Chapter 1023: Chapter 776: Many Underground Cities
Clang!
The tip of the Cosmic Stone Greatsword pressed firmly against the Mana Spike, preventing it from moving even a fraction of an inch. Mana kept warping between the two sharp ends, causing even the space around them to tremble!
"Cosmic Stone!"
Aimondeus was taken aback and wondered why Long Yi had such abundant mana. So he actually possessed such a massive Cosmic Stone!
"Scared pissless now that you know it’s a Cosmic Stone?" Long Yi laughed heartily, gripping the Cosmic Stone Greatsword in one hand while the other fist launched a devastating energy blast. Aimondeus didn’t expect Long Yi to be able to strike him so he let out a loud roar, immediately abandoning his attack and instead focusing all his mana to defend against the destructive wave. Although Long Yi’s attack wasn’t very powerful, Aimondeus failed to completely dissolve it. A slight destructive wave left a superficial wound on his arm.
"You! You dare injure me!" The pain turned Aimondeus’s eyes blood red in an instant.
"Yes, I injured you. What are you going to do about it?" Long Yi wore a mocking smile. Aimondeus was truly strange; even at this point, he was still trying to show off. What was the point of his posturing?
"You will pay for this!" Aimondeus roared.
"You plan to kill me with your saliva?" Long Yi so-called retorted.
"You just wait and see." This time, Aimondeus had learned his lesson. He didn’t initiate an attack but, after dropping a fierce line, he immediately left the place.
"I really thought it would be more intense than this," Long Yi remarked, watching Aimondeus leave.
"I think the more intense things are bound to happen later," Ai Lin said.
"Let him go. Let’s continue our earlier topic. Is the Underground City they plan to explore the home of the Red Demon Scorpions?" Long Yi asked.
Ai Lin nodded, letting Xiaohong, the little Red Demon Scorpion on her head, lie down before saying, "This is what I heard from an Elder; it’s not a secret project. But it’s said that the Underground City could very likely be left behind by a race once aided by the Giants."
In the entire multiverse, most races that the Giants had once helped were extremely powerful, but some mysteriously vanished from history, disappearing as if they had never existed, with almost no record of them left in history.
"Did you notice? There are many Underground Cities in this plane," Little Zi suddenly said.
Everyone was taken aback for a moment.
Indeed, the place where Ai Lin was originally located was an Underground City. The place where Long Yi rescued Little Zi was also an Underground City. The Stellar Realm’s Arena had an Underground City, and even some unknown planets had Underground Cities.
This feeling was as if someone was trying to rewrap the many planets with rocks and dirt, not wanting others to see their original appearance.
"Whatever the reason is, this must be related to the Giants. We should go," Silver Light said. Although Silver Light shared the same appearance and even memories as Ai Lin, she was more reserved and taciturn, only occasionally stating her opinion.
"In that case, I’ll talk with Elma. We cannot miss out on such a thing," Long Yi said.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Solis was informed of Aimondeus’s report and immediately became enraged: "This Long Yi thinks he can ignore me because he has Elma backing him? Very well! In that case, there’s no need to keep you around anymore!"
Aimondeus’s face showed a hint of hesitation: "But Master Solis, that Long Yi’s combat power is quite astonishing. I think, unless the Ancient Mage Tower Guardians are deployed, I can’t think of anyone who could be his match..."
Solis nodded. He had naturally heard of Long Yi’s strength, especially the deeds he had done on the surface.
The mages in the Ancient Mage Tower all possessed immense magical abilities, but such abilities didn’t necessarily translate to battle prowess. In the Ancient Mage Tower, everyone had their own roles; some specialized in studying magic, while others focused on combat. Here, the strongest combat force was known as the Ancient Mage Tower Guardians, whose only duty was to continuously refine their strength and protect the Ancient Mage Tower at critical moments.
However, even though Solis had confidants among the Ancient Mage Tower Guardians, they couldn’t be deployed without a good reason.
"Perhaps, that Underground City exploration plan provides an opportunity," Aimondeus suggested.
"Excellent! This is definitely an opportunity!" Solis laughed.
Exploring the treacherous Underground City would certainly involve deploying the Ancient Mage Tower Guardians.
"But what if Long Yi and his group don’t go?"
"No, they will definitely go!"
Ever since his return, Elma had been making efforts to reclaim his authority. In fact, this was no easy task, as in his absence, Solis had almost seized all power here. Apart from a few who remained faithfully loyal to Elma, the majority had sided with Solis, and their resolve seemed unshakeable, showing no signs of wavering even after Elma’s comeback.
