Fierce Battle
The Loathsome Evil was a creature that Leylin had seen in ancient books. It was a type of life form that had been created by Magi.
Its exact origin was unknown, but Leylin could very clearly remember that in ancient books, the Loathsome Evil had been described as a fiend.
This type of lifeform had an exceedingly powerful body and vitality. What was even more frightening was the spirit pollution constantly emanating from its body.
Ordinary people were simply unable to withstand the pollution caused to their spirits and usually died en masse.
As a result, the appearance of a Loathsome Evil generally marked the destruction of cities and the loss of countless lives.
The most frightening record had been when an entire army of over a hundred Loathsome Evils appeared!
This terrifying army had destroyed two ancient Magi's headquarters and caused the deaths of approximately twenty percent or more of the population of the south coast.
Ultimately, only with the aid from an unknown ancient Morning Star Magus was that terrible army completely destroyed.
"I didn't expect the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect to have created this Loathsome Evil! Then again, the timing is just right!"
Within Leylin's eyes, there appeared a flash of understanding.
Based on the annals of the Magus world's history, after the disaster caused by the Loathsome Evils, the Spirit Slaying Sect sank into a weird state of affairs. First, they proclaimed their conviction that a supreme Magus had descended, and then they ruled this world. Soon after, they carried a very large scale blood and flesh sacrifice and thereby disappeared from this Magus world.
Now, it was clear to him that the thriving Spirit Slaying Sect had offended the Magi of the south coast, so the Magi had all joined hands to destroy this sect.
At this moment, the Loathsome Evil that had been wandering around noticed Leylin.
Through its eyes, one of which was big and the other small, its thirst for blood was self-evident. Even its huge, bloated body was trembling in excitement.
A light green haze permeated the entire garden.
"Spirit Pollution!" Leylin's expression became grim, as he recognised the most dreadful attack from this Loathsome Evil.
"Kemoyin's Scales!"
With a single thought, a fine layer of scales covered his body. The scales were jet-black and densely packed as they crept up Leylin's arms and even his face.
Under the protection of the scales, Leylin's current appearance was vastly different. There was even a hint of amber light in his eyes.
These scales did not give him a fiendish image, but rather, with the influence and charm that a Warlock's bloodline gave him, there was a sense elegance to his appearance.
Even a regular human would think there was a wild aesthetic to Leylin.
If Leylin was a sub-human and part of the Snake family, he'd even be treated as a precious tribute to the queen snakes of various families, though Leylin would definitely be unwilling to go through with it.
After activating his innate defense spell, Leylin was still unsatisfied and used his palm to stroke his neck.
A dark red light exploded from his neck, and like the scales, descended until it covered his entire body, forming something that seemed like armour.
Leylin was especially cautious when dealing with this fearsome Spirit Pollution. Not only had he activated his innate defense spell, he'd even used his trump card, the Fallen Star Pendant.
Not only did the might of an ancient Loathsome Evil surpass that of a rank 1 Magus, Leylin was unsure of what the Spirit Slaying Sect's Magi had done to increase its strength, making it even more troublesome.
Leylin wasn't willing to risk anything—harm done to one's spirit was much more difficult to treat than flesh wounds!
At that moment, other than the red membrane layer, Leylin had also had activated his two main items for defence—Kemoyin's Scales and the Fallen Star Pendant.
Just as Leylin had finished his preparations, the light green haze had reached his location.
*Bzzt!*
The moment the haze enveloped him, Leylin suddenly felt faint. Immediately after, the red light in his sea of consciousness rippled, and the crystal in the centre sent out a wave of spiritual force, dispersing his giddiness.
*Chik Chik!*
The moment Leylin's outermost crimson layer of protection came into contact with the haze, the sound of an object being corroded could be heard. Within a few seconds, it was completely broken through.
Next, the phantom armour from Fallen Star Pendant started producing unbearable sounds, the energy from its reserves constantly being consumed.
"It hasn't gone through my defences, but to think that this was the effect of the spirit pollution!"
Leylin trained his eye on the Loathsome Evil that was gradually approaching, the fear in his expression becoming increasingly apparent.
"Roarr!"
Two thick arms suddenly grew from its back and touched the ground, supporting the Loathsome Evil.
With a burst of power, the Loathsome Evil's speed rapidly increased, and it dashed towards Leylin, slashing at his waist with the axe in his left hand!
Before that massive power reached him, the air in the atmosphere seemed to be compressed into crystals that hurtled towards Leylin!
With a gleam in his blue eyes, Leylin ducked through the crack in the axe by twisting his body at an unbelievable angle.
"Latent Fireball!"
After dodging this attack, Leylin looked around and saw that the garden had been almost completely engulfed by the green haze. Unless he killed this Loathsome Evil, it would have been impossible to pass through.
In any case, Leylin didn't believe that the ancient Magi would let him leave so easily.
Hence, Leylin struck back fiercely, using the spell that had the most might!
*Boom!*
Along with the syllables that flew out of Leylin's mouth, a large number of black fireballs suddenly appeared around the Loathsome Evil's figure.
These fireballs quickly merged into a single mass, its volume expanding to ten times the usual size, and exploded in front of the Loathsome Evil.
Black flames engulfed the Loathsome Evil, and many of its slim arms were broken off from the explosion.
Just from a single little black spark landing on the ground, a hole was melted that was so deep, one could not see how far down it went.
[Attacking target in the centre! Power of Latent Fireball: 51. Added bonus from elemental essence conversion: 21. Target's defense in its front has been destroyed! Received data readings!"
A prompt from the A.I. Chip sounded out.
Out of all the spells Leylin possessed, the Latent Fireball was a magic that was second only to the Eyes of Petrification. Currently, with the added bonus from his elemental essence conversion, its degree of power was a terrifying total of 51!
Even an ancient monster like the Loathsome Evil could only tremble under the might of these flames!
[Beep! Loathsome Evil. Strength: 34. Agility: 19. Vitality: 40. Spiritual force: 25. Special Abilities: 1. Spirit Pollution. The Loathsome Evil will always be surrounded by Spirit Pollution similar to that emitted by ancient Magi. Once a spirit is infected, the creature will be cursed for eternity, and eventually wither away! 2. Devour: Loathsome Evil can heal injuries by consuming large amounts of flesh. At the same time, devouring large numbers of spirits will help the Loathsome Evil to evolve into stronger creatures!]
Seeing the data that the A.I. Chip had analysed, Leylin looked at the monster howling in pain within the dark flames with a sense of admiration.
"This power is comparable to that of a Magus with a 50% elemental essence conversion. If an army of Loathsome Evils is formed with an even more powerful leader taking charge, it'll definitely be difficult for Magus organisations to handle it. They would need to escape…"
Leylin was admiring the Loathsome Evil, but this was still a battle, and Leylin instantly cast another Latent Fireball.
Countless black fireballs emerged from the shadows and rushed towards the large mass of flames, causing it to burn even more vigorously.
Although Leylin possessed an interest in this Loathsome Evil, he would only extract some tissues and fluids from it after its death. He was definitely not planning on catching it live.
Hence, after seeing that the Latent Fireball was effective, Leylin immediately produced large numbers of the black fireballs, determined to kill off the Loathsome Evil in one go!
"Grah!"
The Loathsome Evil within the flames roared terrifyingly as it trembled on the floor, the many slim arms on its body melting and falling off.
*Boom!!!*
The black flames burnt through the Loathsome Evil's belly, and instantly, innumerable spirits escaped out of its stomach.
These spirits' faces were those of females and males of all ages, and most of these spirits were weirdly shaped. If they didn't have an extra hand on their faces, there would be an extra three legs on their bodies. Some even had various organs and structures stuck on their bodies and looked extremely similar to the Loathsome Evil.
The similarities between all of these spirits was a lifeless look in their eyes as if they had lost all intelligence.
"Don't tell me… This is a base where the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect creates Loathsome Evils?" Seeing this scene, Leylin compared his current conjectures with his previous guesses and came up with a conclusion.
These spirits mindlessly dithered around the Loathsome Evil and seemed to hardly be afraid of the black flames. They passed through without any trouble, and Leylin's expression darkened.
"This! Could it be that…" Leylin suddenly had an idea.
He immediately threw out several potions, and even mixed in pink pearls that were sure to cause damage to spirits!
However, it was too late.
With a high pitched cry from the Loathsome Evil, the surrounding spirits promptly blew up!
*Boom!*
The old witch's method used to explode spirits seemed to have appeared once again!
However, this explosion included potentially hundreds of spirits exploding at the same time. Its power far outstripped what the old witch had shown the previous time!
The black flames on the Loathsome Evil's body were extinguished in the explosion.
The waves from the frightening explosion hit Leylin.
*Poof!* The defensive layer from the Fallen Star Pendant suddenly flashed and fell apart like a soap bubble.
Leylin was sent flying, as if he had collided with the head of a train, and destroyed countless buildings as he fell back. There was a long line on the ground, tracing the path that he had been pushed back.
"Why didn't I detect such a frightening skill?" Leylin was startled and even a little angry.
