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The black flames on the sorcerer’s human-faced staff flared up again, even as its left hand was swept by the sword aura, leaving a frosty scar.

As the black flames ignited, the sorcerer tapped the ground lightly with the staff, and its figure shrank, instantly teleporting several meters away.

However, left behind on the ground was its severed left hand.

Xiaoniao’s face lit up with joy, but Tianyang knew better. The arm was just a tool, a distraction. Beneath that cloak laid an intangible shell.

If the sorcerer wished, Tianyang believed it could make even its limbs invisible.

The reason it presented itself in a tangible form was merely to disguise itself and divert attention.

Just like Xiaoniao earlier, her instinctual sword aura had targeted the visible part of the sorcerer’s body. Little did she know, severing its hand was of no consequence to the sorcerer.

In the next moment, the sorcerer, having created some distance, stretched out another arm from beneath the shadow of its cloak.

Xiaoniao’s joy immediately vanished, replaced by frustration at being fooled. Suddenly, her eyes widened, pointing behind Tianyang. “Yan Bing! It looks like he’s been hypnotized!”

Tianyang turned to see Yan Bing, who had somehow retrieved his rifle, standing still like a statue.

His head hung low, so Tianyang couldn’t see his face beneath the helmet.

“Yan Bing, are you okay?” Tianyang shouted, but the officer didn’t respond at all.

Tianyang glanced at the sorcerer and called out, “Xiaoniao, keep it occupied.”

Xiaoniao nodded, her agile figure darting toward the sorcerer. The sorcerer’s staff ignited with that moldy-looking green flame, which shot toward Xiaoniao.

The girl swiftly sidestepped, and green fire erupted from the ground. The flames twisted into demonic faces, howling hollowly before dissipating into the air.

Seeing that Xiaoniao wasn’t in immediate danger, Tianyang approached Yan Bing with some relief. Yan Bing stood there, eerily motionless, as if he were asleep.

Tianyang guessed he must have looked like this when he was trapped in the dream earlier.

Just as he was about to call out, Yan Bing suddenly raised his rifle and pointed it at Tianyang!

Hiss—

Tianyang drew a sharp breath and instinctively sidestepped. However, Yan Bing didn’t pull the trigger. Instead, he turned the rifle toward himself, pressing it against his helmet!

He was about to commit suicide!

In an instant, Tianyang’s hair lifted, and faint astral light shimmered around him like stardust.

In his vision, the surrounding scenery turned into streams of silver light, retreating rapidly. Yan Bing’s figure enlarged in his view in the blink of an eye.

He could even see Yan Bing’s finger slightly curling, the trigger already starting to depress!

Just as the trigger was about to be fully pulled, a streak of crimson light flashed across the rifle’s body.

Yan Bing pulled the trigger, but the astral-powered weapon, now split in two by the falling sword, could no longer fire even a single shot!

At this moment, Tianyang finally appeared beside Yan Bing. At first, his figure was blurred, but in an instant, it seemed like countless shadows overlapped, making his form clear.

Only now did the sound of his rapid movement break the air with a belated whoosh!

Tianyang struck Yan Bing’s neck with a sharp chop, and the violent impact knocked the officer unconscious, sending him into a deep sleep.

Tianyang breathed a slight sigh of relief but then suddenly noticed a flash of green light. Looking over, he saw that a ring of green flames had encircled Xiaoniao.

Within the green flames, beasts resembling Mad Dogs formed. These creatures of green fire prowled within the flames, growling and snarling.

Every now and then, they leaped out, transforming into streams of green fire that charged toward Xiaoniao.

For a moment, Xiaoniao was struggling just to avoid the attacks of these vile green flame beasts, unable to break through the fire circle to face the sorcerer.

Tianyang’s gaze deepened as if he were observing the world from a higher dimension. Guided by some sense, his eyes were drawn to a specific part of the sorcerer’s body.

The sorcerer immediately sensed it, tapping the ground with its staff, and teleporting away.

Losing his target, Tianyang’s sense of the sorcerer’s weakness faded, and his eyes returned to normal.

The sorcerer reappeared on the other side, pointing its staff toward Tianyang. A strange pressure descended from the void, enveloping him. Tianyang relied on his speed, his body turning into a blur as he swiftly dodged away.

A sudden burst of green flames even licked one of his fading afterimages.

Tianyang rushed toward the bizarre, pregnant-looking entity. The sorcerer, who had been about to launch an attack with the human-faced staff, suddenly stopped in mid-air.

At that moment, Tianyang knew he had made the right call. This strange, pregnant-like object must be crucial to the sorcerer. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have used the Mad Dogs as bait, leading that eerie root here to connect with this pregnant entity.

The sorcerer’s actions confirmed his guess. Tianyang darted behind the strange object and stayed hidden for a few seconds before darting out again.

The sorcerer tapped the ground with its wooden staff and teleported after him.

