In the square of the New Nolun Academy Branch, the steel giant-like David and the tall Jeming exchanged greetings.

There was no excessive small talk, nor unnecessary pleasantries.

At their level, time and efficiency were far more important than hollow courtesies.

A brief exchange of glances and a confirmation of soul aura were enough to convey all necessary information.

Afterward, the two didn’t say much, just nodded to each other with understanding.

In an instant, their bodies transformed into two beams of light that shot up, tearing through the azure sky of the Elorcia Plane, taking flight together and leaving the still under-construction academy behind.

They sped towards the last known location of the “illegal wizard” as stated in the mission intel.

The high-altitude winds were easily displaced by the energy shields surrounding them, creating a sharp whistle.

The ground quickly receded beneath them, turning into blurry patches of color.

On the way, they compared the intel on their terminals while exchanging their own findings.

During this process, Jeming became a bit curious and asked, “David, why did you come to participate in this mission?”

“Logically, for wizards like us who have just advanced, the best choice should be to stay in our respective bases, carefully consolidate our realm and accumulate knowledge.”

Jeming’s words were not without reason.

This is the consensus of logistics element wizards and the majority of wizards with even a little ambition.

A stable foundation is far more important than reckless exploration.

Moreover, a wizard’s power comes from wisdom and knowledge. Advancing does not necessarily mean an increase in power, and rashly going out on missions could lead to disaster.

From Jeming’s current perspective, if circumstances allowed, he believes that a newly-advanced Second Level Wizard is not suitable to take on tasks outside for at least a hundred years.

Upon hearing Jeming’s question, David’s body, clad in pitch-black heavy armor, fell silent.

The surrounding air seemed to grow heavier as a result.

After a moment, David did not answer directly but instead asked, “Jeming, do you know the origin of the ‘illegal wizard’?”

After Jeming gave a negative answer, David explained in a dull and weary voice the origins of this special existence known as the “illegal wizard.”

What is called an “illegal wizard,” as Jeming had mostly guessed,

are those who have privately advanced to be a wizard without signing the official standard contract with the Wizard Civilization.

This situation is not common, but it is not particularly rare either.

It generally occurs in the early stages of a plane being conquered, when the transformation of the entire plane is still in its initial phase and the monitoring arrays of the entire plane have not yet been fully installed.

During such a chaotic early transformation stage, it’s easy for various issues to arise.

In contrast, after the transformation is complete, with full monitoring of all plane organisms, the probability of problems occurring becomes much lower.

According to the iron laws of the Wizard Civilization, every newcomer with potential is forced to sign a soul contract upon first exposure to extraordinary knowledge.

The terms of this contract are numerous, but if you omit the unique additional clauses of each wizard influence, the core and most important terms are basically two:

First, under no circumstances can one betray the Wizard Civilization.

Second, one cannot randomly disclose any extraordinary knowledge about the Wizard Civilization to any other race or creature that has not signed the contract.

“Of course.” David paused his voice, adding, “Although these two points are very clear, there are actually ways to bypass them indirectly. Theoretical loopholes always exist.”

“For example, what I did in the past.” He did not shy away from mentioning his history.

“Back then, in order to persuade the sage of the Elorcia Plane and completely shatter his psychological defenses, I demonstrated some destructive intelligence about the Wizard Civilization to him.”

“If that sage hadn’t had his psychological defenses shattered but instead chose to resist fully and even leaked this intelligence, then to some extent, I would have violated the contract.”

“Hence, the possibility of the leakage of the wizard’s cultivation methods is not zero.”

“However, such things usually only happen in the early phase of plane transformation. Later, when the entire plane is completely enveloped by ubiquitous monitoring arrays, any abnormal energy fluctuations and information transmissions will be instantly detected. By that time, the occurrence of illegal wizards will be completely eradicated.”

Upon hearing this, Jeming had a new question. He curiously asked David, “Since there are loopholes, wouldn’t the high-tier wizards consider modifying the contract to make it more rigorous?”

David’s enormous helmet slowly shook from side to side, effectively indicating a no.

