161: College meeting

“Haha…”

“You can’t catch me, you can’t catch me…”

In the jungle, Gelin, empowered by the Magic Whirlwind, was as nimble as a monkey, dashing left and right towards the location of Treasure Chest No. 1. From time to time, he would tear off branches and vines blocking his way and throw them behind him… About a hundred meters behind Gelin, Wizard Odysseus, transformed into a Blood-colored Bat, was rapidly tracking Gelin’s trail. However, he had already fallen behind from the start and also had to deal with various obstacles encountered during flight, including natural and man-made ones… So, this chase had been going on for several minutes, but Wizard Odysseus still couldn’t catch up to Wizard Gelin, only eating his dust… As for Hudson, the big helper, he rushed back as soon as he received Wizard Odysseus’s message, but his actual speed was limited. He had fallen far behind and even though Wizard Hudson used all his tricks, he could only blindly follow the traces of the two, one chasing and one fleeing. He was still flying and on his way… The map of the entire Ancient Secret Realm was not very large.

It was only about a hundred kilometers in circumference, and Gelin quickly moved from the outer regions of the Secret Realm to the inner area where Treasure Chest No. 1 was located.

When Gelin saw the main force of Plant Heart Academy, the academy’s wizards had already completed their grand assembly.

Basically, all surviving wizards were gathered here, numbering over 100 at a glance, indicating that Plant Heart Academy had not suffered many losses.

Gelin was overjoyed at the sight and shouted loudly:

“Brothers, two Peak Wizard Apprentices from Blood Fortress are chasing me from behind.”

“Come a few helpers, let’s take them down.”

Upon hearing this, Wizard Odysseus immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

He turned around and ran. Wizard Odysseus didn’t want to be ganged up on. He didn’t know where the Blood Fortress wizards were gathered yet, and if he were ganged up on, no one would come to save him.

“Haha…”

“Want to run? Too late!”

Gelin was never one to suffer losses; he had long prepared his backup plans and tricks.

With a direct “Thorn Entanglement” combined with “Seed Germination Technique,” countless green thorns emerged from their inevitable path.

Wizard Odysseus hurriedly slammed on the brakes, followed by a rather clumsy sharp turn, intending to change his escape route. Unexpectedly, this played right into Gelin’s hands. Gelin turned around and directly blocked Wizard Odysseus… “Boom boom…”

“Crackle snap…”

Under Gelin’s successful interception, Wizard Odysseus was ultimately blocked and ganged up on by Gelin and a large group of White Wizards who had rushed to support.

“Damn…”

“You farmers, you have no martial ethics, a group of you attacking me alone, if you have the guts, come at me one-on-one!”

“Heh heh…”

Everyone laughed, and Gelin, hearing these familiar words, laughed even harder.

“Alright, you want a one-on-one, we’ll satisfy you.”

Gelin said mockingly:

“Look, is it you challenging all of us, or all of us challenging you alone?”

“You choose one, the choice is yours.”

“Ah ah ah…”

“Gelin, you despicable scoundrel, shameless…”

Under the continuous barrage of wizardry, Wizard Odysseus’s life-saving items shattered one by one, and his life-saving measures were triggered. Even the defensive barrier supported by his hidden first-tier broken guardian wizard artifact was tottering, as if it would shatter in the next second, and a feeling of death welled up in his heart.

“Where are my brothers from Blood Fortress?”

“I am Odysseus, come quickly to support!”

…Ten li away, on a high hill.

A group of wizards wearing red wizard robes and various armors were busily preparing various defensive fortifications. The rocky hill, over 200 meters high, was covered with various pits, ropes, and barricades… At the same time, they were still supplementing and perfecting it, using the terrain to build a simple defensive wall. The entire hill had become a busy construction site, and judging by the number of workers, there were fewer than 100 people.

Wizard Odysseus’s voice, amplified by wizardry, was heard by the wizards working here.

“It’s Wizard Odysseus’s cry for help!”

A familiar wizard recognized it.

“Should we go save him? Judging by the direction, it seems to be coming from the gathering place of Heart of Plants.”

At these words, everyone immediately fell silent.

A high-ranking wizard, who was commanding the others, spoke:

“Forget it, let him be.”

“Our mission is not to seek death. Now we only have about 90 people left. You all know how powerful those farmers are.”

“However, we can’t just stand by and watch him die. So, I’ll issue a mission: whoever rescues Wizard Odysseus will be considered to have completed all the points for this mission. Those interested, sign up now.”

“Those not interested, continue working…”

It was silent… Many wizards sped up their work, but not a single one stepped forward to volunteer for the mission. Wizards are clever people, and they are very good at their calculations.

“Are you kidding? That Wizard Odysseus, not knowing his place, ran to the lair of Plant Heart Academy. Can he still live? Even if he has the combat power of a Peak Wizard Apprentice, it’s a tough situation.”

“These farming wizards from Heart of Plants usually seem honest, but I didn’t expect them to let loose once they entered the Secret Realm. They ambush, launch suicide attacks, exchange lives for lives; they all fight like madmen. Who dares to provoke them?”

“Didn’t you see that 200 people from our Blood Fortress came in, and now only 90-plus are left? Most of the others were probably taken out by the Plant Heart wizards. The mission reward is good, but it’s poisoned…”

“Anyway, our academy won’t get the fruit of life this time, and we won’t have a good outcome when we go back. It’s better to just stay here and steadily build a defensive base, hunker down here, and save our lives…”

…The commanding wizard of Blood Fortress was also a seasoned and powerful old wizard named Wizard Dalton, known as “Touch of Blood.”

Wizard Dalton merely observed the silent, unresponsive, and greatly demoralized wizards for a moment and knew the final answer.

No one was willing to risk their lives.

Wizard Odysseus could only rely on himself.

Wizard Dalton concluded:

“Cough cough…”

“Now we are short-handed, and the enemy situation is unclear. To avoid falling into the enemy’s trap, let’s stay put.”

“All wizards, speed up. The defensive fortifications concern everyone’s lives. You wouldn’t want to be forced to join the more than 100 colleagues underground, would you?”