Chapter 1132 Catherine the Witch's Farewell Feast
Chapter 1132 Catherine the Witch's Farewell Banquet
In the wizarding town, the entire town was currently hosting a banquet for her lineage, organized by Catherine the Witch. Locke saw many familiar faces, as well as many unfamiliar second-ring, star-ring, and moon-ring wizards. At the very heart of the town were his senior brother Georta, wizard Heidegger, witch Zoira, and witch Fiona.
Locke walked over, greeted wizard Trajan and his four senior brothers and sisters, and then took a seat at the table. No one doubted his strength as a core member of the Red Dragon Throne lineage; after all, not everyone had the experience of single-handedly taking on an entire star-ring breeder in the wizarding lands.
Catherine the Witch's avatar instantly appeared at the head of the table. She gestured to her eldest disciple, Georta, who, with a faint smile, raised a peachwood wand and activated a shielding magic array covering the entire wizarding town.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: Taiwan Novel Network, a super useful tool for tracking Taiwanese novels. ⓣⓦⓚⓐⓝ.ⓒⓞⓜ]
The witch Catherine began, "Now I will show you the prophecy I received from the High Heaven Plains. This is the prophecy of Master [Sok], a fourth-circle prophet from the High Heaven Plains."
Catherine waved her hand, and an illusion screen appeared in the sky. In this illusion screen, the Rose Witch, now a fourth-circle wizard, plunged a rose sword into Catherine's abdomen. In the void, the wizards of the Rose lineage launched an attack on the wizards of the Red Dragon lineage that exceeded the limits of lineage warfare.
Catherine's expression remained unchanged. Instead, she picked up a cup of wizard tea and took a small sip.
Then, she quietly awaited the reactions of the crowd.
The wizards present fell silent. Some showed worry for Catherine the Witch and themselves, some had complex and fearful expressions, and others were filled with righteous indignation.
Catherine the Witch set down her teacup. "Master Soko is a good friend of mine, and his prophecies have never been wrong. This shows that this is an unprecedentedly difficult war." "
Therefore, I have decided to let you decide yourselves whether to stay or leave before the formal showdown with the Rose School.
Staying is good, leaving is also fine. If the prophecy comes true, at least our school will not be wiped out."
At this moment, the wizards of the entire wizarding town fell into an unusual silence.
In the Rose Council, amidst the rose-filled town of Rose Town, the Rose Witch unveiled a prophecy she had painstakingly obtained from a fourth-circle prophetic wizard at Quinnjoll University.
"The resources required to become a fourth-circle wizard are no longer readily available; wizarding civilizations have been searching for such resources in the void for years. Therefore, such resources require luck and timing."
The Rose Witch pointed to an illusion screen, where Catherine the Witch, wielding the Sacred Peach Bow, used magic to pierce her abdomen, sending her plummeting into the depths of the void. Simultaneously, Trajan the Wizard suddenly led a wizarding army to massacre her students and the Tacitus family.
Many wizards present, witnessing this scene, were filled with rage and fury.
The Rose Throne declared, "To reach the fourth-circle foundation, I commissioned a prophetic master to foretell my arrival, and this is the prophecy's result."
Even though they were in two distant locations within the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the Rose Witch and Catherine spoke the same words, one after another.
"Therefore, we must win this time."
In the wizard town of Golden Crown Mountain,
the witch Catherine said, "This is the consequence of failure. To break the prophecy, we need to imbue it with energy. The wizards of the Prophecy School believe that there is a force called destiny flowing within all things and all existence. They capture, analyze, and study it, naming it various types of weak spiritual touches." "
To break this prophecy, we need to generate something that can counteract this powerful inertial force of destiny, which is weak spiritual touch. This requires the collective effort of all the wizards in our lineage. This is a tough battle that I may not be able to win. My students, if you do not want to be involved in this war, you can leave here first, or accept the school's mission and temporarily leave this wizarding land."
"
The core area of the lineage war is in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands."
"You can decide for yourselves."
