not notice at all. Sir, the wizard formation has been fully set up and activated. I don't think that wizard formation was just activated now, but has been active for at least an hour."
The Second-Ring Wizard and senior wizard mentor from the White Ice Tower standing beside Locke looked grim. He immediately glared at the Second-Ring Wizard from the Tide Great Wizard Tower next to him, who had been watching the show but was suddenly being stared at.
He hurriedly said, "This has nothing to do with me."
"None of our faculty or students know such powerful magic from the School of Summoning or the School of Enchantment. Besides, is it even possible for an outsider to pull this off right under the nose of your Wizard Tower's Frost Magic Eye? I'd say this is an inside job. What kind of trick are you playing now? I bet the embankment of the Tianhan River was blown up by you wizards from the White Ice Tower."
The senior wizard mentor from the White Ice Tower immediately barked in anger, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"This is our territory, and we have investments in the Rose Building. How could we possibly pull something like this here? Who on earth did it?" At this moment, the Rose Building shook violently, the entire building vibrating incessantly.
The summoning wizard formation in the sky was no longer hidden. A massive skeleton appeared in mid-air—it was a dragon's skull. Following that, every three Summoning Books formed a summoning wizard formation, summoning a dragon head. There were three dragon heads in total. Then, the three dragon heads suddenly burst into flames, their Soul Fire flickering. In a very short time, the Soul Fire completely consumed the dragon skulls.
The three dragon skulls vanished into the flames.
Then, a massive inverted pentagram magic circle appeared in the sky above the hundredth floor. A three-headed skeletal great dragon stepped out of that formation. Pale flames flickered within its three heads; it actually possessed Star Ring-level Magic Pressure. Witch Rose crossed her arms over her chest and looked up at the sky with disdain.
"Tch."
"What is this thing? There are still Black Wizards on the Tianjiang Coast?"
President Fura, standing next to Locke, also looked grim. This opening ceremony for the Rose Building was the result of her careful management; whoever messed with it was looking to provoke her.
A wizard from the School of Summoning said, "We might have all been mistaken. This isn't a high-level summoning spell model wizard formation from the School of Summoning, but a summoning formation from the School of Spiritism. Some second and third-tier disciplines of the School of Spiritism evolved from the School of Summoning, so they look very similar. But... looking closely at the final summoning wizard formation's spell model, I find it's not the School of Summoning, but the School of Spiritism!"
President Fura immediately said, "That's absolutely impossible. The Tianjiang Coast has been wiping out the Black Wizard Alliance for years. Under our efforts, the entire society of this wizard land has become highly developed, peaceful, and governed by the rule of law. How could there still be Black Wizards using spells from the School of Spiritism? Magic from the School of Spiritism is completely banned here."
"Roar~"
The three-headed Dragon Lich in the sky burst into loud laughter.
"Years of victory have made you White Wizards lower your guard."
"You destroyed a group of our phantoms and then became arrogant enough to think you had truly eliminated us. Little did you know that while your attention was diverted, we were constantly growing stronger in the shadows. After all this time, you don't even know who your real enemy is."
"Today, you are all gathered here, which gives me the perfect opportunity to wipe you all out at once. Even if the White Ice Tower is right next door, do you dare use the Wizard Tower to amplify a Great Magic and attack here? Hahaha... that would only result in you perishing along with us. And since we are already dead, we don't care about that."
"We can just be resurrected again using Spiritism."
The three-headed Dragon Lich suddenly opened its mouths, and countless wisps of Soul Fire flew out like raindrops, falling toward the ground below.
The corpses of the magical beasts previously killed by Locke, Witch Rose, and other wizards directly opened their eyes after being drenched by this soul rain. These flocks of Stone-Winged Evil Birds were all resurrected as undead, neither living nor dead, and were endowed with the special Soul Fire of Ghouls, becoming Ghoul variants.
