I, the wizard, the foolish Buddha

Coming back to his senses, Qiong saw Roland studying a map over there and couldn't help but say, "Your map is inaccurate. Stop looking at it."

Roland said, "I'm not looking at the route. I have two magic herbs here. Look at this location. Is the road easy to travel? Can we make it in three days?"

Qiong was extremely frustrated and said, "Brother! What time is it now? How can you still be thinking about advancing! It would be good enough if we could just go back alive."

Roland said, "I have to go."

Qiong was really impressed by this guy. He helped Roland study the map, then shook his head and said, "This place has many detours. There's simply not enough time. Going there is suicide."

He took out his own map and explained it carefully to Roland.

After listening, Roland's expression was very ugly. The journey there was indeed very far, to the northwest. And there were many mountain roads. It would take three or four days just to get there from here.

Moreover, it was impossible to climb the Holy Mountain from there. After going there, one would have to backtrack a bit, and then climb the mountain from another location. After this calculation, if he went there to collect herbs, it would take five or six days to reach the summit of the Holy Mountain.

Qiong shook his head and said, "What magic herbs do you need? I come here often and have taken back many kinds of magic herbs."

Roland's eyes flickered slightly, and he named the two magic herbs he was still missing.

Qiong suddenly understood. He shook his head and said, "So it's 'Shadow Mushroom' and 'Dark Water Root'. Very, very few people use these kinds of magic herbs."

After a pause, he looked at Roland with a strange expression: "How bad is your aptitude, that you need to take so many kinds of magic herbs to be confident in advancing?"

Qiong's family was very proficient in herbology. This forbidden area could actually be said to be a large magic herb garden co-operated by their family and the White Chess Family.

'Shadow Mushroom' and 'Dark Water Root' were magic herbs with very few uses. Only those who needed to take multiple elemental advancement magic herbs at the same time during advancement would add these two ingredients to the magic herbs!

Moreover, these two things required a rich shadow environment and a rich magic environment to grow.

To put it bluntly, they could only be found in places of pollution.

The White Chess Council's territory was very clean, and they often did purification work. Therefore, although these two magic herbs were not precious, they were very picky about the location. They usually grew in the Twilight Council's territory.

In addition, the White Chess Council's own magic herb garden had almost no shadow magic herb garden. The only one with a shadow environment was the Black Abyss's forbidden forest. But this place was also often purified, so the magic herbs couldn't grow.

The forbidden area was only purified once every three to five years, so these magic herbs could be found.

Regarding Qiong's question, Roland was too embarrassed to say much—he needed many kinds of such magic herbs. If his senior hadn't found a way to get a lot of them from various channels, he would be missing more than just two?

Qiong said, "No wonder you're looking for these two magic herbs. Your academy probably doesn't have them. Last time we had a little conflict with the Black Abyss, and then we divided the area. The growing locations of these two magic herbs are all drawn on our side. Only a few people in your academy have collected them, and they will definitely hide them for their own use and won't hand them over."

In addition, our academy didn't specifically ask for these two magic herbs. So our people didn't specifically collect them. Speaking of which, Princess Catherine entrusted a certain professor in our academy last time to ask for this magic herb. So it was for you!"

Qiong looked at Roland with a very surprised look. He didn't expect that the cold princess would specially look for magic herbs for this kid.

Qiong said, "However, I do have some collections. My family has been researching the magic herbs of the 'World's End', so every time I come here, I try to collect a few copies of each magic herb to take back. Therefore, you don't have to risk going there. After we go back, I will go find my father and give you all these magic herbs."

Roland had originally thought there was no hope, but now he was overjoyed to hear that Qiong had these magic herbs.

No wonder, no wonder the Guidance Needle pointed to Qiong!

He thanked him excitedly: "Good brother, you really helped me a lot."

Qiong waved his hand and said, "It's you who helped me a lot, good brother. You saved my life. How can I repay your life-saving grace? What does this little thing count for?"

The two of them wolfed down their meal. Roland wrote a message to Lilyth on parchment, but there was no response. He anxiously contacted Charlie and the others using the crystal ball, but he couldn't get in touch either.

