Chapter 375 Conclusion and Some Magic Items

Under the influence of the black mist, all the trees on the entire mountaintop turned to stone and soil, becoming something akin to a desert. Only those of Seventh Rank and above continuously infused magic power and mental energy into their Defensive Spells to resist the attack of the black mist.

Right after Shaoke unleashed his attack, the Yisage Empire's assault also came. Over a dozen Ninth-Rank Professionals continuously released their Spells to attack Shaoke and his team, while some Eighth-Order Practitioners cast spells from behind to pin them down. But the Summoner, the Space Mage, and several Ninth-Rank warriors who followed blocked these attacks.

The Summoner called forth five Giant Beasts, each over ten meters tall. Under the Summoner's control, the beasts howled and charged up the mountaintop, with clusters of blue lightning occasionally striking the professionals above. Meanwhile, the Blue-robed Mage and the others found their opponents and joined the fight.

Shaoke didn't join the Ninth-Rank Professionals' fight; his target was to wipe out the Eighth-Order Practitioners. Black Nine-Pointed Star Magic Array light seemed to pour from his eyes endlessly, and anyone caught in that light, whether they had Defensive Spells or Aura up, was instantly frozen into a black stone statue. This freaked out the Ninth-Order beings of the Yisage Empire.

"It's Death Will," shouted a Ninth-Rank Mage from the Yisage Empire. "Kill him first, or we'll all die here." He tried to Blink to Shaoke's spot but got blocked by the Blue-robed Mage's spell. Countless giant nets shot out from the Blue-robed Mage's staff, some landing around that mage, others spreading through the air. Wherever the nets appeared, no professional could Blink. Luckily, the Blue-robed Mage had strong control, so the nets didn't affect their own people.

Shaoke didn't use this spell nonstop, since it drained a lot and stressed his Meditation space. So he released Death Will in bursts to hunt the Eighth-Order beings. Even though some Eighth-Tier Mages attacked, his three ring-shaped Defensive Spells blocked them unless they were powerful special spells. This went on for nearly half a magic hour, until all the hundreds of Wandering Practitioners from the Blue Feather Empire showed up.

Their arrival took the pressure off Shaoke and the other Ninth-Order beings. Shaoke caught his breath and switched his targets to the Ninth-Order beings. He tore open a Spatial Tear—a man-sized rift—and suddenly appeared near a warrior fighting the Space Mage. Two black lights shot from his eyes again, instantly engulfing the warrior.

The mage quickly released a gray line, slicing off the warrior's head as he resisted Shaoke's freezing. Shaoke then stored the warrior's corpse in a space bag.

The Space Mage, barely holding back his fatigue and steadying his chaotic Meditation space, went to help other professionals hunt down the enemy Ninth-Order beings. Shaoke ate several fruits and helped the Blue-robed Mage hunt her target. At this point, a Ninth-Rank Mage pulled back from the fight and, guarded by dozens of Eighth-Order Practitioners, started prepping a massive area attack spell—dozens of times stronger than Shaoke's, but with a long cast time.

After two quick Blinks to the edge of the blue net, the mage calmly fired off one single-target attack spell after another. Black Death Dissolution flew at that mage, and the black flames, along with hundreds of top-grade gems in the air, formed a huge Nine-Pointed Star Magic Array. Shaoke hovered over the array, wielding flames to back up the Blue-robed Mage's attack.

Under fire from two Ninth-Rank Professionals, the Yisage Empire's Ninth-Rank Mage stayed calm. After all, one person could hold off three to five peers for a while without special spells or magic items. After dodging another of Shaoke's attacks and moving fast, a page fell from his spellbook, forming a red vortex under his urgent chant that howled toward the Blue-robed Mage. He was really pissed at the Blue-robed Mage for taking away his ability to Blink.

After casting this spell, the mage gritted his teeth and tapped his spellbook with his staff. The spellbook gave off a golden ripple, and after spreading a bit, the whole book turned to powder. Under the mage's chant, the powder quickly merged into his body. Then the mage hovered still, expressionless, watching Shaoke and the Blue-robed Mage struggle against the red vortex.

Golden Ancient Magic Script flew from the mage's mouth, appearing before Shaoke almost instantly. Shaoke hastily let out a Death Ripple to block, but the golden text ignored it and kept wrapping around him.

Even though the interception failed, Shaoke directed the Death Ripple at a distant enemy, who was getting hammered by the Space Mage and a warrior. Shaoke's sudden mental lock made the enemy panic, and the warrior quickly killed him.

Law Spell: Dissolution. Some golden Spell Structure quickly formed in front of Shaoke, and a golden light enveloped him. He hoped to use this spell to dissolve the opponent's attack, but it was useless. The golden characters ignored the bane of spell dissolution and kept pounding the three ring-shaped Defensive Spells around him. The violent impacts kept him from Blinking away or focusing to counterattack. At this moment, due to the recent release of Death Will, his Meditation space couldn't instantly cast this spell again.

