After Blake left, Herag not only continued his daily meditation practice, studying, and teasing Chatiya, but also took on an additional task.

That was to patrol various places in Black Rock Valley from time to time, count the number of people each day, and check if there were any unusual signs in everyone's condition.

As the only official wizard in Black Rock Valley, he had absolute authority over everyone.

After several days, Herag didn't find any problems.

All these people were veterans, with the shortest having stayed for at least seven years.

In the entire Black Rock Valley, ironically, Herag had been there for the shortest time.

Herag patrolled twice daily, once in the morning and once in the evening, only returning to the castle to continue his own affairs after ensuring nothing was amiss.

Five days later, Blake was still outside and hadn't returned.

In the dead of night, Herag lay on his bed with his eyes closed in meditation, while Chatiya had already fallen asleep in the room next to his.

In the distance, at the far west side of the Magic Potion Garden, there were rows of houses.

This was where the wizard apprentices and knights who took care of the Magic Potion Garden lived. Most of them would be sound asleep by this time.

But now, seven people had sat up from their beds, looking around with complicated expressions.

The castle where Herag resided was located at the northernmost part of Black Rock Valley, very far from here, beyond Shenlan's detection range, so he did not notice these seven people's movements.

After getting out of bed, the seven people stood in front of the bed or on the empty ground in the house, taking out a dagger or longsword.

Their expressions were somewhat complex, seemingly struggling internally, but their actions bore no hesitation, all of them cutting open their own stomachs with the weapons, then collapsing onto the ground.

Blood flowed from their bodies, spreading over the ground.

The positions of these seven people formed a strange rune, their blood seemingly responding to each other.

A circular array appeared above the residential district, with two figures appearing in the center of the array.

Magic power waves spread out, alerting Herag, who was meditating.

He immediately opened his eyes and looked toward the residential district.

"Such strong magic power waves..."

Herag sensed something ominous and went to the adjoining room to knock on Chatiya's door.

Chatiya opened the door, bleary-eyed, wearing a small strap revealing her figure.

She didn't notice this, though, and asked, "Sir, what's the matter?"

"You immediately hide in the basement; something might happen. Don't come out unless I call for you," Herag instructed seriously.

Seeing his serious expression, Chatiya sobered up instantly, also sensing a powerful magic power wave.

After Herag instructed her, he left, and Chatiya hurriedly grabbed her maid outfit, too late to put it on, and ran to hide in the basement.

Herag came outside the castle; Lennon was still snoring in the gatehouse, and Herag did not wake him up.

"This distance should be enough."

Herag arrived at the edge of Shenlan's detection range, observing the situation in the western residential district.

Two people appeared in the sky above the residential district, quickly alerting the wizard apprentices and knights below.

One was an old man with white hair, the other a middle-aged man.

The old man glanced at the people running out below, looking at him in panic, quickly gathering magic power in his hand, and then softly said, "Ice Rain."

Countless ice cones formed above the residential district, then fell like a storm, piercing through the bodies of people below.

Even wizard apprentices hiding in the houses were directly pierced through the stomach by the ice cones, pinned hard to the ground.

Some quick-reacting, clever wizard apprentices avoided one round of ice cones, but immediately after, another wave of Ice Rain Technique followed, wiping out all the wizard apprentices and knights in the entire residential district.

"A Crystalization Wizard, a Liquidation Wizard."

Herag quickly learned the strength of these two through Shenlan, starting to feel overwhelmed.

The exit of Black Rock Valley was at the southernmost part, whereas he was at the northernmost part, so escaping unnoticed by these two official wizards was impossible.

"Terry, according to the intel, there's another Level 1 Wizard in that castle over there. He's an alchemist, newly promoted, not much of a combatant. Go take care of him, then come over to help me take control of the array."

The old man pulled out a long red crystal, glanced in the direction of the castle, and said.

The middle-aged man, Terry, nodded and said, "Alright, sir, I'll be quick."

In their intel, Blake was still at another distant Magic Potion Garden.

Now, in the entire Black Rock Valley, there was only Herag, a Level 1 Wizard, and he had been promoted for less than a year, still in the Gaseous Stage.

For Terry, a Liquidation Wizard, dealing with such a novice Gaseous Wizard was more than manageable, and the old man didn't take Herag seriously at all.

These two were from the Moss Family, and they had placed people in the Cheqi Family many years ago.

The seven wizard apprentices who committed suicide were planted there by them.

For years, they hadn't had these wizard apprentices do anything, behaving exactly like everyone else, so the Cheqi Family naturally hadn't discovered anything.

The Moss Family had long coveted Black Rock Valley. To seize control of the place, they had laid the groundwork many years ago.

Now, with Blake away from Black Rock Valley and unable to return for a while, it was the best time for them to take action.

A Level 2 Witch Array was extremely difficult to breach from the outside, so the Moss Family naturally wouldn't choose a frontal assault.

But if they struck from the inside, it would be different.

The seven dead wizard apprentices had hidden traps placed inside their bodies, only triggered upon their deaths.

Once these seven people died, the hidden magic runes inside them would link together, forming a temporary teleportation witch array.

However, this witch array was unstable, able to at most teleport two people inside.

With Blake having left, once they entered Black Rock Valley, a Crystalization Wizard and a Liquidation Wizard would find it unchallenged territory.

The red crystal in the old man's hand was acquired from the Land of Dawn, capable of seizing control of the array.

But it had to be done inside the array, and it would take considerable time, approximately three hours.

Even if the Cheqi Family were alerted and rushed back, they wouldn't be able to reach Black Rock Valley in three hours.

By then, with the Moss Family controlling the array, Black Rock Valley would belong to them.

Simultaneously, the Moss Family had deployed forces in several other places as well, aiming to inflict a single devastating blow to the Cheqi Family, completely knocking them off the magic potion control chain.

The stakes were high, and the Moss Family had been planning for a long time.

This action was meant to be conclusive, not giving the Cheqi Family much time to react.

The most crucial part of the whole plan was Black Rock Valley.

It was the largest, most important Magic Potion Garden base of the Cheqi Family. Without control of it, even severely weakened, the Cheqi Family could make a comeback.

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