The genius who counterattacked the mainland

The temple shook more violently, huge blocks of stone falling from the walls and ceiling, crashing to the ground with a deafening roar. Cracks quickly spread like spiderwebs, and dust flew across the entire space, obscuring vision.

Xu Tiancai gripped the three sacred keys tightly, light spilling from his hands, attempting to illuminate the chaotic surroundings. "Everyone, be careful! Find a safe place to hide first!" he shouted, his voice clearly audible amidst the roar.

Agang raised his shield, its massive mass radiating a gentle glow that deflected falling rocks. With a determined gaze, he scanned the surroundings, searching for a relatively safe direction. "This way, follow me!" He ran toward a corner of the temple where the stone pillars appeared relatively stable.

Lin, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess followed closely behind Agang. Lin cast wind magic, creating a current around them that partially cleared the dust, allowing them to see the road. The mysterious figure's dark power followed them closely, ready to respond to any unknown threat. The Ice Princess continuously cast small ice shields to protect them from falling rocks.

When they reached the stone pillar in the corner, the tremors around them subsided slightly, but the aura of danger remained thick. The light within the temple flickered as it shook, and the once beautiful murals and reliefs were now incomplete as the stone crumbled, as if an ancient civilization was being mercilessly destroyed before their eyes.

"What the hell is going on? Did we trigger some kind of trap?" Lin frowned, her eyes filled with worry. She tried to cast a detection spell, but found that the surrounding energy fluctuations were too chaotic to obtain accurate information.

The mysterious figure gazed into the depths of the temple, darkness surging in his eyes. "No, this isn't a trap. An external force is attacking the temple. We must find the source and stop it, or we will all be buried here." His voice was low and serious, every word piercing with gravity.

At that moment, a loud bang came from the direction of the temple's gate. They turned and saw the gate collapse under the impact of a powerful force. A huge figure slowly emerged from the smoke and dust.

It was a monster as massive as a mountain, its body a blend of rock and metal, covered in sharp spikes and runes gleaming with an eerie light. Its head resembled that of some ferocious beast, its massive mouth filled with jagged fangs, each as tall as a man and emitting a sickening, bloody stench. Its limbs were thick and powerful, and the ground trembled with every step it took. A long, barbed tail trailed behind it.

"What kind of monster is this? How can it be so powerful?" Ah Gang gripped his battle axe tightly, muscles tensed, ready for battle. There was no fear in his eyes, only the excitement and determination of facing a powerful enemy.

Xu Tiancai carefully put the Sacred Key away, the artifact gleaming with multicolored light in his hand. "Whatever it is, we can't let it destroy the temple, let alone prevent us from unlocking the secrets of the crystal ball," he said, charging towards the monster, his multicolored arrows shooting like meteors.

The arrow struck the monster, sending sparks flying but leaving only a few shallow marks on its hard hide. The monster seemed enraged, letting out an earth-shattering roar and spewing a puff of black smoke from its mouth. The smoke quickly spread, carrying a pungent odor as it enveloped Xu Tiancai and the others.

Lin cast earth elemental magic, building a solid earth wall in front of them, trying to block the invasion of black smoke. The earth wall trembled violently under the impact of the smoke, and cracks began to appear in some places, but it temporarily blocked the advance of the smoke.

"This smoke is poisonous, don't inhale it!" Lin warned loudly.

The mysterious figure summoned the purifying power of darkness, which burned like a black flame and spread towards the black smoke. Under the influence of the purifying power, the black smoke began to dissipate, but the monster had already taken the opportunity to rush towards them.

The Ice Princess cast her Ice Piercing spell, sending sharp ice spikes rising from the ground and piercing the monster's feet. Like giant spears, the ice spikes attempted to halt the monster's advance. However, the monster's body was too heavy, and the ice spikes shattered beneath its feet, only slightly slowing it down.

Ah Gang seized the opportunity and swung his axe at the monster's leg. The axe flashed with a cold light as it struck the monster's calf fiercely. This time, the axe finally left a deep wound on the monster's body. Black liquid flowed from the wound, but the monster only shook slightly and was not seriously affected.

The monster roared again, and its tail lashed out at Agang like a giant whip. Agang quickly raised his shield to block it. The tail hit the shield with a loud bang, and Agang was knocked back several meters by the huge force, leaving two deep marks on the ground.

