Chapter 132: The Way Back
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"Ha! Horde of ghostly shadows? Who's afraid of them?" She proudly raised her head and confidently declared.
If she knew that she was a level 1 Elemental Flushing Stage magician, why would she have feared entering the nest of ghosts?
Sadly...
A low sigh passed through her lips as she dejectedly lowered her head.
...she only came to know about this after she practically embarrassed herself.
Crown Prince Lail's red eyes flickered with complicated emotions. This proud appearance of hers was another side he glimpsed. Shaking his head, he looked around for the way out of the tunnel.
"Laila, there's the exit!"
On an obscure corner of the grim tunnel, there was an awkwardly hidden opening where gusts of wind blew intermittently. Cobwebs and dust had collected around the place, causing them to hold their noses, as they approached.
"No one probably ever entered this cave. And if they did, they probably never left." Crown Prince Lail swept his spear and sent the mass of debris flying.
"Let's go!" Taking the lead, he entered the tunnel.
Princess Qamari swept her gaze around the place and sighed.
'I hope I helped the villagers.' With another sigh, she entered the tunnel.
Bang!
Dust blew and a limping figure entered the cave. Bleeding from a gush on its thigh, the figure breathed laboriously as it moved through the still region.
"That's strange. There are no wild beasts, magical beasts, magical foliage, or ghostly creatures here?" Its suspicious query bounced on the walls, returning to her in magnified volume.
After a long period of waiting, hearing no roars and seeing nothing abnormal occur, the girl leaned weakly leaned against the tunnel wall, her eyes rolling back as slid to the floor and fainted.
This was Su Rui of the Mistland Academy.
The silence in the cave didn't last long as another figure charged in and fell to its knees. With a ferocious expression and fierce eyes, the figure angrily punched the ground. Faint cracking sounds rang out and a metallic scent filled the air.
After a few moments of venting, spent and dejected, the rasping man raised his bleeding hand and laughed sorrowfully.
"Everything I did was for nothing. The many hours of intensive research, abandonment of my juniors, and discarding of my conscious. All that and I gained nothing!" Tears slid down his face as Wu Lin recalled his fruitless search.
He left the juniors of his academy in the midst of a magical beast tide and escaped. Many more obstacles, like a mass of ghostly figures and wild beasts, stood in his way, blocked his path. But he didn't give up.
He relentlessly pushed forward, slaughtering without restraint, without mercy, as he forced his way to the center of the Forbidden Zone, the location he should've found the Magical Kilin.
The Magical Kilin he was searching in every direction was nowhere to be found. It was as if he was chasing after an illusionary image, a being crafted from a figment of his imagination, as his world crumbled around him. Because no matter how hard or far he searched, let alone a Magical Kilin Beast, he wasn't able to spot even a clue of its existence.
As if doused with a bucket of ice water, his body trembled uncontrollably as the memory of the deep anguish and overwhelming despair he felt at that moment resurfaced.
"Hahahaha...nothing...it was all for nothing...!"
He had nowhere to return to, no dream to chase.
There was nothing but darkness and despair left in his life, so what was the point of living?
Heh...who said hard work would always be rewarded? The claim wasn't as true as people liked to believe. Withdrawing a knife from his sleeve, Wu Lin raised it in thoughtful silence.
A few heartbeats later, he slammed the knife towards his neck, intending to end his life.
But right at this moment, a dark mass of energy slithered from the corners of the grim cave and crept towards Wu Lin's figure. Just as he was about to plunge the knife in his neck, the dark mass shaped into an arm and grabbed his hand.
"You don't need to take your life. I can feel your despair and pain. Come with me and you shall succeed!"
"You are...?"
"It matters not who I once was. From now you, I shall be your Master, the one to rise you to the top in the Seven Realms. Are you interested in becoming the master of the Seven Realms...?"
As if under a spell, Wu Lin woodenly nodded and lowered his hand.
"Good...now come with me." The dark arm dissolved and retreated towards the dark corner. Wu Lin dazedly got to his feet and followed after the black smoke. Once he appeared before the black wall, an interesting scene took place.
