Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill

After leaving the Blood Hand Gang, Li Wei had learned more about the Rebel Army.

The waiter at the restaurant earlier hadn’t mentioned much about the Rebel Army.

Perhaps it was because ordinary people had no contact with them.

After all, the Rebel Army was a "fictional" force to begin with.

The people of Ice and Snow City naturally didn’t know much.

They only heard occasional rumors and hearsay.

"Such-and-such faction is connected to the Rebel Army," or "so-and-so is a member of the Rebel Army..."

Because of the Rebel Army’s mystery and power, any association with them was seen as having powerful backing.

Even if they were just rumors, no faction took the initiative to deny them.

What’s more, some of them weren’t rumors at all.

Li Wei learned from Blood Hand, the leader of the Blood Hand Gang, that the Rebel Army had been using the gang to move the city’s food and supplies.

At least half of the supplies plundered by the Blood Hand Gang had to be handed over to the Rebel Army.

No one knew where these supplies ultimately ended up.

Blood Hand had once sent his subordinates to tail members of the Rebel Army, but they failed to find where the rebels were hiding the supplies.

They only provided one key piece of information.

The subordinates trailing the rebels discovered that they had actually entered the military barracks of Fred City.

From then on, Blood Hand didn’t dare to investigate the slightest thing about the Rebel Army.

The major gangs may have seemed like the new masters of Ice and Snow City.

But everyone knew very well that the Ice Jade Palace, which controlled the army, was the true master of the city.

The strongest among the Beastman Gangs was Blood Hand, and he was only a Tier Four Professional.

The other gangs were of similar strength, some even weaker than the Blood Hand Gang.

However, in the army and the Valkyrie Squad, you couldn’t count the number of Tier Four Professionals on two hands.

Moreover, there were even stronger Tier Five and Tier Six Professionals.

Li Wei realized that Gu Sewei’s authority had been completely undermined.

On the surface, she was the acting City Lord of Ice and Snow City.

In reality, she could no longer manage things at the lower levels.

The one who truly held the power was... Monice.

Li Wei surmised.

If that was the case, he could guess Monice’s objective.

Monice wasn’t content with being the master of Ice and Snow City from the shadows; she wanted to become the City Lord in name as well as in fact.

For that to happen, Gu Sewei had to die.

After the Saintess’s death, as the strongest Professional in Ice and Snow City and the highest-ranking Commander...

...she would naturally become the new City Lord of Ice and Snow City.

Li Wei found it somewhat ridiculous. He hadn’t expected that after all this, it was just a laughable struggle for power.

Monice had gone to great lengths for this.

She allowed racial tensions in Ice and Snow City to escalate and even acted as the hidden hand behind the scenes, encouraging the formation of several gangs.

This was all done so that the people of Ice and Snow City would blame all the chaos, disaster, and suffering on the Saintess’s inaction as the acting City Lord.

Then, after the Saintess’s "accidental" death, she would take over as City Lord and, in one smooth motion, clean up the city’s gangs.

And restore a harmonious and peaceful Ice and Snow City to the people.

With a bit of push and pull, she could easily secure her position as City Lord.

The pitiful Blood Hand Gang and the others had no idea they were about to become trophies for Monice’s ascension.

They were still enjoying their final revelry before the end.

The more they reveled now, the greater the people’s resentment would grow, and the more stable Monice’s position as City Lord would become.

’What a ruthless woman, resorting to any means necessary for power. Truly terrifying...’

Li Wei lamented inwardly.

A short while later, Li Wei visited the other gangs, calling on their leaders one by one to ask for information.

Their stories were roughly the same as what the Blood Hand Gang’s leader had said.

Some gang leaders were willing to cooperate and resolve things peacefully upon meeting Li Wei.

For those who were unwilling, Li Wei naturally resorted to more forceful methods.

Fortunately, he got the information he wanted in the end.

Li Wei walked out of the last gang’s headquarters and looked up at the Ice Jade Palace on the snowy mountain.

It was already night. The Ice Jade Palace on the mountaintop emitted a faint blue glow, like a bright moon hanging in the night sky.

’It’s about time to head back.’

’A shame I couldn’t find any news about Ah Di, though.’

Li Wei started walking towards the Ice Jade Palace.

He figured that if Monice didn’t want to completely drop the pretense yet, she would have already arrived at the Ice Jade Palace by now.

Monice needed a legitimate claim to the position of City Lord.

For now, she naturally couldn’t openly defy Gu Sewei’s orders.

"Master Mage Li Wei, Lady Saintess has been waiting for you. She asked me to tell you to go directly to the Ice Jade Palace Main Hall upon your return."

The guard at the gate said to Li Wei.

Li Wei nodded. "Understood."

He walked towards the Main Hall of the Ice Jade Palace.

Arriving at the Main Hall, Li Wei saw that both Monice and Gu Sewei were there.

It seemed they had been waiting for quite some time.

Seeing Li Wei walk in, Gu Sewei said quickly, "Li Wei, you had something to discuss with Commander Monice. You can say it now."

Monice turned to look at Li Wei, her eyes calm.

