Sovereign of the Ashes

Sein had not realized that after he departed from the swamp, where the Bone Flower Resource Point was located, another conflict had erupted there.

However, he did sense that the initiates from the Divine Tower of Land Academy were less fervent in their pursuit.

Several days later, as Sein reached the border between the Divine Tower of Shadow and the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territories, he noticed a significant drop in his divine tower badge.

His score, previously nearing 140,000 points, had decreased by over 3,000 points.

“Could it be that someone has taken over Blackgrave Forest? Or maybe it’s the Creek Orchid Grass Basin?” Sein wondered, examining his divine tower badge.

“The Creek Orchid Grass Basin seems the likelier target. The Blackgrave Forest is heavily fortified by the elite initiates from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring. With my departure, I doubt the Divine Tower of Land Academy would persist in their attack there,” he deduced.

A sigh then escaped his lips.

Fortunately, his high score was not solely dependent on controlling resource points.

Yet, for the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring initiates, the situation looked bleak.

Facing the relentless offensive of the Divine Tower of Land Academy, losing resource points meant more than just a drop in score—it posed a risk of elimination from the trial space.

With elite initiates like Daniel and Anna focused on Blackgrave Forest Resource Point, the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s defense in other areas was likely compromised, making them susceptible to the Divine Tower of Land Academy’s forceful advance.

Despite historically being the underdog, Divine Tower of Verdant Spring had shown remarkable potential this year.

With Sein’s unexpected rise and the contributions of initiates like Daniel and Anna, they had amassed substantial points in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory, possibly breaking their four-year losing streak.

However, climbing higher in the rankings would be challenging, relying on Sein alone.

Unperturbed by the minor loss of points on his divine tower badge, Sein pressed forward into the heart of the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory.

In the days that followed, Sein observed the score in his divine tower badge decreasing incrementally, confirming his suspicion that Divine Tower of Land Academy had likely seized most of the resource points in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory which were previously occupied by Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

It appeared that even some of the resource points in their home territory might have fallen into the hands of the Divine Tower of Land Academy.

Despite this, Sein remained composed, unaffected by the gradual decrease in his score.

He knew that even if he lost all his resource points to others, he would only forfeit around 10,000 to 20,000 points at most, which was a trivial amount compared to his overall score.

Sein continued moving through the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory like a seasoned hunter.

With the golden pillar of light around him, it was difficult to ambush the initiates in this territory.

His strategy relied on using the crystal ball to pinpoint his opponents’ locations before swiftly eliminating as many as he could to maximize point gains.

It had been more than a year since the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War began.

Sein’s approach became more ruthless. He spared no one, targeting even junior initiates—anyone within his sight became prey.

Sein’s tactics, along with the repeated appearance of the golden light pillar in the five territories, instilled fear in all initiates participating in this year’s academy war, except for those from the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring.

Sein, along with his golden light pillar, had become almost legendary, particularly among the junior and intermediate initiates.

Senior initiates and Quasi Mages from the major divine towers harbored both fear and resentment toward Sein.

Sein’s ability to unleash a total of seventy-two Solar Eye beams was unmatched. No initiate had withstood them.

Even thirty-six of these beams were lethal, capable of killing most adversaries instantly.

Only someone like the Gade, a phenomenal initiate with exceptional defense, might be able to withstand a full onslaught of Sein’s Solar Eye spell.

Yet, so far, Sein had never engaged in a direct one-on-one battle with Gade.

During their last encounter, Sein used his Solar Eye spell in a brief clash with Gade. Since Sein quickly withdrew from the battlefield after that, it did not count as a true battle with Gade.

For nearly two months, Sein roamed the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory, eluding senior initiates and Quasi Mages like Magray from the Divine Tower of Land Academy.

Realizing the futility of point hunting within the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder’s territory, Sein set his sights on the Divine Tower of Land Academy’s territory.

Notably, Sein did not repeat the same strategy he used in the Divine Tower of Shadow’s territory.

It was not that the initiates from the Divine Tower of Radiant Thunder were uncooperative, but rather because initiates like Magray, who were in pursuit of Sein, had learned from their previous lessons.

Magray, in particular, had become almost fanatical in his chase of Sein. This obsession had lasted for months, yielding little in terms of points.

If this continued, Magray risked not just missing the top ten but also failing to secure a spot in the top twenty.

Driven by the fear of his efforts being wasted, Magray grew increasingly fixated on eliminating Sein.

Unfortunately for him, things did not seem to be going his way.

In the Divine Tower of Land Academy’s territory, Sein had crafted nearly four months of legendary exploits. Then, he moved to the Divine Tower of Cipher’s territory, carrying with him a substantial number of points.

The Divine Tower of Cipher’s territory had changed noticeably since Sein’s last visit.

Many resource points bore marks of intense battles and had fallen into the hands of the Divine Tower of Land Academy.

Sein had not crossed paths again with the twin female initiates who had injured him with their unique curse magic.

Their current whereabouts were a mystery. Sein was not sure whether they were still lurking in one of the resource points or gone from the trial space altogether.

He vividly recalled the torment of the curse spell, a stubborn affliction that proved difficult to dispel.

It instilled in him a mix of fear and fascination toward the two senior initiates from the Divine Tower of Cipher. At the same time, his curiosity about the nature of curse spells was also piqued.

Besides, Sein had always been interested in occult arts.

Once the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War concluded, he planned to delve into the library, seeking books with comprehensive insights into the subject.

The introductory lectures on occult arts offered by the divine tower academy were far too basic for his taste and did little to satiate his thirst for deeper knowledge.

Sein spent a month traversing the Divine Tower of Cipher’s territory.

Meanwhile, as he continued his point-hunting spree across the four divine towers, a huge incident occurred within the Divine Tower of Verdant Spring’s territory.