Chapter 21: You Are Strong, But Not Enough
Mordo appeared in front of Lin Yi, twisting his waist and slamming his right fist hard toward Lin Yi's face.
The speed and power of this punch had already exceeded the capture limit of human dynamic vision.
The apprentices watching from the front row felt a sharp pain in their eardrums and covered their ears, backing away one after another.
At this moment, time seemed to be stretched.
Lin Yi watched the fist enlarge in his field of vision. He extended his right hand, palm facing up, and lightly flipped it upward to meet Mordo's heavy punch.
Smack.
Mordo's fist, along with that violent Spatial Collapse field, was firmly caught in Lin Yi's right palm.
The two of them froze in place just like that.
The next second, the Impact transmitted down Lin Yi's arm.
The bluestone slab beneath Lin Yi's feet could not withstand this terrifying pressure and shattered instantly.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread frantically in all directions, with Lin Yi's feet as the center.
The entire Martial Arts Arena was like a piece of rag torn apart by force.
Stones rolled, soil splattered, and dust filled the sky.
Lin Yi remained completely motionless.
[Hit by Spatial Collapse.]
[Hit by overloaded physical kinetic energy Impact.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Spatial Law Affinity +50.]
[Constitution +2000.]
[Strength +1500.]
Lin Yi felt a tingling sensation coming from his arm.
Mordo's punch was indeed powerful, but under the dual blessings of 'Demigod Body' and 'Cost Reversal', this destruction not only failed to cause any real damage but instead felt like a deep massage.
Mordo's right arm trembled violently.
He gritted his teeth, trying to pull his fist out.
But Lin Yi's fingers tightly locked onto his knuckles.
No matter how hard Mordo tried, it didn't budge at all.
Lin Yi looked at Mordo's flushed face and released his fingers.
"You are strong, but not enough."
Mordo's chest heaved, and he staggered back three steps.
Looking at Lin Yi's calm face, something firm in his beliefs cracked irrecoverably.
He finally confirmed one thing: he could not beat Lin Yi.
No one spoke in the Martial Arts Arena.
Hundreds of apprentices maintained their defensive stances, staring blankly at the sunken half of the plaza and the man whose clothes weren't even disheveled.
They knew Lin Yi had defeated a Dimension Lord in London, but rumors and the visual Impact of seeing it with their own eyes were two completely different things.
Kamar-Taj's Dean of Instruction, the most rigorous Law-Enforcing Mage, had been defeated so utterly in a head-on, full-strength strike.
Lin Yi turned around.
"Mage Mordo, that should do, right?"
"I really need to eat. If I don't go now, there really won't be any meat buns left."
Mordo stood frozen in place, not stopping him, looking down at his trembling right hand and murmuring in a low voice.
"The cost..."
Since physical and magic destruction could not destroy the heretic, he could only find a way to sever the source of this power.
If the answer couldn't be found in Kamar-Taj's records, he would look for it in the restricted books.
If even the restricted books didn't have it, he wouldn't even mind leaving Earth to search the vast Universe for a way to suppress the heretic.
No matter the cost, the balance of the Universe must be maintained.
In the distance, behind the octagonal window of the main hall.
The Ancient One held a cup of steaming green tea, quietly overlooking everything happening on the Martial Arts Arena.
...
Lin Yi walked out of the cafeteria, full and satisfied.
Wong appeared out of nowhere and stopped him.
"The Master is looking for you," Wong whispered. "The quiet room in the Main Hall."
"Go now?"
"Yes."
Lin Yi walked through two long corridors and arrived at the Main Hall of Kamar-Taj.
The wooden door of the quiet room was ajar.
Pushing open the door, there was no incense lit inside; only Water was boiling on a small red clay stove.
Ancient One was wearing a plain cotton and linen robe with no patterns, sitting cross-legged behind a low table.
"Sit."
Ancient One pointed to the futon opposite her.
Lin Yi pulled the futon over and sat down, his legs spread out.
Ancient One lifted the clay teapot and flipped her wrist.
The stream of water fell accurately into the white porcelain cup in front of Lin Yi.
Lin Yi picked up the teacup and poured it directly into his mouth.
"Mordo's wrist is fractured," Ancient One said, putting down her cup. "He needs to rest for at least half a month."
"He was the one who attacked first," Lin Yi said, grabbing a piece of osmanthus cake from the plate on the table. "I just wanted to eat breakfast, but he insisted on running into me himself."
"You have been sweeping the floor here for a full three years."
"Free food and lodging, no tuition—such a good deal is hard to find." Lin Yi ate half of the osmanthus cake and patted the crumbs off his hands.
Ancient One looked into Lin Yi's eyes, her tone firm.
"For three years, you have only been observing."
"The moment Mordo decided to expel you, you believed the observation had ended, so you stopped hiding."
Lin Yi's hand, reaching for the second piece of osmanthus cake, froze in mid-air.
"What does she mean? Observing?"
"If you insist on thinking that way, there's nothing I can do."
Lin Yi stuffed the osmanthus cake into his mouth and laughed it off.
Ancient One leaned forward slightly, getting straight to the point.
"The essence of magic is borrowing," Ancient One's voice slowed down.
"We borrow magic power from Vishanti to draw magiccircles, and borrow energy from other dimensions to alter reality."
"But the Universe is balanced. If you borrow, you must return. The more powerful the spell, the heavier the price to be repaid."
Ancient One pointed at Lin Yi.
"But you are different."
"These things don't seem to apply to you."
Ancient One stared at Lin Yi's face.
Lin Yi chewed until his cheeks puffed up.
"You have to pay interest when borrowing things," Lin Yicrossed his hands on the table. "If the interest is too high, doesn't that make it a loan shark?"
"These mages of Kamar-Taj borrow from those Dimensional Demon Gods every day like loan sharks; sooner or later, they'll be beaten to death by debt collectors."
Ancient One pressed, "Then what would you do?"
"Me?" Lin Yi grinned. "I'd directly beat the debt collectors to death and swallow the principal. Once the meat rots in my own stomach, there's no question of returning it."
The quiet room was extremely quiet.
Only the crackling of charcoal burning in the stove could be heard.
To Ancient One, this crude and straightforward explanation was no different from directly overturning the underlying logic of the Universe's operation.
"Dormammu has been eyeing Earth," Ancient Onechanged the subject. "The power of the Dark Dimension is endless, and he once promised mortals eternal life. How do you view him?"
"Just a fat guy who can't get full, relying on devouring other dimensions to prolong his life."
"All the energy in his place is digested residue."
"Only an idiot like Kaecilius would think that eating residue could grant eternal life."
"Residue?" Ancient One repeated Lin Yi's comment.
She lowered her eyelids and looked at the clear tea in her cup.
"The eternal life promised by Dormammu is nothing more than turning living people into parasites just like him. Kaecilius has a bad brain, treating this death warrant as a treasure."
Ancient One's gaze passed through the wooden latticed window of the quiet room, looking out at the snow-covered mountains.
"Kaecilius is not stupid. He was just desperately longing to fill the void of losing his wife and child. The Dark Dimension gave him an illusory hope," Ancient One's voice was calm, without any ripples.
Chapter 22: But Then Again
Lin Yi didn't reply and poured himself a cup of tea.
What did other people's personal grievances and entanglements have to do with him?
"He took away a batch of weak-willed sorcerers. A few days ago, the front courtyard of the East Wing was attacked." Ancient One shifted her gaze back to Lin Yi.
"Even the dimensional rift beneath the London Sanctumwas just a test."
Lin Yi stopped chewing his pastry.
He raised his head and looked straight at Ancient One.
"A feint?" Lin Yi swallowed the food in his mouth, "That Lord-tier brute in London almost tore up half the block, and it was just a test?"
An EXP pack of this level gave him stat boosts that directly allowed him to break through the limits of mortals.
Ancient One was telling him now that this was merely the opponent's appetizer.
Ancient One extended her index finger and swept it across the edge of the small red clay stove.
A golden magic holographic globe emerged between the two of them,
and slowly rotated. On the surface of the holographic globe, three huge golden halos lit up, representing the three Sanctum Sanctorums of New York, London, and Hong Kong respectively.
These three halos connected with each other, forming a thick golden grid on the periphery of Earth.
Immediately afterwards, deep purple red dots began to flash in patches across the gaps and edges of the golden grid.
Lin Yi glanced over.
There were at least thirty-some red dots.
Distributed across the tropical rainforests of South America, the ice fields of Northern Europe, and the remote mountains of East Asia.
"After Kaecilius left Kamar-Taj, he didn't immediately look for a way to directly breach the sanctums. He knew that would be very difficult to do." Ancient One flicked her fingers across the holographic globe.
