The other participants appeared to have long since departed, leaving the vast, wind-swept peak occupied only by Pierce and his two temporary peers.

  After a moment of silence, Sutherland took the initiative to break the quiet.

  "From this moment forth, we are comrades-in-arms," he said, straightening his posture. "It would be prudent for us to know one another properly."

  "I am Sutherland, an officer of the Seventh Battalion of the Silver Legion."

  Cecily followed suit, offering a graceful, diplomatic smile. "I am Cecily, a third-year acolyte of the Violet Academy."

  Pierce nodded simply. "Pierce, first-year student at the Spire Academy."

  The air froze instantly.

  As soon as these words left his lips, the expressions on Cecily and Sutherland’s faces shattered. They stared at him, stupefied.

  Given Pierce’s monstrous performance in the labyrinth, they had firmly preconceived that he was a third-year elite, perhaps even a senior on the verge of graduation. Who could have fathomed he was a mere freshman?

  Are first-year students truly this terrifying nowadays?

  Sutherland marveled inwardly, but beneath the awe lay a bitter, gnawing envy.

  Although all three had secured quotas for the upcoming duel, he possessed enough self-awareness to see the chasm between them.

  He was merely a Wizard Apprentice with a visible ceiling, his potential limited. But Cecily and Pierce? They were anomalies. With their aptitude and talent, ascending to the rank of an Official Wizard was not a question of if, but when.

  Especially Pierce. To meet the rigorous standards of condensing a Spiritual Crystal at such a tender age... his future was blindingly bright, boundless as the starry sky.

  Given time, Pierce would certainly reach heights that Sutherland could only gaze upon in despair.

  With this realization, Sutherland sighed internally. The urge he had felt moments ago to forge a deep alliance with them faded like smoke. The gap in potential was too vast; forcing a friendship with a dragon when you are but a hound is a futile endeavor.

  After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the trio descended the mountain, parting ways.

  The Trial had ended, and the sea of observers on the mountainside had largely dispersed, leaving only those lingering for the final spectacle or looking for excitement.

  Pierce spotted Gwen immediately.

  The girl was currently beaming with triumph, her smile resembling that of a vixen who had just successfully raided a hen house and stolen the fattest chick.

  Beside her, Ingram wore an expression of utter speechlessness, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but there.

  Opposite them stood a group huddled in low conversation, whispering amongst themselves. The young man leading them wore an expression the color of bile—a terrifying shade of green.

  Only as Pierce drew closer did he recognize the crests of the Academy of Shadows on their robes.

  "Our hero returns!"

  Gwen was the first to notice Pierce. She immediately threw her hands high, cheering loudly.

  Hero?

  Pierce paused in his tracks.

  I merely secured a competition quota. Is such theatrics really necessary?

  Hearing this, Ingram beside her rolled his eyes dramatically, muttering under his breath, "He is your hero. Do not drag me into this."

  After speaking, he cast a glance at Pierce, his eyes swimming with complex emotions.

  After witnessing Pierce's performance in the labyrinth, Ingram had thoroughly accepted that the gap between himself and Pierce was likely an unbridgeable canyon.

  This realization left him—a man who had always held himself in high regard—feeling exceptionally hollow and complicated.

  Ignoring Ingram’s muttering, Gwen rushed straight up and gave Pierce a hug without a second word.

  "That was magnificent, Pierce! I knew I didn't misjudge you."

  Pierce was momentarily confused by the gesture, though the soft touch of the girl's body was not unpleasant, so he did not recoil or push her away.

  Fortunately, his confusion was short-lived.

  Monkay walked over, his face dark as a thunderhead. He tossed a Dimension Pouch to Gwen and spoke with cold rigidity: "There are 497 Magic Stones inside. Adding the value of the pouch itself, the debt is settled. We are even!"

