The genius who counterattacked the mainland

Xu Tiancai and his companions, carrying the first guardian bead, sped through the forest in the second direction. Although the mysterious figure had been temporarily repelled, the looming threat still lingered in their hearts, forcing them to not slack off even a little.

They ran through the forest, the ground beneath their feet soft and springy, each step raising a cloud of fallen leaves and dust. The surrounding trees were like silent giants, witnessing their escape and pursuit. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, creating streaks of golden light that crisscrossed the forest like sharp swords. However, they had no time to admire this beauty, for danger could strike again at any moment.

Suddenly, the trees ahead thinned, revealing a strange clearing. The clearing was strewn with rocks of varying sizes, engraved with mysterious patterns and ancient inscriptions. These patterns and inscriptions glowed faintly, as if telling stories from long ago. In the center of the clearing stood a sacred tree of peculiar shape. Its trunk spiraled upward, its bark gleaming silvery like metal. Its branches were laden with shimmering, translucent fruits, each emitting an alluring aroma. But Xu Tiancai and his companions knew that beneath this beautiful exterior lay a deadly danger.

"This is the second holy tree, everyone be careful." Xu Tiancai warned in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the holy tree, alert to possible traps around it.

Agang gripped the giant axe tightly and nodded, "Well, there's something weird about this place." His eyes were as sharp as an eagle, scanning every corner of the open space.

Lin cast a detection spell, attempting to identify any hidden dangers around the sacred tree. As the spell was cast, her expression grew grave. "There's a magical barrier surrounding it, and there are many offensive magic circles on this sacred tree. If we get too close, we might trigger an attack."

Xu Tiancai frowned, thought for a moment, and then said, "Let's try to go around from the side and see if we can find the weak point of the barrier."

They carefully moved along the edge of the clearing, trying not to touch the light on the stones. However, when they were halfway there, the ground beneath their feet suddenly changed. The soft earth became as hard as iron, and countless sharp spikes pierced from the ground, attacking their feet.

"Be careful!" Xu Tiancai shouted, and in a flash, he jumped onto a nearby rock. Ah Gang and Lin also reacted quickly. Ah Gang leaped hard, dodging the spikes with his immense strength, while Lin cast a small levitation spell, lightly floating up.

At that moment, the magic circle on the sacred tree was triggered. The fruits on the branches began to glow with an eerie light, then shot towards them like cannonballs. The fruits flew at an incredible speed, piercing the air with a sharp whistling sound. Xu Tiancai formed hand seals and chanted something. A light curtain, a fusion of star power and phoenix power, appeared before them. The fruits collided with the curtain, unleashing a powerful energy surge that sent ripples across it.

"We can't go on like this. We have to find a way to break this magic circle." Xu Tiancai shouted.

A Gang looked at the sacred tree, a look of determination flashing in his eyes. "I'll attract its attack, and you guys look for a chance to destroy the magic circle." As he spoke, he brandished his great axe and rushed towards the sacred tree. He ran so fast that a gust of wind rustled the surrounding leaves.

The magic circle on the sacred tree seemed to sense Agang's provocation, and more fruit shot towards him. Agang nimbly dodged the fruit attacks, his figure moving across the open space like a nimble cheetah. Although some of the fruit hit him, he relied on his strong physique to withstand them.

Lin and Xu Tiancai took the opportunity to search for the key nodes of the magic circle. With her keen sense of magic, Lin discovered several points on the trunk of the sacred tree where energy fluctuations were unusually strong. "There! Those points might be the key to the magic circle," she said, pointing to the trunk.

Xu Tiancai nodded. "Let's attack together." They both unleashed their powers simultaneously. Xu Tiancai channeled all the energy within him into a powerful beam, while Lin cast a powerful ice spell, sending a massive cone of ice hurtling towards a crucial point on the tree's trunk. The beam and cone of ice struck their targets simultaneously, triggering a violent explosion. The magic circle on the sacred tree flickered, snapping some branches and reducing the fruit's attacks.

Agang seized this opportunity, leaped high, and chopped down at the trunk of the sacred tree. His axe sunk deeply into the trunk, and the sacred tree trembled violently, as if groaning in pain. As the axe sunk deeper, more cracks appeared in the magic circle on the sacred tree, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Just as they thought they were about to successfully destroy the magic circle, the rocks surrounding the sacred tree suddenly flew up and smashed towards them. These rocks were enormous, each one like a small mountain, and they carried a powerful impact. Xu Tiancai and the others quickly dodged. The rocks smashed into the open ground, creating huge craters and sending dust flying.

"Damn, the defense of this sacred tree is stronger than we thought." Xu Tiancai frowned, feeling a little anxious.

While dodging the rocks, Lin discovered that the light on the rocks seemed to be somehow connected to the sacred tree's magic circle. "These rocks might be one of the sources of the magic circle's energy. Let's try to destroy them," she shouted.

So, they changed their strategy and began attacking the stone. Gang swung his massive axe, hacking at the stone, each blow leaving deep marks. Lin cast an ice spell, freezing the stone, then shattered it with ice arrows. Xu Tiancai used his combined power to attack the part of the stone that shone most brightly.

As the stones were broken one by one, the sacred tree's magic circle became increasingly unstable. The fruit on the sacred tree ceased its attack, and its branches stopped trembling. Finally, when the last crucial stone was shattered, the sacred tree's magic circle completely collapsed, emitting a dazzling light before disappearing.

They breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the sacred tree. As they approached the tree, a guardian bead emitting a blue light appeared in a groove in the trunk. The surface of the guardian bead was as smooth as a mirror, and a blue liquid seemed to flow inside, beautiful and mysterious.

Xu Tiancai reached out to remove the Guardian Pearl, and at that moment, a mysterious figure reappeared. It slowly emerged from the woods, its black armor still emitting a dark red glow, and its dark green eyes beneath its helmet flashed with angry flames.

"Don't think you can get the Guardian Pearl easily." The mysterious figure said in a low voice, its voice echoing in the open space, deafening like thunder.

Xu Tiancai and the others immediately became alert. They stored their guardian beads and prepared for a new battle. Without hesitation, the mysterious figure raised its hands, and the surrounding dark energy quickly converged, forming two massive black spheres. The black spheres spun within its hands, emitting a powerful suction force that sucked in surrounding rocks, branches, and other debris, compressing them into smaller fragments.

"Oh no! This attack is powerful! Everyone, get out of the way!" Xu Tiancai shouted. They scattered in different directions, and the black sphere changed its trajectory towards their direction, pursuing them relentlessly.

A-Gang ran at breakneck speed, trying to use his speed to escape the black sphere's pursuit. But the sphere was even faster, on the verge of catching up. A-Gang suddenly turned, swung his great axe, and a powerful axe blade shot towards the black sphere. The axe blade collided with the black sphere, unleashing a powerful wave of energy that sent A-Gang flying backwards.

Lin cast an ice spell, creating a thick ice wall around herself. The black sphere struck the ice wall, instantly cracking it and shattering it. Lin was sent flying by the impact, falling heavily to the ground.

Xu Tiancai shifted his form in mid-air, attempting to evade the black sphere's pursuit. He discovered that while the black sphere's suction was powerful, it had a limited range. He seized the opportunity, and the moment the black sphere approached him, he exerted his power and flew upward, successfully avoiding the sphere's attack.

The mysterious figure wasn't surprised to see them dodge the attack. With a wave of its hands, the black sphere changed direction, striking Xu Tiancai and the others again. Simultaneously, it also rushed towards them, preparing to launch a close-range attack.

Xu Tiancai and the others knew they could no longer passively evade the attack; they decided to attack proactively. After stabilizing himself, Ah Gang charged toward the mysterious figure. His massive axe was brimming with immense power, each swing ripping the air. Lin also stood up and cast a forbidden ice spell, consuming a significant portion of her life force and transforming it into an extreme force of cold. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and a thick layer of ice quickly formed on the ground, spreading toward the mysterious figure.

Xu Tiancai fused the power of the stars, the power of the phoenix, the power he had grasped from the black crystal, and the power of the two guardian beads. A multicolored light shone around him, growing stronger and stronger until it formed a massive energy shield. Then, he rushed toward the mysterious figure. As he approached, he transformed the shield into countless rays of light, shooting towards them.

The mysterious figure faced their attack without flinching. Its black armor unleashed a powerful dark force, colliding with their attacks. For a moment, light and darkness intertwined in the clearing, followed by a deafening explosion. The energy surged in all directions, uprooting surrounding trees and leaving the clearing in ruins.

During the fierce battle, Xu Tiancai noticed that when the mysterious figure unleashed dark energy, certain runes on his armor flickered more frequently. He had a thought: perhaps these runes were its weakness. He winked at Gang and Lin, and they immediately understood what he meant.

They adjusted their tactics, focusing their attacks on the flickering runes on the mysterious figure's armor. Agang's great axe slashed at the runes, each blow causing them to flicker. Lin's ice spells also struck the runes, the chill attempting to freeze them. Xu Tiancai, using his combined powers, fired beams of light, striking the runes with pinpoint accuracy.

Under their combined attack, the runes on the mysterious figure's armor began to crack. The mysterious figure roared in pain, and its attacks became more frantic, but also gradually lost their rhythm.

Seizing this opportunity, Xu Tiancai and his companions intensified their attacks. A-Gang, ignoring the mysterious figure's attacks, slashed at the runes with all his might. Lin cast a powerful ice magic circle, trapping the mysterious figure within, its chill constantly corroding it. Xu Tiancai then concentrated all his strength in his hands, forming a massive lightsaber, and stabbed at the crucial rune on the mysterious figure's armor.

The moment the lightsaber pierced the rune, the mysterious figure let out an earth-shattering scream. Cracks began to appear in its black armor, and its dark power became chaotic. As if sensing danger, the mysterious figure turned and attempted to flee.

"Don't even think about running!" Xu Tiancai shouted. They chased after him, ready to take this opportunity to completely eliminate the mysterious figure. However, as the mysterious figure fled, he suddenly cast a dark spell, instantly distorting the surrounding space, and his figure disappeared into the distorted space.

Xu Tiancai and the others stopped. They knew that the mysterious figure had only escaped temporarily and would definitely return. Moreover, they still had three guardian beads to find and could not waste too much time here.

"Let's continue on our journey and find the remaining guardian beads as soon as possible," Xu Tiancai said. Gang and Lin nodded. After a short rest, they set off in the next direction, continuing their journey full of dangers and challenges.

The forest is still full of unknown dangers, but their eyes are more determined, because they know that they are shouldering the mission of stopping the spread of dark forces. No matter how many difficulties and obstacles lie ahead, they cannot stop them from moving forward.