The crowd watched Pierce's retreating figure, their faces plastered with sheer, utter shock.

  To have successfully escaped under those circumstances... that was simply too fierce!

  Even a Rank 3 Wizard might not have been able to escape so smoothly from that kind of crisis.

  The moment Pierce landed on the ground and steadied himself, a trail of dark red blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

  The impact of the shockwaves had ultimately injured him.

  "Pierce!"

  Gwendolyn immediately rushed over, her face filled with anxiety as she supported his arm.

  "Are you alright?"

  Pierce shook his head, took out a healing potion, and downed it. Only then did a bit of color return to his pale face.

  "What you used just now... was that a Bloodline Mark?" Enevia suddenly spoke up, her blood-red eyes staring at Pierce with keen interest. "The Yugoloth Serpent bloodline?"

  Although phrased as a question, her tone was absolutely certain.

  Facing a high-tier Wizard, Pierce knew he couldn't hide such a thing, so he openly admitted it.

  "That's right. It's a Bloodline Mark."

  "I killed a Wizard who had inherited the Yugoloth Serpent bloodline and obtained the method for creating the Bloodline Mark from him. After optimizing it, I ended up with the current version."

  "No wonder you were so obsessed with the blood of the Silver Frost Calamity Wolf, risking your life to get your hands on it," Enevia commented, not pressing the matter further.

  At her level, what she pursued was the comprehension and understanding of universal Rules.

  Everything else, even Bloodline Marks that were considered priceless treasures to ordinary Wizards, held zero appeal to her.

  However, while she didn't care, Gwendolyn, standing to the side, stared with wide, shocked eyes.

  A Wizard who inherited the Yugoloth Serpent bloodline?

  Wasn't that someone from House Pierce?

  Pierce killed a Wizard from House Pierce?!

  Who? Pierce Yonggao?!

  But what shocked her even more was that Pierce had actually researched a Bloodline Mark that wasn't restricted by bloodline inheritance and could be used by ordinary Wizards!

  Even if it only worked with the Yugoloth Serpent bloodline, it was still unimaginably shocking!

  If word of this got out, never mind other families—House Pierce would absolutely eliminate Pierce at all costs!

  At this thought, Gwendolyn's expression instantly turned incredibly solemn.

  Seemingly sensing her worry, Enevia said flatly, "There's no need to worry. The Bloodline Mark Pierce unleashed is vastly different from the true Yugoloth Serpent Bloodline Mark. Unless they are a Rule Wizard, no one will be able to see the underlying truth."

  "But what if a Rule Wizard happens to notice it?" Gwendolyn asked reflexively.

  Enevia cast her a sidelong glance, looking somewhat exasperated.

  "House Pierce doesn't have any Rule Wizards. And even if other Rule Wizards saw it, at their level, they wouldn't stoop to snatching something from a junior."

  Gwendolyn realized she was right and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

  Pierce smiled slightly. Knowing Gwendolyn was just concerned for him, he didn't tease her.

  In reality, even if House Pierce found out, it didn't matter. Worst came to worst, he would just hand the technology over to the Elemental Faction.

  Once a secret was no longer a secret, House Pierce would have no absolute reason to kill him.

  As for whether doing so would forge a blood feud with House Pierce... the enmity between him and House Pierce was already irreconcilable anyway.

  Besides, with the people from the Elemental Faction standing at the front, he didn't need to worry.

  Recovering his wits, Pierce suddenly sensed something amiss. Looking around, he found that a group of Winter Frost Priests had intentionally or unintentionally surrounded him and Gwendolyn, their gazes filled with naked killing intent.

  Seeing this, Pierce sneered.

  A bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong!

  Earlier, he had slaughtered them until they scattered in all directions, fleeing as if they had seen a ghost. Now that they saw him injured, they swarmed him like a pack of wolves smelling blood. Did they really think he had lost his combat capability?

  Gwendolyn quickly noticed something was wrong as well. Her expression shifted, and she subconsciously stepped closer to Pierce.

  "This is bad!" Gwendolyn frowned deeply.

  Enevia said leisurely, "What's the rush? They're just a bunch of blind fools. Leave it to Pierce to handle."

  Gwendolyn froze. She turned to look at Pierce and found that his expression remained as calm and composed as ever.

  Looking at that tranquil face, her heart inexplicably settled.

  Although Pierce had paid a significant price to escape the center of the battlefield—his Blazing Robe was ruined, and his three Alchemical Etchings had entered a cooldown state and couldn't be used until they recharged—he still had plenty of mental energy left.

  As long as he could still cast spells and use Elemental Runes, and as long as he could still control Silver Star, dealing with a group of Winter Frost Priests—the strongest among them being only Rank 5—was child's play.

  Seemingly sensing that something was wrong from Pierce's expression, the encircling Winter Frost Priests exchanged glances and simultaneously erupted. In an instant, a massive tidal wave of divine magic attacks poured toward Pierce.

  Splash!

  Bright silver liquid metal shot up into the sky, rapidly forming a metallic hemisphere that enveloped Pierce and Gwendolyn.