The wall of the dark tunnel warped and deformed, wriggling like a worm before a hole appeared. Shocked speechless, Wu Lin blinked rapidly as he stared at the opening.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Ah! Yes, yes!" Filled with excitement and anticipation for the future, Wu Lin's eyes glowed brightly as he stepped into the darkness.
A few heartbeats later, the hole warped and disappeared, enveloping the silent tunnel in an oppressive gloom.
From the other side of the tunnel, a shaking figure came into existence and Su Rui's trembling form was revealed. She stood on the side of the opposite wall and fearfully stared at the place of the black hole.
With a pale face and trembling limbs, she turned and dashed into the distance. A while later, the tunnel Crown Prince Lail and Princess Qamari found came in her line of sight.
Limping breathlessly, she ignored her bleeding thigh and raced to the tunnel. Without hesitation, she entered the hole without a backward glance.
"The sooner I leave this Forbidden Zone, the better."
Right as she left, a group of black-clothed men appeared in the silent tunnel. Bruised and disheveled, the men depressingly surveyed their new surroundings.
"Sh**! This isn't the way out! We entered another useless cave!"
"Are we going in circles? Why do we keep entering tunnels after tunnels?"
"This is crazy! We not only failed to complete our mission, but now, we're also unable to find the way out of these cursed tunnels!"
"How will we report to Boss?"
At this words, the black-clothed men fell silent. Before the advent of the Ice Cyclone, a matter like abandoning a mission would've never entered their mind. Because they all knew the consequences of such actions.
But with the descent of the Ice Cyclone, they forgot about the nightmare of the Hunter's Guild. In the scare of an impending death, the scare of an endless torture was obscured.
Once they returned to their senses, it was too late to regret. Their target had escaped and with the demise of their Assistant Leader, they had no idea where to begin their search.
The men angrily punched the walls, rage and frustration bristling off their bodies in waves. The oppressive atmosphere combined with their unsuppressed emotions brought forth a surge of elemental energy that caused the tunnel to violently shake.
"We need to find that girl. Otherwise..."
He didn't need to finish his words, as all the men knew his implication. Shivering unnaturally, they looked into the dark tunnel and a malicious gleam flashed in their eyes.
They had no desire to confront their Boss's wrath. As such, they were going to find the girl and teach her a lesson for daring to put them through this pressure!
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Together, the men in black flashed through the tunnel until they found the hole Crown Prince Lail discovered. Ecstatic, they charged through the opening like hungry beasts that sighted prey.
On a desolate region of the Forbidden Zone, fierce wind and snow gushed forth. Plants and trees, ancient and towering in their might, braved through the aggressive weather. Covered in white and frozen to root, the ancient trees remained strong.
As another fierce wave of ice descended, movements appeared beside an ancient Oaktree. A grey rock, no more than a mere hundred feet wide, vibrated violently as if it was about to explode. The falling snow was sent flying in different directions and with a thunderous shake, two forms flew out of the cave and tumbled across the snow-covered ground.
"Cough! Cough! Why is this portal so unstable?" Princess Qamari complained dissatisfiedly, her entire body aching as if she had gone through a grinding mill. Rubbing her arms, she attempted to ease the pain as the fierce weather made her shiver.
"Unstable portal, cursed weather! In this fierce storm, how are we going to find the black shield back to the village?"
"Don't worry. I came prepared for that." Crown Prince Lail raised to his feet and looked at their surroundings. Seeing the ancient oak trees, he had a vague idea of their location.
"Look at these oak trees. I think we are in the northern area of the Forbidden Zone. The black shield is only 3-4 miles away from here. If we race with our full strength, we should reach there in less than thirty breaths of time."
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
She had entered the place believing to be well prepared. But all her preparation went down the drain the moment they arrived. The men in black, the Ice Cyclone, their descent into the underground tunnels, and numerous beast tides had made everything go hayware.
Before the force of nature and uncharted territory, even her magical map was a useless baggage.
If they remained motionless in this horrid weather, higher realm of elemental energy or not, she and Qaliq will turn into ice sculptures.
