The nun possessed by Lakin self-destructed, triggering an exile black hole. Caught completely off guard, Ye Chui and his companions had no chance to escape being swallowed by the black hole.
Inside the black hole, Ye Chui felt a terrifying sense of restraint. It was not mental or physical bondage. It was a suppression on his power. A dreadful rule-based restriction.
One hand still gripped Debbie tightly. The other hand desperately held onto Lisa’s arm. In this critical moment, the members of the随意名字 Magic Guild needed no reminder. They instinctively grabbed each other, as if merging into one single entity.
Darkness surrounded them. Flashes of bizarre light and shadow appeared. They seemed to be sinking rapidly. At the same time, they seemed to be rising quickly. The extreme discomfort nearly made Ye Chui vomit. But when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. Sound seemed meaningless here. Magic and sword qi also appeared completely ineffective.
The passage of time lost all meaning. It could have been one minute. It could have been one year.
In a hazy state, Ye Chui seemed to glimpse a strange yet beautiful surreal painting. It was a pyramid-like structure. Narrow at the top, wide at the bottom. Flickers of firelight danced across this bizarre object. The image flashed by in an instant, yet it etched itself deeply into Ye Chui’s mind…
Then he felt his feet touch solid ground. The illusory images around him gradually gained a sense of reality.
Extreme weakness and discomfort made him instinctively collapse to the ground. The sky was a dull grey. No sun, moon, or stars could be seen. Faint flashes of lightning appeared. This was the characteristic of the God Relic World. But the sky here looked slightly brighter.
This was the God Crime Continent!
The largest fragment of the divine realm after the fall of the gods.
The hell spoken of in legends!
Ye Chui gasped rapidly for breath. He struggled to get up from the ground. He looked around to check on his companions’ safety. “Is everyone alright? Debbie, Lisa, Green, Silas, Salome, Gunnie, Baby… what the hell!”
Ye Chui scanned each companion in turn. But when his eyes landed on the strange magical beast lying next to Baby, he could no longer stay calm. Everyone immediately followed his gaze. Then they all shouted together, “What the hell!”
“What are you all shouting about?” The strange magical beast stood up and shouted back at them in a childish, milky voice. He suddenly realised something was wrong. He hurriedly looked down at his own body. “What the hell!”
Pale green body. No taller than half a metre. Small, delicate dragon scales. A tail dragging behind him. On his back were a pair of tiny fleshy wings barely bigger than chicken wings. A chubby head with tiny dragon horns. The face looked like a cartoonish Q-style beast. A tuft of black hair sat on top of his head.
This seemed to be… a dragon?
“Longbao?” Ye Chui asked tentatively.
“I, I, how did I turn into this? This should not be happening!” The strange creature said in panic. It was indeed Longbao. But now he looked more like a baby dragon.
When Longbao was first summoned, he had been quite a majestic giant dragon. Of course, his size was relatively small. That small size did not mean he was in juvenile stage. It was because his power had been sealed. But the current Longbao was genuinely in juvenile form—a baby dragon.
If Longbao had turned into this, then… what about Longgui?
“I, how did I become a baby turtle?” An extremely tender girl’s voice rang out. Then from behind Longbao crawled a strange turtle covered entirely in milky white. It looked as if it had just been born. The shell even seemed fragile enough to break easily. The overall appearance had a cute Q-style…
No doubt about it. This was Longgui.
“My power! Why has my power disappeared… it has been suppressed!” Longbao shouted in alarm and terror.
Ye Chui’s heart jolted. Being exiled to the God Crime Continent, they had indeed been restricted. Then his magic power… Ye Chui immediately tried to summon his spellbook. But the familiar summoning produced nothing.
Unable to summon the spellbook?
“What, what is going on…” Green shouted in shock. He too realised he could not summon his spellbook. And… he looked at the blue-covered spellbook in his hand with utter confusion. “My spellbook… my spellbook has automatically appeared outside my body!”
“Automatically appeared outside?” Ye Chui was stunned. He quickly looked down. Sure enough, a white, worn-looking spellbook lay on the ground. And on top of the spellbook sat… an iPad Air!
“I, I cannot summon my heroic spirits!” Debbie shouted in surprise at this moment. When Ye Chui picked up the spellbook and iPad Air from the ground and looked at Debbie, he saw several cards in her hand. “My heroic spirits… they have all turned into cards!?”
“Cards?” Ye Chui looked at the cards. There were nine in total, corresponding to Xurululu, Avril, Happy Clown, Sad Clown, Mad Clown, Angry Clown, Terrifying Clown, Gilga, and Ghost Ship.
“I cannot use the power of faith here,” Lisa said gravely at this moment.
“My magic also cannot be used… I feel like the mana in my body has completely disappeared!” Silas said. She held her own spellbook in her hands. Her spellbook had always been a black-covered Dark Spellbook. It had never needed to merge into her body in the first place.
“My giant sword is gone!” Gunnie said at this moment.