Even the corpses of the Abyssal Spine-Sword Dragon and the Copper Hammer-Tail Giant Dragon climbed up from the ground. After being bathed in the soul rain, they directly transformed into two Ancient Bone Dragons on the spot.
Star Ring Spell Model—Soul Magic Rain.
Star Ring Spell Model—Bone Dragon Hatred.
This was a spell model that could transform all corpses present into undead Ghouls by scattering soul energy. Bone Dragon Hatred, on the other hand, could forcibly upgrade a draconic undead creature into an Ancient Bone Dragon, provided the target was at least a second-ring undead. With this sequence of moves, the hundredth floor was instantly filled with an army of undead.
Everyone soon discovered that the Rose Building's levitating stairs were actually unusable. The first group of wizards who had boarded the stairs found that after descending a short distance, the stairs were stuck and could not move. They looked down and saw many Ghouls transformed from Stone-Winged Evil Birds lying within the core wizard formation of the levitating stairs, directly jamming it.
A wizard tourist said, "Oh no, we can't get down. The levitating stairs are jammed, and the sky is blocked by that Star Ring-level Dragon Lich. We're trapped."
The Dragon Lich laughed, "You want to go down? Fine, I'll grant your wish."
Its three dragon heads simultaneously erupted with Frost Dragon Flame. The icy blue dragon breath descended, instantly turning the hundredth floor of the Rose Building into an icy purgatory. The levitating stairs that were hit completely shattered, and the group of wizards standing on them screamed as they fell directly from the hundredth floor.
At the same time, the Frost Dragon Flame completely ignited the central passage of the Rose Building, blocking the possibility for wizards to jump directly from the hundredth floor using the defense provided by the Permanent Defense Force Field.
Locke watched the opponent's actions from beginning to end.
"This Star Ring Black Wizard shouldn't be from the 'unspoken rules' circle of this wizard land—those sent by the investment firms. His primary goal isn't to destroy the Rose Building, but simply to annihilate all the wizards present. Is he just causing chaos? But why now?" Locke guessed that because the Tianjiang Coast was supposed to hold some important position in the Starry Sea's Demon Ascension Plan in the future, this small wizard land had actually gathered so many forces. These forces were now erupting in massive conflicts to fight for control over this wizard land. To some extent, the reason this usually obscure wizard land was so chaotic now was that the Starry Sea's Demon Ascension Plan had made it a target for everyone.
Listening to the screams of the wizards falling below, the Dragon Lich laughed heartily.
He looked at the wizards from the School of Summoning who hadn't reacted yet and suddenly extended a skeletal dragon claw, grabbing a Gasification Wizard from the School of Summoning directly in his hand. That was also a second-ring spell model: the School of Spiritism's Dragon Bone Great Claw.
The wizard couldn't resist at all; wizards from the School of Summoning generally had very poor direct combat abilities.
The Dragon Lich laughed loudly, "Little wizard, the high-level summoning of the School of Summoning and the sacrificial summoning of our School of Spiritism are essentially the same thing; there's not much difference. Remember that for next time."
"I'm sending you to be reincarnated."
He opened his large mouth and emitted a puff of Frost Dragon Breath, intending to burn the wizard to death. But in the next moment, a wizard robe appeared in front of the wizard. The unfinished wizard robe burst into flames, then was frozen into shards by the Frost Dragon Breath, slowly shattering all over the floor. Five spiders crawled through the void; while crawling in mid-air, they sprayed spider silk from their abdomens, rapidly weaving a wizard robe.
This was Witch Rose taking action. Second-ring spell model: Spider Silk Royal Robe.
The Dragon Lich tilted its head. The next moment, when it looked back at the Gasification Wizard from the School of Summoning in its dragon claw, it found that what it was holding was a ball of spider silk thread.
Hmm?
The three-headed Dragon Lich's three heads observed the surroundings. Two of the heads chanted defensive incantations, summoning walls of bone to protect itself and counteract the spells the wizards were firing at it.
