Level 9 Archmage

Deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

A secluded, deep valley.

The magical beasts commonly seen throughout the Magical Beast Mountain Range were nowhere to be found outside this valley.

This valley was a forbidden zone of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and the one residing within was none other than the Saint-level magical beast, the Earth Tyrant Bear, one of the peak powerhouses of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Its body, standing forty to fifty meters tall, sat like a small mountain.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, the Earth Tyrant Bear opened its eyes and looked toward the entrance of the valley. "Someone is coming in?"

It sensed an aura.

"Agai?"

The Earth Tyrant Bear sensed the person outside the valley with its spiritual power and stood up. This Agai was none other than a level-nine magical beast, the Gale Eagle.

As the king of the surrounding region, all the powerful magical beasts in the vicinity knew of its existence.

Even level-nine magical beasts were no exception.

And this Gale Eagle had some connection to it; if it were any other level-nine magical beast, they would never dare to come here.

"Skree~"

The Gale Eagle let out a cry outside the valley, then landed just beyond the entrance.

"Come in!"

The Earth Tyrant Bear responded, its voice deep and rumbling like thunder.

Soon, the Gale Eagle flew in and landed not far from the Earth Tyrant Bear.

"Agai, what is the matter?"

The Earth Tyrant Bear asked.

High-level magical beasts rarely left their own territories; for this Gale Eagle to leave its territory, there must be something going on.

Hearing the Earth Tyrant Bear's words, the Gale Eagle let out a few mournful cries.

"What? A Saint-level magical beast has occupied your territory?"

The Earth Tyrant Bear stood up.

The Gale Eagle's territory was not far from its own; how could another Saint-level magical beast have arrived here?

The Gale Eagle continued to cry mournfully.

"Alright, take me there to see."

The Earth Tyrant Bear said, carrying a hint of anger, "I want to see which fellow is breaking the rules."

There was always some distance between the territories of Saint-level magical beasts, which was considered a rule among them. It resided in this valley, which meant no other Saint-level magical beast should be in its vicinity.

Now that a Saint-level magical beast had suddenly arrived to occupy the territory nearby, it was essentially trampling all over its dignity.

The Gale Eagle chirped a few times, then took flight to lead the way.

At this moment, Edita and her group had already walked deep into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

"Be careful. We are now deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, and it is very likely we will encounter high-level magical beasts."

Edita warned them cautiously.

Uncle Pu had already returned; he could not be expected to lead the way deep into the mountains, as a single gold coin was not worth risking his life for. Edita and the others had not expected Uncle Pu to venture deep either, so they had to rely on themselves for the rest of the journey.

After advancing cautiously for some time, Edita's expression became somewhat grave.

"Instructor Edita, it seems this is the territory of a high-level magical beast."

Sorel also noticed something unusual and spoke in a low voice.

They had been walking for a long time, yet they had not found a single trace of any magical beasts, which could only mean that other beasts dared not come here.

For such an area to appear deep in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, it was highly likely that a relatively powerful magical beast lived here. At the very least, it would have to be a level-seven or level-eight beast, and it was not impossible for it to be a level-nine beast.

If it were a level-seven or level-eight beast, it would not be much of a problem for them. But a level-nine beast would be quite troublesome.

"Thump~"

Just as Edita was about to speak, the ground suddenly trembled.

Edita's expression changed, and she hurriedly shouted, "Everyone, be careful!"

"Thump~"

"Thump~"

The ground trembled more and more violently.

A scent unique to magical beasts began to grow thick in the air.

"A magical beast has appeared!"

Edita smelled the scent immediately, and at the same time, she drew her staff and began to chant a spell silently.

Sorel and the other students hurriedly cast various defensive spells upon themselves.

"Be careful, fall back!"

Edita spoke immediately, her tone grave.

The ground was shaking so violently, and combined with the scent of magical beasts, it could only mean that the creature was massive. A magical beast of such immense size was undoubtedly a high-level one.

Just as Sorel was organizing the other students to retreat, a colossal figure appeared in the distance.

Through the gaps between the tree branches, they could see a behemoth fifty or sixty meters tall. As this giant walked, the surrounding towering trees were easily snapped by its stride.

"A Saint-level Earth Tyrant Bear!"

Edita's expression shifted.

Sorel and the other students were all deathly pale. A Saint-level magical beast was a terrifying existence; they had actually stumbled into the territory of a Saint-level beast!

The Earth Tyrant Bear naturally noticed Edita's group, but since its target was another Saint-level beast in the area, it did not bother to attack them.

"Agai, kill these intruding humans."

The Saint-level Earth Tyrant Bear spoke directly.

"Screech!"

Upon hearing the Earth Tyrant Bear's command, the Gale Eagle also spotted Edita's group. It let out a cry and began to fly toward them.

