"Three Spirits as One! I can't believe there are still wizards practicing this ancient secret technique — and that they actually succeeded!"
Leilin Farell's face showed a look of shock.
However, through the Chip's simulation and analysis, Leilin had also gained a clear picture of his current strength.
Right now, dealing with ordinary semi-elementalized wizards was as easy as cutting melons — he could be considered among the very top tier of First-rank Wizards.
But if he were to face those true wizard geniuses — like Xishan, who had already reached the threshold of advancement but deliberately held himself back — he would still fall slightly short.
Fortunately, wizards like Xishan were rare even across the entire South Coast.
And his great enemy, that elder of the Lilisite Family, was only slightly weaker than Xishan.
If Leilin fought one-on-one right now without resorting to any tricks, he probably still wouldn't be a match for the opponent.
But that was perfectly normal — after all, Leilin wasn't that far from advancing to a full
That Leilin already had this level of strength was already extraordinary.
"But! All I need is to endure a little longer. Once my Spiritual Power and elementalization both reach the peak of the First-rank, combined with my warlock bloodline bonus, I'll be able to defeat — even kill — that opponent…"
Leilin calculated silently, and a dark, inscrutable light shone from his eyes.
The sight sent a shiver down the old man standing next to him…
…
Boom! Boom!
A violent seismic tremor radiated from the ground, and then a crack split open across the earth. A milky-white spring, carrying an alluring fragrance, surged upward from the fissure.
The strange aroma spread outward instantly, and the surrounding plants seemed to receive some kind of nourishment, growing rapidly before one's eyes.
"Squeak squeak…" A tawny mole darted out from the nearby grass. It glanced around with sharp, shrewd eyes, then immediately lunged to the edge of the spring and began drinking frantically.
Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps echoed, growing louder and more numerous, until they merged into a tidal wave of animals.
Among them were ordinary creatures — wolves, leopards, pythons — but the majority were bizarre monsters of peculiar appearance.
There were half-spider creatures with human upper bodies and spider lower halves, mountain-sized colossal elephants, and what terrified all the creatures most was a mass of dark fog at the center of the tide.
This dark fog covered an enormous area, with many black tendrils extending outward from its edges like tentacles. Any animal that came even slightly close — whether tiger, leopard, half-spider, or two-headed serpent — was silently swallowed by the black fog.
After the fog passed, all that remained was a pile of white, bleached bones.
Even though the milky spring water radiated powerful waves of life energy, every creature uniformly kept its distance from the black fog, leaving a wide vacant zone around it.
The multitude of animals arrived at the spring and immediately began scrambling to drink the milky water. The black fog alone occupied a massive patch of territory.
Roars! The sounds of tearing and biting rang out constantly!
To compete for the right to drink from the spring, a bloody battle among the animals erupted right beside the spring vent.
Of course, all the strange creatures gave the black fog a wide berth, and that original mole had long since vanished without a trace…
About ten miles away, a team of wizards dressed in Black Bone Forest attire was advancing steadily.
Among them, a wizard hung with green pendants had what appeared to be countless plant tendrils extending straight from his body deep into the earth.
Suddenly, the wizard stopped, and a hint of joy appeared on his face.
"What is it, Blake? Have you found something?"
The team captain addressed the scouting wizard named Blake.
"Yes! About fifteen miles in that direction, I've sensed dense life energy fluctuations and the aura of earth ley lines… It's a newly erupted Illusory Yin Spring vent… And there are numerous faint life signs lingering there — creatures from the surrounding area that have been drawn in…"
Blake pointed in the direction of the spring and spoke with certainty.
"Excellent work! Let's move — we can't let those damn beasts drain the spring dry!"
The wizard captain's face lit up with joy. Discovering an Illusory Yin Spring was a considerable contribution!
"But…" Blake's face showed clear hesitation. "Among those life signs, there seems to be one massive one…"
"Who cares what it is? Could it possibly stop five of us official wizards working together?" Another team member spoke up immediately. "What are we waiting for?"
The entire team set off in the direction Blake had indicated, while Blake could only smile bitterly, knowing that in a situation like this, anything he said would be useless — and besides, as his teammate had said, there was seemingly nothing here that could stop their group… as long as they didn't run into wizards from the
By the time the wizard squad arrived at the Illusory Yin Spring vent, this was the scene they witnessed — a multitude of animals fighting over the spring water.