The third head looked at Witch Rose and said, "Young witch from outside, you certainly have quick hands."
Witch Rose gave a cold, insincere smile and said, "Stop acting like a big shot. You fellow from the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land, although I don't know how you set up the sacrificial summoning wizard formation here, or how you escaped the monitoring of the White Ice Tower and myself, I will make you pay the price. There's just one thing I don't understand: what is your purpose in attacking this place? You Black Wizards shouldn't have any conflict of interest with me." President Fura looked grim as she took a Magic Umbrella out of her astral ring.
"The bigger problem is that our Tianjiang Coast hasn't seen a single Black Wizard for at least ten years, and we've even applied for relevant awards. What on earth are you, and how could you possibly enter our Tianjiang Coast?"
The Dragon Lich let out a mocking laugh.
A group of Black Wizards emerged from various nooks and crannies of the Rose Building's hundredth floor.
The usually ruthless Witch Rose and the self-confident senior wizard mentor of the White Ice Tower were both completely dumbfounded.
Wait.
What's going on?
How is this possible?
President Fura was fuming with rage. "Are you from the outside?"
She knew in her heart it was impossible. If they were from the outside, there would be a few Black Wizards at most, not this many. The travel records for the Wizard Airships could be checked.
Furthermore, the number of outside wizards entering the Tianjiang Coast couldn't be too high. The Tianjiang Coast had few resources, and every bit of resource was accounted for. Could it be that someone could hide in a mortal nation for years living on nothing but the wind without relying on resources?
Even the undead need a certain concentration of magic tides to keep their Soul Fire from being extinguished.
The senior wizard mentor from the Tide Great Wizard Tower had gone from shock to being a complete spectator. However, he still secretly ordered the faculty and students to gather, to prevent accidents and observe the situation, ready to seize the opportunity to either break out or counter-attack this group of suddenly appearing Black Wizards.
Wizards from the Solar Umbrella Court, the Hundred Magic Scrolls, and other related groups were mostly in a state of observation.
After all, with Black Wizards attacking, the ones who should put in the most effort were Witch Rose, Olaye, and the host, the White Ice Tower.
Especially the wizards of the Tide Great Wizard Tower; it would be good enough if they didn't take the chance to sneak attack the White Ice Tower instead.
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
Of course, some wizards would secretly ask the wizards from the Tide Great Wizard Tower if they were the Black Wizards they had invited. Naturally, the Second-Ring Wizard leading the Tide Great Wizard Tower team vehemently denied it. This was not a blame one could easily take; if the association believed they were colluding with Black Wizards, the Ethics Review Committee would surely turn their academy upside down.
As for the Senior Wizard Mentors and Official Wizards from the White Ice Tower, each of them summoned a White Ice Tower above their heads. The wizards of the White Ice Tower all studied the same Advanced Meditation Method—the White Ice Tower Advanced Meditation Method—while simultaneously utilizing the White Ice Tower's signature School of Evocation magic.
The core of this magic was to summon a White Ice Tower crafted from ice magic. Through this tower, they could enhance attack range, accumulate magic energy, and increase attack efficiency. This ice tower had a spiral shape.
At the same time, there was a magic eye at the top of the tower.
At this moment, these wizards were launching attacks toward the Dragon Lich and the Black Wizards of the Pale Pilgrimage nearby, with ice spears shooting out from the tops of the ice towers. Rapid-fire ice spears.
On the Black Wizard side, they chanted incantations, bent down, and slammed their palms onto the ground, summoning walls of bones to block those ice spears.
An opening ceremony for a commercial building had actually turned into a chaotic battle between the White and Black Wizards! Instantly, the barrage of ice spears collided with the bone walls.
