Dark Magic

Breathing in the fresh air, feeling the vitality around him, and gazing at the diamond-like stars scattered across the sky, Qi Bei finally felt reborn. The Undead Mountain Range—this was a living hell.

Qi Bei's tent stood beside his big brother Huai'an Nord's. Sitting cross-legged inside, he cultivated the Divine Dragon Art.

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

Perhaps because the Mad Dragon Battle Qi Art contained a trace of Dragon's Will, as his inner power circulated, it rapidly absorbed the Battle Qi energy in the air and stored it in his middle Dantian.

At midnight, Qi Bei opened his eyes. Yao Rao's breathtakingly beautiful face suddenly surfaced in his mind.

He missed her a little.

"Little vixen, one day, you'll willingly become my woman, Qi Bei." Qi Bei spoke inwardly. It seemed he could hear her soul-stealing, heart-capturing laughter once more.

Qi Bei's ears twitched. Yao Rao's charming laughter faded into the distance, but he heard muffled moans coming from his big brother's tent.

Lust was part of human nature. His big brother was quite the bachelor, but Qi Bei had no idea how he would resolve the trouble between their identities.

Eavesdropping on his big brother's intimate affairs seemed rather improper. Qi Bei was about to seal off his six senses and devote his mind to cultivation.

But at that moment, the Black Sword planted before him suddenly trembled again.

This long sword had been a weapon sealed within the ancient Magic Array at the bottom of the Blood River. Qi Bei naturally knew it was no ordinary object, but it had never reacted since he obtained it. Today, however, it had reacted twice in succession.

Qi Bei grabbed the hilt. A strange image abruptly appeared in his mind: ten meters to his left, a hazy figure was casting a spell.

"Nine Nether Soul Nail Technique."

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

This was a Dark Magic spell. Every time it was cast, it silently planted a dark soul nail in the victim's soul. Once the ninth dark soul nail was planted, the victim would be completely controlled. The victim would appear no different from an ordinary person and would have no idea that they were being controlled.

The only way to break it was to kill the caster before the spell was fully completed. Once it was complete, even if the caster were killed, the victim would die as well.

To the left was his big brother Huai'an Nord's tent. He was currently fooling around with Princess Ruixue. Then who was casting this vicious Dark Magic spell, the Nine Nether Soul Nail Technique?

Qi Bei recalled the maid's cold gaze beside Princess Ruixue, as well as the dark fluctuation that had flashed by in that instant. The answer was already obvious.

But how did this sword possess such a function? It seemed capable of sensing every fluctuation of dark energy nearby, and could even distinguish which spell was being cast, along with the spell's incantation and method of breaking it.

This was practically a divine artifact!

Right—the reason the ancient Magic Array had been able to activate was the black ancient tome he had obtained from that undead mage. It seemed to be the key that opened the ancient Magic Array.

However, he had no idea which corner of the Blood River that black ancient tome had been swept into.

Qi Bei pondered for a while, then stopped dwelling on it. Saving his big brother was more important right now. He did not know how many dark soul nails had already entered him, but since that woman was still casting the spell, there could be no more than eight.

Qi Bei arrived before Huai'an Nord's tent. His eyes shifted, and suddenly his entire body slammed inside like a cannonball.

"Ow, big brother, you..." Qi Bei climbed to his feet, covered in dust. The moment he raised his head, his mouth fell open and he froze where he stood.

Huai'an Nord instinctively snatched up the broadsword beside him with one hand and used a robe to cover Princess Ruixue's ** with the other. When he saw Qi Bei, he could not help but be stunned.

"Big brother, I didn't see anything. Carry on, carry on." Qi Bei dusted himself off and quickly turned around, brushing past the maid standing nearby.

At that very moment, the Black Sword hidden in Qi Bei's sleeve suddenly erupted with a burst of golden light and stabbed toward the maid.

Such a sudden, unexpected attack was difficult for most people to react to.

But the maid seemed to have been on guard. She shifted sideways and dodged, though Qi Bei's long sword still slashed across her arm, and blood gushed out.

Qi Bei was about to attack again, but the maid screamed and darted behind Princess Ruixue, who was wrapped in the robe. Trembling, she cried, "Princess, save me."

