"No matter the gains and losses, it's definitely time to leave!"
Leilin nodded in agreement with
His harvest this time had been considerable, and he'd long harbored the intention to withdraw. More importantly, of the pursuers who had entered this time, Tanesha had been directly subdued, the green-skinned barbarian wizard had been severely wounded and released only after being relieved of a large haul of rare materials, while the group chasing Robin had clearly met a grim fate.
All of these were Third-rank Crystalized powerhouses! The three great factions outside were probably about to lose their minds.
By the time they reacted, what Leilin and his group would face would likely be a combined strike from all three factions.
As for their own side, the Horall black snake warlocks brought by Robin and Roya had all been wiped out, and those following Kasha hadn't fared much better. The Akzi that Leilin had rescued hadn't shown up to rendezvous — either he had other plans or had met with misfortune. Their overall strength had been greatly diminished.
At a time like this, if they didn't run, were they just waiting to die?
"Fine! I agree too!" Kasha's voice carried a note of resignation. Among this group, she had收获ed the least, barely enough to offset the losses of the other three family warlocks.
After returning, her family would probably be shaken to its core, greatly weakened.
Worry showed plainly in Kasha's eyes.
"As for the route back, the secret realm's entrance is absolutely out of the question. We should stick to the original plan — find a weak point in the spatial fabric and use an Escape Talisman to tear through and exit!" Robin said.
By now, the entrance to the secret realm would surely be heavily garrisoned by the three great factions, guarded with the utmost vigilance. Neither Leilin nor Kasha would suggest going back through there, and both nodded in agreement.
…
The scorching sun beat down, water vapor rose from the earth, and a faint shimmer of distortion appeared in the air.
At one particular spot, multiple distortions converged and triggered a terrifying explosion.
A rift opened in the void, and several figures stumbled out of the passage in disarray.
"With this concentration of energy particles, it looks like we've made it out successfully — we've reached the Land of Oblivion!" Leilin said, sensing the thin, almost negligible energy particles around them and the desolate scenery.
"Correct! This should be the Tarkgan Desert in the Land of Oblivion, very close to the City of Sin!" Robin surveyed the surroundings and broke into a smile. "Leilin, I never expected your ability to calculate spatial weak points to be this impressive!"
"Indeed! Not only did you find the weak point in the shortest time and avoid the spatial storms, but you also chose a spot closest to the City of Sin!" Kasha added with admiration.
Finding the spatial weak points within a secret realm was no simple matter. For wizards, it demanded not only precise and meticulous detection abilities but also terrifying computational power.
"Heh… it was nothing, just a stroke of luck!" Leilin rubbed his nose.
These things might be difficult for ordinary wizards, but for the Chip, they were trivially simple.
In fact, he had deliberately chosen the spatial node closest to the City of Sin, precisely so they could leave the area as quickly as possible.
His gains this time had been enormous, and he was plagued by a vague sense of foreboding.
It was precisely this premonition that drove him to leave as soon as possible, no matter the cost — even if it meant revealing a portion of his strength.
"Let's get out of here quickly! Something just doesn't feel right!"
Leilin frowned. The resources within the Quicksand Secret Realm were far too abundant. The Quicksand Citadel alone — that core secret realm — was enough to arouse the greed of a Morning Star
"I have a bad feeling too!" Robin said with a grim expression, clearly in agreement.
Hearing this, Roya and Kasha both felt their hearts grow heavy. The premonitions of wizards — especially high-ranking ones like Leilin and Robin — were often remarkably accurate, and this was enough to send chills down their spines.
"Do the factions in the Land of Oblivion have connections to the outside world? Or some kind of backing?" Leilin asked Robin as the group of wizards moved swiftly onward.
"Connections? They're all irredeemable criminals or exiles who couldn't survive on the Central Continent. How could they possibly have connections?" Robin scoffed.
"They can't even leave the Land of Oblivion. At most, they live under assumed identities in the City of Sin…"
At this point, his expression changed abruptly and he halted.
"You mean…"
Leilin's face darkened as well, and he nodded.
"What's going on?" Roya asked, confused. Kasha, however, wore a contemplative expression. "The factions in the Land of Oblivion and the City of Sin have connections? Or perhaps…"
She dared not continue, but a heavy, oppressive weight nonetheless settled over all the wizards' hearts.
"But where else can we go if not the City of Sin? The airship station there is the most convenient channel to the outside world," Kasha said, biting her lip.
