The genius who counterattacked the mainland

Lin cast a purification spell, and white light emanated from her hands, spreading toward the black ghosts. Wherever the purifying light reached, the ghosts howled in pain, their bodies trembling slightly. However, they did not retreat, instead rushing towards Xu Tiancai and the others with even greater frenzy.

Agang swung his battle axe, slashing at the approaching ghosts. The axe whistled through the air, but it passed right through the ghosts, causing no real damage. Agang frowned, realizing these ghosts were unlike any other enemies they'd encountered before; ordinary physical attacks wouldn't work against them.

The mysterious figure formed hand seals and chanted an ancient spell. From the darkness, streaks of black light appeared. These rays entwined themselves around the ghosts like silk threads, attempting to restrain their movements. However, the ghosts' bodies were ethereal, easily freeing themselves from the black rays and continuing to drift towards them.

The Ice Princess cast her ice magic, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet, and water vapor to condense into countless sharp ice spikes. These spikes shot towards the ghost, and when they hit the ghost, its body was briefly frozen, but it quickly recovered and continued to rush forward.

Xu Tiancai frowned, knowing he had to find a way to deal with these ghosts, or they would be in trouble. He concentrated, trying to use the artifact to sense the ghosts' weaknesses. Under the artifact's light, he discovered that the ghosts' core was a ball of dark energy that appeared and disappeared within their bodies.

"Attack the dark energy within them!" Xu Tiancai shouted. He focused the power of his divine artifact and fired a small, concentrated arrow of light at the core of a ghost. The arrow struck the ghost's core, sending the dark energy surging violently under the impact. The ghost let out a shrill scream and began to dissipate.

The others understood Xu Tiancai's intention and changed their attack methods. Ah Gang transformed the power of his battle axe into a special shockwave that could affect the dark energy within the ghosts. He swung his battle axe at the ghosts, and the shockwave spread outward, disrupting the dark energy within their bodies.

Lin cast an elemental spell specifically designed to target dark energy. She mobilized the surrounding light and fire elements, mixing them together to form an energy with powerful purifying and destructive abilities. She fired this energy at the ghosts, striking their cores. The dark energy gradually dissipated under the purification and destruction, and the ghosts vanished one by one.

The mysterious figure summoned the power of Judgment from the darkness, a force that could precisely locate the weaknesses of the dark energy within the ghosts and deliver a fatal blow. With a wave of his hands, the power of Judgment transformed into countless black arrows, shooting towards the ghosts. The arrows accurately hit the ghosts' cores, and the ghosts were annihilated by the power of Judgment.

The Ice Princess casts her ice magic, lowering the surrounding temperature to an extreme, creating a cold field. Within this field, the flow of dark energy within the ghosts slows. She then attacks the ghosts with ice spikes, which, enhanced by the cold field, are more effective in destroying the ghosts' cores.

After a hard-fought battle, they finally eliminated all the ghosts. But they had no time to rest and immediately returned to the ancient stone tablet to continue their research. After careful deciphering, Lin and the mysterious figure discovered that the stone tablet contained clues to opening the castle gate.

It turns out that the castle gate requires three mysterious keys to open, and these three keys are hidden in three mysterious locations around the castle. Each location has powerful guardian creatures and complex puzzles waiting for them.

Following the map on the stone tablet, they set out for the first mysterious location. This location was a mysterious garden located in the valley behind the castle. The garden was shrouded in a magical mist, and from the outside, only the vague outlines of flowers and plants could be seen.

As they entered the garden, a rich floral fragrance filled their faces. It seemed as if some kind of magical power was hidden within the fragrance, gradually blurring their consciousness. Xu Tiancai and the others hurried to calm themselves, knowing that this fragrance was the garden's first line of defense.

Lin cast a mental shield spell, and a white light enveloped them, temporarily shielding them from the scent. They cautiously moved through the garden, discovering the strangeness of the plants and flowers. Some flowers had petals as sharp as blades, some vines would attack those who approached, and some trees had branches like giant whips, ready to lash out at any enemy.

Suddenly, the flowers and plants in the garden began to attack them frantically. Petals like blades flew towards them, vines entwined themselves from all directions, and branches lashed at them. Xu Tiancai raised his artifact, and the light from it formed a protective shield, blocking the petals' attack.

Agang swung his battle axe, severing the approaching vines. However, the vines had a strong regenerative ability and quickly grew back after being cut. Lin cast an elemental control spell, attempting to control the earth and water elements in the garden, depriving the flowers and plants of their nutrients. Under her magic, some flowers began to wither, but many continued to attack frantically.

The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess each cast their own magic to aid the group in combating the attacking plants. The mysterious figure summoned the tranquil power of darkness, a force that temporarily calmed the surrounding creatures. Under the influence of this tranquil power, the plants in the garden slowed down their attacks. The Ice Princess then cast ice magic, freezing the surrounding plants and temporarily restricting their movement.

During the fierce battle, they found a small pavilion in the center of the garden, and inside the pavilion was a glittering object, which they guessed might be the first mysterious key.