Princess Qamari stripped her sword to her back and dashed into the distance. Crown Prince Lai understood her worry and didn't say anything. Swinging his own spear, he sped after her.
A few heartbeats after their departure, the grey rock vibrated again and another figure came tumbling out of the cave. This figure was in a sorry state, with a bleeding thigh and disheveled appearance.
Gasping desperately for air, the figure crawled through the icy snow and staggered to its feet.
"Cursed weather! How will I survive in this environment and return back alive?" Su Rui cried bitterly as she scanned her surroundings. Entering the Forbidden Zone wasn't a major issue.
The real test began once a magician entered the place. Surviving in this foreign region with danger on every corner and returning back in one piece was a feat only talented individuals could achieve.
Su Rui knew this fact. But it was after she experienced the horrific nightmares of getting caught in an Ice Cyclone and getting besieged by wild and magical beasts from every corner that she understood the real meaning of the words.
The fact that she was able to survive until this point was already a surprising feat!
"Brother Lail..." As she gazed into the distance, the handsome and stoic face of the man she loved floated in her mind. Her head dropped despondently and she wrapped her arms around her body, breaking into sobbing tears.
"Brother Lail...I regret it...I regret entering this horrid place to forget you. Now, I will never see you again. I will never see you!" As she crumbled to the snow-covered ground, Su Rui trembled violently, the fierce tremors rocking through her body portraying a pitiful and heart-rending image.
Her gut-wrenching sobs resounded in the desolate landscape for a long while.
It wasn't until she was covered in snow and looked like a snow-woman that the sobs subsided and her tremors receded. Lifting her head, she listlessly stared into the murky sky. From her expression, it was clear that she had lost all hope.
Shing!
Right at this moment, the bag on her hip vibrated. Su Rui blinked twice before her dazed eyes cleared and flared with a brilliant light. Hurriedly, she withdrew the bag, and with frost-bitten, trembling limbs, shakily spilled the contents on the ground.
There, in the midst of her cosmetics, pain-relieving salves, and charm bracelets, was a red, glowing Fixed Teleportation spell amulet!
"Yes! I still have this! I can see Brother Lail again!" Trembling with excitement and anticipation, she gingerly picked up the red amulet.
This was an amulet that she had purchased with 100 magical stones. At the time when she first saw it, she only thought about how easier it would be for her to travel. With an amulet that could instantly teleport her to a teleportation portal, she could enter and leave a region at will.
She didn't expect that at her most desperate and hopeless moment, the amulet once purchased on a whim would save her life.
"Truly, fate is mysterious. One chance encounter could either make or break an individual's life." Sighing emotionally, she staggered to her feet.
Brother Lail, wait for me. I am coming back!
"To the Black Shield!"
With bright eyes and an expectant smile, she infused the last dregs of her elemental magic in the red amulet.
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"Ha! Horde of ghostly shadows? Who's afraid of them?" She proudly raised her head and confidently declared.
If she knew that she was a level 1 Elemental Flushing Stage magician, why would she have feared entering the nest of ghosts?
Sadly...
A low sigh passed through her lips as she dejectedly lowered her head.
...she only came to know about this after she practically embarrassed herself.
Crown Prince Lail's red eyes flickered with complicated emotions. This proud appearance of hers was another side he glimpsed. Shaking his head, he looked around for the way out of the tunnel.
"Laila, there's the exit!"
On an obscure corner of the grim tunnel, there was an awkwardly hidden opening where gusts of wind blew intermittently. Cobwebs and dust had collected around the place, causing them to hold their noses, as they approached.
"No one probably ever entered this cave. And if they did, they probably never left." Crown Prince Lail swept his spear and sent the mass of debris flying.
"Let's go!" Taking the lead, he entered the tunnel.
Princess Qamari swept her gaze around the place and sighed.
'I hope I helped the villagers.' With another sigh, she entered the tunnel.
Bang!
Dust blew and a limping figure entered the cave. Bleeding from a gush on its thigh, the figure breathed laboriously as it moved through the still region.