“My wolf-tooth club is gone too!” Salome shouted.
The two super-strong girls seemed to sense something at the same time. They suddenly charged toward each other. With a bang, they collided. This was a game they often played. Both fell to the ground. When they got up, Gunnie rubbed her bumped forehead and said, “Our strength… has disappeared!”
Ye Chui realised the severity of the situation. He looked down at the iPad in his hand. It would not turn on. Perhaps it was out of power?
As for the white-covered spellbook, it only contained the incantation for one basic fire spell.
“This place is indeed restricted. This must be the rule suppression of the God Crime Continent!” Celty said at this moment. This big sister seemed to be the only one among them completely unaffected. Unfortunately, she herself was not much use. Silas was holding her in her arms. Celty explained, “We were ultimately exiled here. This is equivalent to having shackles placed on us. Swordsmen, magisters, summoners, believers, magical beasts—all these powers are greatly restricted here!”
“So right now we are just ordinary people?” Debbie asked in some panic.
No one answered her. All this time they had been fearless precisely because they were powerful enough. But now they suddenly found themselves turned into ordinary people. And in such a terrifying place…
A rare sense of fear swept through everyone’s hearts.
“No, that is impossible!” Celty shook her head. “Power cannot be taken away. It is only suppressed. As long as we find a way, we can definitely regain our power!” She looked at Ye Chui. “Especially you, Ye Chui. Your power is divine power. Nothing can take it away!”
“But my iPad is out of power right now…” Ye Chui looked at the iPad in his hand, almost in tears.
“…”
After the initial panic, the firm will forged through long years of adventuring took effect. Everyone quickly calmed down. Ye Chui summarised the changes on their bodies: Magisters’ spellbooks had left their bodies and appeared externally. Mana and sword qi seemed to have disappeared. Believers could no longer sense faith power. Summoners’ heroic spirits had turned into cards. Weapons of the swordsman Gunnie and Silas had vanished. The innate super strength on their bodies had disappeared without trace. Longbao and Longgui had regressed to juvenile forms. Even the elf baby had lost part of her ability to sense plants. She told Ye Chui she could no longer hear the whispers of the surrounding plants.
Ye Chui surveyed the surrounding environment. He found himself in a desolate ruined city. Nearby stood collapsed and damaged ancient buildings. Some strange plants grew among them. But there seemed to be no sign of human life.
What made Ye Chui curious was that far to the east, a pillar of light shot into the sky. Something special seemed to be at that place.
Their next actions naturally required extreme caution. Ye Chui led his companions carefully toward an abandoned old house. After confirming there was no danger, they cautiously entered.
“What is this?” Green suddenly spotted something. He pointed strangely at a… scroll on the damaged floor.
A scroll?
Ye Chui cautiously approached and picked up the scroll. He saw a line of text written on it.
“This is divine script!” Lisa leaned over and recognised the familiar characters. Surprised, she read out the meaning. “Low-level mana scroll?”
“Ye Chui, there is a sword here!” Gunnie shouted in surprise. She found what looked like an ordinary sword in the corner of the room. She was struggling a bit to drag it over. It was a longsword. But for the current Gunnie, this sword seemed very heavy.
The longsword also had divine script on it.
“Low-level longsword!” Ye Chui translated.
He took the longsword from Gunnie. Upon closer inspection, he found it was a brand-new sword. It did not match the surrounding decay at all. It did not look abandoned here. It looked more like it had been deliberately placed…
“Let us search the other rooms in this place,” Ye Chui immediately said to his companions.
Then, half an hour later, Ye Chui and his companions regrouped inside an abandoned house in the middle of this ruined ancient city. Everyone had collected quite a few items. These items were varied. They included all sorts of brand-new-looking equipment. Helmets, shields, longswords, longswords, armour, and so on. Most were low-level. There was one mid-level longsword. There was also one high-level helmet.
There were also various strange scrolls. Most were low-level mana scrolls. There was one mid-level mana scroll. Lisa had even picked up a low-level healing scroll. There seemed to be many types of scrolls.
Looking at the pile of items in the centre of the room, Ye Chui could not help but frown. “These items seem to have been deliberately placed inside the houses for us to pick up… So what exactly are these things for?”
“The equipment is one thing. But how do we use these scrolls?” Green held a mana scroll in his hand. He curiously asked Celty. Scrolls were rare in the current era. But in the age of the gods, scrolls were said to be the most important weapons in a mage’s hands.
“If it is the scrolls from my memory, you just need to open them,” Celty replied.
“Then let me try,” Green said.
“Be careful. It might be a trap,” Lisa reminded him.
“Someone has to test it…” Green steeled himself. Gritting his teeth, he tore open the mana scroll with a rip. Then… a wisp of pale green smoke emerged from inside and flowed into Green’s chest. The scroll then turned to ashes and disappeared in his hand.
“Green, are you alright?” Ye Chui asked hurriedly.
