Chapter 49: The Terrifying Archmage

Outside the top-grade forging room of the Forging Guild,

Yasuo's figure quietly appeared.

The heavy stone door slowly opened, and a scorching wave of heat mixed with the faint fragrance of metal rushed toward him.

Ou Yezi did not waste words and directly put all the forged equipment into the space ring.

Then he handed the ring to Yasuo.

Yasuo turned and left, his figure quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor.

The two didn't say a single word from beginning to end.

This scene left Lin Wei, who was standing to the side, completely dumbfounded.

She cautiously asked Ou Yezi: "Great Master Ou, who was that just now?"

Ou Yezi's reply remained concise and to the point: "A friend."

"Just deduct this time's Materials costs directly from my money. Thank you for your hard work, send me back."

He wasn't really going to rest.

Instead, under Zhou Huai's arrangement, he silently used the two skills [Divine Craftsman Enlightenment] and [Spirit-Quenching Touch] in the apartment.

To raise his proficiency a bit.

Especially the [Divine Craftsman Enlightenment] skill, although it could currently only be upgraded to rare quality.

It was somewhat tasteless to Ou Yezi.

But who knew, in the future he might be able to Enlighten legendary-grade equipment.

At that time, this skill would truly be a divine skill.

…

Donghai City, North City Gate.

Yasuo wore a dark long windbreaker, quietly leaning against the city wall.

A moment later, an upright figure walked over from afar.

It was Zhou Huai's third Clone, the SS-Class Forbidden Spell Master Gandalf.

The two rendezvoused, preparing to leave the city.

The guard at the city gate conducted a routine inspection, and when he saw Yasuo's identification information, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Your name is also Yasuo?"

The guard looked him up and down, clicking his tongue in wonder.

"Your name is really… loud enough."

"It actually shares the same name as that wanted criminal with a million-gold bounty."

The guard said half-jokingly: "If I hadn't heard that Yasuo had already been blasted to pieces by a big shot, I almost would have thought you were him."

Zhou Huai controlled Yasuo, letting out a dry laugh.

"Yeah, these past two days I've been walking on eggshells, afraid that someone would mistakenly catch me on the street to claim the bounty."

The guard burst out laughing and patted his shoulder.

"Rest assured, brother, looking at your build, you don't look like a fierce person capable of trapping and killing dozens of people from the Radiant Alliance."

After joking around a few simple times, the guard cheerfully waved and let them pass.

Yasuo brought Gandalf, successfully walking out of the city gate and stepping back into the wilderness outside the city.

Next was leveling-up time.

Their target was the dungeon Lin Wei had mentioned earlier—[Shadow Swamp Demon Cave].

The dungeon was located twenty kilometers north of the city.

With Yasuo's current Rank 14, clearing the way all the way there, reaching Rank 15 upon arrival wouldn't be much of a problem.

At that time, he could equip the [Wild Set] carefully crafted by Ou Yezi.

By then, going to challenge the calamity-difficulty [Shadow Swamp Demon Cave] would give him even greater certainty.

Not long after leaving the city, the swaying figures of exotic beasts appeared in the jungle ahead.

Zhou Huai did not hesitate, immediately transferring the dominance of his consciousness from Yasuo's body to Gandalf's body.

He was simply too curious.

SS-Class Forbidden Spell Master, just how terrifying was the destructive power of this profession that only existed in legends?

He quickly equipped Gandalf with the Rank 1 transition equipment prepared by Ou Yezi.

A set of clean white robes, a hood covering half his face, and a plain wooden staff grasped in his hand.

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf, raising his head to look at the dim, shadowy jungle in the distance.

He slowly raised the staff in his hand.

A low and ancient chanting spilled from his lips.

[Forbidden Spell: Meteor Fire Rain]!

Hum——!

A majestic surge of magic gushed out from within Gandalf, and a long segment of the mana bar on his panel was instantly drained by a bit more than half.

The sky grew dim at this moment.

The wind stopped.

Birds and beasts fell silent.

An indescribable sense of oppression enveloped an area of several miles in radius.