Just then, the black crown on Shaoke's head suddenly lit up. Two gems emitted a faint black light, and Shaoke used Arcane Secret to activate the stored energy within. Two black lights flew from the black crown, taking the form of the Death Will spell.

The spell struck the mage, but instead of freezing him, it caused a huge explosion. A golden shield enveloped the mage.

Although the spell didn't harm the mage, it paused his continuous incantation. Shaoke took the opportunity to Blink away from his original position and appeared before the Blue-robed Mage, who was fleeing the red vortex.

The Female Mage, pale-faced, nodded to Shaoke and threw out a giant net to delay the spell vortex. The net only slightly delayed the vortex, which continued to chase the Blue-robed Mage, but Shaoke's spell dissolution quickly melted it.

Just as Shaoke made the mage using the secret technique pause, the Space Mage, who had finished off the enemy, instantly appeared near that mage. He flipped open his gray spellbook, held it with both hands, and chanted earnestly. "Eternal Exile." A gray ribbon appeared on the mage still chanting, and the golden magic script vanished under the ribbon's effect. The mage tried to Blink away, but the ribbon tightly bound him. A huge spatial rift opened, and the mage, protected by golden light and wrapped in gray mist, disappeared from the continent permanently without even struggling. At this moment, Shaoke had just destroyed the red vortex.

The continuous loss of Ninth-Rank Professionals greatly improved the situation for the Blue-robed Mage's team. The Blue-robed Mage, without resting, rejoined the battle. The Space Mage, holding his spellbook, hovered in the air for over ten breaths before opening his eyes and nodding thanks to Shaoke, who was guarding him. The recent Spellcasting had greatly consumed him in various aspects.

Following their original plan, they rejoined the battle. Shaoke was responsible for releasing Death Will to freeze opponents, while the Space Mage took the opportunity to kill them. This cooperation inflicted heavy casualties on the Ninth-Order beings of the Yisage Empire. After half a breath, four or five Ninth-Rank Professionals died under the sudden attacks of Shaoke and the Space Mage. At this time, the mage preparing the truly large-scale area attack spell had completed his spell.

A layer of black clouds gathered in the sky. The mage finally tore the page recording this spell from his spellbook and threw it into the air to increase the spell's formation speed and power.

As soon as the spell formed, the entire battlefield fell silent. Countless fighters stopped, staring blankly at the sky. Everyone had noticed the spell's preparation earlier, and many tried to disrupt its formation, but under the desperate protection of nearly a hundred Eighth-Order Practitioners, the Ninth-Rank Mage successfully prepared the spell.

Huge lightning bolts fell from the sky, the earth cracked, and the mountains carved with countless magic texts by spells began to collapse. Scarlet magma erupted from underground, and black vortices spun rapidly in the air. Even Eighth-Order Practitioners trapped in these vortices could only last a few dozen breaths before being torn to pieces.

Eight mountaintops were completely enveloped by the spell. At this time, the battle in the sky resumed, but it had nothing to do with the Ninth-Rank Mage. His body swayed, and he began to fall. Fortunately, some Eighth-Order Practitioners still protected him, preventing the fall of a range-attack mage.

What followed was simple. Although most of the Yisage Empire's Eighth-Order Practitioners escaped the range spell's attack, some remained permanently inside. The seven or eight Ninth-Rank Professionals of the Yisage Empire found it difficult to resist the slaughter by Shaoke's group of Ninth-Order beings. Among them, the most effective was not the Space Mage, the Summoner, or the Blue-robed Mage, but Shaoke Snow Night. The power of Death Will was too formidable; peers without full defense could still be frozen into statues by this spell. Of course, as Shaoke's understanding of the spell deepened, its power would increase further, eventually making it unstoppable for any Ninth-Order being.

After the last Ninth-Rank Mage had his head cut off and his golden light collected by Shaoke, the distant range spell still raged. However, the group did not stay any longer. They collected the corpses of the dead and brought back their own fallen. These would be placed in the permanent stronghold. Of course, their golden lights were stored in special containers by the mages, to be used by their respective families in the future.

In this battle, with Shaoke's help, the Ninth-Rank Professionals only lost some spellbooks and magic items, with no deaths. However, the Eighth-Order Practitioners, due to protecting the Ninth-Rank range mage's attack, suffered heavy casualties. Hundreds of Eighth-Tier wanderers died in the recent battle, with over a hundred lost. Everyone had anticipated this, so they weren't too sad. The families of these fallen Eighth-Order Practitioners, under the Blue-robed Mage's leadership, were eventually protected by the alliance until their families produced another Eighth-Order Practitioner.

Everyone returned to the stronghold and distributed all the spoils in detail. Shaoke received the most among the Ninth-Rank Professionals, followed by the mage who released the range attack. The Eighth-Order Practitioners gained the most from the fallen professionals' families, and everyone was satisfied with this distribution. Under the Blue-robed Mage's arrangement, the families that lost Eighth-Order Practitioner strongholds would cultivate another Eighth-Order being in the shortest time.

