774: The Ancient Court of the Pale Pilgrimage and the Black Wizard Team Leader
Patty drove the carriage with extreme caution, terrified that the seven Black Wizards at the First Ring Gasification Stage would notice something amiss; in her eyes, Locke was merely a First-Class Wizard Apprentice.
However, she didn't realize that Locke didn't take any of this seriously at all.
He currently had two choices—the first was to follow this group to the Black Wizard Alliance and have a friendly chat with the leader of the Ghost Saint Church along the way.
The second choice was to kill six of them outright, leave one alive, and control him to lead the way to the Black Wizard Alliance meeting site.
Whichever choice he made didn't matter to Locke.
Locke had a brief conversation with Patty and learned about the current situation in the Southeast Corner Region.
A year ago, the Black Wizard Alliance in the Southeast Corner Region was being suppressed by the White Wizard Association and was constantly suffering defeats, but a year ago, the situation suddenly changed.
A mysterious power suddenly intervened, strengthening the Black Wizard forces in the Southeast Corner Region. A year ago, they organized an operation that appeared to be an attack on the Four Seasons Garden but was actually a surprise assault on Verdantia University.
This operation was later dubbed the [Great Black Wizard Raid].
During that attack, the main force of Verdantia University had already left the headquarters. Faced with an irreversible situation, they could only abandon their base and break into smaller groups, allowing the students and Wizard Mentors to fight their way out individually.
Patty had originally escaped, but six months ago, due to the lack of a magic tide in the mortal kingdoms, her magic power steadily declined. She had only recently broken through to become a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice and wanted to prevent herself from falling back to a Third-Class Wizard Apprentice.
After her mana was exhausted, she tried to find some magical resources. Unexpectedly, as soon as she entered a magic market in that mortal kingdom, she was captured by people from the Blood Curse Court and had a Blood Curse planted in her.
Locke was slightly stunned after hearing about Patty's ordeal.
He only then realized that this was the Southeast Corner Region, not the wealthy Yunze Wetland.
In the Yunze Wetland, even the mortal kingdom regions were filled with magic tides. In contrast, the various Wizard Academies in the Southeast Corner Region had large numbers of magic circles to gather the surrounding magic tides and increase the magic density, while the mortal kingdoms were nearly magic-less zones.
A wizard with weak power staying in such a place for a long time would only see their strength continuously dwindle.
Locke looked at his right hand. Using pinellia and summoning the Moon Magic Domain had also caused him to lose magic pressure that he couldn't recover in time.
After all, the Southeast Corner Region was far too barren for him.
Shallow water cannot hold big fish.
A big fish in a shallow puddle would only feel more and more uncomfortable.
'Almost all the resources here are useless to a Second Ring Wizard.'
Locke thought to himself, 'Therefore, there are very few Second Ring Wizards here.'
'Of course, according to the records I accessed in the free library of the Yunze Wetland, the White Wizard Association also doesn't want wizards of too high a ring entering weak Wizard Lands.'
'Staying for a long time or performing major deeds here would draw special attention from the Association's Ethics and Morality Review Committee.'
'As well as visits from the various Directors stationed in this Wizard Land. However, I've been in this Wizard Land for so long and none of those Directors have come to visit me. Either they are already too busy with their own problems, or they haven't discovered me yet...'
Locke pondered.
Regardless, it indicated that the intensity of the war in the Southeast Corner Region was escalating.
The local White Wizard Association, which should have been paying close attention to the passenger lists of wizard airships, hadn't even sent anyone to contact him, a Second Ring Wizard returning home to visit relatives.
This in itself was very abnormal.
Locke said to Patty, "When this matter is over, I can write you a recommendation letter so you can go to Lilith's Cottage as a guest student."
Patty was stunned, unable to process his words for a moment.
Did a First-Class Wizard Apprentice have such high status in Lilith's Cottage?
With just one sentence, he could get her into Lilith's Cottage as a guest student?
But Patty didn't refuse. After all, she was facing a desperate situation. If she could gain the protection of Lilith's Cottage, it would naturally be for the best.
As she drove the carriage, Patty whispered to Locke, "But Locke, I've already drunk the cursed blood those damned Black Wizards fed me. I've entered a state of being neither alive nor dead."