  The sky-blotting attacks rained down, hammering the metallic hemisphere until it trembled violently, but they simply couldn't break through.

  By the time the Winter Frost Priests finished their volley, the surface of the metallic hemisphere was pitted and cratered, but it still stood firmly in place.

  The next second, the metallic hemisphere violently exploded! Surging lightning, wrapping around the silver liquid metal, shot out in all directions. In mid-air, the metal rapidly twisted and writhed, transforming into dozens of metallic spikes wreathed in lightning that swept toward the Winter Frost Priests like a torrential storm!

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Despite being on guard for Pierce's counterattack, the Winter Frost Priests were still utterly overwhelmed by this terrifying strike.

  Over a dozen Winter Frost Priests were instantly turned into sieves, collapsing dead on the spot.

  The remaining Winter Frost Priests were severely injured and fell to the ground. Before they could even catch their breath, the metallic spikes reversed direction and pierced straight through their foreheads!

  Only two Rank 4 Priests, seeing that the situation was hopeless, turned pale and backed away.

  How could Pierce let them go? With a cold sneer, he made a grasping motion. Countless droplets of liquid metal automatically gathered in his palm, forming a spear wreathed in dense, crackling lightning.

  The next second, the spear shot out like lightning, piercing straight through the chest of one of the Rank 4 Priests!

  The last remaining Rank 4 Priest was scared out of his wits. He frantically accelerated, fleeing into the distance, but was still struck by a lightning spear that tore through the void, following in the footsteps of his comrades.

  Seeing Pierce display such divine might, obliterating over a dozen Winter Frost Priests in the blink of an eye, the surrounding Turins were filled with shock and terror. No longer daring to provoke this God of Slaughter, they frantically avoided his location.

  The surrounding Wizards exchanged bewildered glances, never expecting Pierce to be this ferocious even while injured.

  Fortunately, this monster was on their side. Otherwise, they would be the ones feeling their scalps tingle with fear.

  Having dealt with the dozen or so Winter Frost Priests, Pierce didn't continue hunting down other enemies, but instead looked into the distance.

  The battle between the Divine Frame Golem and the Silver Frost Calamity Wolf had reached its conclusion.

  Covered in wounds, the Silver Frost Calamity Wolf could no longer hold on. It was smashed to the ground by the Divine Frame Golem—still in the avatar form of Selvetarm—wielding its mace, completely losing its ability to fight.

  However, the Divine Frame Golem didn't kill the Silver Frost Calamity Wolf. Instead, it picked the beast up and slung it over its shoulder.

  The next moment, the space around it distorted, and the massive golem vanished along with the Calamity Wolf.

  The defeat and capture of the Silver Frost Calamity Wolf dealt a massive blow to the Turins, causing their morale to visibly plummet.

  Just then, a series of deafening explosions echoed from the sky above the battlefield.

  Pierce looked up and saw the Turin war fortresses trailing black smoke. Like meteors with fiery tails, they plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily into the ground far in the distance before exploding into massive balls of fire.

  Seeing this, Pierce instantly understood.

  The Turins were about to lose!

  Sure enough, after dealing with the Turin war fortresses, the Wizard Towers turned their targets to the Turin army below.

  A massive Golem Legion was unleashed.

  Hundreds of thousands of golems descended from the sky, joining the war.

  The addition of this fresh force instantly changed the tide of battle.

  The Turin army, whose morale had already plummeted due to the destruction of their war fortresses, was pushed back step by step by the countless golems, eventually spiraling into a complete rout.

  Massive numbers of noble infantrymen dropped their weapons, turned, and fled.

  The Church Knights and Winter Frost Priests desperately tried to salvage the situation, but were quickly routed by the golems.

  The scales of victory had completely tilted in favor of Red Maple City.

  The collapse on the main battlefield quickly spread to the flanking battlefields on the left and right.

  Especially the right flank, where Pierce and the others were located.

  The Turins there were already on the verge of collapse. Now affected by the main battlefield, how could they possibly hold on?

  The war quickly devolved into a one-sided slaughter.

  Pierce symbolically hunted down a few Winter Frost Priests before slowing down and slacking off in the rear.

  His current condition was far from optimal, so it was better to play it safe.

  After all, even beating a drowning dog carried risks. If he accidentally provoked a powerful enemy, he didn't have many trump cards left to deal with them.

  Gwendolyn, on the other hand, joined the pursuit with a face full of excitement. Opportunities to farm Merit Points like this didn't come around often.

  It wasn't until the sky faintly turned yellow that the war finally drew to a close.

  The vast wilderness was littered with mangled corpses—frozen into icy debris, burned to ash, blasted to pieces, or trampled into meat paste. Not even one in a thousand remained relatively intact. They couldn't even be used to summon Zombies or Skeletons; at best, they could only serve as dinner for Ghouls.

  Blood drenched the earth. As far as the eye could see, the world was painted dark red.

  It was a testament to the brutality of the war!

  The slave legions, who had suffered heavy casualties in the war, were now tasked with cleaning up the battlefield. Pierce stood on the city wall and watched for a while before turning and returning to Red Maple City.

