Chinese professors at the Wizarding Academy

Gu Chen's figure had completely disappeared into the sea of ​​fog.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

As Gu Chen continued forward, he felt the resonance growing stronger.

"I've gotten used to it now...it doesn't feel as bad anymore, and the hallucinations aren't affecting me as much."

Gu Chen concealed his aura, and gradually he was able to adapt to the depths of this foggy sea. From the initial discomfort, he was now like a fish that had slipped into deep water.

Guided by the faint resonance generated by the "Soul-Eating Death Qi" in his right arm, which originated from the same source as Joebeck, Gu Chen resolutely advanced northeastward through the extremely low visibility fog.

"...Uh, never mind if I said I was going to adapt..."

Gu Chen was just feeling relieved because he had gotten used to the fog, but the next second he almost stepped into thin air.

"...Did the stargazing method fail?"

"No, it's not a problem with the star-gazing technique, but rather that my perception of the information obtained after the mental probe was flawed..."

"This fog is affecting my soul..."

Gu Chen walked forward, and the terrain in front of him became more complicated. As he looked around, all he could see were strange plants growing wildly on the ground.

"I've never seen this before..."

"What is this thing? A human-headed balloon druid?"

Gu Chen looked at the thick, black tree in front of him. The bark of the tree looked like human faces, and the branches were covered with human heads!

"Alright..."

But Gu Chen wasn't afraid, probably because of the presence of three powers within the Grip of Life and Death: necromantic magic, dark power, and soul-corroding death energy.

Because death is so close to him, and because he already possesses the relevant power, Gu Chen seems to have difficulty experiencing fear now.

The further you go, the more of these strange plants appear, and the ground begins to become slippery and rugged...

He could occasionally sense other rapidly moving shadows and chaotic energy fluctuations within the fog.

What is it?

Monster?

Someone who wandered in by mistake?

What purpose do wizards or apprentices come in with?

Or is he one of those figures hunting each other at the hunting party?

"Danger……"

"Almost."

Gu Chen suddenly closed his eyes, his body momentarily frozen.

He abruptly stopped his foot from putting it down, where there was originally thick mud, but after shaking his head, Gu Chen discovered the truth.

He avoided a swamp that reeked of rotten sweetness.

There seemed to be quite a few things inside that looked like human remains, such as severed limbs.

"Swish swish swish..."

"Hehehe..."

"Hehehe..."

"Hahaha...why should I laugh along?"

Listening to the whispers in his ear, Gu Chen complained.

He had just escaped a swamp trap when he entered a forest of dead trees that seemed to be whispering and groaning.

Fortunately, there was no real danger; it was just a strange environment and illusion.

As we delved deeper, the sense of resonance did indeed increase, but the increase was... much slower than expected.

Something's not right.

Gu Chen stopped behind a stone tablet half-buried in the ground, leaning against the cold stone surface to adjust his breathing.

The stargazing technique slowly activated deep within his consciousness, projecting a cosmic model into his perception of reality, helping him analyze the anomalies in his surroundings.

The soul-devouring death energy in his right arm did indeed point northeast, but the connection... was somewhat vague.

"It doesn't feel like it's targeting one person... it feels more like a large mass, as if it's pointing to an area."

"Tsk...Jobeck isn't here."

Gu Chen narrowed his eyes, a sense of vigilance rising within him.

"Or perhaps his true self isn't here. This resonance is lingering...is it some place where he lingered for a long time? Or some kind of medium he left behind?"

"So hard to kill..."

He recalled Ken's description of the puppet at the valley entrance:

"The flow of magic is strange... It's mostly still like a stone, but every now and then there's a slight fluctuation."

Gu Chen pondered, the situation before him was somewhat strange. Logically speaking, this puppet should have a controller, and Gu Chen was hoping to find the controller by following this resonance.

The soul-corroding death energy attached to that resonance suggests that the manipulator may be Joe Baker.

But now it's clearly not like that; the lingering aura is not right.

"Depend on."

Gu Chen suddenly realized what was happening.