[Detecting a force field that has been partitioned in a second defensive layer within the target's belly!]
A prompt from the A.I. Chip emerged once again.
Sneak Attack
Although the A.I. Chip's ability had been upgraded and strengthened by many-fold, but within this strange Magus world, it was still not as good as he desired.
Due to the earlier mistake, Leylin was not in the mood to go and investigate.
And by now, the Loathsome Evil had already approached him to attack!
On the present vengeful spirit Loathsome Evil's body, the majority of its hands had been cut off and it still had many burnt black patches and within its belly, a large hole had been cut open. This exposed its intestines and other unknown organs.
But these did not affect the vengeful spirit Loathsome Evil's mobility.
On the contrary, to one's eyes, the Loathsome Evil appeared to emit a scarlet radiance. Compared to before, it seemed to have become more fiendish.
The veins on its body seemed to be intertwined and protruding out, and they were like cyan snakes that were twisted about each other as this Loathsome Evil came at Leylin.
Many of its body flesh and fat had become abnormal because it had been burnt, but its speed was faster than before.
"F*ck!"
The scales on Leylin's body trembled a bit and the dust and pebbles sticking to it fell to the ground.
Although the recent spirit explosion was violent, but after it passed through the defense of the Fallen Star Pendant, its damage power was reduced and then it was entirely resisted by the Kemoyin Scales on his body.
For the present, although Leylin's body received a tremendous jolt, he almost had no other injury.
At this moment, the giant Loathsome Evil attacked with a flying speed, while it unceasingly spread out waves of the spirit plague.
"Shadow Concealment!"
When Leylin saw this scene, his mouth continuously chanted the spell. At the same time, the scales on his body emitted a dark lustre. As this dark light passed through him, his body became rather transparent.
Soon, the giant Loathsome Evil collided with the shadow of Leylin and went past and shattered a rotten flower pot that was behind Leylin, which burst into pieces.
During this time period of more than a year, Leylin, using the accumulated contribution points, exchanged them for many spell models. So here, Leylin utilised the Shadow Concealment spell of which he had a profound impression.
Before, within the Dylan Gardens, the Black Horrall Snake's attacks made it an unforgettable event for Leylin.
If it hadn't been for his natural cautiousness and also the fact that the additional firepower from his comrades, the outcome of the battle with the Black Horrall Snake would have turned out different.
After that time, he began to be interested in the Darkness element stealth spells. Eventually, when he was exchanging his contribution points within the Four Seasons Garden, he happened to discover these spell models.
[Darkness element's Shadow Concealment. Rank 1 spell. Its effects are: After the Magus cast this spell, he could hide within the crack of the shadow world and he would be immune to the attacks that happen in the real world. Time of concealment: 20s Elemental essence conversion bonus: 14s. It consumes a spiritual force of 10 and magic power of 10.]
This spell was entirely complementing his elemental affinity. Besides, the Kemoyin's Scales on Leylin's body also seemed to have magnified the effect of this spell.
Therefore, Leylin had expended a great deal of effort into learning this spell.
And after this spell, he had no longer any weak points with regards to his agility and concealment.
Leylin thoroughly took in the sensation of being in concealment.
This was a very strange feeling — time flowed as if it had been slowed by a tenfold. The surrounding atmosphere also felt very constricting. Each of Leylin's movement needed to consume even more strength than when he was in normal environments.
Leylin glanced at the Loathsome Evil.
It was now giving vent to its fury on the land surrounding it, as it had lost its original target.
The Loathsome Evil, by chopping with its huge hatchet, carved out many ditches in the surroundings, causing them to be in a complete mess.
Leylin noticed that the body of Loathsome Evil had a strange green tint to it — no, that's not it all, even the surrounding scenery, land and atmosphere was being polluted by a shining green mist. This green mist was very dense — it even made Leylin feel dizzy and he felt the sensation of wanting to throw-up.
Leylin's body felt as if it was hovering in mid-air; it slowly floated towards the Loathsome Evil.
The Loathsome Evil seemed to sense something and brandished the enormous hatchet in its left hand; as it did so, the enormous orange yellow hatchet swung at Leylin's waist.
If Leylin was currently in his physical form, he would already have been chopped into two halves.
But the current him was just a shadow in reality. When the enormous hammer swung past, his body just wavered.
The giant Loathsome Evil frantically brandished its hatchet. It often struck at Leylin's body, but not even a single piece of the clothing Leylin wore was torn.
It came closer… and closer!
Leylin kept himself in the sliding position and hovered above the Loathsome Evil's. When he looked down, he could see the constantly secreted yellow pus of the Loathsome Evil and the disordered teeth in its large mouth.
*Swish!*
With a flash of a black shadow, Leylin directly appeared in front of the Loathsome Evil.
Currently, Leylin's pupils had already changed to an amber colour, seemingly giving a peculiar gaze.
"Look into my eyes!" Leylin spoke with a strange tone as it brought a hissing sound with it. It was as though a snake was speaking.
Innate spell — the Eye of Petrification!!!
That voice seemed to carry a weird power. The Loathsome Evil couldn't help but look into Leylin's eyes with a bizarre expression.
*Creak! Creak!*
A greyish white halo started to shoot out from the Loathsome Evil's eyes and its face seemed to be constantly expanding.
"Roar!"
When the petrification effect had affected the entire head of the Loathsome Evil, it suddenly raised its head and roared.
Following the roar, the Loathsome Evil's flesh bulged. There was also two enormous solid flesh that suddenly appeared on its shoulder. It looked like it had grown two arms.
While its flesh was transforming, the greyish skin on the Loathsome Evil face's shedded. It was like a snake shedding its skin.
[The target's physique is too large. It is starting to develop immunity to the petrification! Based on current situation, remaining time it will stay rigid: 3 seconds!]
The A.I. Chip gave out a notification.
As expected, the movement of the Loathsome Evil slowed down. It opened its mouth and maintained an eccentric smiling expression. It was like a machine that had not yet been wound up, making it stop in a peculiar condition.
"This is a great opportunity!"
Leylin's eyes lit up. Numerous black fireballs entered the Loathsome Evil's mouth, causing continuous explosions within its body.
"Falling Star Pendant! Activate the remaining power!"
Leylin shouted and a faint red light ray appeared beneath his neck.
When the light ray consolidated in Leylin's hand, it formed a long blade.
Leylin stared at the Loathsome Evil and with a roar, the muscles on its arm bulged, expanding a few folds. It instantly made changed from a lean youth to a muscular man.
Leylin's body was filled with an explosive power at this moment.
He raised the blade with both his hand and leaped highly and performed a jump slash against the neck of the Loathsome Evil that was still burning with black flames!
*Gurgle! Splat*
The yellowish green pus splattered everywhere. Simultaneously, the enormous head of the Loathsome Evil directly rolled onto the ground.
After losing its head, the Loathsome Evil's four limbs were still moving. It was as though it was trying to flee.
Leyin's eyes was serene as he constantly tossed out streaks of purple medicine that landed on the enormous body and head of the Loathsome Evil.
*Boom!*
A purplish red flame started to violently ignite.
The flame enveloped the Loathsome Evil's body and head.
Crack! The head of the Loathsome Evil split apart and a group of grotesque-looking spirits appeared.
However, Leylin was already prepared for that as he tossed a pink gemstone into the flames, while constantly chanting.
The unconscious spirits were attracted to the pink crystal. They forgot to self destruct and just surrounded in front of the pink gemstone with their faces expressing reminiscing expression.
"Success! With the previous calculations by the A.I. Chip, the Derkoff Spirit Enticing Spell has been upgraded!"
Excitement flashed past Leylin's face. He then rapidly carved runes and incantations on the ground around the flames, and constantly tossed various materials into the flame.
Finally, the purplish red flame already changed completely into a pure purple colour. The group of spirits were constantly dissolving, they were melting like heated wax.
At this moment, a lot of the spirits wanted to self-destruct!
"Activate!" Looking at the densely-packed spirits, Leylin's lips curled up into a smile as he chanted the incantation.
Boom! A red halo lit up from the array, restraining all of the spiritual energy within the flame.
That light ray seemed to restrict the spirits from self-destructing. The spirits within expressed frantic expressions despite them being emotionless existences, and not a single one of them could self-destruct as they did before.
Mournful and piercing screams constantly rang in his ears.
Leylin could even feel the most painful wail from the Loathsome Evil.
While the purple flames were constantly burning, a strange smell constantly spread.
The Loathsome Evil's corpse that was at the center of the flame had already stopped moving. Moreover, under the effect of flames, from its fat body, a fatty, oily and viscous liquid began to flow down and around the surface of its body.
This fluid was extremely viscous and its colour was an odd black.
As that black, oily liquid constantly flowed, the corpse of the Loathsome Evil gradually became smaller, as though it was shrinking.
The ten-meter-long, enormous body started to shrink to the height of an ordinary person and finally became a monkey-like form with wrinkled body.
"This..."
Leylin looked transfixed at the constantly shrinking head of the Loathsome Evil.
