End of the Magic Era

The monster had reached level 48 and even level 49 with such instincts. It was impossible to infer the monster's level based on general knowledge of beasts. However, with such a method, it would be impossible for the monster to make a breakthrough to level 50. It would have greater and greater mana and a bigger and bigger soul, but its level would be stuck at 49.

While leading his team to move forward quickly, Lin Yun considered how the situation was different from the historical records. However, he could not think of any difference.

In the future, it would take thousands of years before the plane was truly developed after its discovery. During those thousands of years, the monster would wake up many times. This plane would almost be destroyed in battles. Only the beings above level 7 of the Heaven Rank could possibly remain immune to the monster's mind control when it was awake.

However, it was impossible to let the level-7 Heaven Rank experts develop the plane on their own. Resource collection and the plantation of magic plants required a huge number of laborers. Many experiments and research needed to be conducted on this plane based on its characteristics to invent new materials.

Even in Noscent's heyday, it didn't have so many experts above level 7 of the Heaven Rank that they could work as laborers. The alchemy puppets could be sent to do mining and even planting. However, there were many things that they couldn't do. Human beings were necessary. The experiments needed to be conducted by mages too.

Lin Yun could not think of anything that was not mentioned in historical records. However, he was certain that this monster and this plane were different from those recorded in history…

Lin Yun led his team to the surface. In another direction, 1,000 meters into the underground world, the people of the Thorny Crown had all fallen victim to the attack. They were completely surrounded by a layer of crystals. When they opened their mouths, it could be seen that there were crystals in their nostrils and internal organs. Their bodies had completely crystallized.

Their power was almost exclusively based on their transplanted bloodline, which was the opportunity for them to break to the Heaven Rank. Their soul power was not even as good as that of the Heaven Rank mages on their level. How could they possibly resist the monster's control when they were defenseless?

They were all completely controlled. Myers walked in the lead expressionlessly. The survivors of the Thorny Crown followed him. They traveled across the channels and caverns, and went straight to the depths of the underground world.

All of a sudden, they stopped and turned around, returning to the surface of the plane. They moved much faster than Lin Yun and along a much shorter route. Under the monster's control, they didn't stop at all, and maintained a horrifying speed. They quickly passed through many caverns and channels, and reached the surface in only half an hour.

On the surface, an overwhelming number of insects had filled up the land. In the sky, a swarm of flying beasts was flapping its wings and floating like dark clouds.

The creatures that were natural nemeses stood next to each other. They had completely surrounded the entrance of a cavern that was 100 meters tall. They covered a radius of a dozen kilometers on the ground. Below the ground, a tremendous number of worms, insects, and underground monsters were surrounding the entrance through the channels, and narrowing down their circle.

The monsters, insects, and flying beasts were gradually acquiring the same aura. There was a layer of crystals on every creature's skin. Their bodies had crystallized too.

Myers led the experts of the Thorny Crown out of the cavern. They looked like human-shaped crystal statues when they walked out.

After they emerged, they stood along with the giant insects, and looked back at the entrance of the enormous cavern, waiting patiently.

All the monsters in the plane and the underground insects were controlled by the underground monster. There were also a dozen Heaven Rank experts of the Thorny Crown. They were all waiting for Lin Yun to show up, ready to surround and kill him.

Everything in this plane was under the monster's control. It knew which route Lin Yun would pick and where he would show up on the surface. This cavern was on the shortest route to the surface for Lin Yun. A lot of monsters had also gathered in the underground world. Lin Yun would be forced to return to this route even if he picked another one.

Traveling underground, Lin Yun encountered no obstacles at all. He was not even seeing any creatures. The escape had been quite smooth so far. However, Lin Yun realized that something was wrong.

"Hold on. Let's switch to another direction. Something is wrong. It's unacceptable to that monster that we're out of its control. Our souls are the most delicious food that it has ever seen. It will never abandon us. It will definitely try everything to kill us.

"As long as we die here, everything will be swallowed by the monster. Lord Shawn and Xiusi are pure soul creatures, which are irresistibly tempting for the monster. However, we haven't met any obstacles so far. There can only be one explanation for that. A trap may be ahead of us!"