After the White Ice Tower wizards discovered that the bone walls could successfully block the ice spears, they immediately adjusted their spell models, transforming the ice spears into the Ice Pine Needles spell model. This was a special type of ice magic, a unique magic born from ice-element magic on the Tianjiang Coast under the influence of Hygrology. By incorporating the principles of the Hygrology spell model, they transformed solid ice into a special state between liquid and crystal, forming special ice needles. By reducing the absolute damage capability of these ice needles, they enhanced their penetrating power.
Thus, these Ice Pine Needles swept out from the White Ice Towers above their heads like a machine gun, firing recklessly, passing through the bone walls, and directly hitting those Black Wizards, as the Ice Pine Needles could pass through the tiniest gaps. Many Black Wizards were hit and fell to the ground.
When Akilian, the Second-Ring Wizard of the White Ice Tower, saw this, the corner of his mouth curled up.
"You thought that being an undead creature would make you immune to ice magic. But you didn't expect that the Ice Pine Needles would enter a wizard's body, travel through the countless tiny gaps in his body, and remain within your bone joints, producing a sealing effect."
Upon seeing this, the three-headed Dragon Lich let out a mocking laugh.
"Hahaha... All along, all along, you have been immersed in illusion, unable to see the truth. Have you ever truly seen the objective world?"
"Hahaha..."
"The illusory victory and the unreal world have taken away your normal senses. I have been on the Tianjiang Coast for a very, very, very long time. I have personally witnessed the development of every one of your famous spell models. Do you think I... a Master of Black Magic, do not know where the excellence and weaknesses of your White Ice Tower's School of Evocation magic lie?"
"Akilian."
Those Black Wizards who had been knocked down stood up again. The magic rings worn on their fingers flashed with magical radiance, and then soul flames ignited all over their bodies. These soul flames instantly destroyed all the ice needles inside them by attacking themselves indiscriminately. When Second-Ring Wizard Akilian saw this, he was stunned. The opponent clearly knew the White Ice Tower's famous magic, Ice Pine Needles, had even prepared counter-strategies, brought magic rings specifically for suppression, and had even called out his name, which meant the opponent was definitely a local wizard from the Tianjiang Coast.
But the problem was now even more serious.
It was so serious that Akilian felt a sense of absurdity.
Hadn't the Tianjiang Coast already announced... that no new Black Wizard had been born in ten years?
Was it all... fake?
Akilian's eyes drifted, as he felt his worldview being shattered. In his understanding, there shouldn't be a Black Wizard Alliance native to the Tianjiang Coast; clearing out Black Wizards was something this wizard territory had been doing all along.
Why on earth?
The truth of this world... the falsehood...
While Akilian was in a trance, the Dragon Lich appeared before him, its three heads spewing frost flames at him. The Official Wizards of the White Ice Tower beside him changed expressions drastically. They hurriedly chanted incantations, and the ice towers above their heads connected their energy together, summoning an iceberg.
However, this iceberg was shattered by a single swipe of the dragon's claw.
Their actions had long been predicted by the Dragon Lich!
Wizard Akilian reacted instantly. He sneered, suddenly neither dodging nor avoiding, and charged directly into the cloud of frost dragon breath. A layer of frost armor appeared on his body—his Permanent Defense Force Field, the Frost Armor, which could provide a certain amount of defensive capability and could also freeze the opponent's attacks.
"I let you get close on purpose, Black Wizard. Don't think you've seen through everything. This is magic that my research group has studied for thirty years. Let's see what you do now!"
He chanted an incantation, and the ice tower above his head began to radiate waves of extreme freezing cold. This cold air formed a deceleration zone, covering the three-headed Dragon Lich.
The moment this cold zone touched the three-headed bone dragon, it froze it, and it spread toward the areas inside the dragon scales, intending to turn it into a block of ice.
But the next moment, a crack appeared in the frozen ice on the three-headed Dragon Lich, followed by it shattering. Then, sharp explosions sounded from within every bone in the Dragon Lich's body; its entire dragon skeleton was vibrating, thus directly shattering the ice blocks.