Qiong said, "Don't worry, your landing point is in the far north, very close to the Holy Mountain. Once you reach the vicinity of the Holy Mountain, you'll have half a foot outside. It's good if you can receive a response three out of ten times."

And if someone has already run outside, then the people inside and outside can't contact each other. Even if there is Remote Viewing, you can't see what's here."

It seems that his senior can't see anything here either.

After listening to Qiong's words, Roland sighed secretly: "I hope they're okay."

Time was tight, so the two rested for a moment and then started on their way.

Compared to walking, Roland had a faster method. He summoned the Good Spirits to carry Qiong while floating. Although the Good Spirits couldn't fly at extreme speed for a long time, even if they slightly increased the speed of floating and walking, it was still extremely fast in the mountains and forests.

And Roland's body was much stronger than ordinary wizards. He walked on the mountains as if on flat ground. When he was tired, he would let the Good Spirits take turns carrying him for a while. When the Good Spirits were tired, he would come down and walk himself.

Seven Good Spirits, carrying one Qiong and half a Roland, were still very fast.

But after walking for two hours, Roland discovered that Qiong's face was pale and he was shivering from the cold.

This was a symptom of soul frost, a precursor to the soul leaving the body.

After examining him, Roland was greatly puzzled. Logically speaking, his ghost servants were Good Spirits. Even if they occupied a human body, they wouldn't cause too much damage to the human body like Evil Spirits.

What's more, even if Qiong's condition was extremely poor, he was still an Advanced Apprentice. After coming into contact with the Good Spirits, it shouldn't be like this.

Suddenly, Roland remembered that 'Curse of the Goddess Heraka'. And his Good Spirits were the ghost servants of Lady Heraka!

So, was it because of this reason that the Good Spirits were making Qiong so uncomfortable?

However, wasn't that curse only targeted at the witches of Qiong's family?

Perhaps he didn't understand the detailed situation? The ghost servants of Lady Heraka could have some negative impact on everyone in Qiong's entire family?

"I'm fine, let's go." Qiong pulled away Roland's hand that was holding his arm and said, "I don't know what's wrong, but it's particularly cold today."

Roland didn't say much, put away the Good Spirits, directly carried Qiong on his back, and then tied him tightly with some straps.

As he walked, he warned Qiong on his back, "I treat you as a brother, don't touch my butt, or I'll beat you up!"

Qiong spat and said, "Tch! Who would touch your butt? (Very softly) If I were to touch, I'd touch your abs."

Roland's expression was a bit ugly and said, "If you talk nonsense again, get down and walk yourself!"

Qiong stopped talking nonsense and leaned quietly on Roland's shoulders.

Roland's pace in the mountains and forests was fast, but very steady. Before long, the exhausted Qiong fell asleep on his back.

Roland looked at the sky, feeling a bit strange in his heart: 'The sun in the forbidden area, why does it seem a little different from the sun outside... The time is also different. We entered the forbidden area in the afternoon. But the sunlight now is the sunlight of the morning.'

The 'World's End' was a top secret. Apprentices didn't know the real name here and regarded the forbidden area as a secret realm.

Qiong had mentioned the 'World's End' before, but this word could also be translated as 'Withered Land'.

Therefore, although Roland currently had some doubts and guesses, he didn't know what the 'World's End' meant.

After a while, Roland suddenly stopped and patted Qiong's thigh.

Qiong woke up in surprise and asked weakly, "What's wrong?"

Roland's gaze was fixed on the mountains and forests, and he said, "Hold me tight."

At this time, he noticed that the lantern on Roland's waist lit up slightly. Then, Roland dodged a shadow that was attacking.

Afterwards, a figure appeared on a tree trunk on the east side. The upper part of his chest was human, but there were no bones below his chest. His body was like a snake or intestines wrapped around the tree.

After this person appeared, a look of surprise appeared on his face, as if he didn't expect Roland to discover him.

Qiong's pupils shrank slightly. It was someone from Twilight, an Intermediate Apprentice! There seemed to be the magic power of a protective charm flowing on his body.