What if the puppet in the valley wasn't being remotely controlled by a controller, but rather... the puppet wasn't connected to a real-time controller at all?

A thought flashed through Gu Chen's mind: a puppet network.

Simply put, it means that many puppets are interconnected, and their operation is not like that of a typical puppeteer, where a puppeteer controls a dozen or so puppets at the same time.

This method is like creating a middleman in the middle of a puppet, and there are middlemen among the middlemen. Upstream and downstream may also be middlemen. They overlap and repeat each other, forming a network that can share perception and be controlled in a decentralized manner.

Chobeck's true identity may be hidden in a safer place deep within the network.

"If that's the case..."

Gu Chen's gaze drifted deeper into the sea of ​​fog.

"What I'm tracking now might just be a secondary puppet, or even bait."

I need to be more careful...

Gu Chen looked serious; he was really difficult to deal with...

This kind of puppet network is not without its drawbacks, which are quite obvious: there will be delays or conflicts in the transmission of information between them.

Therefore, Gu Chen plans to ask Ken about his current situation before taking any further action.

Meanwhile, outside the valley entrance.

Ken maintained his observation of the entrance to the Sea of ​​Fog, hiding with Jim on another newly found, massive rock.

Not only that, but a wisp of his consciousness also kept a constant watch on the movements of the gray-cloaked puppet.

"The puppet's anomaly continues."

Ken reported to Gu Chen through a telepathic connection.

"The interference I implanted is working; the returned images are delayed by three to five seconds, and there are occasional brief blackouts. So far, it doesn't seem to have triggered any alarms."

"very good."

Gu Chen's voice responded in the link.

"Maintain surveillance. Notify me immediately if there is any indication that any guards have returned after being distracted by the riot."

"clear."

Ken refocused his attention on the area of ​​riots.

The riots continued, and the green vortex-shaped magical phenomenon not only did not dissipate, but instead slowly expanded, emitting increasingly intense ancient magical fluctuations.

This is certainly a genuine ancient site, but to be honest, there are just too many people here.

Such a large number of people usually signifies danger, but now, contrary to expectations, this area is seeing an increasing number of people.

"The disturbance was a success, Gu Chen. I think we've captured most of the attention."

This is certainly not a natural behavior; it is Ken exerting a psychological suggestion on the minds of everyone.

A high-level first-ring wizard, especially a talented one-ring high-level mind wizard, can be so audacious. What he did was very simple: he planted a thought in the minds of the apprentices who discovered the green gemstones: this vortex leads to an unexplored ancient chamber containing precious magical materials and knowledge.

Then these apprentices would gather their friends and call on more and more people, while simultaneously being extremely wary of others...

This led to the unusual situation.

People called to each other, gathered together, and ultimately fought each other.

The idea Ken planted was like a seed, quickly taking root and sprouting under the nourishment of greed and curiosity. The apprentices began to try to approach the vortex, casting various detection spells.

Their actions further confirmed the authenticity of this ancient site.

In the end, everyone believed that there really were ancient magical relics here, and there were indeed ancient relics... but they were far from as good as they had imagined.

This was no longer an illusion, but a belief, and in everyone's hearts, it had transformed from a small pebble thrown into water that initially caused no ripples, to one where ripples were now spreading. Other participants in the vicinity were also drawn in.

Among them were two shadowy figures who were communicating with the outside world, and Jim clearly caught their words.

"Lord Calkosa will surely be interested in the discoveries here."

One of the shadow wizards whispered, his voice transmitted to his companion's ears through some kind of telepathic spell, but it was of no use to someone like Jim who could read minds.

"This level of ancient magical energy fluctuation... is at least a remnant of the Third Era."

"But the chaos here is too obvious."

Another shadowy wizard cautiously looked around.

"Most of our men have been deployed to the outer perimeter for security and patrols. Now it's just the two of us. Should we report this and wait for backup?"

"It's too late. Look at those people, they're already trying to crack the entrance. If they get there first..."

The two exchanged a glance and, after a very quick conversation, reached a consensus.

They moved quietly to the edge of the crowd and began to probe the green vortex in a more covert way.