The three-headed Dragon Lich mocked, "Akilian, I know all your magic like the back of my hand. This wizard territory holds no secrets for me, including that ridiculous project of yours that you've been working on for thirty years and still haven't finished. That's one of the few Second-Ring fund projects in your academy, isn't it? Or perhaps it's the precious legacy left to your academy by your former Chief Wizard Mentor before leaving."
The next moment, Akilian was surrounded by dragon fire, and he himself was sent flying away with a slap.
The White Ice Tower's wizard troops were instantly scattered by the Dragon Lich's tail sweep, and the Black Wizards seized the opportunity to charge forward. By now, the wizards who had been watching the show had already sensed that something was wrong.
They hadn't expected that the Black Wizards, who had been weak on the Tianjiang Coast for so many years, would suddenly erupt with such powerful strength, possessing so many wizard troops, and knowing them so well. They could no longer sit on the sidelines and watch the White Ice Tower resist these Black Wizards alone; if they didn't intervene, they feared something would happen soon.
After being knocked away, Akilian fell from the wall. The frost armor on his body was covered in cracks, breaking apart piece by piece. By the time he stood up from the ground again, the frost armor had returned to normal.
The Dragon Lich was about to fly over and continue with another magical follow-up attack to completely neutralize the combat capability of this Senior Wizard Mentor from the White Ice Tower. But just at this moment, a Magic Umbrella shrouded the top of his head. President Fura opened a Magic Umbrella, chanted an incantation, and the umbrella automatically opened above his head, releasing waves of cold, damp rain.
This cold, damp rain turned into countless raindrops, attacking him. Each droplet rotated in mid-air, landed on him, and directly merged into his body.
The Magic Umbrella could protect against cold, damp rain and also had storage capabilities. President Fura, being an Object Controller among Alchemists, could naturally utilize the cold, damp rain stored in her Magic Umbrella to launch direct attacks. She extended a finger, rotating it continuously, and the raindrops attacking the Dragon Lich in the air continuously converged, then actually gathered together to become a spiral water wave, enveloping the Dragon Lich. Alchemy School, Object Control branch, Star Ring spell model—Extreme Cold Sky Rain.
Mixed into this rain was a special alchemy gel material called T1 Freezing Gel, crafted into shapes similar to water beads, mixed into this special Tianhan River region rain that combined water magic and ice magic. Once it touched the enemy, it would immediately explode and freeze everything within the blast radius.
Because it looked almost exactly like ordinary raindrops and was difficult to distinguish, it was practically unavoidable. Furthermore, it could utilize the cover and impact force of the ordinary raindrops to strike the opponent with this T1 Freezing Gel.
At this moment, the Extreme Cold Sky Rain turned into a spiral wave of water and struck the three-headed Dragon Lich. The three-headed Dragon Lich's Permanent Defense Force Field Shell was an [Anti-Life Necrotic Barrier], so it only had some basic physical defense capability against this type of water magic attack. The barrier was quickly broken, and he was sent flying into the sky.
The raindrops touching the dragon bones were nothing much, only damaging the joints, but the T1 Freezing Gel mixed into the rain landed on him, exploding with waves of cold air, subsequently freezing all the dragon bone parts it touched into ice blocks. Immediately afterward, the opened Magic Umbrella appeared above the head of the Dragon Lich, which had been sent flying into the sky by the Extreme Cold Sky Rain.
The canopy of the opened Magic Umbrella hung down red tassels, which continuously extended like three red ribbons, binding toward the Dragon Lich's body. Instantly, the three heads of the Dragon Lich were all caught by the red tassels on the Magic Umbrella.
The Dragon Lich was forced to tilt its head back to look at the Magic Umbrella, letting out a laugh that showed no fear.
"Umbrella Witch: Fura."
"I heard of your reputation two hundred years ago. You were once a decent witch, but unfortunately, you have enjoyed peace on the Tianjiang Coast for too long, and you have become immersed in the fantasy of that illusory world where you defeated the Black Wizards. You White Wizards, day after day, use false justice and unsustainable things to deceive us, taking everything from us."