“No,” he replied, “those High Tier Wizards… especially the nine Ninth Level great beings standing at the pinnacle of our civilization, if they wanted, they could infinitely subdivide these two core contracts, ultimately developing a perfect set of contract details that theoretically would not have any loopholes for violation.”

“But that brings no benefit to the development of wizards.”

“The more precise, impeccable the rules, the more likely they are to restrict the thinking and actions of wizards to some extent. And the most important thing for wizards is that unrestricted wisdom. In this way, it would actually be detrimental to the growth of wizards. Sheep raised in captivity can never defeat the hungry wolves in the wild.”

Answering Jeming’s question, David finally brought the topic back to the beginning.

He continued to explain, “The reason why I took on this task is because… in a certain sense, this illegal wizard about to appear before us was born because of my influence.”

Jeming’s gaze tightened as he listened silently.

“The cause lies with that Sage,” David’s voice carried a complex emotion difficult to describe.

“After the other party learned about the despairingly powerful nature of the Wizard Civilization, instead of succumbing like others, he used a method I still don’t understand to forcibly divide his soul in two.”

“One part of the soul remained within his body, cooperating with me to sign a contract and, as the price of ‘defection,’ personally slaughtered all the remaining mortal leaders on the Elorcia Plane.”

“And the other part of his soul then lurked on an inconspicuous civilian. He waited for the time when Nolun Academy would perform the first round of body modifications on the remaining humans on the entire plane.”

“After that body was transformed to suit the physique of Wizard World Humans and was suitable for meditation, he began cultivation secretly using a set of incomplete Meditation Method acquired from an unknown source.”

“Initially, this was not an issue. The Wizard Influence doesn’t mind having one more wise and ambitious wizard. As long as he eventually agrees to renew the contract and become one of us.”

Jeming nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

The Wizard Civilization had long transcended the era of racial division based on appearance. Frankly speaking, it was even questionable whether many High Tier Wizards could be classified as human based on appearance.

Even the modifications of native remnants were done because humanoid forms were more suitable for initial Meditation Methods.

If a being with acknowledged wisdom by the wizards was willing to join, the wizards would gladly see their civilization grow stronger.

Regarding the Sage from the Elorcia Plane, Jeming had studied him before.

Jeming had to admit, his wisdom was indeed something worthy of respect.

If such a person was willing to join the Wizard Civilization, the biggest loss he could cause would be using an incomplete Meditation Method, potentially hindering future advancement.

“But the problem lies in the fact that either the coarse soul division or the subsequent body modification caused some irreversible damage to his remaining soul. His mind showed serious issues. The once calm and wise ‘Sage’ became uncontrollable, cruel, and filled with a destructive desire.”

“Moreover, since his original foundation in strength was quite solid and his soul strength far surpassed the average person, after transitioning to a wizard, his power grew exceptionally fast.”

“Although it’s unfortunate, Nolun Academy could not allow an uncontrollable and uncommunicative wizard to act recklessly under its banner…”

David did not finish his sentence, and Jeming silently supplied the conclusion in his mind:

“So, this mission to kill was issued.”

After speaking, David fell into silence again.

Jeming finally understood why he had appeared here.

This was not just a task but also a way to resolve a cause and effect he set in motion himself.

During their conversation, they had already flown several thousand kilometers, arriving at the last known location of their target according to intelligence.

It was a scorched, twisted forest.

The air still carried the smell of violent negative energy and blood.

The two descended from the sky, each using their own reconnaissance methods to search every inch of the several dozens kilometers radius area.

Jeming even activated the “All-Purpose Eye,” analyzing the residual energy information on every inch of the land.

Meanwhile, David spread out a vast force field, sensing for any abnormal soul fluctuations.

However, after an extensive search, they found nothing of value.

The opponent obviously knew how to hide, having erased all traces cleanly.

After exchanging a glance, they pulled up the map of the nearby region through the Magic Network Terminal and found the nearest city established by modified remnants.

“Let’s go,” Jeming said, “Let’s head there and see if we can find any clues.”

For the time being, they had no other options but to inquire around and see if any strange events had occurred recently.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep