A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

"Why does it rain every day in this lousy place?"

Roland, who had been elbowed hard by Jiang Shuzhou, frowned as he looked at the rain falling from the sky.

In the past, she might have been very excited, since it meant she could collect enough material for her research.

But now, Roland, who had been elbowed unconscious, dared not touch that thing again.

"I think that person was being a bit stingy. It was just a little research..."

Hearing these words full of complaints, Jiang Shuzhou smiled without caring.

Young people are naive and just joking, so naturally he won't take it to heart.

After all, the other party had already paid the price for their cricket attack in advance.

Jiang Shuzhou has now been quietly replaced by an avatar. His real body is playing hide-and-seek with his opponent in Xirek's divine kingdom, while his avatar is here to take control of the situation.

Of course, there was also the concern that the gods might discover something, causing Skatsla to run away.

Using an avatar would be much better.

"Young man, don't say things carelessly!"

Jiang Shuzhou said casually.

"Huh? I didn't say who was stingy..."

"Some things, I know without being told. Who else could it be but that person?"

Jiang Shuzhou responded indifferently, treating it as a small joke of his own.

In fact, he didn't think he was petty; it was just that Roland lacked the strength and was knocked unconscious by the protective mechanism he had set up.

"Never mind, take a look, is there anything different about this jungle?"

Jiang Shuzhou changed the subject to avoid the other party saying anything unpleasant. After all, this was one of the few old friends with whom Jiang Shuzhou had some connection, and Jiang Shuzhou felt a little reluctant to torment him.

"I feel... wait, there are more plants?"

Upon hearing this, Roland carefully observed the newly grown jungle and quickly discovered the difference.

This jungle was originally just a simple, lush forest with towering trees everywhere, nothing special.

But now, there are more predators in the jungle.

It was a five-colored flower, which looked very beautiful. The five colors were evenly distributed on the petals, giving the blooming flower a special charm.

But underground, Roland clearly saw that hidden beneath the flower was a monster with a gaping maw.

Clearly, this person is using their flowers as bait to lure people into a trap.

"Is this place evolving?"

Carefully sensing his surroundings, Roland had a sudden realization.

"That's right, every rain here makes this jungle even more dangerous."

"And this is just the first level; there are many more levels to come."

Upon hearing this, Roland frowned. This place was hardly a good place...

if……

Roland shook his head, banishing those distracting thoughts.

Although Roland understood that this substance was very beneficial, he also knew that some things were best left untouched.

This is something she just learned from a lesson.

However, once she passes the test, she can send out the message, since Roland doesn't want too many people to die.

This time it's a battle between opposing factions, so having more people means having a better chance of winning.

At this moment, Roland was still fantasizing that he could achieve victory through factional conflict.

Little did they know, this was nothing but a trap.

After all, this is Jiang Shuzhou's dimension, and his power has permeated every aspect of this place. Through estimation, Jiang Shuzhou can conclude that this time, the possibility of destruction is very high.

However, if someone were to achieve a miracle that led to one of the other two outcomes, Jiang Shuzhou would naturally accept it gladly.

After all, this is the world's choice.

Even if it's a fixed fate, some people will still want to rebel, let alone this is just an estimate of combat strength.

Soon, Jiang Shuzhou and Luo Lan directly reached the second level.

During this time, they experienced several heavy rains, but none of them posed a significant problem, because their current rate of evolution was far from being able to threaten a legendary level.

Roland had previously believed that as long as they didn't arrive too late, this place posed no threat to the legend.

Until she saw the Forge Beast.

Its massive, mountain-like body radiated terrifying heat from its back, which resembled a doomsday volcano and was still covered in lava. It was covered in incredibly hard armor that even a legendary figure could hardly damage.

If this combo is used, any ordinary legendary character will die.

Fortunately, they only glanced at her from a distance, and she didn't seem to notice them; otherwise, she might already be dead.

How are you feeling?

Jiang Shuzhou asked, "He sent the Furnace Beast over here. He didn't mean anything by it; he just wanted to scare Roland. It was just for fun."

As Jiang Shuzhou expected, Roland was terrified and ran away immediately.

This incident allowed them to arrive at the entrance to the second checkpoint two days earlier than expected.

This is also related to Roland's efforts to find a way out.

"No wonder you said to just go by your gut feeling; it turns out that gut feelings really do work!"

Roland clicked his tongue, staring blankly at the towering crystal door.

Before him stood a solitary, colossal gate, its surface etched with numerous dizzying patterns. Roland could sense that these were runes, yet they differed from common runes.

"Let's go, this is the Crystal Maze. You should know what this is, right?"

Upon hearing this, Roland was instantly stunned.

"What? This is a crystal maze?"

She knew what the Crystal Maze was, of course. Legend had it that it was the path to the playwright's place, which was the Grand Theater. Once you stepped onto it, endless illusions would come your way, and only those with a clear mind and a firm will could escape from the illusions.

Those who fail to break free become puppets, manipulated by playwrights, and put on one dance drama after another in the grand theater.

Of course, what Roland was most interested in was that, according to legend, the crystal here was the best material for making magic staves. Just one piece was enough to create a top-tier magic stave specifically for casting illusions.

This thing is very valuable.

Unfortunately, she seemed unable to pry off a piece.

"Alright, stop messing around. This thing has an owner. If you touch it recklessly, it will get angry and increase the difficulty of your illusion, then you'll behave."

Seeing Roland haphazardly prying something open, Jiang Shuzhou's lips twitched. At the same time, fearing that the other party might actually pry it off, he quickly stopped him.

After all, this was something he had worked hard to create, and it was his property; he couldn't give it to that old man Roland.

"Isn't this my reward?"

"No, I'm not that generous."

Jiang Shuzhou rolled his eyes. "You came voluntarily, passed the test, and now you want a reward? You get all the good things!"