The genius who counterattacked the mainland

After being knocked back a few steps, Ah Gang steadied himself, a look of determination flashing in his eyes. "Hmph, this monster has some tricks up its sleeve, but it won't be easy to stop us!" He gripped his battle axe again, his fighting spirit blazing like golden flames as he prepared to launch a new attack.

Seeing this, Lin quickly cast the wind elemental magic "Wind Blade." Countless tiny, sharp wind blades gathered around her, like a flock of silver birds, darting towards the octopus's tentacles. The wind blades whistled through the air, precisely slicing at the tentacles' joints, attempting to sever their ability to move. Some successfully embedded themselves in the tentacles, sending black liquid splattering, but the octopus's tentacles merely trembled slightly, unsevered.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, muttering something. A powerful icy force surged from the tip. "Ice Prison!" she cried, and the icy force quickly formed massive pillars of ice around the octopus monster. These pillars intertwined, forming a solid ice prison, trapping some of the octopus monster's tentacles. The icicles were covered in intricate ice runes, emitting a biting chill that slowed the octopus monster's movements.

The mysterious figure quickly formed hand seals, and the forces of darkness and light merged into chains of energy. Like nimble black and white snakes, these chains snaked towards the octopus monster's remaining tentacles. When the chains made contact, they immediately wrapped tightly around them, unleashing a powerful surge of energy. The octopus monster's tentacles, bound by the energy chains, froze in their struggles, and its suction cups struggled to cling to the rock.

The white-clad figure played his flute at an increasingly rapid pace, the sound transforming into a swarm of radiant light beasts. Qilins, phoenixes, lions, and other light beasts charged toward the octopus monster, their bodies radiating brilliant light, creating a vibrant spectacle beside the dark underground lake. The Qilin burned the octopus monster's tentacles with flames, the phoenix attacked its head with multicolored flames, and the lions rammed its body with powerful force, attempting to distract it.

The octopus monster sensed the threat and let out a deep, muffled roar that echoed through the underground lake, rippling the water. Its enormous eyes flashed with an eerie light, and suddenly, its body began to emit a black smoke. The smoke quickly spread, enveloping the entire battlefield.

"Everyone, be careful! This smoke might be poisonous!" Xu Tiancai shouted, unleashing his "Star Purification Power." Star power emanated from his body, forming a faint light shield around him, blocking out the smoke.

Agang, Lin, the Ice Princess, the mysterious figure, and the man in white all deployed their defensive measures. Agang coated his body with his Dou Qi, forming a golden protective layer. Lin summoned a wind shield, pure wind swirling around her, dispersing the approaching smoke. The Ice Princess used her ice magic to create an ice shield, counteracting the cold air and smoke. The mysterious figure's dark and light powers intertwined to form an energy shield, repelling the smoke. The man in white played the flute, the sound of the flute transforming into an invisible musical shield, resisting the encroaching smoke.

However, this black smoke was not only poisonous but also disorienting. Everyone's vision gradually blurred and their thinking became somewhat sluggish. The octopus seized the opportunity to attack, its tentacles breaking free from the ice prison and energy chains, lashing out at the crowd.

Xu Tiancai, relying on his stellar power, barely detected the direction of the tentacles' attack. He unleashed his "Dancing Star Sword," transforming the star power into countless tiny blades of light, which shot towards the tentacles. The blades darted through the smoke like meteors, colliding with the tentacles and sending bursts of sparks flying. Although he successfully blocked some of the attack, the octopus monster's power was too great, and some tentacles still broke through his defenses and swept towards him.

At this critical moment, Ah Gang burst out from the smoke, shouting, "Furious Slash!" His battle axe, imbued with powerful fighting spirit, transformed into a golden arc of light and slashed towards the octopus's tentacles. This strike contained all his strength, and the moment the axe and tentacle collided, a deafening roar erupted. Ah Gang's hands were numb from the shock, but he successfully blocked the attack for Xu Tiancai.

Lin concentrated, attempting to dispel the smoke. She cast the forbidden wind magic spell, "Breath of the Wind." Powerful wind element surged from her body, forming a massive tornado. The tornado raged around the underground lake, rapidly sweeping away the black smoke. As the smoke dissipated, everyone's vision gradually cleared, and their minds returned to normal.

"We can't give it another chance to release smoke, we have to get rid of it as soon as possible!" Lin shouted.

Everyone readjusted their positions and prepared to launch another attack. Xu Tiancai discovered that after the octopus monster released the smoke, the colorful patterns on its body became even brighter, especially the patterns around its head, which flickered with a mysterious light, as if it was the core of its power.

"Everyone, pay attention, attack the pattern on its head, that may be its weakness!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

Upon hearing this, everyone attacked the pattern on the octopus's head. The Ice Princess waved her wand, summoning a massive ice cone. The cone was covered in ice runes, which shimmered with a faint blue light and exuded a biting cold. The ice cones rained down on the pattern on the octopus's head, some successfully piercing it. The cold magic spread rapidly, dimming the pattern's light.

The mysterious figure quickly formed hand seals, and the forces of darkness and light merged into a massive ball of energy. This ball of energy contained the power of mysterious laws. He flung it towards the octopus monster's head. As it approached the monster, it suddenly split into countless smaller balls. These balls swirled around the pattern on the monster's head, continuously releasing energy shockwaves in an attempt to disrupt the pattern's energy structure.

