After the war, the king held a victory celebration and offered condolences to the fallen soldiers and their families.
This gesture won him the deep support of his people.
That night, by the bonfire, ministers and generals toasted Zhang Ye and Leona one after another.
Without Leona's overwhelming strength, they could not have won this battle.
Without Zhang Ye's flooding strategy, the outcome of the war would still be unknown, but one thing was certain—the casualties would have been far worse.
Because of this, both of them earned everyone's profound respect.
Afterward, the Allied Army of the Four Kingdoms delivered the spoils of the beast tide as promised—hundreds of thousands of magic cores and various magical beast materials!
This included over a dozen Saint-tier magic cores!
A total of twenty Saint-tier magical beasts had been slain, and sixty percent of that meant twelve cores. One of them was the dark-attribute magic core of the Dark Cloud Tiger—a four-star Saint-tier core, which was extremely precious.
However, since clearing the battlefield would still take some time, these chores were left to the four kingdoms. The final spoils of war would be transferred by the Eros Kingdom to the members of the All Souls Magic Academy.
With only ten days left before the secret realm exploration ended, the group decided to continue their exploration first and collect the spoils later.
The Eros Kingdom wouldn't dare keep it for themselves anyway.
The exploration journey began once more, but this time, Talia and Paige insisted on being in the same group as Zhang Ye, no matter what.
Paige's reasoning was that Zhang Ye was her teacher, so it was only natural for a student to be grouped with her teacher.
As for Talia... she crossed her arms and glared at her older brother, Talik. “I don't care. I'm going to be in the same group as my junior.”
“But... you have to at least tell me why,” Talik said, looking helpless.
Talia snorted. “I like him. Is that a crime?”
Talik was instantly stunned.
Fortunately, only the two of them were present. If anyone else had heard this, their jaws would have hit the floor.
“This...” Talik swallowed hard. “Are you serious?”
“Yes!” Talia nodded with absolute certainty. “Completely serious!”
“How can you be so sure you like him?” Talik asked.
“I like seeing him smile,” Talia replied bluntly. “Just tell me, do you agree or not?”
“Even if you don't agree, I'm still grouping with him!”
Talik opened his mouth, but in the end, he just scratched his head and sighed. “Fine, fine. I'll go let the mentor know.”
Only then did Talia smile, looking confident and bold. “Great! I'm going to make him smile for me!”
With that, she ran off.
Talik stared after her, then let out a bitter laugh. “She didn't even say thank you. Girls really do outgrow their families quickly...”
On the other side, just as everyone was about to set off, Talia ran over and whispered a few words to Leona. Leona nodded.
Talia immediately ran over to Zhang Ye's side with a joyful face, bumping his shoulder with hers.
“Junior, your senior came all this way just for you. Are you happy?”
The moment those words left her mouth, the girls in the group shot her wary looks. And yes... that included Nan.
Hearing this, Zhang Ye smiled. “Of course I'm happy. I'm definitely glad to have someone as powerful as you join us, Senior.”
Seeing Zhang Ye's smile, Talia looked instantly satisfied and burst into hearty laughter.
Leona raised an eyebrow at the scene but said nothing, leading the group forward.
Their destination this time was a misty forest over eight thousand kilometers to the south.
It was said that bizarre things often happened there. Wails and howls like ghosts and wolves frequently echoed from within, and some had even seen ghostly shadows. Moreover, the mist there could deceive human eyes, causing people to get lost in the forest, never to escape.
The previous All Souls expedition team had reported finding a ruin inside. It contained powerful taboos and likely held treasures.
However, the expedition team had also warned that the mist indeed bewildered both the mind and the eyes, making it extremely easy to get lost. Furthermore, magical beasts ran rampant there, and their density was incredibly high. Thus, no one should ever venture inside without a Saint-tier expert leading the way.
With Leona leading them, the group naturally had nothing to fear.
To prevent another casualty incident like the last one, Leona demanded that they remain in a single group this time. They had to move together and stay within five kilometers of her—this was her fastest reinforcement distance.
After flying at high speeds for some time, they passed over a massive rift that was over ten kilometers wide. It had been formed by a major earthquake and was completely bottomless.
Finally, they arrived at the misty forest.
Upon seeing the mist shrouding the forest, Zhang Ye, Lina, and Nan felt a sudden wave of familiarity.
The latter two hadn't recalled it yet, but Zhang Ye had already figured out what it was through his analysis.
