Border of Holy Tower Territories
The Advanced Apprentice's shocked expression stemmed not only from Saine's arrogance and indifference, but also from the fact that Jack had heard similar words during the previous Regional Holy Tower Academy session.
That was a quasi-apprentice of the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower, known as the "Despairers" during the previous Regional War.
The Despairers, as the name suggests, is an existence that makes all apprentices feel despair, and is simply impossible to defeat.
This Despairers also swept through the five major Holy Tower Academy regions during the last war, earning the top spot on the regional Holy Tower War Academy Points.
I'm not sure if I should say Jack was lucky.
He had narrowly escaped from that Despairers's clutches back then.
During Jack's pursuit years ago, the phrase that the Peak Apprentice of the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower often uttered was. "The weak do not deserve to live!"
This sentence stayed with Jack for fifty years.
From a newly promoted Advanced Apprentice after the last regional Holy Tower War to a now highly accomplished Quasi-Magician.
Jack's strength and knowledge had increased immeasurably, but his fear of that Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentice remained undiminished.
Countless times, in his dreams and meditations, Jack seemed to hear the cold, disdainful voice of that Peak Apprentice.
Jack, who had been keeping an eye on the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentice, knew that the other party had become Formal Magician and acquired the title of "Thunder Controller" only two years after the last Regional Holy Tower Academy War.
In Jack's opinion, the strength that Saine had shown in the previous battle was still far from the level that the Thunder Controller had during his apprenticeship.
However, the chilling aura emanating from their spells in that instant was strikingly similar.
Jack watched Saine walk away until his figure gradually disappeared from sight, without daring to utter another word.
Another female Quasi-Magician noticed Jack's unusual behavior and walked up to Jack, asking, "What's wrong?"
The female Mage's question finally brought Jack back to his senses, but his body trembled imperceptibly, and his face turned pale.
Jack looked terrible, but when the female apprentice asked him a question, he managed a weak smile and said, "I'm fine. From now on, let's make this Medium Resource Point our main defensive area."
Although the Purple Fir Wood Forest is a Medium Resource Point, all Saine gained here was a staggering number of points and the corpse of an otherworldly creature.
Unlike other resource points, where you can easily collect magical materials that interest you.
He couldn't possibly put an entire yew tree, over ten meters tall and requiring several people to encircle, into his Space Bracelet.
This also shows another benefit of the Regional Holy Tower Academy War for the participating apprentices.
In addition to the points earned, after the war ends, they can be exchanged for an astonishing number of Energy Crystal or Magic Coin.
The apprentices will be responsible for handling the various resources they obtain in the Trial Space.
The remains of the otherworldly creature that Saine had just acquired were also his private property.
After the Purple Fir Wood Forest, Saine passed through two Medium Resource Point and several Small Resource Point.
It seems that every Medium Resource Point is guarded by alien creatures.
Restricted by some kind of magical barrier, these otherworldly creatures cannot leave the resource point area.
It can only be treated like a training exercise, waiting for the Holy Tower apprentices to kill it.
Since the number of Holy Tower apprentices is often superior, the otherworldly creatures at these Medium Resource Point simply cannot withstand the apprentices' magical bombardment.
Especially when the quantity and coverage of magic on the battlefield reach a certain level, the overwhelming elemental spectacle is enough to make any hostile creature feel despair.
During this period, Saine gained several hundred more points and also seized the corpse of an otherworldly creature whose strength was comparable to that of Advanced Apprentice.
Unlike others who joined teams, Saine, with his lone wolf identity and his quick, accurate, and ruthless attacks, gradually made a name for himself among the apprentices over time.
Many junior and intermediate apprentices privately referred to Saine as "Golden Mask".
Since almost none of the apprentices knew Saine, and Saine's mask was quite conspicuous, the nickname was quite fitting.
Another half month passed before a winding river appeared before Saine.
A Medium Resource Point — the Water Secret Mine —is located beneath the riverbed.
Surprisingly, there were only a few scattered mid-level and low-level apprentices outside the resource point, with no other Advanced Apprentice or Quasi-Magician in sight.
"Why haven't any other advanced apprentices marked this resource point?" Saine asked as he flew over to the few mid- and low-level apprentices.
The appearance of Saine caused the few apprentices of the Azure Source Holy Tower to bow respectfully.
In response to Saine's question, one of the male apprentices with freckles on his cheeks respectfully replied, "Senior, there are several Otherworld Water Serpent guarding this Water Secret Mine beneath the riverbed, making it extremely difficult to deal with."
"One of our companions, Slari, was forced to activate the Holy Tower Badge and leave the Trial Space prematurely because he was poisoned by the water snake."
"As for why no apprentices of advanced level or above have come here..." The male apprentice looked somewhat embarrassed, unsure whether to answer or not.
However, a female Intermediate Apprentice standing next to him spoke frankly, picking up where the male apprentice left off, saying, "Three Advanced Apprentice and two senior students at the Quasi-Magician level came here before, but they left after a short stay and didn't seem to have any interest in this Medium Resource Point."
"Why?" Saine asked coldly.
"Because the Apprentice Zone of Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower is on the other side of this river," the female apprentice said, pointing to the winding river in front of her.
The female apprentice's answer also surprised Saine.
"Have we reached the border of the two Holy Tower apprentice drop zones so quickly? Why haven't I seen Large Resource Point yet?" Saine muttered to himself.
In fact, by observing the total number of apprentices that Saine has encountered during this period, it can be seen that he has gone astray.
When he first arrived in the Trial Space, Saine decided to head east and never looked back.
This approach allows Saine to search for resource points along the way in a forward-moving manner without wasting time or travel distance.
However, there is a hidden danger: he will not be able to access resource points in the other three directions of the landing site, especially in the western region.
If the five Holy Tower regions were to equally divide the Large Resource Point, each Holy Tower region should have four or five such locations.
Even if the Azure Source Holy Tower is weak, having too many resource points in this region is not necessarily a good thing.
But having three Large Resource Point isn't unreasonable, is it?
The fact that Saine has arrived at the border area between the two Holy Tower factions without encountering any enemies can only mean that he chose the wrong direction in the first place.