Its territory had been occupied by another Saint-level beast; while it dared not resist that one, it did not mean it lacked resentment, or it wouldn't have sought out the Earth Tyrant Bear in the first place.

Therefore, prompted by the Earth Tyrant Bear and seeing the group of humans, it naturally prepared to vent its frustration on these damned people.

Seeing the Gale Eagle fly toward the humans in the distance, the Earth Tyrant Bear stopped paying attention to them and continued forward. Its spiritual sense had already detected the intruding Saint-level beast.

It was an unfamiliar Saint-level beast; could it have just advanced to the Saint level?

The Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix sensed the Earth Tyrant Bear's probe immediately and became instantly alert.

Battles between magical beasts never required a reason.

Thus, the Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix's body grew in the wind, instantly transforming into a massive form dozens of meters long. It soared into the air, and as its wings flapped, countless hurricanes were born.

The environment of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was better than Mount Everest, but likewise, it held many more powerful beings.

The Earth Tyrant Bear didn't waste words; it casually uprooted a giant tree and hurled it directly at the enlarging Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix.

A trace of brutality flashed in the Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix's eyes. With a sharp "Screech," it spat a stream of golden flames from its beak, instantly reducing the giant tree to ash. The remaining fire even ignited a large swath of surrounding trees and boulders.

Almost in an instant, a raging inferno erupted in the vicinity.

The Earth Tyrant Bear was not afraid of the flames in the slightest, letting them burn around it. It opened its massive maw and roared loudly at the Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix above. Then, with its giant eyes locked onto the bird, its massive body began to move rapidly, smashing through boulders and trees alike as they flew in every direction. As it ran, the Earth Tyrant Bear was enveloped in dense earth elemental energy, which formed a suit of armor over its body.

It looked like a giant monster clad in battle armor.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix was instantly wreathed in flames.

For a time, the earth shook and the mountains swayed.

Even Edita's group, fleeing in the distance, felt the tremors. Soon after, a wave of heat washed over them.

"Cast defenses!"

Edita immediately cast a defensive water spell to block the heatwave.

But even so, the barrier was rapidly dissipating.

They could barely withstand even the shockwaves of the battle.

If not for Edita blocking a portion of it, the other students, including Sorel, would likely have been injured.

"Screech~!"

At this moment, the Gale Eagle caught up rapidly.

Seeing the Gale Eagle, Edita's expression turned ugly, and she shouted loudly, "Sorel, take Elite and the others and go first! I'll hold it off!"

It was practically impossible for an eighth-level mage to defeat a ninth-level magical beast, but aside from her, no one else had the strength to resist.

"Sister!"

Elite couldn't help but shout.

"Go!"

Edita replied, then began chanting silently, her body instantly rising into the air.

She was a dual-element water and wind eighth-level magus.

Simultaneously, transparent barriers appeared in front of her—the eighth-level water spell, Water Barrier! This was a growth-type spell; it could be cast at the first or second level, and just as easily at the eighth or ninth, making it the most comprehensive defensive spell in the water element.

Almost at the same time she cast the Water Barrier, Edita also applied the wind spell "Extreme Speed" to herself to boost her movement.

Seeing Edita cast two spells almost instantly, Sorel was secretly astonished. Edita must be nearing the ninth-level realm; otherwise, she couldn't have achieved such near-instant casting of eighth-level spells.

This made him feel slightly more at ease.

"Follow me, quickly!"

Sorel hurriedly grabbed Elite and the other students. "If you stay here, you'll only be a burden!"

Even without Soreldo explaining it, Elite knew that staying behind would be useless and would only serve to distract his sister.

Glancing at Edita, Elite nodded heavily and, under the protection of Soreldo, quickly departed in the opposite direction.

In the blink of an eye, the Gale Eagle closed in on Edita, its wingspan stretching over ten meters and exuding an intense sense of intimidation. With a sharp cry, it extended its talons and lunged at her.

The most formidable parts of a Gale Eagle are its talons and beak, which can easily tear through the defenses of magical beasts of the same rank. Combined with its extreme speed, its overall strength is considered above average even among rank nine magical beasts.

Under the enhancement of the wind-type spells Extreme Speed and Flight Technique, Edita's movements were incredibly agile, allowing her to use the massive trees as obstacles to dodge the Gale Eagle's talons.

Even with her Water Barrier, she did not have absolute confidence in blocking a direct strike from the Gale Eagle's talons.

However, the Magical Beast Mountain Range was filled with giant trees, which posed a significant restriction to the Gale Eagle's massive frame.

As these factors played against each other, the Gale Eagle found itself unable to instantly capture Edita.

Under the Gale Eagle's talons, the giant trees were like tofu, collapsing in swathes instantly.

