"I've already told you—Alice Springs has no totems. Why you insist on staying, I truly don't understand. We don't have spare housing either, so you'll have to make do with a tent."
There were no inns in this small outpost. Commander Kane rummaged through military supplies and pulled out a portable tent—common equipment for army mages.
"Ah… what a miserable life we live."
Jayce groaned while his hands worked at lightning speed. Naturally—anyone daring to go treasure-hunting for totems had long mastered the art of pitching tents.
"Having a tent at all is already a blessing. But why only one? There are two of us," Kain Clinton complained.
He wasn't the type to share cramped sleeping space with another man. If it were a girl… well, he wouldn't exactly protest.
"Ahem. You're both grown men. This tent is large enough—just squeeze in a bit," Commander Kane said with a dry cough. It was the only spare he could find on short notice.
"You sleep first. I'll meditate for a while."
With that, Kain immediately slipped into cultivation. His Undead Element was already High Tier, Level Three. If he wanted to break into the Super Level soon, he couldn't slack.
Once his Undead Element reached Super Tier, Gareth Stormspear's strength could ascend again. His family likely held one or two Monarch-level Soul Essences in reserve.
Only when Gareth reached Monarch-level would Kain have enough power to truly protect himself—against the Asian Magic Association or even the Holy City.
And upon stepping into Super Tier, he would be able to summon another guardian spirit. Most likely one of the Five Tiger Generals—his surname was Clinton, after all.
"Holy— You're insane. You actually trained the entire night!"
For ordinary mages, meditation consumed tremendous mental energy. Overdo it, and fainting wasn't uncommon.
But for Kain? It was nothing new.
As long as he fed his guardian spirit a single servant-level Soul Essence, the energy feedback was enough to keep him cultivating for a full day and night—without losing even a shred of vitality.
As for storing Soul Essences and remnants? He had the Undead Element and an independent undead space. Why would he need physical containers?
"No time to train during the day," Kain said casually. After absorbing the essence's feedback, he felt more refreshed than if he had slept for ten hours.
"That's still no reason to quietly outwork me," Jayce muttered. They had agreed to slack off together—and here Kain was, secretly leveling up.
"Come on. Breakfast first. Then we get to work."
Kain's "work" naturally meant dealing with Blake. But to Jayce, it instantly became—totems.
"Yes, yes, the totem clues. But even the locals don't know anything. Where are we supposed to start?" Jayce asked helplessly.
Commander Kane was the highest-ranking officer in Alice Springs, and even he had no knowledge of local totems. Finding even a single clue seemed nearly impossible.
Kain looked over his shoulder. "Alice Springs isn't big. Ask around a little—you'd be surprised how much you can learn."
"That's true… If worst comes to worst, we can always head to Coral Bay."
"Didn't you say Coral Bay was cursed?"
"You even remember that? Whatever! You said there were Azure Dragon clues here. If there aren't, I won't let you off!"
Jayce snorted. Kain used him like a tool every time—and he knew it well.
When the two arrived at the expedition's tent area, it was already bustling. Teachers, soldiers, military mages—everybody was gathered.
"Those two are the high-tier mages from the big city? They're so young!"
"How are we supposed to live like this? Barely past twenty and already at the same tier as Commander Kane?"
"…"
Not every mage paid attention to the World University Tournament. For most soldiers here, guarding their homeland was priority enough—they had no time for global news.
Still, word of the two young prodigies had spread quickly. Many had barely slept last night. Like frogs sitting at the bottom of a well, they had never climbed up—yet suddenly a giant frog appeared at the opening and blocked the entire sky.
In the crowd, a military mage in the corner stared as if he'd swallowed a bitter pill.
That was Blake—the very man Kain had come for.
As a member of the Black Covenant, seeing geniuses of this level made his jealousy spike uncontrollably. When he joined the Covenant, they promised him power. And what did he get? A few demonic pets. Some black beasts.
Useful against low-tier mages—barely. Against high-tier mages? Useless.
If he had never met talent like Kain, he wouldn't doubt the Covenant at all. But now? He wanted to curse aloud.
Damn you, Black Covenant. False advertising. I didn't want pets—I wanted cultivation!
Even while cursing internally, Blake didn't dare show a hint of betrayal. Once you joined the Covenant, quitting wasn't an option. Even thinking about leaving was dangerous.
His first element was Summoning. And yet here he was, permanently stuck at basic-tier summoning. Pathetic.
Cultivation was no different from the path of immortality: wealth, companions, methods, and land—the four pillars.
Wealth—backing and resources. Magic required money at every level: spiritual seeds for Intermediate Tier, soul seeds for Advanced Tier, magical tools, equipment… everything was expensive.
Companions—connections and guidance. The magic world was still a modern society. With the right teacher, you could skip years of detours.
Methods—innate talent. Even a genius couldn't progress without resources and support. John only rose because of the Little Loach.
Land—training grounds such as the Three-step Tower, the Earth Holy Spring, the Void Altar. Essential for rapid advancement.
Blake had none of these. Nothing but a Summoning Element and an empty wallet. Even breaking into Intermediate Tier felt out of reach.
The Black Covenant was, in truth, little more than a pyramid-scheme cult. If they really possessed terrifying secret arts, they wouldn't be skulking in the shadows like stray rats.
People like Blake—bottom-tier cultists—were cannon fodder. Left to fend for themselves until needed. Then discarded without hesitation. Sold off and still counting money for their masters.
Pity was wasted on such people. Every black beast represented a stolen life—every one of them born from innocent victims.
For their sins, their despair… Kain would repay Blake tenfold.