The genius who counterattacked the mainland

Xu Tiancai and the others stood before the dark castle. The massive black structure, like a dormant beast, exuded a chilling aura. The castle's walls towered into the clouds, constructed from an unknown black rock. Its surface shimmered with an eerie, dark light, as if flowing. The walls were covered in sharp spikes and ferocious gargoyles, each so lifelike that it seemed ready to spring to life and pounce upon them at any moment.

The castle's gates were tightly shut, intricately carved with images of demons roaring, souls wailing, and a world engulfed in darkness. In the center of the gate stood a massive statue of a demon's head, its eyes glowing blood-red, as if gazing upon these uninvited guests.

"This is the core of darkness. The 'Heart of Darkness' should be inside." Xu Tiancai clenched his fists. The light emitted by the artifact flowed in his hands, bringing a faint ray of hope to the surroundings.

They approached the gate cautiously, feeling the chill of the ground beneath their feet with every step. When they were within a certain distance, the eyes of the demonic head statue suddenly shone brightly, and then the gate slowly opened, revealing a thick, dark aura that rushed towards them like a black storm, nearly blowing them over.

"Get ready, we don't know what kind of terrifying existence is waiting for us inside." A Gang raised his battle axe, his eyes determined, his muscles tensed, ready for the upcoming battle.

They entered the castle. The hall was dark and damp. Candlesticks burning green flames hung on the walls. The flames flickered, casting distorted shadows on the walls. The floor of the hall was paved with black stone slabs, engraved with mysterious runes. The runes occasionally flashed a dark red light, as if telling of an ancient curse.

Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed through the empty hall, making it impossible to tell where they were headed. Then, a group of dark figures emerged from all directions. These figures resembled ghosts, their bodies transparent, their eyes gleaming only with a pair of faint light. They rushed towards Xu Tiancai and the others at breakneck speed, emitting sharp cries.

Lin quickly cast a light shield spell. The transparent shield shimmered with golden light, enveloping everyone. The ghosts collided with the shield, splashing green sparks. The shield trembled slightly, but still blocked the first wave of attacks.

"These ghosts seem to be souls controlled by dark forces. We have to be careful, as they may absorb our vitality." Lin reminded, with beads of sweat already appearing on her forehead. Maintaining this powerful shield consumes a lot of her magic power.

Xu Tiancai combined the power of the stars, the phoenix, and the guardian pearl with the power of the four divine artifacts, forming a series of shimmering multicolored arrows. With a wave of his hand, the arrows rained down upon the ghosts. Wherever the arrows reached, the ghosts let out shrill screams and their bodies gradually dissipated.

Agang charged into the swarm of ghosts, brandishing his battle axe. The axe was imbued with the power bestowed by the divine artifact, and each swing ignited a burst of light, shattering the approaching ghosts. His figure weaved through the swarm of ghosts like a god of war descending to earth, and the ghosts could not get close to him.

The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess each cast powerful spells. The mysterious figure summoned the purifying power of darkness, a power that possessed a special ability to counteract those souls twisted by darkness. Rays of white light appeared from the darkness, and wherever they passed, ghosts were reduced to ash. The Ice Princess then cast an ice field spell, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet. The moisture in the air condensed into countless sharp ice spikes, which shot towards the ghosts. The ghosts struck by the ice spikes were instantly frozen and shattered into icy shards.

After a hard fight, they finally eliminated the ghosts, but before they could catch their breath, the ground in the hall began to shake violently. The previously calm runestones began to shift and rearrange themselves, forming a massive magic circle. The magic circle emanated an intense dark light, and a powerful suction force emanated from it, attempting to pull them in.

"Everyone, hold on!" Xu Tiancai shouted, pouring power into his feet, trying to resist the suction. The others also cast magic or used the power of artifacts to steady themselves.

However, the magic circle's suction grew stronger, and they felt their feet gradually leave the ground. At this moment, a large amount of black liquid suddenly gushed out of the magic circle. As if it had life, it quickly spread towards them. Wherever the black liquid touched, it corroded the ground, leaving large pits and emitting a pungent odor.

Lin cast an earth magic spell and built an earth wall around them, trying to stop the spread of the black liquid. But the black liquid quickly corroded and penetrated the earth wall and continued to flow towards them.

"We can't let these liquids touch us. Use wind magic to blow them away!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

Lin immediately changed her magic and cast a powerful wind magic. A strong wind blew up and blew towards the black liquid. The wind blew the black liquid into countless small droplets, but these droplets still flew towards them in the air.

Agang swung his battle axe, forming a powerful barrier in front of him, knocking away the approaching droplets. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also cast their own magic. The mysterious figure summoned the devouring power of darkness to swallow some of the droplets, while the Ice Princess cast ice magic, freezing the droplets in mid-air and then shattering them.

With their joint efforts, they finally withstood the attack of the black liquid. As the black liquid gradually receded, the suction of the magic circle also disappeared, and the hall returned to a brief period of peace.

"This castle is full of dangers. We must find the 'Heart of Darkness' as soon as possible and not waste too much time here." Xu Tiancai said, and they began to look for a passage leading to the inside of the castle.

