Over the past few days, Grimm has made new discoveries about the Life Code and stumbled upon an unexpected breakthrough in elemental magic runes.　　The matter of the forbidden zone of the Life Code would have to be put on hold for now.　　For he had realised that to verify a recent discovery, he required a precious experimental subject: a living human being!　　However, conducting witchcraft experiments on common folk risked immediate exposure as a notorious dark wizard. Such a reputation would draw a joint warrant from all wizard academies, leaving him perpetually hunted by dark wizard hunters.　　Grimm dared not risk conducting human experiments under such circumstances.　　Of course, conducting experiments on a wizard apprentice might not warrant a warrant from every academy, but the apprentice's own academy and other influential factions would certainly pursue the matter.　　Thus, while one might slay other wizards, attempting to capture on

　　Grimm needed no hesitation whatsoever.　　With Grimm's formidable mental prowess and the combined might of numerous precious magical artefacts, few posed a genuine threat. Only prodigies like Yunli, Bibilyanna, or Soranm—those born with rare talents and nurtured from the moment they entered the academy by second-level wizards investing immense effort—could hope to challenge him.　　Such a vast quantity of magic stones rapidly boosting one's power was itself a form of wizardly wisdom!　　Of course, this only applied to the first twenty days after the secret realm opened.　　After twenty days, should the wizard apprentices acquire those high-powered consumable magical artifacts, that would be another matter entirely.　　"This... this is driving us to our deaths!"　　Binson wailed.　　Yoric, however, let out a savage chuckle: "Heh heh heh heh, I've long yearned for a battle opportunity like this, just like the slaughter aboard the sea vessel

　　Buzz...　　Grimm had never ventured into the Zhenji Forest before and knew nothing of its common dangers. Now, he had unwittingly entered the domain of the so-called Killer Bees. Suddenly, hundreds of these fist-sized insects swarmed towards him, filling the sky.　　"Hm?"　　Grimm realised his mistake. The Thornbark Forest wasn't only filled with apprentice wizards as enemies; these dangerous creatures were equally deadly hunters for the young sorcerers!　　However...　　A dense, rain-like pattern of ripples spread across the defensive shield before Grimm. Though it looked dramatic, his mana was only trickling away bit by bit.　　For the lethal stings' attack intensity barely reached twenty degrees. It was merely their sheer numbers that prevented the Mask from replenishing its energy from the natural world in time.　　Wizards have always been creatures who fought with intellect. Those who resorted to brute force at the slightest provocati

　　It must be said that as Grimm continued his killing spree, by the time he had slain the sixth wizard apprentice, the mark upon his forehead had begun to emit truly astonishing fluctuations.　　For the sixth apprentice slain by Grimm was a formidable opponent who had already claimed four lives himself. Thus, Grimm now carried the accumulated markings of ten apprentice wizards. Instantly, the markings on Grimm's body blazed like flames in the darkness of the trial grounds. Wherever he went, other apprentice wizards fled at the earliest opportunity.rendering further "hunting" utterly impossible for Grimm.　　Afterwards, aside from one exceptionally powerful apprentice who briefly tested Grimm before fleeing, he encountered no one else. Grimm had even begun to abandon this method of acquiring magic stones, resolving to wait locally for the secret realm to open.　　Yet, just as Grimm abandoned his hunt, four wizard apprentices—each radiating formidable mark fluctuatio

　　Among the thirty-odd wizard apprentices gathered in the vast clearing, two stood out as clearly the most powerful. Their mark fluctuations had already reached the level of ten individuals, and each was flanked by two or three assistants. Not a single wizard apprentice dared provoke these two small cliques.　　The rest came alone, wary of one another, with only a handful arriving in small groups.　　"Where to find blood offerings? Ha! Don't we have plenty right here?"　　At that moment, a male apprentice wizard with a ten-person mark fluctuation spoke up.　　This apprentice appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen years old, with a rather youthful face and a voice still undergoing the changes of puberty. Yet his disposition was already remarkably cruel.　　After speaking, the apprentice turned his gaze towards another female apprentice present, also bearing the ten-person mark fluctuations.　　She sat astride a colossal bear formed from earth eleme