Roland glanced at the Twilight Apprentice, then looked at the small tree he was wrapped around.

The roots of the tree moved and were pulled out of the soil. But the seven or eight thick and long roots were not normal shapes, but had joints!

Afterwards, the first apprentice got off the tree and disappeared into the shadows. The 'roots' of the big tree opened the tree trunk behind it and left quickly like a spider. At this time, Qiong saw that there was a head at the bottom of the 'roots'. It was a strange person. He crawled on the ground and quickly left, spitting out a pile of fog-like floating objects on the way.

The floating objects seemed to contain a vicious death curse, and quickly floated over. If he went to chase the apprentice, he would definitely be entangled by the death fog. He might also be attacked by another apprentice in the shadows.

Roland didn't chase him. He shook off the death fog and changed his route.

The two apprentices didn't appear again. It seemed that after they were discovered, they retreated directly without saying a word.

But they definitely didn't really leave. They would follow the traces of the two of them, tailing them like wolves. Until they encountered a more suitable opportunity, or made more arrangements, before taking action again.

They were very cautious and very cunning. They seemed to sense a kindred spirit in Roland at a glance, so they didn't rashly attack. Instead, they adopted a more difficult strategy.

They were troublesome.

Joan's face turned pale, and she secretly groaned inwardly. Two mutated intermediate apprentices.

Twilight apprentices were already difficult to deal with, and she was barely half a person right now. She didn't know what condition Roland was in.

Roland's face showed no expression as he led Joan onward. Before long, Joan noticed that the forest ahead was covered in spiderwebs. Arm-sized spiders crawled all over them, blocking the path.

Roland changed direction, but the forest on the other side was also covered in spiderwebs, blocking the path.

A rustling sound came from behind. Joan looked back and saw a large group of arm-length spiders vaguely visible in the forest dozens of meters away, weaving a large web between the trees. There was also a rustling sound in the forest to the west.

They were surrounded within a radius of a hundred meters. No, to be precise, the enemy had deliberately left an opening, and that was the sky.

The spiderwebs shimmered with magical light, they were no ordinary things.

Joan's heart tightened. These two Twilight apprentices were even more troublesome than she had imagined!

Even those dozens of small spiders were all Rank 0 magical creatures!

She finally understood why people always said not to treat Twilight apprentices as ordinary apprentices. Even in her prime, she probably wouldn't be a match for these two Twilight apprentices without using magical items!

If they had other trump cards, then the Spider-Man alone would be enough to give her a headache!

From the shadows on the ground, many things like wriggling vine-like intestines emerged, she didn't know if it was a magical item or another apprentice's trick.

At the same time, the small spiders in the distance climbed onto closer and closer trees and began to weave webs.

A great battle was about to break out. Both sides were only probing, but they were ready to strike a deadly blow at any moment. A slight carelessness would lead to death without burial.

Roland, carrying a person on his back, without summoning a servant, and without using the Silver Pocket Watch, was actually holding his own against the two apprentices' tricks.

The wriggling vine-like intestines on the ground were everywhere. Death mist often floated in the air. But Roland was like a dancing butterfly, skillfully dodging and weaving through the chaos, never getting hit once!

Later, some spells flew over one after another. Roland waved his sleeves, or raised his scabbard to block them, and deflected the spells.

Occasionally, Roland seized the opportunity and thrust out a sword, forcing back the Intestine Apprentice who poked his head out of the shadows.

The two Twilight apprentices hadn't said a word, but their eyes gradually became solemn. This Black Abyss apprentice hadn't made a single move so far! He hadn't used a single spell!

He was a super swordsman with terrifyingly high magic resistance! He could block Rank 1 and 2 spells without using protective magical items.

Moreover, not only was his swordsmanship outstanding, but his footwork was also strangely bizarre! Furthermore, the two discovered that it was difficult to sense his body with mental perception. When they finally locked on, he would dodge the spell again.

Even more frightening was that he had extraordinary intuition. No matter how they ambushed or hid, he could detect them in advance.

Agile posture, bizarre footwork, amazing danger intuition... this guy's evasion was simply maxed out!