"Then we were flayed and deboned by you, and still labeled as Black Wizards. Hehehe... It is truly pathetic. What you see and hear is not only fake, but entirely illusory."
Behind President Fura appeared a pair of angel-like wings, but these wings were just fake wings, merely a Star Ring-level magic item called [Sura Angel Wings]. She floated in mid-air, behind her were the spell models of the Extreme Cold Sky Rain, as well as the raindrops and T1 Freezing Gel manipulated by the Extreme Cold Sky Rain; these things looked just like ordinary raindrops.
The Magic Umbrella rotated slightly, and three iron chains extended from it. The Magic Umbrella seemed to be a large composite magic item, equipped with quite a few magic items. The three chains were each different; one of the chains had an iron ball at the end, and this iron ball flashed with lightning, smashing toward the Dragon Lich's spine.
Thanks to over five hundred years of accumulation, although President Fura had remained at this level for a long time, she had consequently accumulated Star Ring-level magic items all over her body. The magic items she used just now, every chain, every red ribbon, were Star Ring-level magic items. Even the T1 Freezing Gel was the latest research product of the Tianjiang Coast, the limit of the current level of Gel Science, a third-level discipline of the Alchemy School in this wizard territory. The Dragon Lich's back was struck, and it immediately felt pain; the lightning on the chain with the iron ball at the end could not only cause physical destruction but could also damage his soul.
President Fura said disdainfully, "You are finished. An immortal body only lacks physical limitations, but for those at our level, that means nothing. You are still limited by your soul's vessel; your body is a vessel, and your soul is also a vessel..."
At this moment, the iron hammer chain was wrapped around the entire body of the Dragon Lich.
President Fura looked at the Dragon Lich and said, "Make those Black Wizards surrender. Furthermore, tell me, who exactly are you, where do you come from, why were you able to sneak into the White Ice Tower, why are you so familiar with the Tianjiang Coast, and where exactly did you obtain this information?"
The Dragon Lich showed no fear; instead, it let out a mocking laugh.
"At this point, even when seeing it with your own eyes, do you still dare not admit that the past victories of your White Wizard Association were all just your fantasies? President Fura, I want to ask you something: do you believe what your eyes see?"
President Fura was taken aback for a moment.
The Dragon Lich said, "Why do you think that the result of Black Wizards having been eliminated is a fact on the Tianjiang Coast? Why do you think that not a single Black Wizard has been born on the Tianjiang Coast in ten years? Did you see it with your own eyes, or was it because the documents placed on your desk told you so?"
"Since it wasn't seen with your own eyes, but only from the documents on your desk, on what grounds do you assert that the absence of Black Wizards on the Tianjiang Coast is a real, objective fact? That is where the problem lies. Up until now, you have actually believed that pile of documents on your desk, believed the analysis reports from the experts of your White Wizard Association, yet you cannot admit that I, a Black Wizard, am standing right in front of you, and that the 'no Black Wizard births on the Tianjiang Coast in ten years' is something that never existed."
"Sigh, Umbrella Witch, I am too disappointed in you."
"You living beings boast all day that your time moves forward, while the time of beings like us is forever frozen at a certain moment. But why do I feel right now that you... not only haven't moved forward, but have actually regressed?"
President Fura was unimpressed. "Ridiculous, and pretentious. I do not have the ability to see all the scenes of the Tianjiang Coast at a glance, nor do I have such an intention. Trusting rigorously verified investigation results is the most basic of basics. If every one of us had to see everything with our own eyes, what a massive workload that would be. Would I doubt every single magic rune? Would I doubt every magic axiom and theorem and have to repeat every basic experiment or re-conduct deductions?"
"If I don't believe the data reports, should I believe you instead?"
"I don't know what tricks you have played."
"But I am certain that you will tell me these methods very soon."