"That's strange. There are no wild beasts, magical beasts, magical foliage, or ghostly creatures here?" Its suspicious query bounced on the walls, returning to her in magnified volume.
After a long period of waiting, hearing no roars and seeing nothing abnormal occur, the girl leaned weakly leaned against the tunnel wall, her eyes rolling back as slid to the floor and fainted.
This was Su Rui of the Mistland Academy.
The silence in the cave didn't last long as another figure charged in and fell to its knees. With a ferocious expression and fierce eyes, the figure angrily punched the ground. Faint cracking sounds rang out and a metallic scent filled the air.
After a few moments of venting, spent and dejected, the rasping man raised his bleeding hand and laughed sorrowfully.
"Everything I did was for nothing. The many hours of intensive research, abandonment of my juniors, and discarding of my conscious. All that and I gained nothing!" Tears slid down his face as Wu Lin recalled his fruitless search.
He left the juniors of his academy in the midst of a magical beast tide and escaped. Many more obstacles, like a mass of ghostly figures and wild beasts, stood in his way, blocked his path. But he didn't give up.
He relentlessly pushed forward, slaughtering without restraint, without mercy, as he forced his way to the center of the Forbidden Zone, the location he should've found the Magical Kilin.
The Magical Kilin he was searching in every direction was nowhere to be found. It was as if he was chasing after an illusionary image, a being crafted from a figment of his imagination, as his world crumbled around him. Because no matter how hard or far he searched, let alone a Magical Kilin Beast, he wasn't able to spot even a clue of its existence.
As if doused with a bucket of ice water, his body trembled uncontrollably as the memory of the deep anguish and overwhelming despair he felt at that moment resurfaced.
"Hahahaha...nothing...it was all for nothing...!"
He had nowhere to return to, no dream to chase.
There was nothing but darkness and despair left in his life, so what was the point of living?
Heh...who said hard work would always be rewarded? The claim wasn't as true as people liked to believe. Withdrawing a knife from his sleeve, Wu Lin raised it in thoughtful silence.
A few heartbeats later, he slammed the knife towards his neck, intending to end his life.
But right at this moment, a dark mass of energy slithered from the corners of the grim cave and crept towards Wu Lin's figure. Just as he was about to plunge the knife in his neck, the dark mass shaped into an arm and grabbed his hand.
"You don't need to take your life. I can feel your despair and pain. Come with me and you shall succeed!"
"You are...?"
"It matters not who I once was. From now you, I shall be your Master, the one to rise you to the top in the Seven Realms. Are you interested in becoming the master of the Seven Realms...?"
As if under a spell, Wu Lin woodenly nodded and lowered his hand.
"Good...now come with me." The dark arm dissolved and retreated towards the dark corner. Wu Lin dazedly got to his feet and followed after the black smoke. Once he appeared before the black wall, an interesting scene took place.
The wall of the dark tunnel warped and deformed, wriggling like a worm before a hole appeared. Shocked speechless, Wu Lin blinked rapidly as he stared at the opening.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
"Ah! Yes, yes!" Filled with excitement and anticipation for the future, Wu Lin's eyes glowed brightly as he stepped into the darkness.
A few heartbeats later, the hole warped and disappeared, enveloping the silent tunnel in an oppressive gloom.
From the other side of the tunnel, a shaking figure came into existence and Su Rui's trembling form was revealed. She stood on the side of the opposite wall and fearfully stared at the place of the black hole.
With a pale face and trembling limbs, she turned and dashed into the distance. A while later, the tunnel Crown Prince Lail and Princess Qamari found came in her line of sight.
Limping breathlessly, she ignored her bleeding thigh and raced to the tunnel. Without hesitation, she entered the hole without a backward glance.
"The sooner I leave this Forbidden Zone, the better."
Right as she left, a group of black-clothed men appeared in the silent tunnel. Bruised and disheveled, the men depressingly surveyed their new surroundings.
"Sh**! This isn't the way out! We entered another useless cave!"
"Are we going in circles? Why do we keep entering tunnels after tunnels?"
"This is crazy! We not only failed to complete our mission, but now, we're also unable to find the way out of these cursed tunnels!"
