As Leo spoke, he took out the Fate Wizard Book, a necessary piece of equipment given to him by the Mountain Range Guardian to advance his Stigmata.
When Leo opened the Fate Wizard Book, he saw dense text covering it. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was all blessings and normal greetings from other Stigmata Wizard.
Upon learning of the advancement of Stigmata Wizard, they offered their greetings out of politeness, hoping to make things easier in the future if needed.
Leo didn't recognize most of these Stigmata Wizard; he only recognized a few, and a few others had followed him on expeditions.
Those like the Purple-Gold Vine Stigmata Great Wizard and the Bloody Battleaxe Stigmata Wizard participated in their expedition.
Leo had only heard of most of the others by name and had no connection with them whatsoever; their greetings were entirely out of interest in the newly promoted Stigmata Wizard.
Leo, as a newly promoted Stigmata Wizard, returned the greeting, saying that he had just been promoted and didn't know much yet, and that he would need guidance from the seniors if there was anything he didn't understand.
Aside from these polite exchanges, Leo only made voice communication with the two Stigmata Wizard.
One is Indestructible Body Stigmata Great Wizard; the other is Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard.
Although he usually interacts more with the Indestructible Body Stigmata Great Wizard, Leo believes that the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard seems to have a higher status.
The Undying Body was only briefly mentioned here, with the only useful piece of information being that if Leo encountered any expeditionary worlds he couldn't handle, he could hire the Undying Body. He usually earned energy crystals by hiring other Stigmata Wizard.
In the words of Undying Body, this employment method requires him to worry too much; he just needs to do the job for the money. He doesn't need to bother managing his power or raising so many slaves. If it weren't for the rule in the Wizard World that Stigmata Wizard must establish academies, he wouldn't even bother to establish one.
He indicated that if Leo needed to hire him, he could offer a 1% discount!
After speaking with the Undying Body, Leo contacted the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard.
"I've seen the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard,"
" Leo Xi, I didn't expect you to advance so quickly. You truly deserve to be someone both I and the Undying Body have high hopes for."
The sound of Beast Blood Boiling emanated from the Fate Wizard Book.
"My rapid promotion is also inseparable from your help. Once I'm done with what I have here, I will definitely visit your demiplanes in person to express my gratitude."
"There's no need for a personal visit to express my gratitude. I'm not available to meet right now. Since we're both Elemental Body Tempering Stigmata Wizard, there are a few things I need to remind you of, or rather, tell you, so you can be mentally prepared. Consider this my congratulatory gift for your advancement."
Leo's heart tightened; what was coming was finally here. "You said..."
"The first thing concerns the power struggles within the upper echelons of the wizarding civilization. If I don't tell you directly, it might take you some time to understand."
"It's actually very simple. Body Refinement Wizard and Elemental Wizard are the two major mainstreams in wizarding civilization. Although there are some other branches of wizarding schools, their strength is completely unequal in the face of the two main mainstreams. These two mainstream wizarding schools are not as harmonious as they appear on the surface; the intensity of their struggle far exceeds your imagination."
"I know what you're worried about. You're worried that I and the Undying Body will pull you into my little team. To be honest, that's a real thought. Your identity is simple and straightforward, and your strength is quite good, which is why I value you."
"Our small team consists of just the two of us right now, and we remain completely neutral, not getting involved with any particular school of thought."
"We may not get much in terms of the distribution of certain benefits, but compared to those minor factions embroiled in the struggle, things are very quiet here."
"Of course I'm not forcing you. You've just been promoted, so give yourself some time to observe carefully, think things through, and reflect on your actions."
"Thank you for your understanding." Hearing that there was no forced invitation, Leo immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
He had witnessed some of the struggle between the elements and the body refinement, but he hadn't expected that their struggle had reached such an intense level in the words of Level-Five Stigmata Wizard like Beast Blood Boiling, to the point that he even had to unite with Level-Six Stigmata Great Wizard with Undying Body to maintain neutrality.
Leo truly had no intention of joining any faction; he simply wanted to live his life well and gradually improve his strength.
However, if the struggle among the upper echelons of the wizarding civilization has indeed reached the point described by Beast Blood Boiling, he should indeed consider whether to join Beast Blood Boiling and Undying Body. With the power of a level 5 and a Level-Six Stigmata Wizard, they can certainly provide some protection for him, a Level Four Stigmata Wizard.
Otherwise, if the struggle becomes too intense, even a minor aftershock could shatter him, Level Four Stigmata Wizard wanted to remain neutral, into dust.
"You should already know the second thing, after all, you also participated in the siege against that Black Skull guy," the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard continued.
"Are we going to war with the other World Cluster?" Leo asked nervously.
