59: Secrets of the Ancient Wizards

Mid-June, 16th year on the wizard's path.

It was time for the Green Iron Triangle's gathering.

Ellie had gone with her teacher, Serena, to the Seven Towers Alliance for a study tour and was not expected back for at least a year.

After finishing his combat training, Adler joined his newly formed combat team to undertake missions and earn money, often staying out of the Academy.

Oakes heard about Green's frantic pace last month, taking on numerous orders to refine Knight Life Ignition Potion.

He earned over a thousand magic stones in a single month.

Oakes immediately started clamoring to thoroughly fleece Green, the big spender.

Green, being generous, simply waved his hand.

"To the Battle Axe Bar! A bloody mary for everyone..."

"Green, I respect no one but you, you money-grubber."

"The moment he heard that refining Knight Life Ignition Potion could make money, he became incredibly enthusiastic."

"He dropped everything else and just focused on refining Knight Life Ignition Potion."

"Heh, and the key is he actually succeeded! He can even refine good quality ones now."

"I can still only refine ordinary quality, barely passable."

Oakes sighed, pointing at Green as he spoke.

"Hmph, it's easy for you to say when you're not the one struggling."

"If I had as much money as you, would I be this crazy?"

Green pouted and said:

"It's all because I'm broke. That's why they say I've gone mad from poverty, right?"

"...Come, cheers."

"You guys caught me at the right time today. It's my first time earning such a large sum of money."

"It's quite a memorial, so today's my treat," Green said grandly, adding immediately,

"However, it's only for one bloody mary. After the drink, we're still going for a buffet."

"That's where we can truly eat our fill."

"That's right. If Green were to eat without restraint at the Battle Axe Bar, he'd probably finish all the thousand-plus magic stones he earned last month in one meal."

Bigg chimed in with a grin. With his awakened bloodline, Green's appetite was astonishing now. If not for the Academy's free food welfare, Bigg would even worry that Green wouldn't earn enough to feed himself.

"I've been so busy lately that I haven't paid much attention to Academy matters."

"Oakes, has anything major happened recently?"

Green took a small sip of the blood-red liquid, slowly letting the cool wine circulate between his lips and tongue for a few turns before swallowing it, savoring the exhilarating sensation of both ice and fire.

"There have been several major events."

"But the biggest one is that a Formal Wizard from Radiant Fire Wizard Academy was killed by those Black Wizards in the Mist Islands. This news has spread throughout the entire Mist Coast!"

"Wow..."

"Is it that explosive?"

"Isn't Radiant Fire Wizard Academy the strongest Wizard Tower in our Seven Towers Alliance? I heard they have five Formal Wizards. Are those Black Wizards really that bold?"

"Green, when have you ever known Black Wizards to be timid? In the past, they didn't cause major incidents because there wasn't enough profit."

"My grandfather told me that fifty years ago, those Black Wizards, for the sake of a miraculous item that could help one become a Formal Wizard, directly massacred a county in the Motlan Grand Kingdom, and even killed one Formal Wizard from the Alliance who came to rescue them, and severely wounded two others."

"I suspect this time it must also be for some precious resource, most likely a resource that aids in becoming a Formal Wizard," Oakes stated with certainty.

Green also sighed. A Formal Wizard, a figure at the apex of the Mist Coast's hierarchy.

In this era of declining extraordinary power and scarce resources on the Mist Coast, becoming a Formal Wizard was truly like crossing a single-plank bridge with thousands of soldiers.

Low-level resources were still manageable; various methods could be used to cultivate them.

For example, Plant Heart Wizard Academy had established a Botanical Garden of tens of thousands of acres around its Wizard Tower, capable of cultivating mid-to-low-level Demonized Plantss, which was unique in the Seven Towers Alliance.

However, higher-level resources, such as advanced Demonized Plantss, or even formal first-tier Demonized Plantss, were extremely difficult to cultivate, either requiring immense cost or an extremely long cultivation period.

Ordinary apprentices didn't even have the chance to see them; they were incredibly rare.

"Alas, we were born at the wrong time."

"Some ancient texts record that in ancient times, it was an era of prosperity for cultivation."

"Back then, there was a profound saying that circulated."

"First-tier wizards were everywhere, second-tier wizards were not as good as dogs, third-tier wizards could still make a stir, but only fourth-tier Morning Star Wizards were true big shots."

"Green, Bigg, just think, why weren't we born in that good era?"

Oakes said with a face full of melancholy and longing.

"Stop dreaming. Go back and get some sleep. You can have anything you want in your dreams."

Green mercilessly shattered Oakes' daydream.

"Oakes, let's just be content. I heard that those Ancient Wizards weren't White Wizards in charge."

"Those big shots at the top primarily cultivated powerful Black Wizards to wage wars against other worlds."

"If you had been reincarnated into the ancient era, would you have lived as comfortably among the Black Wizards as you do now?"

Bigg posed a soul-stirring question, directly shattering Oakes' fragile fantasy.

"Hmph, it's all because those Ancient Wizards fought too fiercely."

"Internally, they scoured for resources as if scraping the earth three feet deep."

"Externally, they frequently launched wars in other realms."

"As a result, they walked the night road too often and finally encountered a ghost."

"The Ancient Wizards enjoyed attacking those weaker alien civilizations, but they finally met their match."

"They were utterly defeated, throwing away their armor and abandoning their weapons..."

"Not only did they lose many newly occupied alien worlds, but they were also forced into isolation, sealing off the entire Wizard World to protect themselves."

"But they truly made it difficult for us, their descendants."

"According to historical records, it has been tens of thousands of years, and the entire Wizard World has been in a low tide of elemental decline for tens of thousands of years."

"And who knows how much longer this elemental low tide will last?"

"If it weren't for the immense sins committed by those Ancient Wizards, would we have to cultivate so painstakingly now?"

Oakes was like an angry youth at this moment, his emotions ignited by the current hot topic: accumulated resentment, the arduousness of cultivation, and the despair of not seeing the path to becoming a Formal Wizard...

It's no wonder Oakes was so vehemently criticizing the Ancient Wizards.

What they did was truly inhumane.

The battle that ended the Ancient Wizard civilization was fought within the Wizard World itself!

A group of great beings above the fourth-tier fought to the death within the Wizard World, causing immense destruction.

The interior of the Wizard World was thrown into chaos; originally, the Wizard World had only one large continent, but it was shattered into countless large and small landmasses and islands.

This is also the origin of the Mist Coast and the Mist Islands.

If not for the later sacrifice of three great 7th-tier wizards, led by the Ancient Wizard Green, who activated the Wizard World's World Artifact—the Scales of Truth—

forcibly teleporting the invading enemies away and sealing off and hiding the entire Wizard World,

it's possible that the entire Wizard World would have been destroyed in that battle.

This is also the origin of Green's name.

Later generations, in gratitude for the sacrifice of these three great beings, named their children after them.

It is said that as long as someone in the Wizard World bears the names of these three great beings, they will receive the blessings of the great beings.

Thus, Green became one of the most common names in the Wizard World...