"Can someone like me still return to the White Wizard community?"
Patty looked utterly despairing.
Locke frowned strangely and pulled back the carriage curtain. A wisp of Primal Fire burned at his fingertip. He then placed his finger on her spine, and in the next moment, the Primal Fire entered her body.
Locke used the Reverse Refining Method to refine her spirituality, then ignited a bright red blood droplet within her detached spirituality. That blood droplet was instantly incinerated by the Primal Fire.
Subsequently, all of her spirituality automatically returned to her body.
Locke said, "It's done. The cursed blood in your body is gone."
"You don't have to worry about becoming a blood thrall anymore."
Outside the carriage, Patty rolled up her sleeve and indeed saw that the blood streaks that usually appeared on the arm after drinking cursed blood had vanished. This meant she truly didn't have to worry about becoming a blood thrall.
Patty's eyes widened. After a long while, she suddenly whispered to Locke in a respectful tone, "Lord Locke, thank you."
By now, no matter how dull she was, she couldn't fail to realize that the current Locke was likely not a First-Class Wizard Apprentice.
That curse had been placed on her by a First-Class Wizard Apprentice from the Blood Curse Court who was very close to becoming a Official Wizard. For Locke to remove this magic in an instant meant he was very likely a Official Wizard himself!
In the Southeast Corner Region, the difference in status between a Official Wizard and a Wizard Apprentice was like heaven and earth.
Patty had already experienced this during her time at Verdantia University.
Now, her voice carried a hint of insurmountable respect and awe.
Locke sat in the carriage and sighed.
Things could never go back to how they were.
In the past, he and Patty could laugh and discuss magic tomes on the sun-drenched paths of the Aurelian Academy in Corfu. But now, Patty was a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, and he was a Second Ring Wizard.
The gap was simply too vast.
Even if he intended to stay true to his roots, Patty couldn't remain the person from his memories.
The current situation was already the best possible outcome. If she knew he was a Second Ring Wizard, the rift would likely only grow wider.
However, everything had to move forward.
As he journeyed, the number of people walking alongside him was also increasing.
As long as he kept moving toward higher institutions of learning, he would encounter more people who sought the truth just as he did.
Sitting in the carriage, Locke asked Patty, "Patty, how many Second Ring Wizards appeared during the Great Black Wizard Raid?"
Patty said, "Two... two. It was terrifying. The moment they appeared, I couldn't breathe. I only heard two people on the Black Wizard side laughing loudly, saying they were Second Ring Wizards..."
"That Second Ring Wizard Director of our Verdantia University was quickly beaten into a state of heavy injury by their combined efforts."
"However, I only heard these things through hearsay."
Locke wasn't surprised by this. He sat in the carriage, fine-tuning all of his Botany Spell Models.
A day later, the magic carriage convoy arrived at the former site of Verdantia University.
The once majestic white buildings had been uprooted and completely destroyed, leaving behind only a pile of rubble and ruins.
Over the past day, Locke had already used the water gourd system to inquire with Team Leader Kelt and learned what the banner of the skeletal hand symbolized.
The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land!
That was the symbol of one of the five major Black Wizard organizations in the Yunze Wetland.
In other words, the Southeast Corner Region had the backing of the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land, one of the five major Black Wizard groups from the Yunze Wetland.
The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land was itself a gathering place for those who were neither alive nor dead.
The White Wizard Association prohibited wizards from researching Necromancy; any wizard who did so had to pay heavy fines. If they refused to pay, they would be labeled as Black Wizards.
The Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land gathered these marginalized people from the White Wizard Society who studied Necromancy across various Wizard Lands.
After learning this, Locke finally understood.
"But almost all the major Black Wizard forces in the Southeast Corner Region are researching Necromancy. This indicates that the Black Wizard Alliance here was likely already deeply influenced by the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land."
"Furthermore, Patty said she heard that two Second Ring Wizards appeared during the [Black Wizard Raid]. Originally, there were only two Second Ring Wizards in the entire Southeast Corner Region. This shows that the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land has dispatched many new Second Ring Wizards here."
"Of course, the waters in the Southeast Corner Region aren't that shallow. I suspect the White Wizard Association has also invited outside Second Ring Wizards to enter this Wizard Land."