On the barren wasteland of the Luanyun Empire, the crazy professionals of the Blue Feather Empire were first learned of by other empires' Wanderers Alliance. After a brief rest and recovery, they gathered everyone again and headed toward another empire alliance not far from their stronghold.

"Death or leave." Shaoke didn't recognize the empire where this wanderer alliance was located, but he knew that within a certain range around their stronghold, no organization was allowed to exist. They had to leave, or a sudden attack would catch them unprepared.

Shaoke hovered silently over this alliance. Seven or eight Eighth-Order Practitioners who intercepted him had already turned into stone statues under his Death Will and fallen to the ground. This alliance had few Ninth-Order beings. Under the suppression of over a dozen Ninth-Order beings, the alliance retreated, unwilling to engage in meaningless conflict. In their view, survival was most important.

Watching the alliance leave, Shaoke sighed. The Blue-robed Mage hovered silently beside him and said softly, "Their power is too weak; there's no need to fight us." She sighed again and asked, "If we faced this situation, what would you do?" She looked at him, wanting to know his thoughts.

"Death might be my best choice." Shaoke sighed. After the professionals and their families left, the built stronghold could accommodate many civilians.

After the alliance completely disappeared, Shaoke collected the professionals he had frozen into statues. These professionals would ultimately be used as experimental subjects in his experiments.

Returning to the stronghold, Shaoke, with the help of some mages, rebuilt a mountain. His future home would be built on it. Of course, it still lacked a female owner, so it couldn't yet be called his home. However, once things settled a bit, he decided to return to the Blue Feather Empire and bring Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric here to live permanently.

The Blue-robed Mage strongly supported Shaoke's decision. After all, he had become a Ninth Rank and could have established a family long ago, but he had delayed it until now.

Before Shaoke left, the Blue-robed Mage gave him some scrolls. These scrolls recorded some family treasures, and Shaoke's task was to bring them back. These wanderers no longer needed to return to any empire, so there was no need to leave those treasures behind.

Many families had left hidden treasures or even bloodlines in the Blue Feather Empire, uncertain of their family's final fate here. Shaoke agreed with this approach and eventually gathered all family Rulers for discussion, deciding not to retrieve those treasures.

With no tasks left, the mage briefly instructed the mages building his mountain and quickly left the barren Luanyun Empire wasteland. After over a month, he returned to the Blue Feather Empire. In the Bloody Fortress, he successfully met Mage Roman and the others.

"Shaoke, I thought you'd take longer to return." The idle Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric tightly hugged Shaoke, while Lan Wei'er, who had just finished her secluded cultivation, pouted as she watched them. She felt her so-called father had become even colder than before, which made her very uncomfortable.

"Father, don't leave this time," Lan Wei'er said nervously, feeling that this man wouldn't stay long in the Bloody Fortress.

Shaoke shook his head silently. "We're leaving here for another place. I've built a house there, and you can advance to an Eighth-Order Practitioner there." He rubbed Lan Wei'er's head and added, "Moxier, have you completed your experiments?"

"Yes," Mage Roman nodded. She released Shaoke and gestured for him to wait while she left the room to go to the place where magic items were stored. She would take out the items she had spent centuries making to give to Shaoke, as promised years ago.

After Mage Roman left, the White-robed Cleric suddenly hugged Shaoke tightly, kissing his face repeatedly. Lan Wei'er pouted and sat in a chair, not looking at the uncomfortable scene.

Shaoke stood still, letting her kiss him. When the Cleric sensed Mage Roman's mental fluctuation, she blushed and left Shaoke. However, Mage Roman noticed but said nothing, just smiled and indicated it was fine. She then took out a box and handed it to Shaoke.

"This is it. I think it will be very helpful for you High-order Practitioners." She smiled. Shaoke, through the long box, felt a strong surge of magic power inside.

"A staff?" Shaoke asked doubtfully, but Mage Roman shook her head, indicating it wasn't that. The box was silver-white, carved with countless magic texts. When he opened it, inside was a black cloak.

The cloak was engraved with countless magic texts and complex magic arrays. Shaoke instantly recognized these arrays. They were composed of special spell structures, including Defensive Magic Arrays and several offensive arrays. At this time, Mage Roman began a detailed explanation.

Many years ago, the method of embedding special spells into robes had been lost. Now, Mage Roman and her team, based on very old blueprints, had restored this method and successfully began production. This kind of item was very helpful for mages in battle, especially those above the Eighth Rank.

Mages could carve some Defensive Magic Arrays on cloaks and robes, which could be instantly activated during battle, making them less afraid of sudden attacks from warriors or Infiltrators. Of course, permanent offensive spells on them would also greatly increase a mage's combat power. As long as enough energy was stored inside, they could instantly cast some spells. However, ordinary professionals couldn't produce such magic items, as the materials were too precious.