Chapter 103: Chapter 82: Battle of Two Cities, Part 2

As soon as the operation ended, the exchange hall was packed with Wizard Apprentices who had come to redeem resources.

Pei Ze walked into the hall, and as far as he could see, there was a sea of people.

"It’s Pei Ze!" someone suddenly shouted.

The people at the front turned to look, and upon seeing it was Pei Ze, they surprisingly parted to clear a path.

In the blink of an eye, a path cleared in front of Pei Ze.

Pei Ze didn’t stand on ceremony. He gave the crowd a nod of acknowledgment and walked straight through to the registration counter, placing his Recording Ring on the desk.

Over the past few days, he had accumulated another twenty-odd merit points.

After the final tally, he had a total of 2,023 merit points.

The staff member quickly finished the registration, looked up, and asked, "A total of 2,023 merit points. What would you like to redeem?"

The moment he spoke, a collective gasp echoed through the hall.

2,023 merit points!

That was more than ten times what most of them had!

The comparison was simply maddening!

"I want to redeem a slot for the Realm of Truth and two Dark Stones. Convert the rest into Magic Stone Coins."

Pei Ze felt a slight tinge of regret.

After redeeming the slot for the Realm of Truth, he didn’t have enough merit points left for the Vile Phantasm Potion.

He had to settle for the next best thing and redeem the Dark Stones instead.

’Oh well. Worst comes to worst, I can just buy the Vile Phantasm Potion from my teacher when I get back,’ Pei Ze thought. ’That was the advantage of having a teacher who was an Alchemist—he never had to worry about finding a source for the High-tier Potions he needed.’

"Okay, one slot for the Realm of Truth, two Dark Stones, and three Magic Stone Coins."

The staff member deftly retrieved the items and placed them in front of Pei Ze.

"The slot for the Realm of Truth has been recorded in your Apprentice Badge. You just need to show up and check in on opening day."

"Everything else is here. Please check to make sure it’s all in order."

"Thank you."

Pei Ze gave the items a quick glance, swept them all into his dimensional bag, and turned to leave.

It wasn’t until he had left the hall that the crowd erupted into a buzzing murmur of discussion.

"A slot for the Realm of Truth... I’m so jealous. I want one too."

"Forget about it. That reward is basically just for show. Only a monster like Pei Ze could actually get his hands on it."

"Speaking of which, isn’t this the second time Pei Ze has gotten a slot for the Realm of Truth?"

"Hiss... Now that you mention it, you’re right. No one in the academy has ever managed to enter the Realm of Truth twice in a row. Pei Ze is the first!"

The chatter in the crowd instantly grew several decibels louder.

...

Not long after leaving the exchange hall, Pei Ze ran right into Gu Lin.

Upon seeing him, the girl stopped in her tracks and pouted. Then, she walked over, pulled out a Memory Crystal Ball, and shoved it into his hands.

"This is for you. Take it."

"What’s this?" Pei Ze asked, feigning ignorance.

"Hey, don’t play innocent after you’ve already won!" Gu Lin planted her hands on her hips, her beautiful eyes glaring at Pei Ze. "So what if you won the bet? Is that such a big deal? You’re just... you’re just..."

Gu Lin wanted to say that Pei Ze was just lucky, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Being honest with herself, she knew that if she had been the one to encounter the Mad-Drinker, she wouldn’t have been able to secure those 1,000 merit points.

Calling Pei Ze lucky would be going against her conscience.

Pei Ze said nothing, simply watching her with a faint smile.

Gu Lin finally couldn’t take his stare any longer. She threw up her hands in surrender. "Fine, I admit you’re incredible! Are you satisfied now?"

Pei Ze smiled and nodded. "Being a good sport is a fine quality to have."

Seeing Gu Lin’s lovely eyes widen in anger, Pei Ze quickly changed the subject before she could explode. "By the way, we’ve been away from the academy for over half a month. Has anything interesting happened?"

Although she knew Pei Ze was changing the subject, Gu Lin shot him a mock-reproachful glare before going along with it. "A few things have happened, actually. One is that you killed the Mad-Drinker and Huo Nan."

"News about it has spread throughout the entire academy. It’s not just the first-years anymore; you’re famous among the upperclassmen now, too. I’ve already had several people ask me about you."

"...And the other things?"