"Globally, he searched for the nodes where the dimensional barrier was the weakest—which are the locations of these purple light dots."
Lin Yi stared at those red dots, a bright light welling up in the depths of his pupils.
These were hardly mere strongholds.
These were clearly thirty-some glowing dungeon entrances, all unmined pure source energy.
"He established strongholds to channel dark energy." Ancient One's tone grew heavy, "Attempting to corrode Vishanti's defense network from the outside through these dozens of points. This is a protracted war of attrition."
"When the dark energy accumulated by these strongholds reaches a critical value and triggers resonance, Earth's defense barrier will become riddled with holes."
"By then, without needing to destroy the Sanctum Sanctorum, Dormammu's true body can descend directly onto Earth through these rifts."
"Got it." Lin Yi said in a relaxed tone, "But you're the Sorcerer Supreme. Can't you just act directly and put out these red dots one by one?"
Ancient One looked at Lin Yi, hard-to-read emotions hidden deep within her eyes.
She raised her right hand, grasped the cuff of her left robe sleeve, and pulled it upward.
Lin Yi's gaze shifted downward.
Ancient One's forearm was exceptionally pale, with thick, dark-black twisted lines beneath the skin.
These black lines wriggled irregularly deep within the muscles, and the surrounding flesh and blood presented a necrotic grayish-white color.
The temperature of the air in the quiet room plummeted abruptly.
[High-order Dark Dimension assimilation radiation detected, actively absorb?]
"I cannot leave Kamar-Taj at will." Ancient One lowered her sleeve, covering that shocking arm.
"Dormammu's will has firmly locked onto Earth."
"As long as I use high-order magic on a large scale to sweep away these strongholds, he will follow my magicfluctuations and project his gaze and power directly over."
"I must stay here."
Lin Yi's fingers tapped on the wooden table.
"So, you asked me here not just to drink tea and chat."
"Yes. I need you."
"Mordo acts rigidly; he is more suited to guarding established order and cannot deal with a bottomless madman like Kaecilius."
"If other high-order sorcerers go to wipe them out, they are extremely likely to be assimilated and backlashed in battles with the dark strongholds, ultimately falling into corruption."
Ancient One looked straight into Lin Yi's eyes.
"Only you are not bound by any price."
"I request you to participate in the operation to wipe out Kaecilius's global strongholds."
Lin Yi touched his chin and didn't reply immediately.
Over thirty high-level EXP dungeons.
After clearing this circle, who knows how inflated his attribute panel would become.
Plus, he could travel the world on public expense; this was practically god-given.
But he couldn't act too eager.
A bargain you chase after isn't valued.
He was now an irreplaceable combat force, and he had to max out his worth.
"Teacher, this job sounds like a harrowing chore with a slim chance of survival." Lin Yi sighed, looking troubled, "I'm just a newcomer who just became full-time a few days ago. You're asking me to save the world, the burden is a bit heavy."
Ancient One was unmoved.
She took out a brown cloth bag from her wide sleeve and pushed it in front of Lin Yi.
The cloth bag landed on the table, emitting a heavy metallic clanging sound.
Lin Yi extended two fingers to untie the knot of the cloth bag, which was filled with gold bars inside.
"This is your private operation funding." Ancient One said, "In addition, for every stronghold uprooted, you can freely choose three items from Kamar-Taj's treasury, whether they are magical artifacts, magic materials, or rare medicinal herbs."
Lin Yi grabbed the cloth bag in one hand, tied the opening tightly, and stuffed it into his bosom.
The movement was crisp and neat, without the slightest hesitation.
"However, having said that, eliminating demons and defending the Dao is my duty as the personal disciple of the Sorcerer Supreme." Lin Yi's expression turned serious and righteous.
"For the safety of Earth, I'll take this job. Even if I'm shattered to pieces, I will ruin Kaecilius's conspiracy."
The corners of Ancient One's eyes twitched slightly.
"When do we set off?"
"The sooner the better."
Ancient One swept her palm across the holographic globe in mid-air, and all the red dots extinguished completely.
"Intelligence shows that Kaecilius's chief disciple, Lucian, is holding a large-scale blood sacrifice ritual in the Inca ruins deep within the Amazon rainforest. They are sacrificing living people to channel the pure origin of darkness."
"Blood sacrifice?" Lin Yi curled his lips, "Such bad taste."
Lin Yi got up and left the quiet room.
Ancient One sat quietly on the futon.
She raised her left arm hidden beneath her robe.
She frowned, closed her eyes, and forcibly mobilized Vishanti's magic to suppress the backlash of dark energy back deep into her muscles.
Chapter 23 Tokyo Dark Stronghold
Kamar-Taj Eastern Courtyard, Logistics Armory.
Two rows of illuminating magic stones hung from the ceiling, illuminating the long solid wood table brightly.
Wong walked over carrying a brass box covered in a thick layer of dust, slamming it onto the tabletop with a "bang".
The box lid sprang open, revealing a row of neatly arranged equipment.
"You're going to raid Kaecilius's stronghold this time." Wong patted the dust off his hands and picked out a neatly folded black soft armor from the box. "This is armor crafted from mithril mixed with dragon skin, and the lining is engraved with the Vishanti exorcism array, which can withstand intermediate corrosion."
Lin Yi leaned against the door frame, walked over leisurely, picked up the black soft armor with two fingers, pressed his thumb against the chest position, and applied a little force.
With a "rip" sound, the tough mithril dragon skin split open a large gap in the middle.
Wong's hand extended in mid-air froze.
"The quality is too poor; it restricts movement and pinches the stomach." Lin Yi threw the broken soft armor back into the box. "Next."
Wong forcefully suppressed the urge to curse.
He turned around and took a sheathed longsword from the weapon rack behind him.
The scabbard was made of a certain dark red wood, and its surface was densely engraved with golden inscriptions.
"The Demon-Slaying Sword. Past high-ranking mages have used it to slay quite a few dimensional creatures. The blade comes with a magic-breaking attribute, specifically countering dark energy."
Lin Yi took it and pulled out the blade.
The cold light reflected off his lazy face. He raised the sword and slashed hard at his own left arm.
With a crisp "clang" sound.
A noticeable notch rolled up on the edge of the Demon-Slaying Sword.
Not even a white mark was left on Lin Yi's arm.
"Scrap iron." Lin Yi curled his lips and casually threw the sword onto the tabletop.
"You... you're deliberately picking a fault, aren't you? Take it or leave it, pick it yourself!" Wong scolded ungraciously.
Lin Yi scanned the warehouse, walked over to the shelf in the corner, tore down a coarse cloth bag, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Alright!"
"You're not even bringing a self-defense magic artifact?"
"That's a real dimensional stronghold!" Wong thought of the scene in London again. "Forget it, I don't care about you!"
"Equipment will only affect the speed at which I eat."
"Let's go, pick a closer one so we can make it back for dinner."
Wong helplessly drew a golden portal.
The sparks dissipated, and a damp, cold night wind rushed towards them.
...
Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward.
A narrow back alley piled with abandoned cardboard boxes and black garbage bags.
Fine rain drifted down, hitting the road surface, and the puddles reflected the flashing neon signs outside the mouth of the alley.
A noisy girl group MV was playing on a large screen not far away, and the heavy bass made the puddles on the ground ripple.
Lin Yi stepped across the portal, stepped into a puddle, walked out of the alley, and the blinding red and blue lights hit his face.
The bustling urban atmosphere formed a strong sense of fragmentation with the rigid tranquility of Kamar-Taj.
High school students wearing short skirts walked past in a hurry holding transparent umbrellas.
A rich bone broth aroma drifted over from the street corner.
Lin Yi sniffed and walked over following the scent.
A mobile ramen stall with red lanterns hanging was parked under the overpass, and the white soup in the pot was bubbling and rolling.
He strode over, pulled open a red plastic low stool, and sat down.
"Boss, two bowls of char siu ramen, extra meat, and poach a soft-boiled egg in each."
Wong followed closely behind, lowering his voice: "Are you crazy? We are here to carry out a mission, and we could be watched by Kaecilius's informants at any time!"
"Even an emperor doesn't send hungry soldiers." Lin Yibroke apart disposable wooden chopsticks and rubbed them against each other. "You consumed magic during the teleportation just now. If you don't eat your fill, your legs will go soft when we fight later."
The noodles were served quickly.
Two large slices of grilled char siu were spread on top of the noodles, sprinkled with chopped green onions and sesame seeds.
Lin Yi buried his head and ate, his chopsticks picking up the noodles and slurping loudly.
He didn't care at all if the soup splashed on his clothes, and swallowed more than half a bowl of noodles into his stomach in a few bites.