Lin Yun furrowed his brows solemnly. The greedy devils, the brutal demons, or any other intellectual creatures might have let him go because they might take their losses into consideration and abandon pursuit.

However, this monster only had the instinct of killing and eating the intruders, no matter the cost. Or rather, it didn't know what cost meant at all. None of the creatures in this plane were cost for the monster.

The monster should and could only be commanding the creatures in the entire plane to attack him. If he was not facing any threat at this moment, the only possibility was that it had prepared a trap ahead, and was waiting for him to fall in.

That was the only reason why this monster wasn't doing anything.

Lin Yun abandoned the channel that he was going to take, and entered another channel. However, after he passed the channel and entered the next cavern, a tremendous number of insects erupted from the seven channels in the cavern. All the insects were covered in crystals, making them look like cased specimens.

However, those insects were even faster than before. They moved on their eight feet, which stabbed like iron needles. They left tiny holes even in hard rocks after they walked on them.

A tide of insects surged. Ripples were spreading out on the wall too. Many insects were crawling out of the wall, and baring their tiny and sharp fangs towards Lin Yun and his team.

In only three seconds, Lin Yun discovered that all the channels except the one behind him had been occupied by the insects. Also, one-third of this cavern, which was 800 meters long, had been crammed by the insects already. Those insects stood on top of each other like a swarm of ants that had gathered into a ball.

"Sir Merlin, we're doomed. Those guys have blocked the way. It's impossible for us to pass through them…"

Lord Shawn shrieked in panic. Although the creatures were no stronger than level 30, and could be killed easily, it meant that the monster had controlled everything, and they couldn't possibly win the battle of attrition.

Xiuban grabbed Carnage that was on his shoulder, and was about to charge with a smile.

"I can kill a dozen of those creatures with every smash. I'll kill as many of them as there might be…"

Lin Yun was quite solemn. In this place, and especially under such circumstances, it was impossible to escape through the Natural Demiplane. If they all entered the Natural Demiplane, the coordinates that were left behind would surely tremble, and it would be impossible to go back.

It was impossible that the monster which evolved from the body of a spatial beast didn't control any power of space in this plane…

Although there weren't a lot of insects, it was obvious that their route was under the monster's control, and that the monster was ready to reap their lives.

It was impossible to switch to a new direction. Even if they passed the giant insects, the monster would then surely chase after them. Then, they would have to fight the monster in the underground world, which was completely under its control.

It was better to fight on the surface, as the monster arranged, than to fight here. On the surface, there would be a better view anyway. It would be easier to notice the monster's arrangements. All they needed to do was take countermeasures.

"Let's go! We return to the surface on our old route! We cannot fight here! In here, we will be besieged and killed. Also, there's no telling if the Thorny Crown's people all died in the magic storm's outbreak. If they didn't, then they must've been controlled by the monster while keeping most of their combat ability. We don't have any advantage below the ground!"

Lin Yun returned to the channel that he just came from. Seeing Lin Yun going back, the controlled insects inside the cavern chased after him closely to the previous cavern, which had been mostly filled up by insects too, leaving only one of the channels empty.

Lin Yun didn't fight those insects. He simply moved quickly according to the route he planned. 10 minutes later, Lin Yun appeared in the enormous cavern on the surface. Behind him, the insects had climbed on each other, and formed the most splendid wall, blocking his way of retreat. Then, the insects charged and moved towards him like a torrent that was dozens of meters high.

Lin Yun took out the Draconic Staff, and summoned the Book of Ten Thousand Mantras and the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel. Immediately, a gate of flaming tornadoes that was dozens of meters tall arose, and spurted out gales and black flames. They surged out of the spacious cavern like a black hurricane.

Enderfa, on the other hand, controlled the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel, raising an elemental storm that turned into torrents in four colors to crush the insects behind everybody. The violent elemental storm tore apart the tide of insects like a tornado. Countless crystallized insects were caught in the elemental storm, and then torn into shreds.

The mana here was at least twice as abundant as when they arrived in the plane. Any spell would be much more powerful. The elemental storm, which carried purely destructive power, was even strengthened by three times.