"The second thing is related to you, in a way." Gu Lin paused, a hint of amazement in her eyes. "Just three days ago, Senior Yin Xue successfully became a Wizard."

Pei Ze was startled at first, but then his heart filled with joy.

’Senior Yin Xue became a Wizard!’

This was undeniably good news.

’Setting aside his personal affection for her, just based on their senior-junior relationship, her promotion to Wizard would benefit him as well.’

"Not long after the news of her promotion got out, the Silver Light Legion sent an invitation to Senior Yin Xue. I heard they even offered her a position as a squad leader in the Witch Hunting Team." Gu Lin’s voice was tinged with envy.

’The Witch Hunting Team!’

A glint flashed in Pei Ze’s eyes.

He had heard of this unit before.

The Witch Hunting Team was said to be composed entirely of Wizards, making it the strongest combat unit in the Silver Light Legion. During planar wars, they specialized in eliminating high-value targets—what was commonly known as a decapitation strike.

Though it was just a squad leader position, even the commander of the City Guard Army had to be completely respectful when meeting a squad leader from the Witch Hunting Team.

Pei Ze was inwardly impressed but not surprised.

After all, his senior had become a Wizard using a top-tier Advanced Meditation Technique. Once she spent a few months stabilizing her strength, she would already be stronger than most Level 1 Wizards.

Serving as a squad leader in the Witch Hunting Team would be no problem for her.

After collecting his thoughts, Pei Ze asked, "Was there anything else?"

"One more thing," Gu Lin said with a nod. "Have you heard about the ceasefire negotiations between our Chenxi City and Red Lotus City?"

Pei Ze’s expression flickered. "Are the results of the negotiations out?"

"More or less."

Gu Lin shrugged.

"The final decision reached by both Councils was to hold a series of competitions to determine how the profits from the planar development will be split. The winning side gets to take seventy percent, while the losing side has to contribute half the labor for a mere thirty percent of the returns."

Pei Ze was surprised to hear this.

’He never thought that after the ceasefire, the two great Wizard Cities would prepare for another ’War of Two Cities,’ albeit in a different form.’

Snapping back to reality, he asked curiously, "What kind of competition?"

"The exact format isn’t clear yet, but the rumor is that there will be three rounds of competition, each involving Wizards of different levels."

At this, Gu Lin paused, a strange expression on her face, before she continued.

"Apparently, one of the rounds might even feature several Wizard Apprentices."

’Wizard Apprentices?’

Now Pei Ze was truly stunned.

’Using a competition between Wizard Apprentices to determine the allocation of a plane’s resources—even if it’s only a partial factor—seemed a bit farcical, didn’t it?’

’What on earth are the higher-ups thinking?’ Pei Ze couldn’t fathom it.

Gu Lin threw up her hands. "Who knows? Maybe they want to see which city’s younger generation is more exceptional."

She paused suddenly, giving Pei Ze a profound look.

"But if the rumors are true, with your strength, you could definitely fight for one of the participant slots!"

Pei Ze’s heart stirred, but he remained silent.

’To be honest, for a moment, he was tempted.’

’If this was true, and if he managed to secure a spot, the Dawn Council would surely spare no expense in strengthening their chosen participants to increase their odds of winning.’

’That alone was incredibly appealing.’

’Not to mention the substantial rewards he would surely receive if he represented Chenxi City and won.’

That being said, Pei Ze didn’t get his hopes up too much.

After all, it wasn’t even certain if the rumor was true.

And even if it was, there would undoubtedly be countless Wizard Apprentices vying for a spot. The competition was bound to be fierce.

Chenxi City was full of hidden masters. Pei Ze wasn’t arrogant enough to think that just because he could take down a Legendary Knight, he was the strongest among the Third-level Wizard Apprentices.

For one, among the Third-level Wizard Apprentices who cultivated Advanced Meditation Techniques and had been stuck at the threshold of the Wizard realm for a long time, there were many incredibly powerful individuals.

They might have been lacking in terms of aptitude.

But in terms of raw power, they had been honing their skills as Third-level Wizard Apprentices for many years. They were proficient in a vast array of Magic and had accumulated numerous trump cards and contingency plans. In a real fight, it was likely that even two or three Legendary Knights combined would be no match for them.

As the final hurdle before becoming a Wizard, the gap between the weakest and strongest Third-level Wizard Apprentice was even greater than the one between a Second-level Wizard Apprentice and an ordinary person.