Boom!!!
Under the impact of the tidal wave, the silver shield stood like a reef braving the ocean, without the slightest tremor.
By the time the Swamp's
Seeing this, Leilin's pupils contracted slightly.
"A defensive Magical Item!"
As a blood descendant of one of the three great
Leilin knew all too well how troublesome such items could be — after all, he himself carried a defensive-type
The two opposing Third-rank Apprentices were clearly startled by Bosin's fierce display, frozen in place for a brief moment.
The Apprentice who had signed a contract with the
After launching the Swamp's Wrath attack, the massive Moonlight Mayfly also seemed to have expended a great deal of energy, circling in midair without charging down again.
"The Moonlight Mayfly's magical attack can only be used once per day. After that, it needs over twenty hours to prepare, and it will also enter a period of weakness!"
Chip faithfully relayed the information.
"Perfect opportunity!" Leilin's eyes lit up as two potions — one red, one purple — flew from his hands.
Boom!!! A burst of flame and purple smoke erupted directly on the surface of the Moonlight Mayfly.
The massive blast enveloped the Moonlight Mayfly entirely, and from within the red-purple magical glow, its pitiful shrieks could be heard.
After the potion's magical effect wore off, the Moonlight Mayfly in midair looked utterly wretched — both claws broken off, wings riddled with holes. It could no longer sustain its flight, steadily losing altitude. It seemed to want to land on the ground.
"You damned beast! How dare you..."
Watching the Moonlight Mayfly draw closer and closer to the ground, Bosin roared. The silver shield before him emanated a milky-white glow.
The solid shield melted away within the light, the silver liquid wrapping around Bosin's hands before solidifying into a gleaming silver greatsword.
"Haah!!!"
Bosin raised the sword with both hands, leaped, and unleashed a devastating slash!
Squelch!
The gleaming silver light sliced straight through the neck of the flapping Moonlight Mayfly, a thin line of blood appearing where the blade had passed.
The Moonlight Mayfly's massive head was cleaved clean off, spraying a great fountain of dark purple-black **.
A single beheading strike! A Moonlight Mayfly of such enormous size — decapitated by Bosin's sword in a single blow.
"It even has a secondary transformation function! Truly a powerful Magical Item. Of course, Bosin's own strength is the key factor!"
Rolin silently praised the sight.
"Oh no!!!" The instant the Moonlight Mayfly was beheaded, the apprentice let out a terrified scream.
And as the Moonlight Mayfly's severed head hit the ground and its gaze gradually dimmed, the apprentice's face went pale, and wrinkles began to spread across his entire body.
"It looks like he signed a Life Contract. No wonder he didn't seem all that strong, yet was able to command the loyalty of a Moonlight Mayfly..."
Rolin sighed. "What a shame — his life force is bound to the contracted creature. Once the contract beast dies, the host has no escape from death either!"
By the time the flames in the Moonlight Mayfly's bright yellow eyes finally extinguished completely, the apprentice was gasping for breath. He had already fully transformed into a white-haired old man, then collapsed to the ground, utterly devoid of any life force.
"Ah!"
The last remaining apprentice cried out, turned tail, and fled.
At the same time, he flung a feather into the air. Black light flashed, and the feather transformed directly into a black night hawk, soaring into the sky.
"Magical communication — stop it!" Jiamen pointed, and several vines lashed out toward it.
"Arrow Spell!" The red-haired Shaya shouted, firing several bright silver-white arrows from her hand at the night hawk.
"Chirp chirp!!" The night hawk screeched, its wings beating as it traced a beautiful arc through the air, dodging the green vines' attack.
Then, the night hawk's razor-sharp wings slapped the arrows back.
"It's also a magical creature!"
Bosain blurted out.
"We can't let it send a report, or we'll be in a terrible position!"
Rayne's eyes flashed, and the guard on his arm stretched and morphed into a black longbow.
"Chip! Calculate wind speed, humidity, and compute the trajectory..."
Whoosh! The black arrow streaked across the sky like lightning and struck the night hawk's right wing directly.
The night hawk let out a pitiful screech and plummeted straight down.
"Nice shot!" Bosain shouted in delight, surging forward with increased speed, and swung the enormous bright silver sword.
Whoosh! The massive silver sword released a white web of silk in midair, enveloping the night hawk completely.
"Die!" The white silk web tightened steadily, eventually forming a tight ball, as feathers and flesh fell away.
"Finally took it down!" Jiamen and Shaya behind them breathed a sigh of relief.
"There's still this one!"
Crackling! The bushes parted and Ross's figure appeared before everyone, but his appearance had undergone a dramatic transformation.
His entire right arm had burst open, revealing numerous white tentacles, and several greenish scale-like patches covered half his face.