Without using real means, they couldn't hit him at all.

The two Twilight apprentices knew that this guy was deliberately waiting for their moves, to understand them. But they weren't in a hurry either, like a pack of wolves besieging their prey, they slowly wore him down.

The surrounding spiderwebs became more and more numerous. Every time the small spiders finished weaving a layer of spiderwebs at a closer distance, they would eat the old spiderwebs in the distance. Then they would crawl closer and closer and continue to weave webs slowly.

Before long, spiderwebs were everywhere thirty meters away, even the treetops were covered with webs. The small spiders jumped again, seemingly wanting to weave webs at close range, or force Roland to kill them.

But in the next second, the small spiders suddenly waved their hands fiercely at Roland. Immediately afterward, the distant spiderwebs covered over with a rustling sound. At the same time, the Intestine Man also jumped out of the shadows outside the spiderweb. He waved his hand, and a large number of vines were lifted up under Roland's feet.

At this critical moment, if the person in the center of the spiderweb had some kind of magical item with extremely fast flight speed, they might be able to fly away from the sky.

But that was a dead end. If one didn't understand magic arrays, they would suffer greatly.

Upon closer inspection, the surrounding spiderwebs seemed to faintly hide the rules of a magic array! It seemed that as long as a few runes were activated, they could fly up and directly trap the person in the sky. There were no trees to block the sky, this deliberately left exit was the most difficult path to take.

In a flash of lightning, the spiderwebs had entangled two figures. But the Spider-Man's pupils shrank slightly: "Didn't catch them! The ones in the net are that woman and a Rank 2 magic puppet! That man dodged with some kind of high-grade magical item..."

Before he could finish speaking, eight terrifying bolts of lightning suddenly appeared in mid-air!

The two were shocked.

At this time, one of them was hanging on a tree, and the other had just jumped out of the shadows, no more than four meters apart.

The lightning was too fast, and they knew they couldn't dodge it in a flash of lightning. So they both took out a trump card, which were actually two good high-grade protective magical items, seemingly from the apprentices of the White Chess Council!

In the blink of an eye, the eight bolts of lightning crackled and landed on one person, and then jumped to the other person.

Seven of the lightning bolts jumped back and forth two or three times, and the last lightning bolt jumped repeatedly 10 times!

The magic barrier on the two people's bodies instantly annihilated, and then they turned into two flashing light bulbs. Immediately afterward, Joan felt that the remaining spiderwebs that were entangled stopped, and the vines that were wrapped around her loosened. It seemed that both of them were dead.

But the last lightning bolt was still jumping!

Joan was greatly shocked. She had never thought that Roland's magic would be so terrifying. He didn't make a move until he did, and when he did, it was so terrifying!

The seven strange ghosts beside him also possessed surging magic power. The reason he hadn't made a move for so long wasn't because he didn't have any tricks, but to wait for this opportunity to destroy these two, so that they would no longer have a chance to escape.

Before the lightning finished flashing, Roland suddenly swung his sword fiercely towards the sky again. Immediately, an astonishing lightning-fire blade light shot into the air, and then a bloody line appeared in mid-air, followed by two pieces of burning remains falling down.

There was actually a third person!

Joan suddenly understood why an exit had always been left in the sky. The spiderweb was only the first trap, and the person who had been lurking all along was the killing move.

Roland had been playing with Anna for too long, his evasion was not only maxed out, but his perception was also maxed out. He had always felt that something was wrong in the sky.

He inexplicably felt that there was something in the sky, but he couldn't find it. And that third person was extremely patient, waiting until Roland went into the sky, close enough, and looked like he had no follow-up moves before making a move, striving to kill the enemy with one move.

But Roland had long been paying attention to him. Flying up was to lure him to make a move. As soon as he moved, Roland knew his position and used the Lightning Fire Magic Blade to destroy him.

With two splattering sounds, the person in the sky who had been split in half by the Lightning Fire Magic Blade fell down and burned into ashes with a whoosh. At this time, the two human lamps on the ground were no longer shining, their bodies were charred black, spitting out steam, and twitching on the ground.