The genius who counterattacked the mainland

They stepped out of the cave, the blood-red sky still hanging heavy overhead like a blazing flame. A barren, scorched earth stretched beneath their feet, raising acrid clouds of dust with every step. A howling wind, carrying the roar of a demon, echoed through the dead world, a challenge.

"We need to first determine the direction to search for the artifact." Xu Tiancai frowned, his eyes scanning the surroundings. He could sense the faint clues drifting in the wind, yet elusive.

"According to the records in the ruins, the Wind Artifact may be related to the sky. Let's go higher and see if there are any clues." The mysterious figure offered his thoughts, gazing at the towering black mountains in the distance. Although the mountains were surrounded by flames, a power distinct from the demonic aura seemed to surge from their peaks.

Everyone nodded and headed towards the Black Mountains. Along the way, they encountered numerous demonic attacks. There were flying snake demons, serpent-like but with wings and countless spikes. They swooped down from the sky, spewing green venom from their mouths. Then there were the ground thorn demons, suddenly emerging from the ground, covered in spikes like hedgehogs, and attacking by spinning their bodies.

Agang wielded his battle axe, clearing the way. Each swing of the axe whipped up a gust of wind, driving back the approaching flying snake demons. Venom splattered around him, corroding the ground into holes that billowed with black smoke. "These guys are really haunting!" Agang roared, his eyes growing more determined.

Lin cast a massive protective spell, creating a transparent shield that enveloped everyone. Venom and ground spikes collided with the shield, scattering bursts of light. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead; maintaining such a powerful spell took a heavy toll on her mana.

Xu Tiancai fused the power of the stars, the phoenix, and the guardian pearl into a series of arrows of light, which he fired with pinpoint precision at the demon's vital points. Wherever the arrows struck, the demon screamed in agony, its body reduced to ash. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess each cast powerful spells. The mysterious figure summoned the power of darkness, dragging the Spike Demon into the abyss of darkness; the Ice Princess cast ice magic, freezing the Flying Serpent Demon in mid-air and then shattering it.

After a hard fight, they finally arrived at the foot of the Black Mountains. The mountains radiated scorching heat, and magma flowed through the cracks in the mountains, as if it were the blood of the mountains.

"This mountain is not easy to climb, everyone be careful." Xu Tiancai reminded as he looked at the steep mountain and the boiling lava.

They climbed up the mountain through the cracks in the rocks, enduring the scorching heat with every step. Agang's palms burned red, but he gritted his teeth and refused to retreat. Lin used magic to mitigate the heat's effects, her gaze fixed upward, searching for a possible path.

During the climb, several huge rocks suddenly rolled down from above, blazing with flames, and smashed towards them.

"Be careful!" Xu Tiancai shouted. He quickly used instant movement to come to a rock. He used both hands to gather the power of the stars in his palms and pushed the rock back.

Agang swung his battle axe, shattering the approaching rocks. The debris splashed down on him, leaving some scratches, but he ignored it and continued to climb. Lin cast a wind spell, blowing some smaller rocks aside. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also cast their own spells to neutralize the rock attacks.

After a difficult climb, they finally reached the summit of the mountain. The wind grew stronger, howling and threatening to blow them off the mountain. On the platform at the top stood an ancient temple. Its architecture was simple and mysterious, and despite the erosion of time, it still exuded a majestic aura.

"The wind artifact may be inside." Xu Tiancai said.

They entered the temple, which was filled with an ancient atmosphere. The walls were covered with carvings of wind: phoenixes soaring, tornadoes whistling, and elves dancing in the wind. These designs were vivid, as if telling the story of the wind.

In the center of the temple stood a massive altar of wind. On the altar sat a crystal ball emitting a blue glow. A whirlwind swirled within the crystal ball. That was the Wind Artifact—the Wind Crystal.

"That's it!" Lin said excitedly.

However, just as they were about to approach the Wind Crystal, several figures suddenly appeared around the altar. These figures looked like spirits made of wind, with transparent bodies and nimble wings. They held wind blades in their hands, their eyes filled with vigilance.

"Who are you? Why did you break into the Temple of Wind?" asked a wind elf, its voice as clear and sharp as the whistling of the wind.

"We are here to find the Wind Artifact and save the world." Xu Tiancai replied.

"The Wind Artifact is the treasure we are guarding, and we cannot let you take it away." said the wind elf, swinging the wind blade in its hand, and the other wind elves also raised their weapons, ready to fight.

"We don't want to be your enemy, but we must get the Wind Artifact in order to destroy the 'Heart of Darkness' and eliminate the demons." Xu Tiancai said sincerely.

"We don't believe you. Only the Guardian of Wind can possess the Wind Artifact, and you are obviously not one of them," said the Wind Elf.

"Then how can one become the Guardian of Wind?" asked Xu Tiancai.

"You need to pass the Trial of Wind to prove that you are qualified to possess the Wind Artifact." said the Wind Elf.

"Okay, let's accept the Trial of Wind." Xu Tiancai said without hesitation.

The wind elves swung their wind blades, and powerful tornadoes formed in the temple. The tornadoes swept towards Xu Tiancai and the others, who quickly used magic and weapons to defend themselves.