"How will we report to Boss?"
At this words, the black-clothed men fell silent. Before the advent of the Ice Cyclone, a matter like abandoning a mission would've never entered their mind. Because they all knew the consequences of such actions.
But with the descent of the Ice Cyclone, they forgot about the nightmare of the Hunter's Guild. In the scare of an impending death, the scare of an endless torture was obscured.
Once they returned to their senses, it was too late to regret. Their target had escaped and with the demise of their Assistant Leader, they had no idea where to begin their search.
The men angrily punched the walls, rage and frustration bristling off their bodies in waves. The oppressive atmosphere combined with their unsuppressed emotions brought forth a surge of elemental energy that caused the tunnel to violently shake.
"We need to find that girl. Otherwise..."
He didn't need to finish his words, as all the men knew his implication. Shivering unnaturally, they looked into the dark tunnel and a malicious gleam flashed in their eyes.
They had no desire to confront their Boss's wrath. As such, they were going to find the girl and teach her a lesson for daring to put them through this pressure!
"Let's go!"
"Yes!"
Together, the men in black flashed through the tunnel until they found the hole Crown Prince Lail discovered. Ecstatic, they charged through the opening like hungry beasts that sighted prey.
On a desolate region of the Forbidden Zone, fierce wind and snow gushed forth. Plants and trees, ancient and towering in their might, braved through the aggressive weather. Covered in white and frozen to root, the ancient trees remained strong.
As another fierce wave of ice descended, movements appeared beside an ancient Oaktree. A grey rock, no more than a mere hundred feet wide, vibrated violently as if it was about to explode. The falling snow was sent flying in different directions and with a thunderous shake, two forms flew out of the cave and tumbled across the snow-covered ground.
"Cough! Cough! Why is this portal so unstable?" Princess Qamari complained dissatisfiedly, her entire body aching as if she had gone through a grinding mill. Rubbing her arms, she attempted to ease the pain as the fierce weather made her shiver.
"Unstable portal, cursed weather! In this fierce storm, how are we going to find the black shield back to the village?"
"Don't worry. I came prepared for that." Crown Prince Lail raised to his feet and looked at their surroundings. Seeing the ancient oak trees, he had a vague idea of their location.
"Look at these oak trees. I think we are in the northern area of the Forbidden Zone. The black shield is only 3-4 miles away from here. If we race with our full strength, we should reach there in less than thirty breaths of time."
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
She had entered the place believing to be well prepared. But all her preparation went down the drain the moment they arrived. The men in black, the Ice Cyclone, their descent into the underground tunnels, and numerous beast tides had made everything go hayware.
Before the force of nature and uncharted territory, even her magical map was a useless baggage.
If they remained motionless in this horrid weather, higher realm of elemental energy or not, she and Qaliq will turn into ice sculptures.
Princess Qamari stripped her sword to her back and dashed into the distance. Crown Prince Lai understood her worry and didn't say anything. Swinging his own spear, he sped after her.
A few heartbeats after their departure, the grey rock vibrated again and another figure came tumbling out of the cave. This figure was in a sorry state, with a bleeding thigh and disheveled appearance.
Gasping desperately for air, the figure crawled through the icy snow and staggered to its feet.
"Cursed weather! How will I survive in this environment and return back alive?" Su Rui cried bitterly as she scanned her surroundings. Entering the Forbidden Zone wasn't a major issue.
The real test began once a magician entered the place. Surviving in this foreign region with danger on every corner and returning back in one piece was a feat only talented individuals could achieve.
Su Rui knew this fact. But it was after she experienced the horrific nightmares of getting caught in an Ice Cyclone and getting besieged by wild and magical beasts from every corner that she understood the real meaning of the words.
The fact that she was able to survive until this point was already a surprising feat!
"Brother Lail..." As she gazed into the distance, the handsome and stoic face of the man she loved floated in her mind. Her head dropped despondently and she wrapped her arms around her body, breaking into sobbing tears.
"Brother Lail...I regret it...I regret entering this horrid place to forget you. Now, I will never see you again. I will never see you!" As she crumbled to the snow-covered ground, Su Rui trembled violently, the fierce tremors rocking through her body portraying a pitiful and heart-rending image.
