"As for the strongest Grey Merchants..." Dox paused, raised his head like a rooster, and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist: "Of course, leave it to your Red Sword Master!"
"..."
Vay looked at the laughing Dox, utterly speechless: "Actually, you just want to fight the Grey Merchants, right?"
Dox said solemnly, "This is not a matter of want or want not, this is a Destiny Battle."
"Destiny Battle?" Kaier, beside him, looked up at Dox in confusion. Had the Red Sword Lord met the Grey Merchants before? Otherwise, where does destiny come from?
Dox nodded deeply: "That’s right, we’re destined to have this battle."
The more Kaier listened, the more confused he became.
At that moment, Vay hinted: "Mackie Declaration."
Kaier paused for a moment, seemingly recalling something: "Is the Red Sword Lord a supporter of the Mackie Declaration?"
Vay pursed his lips, nodded a bit disdainfully.
Kaier then showed a look of understanding: "I see. No wonder the Red Sword Lord says it’s a Destiny Battle..."
Vay unhesitatingly quipped: "He’s just hyped up now. If he feels the Grey Merchants are stronger in a moment, he’ll probably chicken out immediately."
During Vay and Kaier’s conversation, Angel was left puzzled because he didn’t understand why Dox said it was a Destiny Battle. He thought Vay would explain, but with just a mention of the Mackie Declaration, Kaier understood.
But Angel still didn’t grasp the connection here.
Angel is not someone who stubbornly clings to his pride; when seeking knowledge, he is not ashamed to ask.
As soon as Angel asked, The Wise Sovereign beside him also curiously looked over: "Mackie Declaration, is this some sort of alliance oath?"
Hearing the questions from the two, the Black Earl looked over and sighed inwardly: This old one and young one...
Angel is too young, lacking enough knowledge reserves to know the Mackie Declaration. The Wise Sovereign is too old and rarely leaves the Underground Aqueduct, so he doesn’t know the Mackie Declaration either.
The Black Earl silently mocked, but did not explain. Such matters don’t require his explanation. Moreover, since Angel asked, naturally, someone would rush to answer.
Indeed, the person who answered quickly stepped forward.
Vay: "The Mackie Declaration is actually the Mackie Square Declaration..."
With Vay’s explanation, Angel and The Wise Sovereign came to understand this declaration, which essentially has no significant meaning—
If asked which Otherworld the Southern Domain Wizard World interacts with the most, undoubtedly, the answer is the Abyss.
But when it comes to which Otherworld the Bloodline Wizards interact with the most, it’s not the Abyss, but the Wilderness World filled with Barbarians.
In fact, in the Wilderness World, there is a rather prosperous Extraordinary City built by Wizards—the Floating City.
Of course, the Floating City was not built solely by Bloodline Wizards, but rather, it’s an Otherworld metropolis created by the full force of various Witcher Organizations.
All three major domains of Wizards are present in the Floating City. However, Bloodline Wizards dominate, with seven out of every ten wizards being Bloodline Wizards.
The main reason is that Bloodline Wizards mostly enjoy the thrill of melee combat, and the Barbarians and Wild Gods of the Wilderness World are all excellent at close combat.—This statement was Vay’s personal opinion. According to Dox’s additional explanation, the main reason is that many Bloodline branches in the Wilderness World are very suitable for the Bloodline side. Who is right, Angel can’t determine.
Putting aside disputes, the existence of the Floating City indeed provides a secure post-battle hub for Bloodline Wizards.
The Floating City has four very famous squares known as the Four Seasons Squares, named: Dawn, Midsummer, Mackie, and Forest Deer.
The Mackie Declaration is a statement made publicly by a Bloodline Wizard on Mackie Square.
Though called a declaration, most wizards treat it as a "joke" or a "curiosity"; even slightly professional magazines don’t publish it, which is why Angel had never heard of it.
The specific situation was that a pureblood wizard named Nagir made derogatory and discriminatory remarks to all Blood Origin Wizards on Mackie Square.
The remarks basically stated that Blood Origin Wizards are the shame of the Bloodline side, fundamentally incapable of seeking the truth or becoming mainstream, and Bloodline Apprentices should never choose the Blood Origin lineage, among other things.
These remarks are undoubtedly wrong. If Blood Origin Wizards were on the wrong path, they wouldn’t be one of the three major mainstream branches of the Bloodline side.
To become a mainstream branch means there’s a complete path leading straight to miracles.
This path is the result of countless predecessors filling in gaps, and to question it, you at least need to become a miracle. Otherwise, as an ordinary little wizard, you start talking about "truth," which is truly laughable.
Moreover, from Angel’s perspective, in terms of the major mainstream branches of the Bloodline side, he also appreciates the Blood Origin path more.
The three major mainstreams of the Bloodline side are Blood Origin, Pureblood, and Transformation.
The Blood Origin path focuses more on pursuing the purity of the bloodline, advancing through continuous enhancement of "one kind" of bloodline, so a great deal of caution is exercised in choosing which type of bloodline.
The Pureblood path doesn’t choose from a single category of bloodline; instead, at different stages, it selects the bloodline most suitable for itself. It’s called pureblood because every time they change bloodlines, they undergo a thorough purification, aiming to rid every bit of impurity—that’s the essence of pureblood.
The Transformation path, as the name suggests, leans towards pursuing transcendent organs, hosting multiple bloodlines in the body, and using special methods to balance different bloodlines. This path offers the most diverse and bizarre abilities, though maintaining a balance among different bloodlines is challenging, with high lower limits and somewhat narrow upper limits. However, this is also the first choice for many non-Bloodline Wizards when practicing across systems, such as Sanders’s transplanted Phantom Mantis’s sickle arm and Angel’s transplanted Pliant Worm skin... if really categorized, they’re in the Transformation path.
The above outlines the three major mainstreams of the Bloodline side. Purely from the Bloodline side’s mainstream perspective, Blood Origin wins more of Angel’s favor because his Projected Bloodline is somewhat similar to Blood Origin... But Projected Bloodline isn’t "one kind" of bloodline. Thus, Projected Bloodline can actually become a branch of the Bloodline side, just currently unknown to people.
From the different branches of the Bloodline side, it’s evident that their directions are essentially entirely different extremes.
This also results in the theoretical disputes and internal competition within Bloodline Wizards never diminishing.
As for the Mackie Square declaration, it’s essentially just a pureblood wizard venting dissatisfaction at the Blood Origin Wizards.
Normal wizards wouldn’t spare it a second glance.
But why did this Mackie Declaration become so noisy and prominent, even transmitting back from the Wilderness World to the Wizards’ Realm?
Because this pureblood wizard named Nagir had a slightly different status; he was a... wandering wizard.
Among wandering wizards, those who choose the Bloodline side, over ninety percent are either pureblood or transformation. Very few choose the Blood Origin path.