Wong looked at the oil slick floating in the bowl, swallowed his saliva, and finally couldn't help picking up his chopsticks.
With a bowl of hot soup down his stomach, his tense nerves indeed relaxed a little bit.
Lin Yi picked up the bowl, drank the soup down to the last drop, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand: "Old Wong, check."
Wong pulled out a U.S. dollar bill, placed it on the table, and then looked at Lin Yi.
"What are you looking at? Lead the way."
Wong ungraciously took out an octagonal bronze compass.
The magnetic needle in the center of the compass was spinning wildly, and its surface was covered with a layer of faint red light.
"Underground." Wong pointed to an auxiliary road under construction and road closure ahead to the left. "The straight-line distance is six hundred meters, and the depth is about thirty meters. That's an abandoned subway line."
The two climbed over the rusty sheet metal enclosure.
Piles of construction waste were piled up casually, interspersed with muddy caterpillar tracks in the middle.
At the end was a ventilation shaft half-sealed by cement boards, with a wooden sign hanging on it reading "No Entry".
Wong raised his hand to cast a spell, and an orange light lit up at his fingertips. The heavy cement board slid silently to the side, revealing a pitch-black downward passage.
A rancid smell mixed with sulfur and rust surged up.
Walking down the moss-covered concrete steps.
At first, car honking could still be heard from overhead.
After going down five flights of steps, the sound disappeared completely.
Only stagnant water seeped from the cracks in the wall, hitting the steps with a monotonous echo.
Walking to a position ten meters underground, the air became damp and cold.
The water droplets on the wall no longer dripped down, but condensed into dark red ice crystals.
Wong shivered.
He quickly drew circles in front of his chest with both hands, and a light orange magic shield wrapped around his entire body.
As soon as the shield was propped open, the magic on its surface made a faint "crack-crack" sound, just like fingernails scraping across glass.
Wong looked down.
At the edge of the shield, the stray dark energy in the air was continuously eroding the magic shell, and the orange light dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Environmental pollution has spread to this extent." Wong gritted his teeth and increased his magic output to maintain the stability of the shield. "Kaecilius's people have been operating down here for at least half a year."
Lin Yi swaggered in front. The minor corrosive power emitted by those dark red ice crystals hit him, failing to even snap a single hair.
Reaching the end of the steps was a wide subway tunnel.
Two rusty rails extended into the endless darkness.
The platform was littered with scattered old newspapers and garbage.
The ticket vending machines on both sides were smashed, and the screens were shattered.
Fifty meters ahead in the tunnel, the air was completely distorted.
A thick, translucent barrier of thick purple-black color spanned the center of the tunnel, dividing the entire underground space into two.
Lin Yi sensed that the concentration of dark energy accumulated inside the barrier was extremely high.
"Whoa, this trip was definitely worth it."
Chapter 24 Barrier Guards
Ripples appeared clearly in the air.
Two figures stepped out from the sticky mist of the barrier, blocking the exact center of the railway tracks.
The two wore tattered gray robes, their collars faintly showing the ancient emblem of Kamar-Taj, but it was now completely contaminated by black mucus.
The person on the left had half of their face covered in thick black bony scales, and their right eye had completely vanished, turning into a hollow socket emitting black smoke.
The one on the right had a more hunched posture, holding a bone staff. Their entire right arm was completely mutated, turning into a purple-black arthropod tentacle covered in barbs.
"The cleaners of Kamar-Taj." The scaled mage on the left had a hoarse voice, "Ancient One only sent two people?"
The tentacled mage on the right licked his dry lips, greed flashing in his single eye.
"This vital energy is very robust. My Lord will like this sacrifice."
Wong stopped in his tracks, sizing up the opponent from a distance of ten meters.
He recognized the identities of these two at a glance, and his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Lin Yi, be careful." Wong lowered his voice, "Those are the high-ranking mages who defected three years ago, Marcusand Leon."
"They voluntarily allowed themselves to be corrupted by Dormammu in pursuit of power."
"Their current physical structures are no longer human; conventional exorcism spells are ineffective against them. Do not let them get close to you!"
Lin Yi stopped walking, looking up and down at the two half-human, half-demon monsters opposite him.
"They really look quite chewy."
The scaled mage sneered, his remaining left eye filled with tyranny.
He did not waste any extra words, and the stray dark energy around him quickly converged towards his palm.
A pitch-black magic sphere formed in mid-air, with deep purple electric arcs dancing across its surface.
"Die!"
Dragging a long trail, the dark magic sphere smashed straight towards Lin Yi's face.
Wong wasn't worried about Lin Yi at all, and quickly found cover in the rear.
Lin Yi opened his palm forward, his five fingers curved.
Bang.
The dark magic sphere crashed into Lin Yi's palm.
Lin Yi pinched that magic sphere with one hand, and the black lightning extinguished silently.
Two seconds passed, and there were no White text prompts in his vision.
Lin Yi frowned, lowered his head to look at the black sphere still restlessly jumping in his palm, and sighed with some disgust.
Ever since he acquired the passive skill of [Demigod Body(Basic Level)].
magic attacks below C-rank were directly and absolutely immune; even the system disdained to perform a Cost Reversal.
"Just this little capability?" Lin Yi raised his eyelids and looked at the two opposite them, "You defected to Dormammu, didn't you even get a full meal out of it?"
Lin Yi suddenly closed his five fingers.
Crack.
The dark magic sphere was directly crushed to pieces by him, and the black energy scattered and vanished into the air.
The two mages opposite were stunned simultaneously.
"What on earth are you!"
"I am your grandpa." Lin Yi shook the dust off his hands, "Stop probing. Release your ultimate moves if you have any, I'm in a hurry."
This sentence completely ignited the nerves of the two fallen mages.
Long-term erosion by dark power had already placed their sanity on the verge of collapse.
Having suffered such an insult, the eyes of both turned scarlet simultaneously.
"Arrogant heretic! Use your soul to please the Lord!"
The tentacled mage let out a non-human roar.
He directly stabbed the bone staff in his hand into his own chest, and black blood gushed out.
The scaled mage bit his finger and quickly drew a few bloody runes on the half-piece of bony scale on his face.
The two completely abandoned their defense, handing over all control of their souls and bodies to the Dark Dimension.
The temperature inside the tunnel plummeted drastically.
Two terrifying deep purple lights lit up in front of the barrier.
These two streams of light quickly intertwined and fused.
Marcus and Leon squeezed out the dark origin accumulated in their bodies over three years without reservation, gathering it all in mid-air to form a huge magicarray with a diameter exceeding five meters.
In the center of the magic array, destructive energy was undergoing its final compression.
Watching from dozens of meters away, Wong felt his scalp go numb.
"Maniacs! This bunch of maniacs are overdrawing their lives!" Wong flusteredly pulled out three defensive magicinstruments from his robes.
He knew very well that with this kind of suicidal high-ranking magic outburst, the entire tunnel would be blown to collapse.
The light in the center of the magic array brightened to the extreme, illuminating the entire underground space as bright as day.
"Go to hell——!"
Boom——!
A deep purple pillar of destruction two meters in diameter gushed out from the center of the array.
Wherever the pillar of light passed, the air was completely vaporized, the railway tracks on the ground instantly melted into molten iron, and the concrete sleepers turned into flying ash.
Carrying the momentum of crushing dry weeds and decaying wood, this power completely swallowed Lin Yi's figure.
The remaining might of the pillar of light did not diminish, pushing rolling heat waves forward.
The triple shields propped up by Wong only persisted for two seconds in front of this Impact; with continuous "crack" sounds, two layers of shields directly shattered.
Wong was blown away entirely, crashing heavily onto the stone pillar behind him, and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
The explosion lasted for a full dozen seconds.
The intense shockwave conducted along the strata, and even the streets on the ground felt a distinct vibration.
Inside the subway tunnel, thick smoke and dust and a pungent scorched smell permeated the air.
Starting from the position where Lin Yi originally stood, within a range of one hundred meters backwards, the ground was plowed into a ravine two meters deep.
At the bottom of the ravine, dark red magma bubbled and gurgled.
The two fallen mages had exhausted all their power.
They collapsed limply on the ground, their robes burned to ashes, their mutated limbs covered in cracks, and black blood flowing all over the floor.
"He... won't even leave ashes behind."
The smoke and dust slowly dispersed.
At the very front of the magma pool, a figure stood.
Lin Yi stood unscathed in the middle of the dark red slurry.
[Received a direct hit from high-concentration Dark Dimension energy.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Physique + 500!]
[Strength + 500!]
Lin Yi looked at the numbers on the panel and curled his lips.
"Just this little value? I thought you guys risked your old lives and could squeeze some juice out for me." Lin Yi's tone was filled with disappointment, "This is only fit to warm me up."