The tide of insects that was catching up from behind was suppressed. On the other hand, the torrents that Syudos unleashed with the Book of Ten Thousand Mantras gushed out of the cavern, consuming more than 5,000 of the creatures that surrounded the cave.

The torrents ripped apart the beasts that looked like giant insects. The black flames ignited their remains, and burnt them to ashes very soon.

The black torrents of wind and fire spread from the entrance of the cavern. In only a few seconds, they had covered a radius of 1,000 meters. All the creatures in this range had been burnt to ashes.

Some enormous insects, which carried huge shells and looked like underground demons, were burning in the black flames, yet they were still charging at the cavern. Their bodies had been burnt up, but their remaining shells were still rolling towards the cavern's entrance. A second later, their glittering shells were burnt to ashes too.

There were also beasts that were slim and tall, and looked like gray mantises. Their arms were four glittering sharp blades. All of them hopped towards the cavern. Their bodies had been ripped apart before they landed, and their broken pieces splashed like rainwater before they were burnt to ashes.

Facing the torrents of wind and fire, the beasts that were mostly below level 30 were launching a suicide charge under the control of the monster.

The entrance of the cavern was the best place to surround and kill Lin Yun. Here, the beasts and experts of the Thorny Crown could display their maximal power without being restricted by the underground environment. Also, it was impossible for Lin Yun and his team to escape. They could only be exhausted to death…

The creatures in this plane weren't too powerful in general, and were below level 30 on average. Also, their population was much smaller than that of other planes. Still, there were way more than 10,000,000 creatures in the entire plane.

The beasts that looked like giant insects and surrounded the cavern had already occupied a radius of a dozen kilometers. Adding the flying beasts that looked like dark clouds in the sky, there were at least 10,000,000 creatures here. If all the creatures in the plane were gathered here, there might be 100,000,000 of them.

Even though the strongest of the creatures had only just reached level 40, and the majority of them were below level 30, it was not difficult for them to kill a level-5 Heaven Rank expert in a war of attrition.

The reason why the Plane of the Undead was terrifying was its population. When two undead lords fought, it would be considered a minor conflict if they didn't send 100,000,000 undead creatures to slash each other for a couple of months.

If there were too many enemies, one would be easily exhausted and killed, unless one could crush a large area of them easily. Even though Lin Yun had a Natural Demiplane and almost inexhaustible mana, he might still be worn out. His soul power and his energy might be drained.

More and more insects were charging out of the underground world despite the fatal elemental storm. 100 insects were shredded every second, but they paved a path with their lives. They were catching up to Lin Yun against the elemental storm.

Outside of the cavern, the swarms of beasts were also approaching the cavern against the torrents of wind and fire that Syudos released.

The torrents of beasts and the torrents of wind and fire collided. Even though the beasts had crystallized, they were still burnt to ashes in one second. However, there were simply too many of them…

In only a few seconds, they had pushed hundreds of meters. Judging from the trend, they would soon break into the cavern, and fill up every corner of it.

"Charge with me," Lin Yun roared, and his Draconic Staff glowed. The Book of Death automatically opened too. Many Four Element Bombs were gathered and launched in barrages. Outside of the cavern, small mushroom clouds were blooming in the chaotic flames. The blasts spread out and tore apart the dense insects and beasts. The enemies that were further away were flung aside too.

After launching a wave of Four Element Bombs, Lin Yun spouted a series of law runes. Many four-element law runes were gathered in front of Lin Yun into a bomb that was more than five meters long.

In a swoosh, the bomb disappeared from the cave, and reappeared 1,000 meters away in the middle of the beasts. The horrifying power of destruction turned into a rising ball.

All the beasts within a radius of hundreds of meters were obliterated. An opening appeared on the top of the gigantic ball. Amidst rumbling noises, a black mushroom cloud rose to the sky.

There was not a living creature in a radius of two kilometers. Even the experts of the Thorny Crown had been knocked away too. Only Myers, who had condensed a crystal shield in front of him, managed to stop after being pushed back for a dozen meters.