Agang plunged his battle axe into the ground, steadying himself and attempting to resist the tornado's pull. Lin cast a wind-based balancing spell to stabilize herself within the tornado. Xu Tiancai, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess each exerted their powers, attempting to break free from the tornado's grip.

"This tornado is very powerful. We have to find its weakness." Xu Tiancai shouted.

While observing the tornado, he discovered that there was a relatively calm area in the center of the tornado, which seemed to be the key to controlling the tornado.

"Attack the center of the tornado!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

They began to attack the center of the tornado. Lin cast a precise spell, gathering the wind element into a sharp wind arrow and shooting it towards the center of the tornado. After the wind arrow hit the center of the tornado, the power of the tornado began to weaken.

Agang and the mysterious figure also launched an attack towards the center of the tornado. Agang's battle axe always hit the key position of the tornado's center accurately, and the mysterious figure's dark magic also continuously bombarded this area. Under their combined attack, the tornado gradually dissipated.

However, this was only the first stage of the Wind Trial. Next, the wind elves summoned even more powerful wind magic. Countless wind blades rained down on them, each so sharp that it could easily cut through rock.

They quickly dodged the wind blades, and Lin cast a wind shield to block them. However, there were too many wind blades, and cracks began to appear in the wind shield.

"We can't just defend, we have to fight back!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

He fused the power of the stars and the power of the phoenix together to form a huge blade of light. He threw the blade towards the densest area of ​​wind blades. The blade of light continued to grow in size during its flight, shredding all the wind blades that approached.

Agang swung his battle axe and rushed towards the wind elf. He raised the battle axe high and chopped at the wind elf with all his strength. The wind elf was nimble and easily dodged Agang's attack, then continued to launch wind blade attacks.

The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess surrounded the Wind Elves from both sides, trying to find their weakness. The mysterious figure cast a confusion spell, causing some Wind Elves to fall into a brief state of confusion. The Ice Princess cast an ice prison spell, temporarily trapping several Wind Elves.

In the fierce battle, they gradually discovered the wind elves' attack patterns. Although the wind elves' attacks were flexible and changeable, their coordination had a certain rhythm. As long as they mastered this rhythm, they could find opportunities to counterattack.

They changed their attack strategy and began to counterattack according to the wind elves' attack rhythm. Lin cast a powerful wind magic, gathering the wind elements into a giant wind phoenix. The wind phoenix flew towards the wind elves, and wherever it touched, the wind elves were repelled.

Agang, the mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also took the opportunity to launch attacks. Their attacks hit some wind elves, and the bodies of the wind elves became illusory under their attacks.

After a hard battle, they finally defeated the wind elves and passed the trial of wind.

"You have passed the trial and proved your strength and determination. The Wind Artifact is now handed over to you," said the Wind Elves leader.

Xu Tiancai stepped forward and picked up the Wind Crystal. The Wind Crystal emitted a soft blue light in his hand, and he could sense the powerful force of wind within it.

"We now have the wind artifact, and next we will look for the fire artifact." Xu Tiancai said.

According to the clues, the Fire Artifact might be deep in the volcano of this scorched earth world. They left the Wind Temple and headed towards the volcano.

The temperature around the volcano was extremely high, the air was filled with a strong smell of sulfur, and the crater continuously spewed out magma and thick smoke, with a deafening roar.

"This volcano looks very dangerous, we have to be careful." Agang looked at the volcano and tightened his grip on the battle axe.

They walked cautiously towards the crater, and on the edge of the crater, they found a cave leading to the interior of the volcano. The cave was steaming hot, magma was flowing at the bottom of the cave, and some red crystals were embedded in the walls. These crystals emitted a fiery light, illuminating the cave.

"The fire artifact may be inside, everyone follow closely." Xu Tiancai said.

They followed the cave deeper into the volcano, dodging flowing lava and flames erupting from the walls. Deep within the cave, they discovered a vast lava lake. In the center of the lake was a platform of flames, upon which rested a divine artifact emitting a dazzling red light: the Flame Orb.

"That's the Fire Artifact!" Lin said excitedly.

However, there were some fire demons lurking in the lava lake. These demons were made of magma, and their heads had a pair of huge horns, which were burning with flames. They noticed the arrival of Xu Tiancai and others, and they crawled out of the lava lake and pounced on them.

The flame demons' bodies were extremely hot, and wherever they moved, the surrounding air was distorted. They opened their bloody mouths and spewed out flames, sweeping towards Xu Tiancai and the others.

Agang brandished his battle axe and charged at the flame demon. The battle axe collided with the flame demon's body, sending up a shower of lava. However, the flame demon's body was very hard, and the battle axe only left a shallow mark on it.

Lin cast a water spell, attempting to lower the flame demon's temperature. A large amount of water gushed out from her hands, pouring down upon the flame demon. The moment the water came into contact with the flame demon, a large amount of steam was generated, blurring the surrounding vision.

Xu Tiancai fused the power of the stars, the phoenix, and the guardian pearl together, forming chains of light shimmering with a rainbow of colors. With a wave of his hands, the chains of light swung towards the flame demon, tightly wrapping around its limbs. The light from the chains flickered continuously, burning the flame demon's body and slowing its movements.