  He had earned a massive amount of Merit Points in this war. What he needed to consider next was how to utilize these points to rapidly increase his strength.

  Astral Calendar, Year 14525, June 13th.

  Red Maple City pressed its advantage, launching an all-out assault on the main Turin encampment over eight hundred kilometers away.

  The Turins, having just suffered a crushing defeat, hadn't even had time to catch their breath before they were struck head-on once again.

  In this battle, Dukes Snow Wolf and Blue Ice were killed in action, and over eighty percent of the commanding nobles died.

  Grand High Priest Axe was slain on the spot by Councilor Jareth.

  At this point, the Winter Frost Theocracy faced total collapse, no longer able to resist the Wizards' invasion. The Red Maple City army drove deep into enemy territory, conquering cities and seizing land along the way. In just five days, they occupied over half of the Winter Frost Theocracy's territory.

  Red Maple City was filled with jubilation.

  Almost every day, reports of the army conquering another territory came in.

  Even the Free Wizards felt invigorated by this.

  Of course, the most overjoyed were the Wizards who had earned massive amounts of Merit Points during that war.

  And Pierce was undoubtedly the most outstanding among them.

  In that single battle, he alone had killed over a hundred Winter Frost Priests, including several Rank 4 and Rank 5 Priests.

  In addition to that, he had slain over twenty Winter Frost Behemoths, as well as a massive number of Church Knights and noble infantrymen.

  After the final tally, he had earned a staggering 52,000 Merit Points.

  Let alone Rank 1 Wizards, even among Rank 2 Wizards, rarely anyone had a more dazzling combat record than him.

  Holding a massive sum of Merit Points, Pierce arrived at the Exchange.

  Because a large number of Free Wizards had left, the foot traffic at the Exchange was much sparser than before, but the atmosphere was more fiery than ever.

  Wizards who had reaped bountiful harvests in the war gathered together, smiling radiantly as they discussed what to exchange their points for.

  On the massive wall, the available exchange items had noticeably increased. These were all rare resources newly opened up by the military, previously supplied only to internal members.

  Pierce's gaze swept over them rapidly, focusing his attention on resources that could increase mental energy or enhance meditation efficiency.

  And he quickly found his desired target.

  Purified Soul Crystals!

  In the eyes of many high-tier entities, souls were one of the purest energy sources in the Multiverse.

  For example, high-tier Demons and Devils loved to refine the souls of various creatures—especially human souls—into Soul Crystals.

  In Hell and the Abyss, Soul Crystals could be considered the most popular hard currency.

  In the hands of Wizards, Soul Crystals were equally versatile and rare materials.

  For example, the primary material for the soul core of a golem was a Soul Crystal.

  Of course, Wizards didn't need to refine human souls into Soul Crystals like Demons and Devils did.

  They had easier and more efficient methods—summoning Wraiths and wandering spirits from other planes and refining them into Soul Crystals.

  The purity of Soul Crystals refined through this method was no lower than those refined from human souls.

  It was worth noting that souls were incredibly malleable.

  Even the soul of an ordinary person possessed significant potential. After enduring certain hardships, it might even radiate a jade-like luster.

  Such souls were usually far more valuable and could be used to refine higher-quality Soul Crystals.

  Therefore, some evil entities loved to torture humans to harvest higher-quality souls.

  In this regard, Demons and Devils were notoriously skilled.

  Devils excelled at using mental anguish to torture humans, slowly and methodically inflicting suffering to temper the soul.

  Demons, on the other hand, were a bunch of crude craftsmen. They preferred to directly inflict physical agony to harvest the soul, with the caveat that many souls couldn't withstand the process and shattered.

  Therefore, Devils always possessed far more high-quality Soul Crystals than Demons!

  If this was true for ordinary people, it was even more so for powerhouses.

  The minds, wills, and physiques of powerhouses had already been tempered and honed, making their soul strength far exceed that of ordinary people.

  After further tempering using special methods, there was a certain probability of forming a high-quality Soul Crystal.

  After purification to erase the thoughts and emotions contained within the crystal, it became an incredibly pure energy crystal.

  This was how a Purified Soul Crystal was formed.

  Wizards could absorb the energy within a Purified Soul Crystal during meditation, converting it into mental energy to massively boost their meditation efficiency.

  The lower the tier of the Wizard, the more obvious the effect.

  Even for a Rank 2 Wizard, a Purified Soul Crystal had a relatively significant effect.

  Because of this, these items were highly sought after among Wizards.

  However, also due to the difficulty of their creation, the number of Purified Soul Crystals circulating outside was extremely small. The vast majority were held in the hands of the Council.

  If it weren't for this war, it wouldn't have been easy for Pierce to get his hands on Purified Soul Crystals.

  "One Purified Soul Crystal costs 12,000 Merit Points. That's enough to buy two Adamantine Golems."

  Pierce sighed inwardly. This price was something many Rank 2 Wizards couldn't even afford.

  Recovering his wits, he didn't hesitate and exchanged for three of them in one breath.