And clutched in one of the tentacles on his right side was a head filled with terror — it was precisely the apprentice who had just tried to flee!
"Human body modification experiments? And so thorough!"
Rayne and the other three were all somewhat shocked.
Although it was possible to enhance and modify one's body to a certain degree after reaching the third-tier apprentice level, an apprentice's Spiritual Power still fell far short of that of a formal Wizard. Their knowledge of advanced disciplines and theoretical foundations was also lacking, so forcing bodily modifications often resulted in irreversible damage.
Yet in Ross's current state, his eyes were remarkably clear.
Whoosh, whoosh — the flesh-white tentacles retracted back into Ross's body. Soon after, Ross's upper torso was bare, and he had returned to a normal human appearance.
Ross shook his right hand, flinging the apprentice's severed head to the ground, and flashed a bright smile.
"Now, the trouble's taken care of!"
"Impressive!" Jiamen glanced at Ross. "We've been friends for two years now. I knew your skills in Mutationology were high, but I never expected you'd reached the level of body modification!"
Ross looked at Lei Lin and the others, shrugging his shoulders. "Apprentices always have to keep a few tricks up their sleeve, don't they?"
"Alright! Even though we've dealt with them all, just to be safe, we should finish exploring the ruins as quickly as possible and leave this place..."
Posain sheathed his silver greatsword Magical Item and made the suggestion.
"Indeed! They may have leaked our itinerary to others. We need to wrap up the Moon Lute Mountain Range business as soon as possible!"
Lei Lin echoed from the side.
"Good! Then let's set out immediately!"
Jiamen nodded and was about to lead everyone away.
"Wait — I also found this on him!" Ross smiled and tossed a pale yellow scroll to Jiamen.
"This is..." Jiamen unfurled it and took a look. His face suddenly turned terrible, pale as a dead man's.
"Chip, record!" Taking advantage of the instant Jiamen unfurled the map, Lei Lin immediately used the Chip to record every detail of it.
Judging from the terrain, the map depicted the Moon Lute Mountain Range as well. Among the black forest markings, there was a thin red line that stretched from the entrance of Moon Lute Town all the way into the depths of the mountain range, stopping at a location marked as a cliff. At the base of the cliff, the words "Dylan's Garden" were inscribed.
"So we've confirmed their destination is the same ruins as ours?" Lei Lin suddenly asked.
"That's right!" Jiamen nodded firmly and suddenly urged them on. "Damn it — I don't know how many clues the original owner of those ruins left behind. Let's move, quickly! I don't want to arrive at an empty, looted ruin!"
Lei Lin quietly realized — if the Grand Wizard Crimson had left behind an inheritance, he would certainly have wanted someone to discover and inherit it. That meant he would have left guiding clues, perhaps more than one set.
At this moment, Lei Lin was fully certain: the ruin clue Jiamen had discovered was the very location of Grand Wizard Crimson's inheritance!
With the possibility of strangers having gotten there first, the five set off with heavy hearts, none of them looking particularly happy.
But they traveled at great speed, and in just a few hours, they had reached the deep interior of the Moon Lute Mountain Range.
The mountain range at this point looked vastly different from when they had first entered.
The vegetation had undergone a dramatic transformation. If ordinary plants still grew along the edges of the Moon Lute Mountain Range, then what Lei Lin and the others now saw before them were far stranger species.
The most abundant of these was a type of enormous, pure-white shrub whose leaves spiraled into eerie, corkscrew shapes.
Whenever a gentle breeze swept through, the vast sea of these plants swayed gently, producing sounds like piano keys being struck.
Clang, ding, dong!!! The cacophony of piano notes was chaotic and grating. It stirred a faint irritation in Lei Lin's heart and stirred an impulse to throw caution aside and rush straight out!
"Be careful! These are Piano Key Shrubs — the sounds they produce can lure ordinary people in. Even Wizard Apprentices can be affected to some degree!"
Lei Lin called out a warning: "The people who went missing from Moon Lute Town before were very likely drawn in by this sound, trapped in a hallucinatory frenzy until they died..."
He then pulled several vials of potions from his pack and distributed them to Jiamen and the others.
"This is a sedative I prepared. It can help counteract the effect to some extent!"
Jiamen, Ross, and Shaya looked at the test tubes in their hands, gave them a cautious sniff to gauge the potion's nature, then swallowed the contents directly.
Bozayin shook his head slightly, indicating he didn't need any, and handed the vial back to Lei Lin.
"I don't need it."
Lei Lin shrugged and took the lead at the front.
The path ahead was riddled with toxic gases and all manner of traps, which called for a Potionology apprentice to handle.
That was precisely why Jiamen had sought out Lei Lin.