Locke now felt fortunate that he hadn't chosen to stay and develop in the Southeast Corner Region years ago, or he would certainly have been caught up in this war.
During the previous day, Patty had also told him that the Four Seasons Garden was still being besieged by the Black Wizard Alliance, and she didn't know if it had fallen yet.
If it fell, it would mean that Lilith's Cottage would be the only significant White Wizard force left in the entire Southeast Corner Region.
All the remaining White Wizard Academies were just a disorganized rabble.
Lilith's Cottage would have to bear all the pressure of the war.
Sitting in the carriage, Locke calculated the current situation. He hadn't expected the state of affairs in the Southeast Corner Region to have deteriorated to this point.
He would just have to take things one step at a time.
He had originally returned this time intending to personally discuss the Mist's Power Research Institute project with Lilith's Cottage. He planned to use Wizard Albert as a template to cultivate more Official Wizards who achieved the First Ring through the Forest Sanctuary.
He never expected the war here to be so widespread and intense.
Moreover, Black Wizard forces from a higher-level Wizard Land were involved.
Locke whispered, "Strange, even at this point, the Southeast Corner Region hasn't requested help from the headquarters."
Outside the carriage, Patty, who was driving for Locke, said nothing because she completely failed to understand what Locke was saying.
The information she possessed was too far removed from what Locke knew.
To her, the Southeast Corner Region was the entire world, and the fall of Verdantia had left her with deep psychological trauma.
She felt as if the sky was falling.
It was as if the Black Wizard Alliance was incredibly powerful, like the Frankish Empire on Corfu Island that sought to unify the six nations.
Little did she know that in Locke's eyes, this was merely a minor internal conflict within an ordinary Wizard Land.
Forget the White Wizard Association headquarters—even the Eastern Border Region branch of the White Wizard Association in the Star Domain Sea wouldn't need to act. As long as the Yunze Wetland branch of the White Wizard Association intervened, this Black Wizard uprising would be suppressed very quickly.
Thus, with different perspectives, even the same problem would have completely different levels of severity and nature.
At this moment, in front of the ruins of Verdantia, a Headless Knight with no head and wearing full-body black armor blocked the magic convoy. He held a First Ring Magic item black spear and rode upon a hell warhorse; his black armor was covered in terrifying spikes.
He had no head; where his neck should be, a soul fire was swirling.
"Halt. Permit."
Inside the magic carriage of the Blood Curse Court, a Blood Clan elder, supported by a blood servant, stepped down from the carriage. He walked tremulously toward the Headless Knight and respectfully handed over a Bone Hand medal.
The solemn, elderly Blood Clan elder said excitedly, "Pale Pilgrimage, embrace the eternal rule!"
Sitting inside the magic carriage, Locke frowned immediately.
"Eternal life?"
"This Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land is a holy land for Necromancy Magic. They seem to crave eternal rule, just like the Lich Kings of the Age of Stars."
A thought flashed through Locke's mind.
'I wonder if there is a connection between these two forces.'
At this moment, in front of the magic carriage convoy, the Headless Knight did not move its spear after seeing the permit, but continued to block the way.
It seemed to be puzzled by something, so it remained motionless.
Locke watched this with a faint, knowing smile. It didn't matter; if this fellow really recognized him, he would just have to kill it.
This was a case of 'refusing the road to heaven and barging into the gateless hell.'
Patty gripped the reins, extremely nervous. Her palms were drenched in sweat, fearing the Headless Knight would suddenly attack them.
The Headless Knight showed no intention of moving. Instead, it pointed its black spear Magic item at the nose of the Blood Curse Court's Great Elder, but it remained silent and motionless.
It seemed to be assessing the situation.
In the next moment, a Gasification Stage Blood Clan wizard suddenly rushed out, pierced the Headless Knight's armor with blood claws, pinned it to the ground, and savagely tore it into four or five pieces.
This move gave the other elders of the Blood Curse Court a huge fright.
This was a high-level undead arranged here by a Crystallized Wizard!
The young clan elder grinned. "Since when did we Black Wizards follow rules so strictly? I've taken a liking to this First Ring Magic item. It's mine now."
"I saw it on the side of the road and picked it up, so it's mine."
The other clan elders also looked at the various parts of the Headless Knight with greedy eyes.
