The genius who counterattacked the mainland

The culvert was dark and damp, its walls covered in slippery moss and emitting a pungent, rancid odor. Xu Tiancai and his companions carefully navigated the narrow culvert, water dripping from their heads from time to time, bringing a chill to their bodies.

"Everyone, be careful! There might be a trap here," Xu Tiancai whispered, his star power coursing slowly through him, ready to respond to any unexpected situation. Ah Gang, gripping his great axe, walked in front, warily observing the darkness ahead. Lin cast a weak illumination spell, and a small ball of light ignited in her palm, illuminating their surroundings.

After walking for a distance in the culvert, they came to a fork in the road. From the left passage came a low roar, as if some ferocious beast was lurking; from the right passage came a chilling draft, with a faint, eerie whisper in the wind.

"Which way?" A Gang asked. Xu Tiancai thought for a moment and said, "The airflow on the right might be the ventilation system inside the castle. It might lead to the inside of the castle faster. Let's go to the right."

They walked towards the passage on the right. As they went deeper, the chill air grew stronger and the whispers became clearer, as if telling of an ancient and evil curse. Suddenly, the light ball in Lin's hand flickered a few times and then went out, and the surroundings instantly fell into darkness.

"What's going on?" Ah Gang whispered in surprise. Xu Tiancai's heart tightened. He could sense a powerful dark force interfering with Lin's spell. "Everyone, stay close together. Don't disperse," he said.

At that moment, they felt countless pairs of icy hands reaching out from all directions, attempting to grasp them. Agang swung his great axe, slashing into the darkness. With each swing, he heard a shrill scream, but the hands continued to pour in. Lin cast an ice spell, attempting to freeze the surrounding space, but the dark forces seemed to weaken her spell, limiting its effectiveness to a localized area.

Xu Tiancai combined the power of the stars, the power of the phoenix, and his newly acquired strength to form a colorful light shield around them. The shield radiated a soft glow, and if the outstretched hands touched the shield, they would be burned by the light, making a sizzling sound, and then disappear into the darkness.

"This dark force is preventing us from moving forward. We must break through it," Xu Tiancai shouted. He concentrated his mind, trying to sense the source of the dark force. In his perception, he found that the dark force was emanating from a point at the end of the passage. "Go to the end, there is the key."

They braved the attacks of the dark forces and advanced towards the end of the tunnel. Each step was extremely difficult. Those cold hands constantly struck the light shield, and tiny cracks appeared on it. Agang and Lin also injected their own power into the light shield to maintain its stability.

When they finally reached the end of the passage, they discovered a massive dark rune. Carved into the wall, the rune exuded a rich, dark aura. Its lines resembled a writhing black python, constantly releasing dark power.

"It's this rune that's causing the trouble," Xu Tiancai said. He gathered all his strength in his hands, forming a huge ball of light, and smashed it towards the rune. The ball of light and the rune collided with a loud bang. The dark rune's light flickered a few times, and the surrounding dark power weakened slightly.

"Everyone, attack together!" Xu Tiancai shouted. A-Gang swung his massive axe, slashing at the rune, each blow causing it to tremble. Lin cast a forbidden ice spell, consuming a significant portion of her own life force, transforming it into an extreme force of cold, which she charged towards the rune. Under the combined attack of the three, the dark rune finally succumbed and began to crack.

As the cracks in the rune grew larger, the dark power it unleashed grew more violent. As if in its final struggle, the rune unleashed pulses of black energy that charged towards Xu Tiancai and the others. They resisted with all their might, and the light shield faltered under the impact of the energy pulses.

"Hold on!" Xu Tiancai shouted. They gritted their teeth and continued their attack. Under a powerful blow, the dark rune finally shattered, dissipating in a puff of black smoke. The surrounding dark forces also vanished, and the passage returned to calm.

After a brief rest to regain some strength, they continued on their journey. Passing through the passage, they arrived at the castle's interior. The hall was spacious and eerie, its floor paved with black marble, intricately carved with patterns and runes. The ceiling was high, and above it hung a massive black crystal chandelier. The candles in the chandelier burned with green flames, their flickering light casting eerie shadows on the walls.

On either side of the hall were corridors leading in different directions. Deep within the corridors lay a shroud of darkness, and it was unknown what lay hidden. In the center of the hall, a large circular stone platform was surrounded by black statues. The statues were of various shapes, some humanoid, others animal-like. Their eyes glowed red, as if watching the intruder.

"Something feels off here. Everyone, be careful," Xu Tiancai warned. They cautiously approached the stone platform. As they approached, the surrounding statues suddenly moved. The humanoid statues held black swords, while the beast-like statues opened their bloody mouths, revealing sharp fangs, and lunged towards them.

Agang confronted a beast-like statue, his axe clashing with its tusks, sending up a shower of black sparks. The beast-like statue's power was immense, knocking Agang back a few steps. He steadied himself and charged at the statue again, using his speed and agility to dodge the blow before striking at its legs. The axe struck the statue's leg, causing it to stagger slightly, but it didn't fall.

Lin cast an ice spell, attempting to freeze the approaching humanoid statue. The ice arrow struck the statue, coating it with frost, but the statue remained unaffected and continued charging towards Lin. Xu Tiancai combined his powers, including the power of the stars and the power of the phoenix, and fired a series of multicolored beams at the statue. The beams left burn marks on the statue's body, but the statue continued its attack tenaciously.