  Gwen caught the bag and counted the contents with delight. After confirming the sum was accurate, she looked up and grinned mischievously. "The amount is correct. My thanks! Do remember to call me the next time such a lucrative opportunity arises."

  Hearing this, Monkay’s face turned even gloomier, ink-black with rage. He snorted coldly, offering no retort.

  He turned his head to glare venomously at Pierce one last time, then spun around and left with his entourage.

  Gwen curled her lip at his retreating figure, then immediately resumed her beaming smile—until a voice drifted from beside her.

  "You made quite a fortune."

  "Yeah."

  Gwen replied instinctively, then suddenly froze. She looked up, meeting Pierce’s spurious, knowing smile.

  "Uh..." Gwen laughed awkwardly. "Just a small wager. All thanks to you, of course."

  From the whispers of the crowd around them, Pierce had already pieced together the rough details of the matter. He felt amused.

  This little girl had actually used him as a gambling chip to bet against others, and the stake was as high as five hundred Magic Stones.

  Back when she bet with him, she haggled over parting with twenty Magic Stones. Yet here she threw down five hundred without blinking an eye.

  Even for a scion of a wealthy house, five hundred Magic Stones was undoubtedly a colossal sum.

  Just how much confidence did she have in me?

  Pierce’s eyes flickered with amusement, and he smiled. "In that case, surely I deserve a commission for my efforts, correct?"

  Gwen instantly went on alert, hugging the Dimension Pouch tightly against her chest like a hen protecting her chicks, staring at Pierce warily.

  "What are you planning?"

  Pierce laughed involuntarily. He retrieved a parchment list from his robes and handed it to her, saying, "Help me collect the gems on this list. That should be within your means, right?"

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  The list detailed the gem materials required for the Arcane Sigil: Blink.

  Gwen took the list and scanned it. Realization dawned rapidly, her eyes widening in shock as she asked, "You have learned Magic Tattoos?"

  Pierce shook his head. "Just one."

  Gwen was stunned, her eyes full of shock.

  Just one? Even that was incredible!

  How long had it been since Pierce obtained the knowledge of Gem Enchantment? In such a short span, he had mastered Elemental Runes and now Magic Tattoos in succession? This talent was simply unmatched!

  Even the young enchanting apprentices cultivated by her family, who were touted to have excellent aptitude, did not possess this kind of terrifying learning speed.

  After a long pause, Gwen stared fixedly at Pierce and whispered faintly, "I am starting to suspect... is there anything you aren't good at?"

  Pierce shrugged. He wanted to casually retort, "I can't give birth."

  But on second thought, for a male Wizard, as long as they could overcome the psychological hurdle, modifying one's biology to bear children didn't seem to be a difficult task with high-level Transmutation magic. The words stuck in his throat.

  Gwen didn't mind his silence. She looked at the list again and quickly calculated in her mind.

  The Gu family owned quite a few gem mines. Clan members could purchase raw gems at cost price, which was significantly cheaper than the market rate.

  For the gems on the list, it would cost her at most forty or fifty Magic Stones to acquire them. Compared to her winnings, that amount was a pittance.

  Thinking of this, Gwen agreed readily.

  "Fine, I'll help you collect the gems on the list. But this settles it—you are not allowed to hold this matter against me anymore."

  "Of course," Pierce said with a smile.

  The Apartment.

  The moment he stepped through the door, Pierce heard a familiar "Yee-yee" sound. Immediately after, a petite green figure shot through the air like a bullet and threw herself into his arms.

  "Yee-yee!!"

  Little Yi looked up at him with teary eyes, attempting to use her tears as a weapon to accuse Pierce of the atrocity of abandoning her at home alone for three whole days.

  "Alright, alright. I am back now, aren't I?"

  Pierce smiled, retrieving a vial of nectar and shaking it before her.

  This method worked every time. The little wood sprite's attention was quickly captured by the nectar. She hugged the bottle tight and darted to the side to drink it happily.