After dodging an attack, Edita waved her staff again. The crystal core embedded in the staff emitted a water-blue glow, and the surrounding area was instantly saturated with countless water-type magical elements.

"Shadow of the Water Dragon!"

Accompanied by the incantation, a translucent giant dragon composed of water elements roared forth, appearing almost tangible as it charged directly toward the Gale Eagle.

Shadow of the Water Dragon is an incredibly powerful offensive spell among rank eight water-type magic. When cast to its limit, it possesses the strength of a real dragon, making it terrifyingly potent.

Suddenly seeing this water-elemental dragon, the Gale Eagle was taken aback for a moment before attempting to evade.

The intelligence of a rank nine magical beast is very high; naturally, it would not take such an attack head-on. Its massive body surged upward, preparing to fly into the sky.

However, the Gale Eagle suddenly felt a strong binding force. While it couldn't completely immobilize it, the force significantly slowed its speed.

"Wind Imprisonment!"

Edita hadn't just cast the rank eight water spell Shadow of the Water Dragon; just as the dragon surged toward the Gale Eagle, she had also cast the rank eight wind spell Wind Imprisonment!

However, casting rank eight spells in such rapid succession, almost instantaneously, was a massive drain on her own mental energy. It would be very difficult for her to cast another rank eight spell now.

After casting Wind Imprisonment, Edita didn't wait to see the result. Pushing her Extreme Speed spell to its limit, she hurriedly flew toward the other side and made a quick escape.

She had no intention of defeating the Gale Eagle; she only wanted to restrict it long enough to escape its pursuit.

Behind her, the Gale Eagle, its speed restricted for a split second, was unable to dodge the Shadow of the Water Dragon.

"BOOM!"

Following the sound of the impact came the Gale Eagle's screech of fury.

It was clear that the rank eight spell Shadow of the Water Dragon had inflicted an injury upon it.

If it were an ordinary rank eight mage, even casting Shadow of the Water Dragon would struggle to cause it any harm. But Edita was different; she was not far from the realm of a rank nine Grand Magus. When she cast Shadow of the Water Dragon with all her might, its power was second only to a true rank nine spell.

A rank nine spell posed a significant threat even to a Gale Eagle.

Edita was now flying at full speed toward the distance. Her face was slightly pale, and a sharp, stinging pain throbbed in her mind—the side effect of forcing herself to cast so many rank eight spells in such quick succession. Any other rank eight mage would have found this impossible.

The Gale Eagle now bore visible wounds; many of its feathers had fallen out, and it was stained with blood, its eyes glowing a deep, blood-red.

In a fit of rage, it chased directly in the direction of Edita's escape, no longer paying any attention to Soreldo and the others.

Soreldo's group naturally felt the lingering shockwaves of the battle behind them, and each of them wore a grave expression.

Upon hearing the Gale Eagle's furious screech, Elite's face turned deathly pale. "Sister!"

As he spoke, he tried to run back, but was pulled back by Soreldo just in time. "What are you doing!"

"Instructor Soreldo, I..."

Elite was deeply worried.

"Rest assured, your sister is powerful. Even if she cannot defeat the Gale Eagle, she can easily escape. If you go back, you will only put her in danger!"

Soreldo said firmly.

Listening to Soreldo's words, Elite could only grit his teeth.

"Alright, let's hurry. We must leave this place as quickly as possible."

Soreldo then urged his students to leave quickly, simultaneously casting an auxiliary spell on all of them.

Meanwhile, facing the Gale Eagle's reckless pursuit, Edita had no choice but to force herself to continue casting spells to boost her speed.

Under normal circumstances, a magical beast would give up once it lost the trail during a pursuit, but this Gale Eagle was chasing her regardless of the cost, destroying vast amounts of vegetation just to find her if it lost her scent.

It was truly baffling.

In truth, the Gale Eagle was chasing her not only because she had wounded it, but also because its territory had been occupied by the Crimson Feather Golden Phoenix, leaving it with nowhere to vent its frustration. Being wounded on top of that naturally pushed it over the edge.

Of course, Edita had no time to ponder these things.

At this moment, Edita felt a slight sense of urgency in her heart, and the dizziness in her mind was growing heavier.

If she had relied on incantations to cast these spells slowly, it would have cost her almost nothing, but the continuous challenge to her limits had pushed her to the brink.

Hold on!

Edita gritted her teeth, forcing her flight speed to increase once more.

Passing over a mountain ridge, a small waterfall appeared before her. Edita did not hesitate; she could no longer continue flying!

Afterward, using the remaining magic power, launched an attack in a distant direction, simply creating the appearance of (herself) fleeing in a panic; then, dove rapidly and plunged headfirst into the waterfall, disappearing without a trace.