Immediately after, three huge fireballs dragging long tail flames, like divine punishment falling from the Nine Heavens, tore through the dim firmament!

Their target was precisely that jungle inhabited by countless exotic beasts!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three earth-shaking loud noises exploded almost at the same time!

The scorching shockwave, carrying the power to destroy everything, swept wildly in all directions!

Within a radius of a hundred meters, it instantly turned into a churning sea of fire!

The shrill screams of countless exotic beasts lasted for less than a second before being completely swallowed by the even more violent explosions.

The earth was trembling.

The flames were roaring.

Before Zhou Huai's eyes, a dense string of System prompts refreshed wildly like a waterfall!

[Killed Jungle Evil Wolf LV12, obtained 150 Experience Points!]

[Killed Mutant Wild Boar LV11, obtained 120 Experience Points!]

[Killed…]

[…]

White light of leveling up soared into the sky from Gandalf one after another twice!

In a short instant, his Rank skyrocketed from LV1 to LV3!

Zhou Huai was stunned.

He controlled Gandalf, looking at the sea of fire in front of him that had already turned into scorched earth, speechless for a long time.

Holy moly.

Is this the power of an SS-Class Forbidden Spell Master?

This is… too fucking exaggerated!

This was only the skill effect at Rank 1.

If his Rank were higher, wouldn't a single forbidden spell flatten an entire city?

Just as his mind was churning, a familiar prompt sound rang in his mind.

[Ding! Detected that the host's Clone 'Gandalf' has displayed extraordinary potential, unique hidden profession challenge quest has been triggered!]

[Quest Name: The Name of the Top Scholar!]

[Quest Content: Please control the Clone 'Gandalf' to win the title of National Top Scholar in the Great Xia Country Unified Professional Examination held four days later!]

[Quest Reward: Professional Orb Draw Chance X1!]

Zhou Huai's eyes lit up instantly.

Another challenge quest triggered!

Originally, he wasn't interested in participating in the national unified examination.

Nor did he prepare to join any Professional academies.

But now, since there are quest rewards, the situation is completely different.

This top scholar position, he had to fight for it!

However, the premise was that Gandalf's Rank needed to reach Rank 15.

For others, it might be quite difficult, almost impossible.

But for someone with the Archmage Gandalf, it was simply a breeze.

"Woo——! Woo——! Woo——!"

At this moment, from the direction of the Donghai City gate in the distance, a harsh and piercing alarm sound suddenly rang out!

Clearly, the commotion of Gandalf's [Meteor Fire Rain] just now was simply too huge.

That heaven-destroying might had already made the garrison on the city wall mistake it for a powerful BOSS preparing to besiege the city.

Such things happened from time to time in Donghai City every year.

Every BOSS siege meant a tragic bloody battle.

Therefore, the City Guard had always been very sensitive to this.

Zhou Huai did not dare to neglect, hurriedly controlling Yasuo and Gandalf to quickly leave this area and escape deep into the jungle.

As soon as they left,

right on their heels, a fully armed team of the City Guard rushed to the scene.

When they saw the scorched earth in front of them still smoking, as if it had been plowed over, everyone gasped.

Everyone's face was filled with shock and horror.

"Th-this… who did this?" a young member's voice trembled.

The captain walked to the edge of the scorched earth, squatted down, pinched a pinch of scorching hot ash, and his expression became extremely solemn.

"There are still strong fire element fluctuations lingering in the air, but… there are no traces of BOSS-level exotic beasts active nearby."

Being able to cast a skill with such a terrifying range, its strength was definitely no small matter.

"Captain," another member reported, "recently the activity of exotic beasts has become more and more frequent, and people from several adventurer guilds have encountered small beast tides in the wild."

The captain stood up, his gaze sweeping across this shocking scorched earth, and then looking toward the deep, dark jungle.

"Pass down my order!"

"Starting today, strengthen the patrol intensity of all areas outside the city! Double the frequency!"

His voice was filled with a murderous aura.

"I suspect those beasts are going to make a big move recently!"

"Yes!"

The members responded in unison, their voices loud and clear.