One-Eyed Monster

The standoff between the two sides had reached a stalemate. Neither dared to make a hasty move, each trying to predict the other’s next steps. Although the physical attacks had ceased, the psychological warfare was in full swing. It seemed as though an unspoken agreement had been reached, dedicating this moment to mutual speculation instead of physical assaults.

The Great Mentor, observing the situation, chose not to interfere with Igor and the others. He watched quietly, believing that the attacker, the intruder, currently posed no significant threat. The intruder had shown signs of panic and confusion, eventually revealing a state of desperation. Yet this desperation was carefully concealed, as if the intruder wanted to strike but dared not. This struck Grand Master Guzan as rather strange. A Dark Wizard shouldn’t be so indecisive. The entire ocean appeared calm, yet the Great Mentor could sense an impending storm, a tempest brewing beneath the surface. It was as if this tranquility was deliberately suppressing the turbulent waves.

What exactly was causing the intruder to repress his emotions and hesitate to attack recklessly? This was the primary question occupying the Great Mentor’s thoughts.

The Great Mentor possessed vast experience. Although he was surprised and impressed by the performance of Igor, Stan Sol, and even Kadi, his experience told him that these youths were currently no match for this intruder.

However, these youths had managed to bewilder the intruder, who, at this moment, had likely lost all basic judgment of his opponents.

This could be considered a miracle, whether large or small.

That the intruder was stronger than Igor and the others was beyond question. The Great Mentor had encountered the power of Dark Wizards before. Regarding this power, which had been banned by the entire professional world, the Great Mentor did not hold an entirely negative view. Of course, in his philosophy, good and evil were clearly distinct. However, he did not believe the Dark Arts should be condemned indiscriminately. The most notable example was Brad from the Alchemy Workshop. In a sense, Brad, with his insatiable craving for power, was a prime example of someone taking shortcuts. The Berserk Potion, which caused extreme transformations by altering parts of one’s body, bore some resemblance to the Dark Arts. However, the Great Mentor had not forbidden it because he believed its positive effects far outweighed its negative impacts. Not everything ambiguous should necessarily be banned.

This was why the Great Mentor’s apprentices were each more unconventional than the last, a significant reason being that the Great Mentor sometimes overly indulged their ways of thinking.

However, even as his apprentices ventured down increasingly peculiar paths, the Great Mentor consistently chose tolerance. Even Kuyi Tulan, a genius who had committed grave errors, was, in Grand Master Guzan’s eyes, merely a child who had chosen the wrong path.

At this moment, the Great Mentor couldn’t help but think of his disciple, Kuyi Tulan. Initially, everyone on Guru Mountain believed this invasion was Kuyi Tulan’s solo act. They had all considered Kuyi Tulan the primary enemy. Even Xiso, when planning their defenses, had assumed they would be facing Kuyi Tulan and the Golden Seats backing him. Yet, who could have predicted that a Dark Wizard would suddenly strike at Moonflow Stream, catching them completely off guard? Their devastating defeat there had nearly pushed them into a hopeless situation.

Fortunately, Igor’s appearance had given them hope of getting back on track. Judging from the current situation, these ’monsters’ of Guru Mountain might soon be able to shift from their current passive position to an offensive one.

At the very least, Xiso and the others could certainly use this breathing spell to launch an effective counterattack.

From the extent and range of the intruder’s attacks, the Great Mentor had long since determined that there was only one intruder. However, this individual possessed the Spirit Power equivalent to that of multiple people. As for how this person accomplished it, it was unknown. After all, there were far too many Forbidden Spells within the Dark Arts, and it was impossible for them to master them all.

Moreover, many more Dark Arts were practiced in secret, never meant to see the light of day.

The Great Mentor was gratified that Igor and the others had bought him so much time, allowing him to analyze so much so comprehensively. If he were still in the midst of battle, he wouldn’t have been able to leisurely combine various factors to analyze the current state of affairs like this.

Currently, Igor and Stan Sol were cautiously planning their next move. The disturbed Malice Spirit Entities, under the guidance of Stan Sol’s Ghostly Flame, were developing in a favorable direction. Regardless of whether these Malice Spirit Entities could become a piece in their counterattack, Stan Sol would at least give them a satisfactory end. For instance, during the previous engagement, the intruder’s Water Folk had shown these Malice Spirit Entities no mercy, shattering any they caught. In contrast, Stan Sol and the others did their utmost to help these Malice Spirit Entities evade the Water Folk’s attacks. From this alone, one could distinguish the true guide from the true exploiter. Whether these Malice Spirit Entities still possessed any self-awareness was truly hard to say. However, they would, more or less, not help the intruder attack Igor’s group. The intruder’s actions had already revealed one thing: he did not intend to let these Malice Spirit Entities remain in their original state. The intruder seemed to want to extract the Spirit Power from the Malice Spirit Entities; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so impetuously devouring them one after another.

The Great Mentor felt there were other things working in their favor aside from the Malice Spirit Entities.

Although these were his speculations, he believed they were well-founded and quite tenable.

Igor’s understanding of the Inner World deepened this judgment for the Great Mentor and also strengthened his confidence in this advantage.

The Great Mentor had inferred this from the intruder’s attack methods and the way he controlled the situation.

The intruder very likely doesn’t understand the Inner World at all, or perhaps is completely ignorant of this set of techniques. The intruder’s fixed routines made the Great Mentor firmly believe this. Because from the moment they entered the intruder’s control range at Moonflow Stream, the intruder had hardly changed any conditions within the Inner World he had set up.

Always the sea, always this vast ocean!

This is the intruder’s weakness. An unchanging Inner World can never deal with an ever-changing one.

Moreover, when Igor and the others used the moon’s gravitational pull to draw the Malice Spirit Entities out from the sea’s surface, the intruder, in a fit of extreme anger, retaliated by merely turning seawater into Water Folk. There was no substantial change.

This shows that this intruder’s Inner World cannot break free from this ocean. In other words, apart from this ocean, he has no other ways to manifest it!

This is not at all a world created by a master of the Inner World...