The genius who counterattacked the mainland

After obtaining the first key, Xu Tiancai and his companions headed non-stop towards the hidden location of the second key. According to the information, they were heading to a mysterious ruin on the edge of the city, shrouded in a thick layer of fog, exuding an ancient and mysterious atmosphere.

Along the way, the ground beneath their feet gradually became rougher. The once smooth, glowing streets disappeared, replaced by paths strewn with gravel and strange crystals. Those crystals shimmered eerily in the dim light, as if watching their every move. In the sky, the interwoven patterns of light and shadow grew more complex, as if warning of danger ahead.

As they approached the mysterious ruins, a powerful wave of energy surged towards them. Like a surging ocean wave, it attempted to push them away. Agang steadied himself, burying his battle axe deep into the ground, his muscles tense, like an unshakable mountain. "This power is formidable! Everyone, be careful!" he shouted.

Lin cast a balancing spell, attempting to mitigate the impact of the energy fluctuations. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead, and she rapidly formed seals with her hands, muttering something. Elemental power gathered around her, forming a faint curtain of light that enveloped everyone and mitigated the impact of the energy fluctuations.

The mysterious figure gazed into the mist ahead, a dark force surging in his eyes. "There's something fishy about this mist. It might hide dangerous traps and unknown creatures." His voice was low and hoarse, full of caution.

The Ice Princess gently waved her wand, causing the temperature around them to plummet. Ice crystals condensed in the air, forming a thin protective layer around them. "No matter what, we must fight our way through this." Her eyes were firm, showing no sign of retreat.

Xu Tiancai gripped the artifact tightly. The artifact, sensing its master's determination, emitted a soft, multicolored light. He took the lead and stepped into the mist, taking each step with extreme caution, as if he were standing on an abyss.

As soon as they entered the fog, they found their vision blurred and visibility extremely low. The air around them was damp and cold, filled with a stench of decay. Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed in the fog, the sound coming and going, making people feel creepy.

"Who? Come out!" A Gang brandished his battle axe and roared in the direction of the laughter. His voice echoed in the fog, but there was no response, and the laughter only became more and more eerie.

Lin cast a detection spell, trying to pinpoint the source of the laughter. However, the magic was severely disrupted by the fog, and she could only detect vague energy fluctuations. "The fog here seems to be blocking magic. My detection spell isn't very effective," Lin said, frowning.

The mysterious figure closed his eyes and released his mental energy, attempting to penetrate the fog. Dark forces spread through the mist like threads, searching for suspicious signs. "Something is approaching us. Prepare for battle," he whispered, suddenly opening his eyes.

The Ice Princess increased her ice magic to its maximum power. The surrounding ice crystals rapidly grew larger, transforming into sharp ice spikes that hovered in mid-air. "Whatever it is, don't even think of harming us," she said coldly.

At that moment, a group of dark shadows emerged from the mist. These shadows, ghostly and swift, seemed composed of darkness and mist, devoid of any fixed form. They pounced upon Xu Tiancai and the others, extending their long claws and emitting a bone-chilling chill.

Ah Gang was the first to meet the enemy, his battle axe flashing with a cold light as he fiercely slashed at the black shadow. The battle axe struck the black shadow, but it was like striking air, without any resistance. However, the black shadow turned into a cloud of black smoke the moment it came into contact with the battle axe, and then quickly recondensed in another direction.

Xu Tiancai unleashed his magical weapon's attack skill, sending a multicolored arrow of light shooting towards the shadow. The shadow let out a sharp cry after the arrow struck it, but it suffered no substantial damage. Instead, it rushed towards them even more frantically.

Lin cast an elemental fusion spell, fusing the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth together to form a powerful energy storm. The energy storm swept towards the shadows, blowing them this way and that, but their bodies quickly recovered.

The mysterious figure summoned the purifying power of darkness, a power capable of dispelling darkness and evil. The dark purifying power ignited like a black flame, spreading toward the shadows. As the shadows encountered the purifying power, their bodies gradually dissipated, but new shadows continued to emerge from the mist.

The Ice Princess cast an ice-sealing spell, attempting to freeze the shadows. She lowered the temperature around them to an extreme, and a thick layer of ice quickly formed on the ground, spreading towards the shadows. Covered by the ice, the shadows' movements became sluggish, but they continued to struggle, trying to break free.

Under their combined attack, the shadows' attack was temporarily contained. However, these shadows were numerous and seemingly endless, constantly emerging from the mist, exerting immense pressure on Xu Tiancai and the others.

"This is not a solution. We have to find the source of these dark shadows to completely solve the problem." Xu Tiancai said.

They began searching for the source of the shadows in the fog, and during their search, they discovered some faint energy patterns in the fog. These patterns resembled some kind of ancient formation, and were closely related to the appearance of the shadows.

Lin carefully observed the energy patterns, trying to find a flaw in the formation. She noticed that they converged in one direction, as if guiding them somewhere. "Everyone, follow me! These patterns may be clues to the source of the shadows," Lin said.

They walked along the direction of the energy lines, constantly fighting with the shadows along the way. Every step required tremendous effort, but they did not retreat at all.