When the head was completely dehydrated, an ordinary head appeared before Leylin's eyes.
Even though the skin was filled with creases, Leylin was able to recognise that this was a head of a western, middle-aged man, aged roughly 30 years or near about.
"It looks like the main ingredient in making this Loathsome Evil's body is a human body. Moreover, the manufacturing of its huge body is by inserting an enormous amount of crazed spirits into the human body and making them fuse together….."
This method made Leylin felt as though the human body was a womb and was nurturing something.
"The fusion rate with the human body was extremely high as those Loathsome Evils were originally human spirits. It's unknown how the Spirit Slaying Sect was able to solve the problem in fusing the spirits into the body. It's the key skill!"
Leylin's thoughts constantly revolved.
He had a feeling that this wasn't the final stage in the experiment on this Loathsome Evil.
The frantic spirits would finally breakout from the body after undergoing constant fusion with the body of the Loathsome Evil. They would get much stronger as they grow, creating a more sinister being in existence!
Living Organism No. 1
Leylin was watching the process of the Loathsome Evil coming together.
The spirit within the array was finally incinerated as the purple flame gradually extinguished.
Swish! The entire light ray from the spell formation completely shattered.
Leylin walked into the formation.
The smell of something burning wafted in the air, along with a repulsive stench that could make one feel nauseous.
"This odour is just like when something from the sewers is burnt!" Leylin frowned and walked to the center.
The human corpses had long since been burnt to ashes.
On the ground, in the middle of the charred and indented formation, a glistening object caught Leylin's eye.
Lying in the pit were fragments of green crystals, sparkling and splendid like little diamonds.
Leylin covered his hand with a layer of scales and grabbed ahold of the little diamonds.
"Quite light, but very solid!" Leylin kept applying pressure using his palm to the point that his joints popped, but even with his strength of 7.1, he was still unable to do anything to the little diamonds.
"…" All of a sudden, a low chant of salutations entered Leylin's ear, seeming to have been produced from within the green diamonds.
Filled with curiosity, Leylin brought the diamonds closer to his ear.
"Thank you, young man!"
In an instant, a dazzling white light seemed to fill the entire flower garden. In the white light, Leylin looked at tens of thousands of phantom human figures.
The countenances of these phantoms seemed familiar; they were the spirit bodies of earlier, but they had assumed their original form of a human.
The phantoms were both male and female. Some of them were dressed like Magi and acolytes. However, at this moment, they expressed gentle smiles as they slowly faded in the white light.
"En!" Leylin looked at the surroundings. As if it was due to the death of the Loathsome Evil, the green coloured plague quickly retreated, once again revealing the flower garden.
As for the spirit bodies from earlier, they had all disappeared without a trace, as if he were just dreaming.
However, Leylin knew that he wasn't hallucinating.
At this moment, the A.I. Chip's voice rang out.
[Scan complete! Item identified as spirit crystals! This is the essence remaining after the ignition of a huge amount of spirits!] In ancient compendiums, these were one of the many favourite currencies that many experts in different planes liked to use.
"Spirit crystals!" Leylin understood.
He had heard about this item before, but only high-level Magi could effectively use them.
It was impossible for a mere rank 1 Magus to break the surface of a spirit crystal to extract a spirit's power from within.
"No matter what, it will definitely be useful in the future!" Leylin picked up the green coloured spirit crystals littered on the floor, carefully placing them inside a small pouch. He even used a gold thread to seal the pouch, before placing it back in his robes.
The green spirit plague had completely vanished. Many fine cracks that looked like lizards littered the black rock walls at the edge of the garden.
Leylin walked in front of the cracks, and gently knocked on the fractured wall!
*Crash!*
Numerous stones fell, and large clouds of lime were thrown into the air. There was a deep hole in the wall, which was flickering with pitch black light rays.
A black glint of light flashed through his eyes.
He quickly plucked off a strand of his hair, and his mouth began to move as he chanted mysterious incantations.
The long black hair fell to the ground and constantly expanded, eventually turning into something that resembled a black snake.
This small snake had densely packed scales and a pair of red little eyes that looked like jewels. It was pocket sized, and did not look malevolent; on the contrary, it was rather adorable.
The little snake first coiled around Leylin, hissing its tongue. It licked Leylin's shoes and then slithered into the pitch black crevice.
Leylin shut both his eyes, maintaining a connection with the little snake through a thread of spiritual force. Images and sounds were projected before Leylin's eyes.
The lighting in the surroundings was very dim, but it wasn't a problem for the little black snake.
Through the eyes of the black snake, Leylin could see that the interior of the crevice looked like an ore mine with huge amounts of roots creeping in the surroundings.
The roots intertwined across the walls as if they were covering the surroundings of the cave like a fishnet.
The little snake continued to traverse into the cave. After slithering for about a kilometer, the little snake reached a yellow tree root that was like a wall that blocked its path.
"This is… a Misleading Mist Tree Root, an ancient defensive system to deter intruders!"
Leylin's heart was filled with glee. With the appearance of such a mechanism, it showed that he was nearing the experiment lab.
"Intruder! Answer one question of mine, or else you'll be ripped into pieces!" from the large trunk of the tree, the face of an old man emerged. The old man stared into the little snake's eyes as if it could see Leylin, who was controlling it.
"Ask!" Leylin gave off a wave of spiritual force through the little black snake. "Please state your question!" Leylin gave off his spiritual energy force directly through the black little snake.
"What has the face of a diamond, eyes like pearls, and in the winter, the maker of this object gives it a chance to reincarnate?"
"Hmm…" Leylin lowered his head, looking to be deep in thought. Though, in actuality, he was commanding, "A.I. Chip! Search database!"
[Beep! According to the clues provided to the Host, items that fit the description are: 1. Gemstone Starfish. Similarity: 97%. 2. Ocean Bed Sunflower: 78%. 3…]
The A.I. chip instantly gave the result.
"It's the Gemstone Starfish!" The snake said in front of the Misleading Mist Tree Root.
"Correct!" The Misleading Mist Tree Root let out an ear piercing holler. Like pulling out a radish from the ground, the tree's roots were uplifted, revealing the pathway behind it.
"As a reward, you now have the authority to go through!" The countenance of the old man on the Misleading Mist Tree Root revealed a smile.
"A reward, huh? I don't think so!"
The small snake shook its head and climbed through the passage.
*Pa!* In an instant, a giant tree root, like a huge palm, blocked the small snake's path ahead.
"I have permitted the Magus behind you to go, but not a magical creature like you!" Anger welled up on the old face of the root.
"Young Magus, are you belittling me?"
"It is a part of me, so I believe it has the right to enter!" The little snake raised its head, making eye contact with the giant face.
"No! You must personally come over!" The Misleading Mist Tree Root was stubborn in this aspect.
"If that's the case…" The little black snake lowered its head as if pondering over something.
Suddenly, the little snake coiled up and immediately darted through the passage.
*Pa!*
Suddenly, there were numerous bolts of black lightning that flashed into the originally peaceful pathway .Those flashes looked alive as they struck towards the little snake.
In the sea of sparks, the little snake was burnt to a crisp.
"It's a trap indeed! Grade 51 and higher Black Prison Thunder, and there's so much of it. The tree root really invested a lot in this attack…"
Outside the entrance to the garden, Leylin looked towards the mud tunnel and smiled mockingly.
This Misleading Mist Tree Root was just a trap in the first place! Even if an intruder got the answer correct, he or she would still be lured into a trap.
It was a pity that after so many years, there was something wrong with the Misleading Mist Tree Root's intelligence. Leylin felt that something was wrong because it seemed to be much too anxious.
No matter how good a trap was, once it was found out, it was just another joke.
At this moment, a strong tremor came from the tunnel that Leylin stood in front of. There was even an ancient voice, "I'll kill you! I'm going to kill you, intruder!"
The walls of the ore mine seemed to be propped up by the roots of the tree. As they struggled to come out, it caused a huge chain reaction.
"This creature's vitality and strength are most likely above that of the Loathsome Evil. Moreover, as it is a plant, its life force is extremely tenacious, and it has resistances against spiritual force attacks. It'll be much more difficult to deal with than the Loathsome Evil, so if I was to fight it on its own territory inside the ore mine, as long as it would be willing, it could bury me alive at any time!"
Leylin pondered before raising his head, grinning mischievously.
"It's a pity, however, that such a plant organism like that has a strong weakness to something I have recently developed in the lab! I'll use it now!"
Leylin took out a nitrogen crystallised test-tube from the sack that he carried. There were no potions inside the test-tube. There was only a black organism on the bottom with a pair or translucent wings as if it was an insect.
After looking at this item, Leylin's expression became serious.
"I don't know if letting this thing out will be good or bad, but I have to give it a try…."
Leylin muttered to himself.
This was an item that he had unintentionally created.
Inside the test-tube was a type of termite found only in the Magus World. Leylin had discovered it while getting rid of the pests inside the Four Seasons Garden.
As the sequence of genes was different from other termites, they were extremely strong, and hence, were taken back by Leylin, who had later discovered a secret.