"Then I want that Headless Knight's soul fire!"
"I want its body."
"I want its armor!"
"I want that hell warhorse..."
In an instant, a perfectly good undead close to the First Ring was stripped bare by these fools.
Patty grew even more nervous seeing this.
They even kill their own!
These people are truly terrifying!
Did they really have to mingle with such a group of scary lunatics?
Patty was trembling all over as she watched.
Locke sat in the carriage with a strange expression. Good grief, he had originally planned to go out and kill all the Black Wizards in the convoy, including the Headless Knight, and then enter the venue directly.
Who would have thought that upon seeing the high-level undead blocking the way, these Black Wizards would immediately harbor ill intent, kill the undead, and instantly rob it of all its components.
One could only say they had good luck.
After killing the undead blocking the way, the magic carriage convoy entered the ruins of Verdantia. On these ruins, there were still many Wizard Apprentices from various Black Wizard academies scavenging.
Because this area had only fallen a year ago, these ruins still held many resources that might be usable or even precious to those apprentices; thus, there was no lack of Black Wizard Apprentice scavengers here.
Perhaps one day, a lucky Black Wizard Apprentice would scavenge some precious resource here and trigger a bloody storm.
Locke put on a black robe and followed the people from the Blood Curse Court to a spot in the ruins. At this time, many Black Wizards were already gathered there.
Because he wore a black robe and hood, and because hundreds of Official Wizards were gathered there, creating chaotic magic pressure, they didn't notice anything unusual about Locke.
Locke immediately spotted several old acquaintances.
The first was Witch Stephania, the female leader of the Ghost Saint Church.
The second was the Blood Lord.
He had no personal relationship with the Blood Lord, but since he had conflicts with several wizards from the Blood Curse Court back then, he naturally took an extra look at the Blood Lord standing in the crowd.
The third wizard was the Golden Skeleton King of the Bone Cult.
At the same time, Locke also saw Hammerke the Wizard, the Chief Wizard Mentor of the Royal Corpse Court who had fully presided over the Black Wizard Alliance's operations at Lilith's Cottage back then.
More Black Wizards continued to gather at these ruins from time to time.
Clearly, this was a Black Wizard gathering where they were discussing how to further attack the White Wizard Association in the Southeast Corner Region.
Besides the four top Black Wizard academies of the Southeast Corner Region, there were also many small Black Wizard academies, some even consisting of only a few wizards.
Hammerke the Wizard scanned the gathering Official Wizards, his eyes flickering.
"Only the Pale Pilgrimage could possess such power."
"With just one order, they can make Black Wizard academies from the most remote corners of the Southeast Corner Region gather here. These are entities that even my Royal Corpse Court cannot command."
The Blood Lord said in a low voice, "After all, theoretically, all our inheritances were passed down from the Pale Pilgrimage. Especially our Blood Curse Court, Royal Corpse Court, Ghost Saint Church, and Bone Cult."
"The founding wizards of these four wizard academies all came from the Pale Pilgrimage. Other small wizard academies were generally founded by those who graduated from our four academies."
The Blood Lord continued, "Because of this order, all Official Wizards of my Blood Curse Court have come. If not for this, it would be difficult for all our Official Wizards to gather at once. Not only that, but even the larger wizard academies that originated from us, like the Tower of Curses, the Church of Fresh Blood, and the Bloody Slaughterhouse, have sent their Official Wizards. Hehe... the Official Wizards of the Blood Curse Court lineage are all here."
Hammerke, the Chief Wizard Mentor of the Royal Corpse Court, ordered the Old Medium Woman beside him to raise a medium lamp to illuminate the ruins.
As that eerie ghostly soul fire was lit, everyone's faces were reflected in a green hue by the magical glow.
The Old Medium Woman said, "Relaying the order of the Court Minister: before the Great Lord's Imperial Court relocates here, we must first clear the White Wizard Association from this land. Therefore, we are to launch a final attack on the White Wizards. Currently, among the larger academies of the White Wizard Association, only Lilith's Cottage has not fallen."
"Today, under the witness of our Black Wizard Alliance leader, we are to elect a team leader for the task force that will execute the mission to capture Lilith's Cottage! He will lead us to seize the last stronghold of the White Wizard Association in this region. This is the Great Lord's political decree passed down from the Pale Pilgrimage!"