The scaled mage stared at the unharmed Lin Yi, and the defense line of his sanity completely collapsed at this moment.
"Impossible... Absolutely impossible! This is the blessing of the abyss, humans cannot resist it!"
The tentacled mage could no longer even speak; he terrifiedly wriggled backward on the ground, attempting to increase the distance.
Lin Yi did not give them any more reaction time.
The next second, Lin Yi had already appeared in front of the two fallen mages.
He bent down, one in each hand.
The two monsters tried to struggle, but in front of Lin Yi, they couldn't even move a single finger.
"Next life when finding a master, wipe your eyes clean. This boss is very stingy and doesn't feed you full."
Afterwards, boom——!
Two steel-hard heads crashed heavily together, and a dull sound of bone fracturing echoed in the tunnel.
The two fallen mages didn't even have time to let out a scream, their eyes rolled up white, collapsing onto the ground like mud, completely passing out.
Lin Yi let go of his hands, letting the two fall at his feet.
Chapter 25: Frenziedly Absorbing the Stronghold Core
Wong ran over from behind a load-bearing pillar in the back.
He looked down at the collapsed skulls of the two defected mages.
Wong's eyelids twitched, and he silently looked away from the corpses toward the purplish-black translucent barrier deep within the tunnel.
Lin Yi was wiping the black blood stains on his fingers with the corner of his clothes.
"This is a high-tier dark blockade array, and right behind the barrier is the stronghold core."
"The concentration is too high. The air inside has been completely assimilated by the Dark Dimension, and an ordinary person would suffer a genetic collapse within three seconds of entering."
Lin Yi sized up the light curtain in front of him, which looked like thick taffy.
"What do you say?" Lin Yi asked.
"Retreat to the surface." Wong drew a simple defense circle on the ground with the toe of his boot,
"I need to set up a reverse neutralization magic array to slowly grind away this layer of membrane. It will take about... three hours."
"Three hours?" Lin Yi turned his head and glanced at Wong, "Three hours from now, other people's stalls would have already packed up."
"Mages shouldn't be impatient when breaking arrays..."
Before Wong could finish speaking, Lin Yi directly reached out with both hands and bluntly shoved them into the barrier light curtain.
[Suffering high-concentration dark barrier erosion.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Physique + 800.]
[magic resistance + 500.]
Lin Yi grinned with satisfaction.
"That's more like it, open up for me!"
Accompanied by a tearing sound, that barrier membrane was forcibly torn open by Lin Yi from the middle, creating a huge gap over two meters tall.
The viscous purplish-black mist surged out frantically from the gap like a breached flood.
"Get out of the way quickly!" Wong shouted loudly.
He reacted extremely quickly, crossing his hands to prop up the Rings of Raggadorr.
The moment the orange-yellow magic shield came into contact with the surging thick fog, it directly made a crisp sound like shattering glass.
The black mist, like a swarm of extremely hungry termites, gnawed holes one after another on the surface of the magic shield.
Wong's face flushed red, and his skin came into contact with the edges of some mist, immediately swelling up with densely packed red rashes, while a burning stinging pain reached straight into his bone marrow.
Wong retreated more than a dozen steps, exiting the coverage range of the mist, before looking at Lin Yi.
Lin Yi stood at the very center of the dense fog.
The purplish-black mist was so thick it couldn't be dissolved, enveloping his entire person.
Lin Yi spread his arms, raised his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
[In a deep Dark Dimension pollution zone.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Mental strength + 1000.]
[Physique + 1200.]
[Dark affinity continues to increase.]
"Comfortable."
Lin Yi turned back and could barely make out Wong's blurry silhouette a dozen meters away.
"You just stay outside." Lin Yi waved at that direction, "I can handle this kind of heavy lifting myself."
Without waiting for Wong to reply, Lin Yi turned around directly, strode across the torn gap, and walked deep into the stronghold.
The barrier membrane behind him lost its support and slowly healed, completely isolating him and Wong from each other.
After entering the barrier, the standing water on the ground had completely turned into a black gelatinous substance, and stepping on it had a soft, spongy rebound force.
The abandoned platforms on both sides had undergone severe alienation.
The tiles on the wall were covered with purple protrusions resembling blood vessels, and flesh-like pipelines spread along the ceiling.
The girl group posters originally posted on the billboards had blurred facial features, replaced by seven or eight eyeballs of varying sizes, which were revolving their gazes in unison as Lin Yi walked around.
This place is much more exciting than the basement of that sanctuary in London.
Lin Yi walked on the platform with his hands in his pockets.
The fog was truly too thick, so he walked very slowly, not letting go of any opportunity for energy to enter his body.
When passing by a twisted and deformed vending machine, Lin Yi stopped in his tracks.
The glass of the vending machine was shattered all over the ground, and the beverage bottles inside were all corroded into soft plastic lumps. Only a tin-packaged can of black coffee remained relatively intact, though the surface of the tin was covered with red fuzz.
Lin Yi reached out and pulled open the tin door, taking out that can of coffee.
The rough texture to the touch told him that this can had been completely assimilated by dark energy.
He hooked the pull tab with one hand and ripped it open.
The brownish-black viscous liquid bubbled with purple bubbles.
Lin Yi tilted his head back and poured a mouthful into his mouth.
Extremely bitter, carrying a strong sulfur smell.
[Drinking high-tier dimension polluted liquid.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Physique + 500.]
[Toxin immunity and resistance + 100.]
"Bah." Lin Yi casually threw the remaining half-can into the nearby railway track, "Really hard to drink, but the medicinal effect is not bad."
Continuing to walk forward.
As they kept going deeper into the central area of the subway tunnel, the air was no longer mist-like, but instead presented a water-wave state close to substance.
The spatial laws here were forcibly distorted.
A spacious underground hall appeared ahead.
Judging by the structure, this should have originally been a transfer hub for two subway lines.
Now, it had become Kaecilius's generator room.
Right in the center of the hall stood a three-story-high purplish-black crystal tower.
The crystal tower was not a dead object.
It was like a huge heart, expanding and contracting at a certain constant frequency.
Every contraction, the beam of light at the top of the tower directly connecting to the microscopic dimensional hole in the ceiling would extract a large gush of thick dark origin essence to inject into the tower body.
The energy radiation emitted by the entire tower had already formed circles of visible black storms in the air.
Within a thirty-meter range from the tower body, even the rubble on the ground was forcibly dissociated into a molecular state by this radiation, floating mid-air.
This was simply not a place for humans to stay. Even if the Ancient One stood here, she would have to fully drive the magic of the Vishanti to withstand this genetic-level collapse pressure.
Lin Yi stood at the edge of the storm, staring at that crystal tower.
What kind of stronghold was this; this was a granary.
That old lady, the Ancient One, said there were over thirty such strongholds on Earth?
Lin Yi poked his back teeth with the tip of his tongue.
Looking at Kaecilius now, he didn't even find him hateful anymore; this was simply a Universe-grade great benefactor, a logistics transportation commander-in-chief, bringing local specialties from his hometown all the way to Earth to give him a buffet to eat.
Lin Yi stepped forward and walked into the thirty-meter radiation circle.
As soon as he stepped in, a terrifying cutting force rushed toward him.
[Suffering devastating dimensional radiation cutting.]
['Demigod Body (Basic Tier)' judgment failed, this damage exceeds the threshold.]
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
The prompt text popping up on the system panel changed.
Lin Yi was bare-chested, and his pants were cut into tattered shorts at the root of his thighs.
The storm, which was sufficient to cut an ordinary person into molecules, blew against his skin, emitting a series of muffled metallic clashing sounds.
Every step forward he took, the numbers on the system panel began to jump.
[Physique + 5000.]
[Strength + 4000.]
Lin Yi's steps did not stop, and he withstood the storm to walk directly beneath the crystal tower.
Viewed up close, the surface of this tower was covered with lines resembling human neural networks, inside which flowed high-purity liquid dark origin essence.
Lin Yi raised his head and looked at the huge tower body.
"Dormammu, you've saved up family property for so long, I'll take it over for you."
His entire palm pressed directly onto the core trunk of the crystal tower.
The instant of touch.
The crystal tower trembled violently like a startled living creature.
The beam of light connecting the hole at the top of the tower suddenly doubled in thickness, and the massive energy directly abandoned storage, transforming into a substantive purple torrent along Lin Yi's arm, pouring backward into his body.
A devastating high temperature and the tearing sensation of dimensional rules exploded simultaneously within Lin Yi's internal organs.
The skin on his right arm instantly became transparent, and he could clearly see blackish-purple light flowing in his blood vessels.
[Triggered Cost Reversal.]
[Physique + 10000!]