These termites had an extremely strange gene that will exponentially increase their life force and reproductive capabilities.
That speed was already beyond what was natural. Judging from Leylin's knowledge, this should have been made up of poisons and cells from another world.
After many instances of failing, Leylin could only increase the abilities of these termites with the help of the microscopic capabilities of the A.I. Chip, turning them into a weapon to deal with plant organisms!
It seemed like now was the right time to use it.
"Come! Let me see what happens when the strange items of the Magus world are coupled with modern scientific skills!"
[Host is about to release Living Organism No. 1! According to the settings, please input the parameters for self-destruction!]
At this time, the A.I. chip replied again.
"5 minutes!"
Leylin put a thread of his spiritual force into the test-tube, after which, he put several drops of another red potion into it as if making his final preparations.
After that, he looked at the shaking tunnel. The Misleading Mist Tree Root was still writhing around, trying to reach him.
"Enjoy your death now!"
Leylin sneered, opened the test tube, and directed the termite into the hole.
1. Refers to the relative level of danger to the Leylin's current stats.
Experiment Lab #1
"A.I. Chip! Record the data, and create a folder on the experiment's results!"
While Leylin released the termite, he pressed on his temple with one of his hands, making a bright blue light shoot out from his eyes, and shine directly into the hole.
Under Leylin's observation, the termite directly climbed on top of a tree root after being freed.
The termite was like a speck of dust compared to the enormous Misleading Mist Tree Root, so it didn't arouse the attention of the massive tree.
[Living Organism No. 1 showing violent growth, and starting to propagate!]
In the graphic shown by the A.I. Chip, the termite, which was represented by a red dot, stayed on the yellow brown roots for a while, before its life force begin to increase tremendously, turning into a bright crimson red dot. Furthermore, many small dots began to appear in the graphic, scattering throughout the roots.
It seemed to have a domino effect. When the red light intensified, it grew from covering a root to instantly covering the entire wall, and drew close to the Misleading Mist Tree Root.
"What is this…Argh…"
Following which, the Misleading Mist Tree Root's screams could be heard throughout the garden.
Leylin could still hear the dense, hair raising, terrifying screams while he was at the entrance of the hole.
As for the termites, they had now filled the entire body of the Misleading Mist Tree Root.
What seemed like billions of termites began to open their incisors, and mercilessly chomped down on the roots. Within only a couple of minutes, the Misleading Mist Tree Root was riddled with holes.
The Misleading Mist Tree Root's screams become weaker, until it finally came to a stop.
...
*Buzz Buzz…*
The sound of flapping wings could be heard. A large cloud of termites was seen flying out from the hole. They were like locusts, devouring the remaining plants in the garden.
After devouring all of the plants, the flying termites began to buzz in fury.
[Alert! Alert! Intense energy waves emitting from the organisms' spiritual force. Previously inputted spiritual force has failed, termites entering a frenzied state!]
As the A.I. Chip called out, all of the flying termites began to mysteriously stop as they turned to Leylin, looking at him with bloodshot eyes.
"As expected, impromptu experiments are always filled with surprises. However, it's a pity that time is up!" Leylin was smiling.
When the A.I. Chip's countdown timer of 5 minutes reached 0, all of the termites, which were still flaunting their might, fell to the ground, losing all signs of life.
In the blink of an eye, there was a thick layer of termite corpses on the ground.
This was the security system that Leylin had inputted. It seemed to have an excellent effect.
"These things are filled with unknown characteristics! It seems that I'll still need a lot of experiments on it before I can use it practically….."
After which, Leylin picked up several of the termites' corpses to keep as specimens, before walking into the mud tunnel, which had mostly collapsed.
Very soon, he came to where the Misleading Mist Tree Root originally stood. It was a pity, however, that it was now only filled with mud and the remnants of a husk. All traces of the huge tree root's countenance had also disappeared.
"A lot of effort must have been put into this trap!"
Leylin looked at the black tunnel that the Misleading Mist Tree Root had used as bait. The inside of the tunnel was littered with many charred termite corpses.
From the looks of it, they didn't die from the self-destruction coded into their genes, but from the trap laid inside the tunnel.
As for where the Misleading Mist Tree Root once stood, there was another bronze coloured path.
The pathway seemed to be formed using ceramic. It looked extremely crude, but had a unique, good feeling about it.
As for the path, there was even a line of ancient Byron characters, "Tunnel to Experiment Lab #1! Top secret! Only authorized personnel allowed!"
The blood red words made Leylin shudder.
"This material..."
Leylin touched the bronze coloured ceramic wall. He felt that the material used to make this wall was extremely sturdy. Also, it gave him a similar feeling to the Blood Sobbing Alloy inside the Dylan Gardens. They were both used to isolate spiritual force energy waves.
"If this is really what I think it is, the item that is locked in here must be remarkable!"
The insecurities in Leylin's heart reached the max.
He cocked his head and pondered, not daring to enter recklessly. Instead, he found an empty space, and took out various items from his robes, creating a strange formation. The appearance of this formation was extremely strange, looking like an inverted "J." Afterwards, Leylin also carved a similar rune on his robes.
"It seems that I'm really fearful of death!" Leylin's insecurities lessened after arranging the formation. He mocked himself as he entered the tunnel.
The bronze coloured pathway wasn't long, and Leylin quickly reached its depths.
There was a small hall and in front of it, there was a black metal door, which was extremely tall, and over 4 meters wide.
On the metal door frame, there were various magic runes with the words 'Experiment Lab #1. Supervisor: Edward' written on it.
The words on the metal door were obviously very old, as there was some dust on it, and it looked slightly beaten.
When Leylin was in front of the doors, two figures entered his field of view
After seeing them, Leylin took the initiative to go forth. "Old Devil and Jaye, where's Brass Ring?"
The old witch and Jaye were the ones that had appeared in front of Experiment Lab #1, while Brass Ring's location was unknown.
"We stepped into a trap set up by the ancient Magi that caused us to become lost! In the trap, every time when we thought our partners were beside us, we had actually been separated and had gone further apart…"
The old witch replied, "When the trap activated, and the four of us entered the different pathways, I was met with a sound illusion that was arranged by the ancient Magi….After an intense battle, I found this place, and met up with Jaye. Her experiences were similar to mine….."
Leylin nodded his head, after which he briefly stated his encounters. As for his abilities and spells, he had naturally glossed over the narration of that area.
He then said, "In this case, we should just wait for Brass Ring…"
"We don't have to anymore! I can sense that Brass Ring is already dead!" Jaye spoke abruptly, causing Leylin to feel somewhat shocked.
This fellow, who seemed like a female, had seldom spoken ever since the group was formed. She also seemed to be rather close to the old witch, yet her energy waves were not very strong, just at the level of an average rank 1 Magus.
But now…
Leylin could not help but to look at Jaye.
Even though Jaye was still wearing a black cloak, her cloak was tattered. It seemed to bear traces of her battle.
Apart from that, the energy waves from Jaye's body were fluctuating at an unsteady rate. Sometimes, they had the strength of a peak rank 1 Magus, while at other times, it felt like a fledgling rank 1 Magus who had just advanced. At other times, it would intensify greatly, keeping Leylin guessing.
"Jaye had learned and remembered an extremely special rank 1 spell. We were able to estimate the timing of the death of the magus, so we decided to wait for you here!"
Jaye seemed rather antisocial, and she would not speak unless it was of the utmost importance. Everything else was explained by the old witch.
"Is that right?" Leylin was a little doubtful, as the rank 1 magic of the Magus World was extremely peculiar. There was an unknown amount of Magi that built on spells that their ancestors had created or modified in order to create many different unique spells to be passed down, so Leylin wasn't able to make a decision regarding what the Old Witch had said.
"Since you're here, let's take a short break before attempting to enter this Experiment Lab #1!"
The old witch seemed rather zealous. "I have a feeling that the altar I need is right inside!"
Leylin was somewhat speechless. This old witch appeared too impatient.
However, he still walked forward, and touched the black metal door.
Upon contact, an icy cold feeling could be felt as first, before a hotter temperature was felt. As for the sturdy metal door, it gave off a feeling of being indestructible.
From the runes and incantation on the door, Leylin could feel that this room was not used for experiments, but as a prison of some sort.
There was a brass keyhole at the center of the black door. The ethereal keyhole made Leylin's hair stand on end, and he felt a bone freezing chilliness.
"I can't fully understand the runes on this door, but I'm still able to make out the general meaning of some of the high levelled runes. There is a high levelled solidifying rune, and a metal memory rune. To break open this door, we will have to spend a lot of energy. Perhaps, we should try to find the key!"
Leylin suggested.
"There's no need for that! It's here with me!" The old witch cackled, withdrawing an extremely thick yellow bronze key from her robes.
This key was rather curvy, as if it was a ladle, but it was a perfect fit for the keyhole on the door.
The old witch took the bronze key, and inserted it into the door.
"Wait a minute!" At this moment, a figure appeared in front of her.
