The stone statue's other hand lunged forward to grab the handle of the battleaxe, trying to wrench it away, but Phoebe seized the opportunity to kick the statue hard in the knee.
Its balance thrown off, the stone statue went down on one knee with a heavy thud.
Seizing the opening, Phoebe pulled her axe free and swung it back in a reverse strike, cleaving through the statue's neck and putting a complete end to its movements.
The stone statue's head rolled onto the ground, and its massive body swayed before collapsing with a loud crash, shattering into a pile of rubble.
Standing amidst the debris, Phoebe's breathing was slightly shallow. Her silver ponytail was dusted with stone powder, yet her posture remained perfectly upright.
Just as Bai Xuan was about to step forward to ask if she was hurt, the ground began to shake violently once more.
On the other side of the magic circle, two more stone statues slowly rose, the eerie green light in their eye sockets burning even brighter.
Without waiting for Bai Xuan to speak, Phoebe gripped her battleaxe and charged straight ahead.
With her first swing, she shattered the shield of one of the statues, and her second cut clean through its midsection, causing the statue to collapse instantly.
Taking advantage of the opening, the other statue launched a sneak attack from the side, thrusting its long spear straight toward Phoebe's back. She didn't have time to turn around, and the spear was about to strike her.
Bai Xuan intervened just in time. The spike at the end of his staff deflected the spear shaft, and he swung the head of his staff into the stone statue's chest.
Golden light burst forth, instantly shattering the stone statue into a pile of dust.
The battle was finally over.
Phoebe looked down at her left arm. A shallow cut had torn through her bandages, and blood was slowly seeping out, staining the white cloth red.
Bai Xuan walked over quickly and gently took her forearm. The golden light of the Holy Light Catalyst flared, tenderly enveloping the wound.
The wound healed instantly. Phoebe didn't make a sound the entire time, simply watching Bai Xuan quietly.
Bai Xuan released her arm, walked to the center of the magic circle, and squatted down once more to inspect it closely.
By now, the dark red glow on the magic circle had faded, leaving only a faint red light lingering where the stone statues had risen.
A new notification popped up on his status panel: 【Spatial Rift, torn open by magical backlash. The rift is highly unstable and is estimated to dissipate naturally within three hours. Impassable.】
Bai Xuan stood up, his gaze falling on the thumb-sized black rift in the center of the magic circle.
He could clearly feel the space around the edges of the rift distorting. The surrounding air vibrated slightly, carrying a faint pulling force.
Phoebe walked over as well, standing beside him. She stared intently at the black rift, her eyes filled with a touch of confusion.
“This isn't a teleportation circle,” Bai Xuan said softly, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“It's just a spatial rift torn open by magical backlash. It will disappear on its own before long.”
Phoebe didn't speak. She kept staring at the rift until it gradually stabilized and stopped trembling, only then slowly averting her gaze.
Over the next while, the two walked for a long time but made no further discoveries.
Ruins on the eighth floor continued to appear one after another. Bai Xuan walked in front, with Phoebe following closely behind.
Bai Xuan suddenly remembered the bottle of Echoing Medium in his Space Ring. He pulled it out and gently swirled it in his hand.
The dark blue liquid sloshed slowly inside the bottle, its silver particles swirling continuously and shimmering with tiny specks of light, looking exceptionally beautiful.
“Looks like this is my only option,” Bai Xuan muttered to himself. At this point, this might be their only hope of finding the teleportation circle.
He used his status panel to scan the Echoing Medium repeatedly. Once he confirmed there were no anomalies, he popped the cork and threw his head back, chugging it down.
The moment the potion slid down his throat, Bai Xuan's vision shifted dramatically.
Different colored halos gradually emerged over the otherwise gray ruins.
Some glowed dark red, others shimmered with an eerie blue, while some were completely dull and lifeless, having long lost their magic.
With the help of the potion, he could clearly distinguish which ruins still contained residual magic and where hidden guardians lurked, sparing him from searching blindly.
Under the effects of the potion, the hidden guardians appeared as blurry red outlines.
They hung like lanterns suspended above the ruins, highly conspicuous.
He could even see traces of magic flowing along the ground, winding like streams and intersecting like blood vessels.
They extended from one ruin to another, ultimately converging toward the same direction.
Standing beside him, Phoebe's gaze still lingered on the ruins, but she saw nothing.
She gently tugged at Bai Xuan's sleeve and pointed to his eyes, her gaze filled with confusion, as if asking what he was seeing.
Bai Xuan smiled and spoke softly.
“I can see things a bit differently now. I can trace the path of the magic. Let's go this way.”
He pointed in the direction where the magic was converging and quickened his pace. Phoebe immediately followed.
The two soon arrived before a ruin with no red outlines, meaning there were no guardians.
Bai Xuan could clearly see that although the magic traces in this ruin were very faint, some residual energy still lingered.
He walked over to a crumbling wall and gave it a hard shove. The wall collapsed with a crash, revealing a small stone pedestal behind it with several cracked clay jars sitting on top.
Although the clay jars were covered in cracks, they hadn't shattered completely and still stood intact on the pedestal.
Bai Xuan carefully picked up one of the jars and gently pried open the lid.
Inside were a few ancient silver coins and a faded stone.
He carefully stored the silver coins and the stone in his Space Ring, then placed the clay jar back where it was.
“These things should be worth some money.”
Bai Xuan turned and spoke to Phoebe, who nodded gently, her expression showing little emotion.
Bai Xuan quickly calculated in his head. The notification on his status panel was still active.
The effects of the Echoing Medium would last for about one hour and could not be canceled during this time.
Time was pressing, and he couldn't afford to waste a single second. He had to find the teleportation circle as quickly as possible.
As for this bottle of Echoing Medium, he had bought it from a stall owner who claimed to have acquired it from an alchemy apprentice.
If he could track down that alchemy apprentice, he might be able to mass-produce it.
But now was clearly not the time to dwell on such things.
Bai Xuan shook his head, pushing the thought aside as he refocused his attention on searching for the teleportation circle.
He led Phoebe back to the ruins where she had originally been teleported.
Then he squatted down, utilizing the effects of the potion to carefully re-examine every inch of the ground.
This time, the residual traces of magic on the ground were much clearer.
Though still faint, the flow was unmistakable. All the magic traces were converging in a single direction.
“It's over there. Let's go that way.” Bai Xuan pointed in the direction of the converging magic.
Phoebe didn't ask any questions. She nodded silently and followed closely behind him.
The two of them pressed forward quickly across the eighth floor for a long time. The magic traces in Bai Xuan's field of vision grew increasingly distinct and concentrated.
Clearly, they were heading in the right direction.
Finally, a massive ruin appeared before them.
This ruin was more intact than any they had seen before, with several stone pillars still standing perfectly straight.
The intricate patterns carved at the top were highly similar to those on the ruins Phoebe had first teleported to.
In the center of the ground lay a circular indentation of uniform size, clearly meant for something to be slotted into.
Bai Xuan squatted down and measured the dimensions of the indentation with his hands, a few theories forming in his mind.
He turned to look at Phoebe. She immediately stepped forward, squatted down, and gently placed her hand on the edge of the indentation, feeling the faint residual magic lingering on it.
She then raised her head, looked at Bai Xuan, and nodded firmly.
This place was undoubtedly related to the teleportation circle.
Rate on N.U.