"It doesn't matter if you don't give up resistance; our White Wizards will have reinforcements arriving soon. The Demon Hunting Squad is on its way. All Black Wizards here will be cleared out; no one can come to save you."
"So, you had better honestly tell me how exactly you entered the Tianjiang Coast and who told you the relevant information."
The Dragon Lich let out a mocking laugh. "Then let us wait and see."
On the ground, Achilles climbed up, constantly drinking magic potions to restore his Magic Pressure. In the battle against the Dragon Lich just now, some of the spell models in his consciousness sea had been damaged. The Dragon Lich's attacks were truly terrifying; every attack carried a powerful erosion of negative energy.
Seeing that the President had controlled the Black Wizard, Achilles immediately felt relieved.
"As expected of the President, as expected of the Umbrella Witch."
"Simply amazing."
"She controlled that villain with a single move."
"There will be no problems now."
On the other side, Locke was observing the battle. Seeing that the Umbrella Witch, President Fura, had controlled the Star Ring-level Black Wizard, he prepared to withdraw the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrows in the sky and stop fighting against the flock of evil birds. But just as he was about to do so, a voice appeared in his ear.
"Don't."
Witch Rose appeared beside Locke. "Are you planning to desert in the face of battle?"
Locke looked at Witch Rose with a half-smile. "It seems someone has done the work for us. Since that's the case, why bother fighting? Besides, if my Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrows suffer battle damage, that would be troublesome. Weapon-type Magic Plants are judged by their past combat records. Every new model of Magic Plant fears battle damage the most; this is a huge problem for early sales."
Witch Rose did not respond; instead, she pointed at the Dragon Lich. "What do you think his Magic Pressure is, and what is President Fura's Magic Pressure?" Locke said, "That Black Wizard's Magic Pressure is just over twenty thousand, a common Star Ring. President Fura's Magic Pressure is much stronger than I thought, about twenty-nine thousand plus."
"I don't know if it's close to thirty thousand."
"But President Fura is clearly quite powerful among Star Ring Wizards."
Because the Star Ring level is simply too powerful, coupled with the special nature of the Second-Ring's infinite boundary expansion to increase power, it results in a huge gap between the upper and lower limits of Star Ring Wizards.
President Fura has accumulated over five hundred years and is the President of the White Wizard Association of a region, so she is extremely powerful among Star Ring Wizards. Locke said, "Although her spell models aren't great in terms of basics, because she has polished them for so long, they are certainly the most suitable for her. Therefore, in terms of spell models, she is not weaker than us, and might even be stronger, at least for her own casting of those spell models. But if we talk about academic level, that is another matter entirely; her spell models are very average. She has simply accumulated enough time, so her ability is strong enough, but this ability cannot be used for academics, or to develop high-quality magic artifacts and spell models that others can use, let alone theories."
Witch Rose nodded and commented, "That is about the same as my assessment of President Fura."
"President Fura is certainly stronger than us at the moment; even if we joined forces, we might not be her match."
Locke did not refute this.
This is a matter of time accumulation.
Star Ring Wizards are simply too powerful, so this level itself is equivalent to a stage of a Magic Pressure reservoir. Right now, Locke and Witch Rose have just started storing water, and this vast reservoir has only accumulated a little bit of water, while President Fura has already accumulated five hundred years' worth of water; the water in her reservoir cannot be underestimated.
This is also a level issue.
If it were a low-ring state, even if a person accumulated power for a long time, because the total Magic Pressure of that level is at most that much, they would at most have more experience than others and spell models polished to be more suitable for themselves, and that's about it. It is difficult to create a huge gap in combat power.
But the Star Ring is different. The limit of Magic Pressure that the Star Ring level can possess is simply too high. Being both Star Ring Wizards, it is very normal for there to be a huge gap between two people. For Star Ring Wizards, an ordinary Star Ring Wizard is roughly at the level of a powerful divine power, but a powerful Star Ring Wizard is very likely at the level of a great divine power.
