BOOM!

Flames engulfed the figures of Li Wei and Lair.

Gu Ze stopped in his tracks, a tense expression on his face, his eyes filled with worry.

The fiery light dissipated.

One figure stood, and one figure lay prone.

Gu Ze’s heart tightened.

When he saw clearly that the person standing was Li Wei, he let out a long sigh of relief.

It had nearly scared him to death.

When he had seen Lair pounce on Li Wei, Gu Ze had been extremely anxious.

At that moment, he had even wished that Lair had attacked him instead.

Fortunately, Li Wei was unharmed.

"Freezing Skill!"

Gu Ze cast the Magic to freeze Lair into a block of ice, to prevent him from rising again.

Li Wei smiled and said, "Teacher, it’s alright. He’s dead for good this time."

Gu Ze looked at Li Wei and asked with concern, "Are you okay? You scared me to death just now."

Li Wei shook his head. "I’m fine. Let’s see if anyone else is still alive."

"Shadow Attendant, drag all the bodies out."

The Shadow Attendant ran toward the cave.

Li Wei crouched down and looked at Lair.

Even with his face blasted apart, you could still tell that Lair’s expression was one of utter unwillingness to accept his fate.

He couldn’t understand why, even after gaining such immense Power, he still couldn’t kill Li Wei.

Li Wei clearly looked so weak.

Even at the moment of his death, he couldn’t figure out where the Fireball that fell from the sky had come from.

Gu Ze glanced at the huge explosion crater and said thankfully, "Good thing someone helped us. Otherwise, the two of us might not have been able to beat him."

Li Wei just smiled and said nothing.

After a short while, the Shadow Attendant had moved all the bodies out.

Every last one was dead.

The bodies were all charred to a crisp.

Fortunately, they had the Memory Crystal recording; otherwise, there would be no way to claim the Contribution.

CLIP-CLOP! CLIP-CLOP!

The sound of horse hooves approached.

Li Wei and Gu Ze turned their heads to look.

The soldiers stationed at Dark Valley had arrived.

With such a huge commotion here, it was impossible for them not to investigate.

After spotting the two of them, the leading Commander froze for a moment.

A moment later, his expression changed drastically when he saw the ground littered with bodies.

"Who are you?"

the Commander demanded loudly.

Li Wei revealed his Magic Badge and said, "Li Wei, an Official Mage from the Maple City Mage Tower. We are hunting Evil God Cultists."

He pointed to the bodies on the ground. "These are all Evil God Cultists."

"Bullshit! That’s my brother! You fucking killed my brother?"

The Commander cursed loudly when he saw the corpse of the military officer on the ground.

Li Wei presented the Memory Crystal.

The Commander fell silent the moment he saw it.

He quickly said, "To think he was an Evil God Cultist! And I treated him like a brother... I can’t believe he hid it so well!"

"Master Mage, please rest assured, we will fully cooperate with you in apprehending the Evil God Cultists!"

Li Wei said, "Please trouble yourselves to inform Maple City and have them send people to transport the bodies back."

"Oh, and there are many more bodies inside. You can clear them out."

"The people who have gone missing in Maple City recently are likely all in there."

The Commander glanced at the cave, the corner of his mouth twitching.

’This is the last thing I want to do.’

’What do the missing people of Maple City have to do with me?’

’That’s the responsibility of the Maple City guard.’

However, he had already boasted, so he was too embarrassed to refuse.

He quickly ordered his subordinates to help clear the corpses from the cave.

In the end, they didn’t clear out that many remains.

The dried-up corpses had basically been destroyed in the explosion.

They did, however, find some items that could prove the victims’ identities.

The Commander’s face turned ugly as he stared at a broken jade pendant.

That was the pendant he had given to his secret lover.

It seemed his secret lover had met with a foul end.

The Commander’s face darkened.

"Dammit, what fucking rotten luck!"

Li Wei and Gu Ze waited a while until the people sent from Maple City arrived and took the remains back to the city for identification.

The two of them also returned to the city with the convoy.

Seeing the Commander following them the whole way, Li Wei kindly said, "You don’t need to follow us. It’s safe enough with them here."

The Commander replied with a dark expression, "I’m going home to check on something."

He still couldn’t accept it and wanted to go back and see if his secret lover was truly dead.

Just as they reached the city gates, Li Wei saw Allen’s figure.

Allen stared at the bodies on the cart, searching for a long time before finally finding Lair.

He sighed.

"Sigh..."

Li Wei walked to his side and asked, "You already know?"

Allen didn’t look at him.

Although Lair had done wrong, Li Wei was the one who had killed his apprentice.

As his teacher, Allen’s feelings toward Li Wei were incredibly complex.

He knew Li Wei hadn’t done anything wrong.

But this wasn’t what he wanted to see.

Without turning his head, Allen said, "I saw his strength increasing too quickly and guessed he might be using some unorthodox methods."

"But I never expected him to go so far astray and do something like this..."

Li Wei was silent for a moment before saying, "There’s one more question."

"Who gave Lair the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony?"

Allen finally turned to look at him.

His eyes flickered. "Are you saying there was someone behind Lair?"

Li Wei nodded. "Yes."

"According to the intelligence I have, Lair must have obtained the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony only recently."

He had seen the transaction between Lair and the good-for-nothing noble in his dreams.

At that time, Lair had just obtained the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony.

The good-for-nothing noble was a test subject he had chosen.

To test whether the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony was truly effective.

Only after confirming the effects of the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony did Lair take the initiative to recruit others to help him.

Allen pondered for a moment, then looked down at Lair and said, "I will definitely find that person."

It was unclear whether he was speaking to Lair or to Li Wei.

Allen took Lair’s body away.

The other bodies were sent to the Mage Tower for examination. Paired with the Memory Crystal, it thoroughly confirmed their actions as Evil God Cultists.

All related personnel were also arrested by the City Lord’s Mansion.

The Jorlsman Clan not only failed to rise but instead fell into complete decline because of this incident.

Implicated with Evil God Cultists, they were even stripped of their noble title.

Martin looked at Li Wei and Gu Ze and said, "It’s a pity. The ones you found weren’t Black Cultists, but Blood Cultists."

"Still, it’s a huge contribution."

"After a discussion among the Mage Tower’s upper echelons, it has been decided to award each of you five hundred Contribution points as a reward."

Li Wei and Gu Ze both broke into smiles.

If it were just based on a head count, it wouldn’t even amount to five hundred Contribution, only just over three hundred.

But considering the massive impact and wide-reaching implications of the matter, the Mage Tower gave an additional reward.

In any case, the City Lord’s Mansion would reimburse some of it.

After all, the matter also involved nobles and the military.

Martin looked at Li Wei and smiled. "The Contribution you’ve earned should last you a while. Times are turbulent right now, so you should stay in the Mage Tower and focus on your Cultivation."

He was also afraid that Li Wei would encounter danger outside.

Previously, he had no reason to deny Li Wei missions.

After all, he couldn’t stop Li Wei from earning Contribution.

Now, he could use this as an excuse.

Li Wei nodded. "Yes, thank you for your concern, Mage Martin."

The two of them walked out of the fifth floor of the Mage Tower.

Gu Ze took out his Magic Badge and said, "My contribution to this matter wasn’t great. You were the one who got all the intelligence. Three hundred Contribution is enough for me."

Li Wei quickly pressed down on his hand.

"Teacher, this was the result of our joint effort."

"Besides, you’ll have a lot of expenses after you leave the Mage Tower."