The cavern stretches deep beneath the island, its walls lined with crystallised mana-rich rocks that glow faintly in shades of blue and violet, casting shifting light across the jagged surfaces and uneven ground.
The air is dense with energy.
Every breath feels heavier.
At the centre of the cavern, Talon clashes against a massive Diamond Lizard, its body covered in reflective crystalline scales that refract the ambient light into sharp, blinding flashes.
Each movement of the beast carries weight, its claws grinding against the stone as it turns, its eyes fixed coldly on the crow before it.
Talon darts through the air, its speed sharp and unpredictable, feathers slicing past the lizard's attacks as it probes for openings.
But the Diamond Lizard is not slow.
Its tail sweeps violently, shattering rock formations as it attempts to crush Talon mid-flight.
Wang Hui stands at a distance, his eyes locked onto the battlefield as he prepares to support.
Mana gathers in his hand.
He casts the Wind Control Spell.
Invisible currents surge forward, twisting and compressing as he directs them toward the Diamond Lizard's legs and movements.
The wind forms sudden resistance.
Shifting pressure.
Disrupting balance.
The lizard's steps falter slightly, its movements slowing for a fraction of a moment—just enough.
Talon seizes the opportunity and dives, its claws striking against the lizard's neck, leaving faint cracks across its crystalline scales.
The Diamond Lizard roars, its body tensing as mana surges through it.
The cavern trembles.
Large crystals begin to form rapidly along the walls, growing outward in jagged clusters as they absorb and condense the surrounding mana.
Wang Hui's expression changes.
A spell.
Before he can react further, the crystals begin to vibrate.
Then—
They explode.
A chain reaction erupts across the cavern, crystal after crystal detonating with violent force, sending shards and shockwaves tearing through the space.
Wang Hui instantly burns his mana, forcing it outward to strengthen his magic coat while activating the hardening effect of his body.
At the same time, he casts wind around himself, forming a rotating barrier that deflects incoming debris and disperses part of the explosive force.
Even so—
The impact hits him.
Hard.
The force lifts him off the ground and throws him backwards like a rag doll.
His body crashes violently against the cavern wall.
Pain surges through his back.
A dull crack echoes as his breath is knocked out of him.
He slides down to the ground, groaning, his vision momentarily blurred as dust fills the air and obscures everything.
The cavern is silent for a heartbeat.
Then—
A sharp cry of a crow pierces through the dust.
Another explosion follows, smaller but concentrated.
Then comes a heavy, final sound.
The dying cry of the Diamond Lizard.
Silence falls again.
Time passes slowly.
The dust settles.
Hours later, Wang Hui moves.
His body aches, his back still burning with pain, but he forces himself to sit up and regain control.
The battle is over.
He drags himself closer to the corpse of the Diamond Lizard.
Without wasting time, he begins his work.
He activates the Blood Source Formation.
The runes spread across the ground, glowing faintly as they connect and stabilise.
The lizard's blood is drawn out, slowly extracted from its massive body and gathered within the formation.
Wang Hui focuses despite his injuries, guiding the process carefully as the blood condenses and refines.
Once complete, he begins analysing it.
His perception sinks into the dense essence, searching through the layered patterns hidden within.
Gradually, structures reveal themselves.
Spell models.
From the blood of the Diamond Lizard, he extracts three spells.
Diamond Explosion Spell.
Earth Control Spell.
Petrify Ray Spell.
Each one carries complexity.
Each one holds potential.
Wang Hui's gaze lingers for a moment.
Then he makes his decision.
He focuses on the Earth Control Spell.
Without hesitation, he begins to comprehend it, drawing its runic structure into his mind and stabilising it within his spirit space.
The process consumes the blood entirely.
When it ends, nothing remains.
But the spell does.
With the Earth Control Spell now firmly grasped within his mind, Wang Hui rises despite the lingering pain in his body, and together with Talon, he begins heading deeper underground, moving through a narrow passage where the air grows denser, and the light from the surface fades into darkness.
The walls tighten around them, and the ground becomes uneven, filled with scattered rocks and jagged protrusions that hint at the unstable nature of this subterranean world.
Suddenly, movement stirs ahead.
A group of stone men emerges from the shadows, their bodies formed entirely of rough, compacted rock, their eyes glowing faintly as they lock onto Wang Hui and Talon.
Without hesitation, they charge forward.
Wang Hui steps ahead to intercept them, his body tensing as he prepares to engage, while Talon remains behind, its injuries not yet fully healed and its strength not at its peak.
The first stone man swings its heavy arm downward.
Wang Hui meets it head-on.
His fist collides with stone, sending cracks spreading across its arm, while at the same time, he manipulates the ground beneath it using the Earth Control Spell, causing the surface to shift and destabilise its footing.
The stone man stumbles.
Wang Hui follows with another strike.
This time, the impact shatters its upper body completely.