The man in white played a flute, and the sound transformed into a gigantic, dragon-like beast of light. The dragon-like beast radiated a rainbow of light as it charged toward the octopus monster, striking the pattern on its head with its mighty body and light. The dragon-like beast opened its enormous mouth and belched forth a brilliant beam of light, like a giant lightsaber, piercing its target.

Ah Gang boosted his fighting spirit to the limit, his axe ablaze with golden flames. He charged at the octopus monster, leaping high as he neared it, and slashed with his axe at the pattern on its head. The power of the axe, upon contact with the pattern, triggered a powerful surge of energy, sending the surrounding lake water scattering in all directions, forming massive ripples.

Lin cast the wind elemental magic "Wind Piercing," manipulating the wind element into a massive cone of wind. Like a giant spear, the cone shot towards the pattern on the octopus monster's head. As it flew, it continuously absorbed the surrounding wind elements, becoming increasingly powerful, its sharp tip gleaming with dazzling light.

Under the combined attack of everyone, the pattern on the octopus monster's head was severely damaged. The pattern's light began to flicker, and the octopus monster roared in pain, its tentacles waving wildly, trying to fight back. But its attack had lost its previous rhythm and became chaotic.

"Keep attacking, don't give it a chance to breathe!" Xu Tiancai shouted.

The group seized the opportunity and launched another attack on the octopus monster. Xu Tiancai unleashed his "Star Shattering Slash," gathering the power of the stars into a massive lightsaber, which he thrust towards the center of the octopus monster's body. This strike embodied the essence of his star power, and wherever the lightsaber passed, the air was torn apart, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

Ah Gang swung his battle axe, unleashing the "Wrath of the God of War." The fighting spirit within the axe transformed into a massive golden beam of light, echoing with Xu Tiancai's lightsaber as they charged towards the octopus monster. The golden beam shone as brightly as the sun, embodying Ah Gang's full power, illuminating the surrounding lake with a golden glow.

Lin cast the wind elemental magic "Doomsday Storm," compressing the surrounding air into a massive air bomb. Under her control, the bomb flew toward the octopus monster, exploding as it approached. The powerful impact surged towards the monster. The shockwave from the explosion was like a surging ocean wave, causing massive ripples in the lake surrounding the monster.

The Ice Princess waved her wand, summoning a massive Ice Giant. The Ice Giant strode toward the octopus monster, each step causing the surrounding temperature to plummet. The Ice Giant swung his massive fist and struck the octopus monster. The cold magic from his fist collided with the octopus monster's body, generating a powerful energy surge. Huge chunks of ice flew out from the collision point, floating in the lake.

The mysterious figure quickly formed seals with his hands, merging the forces of darkness and light to their ultimate form. He transformed into a streak of black and white light and charged towards the octopus monster. This light contained the power of his soul, his most powerful attack. Like lightning, the light pierced the darkness, shooting towards the octopus monster's core.

The man in white played a flute, and the sound transformed into a swarm of radiant light beasts. They charged the octopus monster, engaging it in close combat. The Qilin seared its wounds, the Phoenix attacked its eyes with multicolored flames, and the Lion pounded its body with powerful force. The attacks of the light beasts left the octopus monster in a desperate situation.

Under the constant assault, cracks began to appear on the octopus's body. Black liquid gushed out from the cracks, and its strength rapidly weakened. It let out a final, shrill scream, and its massive body collapsed, sinking to the bottom of the lake.

Everyone stood tiredly by the lake, all with varying degrees of injuries. But they had no time to rest, because they knew that there were more secrets waiting for them to uncover in the depths of the ruins.

"Let's move on." Xu Tiancai said, his eyes full of determination.

They searched for an exit along the lakeside and found a cave entrance covered by water plants on one side of the lake. The entrance was small, only wide enough for one person to pass through, and a mysterious atmosphere emanated from it.

"This should be the place. Everyone be careful." Xu Tiancai took the lead in walking into the cave, and the power of the stars illuminated the narrow passage ahead.

The passage was damp, its walls covered in moss and some unknown luminescent fungi. These gave off a faint glow, barely illuminating the path ahead. As they walked, the passage suddenly widened, revealing a massive circular hall.

The hall's floor was covered in giant magic circles, their runes gleaming with vibrant colors. The hall was surrounded by massive stone pillars, each carved with mystical creatures and patterns, so lifelike they seemed to tell ancient stories.

"Where is this place?" Lin asked curiously.

"It looks like an important ritual site. These magic circles and stone pillars must have special meanings." Xu Tiancai said.

Just as they were about to explore the hall further, the magic circle suddenly illuminated. Light shot up into the sky, enveloping the entire hall. Everyone felt a powerful force binding them, preventing them from moving.

"What's going on?" A Gang tried to struggle, but he found that his body was tightly locked by an invisible force.

Suddenly, an illusory figure appeared in the center of the hall. This figure was wearing an ancient robe, and his face was blurry, but from the aura emanating from him, it could be felt that he possessed extremely powerful strength.

"Intruders, why are you here?" The illusory figure uttered a low and majestic voice, which echoed in the hall, as if coming from another time and space.

Xu Tiancai tried to answer: "We are here to find the secrets of the ruins and to prevent the resurgence of the dark forces."

The illusory figure nodded slightly. "Though your purpose is noble, the secrets of this place cannot be easily revealed. You must pass my test before you can move on."