Walking down one side of the hall, they discovered a deep corridor. The walls were inlaid with giant black crystals, and within them, shadowy figures seemed to be struggling, emitting an aura of pain and despair. At the end of the corridor stood a stone door, engraved with strange patterns, resembling some ancient map, though the details were indecipherable.

"The clue we are looking for should be behind this door." Xu Tiancai walked forward and carefully observed the pattern on the stone door.

At that moment, the stone door suddenly roared and slowly opened. Inside was a vast circular room. In the center of the room sat a massive black pool, swirling with black smoke. Strange lights flickered faintly through the smoke. Around the pool were stone platforms, upon which lay a variety of mysterious objects: spellbooks emitting a dark aura, skulls inlaid with gems, and strangely shaped weapons.

"Everything in here is full of dark power, so don't touch it easily." Lin reminded.

However, as they entered the room, the black smoke within the pool suddenly swirled violently, and from it emerged a group of demon guards. These demon guards were tall and muscular, covered in black scales, and wielded massive black halberds. Their eyes flashed with green flames, and deep growls emanated from their mouths.

The demon guards attacked them as soon as they appeared, brandishing their halberds, stirring up a black whirlwind. Wherever the halberds touched, the air was torn apart, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

Agang was the first to charge forward, his battle axe colliding with the demon guard's halberd, sending up a shower of sparks. Agang felt a surge of force, numbing his arm, but he didn't flinch. Instead, he swung his battle axe even harder, engaging in a fierce battle with the demon guard.

Xu Tiancai combined the power of the stars, the power of the phoenix, and the power of the artifact to form powerful energy waves, which attacked the group of demon guards. Wherever the energy waves reached, the demon guards were repelled, but they quickly reorganized and continued to attack.

Lin cast a large-scale defensive and disruptive spell, creating a barrier of light and runes around them. This barrier not only blocked the demon guards' attacks but also interfered with their movements and perceptions. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess flanked the demon guards, attempting to find their weakness.

The mysterious figure cast a dark curse, enveloping some demon guards with its power, slowing their movements and weakening their strength. The Ice Princess then cast an ice storm spell, sending countless ice blades swirling in the storm, sweeping towards the demon guards. Wounds appeared on the demon guards' bodies, and black blood flowed from the wounds.

In the fierce battle, they gradually discovered that although the attacks of the Demon Guards were fierce, there were some loopholes in their coordination. Whenever they launched a collective charge, a brief gap would appear in the rear defense.

"We should concentrate our attacks on their rear areas when they charge!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

Following this strategy, when the Demon Guards launched another charge, Lin reinforced the defenses in front of the barrier, while Agang drew the Demon Guards' attention from the front. Xu Tiancai, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess took the opportunity to attack the gaps behind them. Their attacks hit the Demon Guards from behind, knocking some of them to the ground and losing their combat effectiveness.

After a hard fight, they finally eliminated all the demon guards. But at this moment, the black smoke in the black pool became thicker, as if a more powerful being was about to appear.

"Everyone be careful, there are more powerful guys in here." Xu Tiancai looked at the black pool vigilantly, ready to face new challenges.

Suddenly, a huge black claw stretched out from the black smoke. It had sharp nails that shone with a black light. It clawed towards them with incredible speed and power.

Xu Tiancai and the others quickly dodged, their claws digging into the ground, leaving deep furrows. Then, a massive demon slowly rose from the black smoke. This demon was enormous, with three heads, each with massive horns and blood-red eyes. Its body was covered in a hard black carapace, engraved with mysterious runes that glowed with a dark red light.

"You tiny humans, how dare you trespass into my territory? You are courting death." The three heads of the devil spoke at the same time, and the sound echoed in the room like thunder, making their ears buzz.

"We are here to destroy the 'Heart of Darkness' and eliminate darkness. Don't try to stop us." Xu Tiancai responded loudly. He gathered all his strength in his hands, ready to fight this powerful demon.

The demon laughed wildly, then opened its three bloody maws, spewing out flames, venom, and black lightning. The flames were a pale blue, scorching hot, instantly melting the ground wherever they touched. The venom was green, dripping onto the ground with a sizzling sound, corroding it and carving large pits. The black lightning twisted like a snake, striking them with a destructive force.

Lin quickly cast a multi-layered protective spell, forming several layers of shields with different attributes around them: light shield, water shield, and earth shield. The light shield could resist the erosion of dark forces, the water shield could reduce the temperature, and the earth shield enhanced the strength of the defense.

Agang brandished his battle axe and rushed towards the flames spewed by the demon. He infused the power of the artifact into the battle axe, and it ignited a blazing fire, fighting against the demon's flames. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also cast their own magic. The mysterious figure summoned the power of balance from the darkness to try to dissolve the demon's venom, while the Ice Princess cast ice magic, forming ice walls to try to block the black lightning.

Xu Tiancai combined the power of the stars, the power of the phoenix, the power of the guardian pearl, and the power of the four artifacts to form a huge multicolored light shield, blocking the way for everyone. The light shield collided with the demon's attack, emitting a dazzling light, illuminating the entire room.

After resisting the demon's first round of attacks, they began looking for an opportunity to counterattack. Xu Tiancai discovered that the three demon heads would be briefly uncoordinated when launching attacks, and the middle head would pause for a moment after spewing fire.

"Attack its head in the middle!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

They are heading towards evil