End of the Magic Era

Instantly, everybody seemed to have disappeared from the cavern. Their smell, mana, and aura of vitality were all locked in the dent. Also, observed from the outside, the green membrane of light looked exactly the same as the rock wall, without any flaw.

The rock giant warlock stuck one of his hands to the green membrane of light. From his hand, special magic power was spreading out and sustaining the spell.

A dozen seconds later, the dozen channels that the cavern was connected to were almost exploding. From every channel, a tremendous number of giant crimson insects were bursting out. Those insects looked like ants, but they were more than three meters long, and had forelimbs that looked like scythes. There were at least 100 sharp teeth in their mouths.

In only three seconds, those giant insects had occupied the whole cavern. The top of the cave and the walls were all filled up. They crammed the floor too. All of them were shaking their antennae, as if they were looking for something.

"Mafa Merlin, they're just creatures no stronger than level 30. Is it really necessary to hide? If you're scared, you can hide, but we are not scared at all!"

Sheldon stood there with his arms crossed. He sneered and looked at the dozen giant insects that were lying on the surface of the green membrane of light. Everybody saw the insects clearly in detail, and didn't consider them a threat.

Sunny, on the other hand, sneered continuously. "Sheldon, you might not know this, but he has lived to this day exactly because he's cautious enough to hide whenever he encounters anything until he confirms that there's no danger. Even if those insects had been only level 5, he would've still hidden himself first…"

Lin Yun glanced at Sheldon and Sunny, and ignored them. Myers, who was standing nearby, immediately frowned.

Are those two idiots who are willing to sell anything for greater power not aware of the situation? They're still starting an internal fight. Mafa Merlin knows this plane too well. If he's so cautious, there must be great danger.

Besides, Mafa Merlin's understanding of bloodline transplantation must be even greater than mine. There has never been much grudge between us to begin with. It's better to make friends with Mafa Merlin. As long as we acquire the bloodline transplantation technology from Mafa Merlin, we will become even stronger, and we'll make progress in our research. We may be able to figure out something new.

Yet, those two idiots are still provoking Mafa Merlin for no good reason. How stupid…

"Sunny, Sheldon, shut up. Mafa Merlin definitely had a good reason for his decision. If you're not happy with it, you can go out."

Myers scolded Sunny and Sheldon, who looked quite terrible, but didn't dare to continue the provocation.

"Sir Merlin, you seem to know the insects well, don't you? Can you tell us more about them?"

Myers turned around, and looked at Lin Yun with an apologetic smile.

Lin Yun ignored Sunny and Sheldon. He was silent for a few seconds before he introduced the insects to Myers.

"Do you know army ants that swallow everything in their way? Those insects are the army ants of this plane. They spent most of their time underground. Their nest is underground too. Their forelimbs can rip apart spells, and their mouthparts can tear things apart and swallow them.

"Our shields, mana, bodies, and souls are all vulnerable to them. Also, their bodies are strongly resistant to magic. Their shells are very hard too. Although they're no stronger than level 30, they're just one of the squads that are looking for food.

"Whenever they find anything alive, they'll send a message back with their antennae. Then, in only three minutes, this cavern, and even the dozen caverns around, will be surrounded. Then, the insects will press close as their reinforcements arrive.

"By then, we will have to make use of Heaven Rank power in order to eliminate them.

"If we make use of Heaven Rank power, the caverns will surely collapse, and we can hardly escape. A tribe of such insects includes at least a million members. Which of you can kill a million of such insects here? Also, their queen must be in the Heaven Rank. There may be at least 10,000 of level-39 ones under her.

"More importantly, if we catch the attention of something by making use of extraordinary power, we'll all die…" Lin Yun explained casually. He even spoke the last sentence in a casual tone. However, everybody felt cold at the same time.

It was pure narration. He was only stating facts.

Myers' expression changed. Naturally, he realized that Lin Yun was not making a threat, but stating a fact.

Damn it, what was underground? What was it that was so dangerous that even Mafa Merlin thought he couldn't survive?

