Dark Magic

Breathing the fresh air, feeling the vitality around him, and looking at the stars scattered like diamonds in the sky, Qi Bei felt reborn. The Undead Mountain Range, that was hell on earth.

Qi Bei's large tent was next to his elder brother Huai'an Nord's. He sat cross-legged inside the tent, cultivating the Divine Dragon Art.

For Qi Bei, cultivating the Divine Dragon Art was equivalent to cultivating the Mad Dragon Battle Qi Art.

Perhaps it was because the Mad Dragon Battle Qi Art contained a trace of Dragon's Will, that as his inner force circulated, it could rapidly absorb the Battle Qi energy from the air and store it in his middle Dantian.

At midnight, Qi Bei opened his eyes. Suddenly, Yao Rao's stunningly beautiful face appeared in his mind.

He missed her a little.

"You enchantress, one day, you'll willingly become my woman, Qi Bei," Qi Bei thought, and it seemed he could hear her soul-stirring laughter again.

Qi Bei's ears twitched. Yao Rao's laughter faded, but he heard suppressed moans coming from his elder brother's tent.

Food and sex are natural desires. Big brother is quite the bachelor. I wonder how he'll resolve the issues between their identities.

It felt a bit improper to eavesdrop on his elder brother's affairs, so Qi Bei planned to seal his six senses and focus his mind on cultivation.

But just then, the black longsword Qi Bei had stuck in front of him trembled slightly again.

This longsword was a weapon sealed in an ancient magic array at the bottom of the Blood River. He naturally knew it was no ordinary item, but it had never reacted since he obtained it. Today, it had reacted twice in a row.

Qi Bei grabbed the hilt, and a peculiar image suddenly appeared in his mind. Ten meters to his left, a hazy figure was casting a spell.

Nine Nether Soul Spike Technique.

For some reason, this information appeared in Qi Bei's mind.

This was a Dark Magic. Each time it was cast, a dark soul nail was silently planted in the target's soul. Once the ninth dark soul nail was planted, the caster would completely control the target. The target would behave normally and be completely unaware of being controlled.

The only way to break it was to kill the caster before the magic was fully completed. If it was completed, even killing the caster would result in the target's simultaneous death.

To the left was his elder brother Huai'an Nord's tent. He was currently "doing it" with Princess Ruixue. Who was casting this vicious Dark Magic, the Nine Nether Soul Stake Technique?

Qi Bei remembered the cold gaze of the maidservant next to Princess Ruixue, and the momentary fluctuation of dark energy. The answer was obvious.

But how could this sword have such a function? It seemed to be able to sense all fluctuations of dark energy around it, even distinguishing which magic was being cast, its incantation, and its method of breaking it.

This was simply a divine artifact!

Right, the reason the ancient magic array could be activated was because of the black ancient book he obtained from that undead mage. That seemed to be the key to opening that ancient magic array.

However, that black ancient book had been washed away to some unknown corner of the Blood River.

Qi Bei pondered for a moment and decided not to dwell on it. Saving his elder brother was the priority. He didn't know how many dark soul nails he had been afflicted with, but since that woman was still casting the spell, it meant there were at most eight dark soul nails.

Qi Bei arrived at Huai'an Nord's large tent. With a glint in his eyes, he suddenly crashed in like a cannonball.

"Ouch, Big Brother, you..." Qi Bei got up, covered in dust, and then stood there with his mouth agape.

Huai'an Nord instinctively grabbed the large saber beside him with one hand and covered Princess Ruixue's body with his robe. Seeing that it was Qi Bei, he was stunned for a moment.

"Big Brother, I didn't see anything. You continue, continue." Qi Bei patted the dust off himself and quickly turned, brushing past the maidservant standing not far away.

At that moment, the black longsword hidden in Qi Bei's sleeve suddenly flashed a ball of golden light and stabbed towards the maidservant.

Such a surprise attack made it difficult for many to react.

But this maidservant seemed to be on guard. She dodged sideways, but her arm was grazed by Qi Bei's longsword, and blood gushed out.

Qi Bei was about to attack again, but the maidservant screamed and hid behind Princess Ruixue, who was wrapped in a robe, trembling, "Princess, save me."