[Physique + 10000!]
[Mental strength + 15000!]
[Strength + 10000!]
[High-tier dark affinity maxed out, breaking through the limit.]
A terrifying energy whirlwind whipped up across the entire underground hall.
The energy of the crystal tower was draining at an incredible speed.
The tower body, which was originally a deep purplish-black, started turning grayish-white and shriveled, beginning from the spot where Lin Yi's palm touched it.
Lin Yi's palms dug fiercely into the interior of the tower body, devouring this sumptuous full-Han banquet in huge mouthfuls.
"Not enough... Give me some more!"
Chapter 26: Immune to Dark Energy
Lin Yi gripped the main trunk of the crystal tower tightly with both hands.
He maintained this posture for a full half hour.
The space in the underground transfer hall was completely distorted.
The air stopped flowing, turning into a pool of viscous stagnant water.
With Lin Yi as the center, the ground within a radius of fifty meters completely vaporized, and even the hardest load-bearing pillars turned into powder.
The high-purity origin of the Dark Dimension turned into a substantive black torrent, pouring backward along his arms.
Before his eyes, the system's White text prompts merged into an airtight curtain of light.
[Infused with high-concentration Dark origin.]
[Physique + 5000!]
[Mental Strength + 6000!]
Lin Yi burped, and the exhaled airflow turned into a ball of black mist in mid-air, slamming onto the ground.
The crystal tower reached its limit.
The tower body, which originally flowed with purple light, turned into a grayish pale White.
The blood vessel-like patterns on the surface snapped inch by inch like withered vines.
Directly above, the small aperture connecting to the Dark Dimension lost its energy bridge and trembled violently.
"Click."
A very soft crisp sound came out, and the crystal towersnapped in half.
The massive tower body smashed into the void pit, and upon landing, it directly turned into a puddle of White powder, leaving not even a fingernail-sized piece behind.
The dimensional passage lost its anchor point and was forcibly smoothed out by the spatial rules of Earth itself.
The rapid rebound of space brought about a chain reaction.
...
Outside the barrier.
Wong raised the magic shield, staring at the purple-black barrier light curtain ahead.
Boom!
The light curtain shattered completely.
The violent air wave, mixed with tiny stones, slammed down head-on.
Wong pushed his hands forward abruptly, and the Rings of Raggadorr opened up two huge orange magic array shields in front of him.
The ground beneath his feet shook crazily.
The concrete prefabricated slabs at the top of the tunnel let out a harsh wail, and the muffled sounds of steel bars being torn apart were endless.
Large falling rocks smashed onto the shield, shaking Wong's blood and Qi to churn.
The underground structure began to collapse.
"Lin Yi!"
Wong shouted at the top of his lungs. Although he knew Lin Yi's bravery, what if something happened?
Dust filled the air, making it so dark one couldn't see their own hand.
A muffled sound of footsteps came from ahead.
Lin Yi walked out.
His upper body was bare, that black soft armor had long since left not even dust, and the pants on his lower body were tattered into strips of cloth.
On the surface of Lin Yi's body, a very faint layer of black halo was shrouded.
When Wong looked over, he only felt his heart being tightly gripped by someone, and his breathing paused involuntarily for two seconds.
At this moment, even if Lin Yi was just walking over calmly, the aura emanating from his body was as profound as staring directly into a starless Universe abyss.
"Don't just stand there in a daze, let's go." Lin Yi walked up to Wong, patted his shoulder, "The upper level is about to collapse, and I certainly don't want to be buried in the mud and eat dirt."
Wong came back to his senses, flurriedly drawing a portal.
The two stepped through in one stride, the subway tunnel behind them completely collapsed, and endless darkness buried everything.
...
Shinjuku District, a top-floor suite of a high-end hot spring hotel.
The sliding door was open, and the man-made waterfall in the courtyard made gurgling Water sounds.
Lin Yi took a bath, changed into a loose Japanese yukata, and sat cross-legged on the tatami mat.
A charcoal Fire grill was placed on the low table, with twelve empty wooden plates stacked beside it.
The thirteenth plate of top-grade snowflake Wagyu beef was sizzling on the grill net, and grease dripped into the charcoal Fire, raising an alluring aroma.
Lin Yi picked up the tongs, flipped the meat slices, and his mind sank into the light curtain on his retina.
Lin Yi looked at his exaggerated data and whistled.
His attributes directly ushered in a surge.
He even doubted that if Thanos stood here, without using any fancy magic, purely relying on this flesh and bones, he could shatter the Purple Sweet Potato's chin with one punch.
The improvement of the basic three measurements was secondary.
Below the panel, a new golden prompt was particularly eye-catching.
[High-tier Dark affinity has overflowed the upper limit.]
[Acquired new skill: Dark Dimension Energy Manipulation]
[Description: Your body has completed a comprehensive decryption of the abyss rules. You have become a superior controller of dark energy. You can arbitrarily mobilize the dark origin for attack, defense, and construction of dimensional space without borrowing.]
[Additional clause: Same-source immunity. Conventional and high-tier Dark Dimension magic attacks will no longer constitute a 'cost' or 'negative damage' to you. Such attacks will no longer be able to trigger the 'Cost Reversal' mechanism.]
Lin Yi's action of picking up meat paused.
The previous part looked quite satisfying, White got a spell-casting ability comparable to Dormammu's true body for free.
But the additional clause in the back made him very upset.
Can't trigger the reversal anymore?
This means that in the future, when encountering Kaeciliusand that gang playing Black Magic, if the opponent's attacks hit him, the system won't even give experience. It directly judges it as invalid.
This wool has completely been plucked bald.
Lin Yi sighed, stretched out his left hand, palm facing up.
He wanted to try this new skill.
With a slight movement of his mind.
A ball of pure black flame quietly leaped two inches above his palm.
Lin Yi flipped his wrist, and that cluster of black flame slipped out of his hand, landing lightly on the empty wooden plate at the corner of the table.
The wooden plate came into contact with the black flame and disappeared into thin air.
Along with a small piece of the tatami matting below, it was also wiped clean.
Wong happened to push open the shoji door and walk in at this moment.
His gaze swept across the wooden plate that disappeared into thin air, and his eyelids twitched violently.
He was too familiar with that kind of power.
That was dimensional annihilation, that was the taboo power that Kaecilius dreamed of, and even sacrificed his soul in exchange for.
Now, this man sat in front of the barbecue grill and casually threw it out like throwing a cigarette butt.
"The commotion outside is huge." Wong tried to make his voice sound stable, "A street in Shinjuku subsided. The local Japan magic branch is investigating, and I have already suppressed them using Kamar-Taj's authority."
"Come on, sit down and eat meat." Lin Yi picked up a piece of Wagyu beef and threw it into his mouth, saying vaguely.
Wong did not sit down, but unfolded that map.
On the map, dozens of red dots representing global strongholds were rapidly extinguishing.
"That purple-black crystal tower is the central node." Wong pointed at the map, "It is destroyed, and more than thirty secondary strongholds on Earth have lost their energy supply and are automatically collapsing. Their magic arrays have crashed."
Lin Yi's action of chewing meat paused.
All secondary strongholds collapsed? Then wouldn't his original planned global tourism wool-plucking route go bankrupt?
"However." Wong's fingers slid toward the other four directions on the map, "There are still four red points that have not been extinguished."
"These are four main strongholds of the same level as Tokyo."
"They themselves connect to independent small dimensional channels and are not affected by the destruction of the center."
"Even because of the collapse of the Tokyo node, these four strongholds are accelerating the absorption of abyss energy, trying to maintain balance."
Lin Yi's eyes lit up again.
"Four?"
"Yes, when are we setting off for the next one?"
Lin Yi put down his chopsticks, picked up the iced beer beside him, and tilted his head to take a big gulp.
The cold liquor flowed down his throat, and he exhaled a breath comfortably.
"Hey ya, don't be nervous." Lin Yi interrupted him, his tone casual, "Just go with the flow, the old bald head didn't specify a time anyway."
Chapter 27: Variables and Ancient Ruins
Nepal, a hidden karst cave deep within the mountains.
Torches on the rock walls flickered with the draft, casting long, slender shadows of the figures before the stone table.
Kaecilius wore a dark gray ritual robe, his hands crossed against his chin, his gaze falling upon the center of the stone table.
Resting there was a transparent crystal ball covered in cracks.
At the center of the crystal ball, there should have been a cluster of burning purple-black flames, but now only a pinch of grayish-white powder remained.
Lucian stood in the Shadows, his head lowered as he reported the situation.
"The central crystal tower in Tokyo has been completely destroyed. The energy transmission chains of thirty secondary strongholds have all snapped, and the defensive network of the Vishanti is automatically repairing that area."