"Oh, no! Those wretched, accursed mongrels — how dare they drink my Illusory Yin Spring water!"
Watching the water level dropping steadily, the team leader was nearly driven to madness. "This is high-grade life spring water worth hundreds of Magic Stones per gallon — and it's an essential ingredient for many potions! Quick — what are you standing around for? Kill these beasts!"
Two icy spikes materialized in the wizard's hands, radiating a biting chill, and his face twisted with the pain of watching it go to waste.
Even if the spring water was ultimately saved, it would belong to the Black Bone Forest Academy — but he would still be credited with a generous amount of contribution points!
"Captain, look at that!" Blake tugged at the captain's robe and pointed toward the black fog.
"A Black Fog Phantom Beast! Damn — at that size, it's probably already reached maturity!" The team leader grimaced with a headache.
The Black Fog Phantom Beast was one of the high-energy creatures of the wizard world.
They were born without any fixed shape — just a mass of black fog — and their movement speed was nothing special. But precisely because of this, many spells were significantly reduced in effectiveness against them, and their defensive capabilities were exceptional.
What made things worse was that this particular Black Fog Phantom Beast appeared to have already entered its mature stage.
A mature Black Fog Phantom Beast had a very high chance of awakening a phasing ability — even a full wizard might not be able to kill or drive one away.
"Never mind! Fortunately, while the Black Fog Phantom Beast has formidable defenses, its offensive power isn't great. Just be careful not to let its tentacles grab you!"
The team leader pointed at two members. "You two come with me to cast long-range spells — we'll try to lure this Black Fog Phantom Beast away. The rest of you, drive all those animals off! Every moment they stay here, we're losing thousands of Magic Stones' worth of spring water…"
The captain apparently held considerable authority in the squad, and the assignments were reasonable. The wizards quickly dispersed.
"Ice Spike Spell!"
"Fireball Spell!"
"Lesser Energy Orb!"
Spells radiating with the energy level of full wizards were cast by three of them — ice spikes, fireballs, and spherical energy orbs of various colors flew toward the Black Fog Phantom Beast, which was still lowering its head and drinking greedily at the Illusory Yin Spring.
The powerful energy fluctuations warped the air slightly as they passed, leaving arcing attack trajectories in their wake.
"Waaaah…"
The Black Fog Phantom Beast let out a wailing sound like a crying child, and the black fog comprising its body scattered and thinned momentarily.
The ice spikes, fireballs, and energy orbs passed straight through the fog without causing any disturbance.
The Black Fog Phantom Beast's entire form merely thinned slightly before it nonchalantly resumed gulping down the Illusory Yin Spring water.
"Physical attacks are useless — this Black Fog Phantom Beast has definitely awakened its phasing ability! Use dispersal-type or area-of-effect pure energy attacks!"
The squad captain was experienced and instantly analyzed the creature's growth stage.
"Frost Mist!"
He released a massive cloud of pure white mist from his body, laced with ice shards and ice beads, which surged toward the Black Fog Phantom Beast.
"Support me!" the captain shouted.
Immediately, one of the other two cast a green hurricane that pushed the frost mist forward, while the other set up defensive barriers in front of both teammates.
Propelled by the green hurricane, the frost mist advanced rapidly and reached the Black Fog Phantom Beast's location in an instant.
Hiss hiss…
The sound of freezing water rang out continuously as the frost mist collided with the black fog, and the entire mass of dark mist began to slow down and congeal.
"Waaah!" The Black Fog Phantom Beast's roar came again and again, this time filled with pain.
"Chirp chirp!" Then the black fog churned violently, revealing two enormous yellow eyes that stared fixedly in the captain's direction.
"I've successfully drawn its anger — watch out!" Seeing this, the captain immediately bellowed.
"Chirp chirp!" With the Black Fog Phantom Beast's cry, two massive spheres of black fog were expelled from its body like bombs, hurtling toward the three wizards!
"Earth Shield!" The remaining member who had been setting up defenses immediately thrust his palms into the ground before him.
Rumble!
A colossal slab of rock, like a shield, shot up from the earth and positioned itself in front of the wizards.
The black fog bombs collided with the enormous rock shield with a deafening boom.
Crack! Crack!
Countless fragments of earth and stone scattered in every direction, striking the surrounding ground and blasting small craters everywhere, leaving the area in shambles. (……)r1292