Chapter 1: Heaven Rewards the Diligent (Please follow, bookmark, and recommend!)

Chapter 1

The Furnace and the High Tower stand far apart, facing each other. The High Tower is the territory of the White Wizards, while the Furnace is the domain of the Black Wizards.

In the outer ring of the Furnace, Lynn and several dozen youths were brought to this place.

Their leader was a cold-faced man with a scar that stretched from his brow bone all the way to the corner of his mouth, radiating an icy aura from his entire body.

Lynn wore a simple, thin robe that wrapped tightly around his lean frame.

He followed silently in the ranks, appearing entirely unremarkable and deliberately keeping a low profile.

No one knew that he was not a person of this world, but a transmigrator.

He had transmigrated into the legendary Wizard World, and not into the territory of the White Wizards, but into the domain of the Black Wizards.

At this moment, they were newcomers who had just joined the Furnace. After a few days of crude and brutal training, they had been led away by the scarred man.

Following the group, Lynn’s thoughts settled quietly.

As a transmigrator, he naturally possessed a "golden finger," just like his predecessors.

He had no talent panel, no system chip, but he did possess an extremely unique talent: "Heaven Rewards Diligence."

The so-called "Heaven Rewards Diligence" meant that as long as one put in the effort, one would surely reap rewards.

During the previous training, Lynn had already deeply experienced the power of this talent.

When they first began learning wizardry knowledge, everyone else found the complex and obscure content to be a massive headache; many were furrowed with worry, feeling lost and helpless.

But Lynn was different.

He discovered that as long as he invested time and effort, those dry, boring contents would rapidly become clear and easy to understand.

In just a few short days, while his companions were still struggling to find their way, Lynn had already mastered the training material by heart.

He could tell that this wasn't because he was smarter than the others, but because his "Heaven Rewards Diligence" talent was quietly working its magic.

Effort is something everyone can exert, but if effort yields no return, many will stop in their tracks.

Lynn, however, was different; every bit of his effort would be converted into tangible gains!

This talent gave him the certainty that as long as he was given enough time to grow, he would surely stand out in this Wizard World and perhaps even become a powerhouse among wizards!

However, the ideal was plump, but reality was skeletal.

Lynn had originally assumed that the scarred man would take them to some kind of academy or classroom to begin systematic study and practice.

Yet, the development of events completely exceeded his expectations.

Under the guidance of the scarred man, the group was brought to a massive beast pen.

The pen was filled with a thick, bloody stench, surrounded by imposing iron bars, and inside were all sorts of strange, grotesque magical beasts.

These magical beasts were exactly what they had heard about during their training: Earth Rhinoceros Beasts.

And just as Lynn and the many youths stood there in a daze, the scarred leader spoke, his gaze cold and his tone devoid of any inflection

"From today on, your task is to raise these Earth Rhinoceros Beasts."

He paused, his voice growing increasingly chilling

"Remember, their life and death are tied to your own! Every cycle, we will rank the condition of the Earth Rhinoceros Beasts. The ten worst-performing beasts, along with their keepers, will be torn to shreds and devoured by the remaining beasts!"

"Sir, isn't this a bit..."

Before he could finish, a youth spoke up in confusion, wanting to ask if there had been some mistake.

But before his words were even out, the scarred man’s eyes turned icy. With a light flick of his finger, a magical ring of light instantly enveloped the youth.

The next moment, the youth transformed into a fat little pig.

What was eerie was that the pig’s face still bore a look of profound human fear and despair.

The scarred man glanced coldly at the pig, his voice as cold as a blade

"Was it your turn to speak?"

Immediately, he grabbed the little pig and threw it into the beast pen without hesitation.

The Earth Rhinoceros Beasts roared and pounced, tearing and fighting over the pig, flesh and blood flying everywhere.

"Did you hear me clearly?!"

The scarred man scanned the crowd, his gaze as suffocating as an abyss.

Everyone turned deathly pale, not daring to even breathe loudly. They stood straight, nodding frantically, terrified of becoming the next target.

The scarred man snorted coldly

"A cycle is ten days. From now on, you will eat and live with your Earth Rhinoceros Beasts. In ten days, I will return to see which pieces of trash are eliminated."

With that, he turned and left without looking back, leaving only a deep chill lingering in the air.

After the scarred man left, the youths’ gazes all turned toward the beast pen, the atmosphere so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

They swallowed subconsciously, looking at the Earth Rhinoceros Beasts lurking in the pen.

During their few days of training, they had learned that these magical beasts were called Earth Rhinoceros Beasts.

They were low-level magical beasts, shaped like a cross between a crocodile and a wolf.

They had towering limbs, agile movements, and their entire bodies were covered in dense, black scales that emitted a cold, sinister luster.

It was rumored that deep within the bloodline of the Earth Rhinoceros Beast lay the blood of the mid-level magical beast, the Earth Dragon Beast.

If one could gather a sufficient number of powerful Earth Rhinoceros Beasts, one could even use special methods to extract the power of the Earth Dragon Beast from their blood, thereby cultivating even higher-level magical beasts.

These youths had originally dreamed of becoming great wizards, thinking they would go to academies or classrooms to practice.

But no one expected they would end up in a place like this, raising magical beasts!

And doing so while risking their lives!

If they didn't raise them well, the result would be like that youth who was turned into a pig and thrown into the pen to be torn apart and devoured!

The youths’ faces were pale, their bodies trembling; they could still see the flesh and bones of the pig being gnawed on by the beasts in the pen.

Many couldn't take it and collapsed to the ground, retching.

Lynn stood in the crowd, his expression grim. Judging by the scarred man’s actions, they had one, and only one, choice.

That was to strictly follow the scarred man’s orders; otherwise, the man was truly capable of turning them into pigs to feed the Earth Rhinoceros Beasts!

According to the scarred man’s rules, every evaluation would result in ten Earth Rhinoceros Beasts and ten apprentices being eliminated.

And the result of elimination was being turned into a pig to be fed to the surviving beasts—the mere thought of it made one’s blood run cold.

Lynn looked around. This was a corner of the Furnace, converted into a beast pen where the Wizard Lords' magical beasts lived.

Trying to escape from here was nothing but a pipe dream; one wrong step and you could be eaten by a powerful magical beast.

Even if by some stroke of luck one managed to run out of the beast pen, it would be impossible to escape this incredibly vast and complex Furnace.

Lynn withdrew his gaze. Since escape was impossible, he could only obediently follow the scarred man’s orders and raise the Earth Rhinoceros Beasts here.

His mind raced, thinking about how he could survive until the end of this "life-and-death assessment."

PS: New author, new book. Please add to your library, recommend, and follow!

(End of chapter)