Full moon night.
In the residence of a low-ranking insect controller, Fanta arrived with a scowl and stood outside, directly questioning the inside.
“What does a low-ranking insect controller want with an high-ranking one?”
“Obviously, it’s something that benefits the Black God Society. I want to introduce someone to you, my fellow disciple, also a disciple of Randall; he should be arriving in this area soon.” Locke stepped out from inside.
“Who?”
“Mieyan.”
“An apprentice?” Fanta said with a scornful look, obviously quite familiar with Randall.
“No, he recently became an official sorcerer. His Meditation Method is also the Black Beard Chapter, and I can bring him here.” Locke finally stated his purpose.
“Don’t bother. People as stubborn as you won’t set foot outside the Black God Abyss before becoming a high-ranking insect master.” Fanta scoffed upon hearing this.
Previously, Locke’s subtle actions had made him a prime surveillance target.
Fanta was well aware of this and would decisively not let him exploit any loopholes.
“You really ought to be killed.”
While he scoffed, Locke suddenly attacked without warning.
At that moment, the two stood facing each other, less than two steps apart—a distance insignificant for Locke. Under the effect of spatial acceleration, he closed the gap in a blink.
A curved blade appeared in Locke’s hand, which he flicked upwards, the white gleam puncturing everything in front, penetrating Fanta’s heart with a single stroke.
Fanta had never anticipated the attack and couldn’t react in time, dying with widened eyes.
“You—Thomas—”
One of the guards did react, but realizing a companion, Thomas, was attacking him, he couldn’t focus on Locke.
Locke didn’t bother with him. With a swift move, he got up close and the curved blade flicked again, piercing another heart, the blood freezing along with it.
Locke looked disdainfully at the two. According to the boss, these men no longer counted as traditional sorcerers; their powers had mutated, their techniques diminishing rather than increasing.
“Thomas, well done,” he didn’t skimp on his praise for Thomas.
“You flatter me,” Thomas wiped the sweat off his forehead. His attack was a feint; as an intermediate insect controller, if he truly turned on a comrade, the backlash would be hard to estimate.
He did not dare to act as recklessly as Locke.
“Get ready, we’re leaving soon.” Locke picked up a body and turned back to his dwelling.
In less than a minute, Fanta and another guard came out; under the indication of another thoroughly wrapped guard, a group of three headed outside.
Fanta was naturally disguised as the Silkworm Queen, and Locke posed as the second guard.
With the rapid wood silkworm clan’s capabilities in Simulated Shape Skill and Simulated Breath Skill, and with Thomas inside, the flying beast could also be disguised. Arriving at the cliff, the three rode the flying beast outwards.
“Sorcerer Ivan, the success rate of escaping this way is very low,” Thomas subtly reminded through a transmitted message, willing to gamble with Locke but not wanting to blindly march to death.
“I know, concealing it for the moment is all that matters. There’s someone to meet us outside now, and we may not have such an opportunity later.” In contrast, Locke looked as if he had everything planned.
Seeing this, Thomas had no choice but to follow him through the dark.
Their strategy was undoubtedly correct, as they flew over the Black God Abyss and reached the accessible underground fissures without being noticed by anyone.
Once inside the fissure, the Silkworm Queen pulled out the real Fanta’s body and placed it in front of the group, using his scent to forge the path, moving forward along the remembered route. Your journey continues with My Virtual Library Empire
Perhaps the Black God Society had been at peace for too long, not expecting such rebellious acts for a long time, their guard slightly lowered.
Halfway through their route, they still encountered no obstacles, advancing as smoothly as if in a dream.
‘This won’t do; the boss said to make some noise to attract the attention of the Black God Society sorcerers, to facilitate Zhenyi’s rescue of Randall.’
Seeing that they were past halfway, Locke thought of a problem. Although things were going smoothly, their strategic goal hadn’t been achieved yet, and they needed to think of another way.
“Push harder, we’re just two or three minutes away from the exit,” Thomas was genuinely thrilled, knowing that once they left the Black Mist Rift Valley, the sky would be their limit.
“That’s not right, based on the time it took last time we came here, we should have reached the exit by now,” Fanta, transformed from the Silkworm Queen, said.
“What? Isn’t it supposed to be halfway?”
“No, we should be near the exit now.”
“By my calculations, I think we should have already left the Black Mist Rift Valley.”
The three of them discussed and soon realized the discrepancies in their perceptions, which was the real issue.
Something was interfering with their cognition.
The three looked at each other and saw the solemnity in each other’s eyes; their pace also slowed considerably.
“Don’t overthink it, at this point we have no way back, we just have to keep moving forward,” Locke said with a wry smile, having been concerned just moments ago about leaving too quickly and not causing enough stir.
Now he no longer needed to devise another plan.
As for how to escape, he believed the boss had a plan, and all they needed to do was to wait.
“Fine,” Thomas could only suppress the anxiety in his heart. After a pause, he said gravely, “If I am to meet a mishap, don’t forget your promise to help Lilith become an official sorcerer.”
“She should be in a safe place by now, and becoming an official sorcerer is a minor matter. Besides, it’s not easy for you to meet misfortune,” Locke reassured him, naturally unwilling to break his word.
Winding through dim underground fissures as if forgotten by time, they wandered for a while.
“How about that?”
“Like this, I know where you are, just wait.”
Thomas’s spirits sank further when he heard a voice muttering beside him. After the voice fell silent, the two people beside him seemed energized, leaving him baffled.
Meanwhile, at a location in the Blood Ring Mountains, Ivan landed on the ground with the swamp ant and Scented Butterfly.
“This is the spot, Scented Butterfly keep guard, swamp ant follow me down to dig,” he stomped the slope lightly, causing the soil and rocks to start moving.
With the help of the swamp ant and its ‘Boulder-Marsh Control’ ability, the ground churned even more.
Soil and rock continued to move outward, quickly excavating a large hole.
The man and the insect busily kept expanding the pit downwards, turning it into a deep, dark pool around twenty meters deep, with Scented Butterfly guarding the entrance.
Ivan sensed something then and raised his hand to signal the swamp ant to stop.
“Whoosh.”
Accompanying a slight noise from his sleeve, a yellowed root shot out, piercing into the ground, breaking through the layers, and winding around something in a void.
This was, of course, a Pan Iron Root, cultivated carefully by Janney—an item equivalent to a high-quality, high-level magicalized item with two characteristics: tough and armor-breaking.
Janney had casually given it to him.
“Up!”
Ivan stomped with force, using the rebound to pull the Pan Iron Root and launch himself upward.
Seeing this, the swamp ant hurriedly flapped its wings, flying beneath him to help him swiftly ascend towards the top of the deep pool.
When Ivan stomped, the bottom of the deep pool cracked open, tendrils of black fog wafting out. As the Pan Iron Root tightened, several figures burst from the dense fog.
“Hahaha, boss, we made it out!”
The figures were none other than Locke and his group, wrapped by the Pan Iron Root, finally breaking free from the confusion of the black fog, emerging under the bright moonlight.
Not far behind them, a living-like black fog relentlessly pursued them, wrapping around.
The black fog swirled, continuously flooding the freshly dug deep pool.
Locke seemed to realize something as he glanced back and saw this scene, his smile instantly freezing on his face, for he felt the oppressive presence of the Black God Abyss rapidly closing in—a situation that spelled trouble.