Kaecilius extended his right hand, his index finger poking twice at the pile of powder.
"What about Marcus and Leon?"
"No life signals. Not even soul fluctuations were left behind," Lucian replied. "The scene only left behind large-scale physical collapse traces, as well as remnants of extremely violent dark assimilation."
Kaecilius stood up and paced around the stone table.
His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and the circle of purple veins around them burrowed into his skin like the roots of a dead tree.
"Marcus and the others accepted the gifts of My Lord, and their bodies long ago surpassed humanity."
"Even if they encountered Wong or Mordo, if they couldn't beat them, at least they could open a spatial folding portal and retreat."
"To be able to obliterate them without even letting them send out a distress signal, the opponent's strength must form an absolute suppression."
Kaecilius stopped in his tracks and looked toward the direction of the karst cave's exit.
"Did the Ancient One step forward?"
"No." Lucian raised his head. "The informants left in Kathmandu sent word half an hour ago; the Sorcerer Supreme spent the entire afternoon giving morning lectures to apprentices in the main hall."
"She showed no signs of using high-level spatial transfer."
Kaecilius frowned deeply.
"It is not the Ancient One. Among the high-level mages of Kamar-Taj, no one can smash the central crystal toweralone. The high concentration of radiation inside the barrier is enough to melt an ordinary mage's meridians."
He walked to the wall and tore off a black cloth covering the rock face.
On the wall was drawn a map of the world, with five red dots drawn in blood distributed across different continents.
He picked up a dagger and directly scraped off the red dot at the location of Tokyo.
"In our plan, a variable completely outside expectations has appeared."
"This variable ignores the erosion of the Dark Dimension, and acts extremely violently."
"My Lord, how should we respond? Should we continue to expand the secondary strongholds?"
"Stop all peripheral actions." Kaecilius threw the dagger onto the stone table. "Contract the formation. The four main strongholds will accelerate absorbing energy; as long as we hold out until the critical value, the gaze of My LordDormammu can descend."
He turned his head to look at Lucian and issued instructions.
"Pick ten high-level Zealots to strengthen defenses in Siberia and Cairo. Do not go look for this variable; let him come find us."
"As long as he dares to approach the main strongholds, I want you, even if it means sacrificing all your flesh and blood, to figure out what on earth this thing is."
Tokyo, the streets of Akihabara.
Huge electronic billboards looped the latest anime.
The sidewalks were full of young men and women dressed in various costumes, and noisy music poured out from the arcades along the street.
Lin Yi held up two takoyaki covered in sauce with one hand, poked the last half of a meatball with a bamboo skewer, and shoved it into his mouth.
Wong wore an ill-fitting casual suit, following behind Lin Yi.
He carried four huge shopping bags in his hands, containing two latest models of game consoles, several boxes of action figures, and a pile of comic books.
"We have already wasted four days in Tokyo." Wong wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around. "The central tower has been destroyed, and Kaecilius's people will definitely be on guard."
Lin Yi stopped in front of a crepe stall, pointing at the strawberry limited edition on the menu and making a gesture.
"Old Wong, work is work, life is life." Lin Yi took the crepe handed over by the boss and took a big bite. "You must know how to enjoy life."
Wong looked at the heavy shopping bags in his hands, full of helplessness.
Over the past few days, they had been living in a penthouse suite and eating at top-tier restaurants. Lin Yicompletely had the posture of a paid vacation, showing not a shred of urgency in saving the world.
"Has the next target been determined?" Wong sighed.
"Let's go, back to the hotel to call and ask the boss." Lin Yilicked the cream from the corner of his mouth and walked toward the hotel with a swagger.
The hotel penthouse suite.
Wong pulled the blackout curtains closed, felt for the Sling Ring from his embrace, and put it on.
With both hands, he drew a complex hexagram trajectory in mid-air, and the golden sparks converged into a palm-sized mirror.
Light flickered, and the face of the Ancient One appeared within the mirror surface.
She was sitting at a low table, holding a purple clay teacup in her hand.
"The cleanup work in Tokyo has already been handled by the Japan branch." The Ancient One spoke first, her voice steady. "You did very well."
"Your next target is Egypt, Cairo." The Ancient One looked at Wong. "The stronghold there is hidden deep underground in the Great Pyramid of Giza. That is one of the remaining four main nodes."
Wong nodded and recorded it.
"However, the node in Cairo is different from Tokyo." The Ancient One's tone deepened. "You must convey my words to Lin Yi word for word."
"How is it different?"
"The reason Kaecilius chose the stronghold under the pyramid is not simply because the spatial dimensions there are weak." The Ancient One tapped her fingers twice on the desktop. "More importantly, an ancient ruin is buried there."
"An ancient ruin?"
"That is a ruin left behind by the previous generation of magical civilization. The time is thousands of years earlier than the establishment of Kamar-Taj," the Ancient Oneexplained.
"Kaecilius must be using the remaining magic array in those ruins to exponentially magnify the energy channel of the Dark Dimension."
"Tell Lin Yi, absolutely do not touch the ancient seal formation core within the ruins."
The Ancient One's expression was unprecedentedly serious.
"We have not yet completely deciphered that kind of seal."
"It repels all external energy, whether it is the White magicof the Vishanti or the Black Magic of Dormammu. Once triggered, the ancient array will indiscriminately suppress at the rule level."
The communication sparks dissipated.
Lin Yi pushed open the floor-to-ceiling glass door of the balcony and walked in.
He had just finished taking a bath, wearing a white bathrobe, holding a can of sweat-beaded iced cola.
"How is it? Where is the next stop?"
Wong repeated the Ancient One's words word for word, heavily emphasizing the "ancient seal" and "indiscriminate suppression".
After hearing this, Lin Yi scratched the edge of the soda can, without any worry on his face.
"An array even earlier than Kamar-Taj?" Lin Yi smacked his lips. "Sounds like a new variety."
Wong looked at Lin Yi's expectant expression and silently swallowed his dissuasive words.
He should have gotten used to it long ago; this person's neural circuitry in his brain was never on the same wavelength as a normal person.
"Pack your things, and let's head to Cairo to eat barbecue."
Chapter 28: Departure for Cairo
"Is there anything else you need, sir?"
The blond flight attendant leaned over with a smile, her neckline dipping below Lin Yi's line of sight as the wave of perfume drilled straight into the nose.
Lin Yi comfortably sank his body into the first-class seat, casually taking the chilled glass of champagne and snapping his fingers.
"Bring me two servings of caviar and a medium-rare Beef Wellington, add extra black pepper, and you guys can handle the rest yourselves."
The flight attendant twisted her slender waist and walked towards the galley, and Wong, sitting in the next seat, finally couldn't help slamming the magazine in his hand heavily onto the tray table.
"We are going to execute a mission, not here on vacation."
Wong lowered his voice and leaned over, looking at Lin Yi's pampered, master-like enjoyment deportment, and his head throbbed faintly.
"You don't understand this, Old Wang, saving the worldand enjoying life never conflict."
Lin Yi downed the champagne in one gulp, his expression written full of righteous confidence.
"There are portals, yet you insist on taking a plane, and first-class at that."
"Wasting a dozen hours, if Mordo knows you are squandering like this, he will definitely hack you to death."
Wong squirmed his body in the seat.
"Mordo is just a stubborn blockhead, you guys stay all day in that damn snowy mountain without even a Wi-Fi signal, and have long forgotten what a normal human world looks like."
Lin Yi turned his head to look at Wong's nervous round face.
"Look at the suit on your body, it was still a cheap piece of junk I casually rummaged for you on the streets of Tokyo."
"You bunch of sorcerers fight to the death with monsters every day, and you haven't even eaten a good meal."
"Even if one day you truly die in the line of duty on the battlefield and go to hell, when people ask you which barbecue place on Earth is the most delicious, you won't even be able to answer."
Wong was choked speechless for a long time, glaring fiercely at Lin Yi.
"Besides, since the old bald head gave enough funds, what's wrong with experiencing the local customs and practices of the common folk."
"This is also called going deep into the grassroots to understand the world we protect."
Lin Yi patted Wong's shoulder, pulled out a large stack of scrolls from the canvas bag, and spread them out on the tray table.
Seeing this, Wong's expression finally eased up a little bit.
Lin Yi's fingers scribbled randomly on top, but his mind had long flown to the clouds.
Having transmigrated to this Marvel Cinematic Universefor three years, except for the first three years sweeping the floor and playing the grandson in Kamar-Taj, the development speed of the past half month was simply like riding a rocket, he must re-evaluate the future.
The current Earth timeline is still at a very early stage.
The Avengers haven't even been established yet, Iron Manshould have just tinkered out his armor.
