The golden beam of light, blazing with dazzling intensity, streaked westward across the Earth Academy's territory—from its eastern edge all the way to the west. Kai fled west because that was the rough direction of the Blue Source Holy Tower. But to reach Blue Source, he would have to cut through not only the entire Earth Academy territory but also the Whispering Source Holy Tower's apprentice zone.
Kai flew at breakneck speed, and thanks to his metal disc artifact, his stamina far outmatched most Senior Apprentices. Vial after vial of recovery potions slid down his throat. As time passed and the distance he covered grew, the gap between Kai and his pursuers widened. Yet many Earth Academy apprentices refused to give up—no matter how far Kai flew, they clung to his trail like shadows.
They never worried about losing him, either. That golden beam, slicing through the trial space's sky, was a beacon impossible to miss.
This was by far the most humiliating predicament Kai had faced since entering the trial space. But he refused to be a passive target the entire time. Only a dozen or so Senior and higher-ranked Earth Academy apprentices chased him, and with most elites deployed to the frontlines, the academy's rear had no top-tier apprentices left.
Kai's mental power and magic were tied up maintaining the metal disc's flight, and his condition hadn't recovered from the constant fleeing. So when he chose to counterattack, he bided his time—waiting for his Sun-Eye Mask to finish cooling down and swapping out the energy crystals at its core again and again.
His first targets were the Quasi-Magicians who had hounded him the most relentlessly. Convinced they could claim his points, these few had chased Kai nonstop for days and nights—from the eastern hill battlefield all the way to the central-southern part of the Earth Academy's territory.
To take them down, Kai first feigned exhaustion, dropping into a valley to "rest." The golden beam marked his position clearly within the valley. The first to arrive were four Earth Academy Quasi-Magicians. They exchanged glances outside the valley, hesitating to strike immediately.
Far more apprentices had joined the chase initially, but most lacked the stamina to keep up and had fallen far behind. It would take them time to catch up. Additionally, many Intermediate and Low-Rank apprentices who had been guarding resource points in the Earth Academy's territory had also joined the hunt. With thousands ganging up on him, Kai had thoroughly enraged the Earth Academy from top to bottom.
"Should we attack?" one Quasi-Magician asked. He ached for Kai's points, but even he knew a powerhouse with over 100,000 points was far beyond his solo ability. His own score had barely hit 7,000—mediocre even among Quasi-Magicians.
"Wait a little longer," a female Quasi-Magician replied. "Ramron and the others are rushing over, and they've gathered a force of over 2,000 Intermediate and Low-Rank apprentices."
Her words made the other three Quasi-Magicians wince. Over 2,000 lower-ranked apprentices… What if one of them got lucky—landing a single Fireball that took down the peak apprentice? Or if someone stood closest to Kai in the chaos? Half of Kai's 100,000 points would end up in that person's hands.
Shaking off the thought, Fark the Kinetic Hand—the strongest of the four—spoke up: "Let's test him first. If he's still too strong for us, we'll wait for Ramron."
Fark was a top-tier apprentice in this war, but bad luck had dogged him in the early months—he'd gained few points from resource point seizures. His score hadn't even hit 10,000, and he was nowhere near the top ten. This frustration likely fueled his obsession with Kai; he'd chased him across nearly half the territory.
Two of the other Quasi-Magicians nodded in agreement. The female apprentice hesitated, but seeing the others' resolve, she reluctantly agreed.
The valley was quiet, lush with emerald green vegetation. A stream babbled through it, glinting gold in the light. But beneath this serene surface, danger lurked.
"I hear you want my points?" Kai stood by the stream, wiping his hands in the cool water as the four Earth Academy apprentices surrounded him in a diamond formation. With the golden beam shining on him, sneaking up on them like he used to was impossible. He had no choice but to face them head-on.
Kai's arrogance—he wasn't even holding a staff—shocked and delighted the four apprentices.
"Dare to stir up trouble in the Earth Academy? You must be ready to die!" Fark 冷哼ed (huffed coldly). A massive cyan energy hand materialized above him as he chanted. The other three apprentices unleashed their signature spells, too.
"Look up," Kai said, shaking his head and pointing to the valley sky.
Six golden eyes had appeared overhead—hidden in the glow of Kai's own light, they'd gone unnoticed. Before the four Earth Academy apprentices could react, a flood of golden energy came crashing down.
The battle ended in a flash. Kai's magic and mental power were depleted, but the four Quasi-Magicians were just as worn out after days of chasing. Two were blasted out of the trial space on the spot. Fark (the one with the energy hand) and the female apprentice—who'd stayed farther back and fled faster—barely escaped with their lives.