"Everyone, attack its legs together and restrict its movements first!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

They concentrated their forces and launched an attack on the monster's legs. Xu Tiancai increased the power of his artifact to its maximum, raining down multicolored arrows on the monster's leg joints. Lin cast elemental fusion magic, fusing wind, fire, water, and earth into a powerful wave of energy that impacted the monster's legs. A mysterious figure summoned the destructive power of darkness, corroding the runes on the monster's legs and weakening its defenses. The Ice Princess continuously cast ice magic, creating a thick layer of ice around the monster's legs, attempting to freeze them.

Under their combined attack, the monster's legs gradually slowed down, but it seemed to sense their intentions and suddenly leaped high, pressing its massive body towards them.

"Scatter quickly!" Agang shouted.

They quickly scattered in all directions as the monster's body slammed heavily onto the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust and gravel. Under this massive impact, more cracks appeared on the temple floor, and some areas even collapsed.

"We can't fight it head-on. We have to find its weakness." Lin said. Her face was a little pale. Continuously casting high-intensity magic had consumed a lot of her physical strength.

They began to circle the monster, searching for its weaknesses, carefully observing its body while dodging its attacks. When the monster attacked again, Xu Tiancai discovered that the rune light in one area of ​​its abdomen was slightly different from the rest, and the light there seemed a little unstable.

"Everyone, pay attention to its abdomen, it may be its weak point!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

They changed their tactics and began to try to attack the monster's abdomen. A Gang attracted the monster's attention and nimbly moved around it, repeatedly attacking its legs and tail with his battle axe, making the monster tired and exhausted.

Xu Tiancai seized the opportunity and charged toward the monster's belly. The artifact unleashed a powerful beam of energy, shooting towards the suspicious area on the monster's abdomen. Simultaneously, Lin cast a precise elemental spell, combining the speed of wind and the destructive power of fire to form a high-speed, swirling tornado of fire that swept toward the monster's abdomen. The mysterious figure summoned a penetrating force from the darkness, capable of piercing even the most solid defenses and striking directly at the target's interior. He condensed this penetrating force into a black spear and hurled it toward the monster's abdomen. The Ice Princess cast an ice sealing spell, creating a solid layer of ice around the monster's abdomen, attempting to restrict the monster's movement and create better conditions for other attacks.

Their attacks landed simultaneously on the monster's abdomen, causing it to roar in pain. The runes on its abdomen flickered under the attack, and cracks began to appear in some places. Black liquid gushed out from the cracks, and the monster's body began to tremble violently.

"Keep attacking, don't stop!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

They intensified their attacks. Agang, recklessly leaping onto the monster's back, struck it with his battle axe, attempting to distract it and create an opening for the others to attack. Lin cast a massive elemental bombardment spell, gathering all the surrounding elemental energy into a massive elemental explosion, the center of which was the monster's abdomen. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also unleashed their strongest attacks, combining dark forces with ice magic to deliver a fatal blow to the monster's abdomen.

Under their continuous attacks, the runes on the monster's abdomen finally couldn't bear it and began to shatter. A powerful energy burst out from the monster's abdomen, knocking them all away.

Xu Tiancai fell heavily to the ground, feeling as if every bone in his body had been broken. He struggled to his feet and looked in the direction of the monster. He saw that the monster had been seriously injured in the energy explosion. A huge hole had appeared in its abdomen, and its body was staggering, as if it would collapse at any moment.

"Did we succeed?" Agang asked, panting. He also had many scratches and bruises on his body.

"Not yet, it's not dead yet. We have to give it the final blow." Xu Tiancai said, he gripped the artifact tightly, ready to attack again.

At that moment, the monster suddenly let out an eerie laugh. The sound echoed through the temple, sending chills down one's spine. Its body began to emit a black light, and its injured abdomen began to heal rapidly. The shattered runes also reassembled, returning to their original state.

"How is this possible?" Lin said in surprise, her eyes full of disbelief.

After fully recovering, the monster rushed towards them again, faster and more powerful than before. It seemed completely enraged, its eyes flashing with a fierce light, and it vowed to destroy them all.

They quickly prepared for battle once more, refusing to retreat from this seemingly invincible monster. Xu Tiancai merged the power of the three sacred keys with the artifact, emitting an unprecedentedly dazzling light. Agang gripped his battle axe, his muscles tensing once more as he braced himself for the monster's onslaught. Lin mobilized all the surrounding elemental forces, preparing to cast an even more powerful spell. The mysterious figure and the Ice Princess also gathered their strength, preparing for a desperate battle with the monster.

Just as the monster was about to charge them, Xu Tiancai suddenly sensed a strange vibration coming from the crystal ball. He looked towards the crystal ball suspended above the stone platform and saw that its light had become even brighter, with blurry figures appearing within it. These figures seemed to be conveying some kind of message to him. He concentrated, attempting to establish a connection with the crystal ball.