Locke was stunned.
So that was it. Had even the Four Seasons Garden been breached by now?
And Niflheim University also failed to withstand the Black Wizard Alliance's offensive?
Patty had been a slave to the Blood Curse Court wizards for half a year, so her information was likely outdated. It seemed that within these past six months, both the Four Seasons Garden and Niflheim University had fallen.
He had been busy with the Silent Grail and hadn't contacted the wizards of the Southeast Corner Region at all.
The Old Medium Woman said spookily, "We must force the local White Wizard Association to reach an agreement with us. Therefore, we will organize an operation to capture Lilith's Cottage to pressure the White Wizard Association into negotiations and agree to let the Great Lord's palace descend."
Locke frowned.
Whether it was 'Great Lord', 'Palace', or 'Imperial Court', these were very ancient concepts. Logically, after the Enlightenment Era, no wizard should dare call themselves a king or emperor.
With the White Wizard Association around, any wizard in this world who truly treated themselves as an ancient wizard monarch would surely be attacked by everyone.
The Pale Pilgrimage spent all day dealing with eerie Necromancy, and it turned out even their political system was completely backward, predating the Enlightenment Era.
Court Minister?
If a Second Ring Wizard was a Court Minister for the Pale Pilgrimage, it meant the Pale Pilgrimage likely had Third Ring Wizards.
Locke used the water gourd system to ask Team Leader Kelt which academy in the Cloud Marsh was sponsoring the Pale Pilgrimage.
Team Leader Kelt quickly gave him a reply.
'It's the Rose Council and the Storm Tower.'
'Locke, I almost abducted a Sun-Worshipping Dragon earlier. I wanted to give it to you as a congratulatory gift for becoming a Second Ring Wizard. Sigh, the dragon died later.'
Locke blinked, his face twitching as he asked, "Why does the Storm Tower support so many Black Wizards? Team Leader, which one does our Golden Crown Mountain support?"
Team Leader Kelt said, "The Storm Tower has many grey industries, so they need Black Wizards to help cover for them. Every time someone is about to get evidence to report them, they can contact those Black Wizards."
"Golden Crown Mountain sponsors the Chaos Mothership."
"Why do you ask?"
Locke responded, "It's nothing, I just encountered the Pale Pilgrimage in the Southeast Corner Region."
Team Leader Kelt sent back a string of: "??"
'How is it that you, Locke, can encounter Black Wizards causing trouble just by visiting relatives? You can report it to the Cloud Marsh White Wizard Association. Although our Cloud Marsh White Wizard Association is just for one Wizard Land, because of our economic status, we are effectively one level higher than those of ordinary Wizard Lands.'
'However, there's no real benefit to reporting it.'
'Of course, you can handle it yourself. Anyway, this has nothing to do with us. The Pale Pilgrimage's recent opponents were the Storm Tower and Casiros Art University. The Pale Pilgrimage won against the Storm Tower but lost to Casiros Art University. According to the rules, the Pale Pilgrimage harvested some living people from our Cloud Marsh, so their power in the Wizard World has increased significantly.'
'I reckon that's why they can go cause trouble in the Southeast Corner Region.'
'Even if you leave them alone, if they dare to make a big scene, it will draw the Demon Hunter Troops to suppress them.'
Locke was speechless. Was the Storm Tower really that useless?
Good grief, there was something wrong with the competition system in the Cloud Marsh. The reason no academy had replaced the Storm Tower in its district was entirely because the Storm Tower forcibly suppressed all the wizard academies within that district.
Locke pondered for a moment.
This top Weather Master Wizard Academy, which was always ranked last, seemed to have its status in jeopardy lately.
The Silent Grail was at the bottom as usual, and they had also lost the Five Great Wars.
Even if they temporarily exploited a bug, the Cloud Marsh Council had likely been unhappy with them for a long time and might be secretly planning how to eliminate them, just waiting for the right moment.
One had to know that the Cloud Marsh had ten districts in total. Only seven districts had top wizard academies, while the remaining three districts had a large number of medium-to-large scale wizard academies.
Those wizard academies could completely leave one district and go to another!
Or they could stay in their district and launch an academic challenge against the Storm Tower to replace its status. All of this was possible.