Her gut-wrenching sobs resounded in the desolate landscape for a long while.
It wasn't until she was covered in snow and looked like a snow-woman that the sobs subsided and her tremors receded. Lifting her head, she listlessly stared into the murky sky. From her expression, it was clear that she had lost all hope.
Shing!
Right at this moment, the bag on her hip vibrated. Su Rui blinked twice before her dazed eyes cleared and flared with a brilliant light. Hurriedly, she withdrew the bag, and with frost-bitten, trembling limbs, shakily spilled the contents on the ground.
There, in the midst of her cosmetics, pain-relieving salves, and charm bracelets, was a red, glowing Fixed Teleportation spell amulet!
"Yes! I still have this! I can see Brother Lail again!" Trembling with excitement and anticipation, she gingerly picked up the red amulet.
This was an amulet that she had purchased with 100 magical stones. At the time when she first saw it, she only thought about how easier it would be for her to travel. With an amulet that could instantly teleport her to a teleportation portal, she could enter and leave a region at will.
She didn't expect that at her most desperate and hopeless moment, the amulet once purchased on a whim would save her life.
"Truly, fate is mysterious. One chance encounter could either make or break an individual's life." Sighing emotionally, she staggered to her feet.
Brother Lail, wait for me. I am coming back!
"To the Black Shield!"
With bright eyes and an expectant smile, she infused the last dregs of her elemental magic in the red amulet.
"Ha! Horde of ghostly shadows? Who's afraid of them?" She proudly raised her head and confidently declared.If she knew that she was a level 1 Elemental Flushing Stage magician, why would she have feared entering the nest of ghosts?Sadly...A low sigh passed through her lips as she dejectedly lowered her head....she only came to know about this after she practically embarrassed herself.Crown Prince Lail's red eyes flickered with complicated emotions. This proud appearance of hers was another side he glimpsed. Shaking his head, he looked around for the way out of the tunnel."Laila, there's the exit!"On an obscure corner of the grim tunnel, there was an awkwardly hidden opening where gusts of wind blew intermittently. Cobwebs and dust had collected around the place, causing them to hold their noses, as they approached."No one probably ever entered this cave. And if they did, they probably never left." Crown Prince Lail swept his spear and sent the mass of debris flying."Let's go!" Taking the lead, he entered the tunnel.Princess Qamari swept her gaze around the place and sighed.'I hope I helped the villagers.' With another sigh, she entered the tunnel.Bang!Dust blew and a limping figure entered the cave. Bleeding from a gush on its thigh, the figure breathed laboriously as it moved through the still region."That's strange. There are no wild beasts, magical beasts, magical foliage, or ghostly creatures here?" Its suspicious query bounced on the walls, returning to her in magnified volume.After a long period of waiting, hearing no roars and seeing nothing abnormal occur, the girl leaned weakly leaned against the tunnel wall, her eyes rolling back as slid to the floor and fainted.This was Su Rui of the Mistland Academy.The silence in the cave didn't last long as another figure charged in and fell to its knees. With a ferocious expression and fierce eyes, the figure angrily punched the ground. Faint cracking sounds rang out and a metallic scent filled the air.After a few moments of venting, spent and dejected, the rasping man raised his bleeding hand and laughed sorrowfully."Everything I did was for nothing. The many hours of intensive research, abandonment of my juniors, and discarding of my conscious. All that and I gained nothing!" Tears slid down his face as Wu Lin recalled his fruitless search.He left the juniors of his academy in the midst of a magical beast tide and escaped. Many more obstacles, like a mass of ghostly figures and wild beasts, stood in his way, blocked his path. But he didn't give up.He relentlessly pushed forward, slaughtering without restraint, without mercy, as he forced his way to the center of the Forbidden Zone, the location he should've found the Magical Kilin.The Magical Kilin he was searching in every direction was nowhere to be found. It was as if he was chasing after an illusionary image, a being crafted from a figment of his imagination, as his world crumbled around him. Because no matter how hard or far he searched, let alone a Magical Kilin Beast, he wasn't able to spot even a clue of its existence.As if doused with a bucket of ice water, his body trembled