Images flashed through his mind. An old man in ornate robes, holding a jeweled staff, stood at the center of a vast magic circle, surrounded by a group of people similarly dressed in bizarre attire. They chanted, seemingly casting a powerful sealing spell. Runes similar to those on the monster appeared within the magic circle. As they chanted, the runes gradually shattered, sealing the monster.

"I know how to defeat it!" Xu Tiancai shouted, "We need to find the source of the runes on it, and then seal it with sealing magic!"

They rushed towards the monster again, but this time their goal was no longer to simply attack the monster's body, but to look for clues in the runes on it. During the fierce battle with the monster, they carefully observed the flow and changes of the runes on the monster.

Lin cast a special detection spell that could track the source of energy. She cast it on the monster and discovered that the runic energy on it primarily came from its head. Within the monster's head, there was a core rune that controlled the movement of the other runes, like a heart.

"There's something wrong with its head, the core of the rune is there!" Lin shouted.

They changed the direction of their attack and concentrated their strength on attacking the monster's head. The monster seemed to sense their intentions and attacked them frantically with its huge claws and tail, trying to prevent them from approaching its head.

A Gang swung his battle axe and fought fiercely with the monster's claws and tail. Every swing of his battle axe could block the monster's attack, but the monster's strength was too great and he gradually fell into trouble.

Xu Tiancai, Lin, the mysterious figure, and the Ice Princess seized the opportunity to approach the monster's head. Xu Tiancai condensed the power of the artifact into a sharp cone of light, piercing the core rune on the monster's head. Lin cast elemental magic, fusing the power of wind, fire, water, and earth into a huge energy ball, and smashed it towards the monster's head. The mysterious figure summoned the destructive force from the darkness, a force capable of destroying all energy structures, and released it towards the monster's head. The Ice Princess cast the Ice Doomsday magic, lowering the surrounding temperature to the extreme, creating a massive ice disaster that swept towards the monster's head.

Their attacks landed simultaneously on the monster's head, sending it wailing in agony. The core rune within its head trembled violently under the assault, its light flickering. The monster began to struggle frantically, its body hurling itself across the temple in an attempt to escape the attack.

But they didn't give up, continuing to intensify their attacks. Under their continued assault, a crack finally appeared on the core rune. With a loud bang, the core rune shattered, and the other runes on the monster also lost their luster.

The monster's body began to crumble, its rock and metal shell falling off piece by piece until it was reduced to a pile of rubble and scrap metal. The powerful threat was finally eliminated, and peace gradually returned to the temple.

They sat on the ground exhausted, with injuries of varying degrees on their bodies, but they knew that the danger was not over yet and there were more secrets waiting for them to uncover.

"We succeeded, but this is just the beginning." Xu Tiancai said as he looked at the crystal ball floating above the stone platform, "We have to continue to unlock the secrets of the crystal ball."

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, they walked towards the stone platform again. The crystal ball still emitted a dazzling light, and the blurry image in the light seemed to be clearer.

In the image, they saw an ancient world with strange creatures and magnificent buildings. At the center of the world stood a huge tower with a shining door on top. The door was surrounded by the pattern of three keys, exactly the same as the sacred key in their hands.

"It seems we have to go to this place. The tower may have the answers we want." Xu Tiancai said.

They took the sacred key and prepared to leave the temple. When they reached the temple's exit, they discovered that the world outside had undergone a dramatic transformation. The once beautiful Cloud Island was shrouded in a black haze, and the sky was filled with lightning and thunder, as if the end of the world was approaching.

"What's going on? Is it related to the fight we just had?" A Gang asked with a frown.

They left the temple and stepped into a world shrouded in darkness. A powerful sense of oppression washed over them, and the air around them seemed to grow heavy. In the distance, they saw dark figures weaving through the clouds, emitting an evil aura as they flew towards them.

"A new enemy is coming, everyone be prepared." Xu Tiancai said, he held the artifact tightly, and the artifact emitted a faint light in the darkness, like a fire of hope lit in the darkness.

These black figures were getting closer and closer. They looked like humanoids, but were surrounded by black smoke. Their eyes were like two balls of burning flames, and they held various strangely shaped weapons in their hands. They were extremely fast and arrived in front of Xu Tiancai and others in the blink of an eye.

A new battle is about to begin on this dark cloud island, and whether they can defeat the enemy again and continue on the path to unlock the secret of the crystal ball remains unknown.