"These statues are tough to deal with. They seem to be strengthened by some force," Xu Tiancai said. During the battle, he noticed that when the statues attacked, the runes on their bodies would emit a slight energy fluctuation. "Attack the runes on their bodies; that's their weak point!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

His teammates heard his shout and immediately adjusted their tactics. Gang drew the statues' attention, nimbly weaving through them and dodging their attacks with his speed and agility. Lin and the other teammates watched for opportunities to strike at the runes on the statues' bodies.

Xu Tiancai zeroed in on a rune on a humanoid statue and fired a powerful beam of light at it. After the beam struck the rune, the statue's body trembled and then stopped moving. The other teammates followed suit, attacking the runes on the statues' bodies. With their combined force, the statues were destroyed one by one, their bodies reduced to a pile of black stone and falling to the ground.

After dealing with the statue, they arrived at the stone platform. Its surface was engraved with vague patterns that seemed to tell an ancient story. Xu Tiancai carefully examined the patterns, trying to find some clues. In the center of the stone platform, there was a small groove shaped like a key.

"This might require a special key to open. Let's look for it in the castle," Xu Tiancai said. They split into several groups and headed towards different corridors, searching for the key in the castle.

Down a corridor, Agang discovered a room. The door was ajar, and a strange sound emanated from within. He cautiously pushed it open, revealing a jumble of miscellaneous items: worn armor, rusted weapons, and objects emitting a mysterious glow. In a corner, he spotted a shimmering object. Approaching, he discovered a black key, its shape perfectly fitting the grooves in the stone platform.

"I found it!" Agang shouted excitedly. He picked up the key and prepared to leave the room. Just then, the debris in the room began to shake, as if it had life. The worn armor automatically combined, and the rusty weapons flew into the air, attacking Agang.

Agang swung his giant axe to block the attack. He dodged the attacks and ran out of the room. The armor and weapons were chasing him closely. Agang shouted as he ran, "Come help!"

Hearing Agang's cries, Xu Tiancai and Lin rushed over. Xu Tiancai channeled all his strength, firing colorful beams at the pursuing armor and weapons. Some were repelled, but more continued to pursue. Lin cast an ice spell, creating ice walls along the corridor in an attempt to block their pursuit. But the armor and weapons broke through the ice walls, their speed undiminished.

"Give me the key!" Xu Tiancai shouted. A Gang tossed the key to Xu Tiancai, then turned to continue fending off the attacks from armor and weapons. Xu Tiancai, holding the key, ran toward the stone platform. When he reached the edge, he inserted the key into the groove.

As the key was inserted, the stone platform shone with light, and the surrounding ground began to shake. A massive platform rose from beneath the stone platform, upon which sat a massive black treasure chest. The chest was engraved with intricate runes and patterns, emitting a powerful dark aura.

"What's in this treasure chest?" Lin asked. "I don't know, but it's definitely something special. Opening it could be dangerous, so everyone be prepared," Xu Tiancai said. They approached the treasure chest cautiously. As they approached, the runes on it began to glow, as if warning them to stay away.

Xu Tiancai took a deep breath, reached out, and attempted to open the treasure chest. The moment his hand touched the chest, a powerful dark force surged from it, enveloping him completely. He felt as if he were in a dark abyss, surrounded by endless darkness and cold, the dark force constantly corroding his body and soul.

"Xu Tiancai!" Agang and Lin shouted. They tried to rush over to save Xu Tiancai, but the dark power formed a barrier, blocking them out. Agang swung his giant axe and chopped at the barrier, but the axe hit the barrier, only splashing a burst of black sparks, unable to break through.

Under the erosion of the dark forces, Xu Tiancai felt his consciousness begin to blur. But he had a firm belief in his heart: he would not be defeated by the dark forces. He focused his mind, exerting the power of the stars, the power of the phoenix, his newfound strength, and the power of his armor to the extreme, trying to resist the erosion of the dark forces.

With his efforts, the encroachment of the dark force was slightly weakened. He began to use his own power to explore the source of the dark force. In the darkness, he discovered that the dark force was emanating from a core object within the treasure chest. This core object resembled a black crystal ball, with some black smoke swirling inside the crystal ball. Some evil existence seemed to be hidden in the smoke.

"I'm going to break this crystal ball!" Xu Tiancai thought to himself. He gathered all his strength in his hands, forming a huge ball of light. The light ball shone brightly in the darkness, and he threw it at the crystal ball. The light ball collided with the crystal ball, making a loud noise, and the crystal ball trembled violently.

The dark force became even more violent, attempting to completely devour Xu Tiancai. But Xu Tiancai didn't retreat, and continued his attack. Outside, Agang and Lin were also trying to break through the barrier, exerting their full strength to attack it.

Under Xu Tiancai's continued attacks, cracks began to appear on the crystal ball. As the cracks grew larger, black smoke began to leak out. The black smoke transformed into black ghosts, which pounced on Xu Tiancai. The ghosts' bodies were ethereal, but their eyes gleamed with an evil light. They rushed towards Xu Tiancai with bared fangs and claws, trying to stop him from continuing to attack the crystal ball.