Was there a horrifying creature asleep underground? Any use of extraordinary power would wake up that horrifying creature?

Yes, that had to be it. That was the only explanation for this plane's weirdness. This plane had higher odds of being home to a powerful creature than any other planes. How could there not be an intelligent creature in this place?

Yes, there was an intelligent creature. A horrifying extraordinary creature, or species, was lying asleep in the underground world of this plane.

The closer they approached it, the more likely they would be discovered. If they made use of extraordinary power, the horrifying creature might be woken up, and kill everybody.

It was possible that intelligent species and creatures had been born in this plane, but all of them had been killed by that horrifying being…

"Sir Merlin, are you suggesting that some sort of horrifying extraordinary creature is asleep underground in this plane?"

What Myers said attracted everybody's attention. Not just the people of the Thorny Crown, but Xiuban, Reina, and Lord Shawn also looked at Lin Yun in surprise.

Lin Yun nodded slowly, and thought for a moment.

"It's very strong. In terms of level, it's probably between level 48 and level 49. If it's woken up, no creatures in this plane can possibly survive.

"Of course, those reptile-like beasts are exceptions. Not all of them will get killed…

"I hope that all of you understand that we're here to explore for resources, not to get killed. To be more frank, if we wake up that horrifying creature, you will definitely perish. This entire plane is its territory."

Immediately, everybody fell silent. Even Sunny and Sheldon, who had always wanted to cause trouble, simply sneered in disdain, but didn't say anything.

Exactly at this moment, unusual waves emerged from the rock giant warlock. His mana waves became chaotic, and the green membrane of light had ripples.

The insects, which had searched every corner of the cavern, detected something. Their antennae were all shivering crazily, and all of them were waving their forelimbs while cutting the walls. The hard rocks were all crumbling under the cutting of the sharp forelimbs. In only a few seconds, the cavern had become significantly bigger. The walls had been reduced by one meter…

Outside of the green membrane of light, a dozen giant insects were digging crazily with their forelimbs, making broken stones fly about. The space where everybody was hiding slowly retreated under the rock giant warlock's control.

When those insects' forearms hit the membrane of light, they seemed to be hitting rocks. Those rocks were transferred from nearby or down below. Under the rock giant warlock's control, this space was completely hidden in the wall. Nobody could discover it.

That was the special ability of warlocks who had transplanted foreign creatures. It was impossible to do that with spells. They would've been discovered by the insects.

"Sir Myers, I cannot endure much longer. There's something wrong with my bloodline. I've been using it for too long. In three minutes at most, I won't be able to control it."

The rock giant warlock looked rather awful, and his expression changed continuously. It could be seen that his arms were transforming between flesh and rocks. Something was wrong with his bloodline fusion.

That was his shortcoming. He couldn't use the rock giant's bloodline power for too long. Take this spell for example. He couldn't use it for longer than 10 minutes. If he continued, his blood would boil, and the fusion would have problems. Then, his body would turn into a rock. His heart and soul wouldn't be able to endure the blast, and he would die…

Lin Yun frowned, and looked at the insects in confusion, wondering why this squad of food seekers would linger for such a long time. By common sense, they would leave after everybody's remaining aura had been swallowed.

By his estimation, the rock giant warlock should've been able to accomplish the task easily.

Lin Yun heaved a sigh. He didn't want the exploration to fail, either. If it failed, he wouldn't be able to explore or develop this plane until decades later.

He took out some Golden Honey and a bunch of other materials from his space ring. Then, a water ball the size of a football appeared in Lin Yun's left hand, with a vortex revolving fast inside. Lin Yun put all the materials into the water ball.

As the vortex inside the water ball revolved, the water ball changed its color. It seemed to have been subdivided into more than 30 layers, with a vortex revolving at a different speed on each layer.

The materials were squeezed into pieces in the vortexes, but their effects weren't damaged at all. The impurities were filtered out on the surface of the water ball.

Then, a fireball appeared in Lin Yun's right hand, and enshrouded the water ball. The impurities on the surface were burnt up. Complicated reactions took place inside the water ball. The 30 layers that were of different colors melted one after another until they combined into a kind of green fluid, which had complicated changes under the burning of flames, and showed different colors.

