According to Claire, this time, many of the younger members on the lists announced by the two great families had only recently reached their current levels.
Previously, they were not as powerful as they appear now.
The only explanation is that these young talents were rapidly advanced by their families, with resources piled on them to push them to the peak of tier-silver.
“So, these two families will undoubtedly target Crossbridge Academy in the secret realm!”
In the past, the Mistriver Realm was always a contest between House Windwhisper and House Lunastone for first and second place, with Crossbridge Academy usually lagging behind.
Only once did Daniel’s father, the old headmaster, manage to push them to a respectable ranking.
But this year was different.
Thanks to Daniel, Crossbridge Academy had undergone a profound transformation over the past few months.
When Daniel decided to send all students to the frontier, the impact became even more apparent.
Previously, the two families viewed Crossbridge Academy as little more than a charity home.
If not for their numbers, they wouldn’t even be considered one of Riverside City’s top three powers.
So, they held little regard for Crossbridge Academy.
But their time in the frontier town had opened the eyes of both families, showing them that Crossbridge Academy was no longer the same.
Three different forces in a border town are bound to have friction.
In the past, Crossbridge Academy wouldn’t even have had a voice in such a situation.
But now, everything had changed!
The students no longer saw the two families as anything special.
In fact, during several small skirmishes, they even had the upper hand.
The two families were taken aback by this.
After returning from the frontier, both families heard the news from their younger members: Crossbridge Academy had changed!
It was no longer the insignificant third force but was beginning to overshadow them.
This year’s Mistriver Realm became their only opportunity.
After selecting the younger members to participate, both families poured resources into pushing their young talents’ power to the highest tier-bronze levels.
In the complex terrain of the secret realm, the two families planned to eliminate Crossbridge Academy’s people by teaming up.
Entering the secret realm, participants are dispersed and separated.
If they joined forces and picked them off one by one, they had a good chance of success.
This was their strategy for the secret realm.
“Here’s the information on those ten individuals, which I managed to obtain through certain channels,” Claire said, handing over details on the participants from the two families.
“I thought you said Dragonscale Bank doesn’t participate in any conflicts?” Daniel asked.
“Naturally, these insights are purely from me, personally—not representative of Dragonscale Bank. Daniel, I trust this won’t affect your cooperation with us,” Claire finished, then took her leave.
Daniel looked at the information Claire left on the table and casually set it aside with Rowan’s notes. He wasn’t about to waste time reading through it.
…
The opening of the Mistriver Realm drew closer, and people from nearby cities began to arrive in Riverside City for the excitement.
“I’d say House Windwhisper’s young Master Prins has the edge—he recently reached the peak of tier-silver! Just half a step from tier-gold!”
“House Lunastone isn’t far behind! Miss Belin has also reached the peak of tier-silver!”
Such discussions could be heard in the streets, and young people from nearby cities who overheard these comments were visibly impressed.
“Who would’ve thought that Riverside City’s noble families had so many young talents nearing tier-gold…”
“Hmph! They’re just tier-silver peaks. They’re still far from tier-gold. In our De’an City, we have at least a handful of young tier-gold talents!”
These visiting youths joined in on the conversation, comparing strengths. Naturally, some grew curious.
“Isn’t Riverside City supposed to have three major powers? Why is everyone only talking about those two families?”
Someone nearby replied,
“Oh, you mean Crossbridge Academy? There’s nothing to talk about—they haven’t even released their participant list.”
“Crossbridge Academy? The academy that’s been at the bottom for years? Nothing worth watching there. I’d rather see who’s stronger between Windwhisper and Lunastone this year!”
In past years, this would be true, and there was little reason to focus on Crossbridge Academy.
“What are you talking about? Crossbridge Academy isn’t the same this year! Neither Lunastone nor Windwhisper can even compare to Crossbridge Academy!”
“What’s different? Those two families each have over ten young tier-silver peak talents. Crossbridge Academy? A joke!”
…
The whole city of Riverside had become lively.
Even Rowan asked Daniel about it recently.
Daniel had spoken a month ago about special training for the students, and Rowan hadn’t followed up since.
Daniel casually found an excuse to send Rowan away and went to the Thunder Pool, where he sought out Rose.
Rose was seated in meditation by the thunder pool, with arcs of electricity flickering around her.
Seeing this, Daniel knew she had succeeded.
He sensed the magical fluctuations around Rose; her power hadn’t advanced too much, but it was enough.
Now, if Rose used her full power, few at the tier-gold level could withstand her ultimate strike.
Sensing the change in her surroundings, Rose stopped her meditation, and the electricity around her dissipated.
Opening her eyes, she saw Daniel standing nearby.
“Father!” she greeted with joy. This past month had greatly enhanced her own abilities.
“It’s time to go.”
“Can I not come here again?” Rose asked wistfully.
A month had passed all too quickly.
If only she could stay here a while longer.
“Of course, you can come back whenever you want,” Daniel said, taking out a bracelet and placing it on Rose’s wrist. “With this, you can come here anytime.”
“Thank you, Father!”
“There’s no need for thanks among family. Let’s head back.”
…
In the tier-sage battleground, Reed held a spear, mana flowing continuously through his patterns.
In an instant, the spear struck forward with unparalleled force, its tip glowing with a faint yellow light.
The thrust was like a mountain crashing down.
But the man standing opposite him mirrored the move, also thrusting his spear with the same earthy yellow glow.
The two spears collided.
Daniel watched the scene with satisfaction.
Reed had made considerable progress, relentlessly challenging himself and learning throughout the month.
The tier-sage spear user in front of him was Reed’s chosen training partner.
By repeatedly failing and rising to the challenge, Reed had reached a level where he could withstand a few moves from the tier-sage phantoms and even counter-attack.
While he hadn’t yet won, that was understandable; after all, his opponent was a tier-sage.
Reed’s figure fell from the altar, and just as he prepared to continue the fight, Daniel stopped him.
“Headmaster? What brings you here?”
“A month has passed. It’s time to leave.”
“But… understood,” Reed said reluctantly.
“Take this.” Daniel handed him a ring. “If you want to return, you can use it to come back.”
“Thank you, Headmaster!” Reed said excitedly before leaving. Inside the ring was a two-way teleportation magic array.
“Sir… don’t you fear that imprisoning us here will backfire on you?”