"Blood Rogue, what are you doing?" The old witch looked at Leylin, who was blocking her, rage evident on her face.
Jaye immediately stood behind the old witch at this moment. The magic rays emitted from her body caused Leylin's eyelid to twitch.
"It's nothing much, I just feel that the danger within has somewhat exceeded my expectations. I wish to withdraw!" Leylin was extremely calm.
"According to the information I've seen, this Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect has been the advocate behind the scenes of many ancient calamities. Moreover, it had been undergoing extremely dangerous spirit research…"
Leylin's expression was extremely sincere as he continued to talk. "Therefore, I suggest that we temporarily stop this exploration, and attempt to explore again after gaining much greater powers…."
A Mountain of White Bones
When the old witch heard Leylin's words, she started at the black haired handsome youth before saying with a dry and hoarse voice.
"I've known you for almost two years and didn't know that you were such a cowardly Magus."
Leylin had given her the impression that he was extremely crazy and daring. He would do anything to reach his goals and did everything without restraints.
"A Magus's life is extremely long so two years isn't a long time. Moreover, to give up after knowing it's dangerous isn't a cowardly action….."
Leylin smiled.
"That is to say that you are unwilling to continue on no matter what?" The old witch asked.
"…." Silence was his response.
*Pang!* The old witch didn't say anything, but Jaye, who was behind her immediately made her move.
A green-coloured hurricane instantly swept past the area Leylin was.
*Pa!* Constant clear sounds were heard.
Following that, a black flame exited the hurricane, which burned half of the small hall and was heading towards Jaye.
"Hmph!" Jaye coldly snorted. Her cloak fluttered without any wind as black energy particles were raised.
When the flame and the energy particles collided against each other in the air, an intense explosion occurred.
Jaye's body shook and was forced three steps back. The aura from her body became unstable.
"Enough!" The old witch shielded Jaye, with green light rays being emitted from her eyes.
With Leylin's high leveled observation skills, he knew that she was frantically warning him. He currently didn't want to go against this old witch so Leylin smiled before moving to the side and eradicated the energy waves that was being emitted from his body.
"Jaye, you too. I'm great friends with Blood Rogue. You don't have to be so wary of him." When the old witch saw that Leylin moved to the side, the green rays from her eyes also dimmed before she said that to Jaye who was behind her.
"I understand!" Jaye answered softly.
"Blood Rouge, even though we haven't been together for long, we should know each other's personality. State whatever terms you have!"
The progress of the situation was slightly beyond what Leylin had expected.
He originally thought that with the powers that he had displayed and unintentional fight against the old witch, she should reasonably make him leave or explore other places.
Leylin was a reasonable person. He knew that the experiment lab was dangerous and there wasn't anything worth his attention so he naturally didn't want to risk it.
However, currently, the Experiment Lab 1 obviously needed his help in opening or to get there so the old witch had to lower her temper.
"To prove your sincerity, you've to firstly give me the second half content on the data regarding the compressing spiritual powers!" Leylin straightforwardly stated a condition.
"No problem!" The old witch tossed a green leaf towards Leylin without a single thought.
When Leylin caught it, the A.I. Chip pointed out that it had received a lot of information and images.
From the A.I. Chip's judgment, this data should be the remaining portion of the data she had given from before.
"I shall also include this! How is that? Will that suffice you to risk yourself?"
When the old witch saw that Leylin had caught up in muttering to himself irresolutely, she tossed a black bag at him.
"These items can also tempt some of the peak rank 1 Magus and has high success rates. What do you say?"
Leylin opened the bag and looked slightly moved.
Following that, he looked at the old witch. "I'll accompany you and risk my life with you on behalf of these two years of relationship. However, if I find that something is wrong, we'll retreat straight away and I won't continue to participate in this in the future….."
"That's naturally the case!" The old witch agreed.
After that, she walked past Leylin to insert the bronze key into the lock.
*Clang! Dong!*
*Clang! Dong!*
The sound of gears turning could be heard as the old witch turned the key.
The sound was weak at the start, but it got stronger after that. Finally, the entire hall was filled with sounds of gears coming into contact with each other.
*Creak!*
Streaks of cracks appeared on the black metal door. After a few cracks appeared, it rapidly segregated into countless little black metal pieces. The black metals flew to the sides, revealing the scene of the Experiment Lab #1.
Corpses! What Leylin could only see was countless white human bone remains.
The densely packed bones were layered, forming a small mountain of white bones.
After that, a rotting odour that had been there for many years, accompanied by the scent of death, rotten flesh and negative energy particles that were so dense and couldn't be separated, turned into a black wave rising forth towards the three of them.
This was the Experiment Lab #1 inside the secret plane of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect. It actually formed a scene of the massacre of numerous people.
A black light flashed from Leylin's body to confront the huge, energy-filled wave, making him happily gulp in a few mouthfuls of air.
This was the best environment for someone like — a dark Magus that specialised in the cultivation of Darkness energy particles! Not only would the consumption of his spiritual force and magic power were lower when casting his spells in this environment, but the degree of power his spells could produce would be slightly stronger.
"As expected….It's the same as the records!"
The old witch and Jaye were already prepared as they opened a scroll, where a fiery red shield enveloped them.
The ash-colored negative energy particles constantly surged against the exterior of the shield, but they were burned out by the fire energy particles.
Once the wave had receded, the old witch seemed to not have sustain any injuries. She currently was just staring fixatedly at the mountain of white bones with excitement shown in her eyes.
"According to the information recorded, the altar I need is at the summit of this mountain of white bones."
The old witch climbed up, using the white bones as her path.
*Crack!*
The white bones that had existed for an unknown period of time crumbled into powder under her steps, forming an extremely thick layer.
Leylin and Jaye followed slowly behind her.
While Leylin walked, he fiddled with the bones on the ground. Even though many bones had utterly rotted, there were still some complete bones.
Currently, Leylin was detailedly observing a white bone that was slightly thicker than the ones in the surroundings.
"From the shape of this bone, it should be human's right thigh!" Leylin gauged the weight of the bone in his hand.
"It's very heavy and this bone clearly had transformed as this isn't something an ordinary person will have!"
"A.I. Chip! Investigate its content!"
A faint blue light was emitted from Leylin's eyes.
"Beep! Beginning sample data collection and comparing the carbon elements within the bone!"
The A.I. Chip gave its answer, "This right thigh bone is from a person of the Knight rank. Its age is about 5341 years..."
"The Knight rank?"
Leylin surveyed his surroundings.
At the bottom of this mountain of white bones, its perimeter was the largest and had the most number of bones, but the majority of them were ordinary human bones. There were very few Knight ranked bones.
Following the climb up, there appeared to be Knight ranked bones everywhere. Leylin even found a Grand Knight's bone.
When they were halfway up the mountain, it was completely filled with Knight and Grand Knight's bones. There were even some acolytes' bones.
A Magus's body had a certain concentration of radiation. It was easy to see that even from the bones.
The old witch and Jaye were indefinitely bewildered from the start and took in a cold breath after seeing these bones.
"From the form, there must be at least 20,000 or more acolytes' bones buried here and an unknown number of bones belonging to official Magi…"
Leylin released the breath he was holding. "It's really something on a large scale that can be collected only in ancient times!"
Similarly, he also knew why the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect was annihilated.
No matter what was the reason, killing these many Magi would definitely attract the crowd's rage. This was different from massacring ordinary people, which resulted in them being severely punished!
The three Magi couldn't help, but to slow their steps after realising this.
As expected, while they neared the summit, they found numerous official Magi's corpses!
At the summit, there were often partially rotten corpses and the robe on them could be seen distinctly. Some weren't rotten as much so they looked as though they were just sleeping.
Moreover, from the radiation emitted from the remnants of the ancient magicians, it was way beyond that of the acolytes. Some of the remaining aura even made Leylin fearful of them.
"There unexpectedly are some bones that hadn't entirely rotted….." The old witch exclaimed.
"The environment was extremely sealed and they seemed to have had anti-rotting measures. Moreover, these Magi aren't ordinary people so from the circumstances….."
Leylin calmly replied.
He was currently stepping on a female Magus's charming face. That Magus' face had extremely perfected structure with fine eyelashes. Her beautiful eyes could be seen clearly. It was imaginable that this Magus was a rare beauty in the ancient time, but Leylin stepped on her face without any hesitation. It looked just as if he was stepping on stones.
At the current position, the mountain of white bones had become a mountain of corpses and if Leylin and the rest wanted to continue, there had to constantly step on the corpses of the ancient Magi.
"This is blasphemy! Bare naked profaneness! These crazy fellows of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect, they disrespect the honor of the Magi!"
It was beyond Leylin's expectation that Jaye, who was the most antisocial in the group, was the first to condemn their crimes.
"That's right! However, in ancient times, power decides everything! These Magi were caught by the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect so they had to bear with the outcome..."
Leylin said.
As a Magus, it was natural to feel a tinge of regret for his fallen fellow Magi. However, in the current Magus World, was this not commonplace?
"Stop bickering. We're here!"
