Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Three Rounds of the Great Sun
After spending two stable days in the great hall, Lor finally completed the upgrade of the Meditation Technique.
"Next, as soon as I leave the Divine Kingdom, I can start the transition to becoming a One-Ring Wizard."
He smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the small Lava Eruption Witchcraft that was fully synchronized with the Earth-Fire Rune model in his Sea of Consciousness.
"But before that, I need to grab a piece of space equipment."
Lor thought to himself, "There’s still three days before the higher-ups drop the Space Rings; I should head back to the forest today. I might also be able to gather a few more Divine Power Crystals. Such opportunities are rare."
He wouldn’t compete for the Space Rings in this hilly region; after all, there were plenty available elsewhere, and there was no need to fight with his own student over them.
Having made up his mind, Lor picked up his bundle of Divine Power Crystals and walked out of the great hall, heading to a newly set-up council hall.
This council hall was almost identical to the one Lor lived in.
Levan was seated at the end of a long table, carefully examining a piece of parchment.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up, and upon seeing Lor, he immediately smiled and asked, "Mentor, do you have any instructions?"
"I’m going to wait for space equipment in the forest, so I’ll leave these Divine Crystals with you." Lor placed the bundle of Divine Crystals on the table.
"There’s really no need for such trouble, mentor."
Levan said, "Most of the hilly region is ours anyway. I can just take a group out, retrieve the space equipment, and deliver it to you."
He already had a Space Bracelet, which was quite spacious, so he wasn’t too concerned about the space equipment distributed by the Divine Kingdom.
If Lor needed it, it wouldn’t hurt to give away the Divine Kingdom’s space equipment.
"I decline."
Lor shook his head, a slight smirk on his lips, "This is your second lesson. Take some days to think about why, and tell me when you figure it out."
With that, he left the council hall without looking back.
He was quite serious about teaching Levan, after all, it was a promise made to someone important.
Watching Lor’s departing figure, a hint of confusion flashed in Levan’s eyes.
If the mentor had always refused his offerings, he wouldn’t be so puzzled.
But just two days ago, the mentor had accepted one and a half times his share of Divine Power Crystals, yet now he declined the space equipment.
This seemed rather inconsistent.
"What could be the reason?"
Levan no longer had the mind to examine the earnings record of the Divine Power Crystals, knitting his brows as he began to meditate deeply.
...
"Lord Lor."
Meanwhile, when Lor walked out of the stone hall, the two apprentices standing guard at the entrance quickly stood and saluted.
After all, this was the mentor personally chosen by Master Yasen for Lord Levan, they had to show respect.
"Hmm." Lor nodded, cast a Floating Technique on himself, and headed straight towards the forest.
Before exiting the camp, he encountered many people who greeted him respectfully as soon as they saw him.
He paid them little attention and walked out of the camp directly.
Half an hour later, he re-entered a pitch-black forest.
This time, unlike when he had left the forest for the hilly region, Lor did not have a clear destination upon returning to the forest.
The only certainty was that the higher-ups would drop space equipment into three different regions, but the specific locations were not specified in the rules.
"There are still three days. I may as well try to gather more Divine Power Crystals while I’m at it."
Lor spread his Spiritual Power to sense the surrounding divine energy fluctuations.
The divine power fluctuations coming from behind him were the most intense, shining like a brilliant sun in his spiritual perception.
"I wonder how many Divine Power Crystals Levan has gathered over these days, it’s truly astonishing," Lor thought to himself in surprise.
But realizing that one and a half times of those were his share made a smile tug at his lips.
Ignoring the divine energy fluctuations behind him, Lor carefully sensed the divine energy fluctuations within the forest.
"There are strong divine energy fluctuations in both southeastern and southwestern directions. Let’s check the southwest first."
Arriving beneath an entirely pitch-black tree, he gently pushed off the ground and leaped onto the treetop.
Then he began sprinting toward the southwest, stepping swiftly on the treetops.
About eight minutes later, Lor was standing on a treetop, gazing through the leaves at the familiar faces within a group of over a hundred people, feeling somewhat speechless.
