" No wonder cultivation knows no seasons."
As Fang Yun walked out of the valley, he couldn't help sighing to himself. He had merely sensed a hint of a possible direction for his cultivation, yet six years had passed before he knew it. If he truly began cultivating, time would probably pass even faster.
After leaving the valley, Fang Yun flew straight toward Fenlai City.
Before traveling around the continent, he needed to find out whether anything had happened there lately.
As the "Holy Capital" of the Holy Union, Fenlai City was bustling, and naturally, news traveled fast.
Soon, two pieces of news caught Fang Yun by surprise.
Principal Potter of Wester Academy and Edita had remained in the Holy Union. Edita in particular had reached the Ninth-Rank Grand Magus realm six years ago.
Six years ago, Edita had been only twenty-one. A Ninth-Rank Grand Magus?
Even Fang Yun couldn't help clicking his tongue. That woman had an incredible gift for cultivation. His own strength came from Manifestation, and had nothing to do with talent. But that didn't mean he didn't understand how difficult cultivation was.
If she had been a Level Nine warrior at twenty-one, Fang Yun could have imagined it. But a twenty-one-year-old Ninth-Rank Grand Magus was truly astonishing.
"But they're probably staying here for the Ring of Feilan."
Fang Yun had been so absorbed in sculpting that he had long since forgotten about it.
Still, it wasn't anything important to him.
Besides that, another piece of news had caught Fang Yun's attention.
Dixie had applied to graduate as soon as he reached Level Six. In the original story, he had waited until Linley became a Level Seven Mage before graduating and leaving.
But now, Linley was still only a Level Five Mage, and Dixie had already applied to graduate.
A fifteen-year-old Level Six Mage!
He was truly Ernst Institute's number-one genius.
The events in the original story could no longer be taken as a completely accurate guide to reality.
Fenlai City, Ernst Institute.
"Edita, have you really decided to stay here?"
Potter frowned deeply.
He had thought that even if they couldn't get the Ring of Feilan, they would at least encounter its owner within a few years. As long as they met him, there would be hope.
But now six years had passed, and they still had no news at all.
Staying here had come at no small cost to him. After all, the Radiant Church wasn't easy to deal with.
"Perhaps that person is already dead."
Potter voiced his guess.
Ninth-Rank powerhouses were formidable, but they weren't invincible. If they provoked a Saint-level powerhouse, they could still meet their end. And anyone venturing into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to train could also perish.
"Principal Potter, I'll keep searching for five more years. If I haven't found it by then, I'll return to Wester Academy."
Edita's sky-blue eyes were full of determination.
If they had no leads on the Ring of Feilan, that would be one thing. But now that she knew of it, she couldn't just give up.
Five more years. She would search for five more years.
Most importantly, she was confident she could reach the Saint-level within those five years.
She hadn't stood still during the past six years. Without anyone noticing, she had already reached the peak of the Ninth Rank. She was only one step away from the Saint-level and could break through at any moment.
Once she reached the Saint-level, even if she couldn't find the Ring of Feilan, Wester Academy wouldn't decline in the future.
Potter sighed and could only nod. "Then be careful. The Ring of Feilan is important, but you're more important."
In his mind, Edita was Wester Academy's next principal.
"Don't worry. I'll be careful."
Edita nodded as well.
With her current strength, she could keep herself alive even against a Saint-level powerhouse if she used her staff.
The Magical Beast Mountain Range.
At that moment, Linley and Beibei were cautiously making their way through the outer reaches of the range.
Dixie's application to graduate had truly spurred Linley on. Thanks to the Pingdao School's sculpting exercises, Linley's spiritual energy had grown rapidly. Over the past six years, he had steadily narrowed the gap between himself and Dixie.
When Dixie reached Level Six, Linley had also successfully advanced to Level Five. Going from Level Five to Level Six wasn't that difficult, but advancing from Level Six to Level Seven was an enormous hurdle.
Even the most gifted geniuses could be stuck at that stage for a long time.
So Linley had finally seen hope of catching up to Dixie. Who could have expected Dixie to apply for graduation at that point?
That alone would have been bad enough, but then Linley learned from Delia that Dixie had been taken as a disciple by the High Priest of the Temple of Life.
When he heard the news, even Doehring Cowart no longer dared to insist that Linley would definitely surpass Dixie.
After all, the High Priest was a Deity-level powerhouse. No matter how confident Doehring Cowart was, he couldn't claim he could teach better than a Deity-level powerhouse.
But this didn't discourage Linley. Instead, it spurred him to work even harder.
"Linley, when training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, remember never to trust anyone."
Doehring Cowart continued to remind Linley, "In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, humans are often more terrifying than magical beasts."
As a Saint-level Magus from five thousand years ago, Doehring Cowart had plenty of experience.
"Mm, I understand."
Linley nodded solemnly.
Linley had grown as tall as an adult, but his face was still youthful, making it obvious that he wasn't very old. If he ran into someone else, they might well target him for robbery and murder.
"Beibei, be careful."
Linley's expression suddenly grew serious. He had caught a faint scent of blood.
"I understand, Boss."
Beibei sent back telepathically.
His nose was more sensitive than Linley's. He could even tell that it wasn't the blood of a magical beast. That meant there had to be an injured or dead human nearby, and it hadn't happened long ago.