After three teleports, the sorcerer blocked Tianyang’s path.

Inside the green ring of fire, Xiaoniao slashed her rapier, sending out several frosty sword auras that tore through a few of the green flame beasts. The sword auras swept through the fire ring, dimming the green flames significantly.

Thus, Xiaoniao could clearly see the sorcerer raising its staff toward Tianyang, unleashing several streams of green fire that struck him one after another!

“No!”

Xiaoniao cried out in shock, trying to see clearly, but the rising green walls of fire blocked her view.

Outside the fire ring, after the sorcerer struck Tianyang, the green flames on the human-faced staff dimmed.

In that instant, a crimson streak of light flashed across its arm holding the staff.

The arm immediately severed, dropping the staff along with it to the ground.

At that moment, Tianyang, who had been hit by the green fire, silently appeared behind the sorcerer. In his other hand, he raised the Death Knell and pressed it against the sorcerer’s back.

He fired!

The massive, thunderous sound of the gunshot echoed through the vast underground hall. The unique blast of the Death Knell sounded like the wrathful roar of a god, cleansing the air of all evil in the darkness.

The sorcerer’s chest exploded. Although beneath the cloak was an intangible shell, the cloak, which appeared to be mere fabric, was actually a biological structure.

A large hole blasted through the cloak, and a cloud of black blood mist sprayed out. The remaining fabric, no longer supported by a shell, scattered to the ground.

Without looking at the fallen cloak, Tianyang spun the Crimson Moon Warblade and stabbed it down into the human faces on the staff!

A horrifying scream immediately erupted from the staff. The scream was neither human nor animal, filled with a mix of fear and pain.

The staff cracked with a series of snaps, and a shadow shot out from within. But Tianyang was prepared. Pointing the Death Knell, he fired again—thunder roared once more!

A blinding light erupted from the ground, followed by an explosion that sent a shower of debris flying in all directions.

When the dust and debris settled, there was an irregular crater in the ground, about half a meter in diameter. Inside the crater laid the remains of a shattered corpse.

Tianyang could make out a lizard-like tail, hind legs, and an eyeball. The rest was either buried under the debris or had been blown to pieces!

This creature was the sorcerer’s true body, as well as the source of the black creatures’ will cage.

As the remaining cloak began to decompose, Tianyang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He holstered the Death Knell and wiped the sweat from his brow.

In fact, when the sorcerer sensed Tianyang’s ability to detect weaknesses, Tianyang had already realized that its will cage was hidden within the human-faced staff.

He had rushed behind the strange, pregnant entity not just to prevent the sorcerer from attacking him. While using that object as cover, he had seized the chance to activate a new ability.

Phantom!

As the name implied, Tianyang consumed a portion of his astral energy to create a phantom identical to himself.

The phantom carried Tianyang’s aura and could even attack its target. And during its use, Tianyang received some additional information.

The information revealed that as he continued to grow, the phantom would eventually inherit some of his abilities, its numbers would change, and it would even have a highly practical function.

But for now, its greatest use was to confuse enemies, making them misjudge and act incorrectly.

The result was that the sorcerer had mistaken the phantom for the real Tianyang. While it unleashed its green fire, the real Tianyang had already moved stealthily. Once the sorcerer finished its energy-draining attack and was left weakened, Tianyang had severed its arm with a single strike.

That was how he had achieved the victory.

With the sorcerer dead, the ring of fire surrounding Xiaoniao vanished as well. She stood there, staring at Tianyang in disbelief that he was still alive.

It wasn’t until Tianyang called her name that she snapped out of it, sheathing her rapier and hurrying over.

The sorcerer’s body had turned into a pool of black sludge, but the human face on the staff remained intact.

The preserved face gradually transformed into a black crystal, within which twinkled lights resembling stars, as if the entire night sky was contained within it.

The black crystal mask, now fully crystallized, emitted a deep and tranquil aura. Simply holding it made Tianyang feel drowsy.

He pocketed the crystal mask. It might have inherited the sorcerer’s ability to induce dreams, and if he could use it, it might prove to be a powerful tool in the future.

“Tianyang, you...” Xiaoniao circled him twice, then exclaimed in disbelief, “I saw you get hit earlier! How are you completely fine?”

Tianyang smiled and replied, “I dodged just in time. But to be honest, it was really close. If I’d been a little slower, I’d probably be roasted by now.”

Xiaoniao glanced at the puddle of black sludge on the ground. “You destroyed the sorcerer’s will cage?”

“Yeah, I guess I got lucky,” Tianyang casually replied.

On the other side, Yan Bing groaned, sitting up while rubbing his neck. “What happened? Did I fall asleep? Why does my neck hurt so much…”

Hearing that, Tianyang exchanged a smile with Xiaoniao and said, “Let’s head back and report what we’ve found to the command center. Maybe the real battlefield is underground!”