Innis didn't stay long. After a brief chat, he rose to leave, taking Ingram with him.

  Not long after Pierce saw them out, a new guest arrived.

  This time, it was a Wizard from House Gu.

  After introductions, Pierce learned that the visitor was Gwen's uncle, named Gulan.

  "Please forgive the sudden visit, Lord Pierce," Gulan said with a warm, approachable smile. Though his face bore the marks of age, one could still see the handsome features of his youth.

  "It is a pity Gwen has already departed for the Plane of Turin, otherwise I would have brought her along to congratulate Lord Pierce on your advancement."

  "You are too kind, Lord Gulan," Pierce replied with a polite, measured smile.

  Gulan didn't say much more. He left a gift, chatted casually for a while, and then took his leave.

  However, before departing, he left a sentence laden with deep meaning.

  "It is Gwen's honor to be Lord Pierce's friend. Our entire family supports this friendship, and we would be delighted to see her become a bridge for a deeper relationship between us."

  Watching Gulan leave, Pierce's eyes flickered. He recalled his earlier conversation with Innis, who had also subtly hinted that he should deepen his relationship with Yuna.

  "I have become quite the prize," Pierce muttered to himself.

  In the past, although he was close to Yuna and Gwen, both House Innis and House Gu had maintained a stance of silent observation—neither supporting nor opposing the association.

  But the moment he advanced to Wizard, both major families immediately sent envoys under the guise of congratulations to curry favor, stopping just short of explicitly encouraging him to pursue romantic relationships with the two women.

  And all of this was simply because he had become a Wizard and possessed sufficient power.

  These ancient Wizard families had seen countless geniuses over thousands of years. They had witnessed many rise like comets only to burn out and vanish.

  To them, mere talent meant nothing.

  But once talent was successfully converted into tangible power, it was worthy of attention and investment.

  And that standard was clearly the rank of a Formal Wizard.

  "Power truly is a wonderful thing."

  Pierce sighed. He was about to leave when another Wizard blocked the doorway.

  After introductions, he learned that the other party was a Wizard living nearby.

  He managed to deal with that one, only for another to arrive immediately after—also a neighbor.

  It was as if they had coordinated; as soon as one left, another would knock on the door. Pierce felt overwhelmed.

  By the time he saw off the last Wizard, the sky outside had grown dark.

  Looking at the pile of gifts in his Bag of Holding, Pierce couldn't help but sigh.

  No wonder his teacher had reminded him not to be polite if someone offered gifts and to accept them all. Clearly, Morven had foreseen this scene.

  "After all, they are Wizards. Their generosity is extraordinary. I made a fortune this time."

  Pierce smiled.

  Seeing that it was late, he didn't delay any longer. He went out, hailed a carriage, and hurried toward the Outer City.

  The Plane of Turin.

  A magnificent city stood tall on the banks of the Nolan River. Three city walls formed three regular concentric circles, guarding the numerous buildings within like iron rings.

  In front of the city, on the boundless wilderness, the ground was pitted as if bombarded by countless meteors, littered with innumerable corpses.

  Among them were humans and foreign races.

  The earth was deeply soaked in blood, revealing an eerie, dark red hue.

  Tender, pale green plants grew from the crevices in the rocks, blooming with octagonal, trumpet-shaped flowers. They were blood-red, trembling slightly in the wind like sipping mouths.

  These were Bloodflowers. They grew only on battlefields, watered by blood. Upon maturity, Blood Sprites would be born from them.

  On the towering city wall, Peyton walked down the stairs with a gloomy face.

  A man with a cold face walked towards him.

  His eyes were dark green, he had a hooked nose, and his expression was indifferent.

  Peyton immediately stopped, pressed his hand to his chest, and bowed slightly in greeting.

  "My Lord."

  The hook-nosed man paused, glanced at him, and said abruptly, "News came from Aurora City. Pierce has advanced to Wizard."

  Peyton looked up sharply, a look of absolute disbelief on his face.

  How is that possible?!

  When he left Aurora City, that brat had only just advanced to a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice not long ago.

  Less than half a year had passed, and he was already a Wizard?

  Peyton was filled with disbelief, but the person in front of him had no reason to lie.

  "A seventeen-year-old Wizard. What a pity. If we had known he had such potential earlier, even as a 'Bloodless' one, the family would not have given up on him so easily."

  The hook-nosed man shook his head with some regret.

  Peyton heard the underlying meaning in the hook-nosed man's words and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

  As a member of the family, he certainly knew how cold and ruthless they were.

  If there was a chance to win Pierce over, the family would definitely abandon him without hesitation.

  Simply because Pierce had more potential than him.

  However, Pierce first became Morven's disciple, then grew extremely close to House Innis and House Gu. He had undoubtedly been won over by the Elemental Faction. It was obviously impossible to make him join their side now.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Peyton's eyes flickered uncertainly, and he suddenly said, "My Lord, allowing Pierce to continue growing might be detrimental to us."