Witch Rose said, "That is the problem. President Fura's strength lies in her five hundred years of accumulation, her five hundred years of magic power, not her spell models or her Great Magic. If the enemy can understand the weaknesses of the spell models of all the wizards in the White Ice Tower, it means the enemy must understand all the problems with President Fura."
"Although the two of us cannot see any major problems with her for the moment, I believe the enemy has already mastered her weaknesses, and she is no match for the enemy. And the reason why you and I haven't acted immediately is not hard to guess; I think it is the same for both of us."
Locke exchanged a look with her.
First, it is to observe the situation. Wizard battles are battles of information gaps. The difference that determines victory or defeat between the same rank is likely just that little bit of information.
Second, it is to observe the background of the opponent.
Third, it is to judge whether there is a way to avoid getting involved in this conflict; after all, if one can avoid being involved, one should.
Wizards all act based on interests. If the Black Wizards were coming for someone else, why would they waste their energy? But it looks like the opponent wants to kill everyone present and is determined to do so.
Witch Rose said, "Therefore, I conclude that this Black Wizard attack cannot be easily repelled; the opponent is here to kill all the wizards present. And the opponent's goal is very likely because the Tianjiang Coast is one of the seven essential waterways leading to the Starry Sea. If the Demon Ascension Plan of the Starry Sea continues to be implemented, this place will become a very prosperous region, and controlling this place becomes a necessity. Black Wizards always oversimplify complex problems and solve them in the simplest way, so the method they can think of is to seize territory."
"But I still cannot figure out how they managed to get close to here."
"Locke, you and I need to join forces."
Locke suddenly realized; he had heard of this information, but because he hadn't paid much attention to it before, and his teacher hadn't told him, he wasn't very clear about it.
That makes sense; whether it's that mysterious investment bank, this group of Black Wizards, or myself and Witch Rose, everyone is coming for this key waterway.
Locke said, "To be precise, I can completely choose to break out on my own. As long as I withdraw the Great Green-Leaf Dragon Sparrow system and take the people of the Silver-clad Peach Garden away from here, I can do it. I have this ability; this group of Black Wizards does not have the ability to completely block me."
Witch Rose looked at Locke and fell into deep thought. She crossed her arms, curled her lips, and answered irrelevantly: "Then that means we have something to talk about. Let's make a deal. After all, the name of your Magic Plant products has already been established. If you withdraw now, given your personality, you would never be willing. And I also know that you won't help me unless you see profit. Indeed, for me, it is a bit disadvantageous right now; you can run, but I cannot leave my temple, as this Rose Building is mine."
"State your conditions."
Locke said concisely, "Money."
Witch Rose said, "That's impossible. I cannot reach a monetary deal with you on this. That is impossible."
"We need to conduct normal commercial cooperation. Locke, even if your Magic Plant products are opened to other wizards, if I am not mistaken, you still need to provide professional services and maintenance from your side, so setting up maintenance stations is necessary."
"I think you don't just want to sell Magic Plant products; you also want to set up maintenance points. With one product, you want to earn money from both ends; you want to take all the money."
"I can reach a commercial cooperation with you on this. Although our tasks are both to force the other party's Shop Alliance to withdraw from the Tianjiang Coast, there is still room for temporary cooperation between us."
Locke glanced at Witch Rose with slight surprise. He hadn't expected Rose to think of this.
Locke said, "To be precise, it's not just earning from both ends with one product. Because after setting up maintenance points, there can also be accessory upgrade services, so we can also open parts supply points. Combining maintenance points and parts supply points turns them into Magic Plant service stations."
"Earning from three ends with one product."
Witch Rose said, "You..."
At the same time, a roar suddenly erupted in the sky. The two looked up and saw that the Dragon Lich had used its Great Magic. A Ferris wheel composed of six small worlds appeared behind the Dragon Lich.
"Six Realms of the Yellow Springs!"