The man and mouse carefully concealed themselves and moved cautiously toward the distance.
Not far away, a man walked past cautiously. In another direction lay a pool of blood, but there was no corpse. No one knew where it had gone.
The man's eyes were full of undisguised delight. "He wanted to split it with me? He was asking for it."
It was impossible to know who he was talking about.
After speaking, the man cautiously looked around, then quickly headed toward a spot nearby.
"He probably killed someone for their treasure."
Doehring Cowart spoke up.
Linley nodded. He could guess as much, but seeing it with his own eyes for the first time still left him uneasy.
"Boss, should we follow him?"
Beibei sent telepathically.
There was impatience in his voice. After all, Beibei was a magical beast, and he had an instinctive bloodthirstiness. Life at the academy didn't suit him.
Linley hesitated.
He didn't mind killing, but he didn't want to kill without reason. That man was probably a bad person, but he hadn't done anything to Linley.
As Linley hesitated, a small Wind Blade suddenly appeared nearby and slashed toward him.
Linley reacted at once, but he could only dodge so that it missed his vital organs. The blade cut a huge gash into his abdomen, and blood poured out.
"Chirp!"
Beibei reacted instantly, shooting forward like a shadow.
The man who had disappeared earlier saw a dark blur rushing toward him, and his face changed dramatically. He tried to fight back, but it was already too late.
"Ah—no!"
His cry cut off abruptly. Beibei bit through his throat, then smashed his head apart with one paw.
Beibei was extremely strong now. Even Linley was no match for him.
"Boss, are you all right?"
Beibei hurried back.
Linley's face was pale, but he shook his head and managed a strained smile. "I'm fine. You saved me, Beibei."
Linley was still shaken. Without Beibei, an injury like this would have greatly affected his strength. More importantly, he had no idea how the man had found him.
"Boss, I killed that guy."
Beibei saw the wound in Linley's abdomen, his voice full of anger.
"Mm."
Linley nodded. The experience had certainly taught him a lesson.
"Linley, even if you don't want to kill people in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, they'll still kill you."
Doehring Cowart's voice rang out.
"I understand, Grandpa Doehring."
Linley gradually calmed down. This was the Magical Beast Mountain Range. He couldn't afford to be merciful.
"Boss, bear with it. I'll use dark magic to seal the wound."
Beibei sent telepathically.
Then some dark elements appeared around Beibei's body. They oddly formed a series of strange patterns before settling on the wound. It wasn't like healing magic from the Radiant Church, but the wound had been bleeding, and now the blood stopped. It was quite remarkable.
Linley was astonished. "Beibei, you can use magic like this?"
"Boss, I've always been able to. I just haven't had any use for it."
Beibei didn't know how he could do it. He didn't even know why his strength kept increasing.
"Linley, magical beasts usually inherit certain spells through their bloodline. This may be a spell passed down through the Shadow Mouse's bloodline."
Doehring Cowart explained.
Hearing this, Linley couldn't help feeling envious. Humans didn't inherit such abilities. If he wanted to cast magic, he had to learn it bit by bit, while some magical beasts could use it from birth.
"Linley, we can't stay here much longer."
Doehring Cowart reminded him.
Linley came back to his senses and nodded. Then he said to Beibei, "Beibei, check that guy for anything useful. Once you're done, we'll leave right away."
There was too much blood here. It would definitely attract magical beasts, and possibly other people, too.
"Chirp!"
Beibei excitedly ran over to the man's corpse.
After rummaging around with his little paws for a while, he found only a few crystal cores and something like a token made of an unknown material. It might have been the emblem of some organization.
"That's all?"
Doehring Cowart frowned slightly.
"Grandpa Doehring, what's wrong?"
Linley put the items away, puzzled.
"Linley, if that's all there was, the man had no reason to kill someone for their treasure."
Doehring Cowart analyzed, "These things are far too cheap."
The man had said, "He wanted to split it with me." Clearly, there had been more than this.
"Uh..."
Linley realized it as well.
That man had probably already killed someone before. If it was over treasure, how could there have been so little? Those few crystal cores could be exchanged for some gold, but they were only third- or fourth-level cores and weren't worth much.
"Linley, let's keep going and take a look."
Doehring Cowart said.
"Okay."
Linley didn't hesitate. He led Beibei in the direction the man had gone, though he was now much more alert.
However, they encountered no danger along the way. They didn't even come across any low-level magical beasts.
Soon, Linley reached a valley.
The entrance wasn't especially hidden, but there were no signs of magical beasts in the area.
"Be careful."
Linley reminded Beibei.
Then the man and mouse carefully made their way around to the front of the valley.
But once Linley saw what lay inside, he froze.
Even Doehring Cowart looked utterly incredulous.
Both sides of the valley were covered in all kinds of stone sculptures. Some even depicted Saint-level magical beasts, and the largest were as big as houses. They looked just like real Saint-level magical beasts.
The larger a sculpture was, the more difficult it was to carve. What kind of skill did it take to carve a sculpture as big as a house?
Moreover, every sculpture here could rival the master-level sculptures he had seen at the Proulx Gallery.
"This..."
Linley had no idea what to say.
Stone sculptures. They were all stone sculptures! The entire valley was filled with master-level stone sculptures!
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