uncontrollably as the memory of the deep anguish and overwhelming despair he felt at that moment resurfaced."Hahahaha...nothing...it was all for nothing...!"He had nowhere to return to, no dream to chase.There was nothing but darkness and despair left in his life, so what was the point of living?Heh...who said hard work would always be rewarded? The claim wasn't as true as people liked to believe. Withdrawing a knife from his sleeve, Wu Lin raised it in thoughtful silence.A few heartbeats later, he slammed the knife towards his neck, intending to end his life.But right at this moment, a dark mass of energy slithered from the corners of the grim cave and crept towards Wu Lin's figure. Just as he was about to plunge the knife in his neck, the dark mass shaped into an arm and grabbed his hand."You don't need to take your life. I can feel your despair and pain. Come with me and you shall succeed!""You are...?""It matters not who I once was. From now you, I shall be your Master, the one to rise you to the top in the Seven Realms. Are you interested in becoming the master of the Seven Realms...?"As if under a spell, Wu Lin woodenly nodded and lowered his hand."Good...now come with me." The dark arm dissolved and retreated towards the dark corner. Wu Lin dazedly got to his feet and followed after the black smoke. Once he appeared before the black wall, an interesting scene took place.The wall of the dark tunnel warped and deformed, wriggling like a worm before a hole appeared. Shocked speechless, Wu Lin blinked rapidly as he stared at the opening."Well, what are you waiting for?""Ah! Yes, yes!" Filled with excitement and anticipation for the future, Wu Lin's eyes glowed brightly as he stepped into the darkness.A few heartbeats later, the hole warped and disappeared, enveloping the silent tunnel in an oppressive gloom.From the other side of the tunnel, a shaking figure came into existence and Su Rui's trembling form was revealed. She stood on the side of the opposite wall and fearfully stared at the place of the black hole.With a pale face and trembling limbs, she turned and dashed into the distance. A while later, the tunnel Crown Prince Lail and Princess Qamari found came in her line of sight.Limping breathlessly, she ignored her bleeding thigh and raced to the tunnel. Without hesitation, she entered the hole without a backward glance."The sooner I leave this Forbidden Zone, the better."Right as she left, a group of black-clothed men appeared in the silent tunnel. Bruised and disheveled, the men depressingly surveyed their new surroundings."Sh**! This isn't the way out! We entered another useless cave!""Are we going in circles? Why do we keep entering tunnels after tunnels?""This is crazy! We not only failed to complete our mission, but now, we're also unable to find the way out of these cursed tunnels!""How will we report to Boss?"At this words, the black-clothed men fell silent. Before the advent of the Ice Cyclone, a matter like abandoning a mission would've never entered their mind. Because they all knew the consequences of such actions.But with the descent of the Ice Cyclone, they forgot about the nightmare of the Hunter's Guild. In the scare of an impending death, the scare of an endless torture was obscured.Once they returned to their senses, it was too late to regret. Their target had escaped and with the demise of their Assistant Leader, they had no idea where to begin their search.The men angrily punched the walls, rage and frustration bristling off their bodies in waves. The oppressive atmosphere combined with their unsuppressed emotions brought forth a surge of elemental energy that caused the tunnel to violently shake."We need to find that girl. Otherwise..."He didn't need to finish his words, as all the men knew his implication. Shivering unnaturally, they looked into the dark tunnel and a malicious gleam flashed in their eyes.They had no desire to confront their Boss's wrath. As such, they were going to find the girl and teach her a lesson for daring to put them through this pressure!"Let's go!""Yes!"Together, the men in black flashed through the tunnel until they found the hole Crown Prince Lail discovered. Ecstatic, they charged through the opening like hungry beasts that sighted prey.On a desolate region of the Forbidden Zone, fierce wind and snow gushed forth. Plants and trees, ancient and towering in their might, braved through the aggressive weather. Covered in white and frozen to root, the ancient trees remained strong.As another fierce wave of ice descended, movements appeared beside an ancient Oaktree. A grey rock, no more than a mere hundred feet wide, vibrated violently as if it was about to explode. The falling snow was sent