In the dark basement, Ian·Bones was staring at a lifeless body in front of him. He held a talisman painted with mysterious patterns between his fingertips and placed it in the center of the corpse's forehead. With the injection of pure spiritual energy, the talisman instantly burst out with dazzling light, and then turned into countless streams of light and disappeared into the body of the corpse.
The next second, the "corpse" suddenly opened its eyes, and the depth of arcane magic was reflected in its pupils.
"Body." The newly born clone slowly stood up, and although its voice was a little raw, it carried an unquestionable majesty.
Ian inspected this perfect masterpiece and nodded slightly. "From now on, your identity is 'Xiao Yueqiuman'. You should know exactly what to do."
"Don't worry, everything will go according to plan." The clone responded, then turned around and disappeared into the darkness, leaving the basement.
Ian stared at the direction he left, his deep gaze seemed to penetrate the thick rock formations, looking at the Land of the Sun sky, and whispered to himself, "Then, let's open the curtain."
This should have been an ordinary day for Kyoto. The streets were crowded with people, the shouts of vendors, the sounds of schoolchildren reading, and the sounds of silk and bamboo in wealthy mansions were intertwined, forming a picture of a prosperous and prosperous era.
However, this tranquility was broken in an instant.
A black cloud that covered the sky enveloped the entire Kyoto without warning. The light was quickly stripped away, and the entire city fell into a suffocating silence. Then, from the surging ink-colored clouds, a nightmare-like huge palm shot out of the air, pressing down hard on the palace with the momentum of destroying everything.
Although the powerful protective barrier of the palace was activated instantly, it was as fragile as tissue paper in front of that giant hand. It only lasted for a moment and then completely collapsed. Amidst the huge roar, the once magnificent palace complex was reduced to ruins.
Immediately afterwards, the giant hand turned to the Yin-Yang Protection Bureau. Although the barrier here barely maintained the main body of the building before being destroyed, the interior still suffered a devastating blow.
Finally, the giant hand swept towards the Bones Advanced Magic Academy. But this time, it seemed to have hit an indestructible diamond. It returned in vain after a violent shock, and finally slowly retracted into the clouds.
Among the ruins, General Shinta violently pushed away the broken walls that were pressing on him, gasping for air. He wiped the blood on his face and checked his body - several ribs were broken, his legs were almost crushed, and the severe pain made him almost faint.
He reached into his pocket with trembling hands, only to find that most of the carefully prepared charms had been destroyed in the impact.
"Damn..." He bit his fingertips and endured the pain, directly drawing several bloody runes on his skin.
"Order."
Following his low command, the blood-red runes lit up with a vibrant green light, the broken bones began to reset, and the wounds healed quickly. A few minutes later, he finally stood up unsteadily, roaring at the dead ruins around him, "Is there anyone alive?"
There were only sporadic moans in response to him. Shinta quickly gathered the survivors, including the pale Mikoko.
"General, what happened?" a mage asked in horror.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is...'Level 7 Spirit Calamity'." Shinta's voice was trembling.
The faces of the people around were earth-colored. In the historical records of the Eastern Continent, level 7 spiritual disasters only appeared once. It was the legendary catastrophe in which ancient souls obtained forbidden treasures, tried to rule the spiritual world, and exterminated all living creatures. Because of its age, many people even thought it was just a myth.
"We must go to the palace immediately to find Imperial Family and the top mages for shelter." Shinta made an immediate decision. As a hero, a dark thought even flashed in his heart: If the emperor and those obstructive big families die in this Cataclysm, then he will become the only ruler above the ruins.
"No, we should go to the academy." Mikoko suddenly spoke, interrupting his fantasy.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"That's the only safe place right now." Mikoko pointed into the distance. Through the thick gray fog, only the high tower of the college still stood.
Shinta was about to refute, but Mikoko calmly pointed out a fact: among all the survivors present, the survival rate of mages with civilian backgrounds was as high as 90%, while the survival rate of nobles and warriors with prominent backgrounds was only 12%.
"The reason why the college can survive must be because of Xiao Yueqiuman's protection." Mikoko's eyes were firm, "Only by his side can we survive."
Although Shinta ridiculed Qiu Man as just a child who has not yet grown up, in the face of the threat of death, most civilian mages and some sober nobles finally chose to follow Mikoko.
Traveling through the gray fog is a psychological torture. The corrosive fog continues to erode the protective shield, and dull crashing sounds and blood-curdling screams are heard from time to time in the fog.
"Don't stop, keep walking!" Mikoko shouted sharply in the center of the formation, maintaining everyone's sanity.
When they felt like they had walked for centuries, they finally came out of the fog. In front of them was a magnificent golden light barrier, covering the entire academy. Above the barrier, the young man known as the "Living Legend" - Xiao Yueqiuman, was standing on top of the dragon, with his fingertips outlining dazzling golden runes all over the sky.
"Come in quickly, Master Qiu Man needs your mental support!" The principal of the college rushed out to respond.
As everyone joins in, the golden shield becomes more solid, like the only beacon in the darkness.
At the same time, deep inside the academy, the real Ian·Bones was standing in front of a dusty door.
He waved his hand and countless paper talisman birds surrounded him, and then he gently pressed his right hand on the door. Every time his fingertips touched, a talisman bird disappeared. Ian looked calm. These "Substitute Talisman" were traveling through different timelines to resist the cost of opening the door for him.
The ink-like words spread from his palm, forming a complex alchemical ring on the door. Within half a minute, dozens of Substitute Talisman were burned in Void.
As the last drop of blood dripped into the center of the ring, a faint blue light burst out instantly, and thousands of densely packed ancient charms on the door fell off one after another.
"Dang!"
Lin An pushed the door open and walked in. In the center of the hall, a black magic book with a flickering light was floating quietly. The eye-catching "Spade" logo and king pattern on the cover looked particularly cold.
Ian skillfully cracked the remaining sealing formation on the ground. At that moment, Spade Original Tome sensed some kind of call and turned into an afterimage and flew in front of Ian.
Ian summoned his own original book. The two books met and rotated in the air, and finally merged perfectly into one.
He closed his eyes and felt the violent vibrations in Sea of Consciousness like the fit of a jigsaw puzzle. The third piece was finally obtained.