【Water Illusion Mist】!
The 【Water Illusion Mist】 that only the World Water Spirit could cast!
This sent a jolt of excitement through Zhang Ye's heart. However, to avoid raising any suspicion, he suppressed his inner thrill.
Zhang Ye knew that the consciousness and thoughts of the Water Spirit's clones were interconnected. If the Water Spirit was here, then... she would definitely recognize him!
Stepping into the forest, Leona frowned slightly. “The water element here is incredibly dense. It's at least ten times stronger than the outside world...”
An area dense with water elements was not an ideal battlefield for a fire-attribute mage. She felt somewhat uncomfortable here.
Upon hearing this, Lina and the other two finally recalled something and turned to look at Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye merely gave them a gentle nod, placing a finger to his lips.
“Shh...”
The three of them nodded slightly, indicating they understood.
The fewer people who knew about the Water Spirit, the better. They knew Zhang Ye was trying to protect her, so they would naturally support him.
As for Leona, Zhang Ye would handle her.
Zhang Ye quickly caught up to Leona and called out softly via transmission, “Big Nana...”
“Hmm?” Leona turned to look at him.
Zhang Ye pondered for a moment before saying, “I want to tell you something, but you have to keep it a secret, okay?”
Seeing his cautious manner, Leona smiled and nodded, finding this childish side of him incredibly endearing.
Zhang Ye then told her about his encounter with the Water Spirit.
“That Water Spirit's Tear was given to me by her. She was the one who helped me prepare that surprise for you. So... she's on our side. Can you promise not to hurt her?” Zhang Ye asked with a look of hope.
Leona laughed and tapped his forehead. “You... Fine. As long as she doesn't attack us, I won't hurt her.”
Hearing this, Zhang Ye flashed a brilliant smile. “Thank you, Big Nana!”
The reason Zhang Ye chose to tell Leona was that she surely knew the origin of the Water Spirit's Tear and must have already guessed something. She simply hadn't asked because she respected and trusted him. Since that was the case, Zhang Ye couldn't let her down.
Moreover, Zhang Ye believed that Leona would never expose this matter.
Everyone present was someone he trusted.
The others could not hear their transmission, though Lina and her companions guessed what they were talking about.
Watching this scene, Talia felt a trace of envy.
She felt that Zhang Ye's smile at this moment was truly from the bottom of his heart. It was so beautiful, even more radiant than his previous smiles. She, too, wanted him to look at her with a smile like that.
The deeper they went, the thicker the mist became, and the denser the water elements grew.
Leona had to use her mana to briefly disperse the mist just to see ahead, but the distance remained shrouded in a blanket of white.
No one noticed that the mist around Zhang Ye was particularly thick, as if it were consciously wrapping around him. Yet, it did not affect his vision in the slightest.
In fact, Zhang Ye could see more clearly than anyone else, as if he could peer right through the fog.
As they walked, Zhang Ye felt a slight itch on his cheek.
It felt as if many tiny hands were gently caressing his face.
However, Zhang Ye didn't pay it much mind. His attention was fully focused on searching for the Water Spirit.
They gradually ventured over a hundred li deep, but strangely, they didn't encounter a single magical beast along the way—not even a low-tier one.
It was as if the magical beasts were deliberately avoiding them.
One had to know that to train the students, Leona had not intentionally released her mana fluctuations. Logically speaking, in a forest so dense with magical beasts, it should have been impossible to walk over a hundred li without even seeing a mouse.
The others grew increasingly uneasy, but Zhang Ye felt completely refreshed.
Breathing in the dense water elements of this forest felt like a deep cleanse for his lungs, incredibly refreshing.
Just then, they arrived before a river.
“Let's take a rest,” Leona said.
The feeling of the dense water elements clinging to her body made her somewhat uncomfortable. The others felt it too, so they needed to cleanse themselves of the moisture.
Zhang Ye, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying it.
It seemed his null-attribute constitution could adapt to any environment.
Zhang Ye walked to the riverbank. After confirming it was safe, he scooped up some water.
The river water was cool and extremely comfortable.
He brought it to his mouth, planning to taste the refreshing water. With his current constitution, he didn't need to worry about parasites anyway.
However, before he could drink, the water suddenly moved.
Like a tiny snake, it gently crawled up his cheek, rubbing against him. It felt like a small hand softly caressing his face.
Zhang Ye froze, and the name slipped from his lips.
“Hainowei?”
...
...
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