However, nothing could be seen from the outside. They could only see that Lin Yun was holding a burning fireball.

Everybody else was shocked. Myers' crystal eyes almost popped out.

Is he creating a potion? Can you create alchemy potions in such a way?

Everybody was astounded as they watched Lin Yun. In only one minute, the fireball was gone, and there was only some black thick fluid left in Lin Yun's hand. He looked at the rock giant warlock.

"Open your mouth."

That man had already been shocked. In his entire life, he had never seen anyone making alchemy potions in such a way. That fluid was black and smelly, but nobody doubted that it wasn't potion…

Nobody thought that Lin Yun was just doing this for fun…

Hearing what Lin Yun said, the rock giant warlock unconsciously opened his mouth. Immediately, the black fluid in Lin Yun's hand was sent into his mouth.

Instantly, the man's face color became back to normal, but he looked so terrible as if he had just eaten dog sh*t. While keeping one of his hands stuck to the green membrane of light, he extended his other hand into his mouth, trying to pull out what he just ate.

The rock giant warlock seemed frightened and nauseated. The other people had cold sweat too. They almost vomited just by smelling the fluid. They couldn't imagine what it would feel like to eat it…

"We don't have a lot of time. Just deal with it."

Lin Yun was rather satisfied with the potion that he had made in a hurry. Although he didn't have enough time, and the potion was definitely one of the worst that he had ever made, it was enough to resolve the urgent problem…

The rock giant warlock was still gagging in nausea, and didn't realize that the rippling green membrane of light had stabilized. However, Myers, with his unusual eyes, keenly noticed the difference.

"George, your arms are back to normal, and so are your face and your aura… Oh, damn it, your bloodline has been stabilized?"

Myers was shrieking in a different voice. He didn't look like a level-5 Heaven Rank expert at all, and was like an ordinary person who saw people flying for the first time…

After Myers shouted that, the atmosphere became weird. George, who had extended his hand into his esophagus, stiffened. He immediately withdrew his hand. Looking at his arm that had been restored and the green membrane of light, he opened his mouth, completely stupefied.

"Oh… I can't believe this… My bloodline has stabilized…"

After seeing that, George saw the expressions of his companions, and trembled hard. Noticing that there was some smelly black fluid left on his hand, he unhesitatingly put his hand into his mouth and bit it off, swallowing all the fluid. A second later, a new rock hand grew out of George's wrist.

Looking at his partners, George grinned and smiled innocently.

"It's gone. I've drunk it up…"

George seemed to be smiling innocently, but everybody could tell how proud he was of his new rock hand.

Myers was so shocked and regretful that fury was almost bursting out of his eyes and killing George.

That moron ate the last bit of the potion. Did he not know how important the potion was to them?

With any remnant of the potion, it would be possible to analyze what kind of materials were applied. Even though it was impossible to infer how the potion was made, it would be possible to create other potions that were less effective. But that moron…

Would they fight him for the potion residue that he took out of his mouth? Damn it, what an idiot…

Myers was almost infuriated. His chest was rising and falling, as if it might explode any moment. His mana waves were quite chaotic. The others all glared at George, as if they wanted to kill him immediately. There was no telling whether it was because George didn't leave any residue, or because they didn't get to taste it…

At this moment, George realized that the atmosphere was weird too. He tried to explain.

"I thought I had to swallow all the potion to keep all of us hiding. After all, none of us knows when those annoying insects will leave…"

Myers fell silent with an awful expression. The other people glared at George again. None of them said anything to George anymore. At moments like this, they needed George's ability. After all, the insects were still expanding the cavern crazily, and there was no telling when they would go…

Ever since they detected something unusual, the insects had been digging in the cavern, as if they would dig a dozen meters deep for the targets. They certainly wouldn't leave in a couple of minutes…

George's unstable bloodline, thanks to a potion that was as smelly as the sewage in a slum in a small city, had been completely stabilized. Judging by his aura, nothing would happen to him anytime soon.