"We take a detour," Leilin let out a long breath.
"It'll take more time and effort, but I've studied the map. The detour still passes through some Third-rank danger zones. As long as we're careful, our odds of making it through are quite good. We'll just spend a bit more time…"
Robin nodded as well, agreeing with Leilin's assessment.
Though having to change their route over what was merely a suspicion seemed troublesome, after exchanging a few glances, Kasha and Roya did not object.
The world of wizards was rife with danger — even a moment's carelessness could bring death.
Any wizard who had risen to high rank placed great trust in their own premonitions, preferring to err on the side of caution.
Just as the group was turning to change course, an unexpected event occurred.
Crack!
The sky suddenly split open, and countless bolts of black lightning roared to life.
An overwhelming pressure descended in an instant, freezing Leilin and the others in their tracks.
Abruptly, Leilin felt as though this entire region had been severed from the surrounding world. The air grew heavy, so heavy that he could barely move a single finger.
"This is… a Morning Star Wizard's Domain! I've felt it from my teacher — I'm sure of it!"
Robin turned around, his face white as a sheet.
"I've found you," a hoarse voice echoed from the black vortex in the sky, cold and ruthless, tinged with a condescending air — as though Leilin and his companions were nothing more than insignificant ants.
Countless bolts of black lightning intertwined to form a colossal black hand, reaching down toward the group.
"Ah…"
Leilin tried to resist, only to discover that he could barely muster his spiritual power. Even the sparse elemental particles in the air had vanished entirely, as though they had all become elementally insulated.
"Host subjected to unknown field interference! Spiritual power suppressed by 80%! All data declining rapidly!" The Chip's voice rang out, carrying a faint tremor of distortion.
On Leilin's own status display, all of his abilities had been drastically diminished — weakened to roughly First-rank levels.
"The suppression of the Morning Star Domain, and the rule it imposes — turning us into elemental insulators!" A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Leilin's mouth. "The terror of a Morning Star Wizard truly is beyond my reach!"
In fact, his condition was still comparatively decent. Kasha and Roya had already collapsed to the ground. Only Robin and he could still stand, but before the enormous lightning hand, they had not the slightest capacity to resist.
"Hmph! Gallier, my student is not yours to discipline!"
Just as despair was beginning to show on Leilin's face, a voice suddenly sounded beside him. The familiar tone immediately filled him with the relief of one who had narrowly escaped death.
"Teacher
Moments later, Gilbert appeared beside Robin, clad in a loose white robe, both of his eyes transformed into dangerous vertical pupils.
Crack! Crack!
Across the black lightning hand, gray-white stone rapidly spread, and the hand disintegrated in midair, crumbling into a shower of dust.
Pop!
As though a soap bubble had been pricked, Leilin felt the pressure lift. The surrounding region had returned to the world, and that sensation of being separated by a membrane was shattered completely.
The Chip's data was recovering as well, and communication with the energy particles was immediately restored.
"Ding! Detecting two unknown field reactions — neutralization occurring!"
The Chip's notification sounded, and understanding flickered through Leilin's eyes.
"Teacher's Morning Star Domain is canceling out the opponent's domain field!"
Inwardly, his recognition of the power of Morning Star Wizards deepened yet another degree.
Without reaching the Morning Star realm, a single Morning Star Domain alone could reduce hordes of low-ranking wizards to a state worse than death. Swarm tactics were utterly meaningless before a Morning Star Wizard.
"Grand Duke of Serpents, Gilbert!"
A figure materialized in the sky. Though he simply stood there in a plain manner, to Leilin he felt like a towering mountain.
"Demon Hunter Gallier!"
Leilin lowered his head and stole several furtive glances upward.
Gallier's face was gaunt, his lips thin, and his silver pupils were deeply unsettling to behold. His wizard's robe was embroidered with the figures of countless demons in black thread, and on the demons' bodies were depicted chains, axes, and other instruments of torture — a truly fearsome sight.
"Wait here. I'm going to have a little 'talk' with him!"
Gilbert clasped his hands behind his back, his entire body wreathed in a dense crimson radiance, and rose into the sky. The two figures streaked away like twin meteors, vanishing beyond the horizon.
"Hah…" Robin let out a long, shuddering breath and collapsed to the ground, all pretense of composure abandoned.
The situation just now had been infinitely dangerous. Had Gilbert not arrived in time, none of them would have fared well.