"Stop, Qi Bei Nord, you've gone too far. Get out!" Princess Ruixue's pretty face turned pale with anger. This maidservant had grown up with her and was like a sister.

"Big Brother..." Qi Bei frowned and spoke.

"Nonsense, get out now," Huai'an Nord roared.

A smug smile appeared on the maidservant's lips. But in an instant, a flash of green saber light streaked past, and her head flew off, splattering blood all over Princess Ruixue.

Huai'an Nord threw the large saber in his hand, and it plunged diagonally into the ground with a bang.

This saber strike stunned even Qi Bei.

"Huai'an, you..." Princess Ruixue finally came to her senses after a long while, her trembling jade fingers pointing at Huai'an Nord, her delicate body slumping weakly.

"If Qi Bei wanted to kill her, he must have had a reason," Huai'an Nord said calmly.

Just then, eight faint wisps of black smoke suddenly emerged from above Huai'an Nord's head.

Princess Ruixue, who was furious, stared blankly. Huai'an Nord's expression changed. The faint green Battle Qi in his hand condensed into a tiger's head, enveloping the eight wisps of black smoke.

"Sizzle... sizzle..." The Battle Qi was corroded by the black smoke, sizzling and rapidly dissipating.

"Dark Magic." Huai'an Nord's expression became very grim. Even if he were stupid, he would understand what was happening.

"Huai'an, I... I didn't know..." Princess Ruixue stammered, flustered. She truly didn't know what was going on.

Dark Magic was taboo in this world, and Undead Magic was a major branch of Dark Magic.

According to ancient records, 100,000 years ago, the gates of the Netherworld opened wide. The Dark God and the Death God, as the left and right arms of the Nether Lord, led countless dark and undead creatures to try and rule the world, causing widespread suffering and rivers of blood, turning the mortal realm into purgatory.

To counter the Nether Lord, the Lord of Chaos sent down the Goddess of Life and the God of Light to lead the various races in a fierce war against them.

This war lasted for a full eight hundred years. In the end, the Dark God and the Death God vanished, and most of the dark and undead creatures were driven back into the Netherworld, and the gates of the Netherworld were resealed.

However, the Goddess of Life and the God of Light were also severely injured.

The world, originally ruled by elven giants, fell apart. Humans rose up, rapidly growing powerful and constantly expanding their living space, becoming the world's dominant race.

However, a portion of Dark Magic was passed down, once throwing the world into great chaos.

The Five Great Holy Lands, representing the will of the gods, united to hunt down mages who practiced Dark Magic, issuing a holy decree declaring Dark Mages public enemies of all races.

"Big Brother, I'll wait for you outside the tent." Qi Bei finished speaking and turned to leave. Just now, Huai'an Nord had directly chopped off the maid's head without even listening to his detailed explanation, solely based on his desire to kill her. This unconditional trust made him feel deeply touched; these were true brothers.

Not long after, Huai'an Nord emerged from the tent, and the two brothers went to sit on a small hill outside the camp.

"I truly didn't expect Hamos would dare collude with Dark Mages to deal with us Nord Family. I suspect the incident of the undead mage breaking into the Imperial Palace has hidden depths," Huai'an Nord exhaled a long breath. He had been careless.

"Let the old men in the family worry about that. The matter of Dark Mages must involve the Five Great Holy Lands. I'm just a small ant, I won't bother with such troublesome affairs," Qi Bei shrugged.

"That's true, haha. Thanks to you, how did you know she was a Dark Mage?" Huai'an Nord asked.

"The Mad Dragon Battle Qi Art I cultivate is very sensitive to fluctuations of dark energy." Qi Bei naturally wouldn't reveal the secret of the Black Sword.

"I see. By the way, do you have any interest in joining the Black Armored Army? Let's brothers team up and achieve something great," Huai'an Nord said.

Qi Bei shook his head like a rattle drum. A joke! If he were trapped in the Black Armored Army, where would he find beautiful women with prime Yin essence? Although he had already reached the First Transformation of the Divine Dragon, he had also gained a deeper understanding of the Extreme Yang Fire. He didn't want to be burned to ashes.

Seeing Qi Bei's firm refusal, Huai'an Nord didn't press further. He knew that his brother had undergone a complete transformation since emerging from the Undead Mountain Range and could forge his own path anywhere.