Few had witnessed this fight in the quiet valley, but it laid bare most of Kai's cards: a top-tier mask artifact that fired thirty-six golden beams in quick succession, impressive fire-element magic, and a never-ending supply of magical gear… Next time he faced top apprentices, he'd lose the element of surprise.
After crippling the four Quasi-Magicians who'd hounded him, Kai's escape grew far easier. But letting others attack without fighting back wasn't his style. Since he was already cutting through the Earth Academy's territory—and no elite apprentices had formed a blockade yet—why not grab some extra points along the way?
Nearly seven months had passed since the war began. Even weak Low-Rank apprentices, if they'd faithfully guarded a resource point, would have accumulated dozens of points by now. Kai often passed large and medium resource points; he didn't dare storm their interiors, but picking off stragglers outside was easy.
Earth Academy apprentices outshone others not just in the number and quality of Senior and higher-ranked apprentices, but also in the overall skill of their Intermediate and Low-Rank members. Dozens of points per kill seemed trivial compared to Kai's total score, but they added up to a tidy sum.
Notably, Kai didn't kill every apprentice he encountered—unlike before. He'd once killed without mercy to avoid exposure, but now that he was a walking beacon, such brutality was unnecessary. There was another reason he hesitated to admit: he feared continued ruthless killings would unite every apprentice in the trial space against him. The memory of thousands of apprentices glaring at him with hatred on the hill battlefield still haunted him. Making more enemies was not wise.
Until he fixed the golden glow from his Holy Tower badge, Kai knew he'd never have peace—not for the rest of the war.
Years later, many apprentices still recalled the day a golden beam sliced across the entire Earth Academy territory. It became a shared memory for an entire generation of apprentices across the five Holy Towers. Kai's impact echoed beyond this war, even prompting the Deans of the five academies to revise the war rules after it ended. Most notably, they recalled all apprentices' Holy Tower badges for re-encryption and upgrades.
Kai wandered the Earth Academy's territory for a month and a half. Having already passed through Dark Shadow and Thunder Shine, he could clearly see that the Earth Academy was larger, with more resource points, and a greater number of high-quality apprentices. Even without large-scale battles between territories, the Earth Academy would likely top the total points ranking.
After leaving the Earth Academy, Kai entered the Whispering Source Holy Tower's apprentice zone. Here, the pressure from his pursuers eased noticeably. The Earth Academy was powerful, but with its main forces fighting Thunder Shine on the eastern front, its apprentices hesitated to chase Kai into Whispering Source's territory.
Whispering Source ranked second to last in overall strength among the five academies, but it was still a complete Holy Tower. Its apprentices were also renowned for their achievements in the arcane arts.
Once inside Whispering Source, Kai kept up his pace—cutting straight through. A handful of Whispering Source's top apprentices tried to intercept him, but Kai had already crossed the mighty Earth Academy; he easily evaded these underprepared foes.
However, two twin female apprentices skilled in arcane magic made Kai rethink his low opinion of Whispering Source.
"Cough… This must be curse magic," Kai gasped, streaking through the sky with one hand pressed to his chest, his face pale. "I've only read about it in books—I never thought any apprentice could master it."
It was the first time he'd encountered an attack that could pierce his magical shields directly. The eerie, stubborn nature of curse magic was a stark reminder that there were always stronger foes. Two Senior Apprentices had inflicted more damage on him than two Quasi-Magicians working together.
Kai never got the chance to kill them. In his haste, he'd fired six Sun-Eye beams, but the twins had blocked them with a strange mirror—not an artifact, but something that radiated an eerie, arcane aura. Before Kai could unleash another volley, the twins' figures rippled like water and reappeared in the middle of a crowd of Whispering Source apprentices. Their pale faces showed they'd suffered from blocking Kai's attack, but Kai had lost his chance to finish them off.
With a sigh, he clutched his throbbing chest and flew on.
Crossing Whispering Source took Kai only twenty days—proof of how small it was compared to the Earth Academy. Finally, the golden beam left Whispering Source and headed south, arriving at last at the Blue Source Holy Tower's apprentice zone.
The territory looked nothing like it had when Kai left over seven months ago.
At the Blazing Light Stone Mountains—a large resource point in northwestern Blue Source—Tom, an Intermediate Apprentice patrolling the peak, turned to his senior, Mark (a Senior Apprentice), and asked curiously: "Senior, I heard large-scale apprentice wars break out six months after entering the trial space. Why hasn't anything happened yet?"