Chapter 148: Inviting the Wolf into the House

Chapter 148: Inviting the Wolf into the House

"Coo, coo, coo!"

Three Pterodactylus hatchlings huddled together, casting fearful glances at Levi.

Levi had thoroughly disciplined them, and now they dared not launch an attack against him.

He discovered that there was still an unhatched egg remaining in the Pterodactylus nest.

A single egg stood as high as half a man.

The fourth egg occupied the softest, cleanest, and warmest sanctuary within the aviary.

Now, however, it belonged to Levi.

Levi hollowed out a cavity beneath the avian egg and slipped inside.

Lifting his gaze, the massive egg sat directly above his head, quietly basking in the sun.

Not far away, several cooing Pterodactylus hatchlings kept their distance, terrified to draw near Levi.

After a short while, the adult Pterodactylus returned, finding its young clustered together and the strange food item entirely gone.

It assumed the hatchlings had devoured Levi.

It dropped a carcass of a great steel-fanged mountain boar before the young, watching them voraciously tear into the dead prey.

The adult Pterodactylus pondered: It seemed necessary to hunt larger quarry after all, as small prey simply could not satisfy its children's bellies.

The adult Pterodactylus stepped aside and lay down beside the egg to sleep.

It glanced at the egg, seemingly sensing something amiss.

Yet it did not disturb the egg, dismissing the anomaly as a sign that it was on the verge of hatching.

It had no need to incubate the egg; it only had to wait for the hatchling inside to break the shell on its own.

Levi sat beneath the Pterodactylus egg.

Inspecting the invisible armor upon his body, four layers had already shattered, a testament to the ferocity of the battle.

Withstanding the assault of the Magma Lizard had broken one layer.

Enduring the magma storm had shattered two layers.

Deflecting the strike of the Pterodactylus had broken one layer.

With only eight layers of invisible armor remaining, Levi hastily replenished them, restoring his protection to twelve layers.

He took inventory of his spoils.

Three fire lotuses, one tier-two Magma Lizard magic core, and one tier-two black bear magical beast magic core.

The harvest was far from meager.

Levi commanded his shadow servant to hollow out a section of wood to house the fire lotuses.

He feared the fire lotuses might be crushed if left in his pocket, and storing them in a box felt considerably safer.

"It won't catch fire, will it?"

Levi stared at the fire lotuses inside the box, harboring a sliver of apprehension.

The temperature of the fire lotuses was by no means low; even after leaving the river of molten lava, they continued to radiate a persistent heat of seventy to eighty degrees.

Touching them directly with bare hands would result in burns.

Seeing no sign of the box catching fire, Levi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are seven magic cards enough?"

With a shift of his mind, Levi directed his thoughts.

He focused his awareness onto his phantom double, observing the field of vision transmitted back to him.

In places hidden from the contestants, the spectator stands could see clearly.

Suspended high above the island secret realm was a leaderboard.

Upon it displayed the rankings based on the quantity of magic cards held.

The Mages Association had not disclosed the rankings to the contestants, precisely to force every participant to exert their utmost effort to seize the magic cards.

Only in this manner would it be worth watching, ensuring the conflict remained sufficiently fierce.

Otherwise, if everyone saw that their rankings were comparable and stopped fighting once they secured just enough cards to enter the top ten, the battles would lose their intensity.

Only the unknown could make the competition truly interesting.

Levi utilized his external perspective to view the rankings.

Presently, Levi held seven magic cards, placing him second.

First place belonged to Russell, who held ten magic cards.

Russell was the fire mage Levi had observed on the very first day.

Third place was held by Xavis, with five magic cards.

Fourth place belonged to Lilith, who possessed four magic cards.

Lilith ranking fourth came as a bit of a surprise to Levi.

"It seems magic cards are indeed difficult to obtain," Levi mused to himself.

Overhearing the conversation between Gu Ze and Rota, Levi unexpectedly discovered that the audience had not witnessed the battle inside the magma cavern.

Nor had the Magma Lizard dropped any magic cards.

Could it be that the Mages Association had failed to discover the subterranean river of molten lava?

Levi deemed that possibility highly unlikely.