"Stop! Qi Bei Nord, you've gone too far! Get out of here, now!" Princess Ruixue's pretty face turned deathly pale with anger. The maid had grown up with her since childhood; they were as close as sisters.

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

"Stop fooling around. Get out!" Huai'an Nord roared.

A trace of smugness appeared at the corner of the maid's mouth. But in the next instant, a streak of azure saber light flashed past, and her head flew into the air. Blood sprayed all over Princess Ruixue's head and face.

Huai'an Nord flung away the broadsword in his hand. With a bang, it plunged diagonally into the ground.

That single slash left even Qi Bei stunned.

"Huai'an, you..." Princess Ruixue took a long while to recover. Her trembling jade finger pointed at Huai'an Nord, but her delicate body went limp and collapsed.

"Qi Bei must have had a reason for wanting to kill her." Huai'an Nord's voice was faint.

At that moment, eight wisps of faint black smoke suddenly rose above Huai'an Nord's head.

Princess Ruixue, who had been furious, stared blankly. Huai'an Nord's expression changed, and the azure Battle Qi in his hand condensed into a tiger's head, enclosing the eight wisps of black smoke above his head.

"Sizzle, sizzle..." The Battle Qi was corroded by the black smoke with a sizzling sound and rapidly dissipated.

"Dark Magic." Huai'an Nord's expression became extremely grim. Even a fool could now understand what had happened.

"Huai'an, I... I didn't know..." Princess Ruixue was flustered and stammered. She truly had no idea what this was all about.

Dark Magic was a taboo in this world. Necromancy was one of the major branches of Dark Magic.

According to the ancient texts, a hundred thousand years ago, the Nether Gate had opened wide. The Dark God and the Death God, the Nether Lord's left and right hands, had led countless dark creatures and undead creatures in an attempt to rule the world. They had left the living in misery, turned rivers of blood into reality, and transformed the human world into an inferno.

To resist the Nether Lord, the Lord of Chaos had sent down the Goddess of Life and the God of Light, who led the various races into a bloody, brutal war against them.

That war lasted a full eight hundred years. In the end, the Dark God and the Death God vanished into smoke and nothingness. Most of the dark creatures and undead were driven back into the Netherworld, and the Nether Gate was sealed once more.

However, the Goddess of Life and the God of Light were also gravely wounded.

The world, once ruled by elves and giants, then fell apart. Humanity rose and rapidly grew powerful, constantly expanding its living space until it became the world's greatest race.

Even so, some Dark Magic was passed down, throwing the world into chaos for a time.

The Five Great Holy Lands, representing the will of the gods, joined forces to exterminate every mage who cultivated Dark Magic. They also issued a holy decree, declaring Dark Mages the common enemies of all races.

"Big brother, I'll wait for you outside the tent." After Qi Bei finished speaking, he turned and walked out. Just now, Huai'an Nord had not even listened to his full explanation. Simply because Qi Bei had wanted to kill that maid, he had directly cut off her head. Such unconditional trust warmed Qi Bei to the core. This was what true brotherhood was.

Before long, Huai'an Nord emerged from the tent. The two brothers went outside the camp and sat down on a hillock.

"I truly never expected Hamos to dare collude with a Dark Mage to deal with our Nord Family. I think there must be more to the matter of that undead mage breaking into the Imperial Palace." Huai'an Nord exhaled a long breath of foul air. He had still been too careless.

"Let that bunch of old men in the family rack their brains over this. The Dark Mage matter definitely involves the Five Great Holy Lands. I'm just a tiny ant, so I'm not touching this rotten mess." Qi Bei shrugged.

"True. Ha ha, it's all 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 would not reveal the secret of the Black Sword.

"I see. By the way, kid, are you interested in joining the Black Armored Army? The two of us brothers could join forces and accomplish something great." Huai'an Nord said.

Qi Bei shook his head like a rattle drum. What a joke. If he were trapped in the Black Armored Army, where would he find beauties possessing supreme primordial yin? Although he had now reached the First Transformation of the Divine Dragon, he had gained a deeper understanding of the Extreme Yang Fire as well. He did not want to be burned into a pile of ashes.

Seeing how resolute Qi Bei was, Huai'an Nord did not force him. He knew that after emerging from the Undead Mountain Range, this younger brother of his had been reborn. Wherever he went, he would be able to carve out a world of his own.