Finally, they arrived at a massive energy vortex. It was located in the center of the ruins, where the surrounding fog was thickest. It was from this vortex that the dark shadows continuously emerged.

"It seems that this is the source of the black shadow. We have to find a way to destroy this energy vortex." Xu Tiancai said.

They began to study the energy vortex and found that the energy vortex was composed of many different energies, among which dark energy dominated. To destroy this energy vortex, it was necessary to neutralize it with opposite energy.

The mysterious figure suggested using the power of light to counter the dark energy. He began to cast a powerful light spell, and a dazzling white light emerged from beneath his dark robes. The light grew stronger and stronger, shooting towards the energy vortex. When the power of light and the dark energy came into contact, the two canceled each other out, and the energy vortex began to show signs of instability.

Lin unleashed her elemental power, mobilizing the surrounding light and fire elements to enhance the power of light. The light and fire elements merged with the mysterious figure's light magic, forming a massive beam of light that fiercely impacted the energy vortex.

Agang and the Ice Princess were responsible for protecting Lin and the mysterious figure from the shadows. Agang swung his axe, repelling the approaching shadows one by one, the axe's power scattering many of them. The Ice Princess cast an ice shield magic, forming a solid ice shield around them to resist the shadows' attacks.

With their combined efforts, the energy vortex's rotation gradually slowed, and the surrounding shadows dwindled. But just as the energy vortex was about to be destroyed, it suddenly erupted with a powerful recoil force. This force, like a bomb exploding, swept towards them.

Xu Tiancai quickly activated the artifact's defensive ability, unleashing a vast, multicolored curtain of light that enveloped everyone. The curtain trembled violently under the recoil, and Xu Tiancai gritted his teeth, maintaining its stability with all his might. A-Gang, Lin, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess also cast their own defensive spells to aid Xu Tiancai in resisting this powerful force.

After a difficult struggle, they finally withstood the recoil of the energy vortex. After the recoil, the energy vortex completely disappeared, and the surrounding fog began to gradually dissipate.

As the mist dissipated, the full extent of the mysterious ruins emerged before them. It was an ancient, magnificent structure with a unique architectural style, imbued with a mystical aura. The walls of the ruins were covered with massive murals depicting ancient rituals and battle scenes, as if telling of the site's past glory and vicissitudes.

In the center of the ruins stood a massive circular stone platform, covered in intricate runes and patterns. Atop the platform sat a mysterious stone box, which shone through cracks in the box, seemingly beckoning them.

"The second key we are looking for may be in that stone box. Let's go and take a look." Xu Tiancai said.

They walked towards the stone platform. As they approached it, the runes and patterns on it suddenly lit up, releasing energy rays that shot towards them at an extremely fast speed.

They dodged quickly. A Gang blocked several energy beams with his battle axe, the axe and the beams intersecting in a shower of sparks. Lin cast an elemental shield, enveloping herself and the Ice Princess beside her, blocking most of the energy beams. The mysterious figure used the power of darkness to conceal himself, evading the energy beams. Xu Tiancai plunged his artifact into the ground, unleashing a multicolored curtain of light that protected the area around them.

"These runes and patterns seem to be a defense mechanism. We have to find a way to break it," said Lin.

They began to study the runes and patterns on the stone platform, and found that they had similarities with some ancient documents they had seen in the city. After some deciphering, they found that these runes and patterns formed a complex puzzle that needed to be solved in a specific order to disarm the defense mechanism.

Lin, drawing on her knowledge of elemental magic and runes, began to attempt to solve the puzzle. She carefully touched the runes on the stone platform, injecting energy according to a specific sequence. Each touch triggered a surge of energy, but she remained unfazed, remaining focused on the puzzle.

Thanks to Lin's efforts, the puzzle was gradually solved. The runes and patterns on the stone platform gradually dimmed, and the energy beams ceased attacking. They breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the stone box.

When Xu Tiancai reached out to open the stone box, an energy seal suddenly appeared on it. This energy seal was extremely powerful and locked the stone box tightly.

"It seems there is one last hurdle. We have to break this energy seal." Xu Tiancai said.

They began to try to break the energy seal. A Gang swung his battle axe and chopped at the energy seal. The battle axe hit the energy seal with a dull sound, and the energy seal only trembled slightly, but was not broken.

Xu Tiancai increased the power of the artifact to its maximum, and fired a series of colorful light arrows at the energy seal. After the light arrows hit the energy seal, they left some small pits on the seal, but the energy seal remained solid.

Lin cast elemental fusion magic, fusing the four elements of wind, fire, water, and earth together to form a powerful energy wave that struck the energy seal. The energy wave impacted the energy seal, causing its light to flicker briefly, but it did not cause any substantial damage to the seal.

The mysterious figure summoned the destructive force of darkness, a force capable of corroding and destroying various energy structures. The destructive force of darkness spread towards the energy seal, leaving some black marks on it, but the seal remained unbroken.

The Ice Princess cast Ice Piercing Magic, and the sharp ice spikes pierced the energy seal. The ice spikes collided with the energy seal, making a crisp sound, and the ice spikes shattered one after another, but the energy seal remained intact.

"This energy seal is more powerful than we thought. We need to think of a new way." Lin said with a frown.