  The hook-nosed man gave him a meaningful look. Only when Peyton lowered his head did he say indifferently, "You should be very clear that Pierce is different from before. Now he is a genius valued by those people. If you act against him, even if you succeed, it will invite fierce retaliation. Even the family cannot protect you."

  Peyton's expression changed dramatically. He gritted his teeth and said, "I don't care!"

  The bloodline in his body was thin. He had stagnated at the Rank 1 Liquid Phase for more than twenty years. He had finally encountered an opportunity to break through, but because of Pierce, he was transferred to the God-Flesh Golem operation team, causing considerable trauma to his spirit.

  Not only was the breakthrough opportunity wasted, but his mental energy level almost fell back to the Gaseous Phase. He probably had no hope of breaking through in this lifetime.

  With such deep hatred, he wouldn't be reconciled if he didn't take revenge!

  Not to mention that Pierce had killed his son.

  The hook-nosed man stared at Peyton for a long time, and finally said expressionlessly, "Remember, whether you succeed or fail, it has nothing to do with the family."

  A look of joy appeared on Peyton's face, and he nodded heavily. "Yes, my Lord."

  The hook-nosed man said no more and walked past Peyton to ascend the city wall.

  Soldiers patrolled the wall. Seeing the hook-nosed man, they hurriedly stopped to salute.

  The latter waved his hand, dismissing the soldiers.

  After the patrol soldiers walked away, a goshawk suddenly flew from the distance and landed on the hook-nosed man's shoulder.

  It groomed its messy feathers with its sharp beak and spoke slowly, emitting a low human male voice.

  "News came from the people sent to White Ice City. The intelligence provided by that person was correct. The Meng Family is indeed secretly searching for traces of the Silver Frost Dire Wolf."

  The hook-nosed man narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "The Silver Frost Dire Wolf went extinct seven hundred and fifty years ago. The Meng Family searched so many planes and found nothing. How could they suddenly find it in the Plane of Turin?"

  "Divine Planes are mostly planes that have existed for a long time. The probability of the existence of ancient creatures is inherently higher than other planes. It is not surprising that one or two Silver Frost Dire Wolves have survived."

  "Are you sure they really found traces of the Silver Frost Dire Wolf?"

  "The possibility is very high. According to the family's investigation, the Meng Family has secretly invested massive manpower and resources in White Ice City. If there were no definite clues, that old fellow Monroe would not do such a stupid thing."

  The hook-nosed man's face instantly darkened.

  The goshawk seemed not to see the change in his expression and continued on its own, "Our three major families have always faced the problem of continuous bloodline loss. We have racked our brains but failed to find clues to ancient creatures. If it continued like this, fine. But if the Meng Family really finds the Silver Frost Dire Wolf and successfully extracts the bloodline, their power will definitely skyrocket, far surpassing us and House Yan."

  "By then, I'm afraid the Meng Family alone will be enough to suppress us, House Yan, and the Elemental Faction."

  A cold light flashed in the hook-nosed man's eyes, and he said coldly, "What do you want to do?"

  "Simple. Inform House Yan of this matter and join forces with them to secretly obstruct the Meng Family. We absolutely cannot let them succeed."

  The hook-nosed man frowned but quickly nodded.

  "I will arrange this matter."

  "Secondly, the Silver Frost Dire Wolf, the Yugoloth Serpent, and the Sonic Scorpion once lived on the same plane. Since the Plane of Turin has the Silver Frost Dire Wolf, perhaps it is possible that the Yugoloth Serpent also exists. I want you to mobilize manpower to search secretly."

  "I can do that, but I am only responsible for Clearwater City. I cannot interfere with the other seven war cities."

  "I have my own arrangements for other places."

  After saying the last sentence, the goshawk flapped its wings violently, soared into the sky, and soon disappeared at the end of the horizon.

  The hook-nosed man stared at the distant wilderness for a long time before walking down the city wall.

  Back at the Apartment.

  As soon as Pierce stepped through the door, Eve, sensing his aura, flew into his arms with teary eyes.

  To protect Eve and prevent her from running around and encountering danger, Pierce had set up a restrictive array in the apartment before leaving.

  The poor little guy had been cooped up in the apartment for more than two months and was almost depressed.

  Myriad Flower Sprites were active by nature and felt uncomfortable if they didn't run around for a day. When had she ever suffered such torture?

  Pierce coaxed her for a long time, took out a large amount of nectar, and promised to take her to see a big mansion. Only then did the little guy turn her tears into laughter.

  Pierce breathed a sigh of relief and decided that if he encountered the same thing next time, he would send the little guy to someone else to take care of first. Otherwise, it would be quite tiring to coax her like this every time he came back.