flying in different directions and with a thunderous shake, two forms flew out of the cave and tumbled across the snow-covered ground."Cough! Cough! Why is this portal so unstable?" Princess Qamari complained dissatisfiedly, her entire body aching as if she had gone through a grinding mill. Rubbing her arms, she attempted to ease the pain as the fierce weather made her shiver."Unstable portal, cursed weather! In this fierce storm, how are we going to find the black shield back to the village?""Don't worry. I came prepared for that." Crown Prince Lail raised to his feet and looked at their surroundings. Seeing the ancient oak trees, he had a vague idea of their location."Look at these oak trees. I think we are in the northern area of the Forbidden Zone. The black shield is only 3-4 miles away from here. If we race with our full strength, we should reach there in less than thirty breaths of time.""Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!"She had entered the place believing to be well prepared. But all her preparation went down the drain the moment they arrived. The men in black, the Ice Cyclone, their descent into the underground tunnels, and numerous beast tides had made everything go hayware.Before the force of nature and uncharted territory, even her magical map was a useless baggage.If they remained motionless in this horrid weather, higher realm of elemental energy or not, she and Qaliq will turn into ice sculptures.Princess Qamari stripped her sword to her back and dashed into the distance. Crown Prince Lai understood her worry and didn't say anything. Swinging his own spear, he sped after her.A few heartbeats after their departure, the grey rock vibrated again and another figure came tumbling out of the cave. This figure was in a sorry state, with a bleeding thigh and disheveled appearance.Gasping desperately for air, the figure crawled through the icy snow and staggered to its feet."Cursed weather! How will I survive in this environment and return back alive?" Su Rui cried bitterly as she scanned her surroundings. Entering the Forbidden Zone wasn't a major issue.The real test began once a magician entered the place. Surviving in this foreign region with danger on every corner and returning back in one piece was a feat only talented individuals could achieve.Su Rui knew this fact. But it was after she experienced the horrific nightmares of getting caught in an Ice Cyclone and getting besieged by wild and magical beasts from every corner that she understood the real meaning of the words.The fact that she was able to survive until this point was already a surprising feat!"Brother Lail..." As she gazed into the distance, the handsome and stoic face of the man she loved floated in her mind. Her head dropped despondently and she wrapped her arms around her body, breaking into sobbing tears."Brother Lail...I regret it...I regret entering this horrid place to forget you. Now, I will never see you again. I will never see you!" As she crumbled to the snow-covered ground, Su Rui trembled violently, the fierce tremors rocking through her body portraying a pitiful and heart-rending image.Her gut-wrenching sobs resounded in the desolate landscape for a long while.It wasn't until she was covered in snow and looked like a snow-woman that the sobs subsided and her tremors receded. Lifting her head, she listlessly stared into the murky sky. From her expression, it was clear that she had lost all hope.Shing!Right at this moment, the bag on her hip vibrated. Su Rui blinked twice before her dazed eyes cleared and flared with a brilliant light. Hurriedly, she withdrew the bag, and with frost-bitten, trembling limbs, shakily spilled the contents on the ground.There, in the midst of her cosmetics, pain-relieving salves, and charm bracelets, was a red, glowing Fixed Teleportation spell amulet!"Yes! I still have this! I can see Brother Lail again!" Trembling with excitement and anticipation, she gingerly picked up the red amulet.This was an amulet that she had purchased with 100 magical stones. At the time when she first saw it, she only thought about how easier it would be for her to travel. With an amulet that could instantly teleport her to a teleportation portal, she could enter and leave a region at will.She didn't expect that at her most desperate and hopeless moment, the amulet once purchased on a whim would save her life."Truly, fate is mysterious. One chance encounter could either make or break an individual's life." Sighing emotionally, she staggered to her feet.Brother Lail, wait for me. I am coming back!"To the Black Shield!"With bright eyes and an expectant smile, she infused the last dregs of her elemental magic in the red amulet.