When the rebellion of the Black Skull Stigmata Great Wizard was being quelled, the Undying Body had told him the general outline of what had happened.
It was a World Cluster on par with the wizarding civilization that lured the Black Skull Stigmata Wizard, leading to his betrayal.
Before the rebellion could succeed, the Tower of Elements Supreme Lord personally intervened, tearing apart a great world and capturing one of the Supreme Lord of the opposing World Cluster.
After the war to quell the rebellion, the Undying Body told him that the Wizard World would go to war with that World Cluster, ostensibly as punishment for their instigation of the Black Skull's rebellion, but in reality for the purpose of seizing resources.
"That World Cluster is called the Returning Breath World, signifying that it is a place where souls return to rest. The beings there are skilled in using soul power, and their strength is indeed considerable."
"The two sides have already fought several battles in the middle zone, with casualties on both sides, but our Wizard World has a slight advantage. According to my prediction, the scale of the war will continue to expand over the next few thousand years."
"After all, the conflicts in the Wizard World are escalating. If we don't find something to distract us from these internal conflicts, we might start fighting amongst ourselves before any external enemies even appear."
"So whether we want to fight or not, this war will eventually break out, and the battle will be extremely fierce."
"Of course, we can't interfere with such matters. We can only inform you in advance so that you can be mentally prepared, as we might be sent to the battlefield any day."
"Really? I'm just a newly promoted Stigmata Wizard!" Leo asked in surprise.
The number of Stigmata Wizard in the Wizard World exceeds three thousand, with the exact number shown in the Fate Wizard Book being 3586. He is the 3586th.
With so many experienced Stigmata Wizard around, is it really necessary to send someone like him, who has just been promoted, up there?
"Heh, you're not from either of the two major schools of wizardry. If you don't behave, who else will we send if not you?"
"Furthermore, you advanced to the Stigmata Wizard level through Elemental Body Tempering tempering. Are you still just an ordinary Stigmata Wizard? How large is your true body?"
"250 meters," Leo said dejectedly.
"Heh, you're ten meters taller than I was when I advanced. With your current strength, you'd be considered below average among Level Four Stigmata Wizard. Who would treat you as a newly promoted Stigmata Wizard?"
The Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard, perhaps realizing he had frightened Leo with his words, changed the subject, saying, "Of course, these are all just my guesses. It's not certain that such a thing will happen. Besides, with the Wizard Will in place, even if there were such a dangerous mission, they wouldn't dare to openly send you to your death."
"..."
After the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard said that, Leo became even more worried. Wasn't this clearly telling him that he was very likely to be assigned to dangerous missions in the future?
The danger of his advancement to the Stigmata seems even greater than at level three, since at level three he wouldn't be involved in the power struggles of the upper echelons of the wizarding world!
"In short, the most important principle is to prioritize one's own strength. No matter what happens in the outside world, improving one's own strength is the most important thing."
"If you could reach the strength of that Undying Body guy, you could do whatever you want with him."
"Of course, I believe that when you advance to the Level-Six Stigmata Great Wizard, your strength will definitely be much greater than his."
Thank you for your trust.
Faced with the praise from the Beast Blood Boiling Stigmata Wizard, Leo didn't know whether he should be happy or not; his feelings were rather complicated.
The cruelty of the Wizard World was far beyond his imagination.
"Alright, that's all for now. Don't think that you're set for life just because you've reached the Stigmata. Remember to keep striving to improve your strength. There are countless civilizations in the universe, and the river of time is endless. Who knows how many tragic civilizations have emerged in the past?"
"I've got it."
"I'm hanging up now. Contact me if you need anything."
Looking at the silent Fate Wizard Book, Leo sighed. He had thought that his advancement to Stigmata would transform him from a pawn into the player, but it turned out that in those people's eyes, he was just a pawn that had become a little stronger, and perhaps a little more useful.
"Don't worry, just give us some time, and we'll grow stronger than anyone else," Yaoyao said confidently.
You're right.
"Now let's look at the data after the promotion and study what to do after the promotion."
In the year following his promotion, Leo was so busy that he had no time to handle his own affairs.
Now that everything is on track, he has time to work on testing the data after his strength has improved.
He placed his palm on the Fate Wizard Book, and Leo's current stats immediately appeared on it.
Mental Strength: 385, Physical Strength: 375, Power: 384
The maximum attribute value for Level Four Stigmata Wizard is 400 points. Leo's advancement maintained an extremely high level of evolution, almost reaching the maximum value after the advancement was completed.
His maximum attribute values are: Spiritual Power 400 points, Physical Strength 380 points (permanently reduced by 5% due to tonsil modification), and Strength 388 points (permanently reduced by 3%).
Leo was just a hair's breadth away from maxing out all three of his attributes!