As for that Thanos, the Purple Sweet Potato who plans family planning across the Universe, that is even further away.
Lin Yi listed these familiar names and events one by one in his heart.
His own god-tier Cost Reversal system was simply the ultimate cheat frantically sucking blood from the Universe.
As long as he plays it safe and steady along the plotline eating all the way, taking full control of the disasters on Earth and the Universe-level backlash.
By the time of Endgame, he might be able to let Thanosexperience what it means to truly not talk about martial arts ethics.
"What materials are you looking at to smile like this, your saliva is about to drip down."
Wong handed over a napkin with a face full of disgust, interrupting Lin Yi's perfect fantasy.
"I thought of a happy thing."
"What..."
Lin Yi, who was just about to speak, had his gaze attracted by the Beef Wellington served by the flight attendant.
Lin Yi wiped the corner of his mouth, forked a piece of steak and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing vigorously.
Wong sighed, looking at Lin Yi's heartless appearance.
"Ahead is Cairo International Airport, underground there are buried ancient ruins, which might be even more dangerous than Tokyo, you better put all your mind on how to deal with Kaecilius's ambush forces."
Wong turned his head to look at the gradually enlarging desert silhouette outside the window, his tone revealing solemnity.
"Rest assured, Old Wang, no matter what old antiques are hidden underneath, as long as it dares to show its health bar, I can make it know what cruelty is."
...
The tires of the off-road vehicle rolled up large patches of yellow sand.
Cairo suburbs, no-man's-land.
Lin Yi sat in the passenger seat, crossing his legs, holding a roll of sizzling roasted mutton skewers in his right hand.
"Old Wang, step on the gas, at this speed, anyone who doesn't know would think we are visiting a wildlife park."
Wong gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, his forehead covered in sweat.
"Can you say a little less."
Wong stepped on the brakes, and the jeep stopped steadily on a towering sand ridge.
He took out a tattered piece of parchment from his arms, and then took out a compass with a brass casing, gesturing on the dashboard.
Lin Yi leaned over and glanced, the parchment was drawn with messy circles and lines.
"What I want is a treasure map, you give me a map?"
"What kind of nonsense is this drawn, several lines intersecting together, how the hell is this still a worldmap?"
Lin Yi used the mutton skewer stick to point at the map.
"The Pyramid of Khufu is in that direction, at least more than ten kilometers away from here, did you drive the wrong way?"
Wong turned the compass over and wiped the sand off it with his sleeve.
"That is a bluff for ordinary tourists."
"The target of the Great Pyramid is too big, the array network of Kamar-Taj has already screened it hundreds of times."
"Kaecilius is not that stupid."
"The coordinates given by the Master are the extension line of the ley lines of the Great Pyramid of Khufu."
"The node is hidden beneath an affiliated small mausoleum."
Lin Yi pushed open the car door and jumped out of the car.
He looked around, except for rolling sand dunes, there wasn't even a single cactus.
Wong lifted a canvas bag from the trunk and walked to the edge of the sand ridge.
He muttered words in his mouth, bringing his right thumb and index finger together, drawing a golden arc towards the open space ahead.
A subtle ripple spread in the air.
On the previously empty sandy ground, a half-collapsed stone entrance gradually revealed itself.
Several broken stone pillars were tilted and thrust into the sand pile, and heavily weathered hieroglyphs were carved on the lintel.
"This is it."
The two walked in front of the stone door.
This door was tightly sealed by a piece of granite, the surface of the rock covered with dark red patterns, like bulging blood vessels.
Wong took out a few crystals from the bag.
"Back off, I need at least some time to remove the surface seal, forcibly destroying it will cause a backlash of underground energy..."
Before Wong finished speaking, Lin Yi walked straight to the stone door.
He retreated half a step and smashed his right fist into the very center of the granite.
The granite first caved in with a clear fist print, the dark red formation patterns flickered twice, and then amidst a muffled roar, it completely shattered into rocks all over the ground.
"You're crazy!" Wong was splattered all over by the gravel and jumped in anxiety, "The Master instructed that we can't come hard!"
"Old Wang, efficiency first."
Chapter 29 Pyramid Underground
Lin Yi flicked his right hand.
A cold current surged from the depths of the passage, instantly beating back the summer heat outside.
The wind carried an unshakeable musty odor, along with a stench similar to dried blood.
Lin Yi stepped over the rubble and stepped onto the stone steps extending downward.
Wong sighed, had no choice but to hurriedly pinch a magicincantation, rubbed out a luminous sphere the size of a head, made it hover above their heads, and hurried to follow.
Walking down the stone steps, the light became darker and darker.
The golden light sphere overhead could only illuminate a range of five or six meters around them.
The walls on both sides were no longer rough rocks, but extremely polished bluestone slabs.
Every single stone slab was densely engraved with runes.
These runes were completely different from the Sanskrit of Kamar-Taj; they looked more like patterns pieced together from some beast's claw prints and astrological trajectories.
"Are these the relics of the previous generation's magiccivilization?" Lin Yi walked while reaching out to touch the carvings on the wall.
"Don't touch blindly!" Wong slapped Lin Yi's hand away. "Many of the magic arrays here are trigger-based."
The further down they walked, the wider the stone steps became, until the two finally stopped in front of a huge crossroads.
The light sphere in Wong's hand floated for a distance in four directions, illuminating three equally deep and straight passages.
On the walls of each passage, those strange runes were emitting a faint dim green light.
"We're in trouble." Wong's round face wrinkled into a ball, his tone solemn.
He pressed his hands on the ground, sensed for a few seconds, and quickly stood up.
"How is it?"
Wong pointed at the wall on the left.
"Kaecilius and his group forcibly nested the Dark Dimension barrier into these ancient magic arrays."
"Now no matter which path we take, as long as it touches the dark energy, the ancient magic array will treat it as a foreign intruder and suppress it indiscriminately."
"Indiscriminate suppression?" Hearing these four words, Lin Yi's eyes lit up.
He remembered Ancient One saying that this kind of ancient seal array core would execute suppression at the rule level.
He closed his eyes and activated [Void Perception].
A three-dimensional grid intertwined with energy lines appeared before his eyes.
Lin Yi's consciousness extended forward along these grids.
The purple-black lines represented the power of the Dark Dimension.
And those dark gold lines, as heavy as copper walls and iron walls, were the ancient magic mentioned by Wong.
These two forces were intertwined, engaging in a tragic mutual devouring at every fork in the road and behind every stone door.
Lin Yi probed deep along the most energy-dense area.
The area here was at least ten times larger than the Tokyostronghold, completely a three-dimensional labyrinth.
Just as his consciousness was about to pierce through the next layer of grid, his deep mind suddenly throbbed.
That's not right.
In the gaps between the purple-black and dark gold, he "saw" a third thing.
There was an extremely weak, nearly transparent pulsation.
Ancient One hadn't mentioned this.
Lin Yi opened his eyes with a smile on his face.
Ancient magic was originally his goal for coming to Cairothis time, but now, this third unknown energy reaction completely whetted his appetite.
"Old Wong, stop what you're doing." Lin Yi lifted his foot and walked toward the middle passage, "Follow your gut."
"Did you find the route?" Wong quickly followed.
"The barrier here automatically reorganizes the route every three minutes, that gadget of yours is useless."
"Besides, Kaecilius's people are probably no longer here."
"Impossible! Intelligence confirmed that they sent senior Zealots to strengthen the defense, I—" Wong's voice stopped abruptly.
The passage came to an end.
The space ahead suddenly opened up, being a huge space similar to an indoor Underground Room square.
Wong's magic light sphere floated into mid-air, illuminating the full view of the square.
Twelve stone pillars with a diameter of more than three meters supported the dome.
And on both sides of the square, two rows of tall humanoid stone statues were neatly arranged.
These stone statues were as tall as three meters, with rugged muscle lines, holding giant stone spears up to four meters long in their hands.
The surface was covered with dust and weathering traces.
The air was eerily quiet, without even a trace of wind.
"This place is not right, where are Kaecilius's people?" Wong's gaze swept back and forth among the stone statues.
Lin Yi stared at the first stone statue on the left, feeling that heavy dark gold energy pouring into these stones along the underground.
"Let's go down and take a look first."
The steps reached the end.
The two stepped on the bluestone slabs at the edge of the square, kicking up a circle of dust.
Wong hurriedly pushed the magic light sphere suspended above his head further up.
"This craftsmanship is a bit crude." Lin Yi looked up and down at the nearest stone statue.
These stone statues didn't even have clear facial features carved, only having a rough outline, looking like an unfinished semi-finished product.
"Never mind the craftsmanship, find the stronghold first, watch out for Kaecilius's people."