The old witch that was heading forth in a daze suddenly stopped. Her voice was rueful, but it contained more ferventness and longing!
The Awakening
Upon hearing her words, Leylin looked up in surprise.
Unconsciously, they had already reached the peak of the mountain of white bones.
Here, it was completely deserted except for the white altar at the peak of the mountain.
If one looked closely, it could be seen that the altar was made entirely out of human bones. These bones emitted energy fluctuations that far exceeded that of a rank 1 Magus and below, and just the aura made the air stifling, even for Leylin.
On some bones that were wider, there were strange runes handwritten in blood.
These runes were extremely complicated. Some were similar to 3D images, and Leylin had never seen any of them before.
What struck him the most was how, even though the runes had existed for over five thousand years, the blood was bright red and still looked fresh, as if ready to drip to the ground.
They were arranged in a strange manner and seemed to form a map.
Leylin took a closer look and realised that he recognised several of the areas in the secret plane. Filled with ecstasy, he immediately got the A.I. Chip to record everything down.
At the very centre of the altar, there was an odd skull used as a sacrifice.
The skull was similar to that of a human's skull, but on the cranium, there were two black, bent horns like that of a goat.
Also, in the middle of the two horns, there was a small round hole that seemed to serve no purpose.
"Is this the spirit altar you were looking for?"
Leylin glanced at the old witch, but her eyes were already fixed on the altar. She was murmuring words in a language that he did not know, and seemed to have forgotten about the existence of the others with her.
What made Leylin more surprised was Jaye, who was beside him. Even with the cover of the huge black cloak, Leylin could tell she was shivering badly.
This discovery worried Leylin, and at the same time, a sense of unease in his heart was intensified.
"It's here. Right here… My darling, I can now help you…"
While mumbling incessantly, the old witch produced a fragment of a piece of parchment and threw it towards the altar.
At the same time, Jaye, who had been shaking all this while, suddenly made her move!
Streams of translucent, faintly green rays of light descended from the heavens and formed a large net, aiming for Leylin. The surrounding air produced a hissing sound, and there seemed to be some undulations in the scenery around them.
"What are you doing?"
Leylin bellowed, though his expression did not undergo much changes.
It was apparent that he had been expecting something like this, and had thus made some preparations.
*Boom!*
On Leylin's head, countless black strands of hair seemed to have lives of their own as they wriggled to counter the approaching green net.
*Pu Pu!*
The instant the half transparent green net and the black strands of hair met, large amounts of white gas emerged, and the sound of corrosion constantly erupted in the air.
With a wave of his hair, Leylin's figure flickered and he shifted over ten metres away from his original spot.
"Madori Defensive Spell Formation!" Jaye, who was in the black cloak, was well aware that Leylin's power surpassed hers. She had acted first in order to gain the upperhand.
While Leylin was dealing with that large net, Jaye had already fixed up a defensive formation around the spirit altar!
"Activate!" Along with Jaye's words, translucent black rays rose around the spirit altar, keeping the altar, Jaye and the old witch protected inside.
"Latent Fireball!" With a flash of Leylin's eyes, countless black fireballs emerged from the shadows, rushing towards the black dome!
*Bang!*
The numerous black fireballs converged and its volume expanded by more than ten times. With the added bonus of Leylin's elemental essence conversion of 70%, its might had become exceedingly horrifying.
Under this level of attack, an ordinary Magus' innate defensive spell would be completely destroyed within seconds!
The black flames spread, and even with Jaye within the dome trying her very best to maintain it, it was still vibrating vigorously, as if on the verge of breaking.
However, Jaye was unperturbed and chanted a few incantations.
*Buzz buzz!* From the bottom of the altar, a circle of black light emerged, merging with the defensive spell formation.
*Peng!*
With the addition of this circle of light, the entire defensive spell formation immediately became more radiant. Its colour was black to the extreme, and it was almost impossible to see the figures behind the formation.
Flames from the Latent Fireball burnt at the surface of the dome for over ten seconds.
But when facing the reinforced defensive spell formation, they could do little but succumb and disperse.
"This…"
Seeing how Jaye seemed to be able to take advantage of the powers of the laboratory, Leylin hastily moved a few steps backwards.
The old witch was sure to have hidden a lot of information from him. Thinking back to the spirit explosion that she had previously used and what had happened with the Loathsome Evil, Leylin was certain that the old witch had found out about these ruins much earlier, contrasting with what she had said. She must have already reaped a bountiful harvest from within the ruins before this expedition.
"Give up! This is the core of the secret plane. After borrowing a portion of its strength, it's impossible to break through this defensive formation unless your power has reached such heights that you're able to destroy this entire secret plane!"
From within the black dome, Jaye's faint voice was transmitted over. However, there was no hint of joy in her gaze and her eyes were not on Leylin but rather on the witch. There were dozens of complicated emotions on her face- anticipation, joy, and also… fear!
Upon coming into contact with the altar, the yellowed fragmented piece of parchment burst into flames.
These flames were a light yellow and extremely pure. They started off as small as a bean and gradually crept to engulf the entire parchment, the flames turning light blue.
At the same time, the altar seemed to come to life and began to tremble.
From the gaps between the bones of the altar, fresh red blood trickled down. Dark rays were emitted from the eye sockets of many skulls.
"Old witch! You'd better calm down. It's obvious that there's an extremely strong and evil being trapped within the altar. I don't care if you made a pact or some contract with it, but the strong won't bother making transactions with the weak."
Outside the spell formation, Leylin recalled what he had seen and hastily spoke.
"Of course, I know what's in there! I knew about it 157 years ago! If not for it being in hibernation, and the conditions to awaken it being too harsh, I would have summoned it a long time ago… As long as I summon it, I can…"
The old witch's facial muscles twisted, her expression crazed as she gestured wildly.
This exposed her knowledge about the ruins.
"You need to think this through. This is an evolved being that escaped out of the Loathsome Evil's body and is much more sinister and vicious. It's something the likes of you definitely can't control."
As Leylin persuaded her, he'd already left his original position and backed away to where they had climbed up, a ring of Darkness energy particles around his two legs.
"I know better than you how vicious it can get! Even though I can't control it, I know how it was assembled and basically everything there is to know about it. As long as we give enough offerings, with the power of this spirit altar, I can definitely…"
Her eyes were crazed as she spread out her arms and yelled, "Come out! The collective body of vengeance, the manipulator of spirits and bodies! The supreme king, Gargamel!"
"Gargamel?!" Leylin's heart lurched.
Before he had come here, he had seen plenty of records regarding the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and naturally knew about this Gargamel. It was a being that the sect had worshipped.
They believed that a spirit was the last resting place for all beings, and the Gargamel was the one in charge of all these spirits!
It was apparent that this was a Gargamel that had already taken shape after the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect's immense efforts in cultivating it! However, for some reason, this Gargamel had been sealed here by the Magi of the sect.
The old witch had obviously received the inheritance from the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and obtained many benefits. She had also been working hard to unseal the Gargamel.
Leylin believed he had a rough understanding of this whole situation.
The black ring of light around his legs flashed and, wrapped in energy particles, his body's speed reached its limits and he instantly disappeared away from the mountain.
Even though he had no idea why the old witch had swindled him and Brass Ring into coming here, it definitely wasn't anything good!
Leylin felt it was better if he retreated as soon as possible.
As long as he was out of this secret plane, even if the old witch and Jaye attacked together, Leylin was certain he could take care of them.
"A smart move, but it's a pity that it's too late…" Jaye, who was nearby, gave a low sigh.
At this very moment, the piece of parchment on the altar had already been burnt to ashes and, with a cry from the old witch, streams of black gases streamed out of the gaps within the bones of the altar.
*Weng Weng!*
An ancient devil was awake once more.
An aura that caused one's heart to palpitate in fear arrived on top of the mountain of white bones.
Ice-cold! Evil!
Leylin felt as if he had returned to his childhood, powerless while surrounded by a group of direwolves.
He hated being made aware of how fragile his life was.
Just with the leakage of this aura, the secret plane vibrated slightly.
A vast amount of black gas converged and gradually solidified, forming a gigantic translucent figure.
The figure brought the skull on top of the altar to its face, treating it as a mask. Its two completely red eyes seemed to be looking down on every one of the Magi present as if they were mere ants.
Leylin's heart plummeted, and he could not gather any strength.
"Jiik!" The black figure bellowed towards the heavens.
With the tremendous sound waves, the black defensive spell formation that had caused Leylin much trouble instantaneously gave way, and the old witch and Jaye were forced aside from the pressure.
*Pu!*
As the old witch flew backwards, mouthfuls of blood spurted out like water gurgling in a spring.
The Gargamel
"Respected Lord Gargamel… Cough cough… please accept our offerings"
Jaye, who was at the side, suffered quite a deal from the energy waves. However, she was still better off than the old witch and was somewhat able to stand.
Observing these circumstances, she was partly kneeling in a bizarre position, while tossing a severed Magus' head in front of the black shadow.
"Brass Ring!"