After all, the magma river led directly to the magma lake.

The Mages Association surely knew of the magma lake, and as long as they had explored it, it would be remarkably easy to discover the entrance to the magma river. It was likely a mere oversight or accidental event.

The Mages Association knew of the magma river, but assumed that the participants stood no chance of entering it during the second round.

Thus, they had not placed magic cards upon the Magma Lizard, nor had they deployed monitoring magic eyes within the magma cavern.

It was also possible that the magic cards simply could not withstand the extreme heat of the molten lava.

Levi remained uncertain of the exact reason.

Regardless, it was enough that he had reaped the benefits.

"What lies inside that cave? Why did two Magma Lizards crawl out?"

Gu Ze's face was etched with curiosity.

Levi shifted his attention back to his main body.

"On the final day, I will snatch a few more magic cards, just enough to guarantee entry into the top ten."

He thought to himself.

In any case, for someone like him who possessed an external perspective, finding targets to rob would be an effortless task.

Leewi hid within the aerie of the manus-pterodactyl, immersed in his cultivation.

An invisible scrying eye swept across the sky above the creature's nest.

It scanned the terrain, searching for his silhouette.

"What is going on? Where has the contestant Kai vanished to?"

The personnel of the Mages' Association exchanged bewildered glances, completely at a loss.

"Could he have been devoured?"

"Kai is not dead yet; his flame of life still burns bright."

"But where is the man himself?"

"Has he gone into hiding again, just like before?"

Previously, when Leewi had sequestered himself inside a cavern to cultivate.

He had vanished for a time, prompting the monitoring association to hastily dispatch a scrying eye into the cave.

Only to discover him deep in meditation within the subterranean dark.

After that, they had simply left him to his own devices.

The Mages' Association had chosen not to broadcast the footage of his secluded cultivation.

Since Leewi had chosen to hide away and train, they respected his privacy.

More importantly, the formidable figure of Torresta stood squarely behind Kai.

It was an unspoken understanding among them all.

Now, Leewi had vanished once more.

This time, it truly stumped the monitoring staff of the Mages' Association.

They were required to track everyone's movements to prevent any catastrophic incidents.

The invisible scrying eye could not draw too close to the manus-pterodactyl, for even cloaked, it risked detection and being torn from the sky.

Just as the staff found themselves caught in this dilemma, word arrived from the higher-ups that they could cease their search for the armored man.

The monitors breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The President of the Flying Flower City Mages' Association looked at the youth before him and asked, "Is he your disciple?"

From the youth's mouth emerged a voice steeped in ancient, crumbling age, "Not yet."

The President shook his head, a wry smile on his face, "You still hope to find someone to inherit your shapeshifting art? Give it up."

"You only achieved such heights by relying on your extraordinary trait; even if others learn the art, they could never replicate what you do."

The youth replied softly, "He is different."

Hearing this, the President froze for a brief moment, "Has he awakened the same extraordinary trait as yours?"

The youth merely shook his head, offering no further reply.

Outside the door, the President's secretary wore a look of utter perplexity, wondering whom his superior was speaking to.

He had not seen anyone enter the room at all.

Nestled within the manus-pterodactyl's lair, Leewi cultivated until the seventh day of the competition.

Crystal Meditation Method (Tier 1): 6969/10000

Fireball Technique (Tier 1 Mastery): 6820/10000

Invisible Armor Technique (Tier 1 Mastery): 1200/10000

Object Control Technique (Tier 1 Proficiency): 5530/10000

Great Dream Heaven-Roaming Technique (Tier 1): 1300/10000

Shapeshifting Art (Tier 1): 2600/10000

...

Aside from meditating to refine his mana, Leewi spent day and night honing his spells within the realm of dreams.

He focused primarily on the Fireball Technique, with the Shapeshifting Art as his secondary pursuit.

Occasionally, he practiced his other spells.

His progress was by no means slow.

Shifting his focus to his phantom form, Leewi reviewed the newly updated leaderboard.

He had already fallen to sixteenth place.

Only twenty-four contestants remained in the fray.

Staring at the movement trajectories of the remaining competitors across the island secret realm, a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

"Hunting time."