Wong held his hands in front of his chest, his eyes glancing around randomly into the dark depths, afraid that a senior Zealot would jump out from some dark corner.
The light sphere swayed in mid-air.
"There is no one here."
Lin Yi walked toward the first stone statue on the left.
Arriving in front of the stone statue.
The stone surface was covered with weathering cracks of all sizes.
He raised his right hand and slapped it on the statue's thick thigh.
"Old Wong, look, this thing is just a decoration..."
"Don't move around!" Wong screamed anxiously until his voice cracked, the flesh on his fat face shaking three times.
As soon as Wong finished speaking.
Where Lin Yi's palm struck, a dazzling dark golden light lit up without warning.
An extremely muffled vibration transmitted from the bluestone slabs to the soles of Lin Yi's feet.
Immediately afterwards, that kind of dark gold light stream poured out from all the stone gaps on the ground of the entire underground square.
These light streams were like electrified mercury, climbing all the way up along the soles of the statue's feet, filling every rune carving on its whole body in the blink of an eye.
On the statue's featureless face, two dark gold light spots lit up directly where the eyes belonged.
The sound of stones squeezing and rubbing against each other sounded, so harsh that it made people's teeth ache.
Large chunks of dust that had accumulated on the surface of the statue for who knows how many years fell down, smashing onto the ground and stirring up a cloud of dust.
This stone had come alive.
The stone arm holding the spear was raised high, swinging around to sweep horizontally directly.
Making a sharp whistling sound, heading straight for the waists of Lin Yi and Wong.
"Step back!"
Chapter 30 All-Show-No-Substance Stone Statue Soldiers
Wong roared, stepped forward, and his hands quickly pulled out several golden semicircles in front of his chest.
Two Rings of Raggadorr rapidly formed on his forearms, crossing and pushing out to the very front.
A dull impact sound echoed through the underground space.
The giant stone spear heavily smashed into the magicshield.
Golden sparks scattered and fell along the edges of the shield, illuminating the accumulated dust on the ground clearly.
Wong's body of over two hundred pounds completely failed to withstand this bizarre force.
His entire person was smashed so that his feet left the ground, flying backward against the bluestone slabs.
The soles of his shoes rubbed fiercely against the stone ground, plowing out two blackened scorch marks, and he slid a full six or seven meters before stopping.
Wong's chest heaved violently, his hands braced against his knees as he swallowed down a surge of metallic blood taste.
He immediately withdrew the shield on his right hand, shaking his numb and trembling wrist.
"Big Brother, don't be careless at all! I told you to be careful!"
While retreating, Wong quickly formed hand seals for defense.
"These stone lumps have no souls, and mental-type spells are completely useless against them."
"The energy attached to the spears is entirely the array operation mechanism of the ancient ruins themselves; going head-to-head puts us at too much of a disadvantage!"
Lin Yi stood in place without moving, completely casting Wong's warning to the back of his mind.
Continuous sounds of stone friction came from both sides of the square.
One after another, the twelve stone statues successively shed their weathered outer layers and all came to life.
The twelve three-meter-tall behemoths raised their spears and tightly surrounded Lin Yi in the middle.
The stone statue closest to Lin Yi retracted its sweeping spear and changed it to a heavy, top-down smashing strike.
Lin Yi tilted his head up slightly, watching the dark golden spear tip falling with whistling wind.
He needed to experience just how powerful these relics of the previous generation's magic civilization truly were.
The stone spear carrying dark golden runes landed solidly on Lin Yi's left shoulder.
Relying on his current Demigod Body physical fitness, Lin Yi easily withstood the several-hundred-catty weight of the stone spear itself using pure physical defense.
However, the bluestone slabs beneath his feet could not bear this strange force transmitted downward, cracking outward in a spiderweb pattern as gravel flew wildly.
Before Lin Yi could speak, an abnormal change ensued.
The spear did not break through Lin Yi's flesh defense, but those dark golden runes attached to the spear tip crawled into his body through the contact point on his shoulder like living creatures.
The core logic of this ancient array was extremely rigid and domineering.
Its sole mission of existence was to indiscriminately suppress all external forces.
Unfortunately, just a few days ago at the Tokyo stronghold, Lin Yi had sucked dry an entire three-story-high crystallized central tower.
Right now, his entire person was a walking aggregate of the dark origin.
Within this ancient ruin's recognition mechanism, Lin Yiwas a super heretic whose destruction program had to be initiated immediately.
The dark golden suppression rules turned into a substantial mincer, directly drilling into Lin Yi's meridians and energy circulation.
It completely ignored the obstruction of physical defense, frantically tearing, cutting, and extracting the dark energy within Lin Yi's body.
This was an extremely high-level rule suppression, attempting to uproot Lin Yi's spark of life.
Just as this energy-tearing sensation spread throughout his whole body, a familiar cool feeling rippled through the depths of his mind.
[Your body is suffering indiscriminate rule suppression from the ancient magic array (extreme consumption state) —— Trigger Reversal!]
[Ancient Magic Affinity + 100!]
[Ancient Magic Affinity + 120!]
[Ancient Magic Affinity + 150!]
Rows of translucent White characters continuously refreshed and jumped in front of Lin Yi's field of vision.
Looking at the skyrocketing numbers on the panel, Lin Yicouldn't help but laugh out loud.
This broken system parasitic on the underlying laws of the Universe truly wasn't picky about food at all.
Not only could it eat Dark Dimension energy as a meal, but it could even accept all such outdated ancient array rule backlashes without exception.
As long as it was something in this Universe with the attribute of a "price", regardless of which track it belonged to, it could all be reversed into solid personal attributes.
Lin Yi's brain spun extremely fast.
This realization completely opened up his train of thought and perspective.
If this set of logic could be extended infinitely...
Then in the future, could Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet, which would burn people into cripples with a single snap, be used as one's personal exclusive fitness equipment?
Could Wanda's Chaos magic, which constantly went berserk and out of control or could even tear apart reality, be treated as an oversized experience ATM?
Even those high and mighty divine powers of Asgard, things that shortened one's life and drove people mad when used, were all free super attribute points over here.
The disasters and taboos that others avoided like the plague were all heavenly shortcuts for Lin Yi to climb upward.
The rules of this Marvel Universe were practically going to be rewritten by him alone from now on.
"Lin Yi! Stop dazing off and hurry up and back out!"
Seeing Lin Yi daze off a dozen meters away, Wong quickly reminded him.
The other three stone statues nearby had already taken heavy steps and surrounded him.
Their thick stone feet stepped on the ground, producing a rumbling, muffled sound.
Three four-meter-long, heavy stone spears were raised simultaneously, the dark golden light on their tips merging into one as they smashed fiercely toward Lin Yi's head.
Lin Yi turned his neck, and his whole body's bones emitted a sour-sounding friction noise.
Not only did he not retreat half a step backward, but he actively crashed right into the very center of the three stone statues' encirclement.
"Old Wang, just stand there and don't move; obediently watch the show."
Lin Yi simply spread his arms wide, letting those heavy stone spears smash onto his body like raindrops.
The dull impact sounds echoed continuously in the underground square, stirring up dust all over the sky.
Every time a spear smashed down, the suppression rules of the ancient magic rushed through the interior of Lin Yi's body like a heavy pile driver.
The white characters on the panel scrolled frantically, and the affinity values soared upward incessantly.
Only half a minute passed, and the raw sense of rejection toward the ancient energy inside Lin Yi's body was rapidly subsiding.
The dark golden light that originally smashed onto his body like a dull knife cutting flesh now landed and gradually turned into a comfortable sensation of soaking in warm water.
Wong really couldn't bear to watch from the periphery anymore; regardless of how Lin Yi wanted to play, he prepared to go check out other places.
Just as he took half a step forward, the stone slabs under Wong's feet shook violently.
The walls of the entire underground square began to shed dust in a rustling manner.
The surrounding dark golden light began to flash frantically and irregularly.
The movements of those stone statues surrounding Lin Yisuddenly became extremely slow, and the array light glowing on their bodies was also rapidly decaying at a rate visible to the naked eye.
All the ancient energy flowed backward along the gaps in the underground stone slabs, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, heading straight toward the dark end right in front of the square.
"Lin Yi!"
Wong stopped in his tracks, pointing his finger behind the stone pillar ahead.
There was a huge stone door that had originally been tightly sealed by dust.
Right now, the intricate runes on the stone door were frantically draining the ancient energy of the entire square.
Lin Yi poked his head out from the pile of stone statues, shoved aside the stone monster whose movements had already frozen, and patted the dust off his clothes.
"What's up?" Lin Yi licked his lips, staring at the stone door with a face full of anticipation, "What good stuff is coming again?"