Leovena noticedLeoric's pale complexion and assumed he was tired, suggesting they return home. Throughout the journey,Leoric furrowed his brow in deep thought, uttering not a single word.

  The prospect of being caged made it impossible for him to feel happy. However, he saw no need to burden Leovena with these worries, not wanting the little girl to be concerned.

  The day passed swiftly. The next morning,Leoric rose early, prepared his magic, and made his way back to the wizard school.

  The streets were deserted, with few people around.Leoric walked leisurely, almost within sight of the towering main building of the wizard school. Suddenly, an inexplicable palpitation in his heart madeLeoric stiffen. As an aspiring wizard, he keenly sensed a powerful magical fluctuation above him.

  Could someone be planning to sneak attack him?

  Having spent a long time in the wizard school,Leoric instinctively felt wary. He reached into his pocket, ready to pull out his magical materials. The spell he prepared in the morning was already faintly looming in his mind, ready to unleash.

  With a hiss, the void above split open, and two people dropped down, landing just ten steps away fromLeoric.

  Leoric was on guard.

  Both were tall and had blonde hair. The one on the left looked like a young man, with a radiant smile and eerily iridescent eyes that glinted with rainbow hues, dressed in a white robe. The one on the right seemed to be his follower, still with a childlike innocence in his appearance, but trying hard to look serious. He wore a thick black leather armor—so thick that it looked like a cotton-padded jacket, making him look quite bulky.

  After landing, the two looked around and turned back, spottingLeoric. The young man walked over with a smile, tappingLeoric lightly on the shoulder.

  "Hey, good morning."

  Leoric was around 5'11", not tall but not short, yet the young man was still half a head taller. Strangely, despiteLeoric's usual reluctance to let strangers touch him, especially as wizards were inherently cautious, seeing the young man approach with such a radiant smile made him feel like he was meeting an old friend, unable to summon any suspicion.

  "Excuse me, is this Spiritshade City?" the young man asked.

  Leoric nodded, "Uh-huh."

  "Which direction is the palace? Can you tell me?"

  Leoric had never been to the palace, but he knew the general direction and pointed. The young man nodded, "Thanks." He turned to his companion and headed in the directionLeoric indicated.

  Leoric stood there, momentarily stunned, feeling a slight dizziness in his head as if something was circling around in his thoughts, yet he couldn't recall what. Looking up, he saw that the figures had disappeared and returned to the wizard school.

  Once inside the school, seeing the familiar environment and feeling the cold wind,Leoric's mind suddenly cleared.

  What was wrong with him just now? Could he have fallen under some kind of mind control magic without realizing it? He hadn't seen the blonde youth casting any spells.

  While highly skilled archwizards could cast spells subtly and discreetly, the young man looked no older than twenty. How could he be such a powerful wizard… No, they weren't from Spiritshade City!

  Upon realizing this,Leoric was shocked. Residents of Spiritshade City, having lived in the Shadow Realm for over a thousand years, had been influenced by the shadow essence of this plane, generation after generation, affecting their physical appearance. Since Spiritshade City was free from natural disasters and human calamities, with abundant resources and advanced healthcare, the population growth remained stagnant due to the residents' generally decreased fertility caused by the shadow essence.

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  Moreover, the residents of Spiritshade City generally had dark or gray hair and eye colors. He had never seen anyone with blonde hair, let alone eyes like rainbows.

  They were outsiders… The Shadow Realm only had Spiritshade City as a human settlement. So, they came from the Material Realm?

  But Spiritshade City had stood firmly in the Shadow Realm for a thousand years, with严密 city defenses and countless powerful magical barriers. These two had obviously sneaked in, which explained their unfamiliarity with the paths—but how did they bypass so many magical barriers without alerting the guards?

  And what were their intentions by heading to the palace?

  Leoric felt uneasy. He seemed to have fallen under some kind of magic just now, unwittingly giving directions. If these two were indeed invaders and caused trouble, he might get blamed for it, which would be troublesome.

  He was already worried about being captured and used as a test subject, and now this unexpected disaster was beyond frustrating.