  Sitting down on the living room sofa, Pierce took out the ring Morven had given him.

  He had been busy dealing with visitors earlier; only now did he have time to check what his teacher had given him.

  Pierce took out the items in the ring one by one and laid them out in front of him.

  First were more than ten thick books with identical yellow covers, different potion names written on them.

  Sun-Splitter Potion, Resonance Potion, Spirit-Guard Potion...

  All Tier 2 Potion Formulas.

  Pierce picked up the formula for the Sun-Splitter Potion and browsed through it.

  Although he couldn't brew Tier 2 potions yet, he knew the effects and functions of various Tier 2 potions by heart.

  For example, the effect of the Sun-Splitter Potion was to increase perception of energy particles and temporarily transform the physique into one with high affinity for energy particles.

  Simply put, after taking the Sun-Splitter Potion, the chance of a Peak Grand Knight awakening Elemental Power would increase by at least fifty percent.

  For those who had reached the limit of Peak Grand Knight but could never break through to the Legendary realm, the Sun-Splitter Potion was tantamount to a miracle drug.

  "Although this potion is useless to me, Sophia and Payne can use it."

  Pierce hadn't forgotten his promise to Sophia and Payne.

  Since he had promised to recruit them as followers after advancing to Wizard, he would keep his word.

  It was just that their strength was a bit lacking; they had to at least become Legendary Knights to follow him to the Planar Battlefield.

  The Sun-Splitter Potion could be used to help them improve their strength.

  Coincidentally, among the gifts received today were a few bottles of Sun-Splitter Potion, as well as two sets of Faint-aura magic armor specially designed for Legendary Knights. They were likely prepared for his followers.

  Picking these things out and putting them aside, Pierce planned to call Sophia and Payne over tomorrow to formally recruit them as followers.

  Putting down the Sun-Splitter Potion formula, Pierce then looked at the other potions.

  Among the more than ten kinds of potions, few interested him. Apart from the Sun-Splitter Potion, there were only the Spirit-Guard Potion and the Resonance Potion.

  Taking the former could temporarily greatly increase resistance to illusions and mental attacks.

  The previous battle with Xavier had made Pierce pay attention to this aspect.

  His defense against illusions and mental attacks was relatively weak. Apart from the Mental Force Field, the Sanctuary Sigil, and stacked Mage Armor, he had almost no other effective defensive means.

  He undoubtedly needed to take precautions in this regard early.

  "Before going to the Plane of Turin, I'd better brew a few bottles of Spirit-Guard Potion for self-defense."

  As for the Resonance Potion, it was the precious potion Pierce had been longing for that could increase Mental Energy Levels.

  "Although it only increases mental Energy Levels and doesn't have the effect of refining the spirit, it's still very good."

  "After all, to break through to the Liquid Phase, my spirit must be raised to 32 Energy Levels. It will take at least a month or two. There is still plenty of time to obtain potions and wondrous items that refine the spirit."

  Among the gifts presented by Morven, House Gu, and House Innis, there were quite a few Resonance Potions.

  This was indeed the most suitable gift for a newly advanced Wizard.

  Pierce counted them; there were 53 bottles in total.

  Morven alone gave 30 bottles, more than House Gu and House Innis combined.

  "After all, Teacher is a Potioneer."

  Pierce smiled faintly, took out the things sent by House Gu, House Innis, and other Wizards together, and counted them carefully.

  Mainly various rare materials, including but not limited to various rare metals and rare plants.

  As well as various potion formulas uncommon on the market—probably aimed at his identity as a Potioneer.

  There was even a Sprite's Sanctum.

  "This thing is rare."

  Pierce's eyes lit up, and he picked up the Sprite's Sanctum to examine it carefully.

  It was called a sanctum or hut, but it was actually a necklace. Inside, a space of about twenty cubic meters had been opened up, equivalent to a room.

  Unlike spatial tools like the Bag of Holding, the Sprite's Sanctum had air, as well as a miniature artificial sun and moon capable of simulating the alternation of day and night. The environment was completely suitable for biological survival.

  It could be said that as long as there was enough food and water, surviving in the Sprite's Sanctum for a few years would be no problem.

  However, this space was special and could only accommodate small and ultra-small life forms, such as sprites.

  Entry of life forms exceeding a certain size would cause the space to collapse.

  This was also the origin of the name "Sprite's Sanctum."

  And seemingly considering the lively nature of sprites, the interior of the Sprite's Sanctum had also been transformed into a mini version of a mountain forest environment, convenient for the inhabitant to move around.

  "Nice. With this thing, the little guy won't have to be a left-behind child anymore."

  Pierce glanced at Eve, who was sucking nectar not far away, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

  This thing was probably sent by a Wizard who knew he raised a Myriad Flower Sprite. It was really sent at the right time and fit his wishes very well.