This took Elma by surprise and filled him with anger.
Thus, when Long Yi saw Elma, the aged man who had regained his youth was furrowed with anger.
"Underground City exploration?" Elma rubbed the corner of his eyes as he searched his mind for the matter, "Oh, right, that was an exploration event I proposed myself. I had actually forgotten about it."
Elma’s smile was tinged with helplessness; he had been so busy recently that he had even forgotten such a thing.
"Yes, we feel that staying here isn’t much fun, so we’d like to explore the Underground City," Long Yi said.
"Well, if you’ve taken the initiative to propose it, I have no reason to refuse. However, are you going as explorers, or as protectors?" Elma asked.
"Is there a difference?" Long Yi was puzzled.
"Yes, explorers are assessed on their understanding of Giant knowledge and their research into magic; protectors, on the other hand, are simply a test of strength—you should know, the Underground City is quite dangerous," Elma explained.
"Can’t we just join without all the fuss?"
"Of course not, with the Ancient Mage Tower so vast, every activity must adhere to rules."
For Long Yi and his group, the explorer’s assessment was relatively simple, after all, Long Yi was a genuine Giant, and no knowledge could stump him. And protectors? That was even less of a challenge—it was all about fighting! Who would fear that?
Therefore, quickly, whether it was the explorer or protector’s assessment, the five of them all passed.
This left the assessors dumbfounded: Long Yi and the four girls were both explorers and protectors?
And that was exactly what Long Yi wanted: being both explorers and protectors allowed them to be grouped together, avoiding the need to mix with others.
The one in charge of this expedition was Balak, who served as an instructor on the lower levels. When he heard that Long Yi’s group wanted to join, he insisted on separating them, but Long Yi was firm: forget about it, if you object, let’s settle it with a fight.
Although Balak did not think he was a match for Long Yi in a fight, and he lacked the authority to summon the most powerful warriors among the Ancient Mage Tower’s Guardians, he ultimately had no choice but to acquiesce.
The Ancient Mage Tower quietly appeared near a planet, which was a pure black globe, its surface covered with pitch-black lava. There were no signs of vegetation on its surface, nor any signs of life.
Within the Ancient Mage Tower, in the designated preparation space, about three hundred people assembled. There were old and young, men and women. Among them were explorers and protectors, while Long Yi’s gaze settled on several tall warriors.
They were Guardians of the Ancient Mage Tower and possessed the strongest force within the whole tower. It had to be said, even Long Yi could feel the intense pressure emanating from them. But that wasn’t what drew Long Yi’s attention. The real reason he noticed them was that he could sense waves of hostility and even murderous intent from a few of them.
"I’d bet those guys were sent by Solis," Long Yi muttered.
"Without a doubt," Little Zi nodded in agreement, being a master of psychic power, she shared the sense of hostility from these individuals.
"Which means, our exploration trip this time won’t be boring," Long Yi remarked with a grin as he looked at the Guardians of the Ancient Mage Tower.
Upon seeing Long Yi’s smile, the Guardians also began to smirk, their grins laced with a hint of mockery.
The group descended to the planet’s surface via teleportation, landing at a massive opening that led underground. For a long time, many nations within this plane had explored these Underground Cities, but due to obvious dangers, nobody had ventured too deeply. This time, the Ancient Mage Tower planned to venture into the depths and explore what truly lay within.
Groups entered the Underground City in the order they had been arranged, with Long Yi advancing alongside Ai Lin, Silverlight, Little Zi, and Xiaodie. Since they were both explorers and protectors, they were not assigned any warriors, which brought them great convenience.
After traversing several kilometers of rock layers, everyone finally reached the depths of the Underground City.
The dark and silent city appeared frozen overnight; no inhabitants were to be found, as if everyone had vanished into thin air.
The first-timers began to tense up, while the protectors became vigilant.
"Xiaohong, it’s your turf, let’s get going!" Ai Lin spoke, and the Red Demon Scorpion Xiaohong, disguised as a sworn sibling, immediately leaped down and transformed into a massive Red Demon Scorpion. This time, however, it controlled its size and did not grow larger, as that would hamper its movement in the city.
Seeing the Red Demon Scorpion suddenly appear startled some unprepared folks, with even some protectors starting to summon their magic. But then they saw Long Yi and his companions jump onto the back of the Red Demon Scorpion and take off, making the others feel a mix of envy and jealousy. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to vote for it with your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)