Leylin's pupils contracted as he recognized whose head it was. It seemed that Brass Ring didn't die because of the secret plane's mechanisms after all, but was instead ambushed by the old witch and Jaye.
Right now, Leylin stood to the side with cold sweat forming on his body, not daring to move an inch.
Although the black shadow atop the altar didn't look his way, he could clearly feel an extremely vicious and unyielding spiritual force completely locking him down.
Leylin had a premonition that if he took a single step forward, he would be struck by the full power of the Gargamel!
*Crunch! Crunch!*
Immediately after receiving the head of Brass Ring, whose expression still held traces of disbelief, the black shadow put it into its mouth and started to chew.
An absolutely horrifying grinding noise could be heard reverberating from the top of the skeleton mound.
"Ji Ji!" After the black shadow swallowed the head whole, it gave off a sound of satisfaction. Moreover, a scarlet tongue licked its lips, apparently with a desire for more.
"Ah, a spirit that fulfills the conditions! State your wishes!"
An ancient and cryptic voice sounded directly into Leylin and the others' consciousness, spoken in a language Leylin had never heard before. Strangely, Leylin could understand the meaning of each word that was being spoken.
"I want…" Jaye slowly opened her mouth.
"Let my daughter Jaye come back to life! Give her a new body filled with life!" The old witch, who had fallen to the side, suddenly grew frantic. As she threw herself in front of the Gargamel's shadow, "If you can fulfill my desire, I will pay any price necessary!"
It could be a misperception, but after the old witch spoke of those words, Leylin seemed to notice a hint of… ridicule in the Gargamel's gigantic eyes
"I need… I need more offerings…"
The giant shadow licked its lips, "According to the principles of spirit transformation, a male magus cultivating in the Darkness element is a necessary offering!"
"I got it!" Old witch retrieved a couple of crystal balls filled with spiritual powers, and in addition, pointed towards Leylin.
"As for the offering, it's that Magus!"
As the black shadow stated its conditions. Leylin felt his heart sink as he furiously activated his hastening spells.
His silhouette looked like it was cloaked inside a black tornado as it charged down the hill.
However, the speed of the black shadow Gargamel was far beyond Leylin's expectations.
Facing Leylin's escape, the black shadow simply extended a translucent palm and grabbed!
*Screech!* *Whoosh!*
The black tornado was torn apart, revealing Leylin's body.
Leylin felt like the air was instantly solidifying, and that it was constantly pressing in from all four sides.
In an instant, a band of silver light descended from the sky and coiled around Leylin's waist.
From this band of light emerged an enormous amount of tyrannical spiritual force. The quality of this spiritual force was higher than anything that Leylin had ever encountered before. Just a tiny bit was enough to completely shatter his elemental essence converted spiritual force.
The spiritual force was a fundamental part of a Magus and was also the primer for casting spells.
With spiritual force having been shattered, Leylin naturally could not cast a single spell.
The silver band of light retracted, and Leylin was forced to follow its movements to ultimately arrive in front of the altar.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four black shackle-like tentacles emerged from the altar and bound Leylin's limbs tightly together.
The present Leylin's body was spread eagle as he was presented to the black shadow Gargamel.
"Spiritual force materialisation! This evil spirit Gargamel must be at least at the level of a rank 2 Magus!"
Leylin's face was deadly pale as his mind raced, trying to gauge the strength of the black shadow.
At the same time, the A.I. Chip was operating at full speed in order to calculate the energy that the Gargamel was emitting, and from there, predict its stats and weaknesses.
Spiritual force materialisation was an advanced technique that only rank 2 Magi were qualified to practice!
Spiritual force lacked shape or substance, and the various colorful spells that Leylin had seen were actually just the appearance of elemental particles that were in the air. As for the spiritual force, it acted as a catalyst and initiated the process of casting spells. However, all of these things could not be observed with the naked eye.
After a Magus reached rank 2, he could directly draw his spiritual force from his sea of consciousness out into the real world, and materialise it into the most basic energy particle. This was something that could be seen by even the most ordinary person!
When dealing with Magi below rank 2, who were unable to materialise their spiritual force, that ability made it basically impossible to lose!
After all, for Magi who could materialise their spiritual force, their condensation of spiritual force far surpassed that of a rank 1 Magus. With the weak spiritual force of a rank 1 Magus, it was impossible to hold out against attacks produced by the spiritual force of a rank 2 Magus, which resulted in the situation where a rank 1 Magus' power was nothing compared to that of a rank 2 Magus.
The silver band of light that the shadowy Gargamel used was a materialisation of spiritual force that could be seen in the real world!
"A rank 2 Magus? To think that the contingency plans that I had the A.I. Chip prepare in case of an emergency would have to be used now…" Leylin's thoughts whirled about as he turned to watch the witch carefully.
"Can you tell me the truth now?" Leylin's voice was muffled as if he had lost all hope. "After all, we're still allies!"
"Other than the agreement on the making of the potion and how we were to divide them, there wasn't any condition that said we couldn't injure one another!"
The old witch was still trembling incessantly as if she was about to topple to the ground and die any second. At the same time, however, she was extremely zealous, and her cheeks were flushed.
"I'm willing to do anything for Jaye, much less sacrifice an ally like you that has wicked intentions!"
"Jaye! She's your daughter?" Leylin stared blankly. Immediately he turned his head towards Jaye, the black-cloaked person.
Jaye nodded her head and removed the black gown she wore.
A translucent image of a girl appeared in front of Leylin. The image had the appearance of a very young and pretty woman, and on her pretty face, one could still see some traces of how the old witch looked when she was in her youth.
"Spirit bodies?" Leylin was stunned once more. He thought back to how Jaye had been silent the entire time, and how she even wore a thick pair of gloves. Of course, there should also have been other secret methods that were used, or else Leylin and Brass Ring, who had spent some time with her, would have discovered the abnormalities of Jaye's body long before.
"My poor daughter permanently lost her physical body after an accident during an experiment. All that I can do is to constantly transfuse spiritual force into her and prolong the amount of time that she can stay in this world…"
The old witch's eyes were glazed over as if she was reminiscing the past.
"Even though Jaye is already dead, I have never given up on my wish to bring her back to life! By a stroke of fate, I remembered some materials about the ancient Spirit Slaying Sect that I had obtained when I was young. Their spirit transferring technique is definitely able to resurrect my daughter and help her regain a physical body!"
"So you've been collecting spirits and continuously trying to unseal this Gargamel?"
Leylin coldly inquired.
"That's right!" The old witch frankly admitted to it. "It is also thanks to your potions. Without them, Jaye's spirit would not have been strengthened enough to allow her to withstand the transfer…"
It seemed that all of the Tears of Mary potions that the old witch had received from Leylin had gone to Jaye.
As a result, Jaye's spirit was able to increase from that of an ordinary person to the level of an official Magus.
"Also, in order to summon the Gargamel and resurrect Jaye, a few conditions need to be met!" Having planned this for decades and on the verge of seeing it succeed, the old witch was obviously in the mood to say everything that was on her mind.
For some reason, the shadowy Gargamel did not make a move, and just waited as she spoke.
"I need to initiate the process of summoning the Gargamel through the use of an official Magus who meets several stringent requirements, such as those in terms of aptitude and physique. In order to resurrect Jaye, these are the offerings required. Do you know how long it took me to look for you two offerings? Do you have any idea how long I waited for this moment?"
The old witch's expression became crazed. Without even waiting for Leylin to speak, she thundered, "53 years! To fulfil these conditions, I waited 53 whole years!"
"In these 53 years, my darling Jaye suffered a lot…sob…sob… "
At the climax of her narration, the old witch's tears flowed down her face, while Jaye stood silently to one side.
"All of my efforts have been rewarded. Now, my beloved daughter, Jaye, will be resurrected!!"
Leylin silently listened on. Now, all was clear to him.
Leylin was not angry about the fact that he and Brass Ring would be offerings.
He'd never thought himself to be treasured by the heavens, where he would somehow be able to profit from unfortunate situations or turn misfortunes into blessings.
Since he could scheme against others, others could obviously do the same.
All he could do was to consider all of his options in advance and make sure that every step went as perfectly as was possible. This was so he would not be schemed against or made use of.
"Honourable Gargamel, based on the rules for replacement, I present to you this Magus as an offering. In return, I want you to help my daughter regain a physical body."
The old witch was gasping for breath as she placed several bizarre items on the altar while she made her request.
"This replacement is allowed!"
From under the skull mask that the shadow was wearing, it seemed to be looking at Leylin and the others with a faint trace of mockery in its expression.
The old witch who was kneeling on the ground, as well as Jaye, who seemed confused, did not notice this.
"As much as I want to stay behind and watch the show, I'm sorry!"
Leylin grinned as the large arm of the Gargamel approached him.
Suction Spell Formation
"A.I. Chip, activate the suction spell formation with maximum force!"
Leylin violently roared inwardly.
Meanwhile, his muscles swelled and a fine layer of black scales appeared on his body.
His eyes changed to an amber colour and appeared to have a beast-like vertical pupil in them.
