Another World: The Failed Magician

Under the anxious gazes of everyone, Elder Li finally flew slowly to the top of the deep pit.

He slowly lowered his head, looking down at the huge crater beneath his feet.

Just as he lowered his head, black mist suddenly surged out from the pit, instantly enveloping everyone at the foot of the Qingxin Sword Sect.

The moment Elder Li discovered the black mist, he retreated in a direction away from the pit.

At the same time, a strange hand reached out from the pit at lightning speed towards Elder Li.

The strange hand, over ten meters long, lunged at Elder Li like a giant python. Although Elder Li retreated swiftly, he was still too fast for the strange hand.

After grabbing Elder Li, the hand quickly wrapped around his entire body.

Then, the eerie hand appeared above Elder Li's forehead, and slowly tore open its palm, revealing a gaping maw full of sharp teeth that lunged at Elder Li.

Now completely shrouded in black mist, the group could see nothing but the black mist around them and vaguely make out their surroundings, but they could still hear sounds.

Elder Li's blood-curdling screams and the eerie sound of his hand eating filled everyone's ears. All of this foreshadowed Elder Li's tragic end.

"Don't panic, everyone! Gather over here. As long as we hold our ground, that demon can't do anything to us," a martial arts master shouted to the crowd.

Upon hearing the sound, the group quickly huddled together. But just then, some people noticed something amiss.

"By the way, did any of you see them? People from the Tai Xuan Sect."

"I don't have any here."

"We don't have any here either."

After a brief confirmation by everyone, they discovered that Zuo Huai and the rest of the Tai Xuan Sect group had disappeared, and the dozen or so people from the Qingxin Sword Sect were also nowhere to be seen.

"Hey! Do you think we've been abandoned?"

"Could it be that they fell victim to that demon's evil deeds?"

"How is that possible? If that's the case, how come we can't hear a single sound?"

Just as everyone was discussing this, one of the remaining six martial artists spoke up: "There's no point in discussing this now. Everyone should be on guard. As long as the demon's power is exhausted, the black mist will naturally dissipate."

Hearing this, everyone felt a little relieved.

The remaining disciples from the six major sects gathered closely around the six martial artists, drawing their weapons and keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

However, as time went on, the surrounding black fog showed no signs of dissipating; instead, it began to grow thicker and thicker.

At first, everyone could see their surroundings clearly, but now they can see almost nothing, as if they were truly in the dark.

"Ah!" A painful wail suddenly came from the crowd.

Then, along with the wailing, came a sound like a wild beast eating its food.

At that moment, the six martial artists raised their weapons and struck towards the source of the sound.

After a loud "boom!", silence returned.

"Has it been resolved?"

"do not know."

"Could I be next?"

A sense of fear spread through the crowd.

At that moment, a roar came: "Shut up!" Accompanying the voice was the imposing aura of a martial arts master.

After the noise subsided, everyone quieted down, but only for a short while.

"Help! Uncle Zhang, save me!"

"Don't eat me! Ah!!!"

One after another, shrill screams reached everyone's ears. As the screams grew louder, even the martial arts masters' aura could not suppress them. Overwhelmed by fear, the people began to flee, screaming and shouting in despair.

The already weak defensive line formed by the group began to crumble. The expressions of the six martial artists grew increasingly grim.

……

At this moment, the gates of the Qingxin Sword Sect were tightly closed, and a group of people were standing in the courtyard.

This group of people were the very people from the Qingxin Sword Sect who had just disappeared.

Hearing the heart-wrenching screams coming from the foot of the mountain, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

As for why the Qingxin Sword Sect group appeared here, it was due to Zhao Qingmei's earlier telepathic message. She had instructed everyone to gather around her the moment the anomaly appeared. Then, the instant the black mist appeared, she activated the teleportation array that Zhang Yu had prepared in front of the mountain gate, with the other end of the array located inside the Qingxin Sword Sect.

The original purpose of this teleportation array was to provide everyone with a means of survival should their Snow Rain Sword Formation fail to defeat Li Mingxu. Zhao Qingmei never expected it would be used at this moment.

Just as everyone was still feeling lingering fear, an elder stepped forward and cautiously asked the Grand Elder, "Grand Elder, isn't it a bit unethical of us to just leave the people from the eight major sects down there unattended?"

As the elder finished speaking, everyone else's gaze turned towards the Grand Elder.

Under everyone's gaze, the Grand Elder glanced at Zhang Yu and Zhao Qingmei, and after receiving confirmation from their eyes, said, "Actually, only the three of us knew about this at first, but now that things have come to this, there's no point in hiding it from you."

"In fact, the moment the sect leader and Li Mingxu obtained the demon seed, they sent the news to Zhennan Pass. But there was no reply from there for a long time."

"Later, the matter escalated and almost turned into a struggle between various parties for the Demon Seed. Suddenly, at this time, those forces that were preparing to compete for the Demon Seed encountered unexpected events, causing the original battle to end before it even began. The matter itself gradually faded from our view."

"In the Southern Territory, only the Zhennan King and the Taixuan Sect have the power to do this. However, just as President Zhang Yu was about to investigate this clue, the Zhennan King and the eight major sects led by the Taixuan Sect immediately voiced their opposition to the Crown Prince's rule. And they all took significant actions."

"It was at this time that we discovered that the Prince of Zhennan and the Taixuan Sect had long been united, which explains why the news of the Demon Seed suddenly disappeared."

The elder who had asked the first question spoke up, saying, "Elder, do you mean that the matter of the Demon Seed was planned jointly by the Prince of Zhennan and the Taixuan Sect?"

The Grand Elder nodded: "It's pretty close."

Upon hearing the Grand Elder's words, the others' expressions also turned grim. After all, these were the two largest forces in the Southern Territory.