They advanced towards the pavilion, constantly battling the flowers and plants as they advanced. Agang's axe swung faster and more fiercely, severing large vines and branches with each strike. Lin's elemental control magic became more precise, withering more and more flowers and plants under her spell. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also unleashed their special abilities, their tranquility and ice magic effectively restraining the flowers and plants.

Finally, they arrived in front of the pavilion. Inside was a key radiating a multicolored light, inscribed with delicate patterns and mysterious runes. Xu Tiancai reached out to pick up the key, and at that moment, the flowers and plants in the garden suddenly ceased their attack, as if they had completed their mission.

They left the garden with the first key and headed towards the second mysterious place. The second mysterious place was a maze hidden under the castle. The entrance to the maze was blocked by a huge stone with strange patterns carved on it.

Xu Tiancai and the others worked together to push aside the stone and entered the maze. It was dark and damp, with green moss hanging from the walls, emitting a faint fluorescent light. A pungent odor permeated the maze, as if something had been rotting there for a long time.

They moved cautiously through the maze, discovering a complex network of passages with many dead ends. After walking along one passage for a while, they suddenly heard a low roar. The sound echoed through the maze, sending chills down their spines.

They walked toward the source of the sound and came to a large room. Inside was a gigantic monster. The monster had the body of a bear but the head of a lion. Its body was covered in sharp spikes, and its eyes were like two giant red lanterns, emitting a fierce light. The monster saw them, roared, and pounced on them.

Xu Tiancai hurriedly cast a defensive spell, and a multicolored light curtain reappeared, blocking them. The monster collided with the light curtain, causing it to tremble violently, but it still blocked the monster's attack. Ah Gang swung his battle axe and rushed towards the monster. His battle axe struck the monster, sending up a shower of sparks, but the monster's skin was incredibly tough, leaving only a shallow mark.

Lin cast a weakening spell, attempting to weaken the monster's strength and defenses. She manipulated the surrounding elements, directing wind to disrupt the monster's aura, fire to lower its temperature, water to make its body heavier, and earth to influence its movements. Under the effects of her magic, the monster's movements slowed and its strength weakened.

The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess each cast their own magic to aid Gon in his fight against the monster. The mysterious figure summons the power of fear from the darkness, a force that strikes fear into the monster and dampens its fighting spirit. The Ice Princess casts ice magic, creating a thick layer of ice around the monster, attempting to trap it.

Under their combined attack, the monster gradually fell into a disadvantage. But it remained fierce, struggling constantly, trying to break free from the ice and continue its attack. Xu Tiancai seized the opportunity, increased the power of the artifact to the extreme, and fired a powerful arrow of light at the monster's head. The arrow struck the monster's head, causing it to roar in pain and stagger.

Gon seized the opportunity and swung his axe again, striking the monster's wounded head. The axe struck, sending a spray of green blood splattering. The monster's head was severely wounded, significantly reducing its strength. Lin, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess continued their magic, further weakening the monster.

After a hard fight, they finally defeated the monster. Where the monster fell, they found a secret compartment with a glowing blue key inside. This key was the second key to the castle gate.

They left the maze with the two keys and headed towards the third mysterious location, a bell tower at the top of the castle. The bell tower's stairs were steep, narrow, and damaged in places, making them dangerous to walk on.

They climbed up the bell tower carefully and saw a huge pendulum at the top. Next to the pendulum was a stone platform with a box on it. There was a keyhole on the box and they guessed that the third key was inside the box.

However, when they approached the pendulum, it suddenly began to swing violently, its speed getting faster and its force getting stronger, and each swing brought with it a strong gust of air, as if it was going to blow them off the bell tower.

Xu Tiancai raised the artifact, and the light from the artifact counteracted the power of the pendulum, stabilizing their bodies. A Gang tried to block the attack of the pendulum with his battle axe, but the battle axe was knocked away by the pendulum, and he was also shocked and took a few steps back.

Lin cast a wind spell, attempting to control the direction and speed of the wind, thus stabilizing the pendulum's swing. Her magic stabilized the pendulum's movement somewhat. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also cast their own spells, assisting Lin in controlling the pendulum.

They discovered that the pendulum's swing seemed to be related to the wind direction and air currents around the clock tower. After careful observation, Lin said to everyone, "We need to change the wind direction and air currents around the clock tower to stop the pendulum from swinging."

They began casting spells around the clock tower, altering wind direction and airflow. Xu Tiancai infused the power of his artifact into the sky, influencing the surrounding weather. Agang used the power of his battle axe to create small vortexes of air around the clock tower. Lin cast a large wind elemental spell, directing the surrounding wind in the appropriate direction. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also cast their own spells to help adjust wind direction and airflow.

After some effort, the pendulum finally stopped swinging. They breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the stone platform. When they opened the box, they found a key emitting golden light. This was the third key to open the castle gate.

They returned to the castle gate with the three keys. Xu Tiancai inserted the three keys into the locks and turned them according to the order written on the stone tablet. As the keys turned, the runes on the gate began to glimmer, and with a roar, the castle gate slowly opened.

An old, stale atmosphere emanated from the castle, carrying a hint of mystery and danger. They entered the castle, and found a spacious but dimly lit hall. Ancient portraits hung on the walls, the figures in them stern-faced, as if gazing down at them.