Fragments scatter across the ground.
From within the broken remains, a solid core drops out and rolls onto the stone floor.
Another stone man approaches from the side.
Wang Hui pivots, driving his leg into its torso while raising a wall of earth to block an incoming strike from behind, using both his physical strength and spell control in seamless coordination.
The battle continues.
Each stone man attacks relentlessly, but their rigid bodies lack adaptability.
Wang Hui exploits this weakness.
He disrupts their movements with earth, restricts their balance, and crushes them one by one with precise and powerful strikes.
Soon, the passage is filled with broken stone bodies.
And on the ground, several stone cores lie scattered.
Wang Hui collects them all, storing them carefully before continuing forward.
They move deeper.
Further into the underground.
Along the way, more magic beasts appear.
Some lurk in the shadows.
Others ambush from above or below.
But none of them reaches the level of Quasi-Magic Beasts.
Wang Hui takes the lead in most of these battles, his movements growing sharper as he gains experience, his control over the Wind Control Spell and Earth Control Spell steadily improving with each encounter.
The wind aids his speed.
The earth supports his defence and control.
Together, they form a balanced foundation for his combat style.
Time passes as they advance.
The air becomes heavier.
The mana denser.
Eventually, they reach a halt.
Before them lies a vast, dark cavern.
At its centre spreads a silent lake, its surface still and black, reflecting nothing, as if swallowing all light that touches it.
Wang Hui and Talon stop at the edge of the bank.
Neither of them moves forward.
Both of them can feel it.
A presence.
Deep beneath the water.
The oppressive breath of a Quasi-Magic Beast presses against them from beneath the dark water, heavy and suffocating, making even the air around the cavern feel thick and unmoving.
Talon speaks, its voice calm but firm.
"My injuries are healed, and I will take care of it. You stay behind and support me."
Wang Hui nods without hesitation, understanding the difference in their strength and the importance of coordination in such a battle.
Talon spreads its wings and takes flight, its body expanding as it grows to nearly twice its original size, its shadow stretching across the surface of the lake as it circles above, with the cavern ceiling close above its back.
The still water below suddenly erupts.
A massive serpent bursts upward, its body glistening with dark scales as it shoots toward Talon with terrifying speed, its jaws wide open.
Talon reacts instantly.
It shifts mid-air and dodges, causing the serpent to crash violently into the cavern ceiling, the impact sending fragments of rock falling as the beast recoils in pain.
Without giving it time to recover, Talon's wings transform.
They harden into steel, gleaming sharply as it circles the serpent, slashing across its body with repeated strikes that leave deep wounds along its scales.
The serpent hisses in fury.
It twists its body and begins casting its spell.
The lake responds.
Water rises in spiralling currents before condensing into high-pressure jets that shoot toward Talon from multiple directions.
Wang Hui steps forward at the edge of the lake, raising his hand as he casts the Wind Control Spell.
The currents shift.
The trajectories of the water jets distort slightly, enough to disrupt their accuracy and reduce their impact.
Talon uses the opening.
It continues circling, attacking relentlessly, forcing the serpent to waste energy defending and retaliating.
The battle stretches on.
The serpent's movements grow slower.
Its attacks lose precision.
Bit by bit, it is worn down.
Finally, Talon pulls back slightly.
Dark energy gathers before it.
In the next instant, it releases a concentrated blast.
The Dark Blast Spell.
The attack strikes the serpent directly.
Its body convulses.
Then falls.
The water settles.
Silence returns.
Wang Hui exhales and steps forward, immediately activating the Blood Source Formation without wasting time.
Runes spread across the ground, extending partially into the water as the serpent's blood is drawn out, extracted and gathered with precision.
He refines it carefully, condensing the essence and analysing its structure.
From within the blood, a new pattern forms.
Water Control Spell.
Wang Hui commits it to memory, allowing the remaining blood to be fully consumed in the process.
With their strength restored and gains secured, they move deeper once more.
The environment begins to change.
The air grows hotter.
The walls glow faintly red.
Soon, they enter another cavern.
This one is vast.
And filled with pools of molten lava that bubble and flow slowly across the ground, releasing waves of heat that distort the air above them.
The moment they step inside, movement stirs within the lava.
Fire spirits rise.
Forms made of flame and molten energy surge outward, attacking immediately as they rush toward Wang Hui and Talon.
The battle begins again.
Wang Hui uses wind and earth to control distance and disrupt their forms, while Talon strikes from above, cutting through the fiery bodies.
But as the fight continues, something else moves.
Unseen.
A presence hides its breath perfectly.
From the shadows near the edge of a lava pool, a massive shape suddenly lunges forward.
Explosive speed.
Two-headed fire dog.
A Quasi First Stage Magic Beast.
Wang Hui turns just in time.
His eyes widen in shock as the twin jaws of the creature close in, its leap already upon them.