The man hid behind Lin Ming. He fantasized about the beast doing him a favor, killing Lin Ming for him. That was the only way to regain his freedom. He also believed Lin Ming would act right away to deal with the beast—Lin Ming still needed him, and that was why he didn’t erase his consciousness.
As for Lin Ming, he couldn’t care less what the man was thinking. “Fiery Phoenix Spell!” The spell knocked back the charging beast dealing damage to the Tier 8 Dark Magical Beast.
“Dazzling Dragon Spell!” Lin Ming summoned eight dragons in that instant. “Merge!” His palms came together, and the eight dragons fused into one. The spell he was using now was more vigorous than that in the secret realm.
As the eight dragons bined, the surging power within it caused the man hiding behind Lin Ming to tremble in fear. He knew if Lin Ming decided to use a magical attack on him, Lin Ming would have destroyed his consciousness along the way.
“Slay!” Lin Ming murmured, the dragon engulfing the beast. Without room for resistance, the beast turned into ashes.
Recovering from the shock, the man flattered, “O’ Mighty Lord!”
Lin Ming looked over his shoulder. “Go and fetch the dropped item.”
“Yes!” The man hurried and retrieved the item—it was a magical core the same size as the black-robed man’s. But there was another item—a toe bone the size of Lin Ming’s palm.
As the rest of the beast had turned into ashes, the toe bone must be a crucial clue. Lin Ming stored the bone and magical core in the ring.
“Let’s go.”
Now that all Dark Magic was gone, the door was now unobstructed. Lin Ming walked through the door, observing. “It’s another tomb?” His brows furrowed.
“Look, sir.” The man pointed.
Lin Ming followed his gaze. On the table was an emerald token, heavy to Lin Ming’s hold. He tried to direct magic powers into it, and it started glimmering with streaks. It was a map, and there was a red mark. After finding where they were, he noticed they weren’t far away from the red dot.
“Do you know the place?” Lin Ming asked the man.
“Each of us Dark Mages has our domains, sir. That is not mine, so I have not been there yet.”
Lin Ming had something on his mind. “Do you mean there are other mages with the Soul-absorbing Bells?”
“Yes. And there are ranks to us Dark Mages.”
“Ranks?” It looked like no matter where he went—a ranking system would always rule the place.
“Yes. And I am the weakest, hence my rank lowest. My domain is smaller, too. If someone of a higher rank enters my domain, I need to follow that mage’s instructions.”
“So you’re at the bottom.”
“Yes. But it is better than nothing, having my consciousness and domain. Most of the mages here were soulless puppets waiting to be controlled.” The man sighed. He was content with what he had, and no other stronger mages would intrude his domain usually.
“One more question.”
“Do tell, sir.” The man lowered his head.
“Tier 7 is not the highest level of a mage in the Juncture, is it?” The second the Tier 8 Dark Magical Beast appeared, Lin Ming had realized this. He wanted to confirm his suspicion.
“The limit to the mages’ tier entering this place cannot exceed Tier 7, or they would face a backlash. But after entering this place, advancing further would not be a problem,” the man answered. He knew because there were Dark Mages with levels higher than Tier 7.
“Got it. What is the level of the Dark Mage at the place we’re heading?”
“Tier 7. He has tamed a Tier 8 Dark Magical Beast, his bat strength powerful.”
“That’s easy.”
“Yes. It’s nothing pared to your power, sir,” the man mumbled, his face glum.
“Lead the way. Let’s go.”
And they departed. As the man in black had control over the Dark Mages in his domain, there were no battle encounters along the way.
Outside of the Juncture—
Gandulf didn’t blink once. No one had ever progressed this far in looking for clues. And he had another important question—how was Lin Ming still holding up this well after casting so many spells? He didn’t replenish his magic elements.
Inside the Juncture—
“Sir, we are leaving my domain. I would not get attacked, but you…”
Lin Ming got the context. “No worries.” The Dark Mages here would cause him no harm.
The man heaved a breath of relief. He was worried Lin Ming would ask him to fight instead.
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