Scales of Kemoyin and the Eye of Petrification!
During this life-or-death situation, the current Leylin used both of his innate spells!
Leylin's vertical pupils focused on the chains and shackles that were binding him instead of the Gargamel.
This Gargamel, at the very least, had the power of a rank 2 Magus and its spiritual force exceeded Leylin's by several times. Using the Eye of Petrification on it would not be enough to close this difference in strength.
And even if Leylin got closer and used the Eye of Petrification on him, it would still only cause him an unfortunate consequence; the Gargamel would devour his spirit!
*Pa! Pa! Pa!*
The chains and shackles that bound him turned gray under the gaze of the Eye of Petrification.
They disintegrated all over the ground as Leylin flexed his arms.
At the same time, a reverse symbol 'j' became bright and visible on his clothes.
A strong attraction force acted on Leylin's body and pulled him away so hard that he was almost flying as he moved backwards.
The speed of this 'flight' was 4-5 times more than when he had used a spell to flee.
The old witch and Jaye only saw a black flash; Leylin had already vanished without a trace in front of their eyes.
"No…" The old witch issued a hissing roar.
Jaye wore a complicated expression on her face, as if she had lost all hope, and heaved a despairing sigh.
"The materials for the replacement has disappeared. But the ceremony has already started and must not be interrupted. Start using other materials instead…"
The Gargamel only watched from a distance the spot from where Leylin had vanished but did not chase after him. Instead, he said a few words that caused the expressions on the old witch and Jaye's face to drastically change.
"No…"
Together with the unceasing spell which was being dispelled, a shriek filled with hopelessness and despair rang out, piercing through the entire mountain of white bones.
...
*Bang!*
A huge explosion erupted and the spell formation laid on top of the white ground in the garden shattered.
Meanwhile, a black human shadow was drawn to this place and created a deep indent as it smashed into the ground due to the huge gravitational force.
"Cough Cough…"
At the bottom of a huge pit, Leylin fiercely spat out a mouthful of sand and pebbles. Upon seeing the strange angle his right arm was in, he smiled wryly.
"The A.I. Chip recovered only a portion of the ancient suction spell formation, and using it so rashly obviously resulted in this situation. If not for my innate spell, I'm likely to have suffered far more than just a broken arm."
Despite the grimace on his face, he jumped out of this large pit quickly and observed his surroundings. This was the place where he had fought with the vengeful spirit, the Loathsome Evil, and also where he had arranged his spell model.
"This suction spell formation was truly set up perfectly!"
Leylin sighed regretfully, and immediately commanded, "A.I. Chip, analyse the map and find the most optimal route to exit the secret plane!"
Previously, upon the spirit altar, Leylin had seen something similar to a map of the secret plane.
Due to his cautiousness, he had immediately asked the A.I. Chip to make a record of the map and compare it with the map made from routes he had travelled. As expected, the result was that he obtained a complete map — the entire map of the secret plane!
The suction spell formation here was an ancient spell that he had upgraded himself.
He had only seen the original model of this spell in the ancient books at the Four Seasons Garden, and many parts of it were already badly damaged.
Even with the A.I. Chip's help he only had one complete portion, which only held 30 to 40% of the original power of the spell formation.
But this 30 to 40% power was enough to cause Leylin much happiness and was one of his hidden trump cards.
This suction spell formation model was able to create a powerful gravitational force, which would forcibly pull magic artifacts or lifeforms that had previously been engraved onto a place where the suction spell formation had been set up.
Due to its utilisation of many ancient techniques the force of attraction was very powerful, and its speed was extremely high! Even a rank 2 Magus would be helpless against it.
If previously Leylin had the assurance of 10% success in fleeing from a rank 2 Magus, then after he had properly set up the gravitational spell, this probability of success could increase to 40% or even more!
[Map imported and the optimal route has been found!]
The A.I. Chip computed quickly and the map of the secret plane was projected clearly in Leylin's field of view. In it, a red line marked the route from Leylin's current position to the oil painting, which was the entrance to the plane.
*Jiji!* Just then, from the Gargamel's location, a loud, weird noise could be heard. Then a black shadow became larger and larger and finally unfurled itself within the sky.
*Crash!* It was as if the entire sky in the secret plane had been ripped apart, exposing a pitch-black hole, and many blood red lightning bolts and thunder hacked at this black shadow.
The shadow wore a strange skull mask and struck out at the constantly roaring lightning and thunder.
The repercussions of this fight, caused everything to be turned to dust wherever it landed. And the battlefield slowly expanded, reaching to the location where Leylin was.
"Run!"
Seeing this apocalypse-like scene, Leylin did not think for long, and immediately broke into a run.
On the way, the ground began to split open, and many trestles and stone sculptures fell to the ground. This scene was as if the world was ending.
Leylin ran with lightning-fast speed and his body was constantly covered with the Scales of Kemoyin. At high speed, all that could be seen was a long, black afterimage.
*Swish!*
Leylin quickly passed through a metal tunnel, and ahead of him was a dead-end. A thick layer of metal had completely sealed this passage.
But Leylin's expression did not vary in the least; flickering constantly, he rapped at a few points at the wall.
*Rumble rumble!* Along with a loud noise of a machine, The metal in front of Leylin split open with a deafening mechanical noise, exposing a silver passage.
Written in the ancient Byron language was a sign on one side of the tunnel that read: "Tunnel made for emergency exit, specifically for lab employees!"
Leylin's blue eyes flashed and, without hesitation, he rushed through this passage.
The silver passage quickly flashed past Leylin.
Immediately, the A.I. Chip's voice intoned, causing Leylin's footsteps to halt.
[Discovered hidden compartment. It wasn't recorded in the map previously. Do you want to continue through that way or not?]
"Hidden compartment? And the map on the spirit altar did not have a record of it? The level of secrecy of this compartment must be very high."
Leylin glanced at the passage behind him with concern, sprinted forth, and a small door suddenly appeared on the silver wall.
The room behind the door was very narrow. It was a compartment of a few square meters in area and at its center was a very simple and mysterious ancient spell formation.
This spell model was built entirely using a black stone and on its surface were all kinds of symbols which Leylin could not understand. All around this spell model were tall obelisks.
Leaning on one of the obelisks was a corpse.
This corpse was wearing a black gown that was lushly and delicately embroidered. More importantly was that even after such a long time had passed the clothes still had a bright and beautiful luster.
"This definitely was a very important person!" Seeing this corpse, Leylin inwardly exclaimed.
"A.I. Chip, record the patterns on the spell model" Leylin issued an order then he crouched down next to the corpse, and began fumbling about its clothes.
Some miscellaneous items and a torn diary made of parchment paper fell into Leylin's hands.
[The spell model's formation and the runes have already been recorded.]
After hearing the A.I. Chip's intonation, Leylin immediately left the secret compartment. All of these took place in less than 15 seconds of time.
Leylin tapped on another wall of the secret compartment, then he quickly ran away.
And behind him, with a rumbling noise, the secret compartment door closed and a white light was emitted throughout the entire passage. Nobody could tell he had been in there.
...
Rays of bright sunlight shone down.
It was already daytime in the small town, but, because of the old witch's potion, the populace was in a state of deep sleep.
This situation had already been discovered by the surrounding villagers and the rumors spread about very fast.
Of course, due to the fact that there were limitations in communication and reasons of time, the extent to which these rumors were spread was very small and did not attract the interest of even an acolyte.
Now, the small town gained the reputation of being a ghost town.
At the end of the passage, the oil painting emitted a silvery light. Then this light turned brighter and brighter, and finally revealed the entrance of a passageway.
*Whoosh!*
From this entrance emerged a black shadow in very sorry shape.
Leylin used his left hand to wipe his cold sweat and turned around to see the passage to the secret plane.
"That was way too dangerous! If not for the defense mechanism that the Magi of the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect set up for in case the Gargamel lost control, I wouldn't have been able to get away…"
To say that the Gargamel was very powerful was not a lie; the current Leylin was definitely not its match.
The being formed from the gathering of evil souls were simply insane. They were known for their temperamental nature, and Leylin wanted nothing to do with such terrifying and dangerous entities.
"Latent Fireball!"
After looking at the entrance to the secret plane, a flash of determination passed through his eyes and he threw black fireballs at the entrance, thoroughly destroying it.
Although there were many good things inside this secret plane, but when compared to his own insignificant life, Leylin certainly knew which he would prefer.
And compared with the fact that the Gargamel could come out at any time to finish him off, the other items inside the secret plane at once became dispensable.
Leylin looked at the surroundings and after removing all traces of his having been here, he departed from this place without looking back.
And if the entrance was not destroyed, then the Gargamel could come out from within the secret plane.
Leylin estimated that, with the strange and savage power of the Gargamel, it could immediately find the weak point of the secret plane and tear it apart and escape!
But by that time, Leylin would be a long distance away. What did this have to do with him?
Furthermore, in the entire Magus world of the south coast, Leylin was not the only Magus around. For instance, the head of the Night Lighthouse that he had met earlier was more than capable of suppressing this Gargamel!