"Who’s there?"
In the apprentice group, a bear-bloodline apprentice walking at the front sniffed the air, detected an unusual scent, and cautiously looked up toward the treetops ahead.
Behind him, the single-element apprentices immediately performed a Rune Link.
Fast as a flash, they formed red, gold, and green protective shields, encasing everyone, including the bear-bloodline apprentice, in the center.
"Not a bad reaction." Lor brushed aside the leaves and commented lightly.
He was speaking the truth. Compared to the people who attacked his Magic Array three days ago, these people’s responsiveness to threats was indeed much sharper.
It could be said that the massive drill of the Divine Kingdom organized by the alliance higher-ups had achieved significant success. The only downside is the Divine Kingdom can’t withstand such intense activity.
And practicing in the outside world can’t ensure absolute... relative fairness, as many wizards can interfere.
Even the Five-Ring Wizards can’t guarantee they can observe all sorts of strange Fusion Witchcraft.
"Greetings, Lord Lor."×135
Seeing that the person hidden among the treetops was Lor, all the apprentices below immediately dropped their wariness, canceled their witchcraft, and bowed respectfully.
After all, there was no point in being wary. If he wanted to kill them, he could do so with a single spell.
"Hmm, head back." Lor nodded.
"Yes." All the apprentices below sighed in relief and hurriedly ran out of the forest.
"Could these guys really think I want to kill them to snatch their Divine Power Crystals?"
Lor couldn’t help but break into a wry smile as he saw the group of apprentices running faster and faster.
Now, he could be considered Levan’s protector, and holding onto a 1.5% share, he naturally would abide by the rules.
To him, the people below were like crops that would keep bringing him yield after yield, as long as he didn’t uproot them completely.
Given the circumstances, even a fool knows what choice to make.
"From this perspective, the alliance higher-ups seem a bit... no, that’s not right!" A thought abruptly came to Lor’s mind.
Those entering the Divine Kingdom are typically third-level apprentices.
At that stage, their Witchcraft Positions are generally used.
For the higher-ups, apprentices who’ve used up their Witchcraft Positions and cannot break through to become a One-Ring Wizard are useless and practically disposable.
In such a situation, using their lives to sharpen a few genuine elites might be the better choice.
"They aren’t stupid, but they are ruthless!" After deducing the higher-ups’ intent, Lor silently sighed, "Forget it, these things don’t concern me right now. Gathering more Divine Power Crystals is far more crucial than pondering over all this."
...
Three days later.
Lor glanced down at the bundle containing 197 grams of Divine Power Crystals and suddenly felt like giving up.
Indeed, that was all he had gained in three days.
Once the amount of Divine Crystals in his hands reached 50 grams, whenever he approached places with even a slight divine energy fluctuation, those fluctuations would immediately change location.
Each target was as sly as a monkey, taking at least a dozen minutes to catch up to.
Moreover, as his Divine Power Crystals increased, sensing other Divine Power Crystal fluctuations became increasingly difficult.
Because before he could sense others, they would have already sensed him and fled.
Given the situation, there was truly nothing he could do.
"Forget it, let the others handle it." Lor sat on a tree branch, too lazy to move anymore.
Two more hours passed, when suddenly the pitch-black sky began to violently tremble.
"Crack, crack, crack—"
Three giant fireballs ripped through the sky, appearing like three blazing suns, instantly turning the Dark Divine Kingdom a burning red.
"Whoosh—"
The next moment, the three suns streaked across the sky, descending in three different directions.
One sun descended toward the forest area, another to the hilly area, and one more to the plains area.
"220 miles, still manageable, not too far."
Lor stood up again, estimating the distance between himself and the location where the forest-bound sun would fall.
He then cast a Floating Technique and rushed towards the site of the sun’s descent.
Meanwhile, throughout this forest, thousands of other apprentices were making the same move as Lor.
As for the other hundred thousand or so apprentices, they sighed silently, stayed put, and didn’t move.
The previous battle over the Divine Power Crystals had already made them aware of the trial’s brutality in the Divine Kingdom, teaching them to curb their desires.