Just then, Zhao Qingmei walked over and said to everyone, "There is an emergency escape route deep inside the main hall. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

After hearing Zhao Qingmei's words, the others exchanged glances, and then one of the disciples spoke up, "Sect Master, those of us who stayed behind have already disregarded life and death. What reason is there for us to retreat now?"

The others nodded in agreement.

After seeing the resolute expressions in everyone's eyes, Zhao Qingmei took out dozens of slips of paper from her spatial ring.

With a gentle wave of her hand, Zhao Qingmei sent the note to the other people's hands.

"The things you each need to do next are written on this piece of paper. After you have read it, burn it yourselves."

Upon hearing this, everyone checked the contents of the note in their hands and then burned it.

Then everyone disappeared into the courtyard, leaving only Zhao Qingmei and Zhang Yu standing there.

"Do you regret it?"

"do not know."

"You didn't have to come!"

"But my heart has already made the choice for me."

……

A dilapidated magic-powered ship was departing from an abandoned port in the southern part of the Eastern Dragon Empire, slowly heading towards the other side of the sea.

There were about twenty people on the ship, and without exception, they all had some kind of injury on them.

In an inconspicuous corner of the deck, a blue-haired boy and a black-haired girl with a high ponytail, both covered in wounds, were huddled together tightly.

After a long silence, the girl finally spoke weakly, "Qin Ming, how many of us survived this time?"

The boy replied, "There were twenty-six people in total, Sister Xia Yue. If it weren't for the wooden sword left behind by Sister Meng Yu, I'm afraid there would have been fewer than ten survivors in the end."

"Hmm." Xia Yue responded simply after hearing the boy's words, but her eyes were very dull, and she no longer had the vigor she once had.

Qin Ming leaned against the girl and said earnestly, "Sister Xia Yue! This is not your fault. None of us expected that the president would be that traitor. It's all that guy's fault, and it has nothing to do with you."

"No! It has something to do with me. If I had discovered the chairman's conspiracy sooner, none of us would have died," Xia Yue said, her voice trembling.

Qin Ming felt the girl's trembling body. He gently turned around and carefully embraced her in his arms.

After feeling the warmth emanating from that frail body, Xia Yue couldn't help but burst into tears.

The girl finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears in Qin Ming's arms.

Meanwhile, in an unknown place, Lu Xuan was intently drawing a magic array.

At this moment, an old man dressed as a cowboy walked out from behind Lu Xuan. The old man glanced at Lu Xuan and said, "Have you made arrangements for the Salvation Society group?"

Lu Xuan nodded: "The Zhennan King's army has been transferred to guard against the Zhenbei Army. Those guys are finally willing to go to sea. They should be on their way back to the Loca Federation now. In that case, Captain Vic's mission is complete. Now comes the main event."

The old man gently patted his cowboy hat and said, "I hope those guys will give me some fun!"

Hearing this, Lu Xuan said speechlessly, "You really aren't afraid at all, are you?"

The old man lit a cigarette and said, "It's only because they don't know I'm here that they should be the ones who are afraid."

Faced with the old man's words, Lu Xuan didn't know what to say, so he could only respond with silence and silently continue drawing the magic circle.

Seeing that Lu Xuan stopped talking, the old man continued while smoking his cigarette, "How do you think Bonival's brain works? How did he come up with the idea to invent this thing?"

"I don't know about that, but I still advise you, sir, to smoke less. It's better for your health."

"You don't know anything." As he spoke, the old man kicked Lu Xuan.

Fortunately, the old man didn't use much force. Lu Xuan only paused slightly before continuing to draw the magic array.

Finally, Lu Xuan completed the last step of the magic array, and a complex magic array appeared faintly on the ground.

"I didn't expect you to be so fast."

"Speaking of which, aren't you acting a little strange today? You're unusually talkative."

"Have it?"

"Don't you know whether you have it or not?"

"Maybe. Maybe it's because I haven't seen you in a long time. I'd like to chat with you a bit more."

"You still care about this?"

The old man waved his hand and said, "I knew I never liked you, you boring brat. Alright, now that your magic circle is complete, I should be leaving."

Lu Xuan nodded: "If there are no problems, then let's proceed according to plan."

Just as Lu Xuan got up and took two steps, he heard the old man's voice.

"Kid!"

"What are you doing!"

"Don't die here so easily, it's quite embarrassing."

"understood!"

……

"Help!!!"

As the last heart-wrenching cry for help rang out, the mountains and forests fell silent for only a brief moment.

The pungent smell of blood filled the entire mountain forest.

At this moment, only six martial artists remained, huddled together like frightened birds, wary of their surroundings.

Just then, a hand emerged from the black mist without warning, rapidly approaching a martial artist at an eerie angle. As it drew near, the hand opened, revealing a gaping maw.

The martial artist reacted quickly, raising his long sword and slashing at the hand.

With a flash of light, the hand was severed in two.

The hand that had been cut in two emitted a sound like a human wail.

The hand, severed in two, began to move erratically on the ground. After a while, it turned into a puddle of black mud and retreated back into the black mist.

The scene before them was quite a shock to the six martial arts masters.

"What the hell is this thing? How can it be so bizarre?" One of the martial artists couldn't help but swear.

The others did not respond to him, but some fear could be seen in their eyes.

"What are these things? How can there be so many?" At this moment, a voice pulled the others back from their fear.

More than a dozen hands emerged from the black mist, writhing like venomous snakes as they approached the six people.

Upon witnessing this scene, the six men unleashed their full martial arts skills, attacking the snake-like hands with utmost defiance.

The hands struck by the martial arts techniques turned into black mud and merged into the black mist. Then, more hands emerged from the mist, slowly approaching the six people.

The six people looked at the densely packed hands in front of them, their fear mixed with a sense of despair.