  Pierce shook his head, laughing. He sat down in the living room and began to inventory the loot he had obtained in the labyrinth.

  The most important item was undoubtedly Monville's Dimension Pouch.

  As a leader of the younger generation of House Mon, Monville’s wealth was extraordinarily abundant.

  In addition to a large number of potions and materials, there were quite a few magic items.

  Although most were Alchemy-grade, four or five were Faint-aura grade—a very lucrative haul.

  "Selling them will bring in a substantial sum." A smile appeared at the corner of Pierce's mouth.

  Besides that, there were a large number of books.

  However, after checking them carefully, Pierce was a bit disappointed.

  Most of these books were related to bloodline legacies. Even the spell models recorded within were special spells that only those possessing the Frost Calamity Silver Wolf bloodline could cast.

  Although he might be able to master them after modifying them with the Eye of Omniscience, Pierce didn't plan to waste the effort.

  There were thousands of spells in the world; there was no need to waste energy on these bloodline-specific ones.

  However, some books describing ancient biological knowledge piqued his interest. He planned to scan them later to increase his knowledge base.

  After counting the loot, Pierce turned his thoughts to the events that had just transpired.

  "Although I couldn't exchange for a Spirit Surrogate, securing four standard doses of Heart-Glass Water is not a bad outcome."

  Counting the dose given by his teacher, he now had five standard portions of Heart-Glass Water, which was more than enough.

  Now, he was just missing the Spirit Surrogate.

  However, to obtain the Spirit Surrogate, he had to win the competition against Crimson Lotus City.

  Although he was extremely confident in his own strength, Pierce dared not guarantee that he would definitely win.

  The Wizarding World was treacherous and mysterious, filled with strange and varied methods. Who knew what trump cards and backup plans the opponents might possess?

  This was the reason why Pierce insisted on exchanging for Heart-Glass Water first.

  In this way, even if he lost, he would at least have obtained the essential resource for advancement and wouldn't end up empty-handed.

  "However, I still need to prepare seriously for the competition."

  "In the next twenty days, I must improve my strength as much as possible."

  Pierce thought for a moment and quickly made a decision.

  "Eye of Omniscience, pause spell modification. Begin modification of Elemental Runes."

  [Task Created. Beginning Elemental Rune modification. Estimated time: 572 days.]

  Currently, there were only three methods to improve his strength immediately.

  The first was to strengthen the power of Elemental Runes.

  The practicality of Elemental Runes had been verified in the battles over the past three days.

  If he could modify them to allow for Elemental Rune stacking, or even more advanced techniques, their practicality and lethality would inevitably reach a higher level.

  "572 days... If I accelerate with full power, it will take about eight days and a bit."

  Pierce nodded secretly.

  The second method was Magic Tattoos (Arcane Sigils).

  The Blink tattoo had been analyzed and was just waiting for the materials to be drawn immediately.

  With the Blink tattoo, his survivability in combat would undoubtedly increase greatly.

  "Besides Blink, it is best to prepare an offensive Magic Tattoo."

  "Eye of Omniscience, analyze the Thunderburst Sigil."

  $$\text{[Task Created. Beginning analysis of Thunderburst Sigil. Estimated time: 166 days.]}$$

  As for the last method, it was Metamagic techniques.

  Pierce had deep experience with how much Metamagic techniques improved combat power.

  Although Silent Spell was often called the weakest Metamagic technique, it was precisely by relying on this technique that Pierce was able to gain the upper hand in battles against strong enemies multiple times.

  If Silent Spell was effective, there was no need to say more about those more powerful Metamagic techniques.

  Previously, Pierce had tried to analyze the Instant Cast technique, but it required too much time, so he had to give up.

  But now that his Mental Power had increased greatly, the time required to analyze Instant Cast should be shortened significantly.

  "Eye of Omniscience, analyze the Instant Cast technique."

  [Task Created. Beginning analysis of Instant Cast technique. Estimated time: 223 days.]

  Pierce breathed a sigh of relief; this duration was within an acceptable range.

  He estimated that completing all three tasks would take about thirteen or fourteen days. After that, he could completely analyze a few more Elemental Runes or Magic Tattoos, or master another Metamagic technique.

  "As for the remaining 2,200 Merit Points..."

  A look of contemplation appeared on Pierce's face.

  2,200 Merit Points were enough to exchange for one entry into the Realm of Truth.

  However, after careful consideration, Pierce abandoned this plan.

  As his strength improved, the benefits of the Realm of Truth for him became lower and lower.

  Especially since he had entered the Realm of Truth twice before. If he entered a third time, the Rule Force he would obtain was estimated to be only a little over three hundred.

  The effect it could play would be equivalent to him accelerating at full power for five or six days; the benefit was truly not great.

  Rather than using up most of the Merit Points to exchange for entry into the Realm of Truth, it was better to exchange them for the rare metals needed to configure the metal combination for the Argent Star's fusion.

  "2,200 Merit Points should be enough to exchange for three or four standard amounts of metal combinations."

  Pierce quickly made a decision.

  He would exchange for rare metals!

  In the battle with Monville, the power of the Argent Star had been revealed thoroughly.

  Monville, whose strength had skyrocketed after activating his Bloodline Seal, was still defeated like dry weeds smashing against rotten wood when facing the Argent Star. This was enough to prove the power of a top-tier Tier 1 Arcane Artifact!

  The stronger the Argent Star became, and the longer the manipulation time, the greater the improvement to Pierce's strength.

  More importantly, based on the Masked Wizard's suggestions to Cecily and Sutherland today, it was highly likely that in the competition twenty days later, nine out of ten other Wizard Apprentices would have a Tier 1 Arcane Artifact in hand.

  In a situation where everyone wielded an Arcane Artifact, the competition would be about whose artifact was more powerful.

  So before the competition, it was best to let the Argent Star fuse with as many metal combinations as possible.

  "After absorbing four more standard amounts of metal combinations, the Argent Star's usage time should be extended to seven or eight minutes."

  Pierce's spirit was lifted.

  Except for a very few evil Arcane Artifacts that used lifespan as the cost of use, there should be no other Wizard Apprentice who could manipulate an artifact longer than him.

  Recovering from his joy, Pierce immediately took out the Communication Crystal and activated it.

  The crystal suddenly lit up, and countless rays of light escaped from it, interweaving above the crystal to form a holographic light screen.

  Pierce looked at it for a few moments and tried to write down the name of Silver Dragon Tungsten-Iron.

  As a result, the text "Please specify the quantity you wish to exchange" quickly popped up behind it.

  And as Pierce wrote down the quantity unit, the corresponding Merit Point price actually appeared behind it.

  "It feels like using a computer," Pierce clicked his tongue in wonder.

  He raised his hand and wrote on the light screen. Before long, he had written down the varieties and quantities of rare metals he wanted to exchange.

  The 2,200 Merit Points were used up completely.

  After gathering four standard amount combinations of metal, there was a little bit left.

  After writing, Pierce directly selected to transmit the information.

  "Next, I just have to wait for the things to be delivered."

  Putting away the Communication Crystal, Pierce didn't waste time and sat cross-legged, beginning to cultivate the Omniscient Breathing Technique.

  With the lesson from the freshman trial in mind, he basically hadn't cultivated the Omniscient Breathing Technique while in the labyrinth these past few days, to avoid the visual phenomenon during cultivation attracting the attention of others.

  Now that he finally had some breathing room, he naturally had to seize the time to cultivate.

  "According to the current progress, in another four or five days, I should be able to raise my Constitution attribute to 100."

  "After that, I can try to awaken Elemental Power."

  Pierce looked forward to breaking through to become a Legendary Knight. He wondered what changes would happen to his body after mastering the power of the elements.