Midnight.

Edita's consciousness gradually returned, then suddenly opened eyes, sat up, and became instantly alert.

(Her) memory stopped at the moment dove into the water; afterward, had swum unconsciously in one direction, and it seemed had finally found a bank before losing consciousness.

Losing consciousness in the Magical Beast Mountain Range was an extremely dangerous affair; encountering even a single magical beast would basically mean death.

A lingering fear washed over Edita's heart.

Looking around, the surroundings resembled a small cave, only the size of two rooms, with a small pool of water in front and the perimeter appearing completely sealed off, making it extremely dim.

"Where is this?"

Edita became cautiously guarded.

However, expression suddenly froze, and then couldn't help but be overcome with wild joy— had broken through!

(She) had just discovered that spiritual energy had reached the level of the ninth rank!

In other words, had become a ninth-rank Grand Magus!

Even for a warrior, achieving the ninth rank at twenty-one was very difficult. And for a mage, advancing was even harder than for a warrior!

Twenty-one years old, a ninth-rank Grand Magus—it was likely that no one else on the entire Yulan Continent was as young a Grand Magus as was!

After confirming situation, Edita forcibly suppressed the excitement in heart and carefully observed surroundings.

Finally, Edita discovered that this space was indeed enclosed; the entrance seemed to be right beneath that small waterfall, and if one didn't go deep under the waterfall, it would be impossible to discover this place.

It was likely for this reason that the Gale Eagle hadn't found.

At this moment, couldn't help but sigh that luck was truly quite good.

After confirming there was no danger nearby, Edita slowly sat down to meditate, allowing (herself) to return to a peak state.

Half a day later, it was already dawn outside.

Edita slowly opened eyes, extremely surprised, "The elemental energy of heaven and earth here is actually this dense."

Having become a ninth-rank Grand Magus, Edita's perception was far beyond what it had been before, and could clearly sense that the elemental energy of heaven and earth here was different from the outside, even exceeding the outside by tenfold.

This place could definitely be considered a treasure trove for cultivation.

Out of curiosity, Edita also carefully observed the area; although the surroundings were dim, it didn't have much impact on the vision of a ninth-rank powerhouse.

Soon, Edita's gaze was drawn to the wall behind.

The wall was not ordinary rock, but a massive, pitch-black magic array; the patterns alone were enough to guess the power of this magic array.

Even the source of the dense elemental energy of heaven and earth was this magic array.

"How could there be a magic array here? And it's so complex!"

Edita was also filled with shock, "Could it be that this place has an owner?"

Soon, Edita's eyes narrowed slightly. In the center of this magic array, a very peculiar staff was thrust straight into the ground.

In the Dark Forest, Beirut raised an eyebrow and looked toward the location of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, "Someone broke a magic array again?"

Upon discovering Edita, Beirut gave a dumbfounded laugh, "So it's her. Her luck is truly quite good."

Afterward, stopped paying attention to Edita.

Dark Alliance, border of the Tumu-ke Kingdom.

On a small hill, Fang Yun was eating roasted meat, casually watching the scenery. Prequet was bragging to the Doham brothers, and the two brothers were listening with great interest; after all, they had never heard of the experiences of a Saint-level magical beast.

Suddenly, Fang Yun looked up toward the horizon; two strands of spiritual energy had just swept past.

Prequet naturally noticed it too and hurriedly ran to Fang Yun's side, "Master."

The Doham brothers didn't know what had happened, but they followed along as well.

"Keep an eye on them."

Fang Yun had already discovered the arrivals and said to Prequet.

"Yes, Master."

Prequet also discovered the arrivals at this moment, and couldn't help but sneer in heart; the Dark Church actually dared to send people over—they were courting death.

If it were him, he naturally couldn't deal with the Dark Church. But the Master was different; in front of the Master, the Dark Church could only be considered infants.

"Sir, what happened?"

Doham asked.

"Nothing, the people who will help you find the Tiger-striped Secret Manual have arrived."

Fang Yun said casually.

He had taken in the Doham brothers because he didn't want the Tiger-striped Warriors to disappear. But as for the matter of finding the Tiger-striped Secret Manual, he didn't have the heart for it himself, so he had been waiting for the people from the Dark Church to come.

With the influence of the Dark Church, it was much more convenient than him searching for it.

He hadn't expected the Dark Church to be this fast; he had thought he would have to wait a few more days for the Dark Church to find him.

"Huh?"

Doham and his brother were somewhat puzzled. Someone looking for the Tiger-striped Secret Manual? Could it be that their superior had already notified others to help?

Soon, the two of them realized what was happening.

They saw a group of people not far ahead, charging toward the small hill where they were located.

Judging by their attire, they were none other than members of the Dark Church.