Ken saw all of this.

The two dark figures were completely unaware that they had stepped into a trap... nor did they realize that they were making decisions much faster than they usually were.

But they were completely oblivious and took it for granted.

"The fish has taken the bait."

Ken guided the magic of the mind, and he sneered inwardly.

"Next, we need to figure out how to fry the fish."

The green mental magic drew a graceful arc in the air, precisely heading towards a more distant place, beginning to influence several lone wizards in the outer areas who were hesitant about approaching.

Fear was downplayed, greed was amplified, and the desire for opportunity was planted deep in people's hearts.

Soon, three or four more figures began to move towards the area of ​​the riot.

"How's it going with the teacher?"

Jim asked in a low voice, his fingers nervously rubbing the pendant around his neck. Since Gu Chen left, the pendant had maintained a slightly cool temperature and had not shown any abnormal warmth.

"So far, everything is going smoothly."

Ken gave a brief answer.

"He's stealthily moving towards his target. Is your pendant reacting at all?"

Jim shook his head:

"No, it's always been cool."

"That's good. Stay alert. If the pendant suddenly gets hot, or if you sense anything is wrong, tell me immediately."

"Yes." Jim nodded vigorously, unconsciously tightening his grip on the pendant.

Gu Chen continued to stealthily navigate through the sea of ​​fog.

"Everything is normal... Now it's up to me."

He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, his eyes constantly scanning his surroundings.

Although the mental probing ability of the Star Gazing Method is very strong, some things can evade mental probing, while the world seen by the naked eye is relatively pure, which is equivalent to having an insurance policy.

The deeper you go, the thicker the fog becomes, and the more eerie the colors become.

The initial grayish-white mist gradually mixed with colorful spots, and even seemed to be flowing continuously as if it were alive.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of decaying earth, a certain sweet floral fragrance, and the acrid tang of rusted metal...

"Sweetness...is it blood? No, I don't sense any blood. I'm a blood wizard."

Gu Chen even caught a faint, unsettling sweet, metallic scent. His intuition told him it was fresh blood, but his blood sorcerer's senses couldn't detect any blood at all.

"The magical environment here has become so distorted..."

Gu Chen frowned, and even the operation of the Star Gazing Technique felt a bit sluggish.

The cosmological models deep within my consciousness seem to have deviated from their intended purpose. The starlight representing this region of the universe has become dim and disordered, and the gravitational network has begun to sway, as if it has been affected by other forces.

"This has never happened before. Why are the star orbits changing like this?"

Gu Chen had never experienced anything like this before. He could only focus 1000% of his attention, try his best to move forward, and think of the answer to the problem.

Ultimately, Gu Chen concluded that this series of strange occurrences meant that the physical and magical rules of this area might have undergone subtle distortions.

Simply put, casting spells here may have unpredictable effects, and relying on common sense may lead to fatal mistakes.

He needs to be more careful.

After advancing about one kilometer, the terrain changed again.

"It's the woods again..."

A large shadow appeared before Gu Chen again, but unlike before, the trees here had no leaves. Instead, they were covered with human fingers, the branches were twisted, the bark was an unnatural grayish-white, and the surface was covered with honeycomb-like holes.

A viscous, transparent liquid slowly seeped out of the hole, dripping onto the ground with a slight hissing sound, corroding small pits.

"The Bone-Eating Forest..."

Gu Chen recognized the place. It was marked on the map Isela had given him; this was one of the most dangerous areas deep within Misty Valley. The sap secreted by the trees was highly corrosive and neurotoxic, but the trees themselves were the most dangerous part.

According to Isera, they are the real predators.

He slowed his pace, preparing to bypass the area.

But in the instant he turned around—

A sudden change has occurred!

"rustle!!"

The fog on the right suddenly surged violently!

A flurry of thoughts flashed through Gu Chen's mind in an instant: Antinoya's people? Jobeck? Kalkssa, monsters, illusions, or something else entirely?

Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and countless possibilities flashed in his eyes...

We can't afford any accidents. Running might be too late. Kill!