“It seems… nothing different… wait!” Green suddenly sensed something. He quickly took out his spellbook from his chest. The wisp of green smoke just now had merged into the spellbook!
He flipped through several pages. Green closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. Then with a wave of his hand, a large piece of bread appeared in his hand.
“So that is how mana scrolls work. They let you gain a portion of mana!” Joy flashed in Ye Chui’s eyes. He understood what this meant. He quickly took the bread from Green, tore it apart, and distributed it to everyone. He continued, “Among the things we found, mana scrolls are the most numerous. It seems this type of scroll is used to provide mana!”
“But a low-level mana scroll provides too little mana. I only opened my storage space to take out a piece of bread and the mana was already depleted,” Green frowned. He picked up another mana scroll. But after thinking, he did not tear it open immediately. He had already realised the importance of mana scrolls. Who knew what dangers this place held? These mana scrolls would be their guarantee of safe survival. They now needed to quickly understand the rules and limits of this world.
While chewing the bread, Ye Chui also picked up a mana scroll. He tore it open. The pale green smoke—materialised mana—flowed into his iPad. Ye Chui pressed the power button. Moments later, the screen flashed. It turned on!
“After the mana from the mana scroll merged into the heroic spirit cards, it seems I can summon the heroic spirits inside…” Debbie had also torn open a scroll. The green smoke merged into the Gilga card. Debbie tried summoning. A faint figure of Gilga appeared in the air. It flickered a few times and then disappeared. “Not enough mana… To summon Gilga, it seems I need a lot of mana scrolls.”
Ye Chui’s iPad had now fully powered on. He swiped his finger across the screen. He found that the current iPad was exactly like a real iPad. Of course, the apps inside were still full of magical modifications.
The battery indicator was still flashing. It seemed it could run out of power at any moment.
Green used another mana scroll. This time he tried to take out his brick. But moments later he gave up the idea. “Taking out magical constructs seems to require much more mana…”
To avoid wasting mana, Green finally only took out a flat frying pan. He swung it around in his hand. Mm. Not worse than a brick. And it could also be used for cooking.
“Magical constructs?” Green’s words reminded Ye Chui. In this dangerous world where magic and sword qi were no longer reliable, the best things to protect themselves were magical constructs.
And in Ye Chui’s storage space, he had stored a massive number of modified weapons!
He immediately tried to take out a modified submachine gun from his storage space. Just as part of the gun emerged, the screen suddenly started flashing.
“Not enough mana!” Ye Chui hurriedly picked up a mana scroll from the ground and tore it open to replenish mana. Only then could he smoothly take out the modified submachine gun.
Ye Chui tested it and found the firearm still seemed usable. It just had no bullets.
The guns Ye Chui had exchanged for were firearms in name only. They were all magically modified products. What they consumed was not real bullets. It was mana.
Ye Chui tore open another mana scroll. The pale green smoke—materialised mana—flowed into the modified submachine gun. Holding the submachine gun, Ye Chui immediately felt that the modified gun now had bullets. Seventy rounds.
Ye Chui told everyone to step back. He loaded the submachine gun, aimed at the wall beside him. “Rat-tat-tat-tat—” Magical bullets burst out. The wall was instantly blasted into flying debris. It punched straight through half a foot of wall, leaving a large hole.
Although this power could not compare to their original magic and sword techniques, compared to people in this world who could only rely on mana scrolls to obtain meagre mana, the destructive power was absolutely overwhelming.
“Now we have a way to protect ourselves. Later I will give each of you a gun,” Ye Chui said with a smile, his confidence restored now that he held a gun in his hand.
“Guild leader, there are people outside!” At that moment, Silas suddenly lowered her voice and shouted. She was crouching by the window, peering outside.
Ye Chui immediately waved his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. He tore open another scroll to replenish mana bullets. Through the large hole he had just blasted, he looked outside.
A strange ox-like beast was slowly walking down the street outside. On the back of this bizarre animal rode two people.
Both wore backpacks and armour. The style of the armour was undoubtedly the same as the ones Ye Chui and the others had just picked up. Their conversation drifted over. The tone was somewhat stiff. It was the language of the age of the gods. But it was barely understandable.
“This place has already been searched. Could it have been those newbies?”
“Newbies coming here for the first time are usually completely at a loss. It definitely was not them. It must have been other hunters. Be careful. I think I heard some strange noise earlier…”
“You are too nervous. Outsiders who come here immediately become powerless ordinary people. We can deal with them in minutes. It has been years since any newbie successfully passed the initial trial.”
“You are right. I am overthinking it. This time I picked up a high-level helmet. Even if those newbies attack me randomly, they could not hurt me… Hmm? That wall over there looks a bit strange. Wait here. I will go check it out.”
A burly man in armour jumped down from the ox-like beast. He walked toward the dilapidated house where Ye Chui and the others were hiding.
Ye Chui immediately gripped the modified submachine gun tightly. He aimed at the door and prepared to ambush…