Seeing Monice’s composed appearance, Li Wei felt a sliver of admiration for her cool-headedness.

’By now, she should know that the trap failed and the assassination was unsuccessful.’

’To be this calm, she must have another move planned.’

Monice looked at Li Wei and asked, "Mage Li Wei, what did you need me for?"

A faint smile touched Li Wei’s lips as he said calmly, "Oh, it’s nothing too important. I just wanted to ask Commander Monice about the Rebel Army."

"Outside the city, I ran into the Valkyrie Squad while they were surrounding some rebels. I lent them a hand and captured a few. Unexpectedly, I found some people I knew among them."

A trace of surprise showed on Monice’s face. "Oh? Is Mage Li Wei trying to disavow any connection to the Rebel Army?"

Li Wei chuckled. "That’s not necessary. After all, when it comes to deep connections, I’m afraid no one’s are deeper than yours."

Just as Monice was about to speak,

Li Wei continued, "Of course, I don’t mean *that* kind of connection. Just your understanding of the Rebel Army."

Monice fell silent, momentarily unsure of Li Wei’s meaning.

Li Wei returned to the main topic. "What I’m curious about is this: when I met a certain person a month ago, he was only a Tier Two Professional. When I met him today, he had somehow become a Tier Four Professional."

"I just want to ask, are all members of the Rebel Army this abnormal?"

Gu Sewei was shocked when she heard this.

She said with some uncertainty, "Li Wei, is it possible he was hiding his strength before, and you just didn’t see it?"

"No matter how much someone trains, it’s impossible to break through two tiers in a single month, let alone go from Tier Two to Tier Four."

"Even if... that’s still impossible..."

Li Wei knew what Gu Sewei was trying to say. She was referring to the Time Secret Realm; if that person had entered it, such an abnormal situation might be possible.

However, she and Li Wei were the only ones who had been to the Time Secret Realm.

There was no third person.

Unless a second Time Secret Realm existed in the world.

Gu Sewei didn’t believe that was possible.

Li Wei chuckled and looked at Gu Sewei. "Misjudging his strength is possible, but I find the likelihood to be minuscule. Even a month ago, it wouldn’t be easy for an ordinary person to hide their true strength from me."

Gu Sewei paused at his words, then thought for a moment and nodded. "That’s true."

A month ago, Li Wei was only a Tier Four Great Mage, but the strength of his Spiritual Power had already reached Tier Six.

Unless it was a Grand Mage of Tier Six or higher,

it would be impossible to hide one’s strength from Li Wei.

Gu Sewei and Li Wei exchanged a look, then turned in unison to face Monice.

Li Wei said, "Commander Monice has dealt with the Rebel Army for a long time. You must know something about this, right?"

Monice flatly denied it. "I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about it."

"I don’t know any members of the Rebel Army, so I have no idea how strong they were before. As for the abnormality you mentioned, Mage Li Wei, I will find a way to investigate."

Seeing Monice feign ignorance, Li Wei couldn’t be bothered to beat around the bush any longer.

"Oh? If I recall correctly, a month ago, you were only at Tier Six Middle Level, weren’t you?"

"To have your strength rise to Tier Six Peak in just one month... did you have some sort of fortuitous encounter?" Li Wei asked curiously.

Monice’s expression changed. She never expected Li Wei to be able to see through her hidden strength.

"You must be joking, Mage Li Wei. I possess no such talent," Monice said, her face expressionless.

Gu Sewei looked surprised. She hadn’t expected Monice’s strength to have improved so much.

Because she trusted Monice, she had never used her Spiritual Perception to probe the commander’s strength.

Hearing Li Wei’s words, she subconsciously perceived Monice’s strength.

She found that Monice was still at Tier Six Middle Level, but upon a deeper scan, she discovered something strange.

A powerful force seemed to be hidden within her body.

That power was concealed beneath her Tier Six Middle Level Professional Level.

An ordinary person would have difficulty discovering it.

Without Li Wei’s reminder, she might have paid it no mind, dismissing it as the power fluctuations from some piece of Magic Equipment.

Li Wei stared at Monice for a moment, then said lightly, "It seems a certain someone has contacted you."

"So, where is this person?"

Monice’s heart trembled. ’How does he know?’

’I should be the only one who knows about this.’

’That person shouldn’t have contacted anyone else.’

’He has always used my hands to sow the seeds.’

Seeing Monice remain silent, Gu Sewei asked with a grave expression, "Monice, who is this person? Tell me."

Just as Monice was about to speak, a voice echoed through the Ice Jade Palace.

"Monice, stop hiding."

"Let’s end everything tonight."

BOOM BOOM BOOM! RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

Suddenly, the sounds of explosions and attacks erupted from outside the hall.

Gu Sewei’s face filled with alarm. She hurriedly tried to see what was happening.

She discovered that as soon as her Spiritual Perception left the Ice Jade Palace Main Hall, it was like sinking into a sea of mud, unable to probe the outside world.

The Ice Jade Palace Main Hall had been sealed by an enemy’s Magic Barrier.

A figure walked in through the main entrance.

Seeing the newcomer’s appearance, Li Wei wore an expression that said, "Just as I expected."

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