  There was nothing he could do but accept his fate. Could he escape from Spiritshade City? That was impossible.

  Just as he was shaking his head in disappointment, a deafening roar echoed, makingLeoric feel like the ground was shaking beneath his feet, as if an earthquake had struck. But Spiritshade City floated in the air; earthquakes were impossible here. Extremely powerful magic could create localized earthquake-like effects, but who would dare to use their own city as an experiment? They'd be hung and burned to death.

  The roar and tremors came from the north, where… the palace of Spiritshade City was located.

  Damn, what he feared had come true. Those two blonde guys were indeed enemies, causing such a commotion. Now, he was most likely to be implicated. He hoped he wouldn't be accused of colluding with foreigners…

  Students poured out of dormitories and laboratories, gazing toward the northern sky. It was filled with colorful lights, like countless fireworks exploding simultaneously, beautiful and extraordinary, as if celebrating a festival. But insiders knew that this was no fireworks display; it was a myriad of powerful magics weaving and bombing each other.

  A dozen beams of light rose from various corners of the wizard school, spanning the void and rushing towards the palace. The professors had sensed the strong enemy's invasion and rushed to assist. At the same time, a transparent hemispherical shadow shield rose, enveloping the school to prevent it from being affected by the war.

  Who were those two blonde guys, daring to stir up trouble at the palace of Spiritshade City? Although the various shadesoul princes were usually busy with important matters and didn't live in the palace, at least the city lord Teramant and the deputy city lord Hojehana were definitely there. Both were top-tier archwizards of Spiritshade City, akin to deities. To provoke them was suicidal.

  While his thoughts wandered, a clear sound echoed through the air, and amidst the colorful lights, a massive figure appeared—a pink dragon with countless sparkling iridescent points on its body, resembling a morning star. In its right claw, it seemed to hold a person, probably the companion in the ultra-thick leather armor, given their round appearance.

  The dragon roared and sprayed a conical beam of seven-colored rainbow light, which instantly dispersed into a giant rainbow shield covering itself and blocking all incoming magical attacks. With its huge wings unfurled, it prepared to soar away. Suddenly, a silver door opened in the void above the dragon's head, and a wizard clad in a gray robe stepped out, raising his staff and pointing it at the dragon's back.

  A bright green beam shot out from the top of the black staff, hitting the dragon's back directly. The dragon roared, and the rainbow shield covering its body shattered in one hit. Numerous magical attacks took advantage of this moment to bombard it from all sides, mixed with hundreds of magic arrows fired from magical crossbows.

  Even deities might not escape unscathed from such a torrent of attacks. The dragon roared continuously, and countless wounds instantly appeared on its body, spraying pink blood. Fortunately, dragons were the toughest and most resilient creatures in the world. Despite the relentless bombing, it survived, beating its wings and breaking open a massive black hole in the void. The dragon soared into it and disappeared.

  The attackers did not pursue. The pink dragon had forcibly broken through the spatial barrier and had already ed to another plane, impossible to catch now.

  The smoke cleared, and the dust settled. Spiritshade City returned to calm, at least on the surface. The shadow shield over the school lifted, and the participating professors returned, most looking somewhat disheveled.

  Having witnessed such an intense battle, the students felt unsatisfied and buzzed with excitement, discussing the various magics they saw, the origin of the pink dragon, and the gray-robed wizard who appeared through a teleportation portal and disintegrated the dragon's rainbow shield with a single strike.

  "That was Mr. Hojehana," a student suddenly exclaimed excitedly. "My father once took me to a banquet where I met him. I saw his staff with a winged serpent on the top, his unique emblem."

  "Wow!"

  For these wizard students, Hojehana was also an admired icon. Like the city lord, Hojehana was an exceptionally talented grand artificer. He had served as the deputy city lord of Spiritshade City since the Netherese era and was known as "the City Lord's Hand." Often, his orders were equivalent to the city lord's wishes, making him akin to the city lord's embodiment.

  Legend had it that he was also the headmaster of a secret higher wizard school.