The witch Catherine looked at the wizard Trajan, who stood up. "Gentlemen,"
explained Trajan, " to facilitate the collection of information on the future of our lineage of wizards, I have created a spellbook to record your choices. After this banquet, there will be no more opportunities for you to freely withdraw. The opposing lineage will certainly target us with all its might."
Catherine the Witch interjected, "If no wizards show the corresponding resolve, I suggest you temporarily leave the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. Trajan, you go and collect the information."
At this moment, the wizards in the wizarding town began to ponder their current situation.
Leaving or staying was a choice they needed to make carefully, whether driven by emotional reasons or practical considerations.
Most wizards' interests lay within a single wizarding territory; leaving would mean wasting years of their efforts.
However, staying also carried significant risks.
The battle for influence was raging, a battle for virtue; staying would easily make them targets of inexplicable attacks.
Facing Trajan, who approached them, the wizards hesitated, but ultimately made their decisions. Before making their choices, they bowed to Catherine the Witch and then wrote their decisions in their spellbooks. When
Trajan stood before Zeno, Zeno pondered for a moment, holding his magic quill, but hesitated to write.
Trajan, the wizard, said expressionlessly, "Zenor, it's time for you to make a choice. Whatever you choose, it will be a contribution to our lineage."
"There's no need for any guilt,"
Zenor gritted his teeth, writing two words in his spellbook with his magic quill: "Stay."
Trajan's lips curled slightly upon seeing his choice.
Then, he walked to the second-circle wizard, Celtic Wizard.
"Celtic Wizard, you're considered an outsider in our lineage, merely a subordinate of the teacher. It's your turn to make a choice."
Celtic Wizard smiled and said, "The Red Dragon lineage allowed me to stay at Golden Crown Mountain; this is my only chance to remain there. Golden Crown Mountain has high requirements; for a wizard from a humble background like me, being able to join even an outsider lineage is already quite good."
Celtic Wizard immediately wrote "Stay" in his spellbook.
The Celtic wizard looked at Trajan, then at Locke with a complex expression, before saying to Trajan, "I won't leave."
Trajan nodded, then walked to a young wizard from the Moon Ring, who looked awkwardly at the witch Catherine. He then made a decision and wrote "I will not leave" in his spellbook.
"It's not that I'm afraid, but I have a project at a crucial moment, and I want to complete it with my students. I plan to go to the Rizer Lowlands to take the project with me."
Catherine nodded to him, saying, "Osmar, I fully support you. I have great faith in your talent in vine toxicology."
Next, more wizards wrote their decisions in Trajan's spellbook.
By the time Trajan reached Locke, all the thousand wizards present had written their decisions in the spellbook, and Locke raised his hand and wrote "I will stay" with his magic quill.
This was expected.
Trajan walked to the main table.
At this moment, Wizard Georta rose and bowed to Witch Catherine.
"Teacher, I'm sorry I can't stay here and fight alongside you. I have many students of my own. If I were alone, I would certainly stay. If I were just a Sun Ring Wizard, instead of a Third Ring Wizard who needs to rely on my own True Forging to raise a large group of wizards—a high-level magic—I would stay here without hesitation."
"Teacher, I've decided to temporarily travel to the Land of Dragonfall. I have a collaboration with a holy site there." "
That collaboration is quite important to me. It's a collaboration with the number one ranked holy site, which might give me a chance to be selected as a Throne-level Wizard. As you know, to be selected as a Throne-level Wizard requires solid qualifications, unparalleled research, and a bit of luck. If there are too many competitors in the same field, it's possible to remain unselected for years. And if the chosen field is too niche and insignificant, it's also very difficult to be selected—Teacher, I'm sorry."
Witch Catherine was not angry. "Georta, after I win, you have to be the first one home."
Wizard Georta smiled knowingly. "Of course."
"Teacher, I'm probably the student who's been by your side the longest. It's just a pity I'm getting old, and my status is different now. I'm no longer the naive boy I used to be, able to gamble recklessly. I really miss the old days, when I felt fearless."
Georta looked at Trajan and Locke. "Junior brothers, you are in the most fearless time of your lives, the time when you don't need to worry about your families. Enjoy this time, because once you reach the Third Ring, you won't have such good days anymore."
Wizard Trajan said with a smile, "Senior brother, you're saying this as if you're telling a child to grow up slowly, there's no rush to become an adult. But for me, I wish I could become a Third Ring wizard this year. Aren't you just being sarcastic?"
Georta shook his head helplessly and smiled, "Junior brother, you don't know my current predicament."
"Every day, students ask me for money. I have to pretend that I'm confident and that I have plenty of funds to allocate. And in the war of academic lineages, my situation is becoming increasingly difficult. Now, several years have passed, and this war of academic lineages is like invisible gunpowder, yet it's far more intense than war. I'd rather lead the wizard legion into the abyss or hell, or fight against other super civilizations, than fight this war of academic lineages where the killers are killed with soft knives."
"A few days ago, one of my students became a debt slave. He's quite talented,"
Wizard Georta said helplessly, "but unfortunately, he was targeted by wizards from the Rose School. I'm furious, but unfortunately, my current financial situation isn't very good either."
These words silenced many of the wizards present, as their own financial situations were also precarious.
Wizards rarely avoided debt.
The requirements of Mount Golden Crown were already quite high.
And in the School Wars, everyone's financial situation was generally affected. Of course, Locke purely enjoyed the benefits, because by fighting his way through the Rose School in the realm of wizard shoes, he had actually carved out a bloody path and even made some money in the School Wars.
Zoira the Witch also stood up and bowed to Ekaterina the Witch, saying, "Teacher, I also need to follow in the footsteps of my senior brother. I'm going to the Southern Witch Capital to establish a new business district. This period will be a temporary trip to explore new markets."
"That market is extremely important to me."
"If it weren't for this matter, I wouldn't mind staying."
Ekaterina the Witch nodded in understanding. Her control over her third-ring wizard students was already relatively weak. They also had their own students and networks to manage, and their own businesses. She wanted to advance to the fourth ring, and her students also wanted to go further. Since Zoira's plans conflicted with her current plans, this excellent third-ring witch would prioritize her own interests, which was understandable to everyone.
These third-ring students all relied on their own third-ring status,
not on the academic network's third ring.
The academic network had them as an advantage; talent has its uses, and loyal subordinates naturally have their own paths to take.
Since these students could rely on their own abilities to reach the third ring, they naturally wouldn't risk everything for her. Moreover, according to the prophecy, she was at a great disadvantage. The witch Catherine was happy to see her students disperse, preventing her doctrine from being completely suppressed by the Rose Council in one fell swoop.
Catherine turned to her second disciple, the witch Heidegger, who had also risen. Heidegger stood up somewhat embarrassed,
but remained silent.
Knowing her student's personality, Catherine asked, "Heidegger, do you also want to leave?"
Heidegger sighed. "One of my students recently discovered a vast world that once existed during the Great Void Exploration Era, but then mysteriously disappeared. My student and I proved that this world enters a state of 'Manifestation' and 'Concealment' at different times. This is the first time I've ever seen such a wondrous world." "
I plan to dedicate my entire academic lineage to excavating and exploring that world."
"Therefore, I have no time to attend to anything else. Other third-ring wizards have also noticed this world, but my exploration progress is currently ahead. According to wizarding law, the wizard who explores more than 80% of the world's area, opens the World Hall, and obtains the World Stone will unconditionally possess primary ownership of that world and restrict other wizards exploring their local areas from acquiring related ownership rights. This is an ancient law, and its applicability is being questioned in various contexts."
Wizard Heidegger said, "But the third-ring wizard competing with me for that world seems to want to use this method to exclude me from that world."
"So—"
Witch Catherine nodded; the third-ring wizards themselves also had their own contradictions. "I understand. Heidegger, I understand your difficulties."
Witch Catherine looked at the last third-ring disciple who hadn't yet expressed his opinion. "Fiona, what about you?"
Fiona stood up and said, "Teacher, I've decided to stay here to help you."
Catherine frowned. "Have you had a meeting with your students? I'm not sure what they think."
Fiona smiled. "My students aren't very capable, so I don't need to consider their opinions too much.
What I say goes. My management style is much rougher than a teacher's. I can't be bothered with their specific ideas. Besides, I don't have any projects that are important enough to be done at this time, nor do I find the Rose Council particularly terrifying."
"Therefore, I will stay here,"
Wizard Heidegger coughed. "I need to set the record straight. I am indeed competing with a third-ring wizard from Quinnjoll for a Great World. The other resources of that Great World are secondary; the special states of Dao Yin and Dao Xian are extremely important to me. My main focus lately has been on gramineous magical plants. I've taken a liking to the unique environment of that world and believe it's perfectly suited for cultivating several magical plants I possess."
Catherine the Witch spoke up for him, "It's good that Heidegger withdrew from the academic war. His rice market is crucial, one of the main grain markets in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. If this rice market intervenes in our academic war and encounters vicious commercial competition, it could trigger an ethical crisis."
Catherine the Witch flipped through Trajan's spellbook and nodded. It was roughly as she had predicted; about half the wizards had left, including three of the third-ring wizards. Only her own disciple, the Witch Fiona, was prepared to stay. Fiona's
decision to stay was likely because she didn't have many markets to begin with, and her business plans and the commercialization of her academic achievements in recent years had been somewhat poor.
The other three students weren't necessarily unwilling to help her, but rather they carried a heavier responsibility and couldn't simply lead a group into battle like a second-ring wizard.
Ekaterina looked at the list; these direct disciples were her core students, all of whom had achieved their success through their own efforts, not through the lineage.
However, within her lineage, there were four third-ring wizards who had been cultivated through her lineage, and these individuals were still outside, not yet summoned by her.
This group was absolutely unlikely to leave the lineage war.
Ekaterina said, "Then your decisions regarding staying and leaving are made. Now, let's begin our lineage's internal auction." "
This is the last time we will hold a lineage-wide auction in the near future, and we will not hold any more auctions like this until the lineage war ends."
Locke and his fellow students exchanged glances, all feeling a unique sense of farewell and感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing sorrow, regret, and reflection).
In Rose Town, the Rose Throne glanced at her four third-ring wizards. These four had chosen to leave Cloudswamp Wetlands, avoiding the academic war. Only Wizard Soras sat smiling in his seat. He had chosen to stay because there were benefits; he could then receive the resources vacated by the wizards who chose to leave.
It was a gamble.
A gamble that the Rose Academy could win.
The Rose Throne wasn't particularly concerned about their departure. Frankly, ordinary third-ring wizards were like chickens and dogs to her, easily killed with a flick of her finger.
As for academic assistance, these students and her research direction had long since diverged. Returning to help her would require a period of adjustment, and it was impossible for them to abandon their entire academy's current research to help her. On the contrary, Soras's academy's research direction had always intersected with hers.
For third-ring wizards, it wasn't possible to change their development strategy based solely on sentiment; there must be a factor of self-interest involved.
The Rose Throne pondered, considering the three-ring wizards under her wing who relied on her lineage; these people were unlikely to leave.
The Rose Throne spoke, "Then let's begin the final auction for all lineages. I hope everyone can find something interesting."
Wizard Solas stepped forward and said, "Teacher, I have a suggestion. According to my inside information, the White Wizard Association of Cloudze Wetlands, in order to enhance the strength of our Wizarding Land and ensure our Wizarding Land benefits from this Ascension Plan, is preparing to take the lead in establishing a Shop Alliance Resource Integration Committee.
"
The Rose Throne raised an eyebrow, puzzled, "How come I didn't know about this?"
Wizard Solas said, "Teacher, you are extremely busy."
"Too busy to know such trivial matters. This was a decision made by a department within the association, without going through the Wizarding Land Council's procedures."
The Rose Throne raised an eyebrow. "All decisions made without going through the Wizarding Lands Council process lack the Council's backing, making it difficult to obtain substantial resources,"
Wizard Soras said. "Yes. But even so, I've heard the White Wizarding Association is serious. They want to integrate the current commercial resources of the entire Wizarding Lan