Behind Lu Jun was Mo Fan.
When he took his first step, his teammates were still nearby. But the moment he stepped forward, his vision blurred; when he looked back, Mo Fan's figure had already drifted away—about five meters apart.
Yet Lu Jun had actually only taken a single step, and his heart couldn't help but ripple.
The Sahara Maze Realm was truly terrifying!
Instinctively, he began to simulate: if human experts were to organize a large army to subdue the Sahara Ridge, how would they forge a path?
This was not mere fantasy or exaggeration.
It was right at hand. According to the original account, the present era experienced turmoil in the Pacific Sea Monster Empire and the Antarctic Ridge Empire, and decades later, it would be the Sahara's turn.
If Lu Jun lived to seventy or eighty as a human expert, he would inevitably face it; the Dark Realm a thousand years later was still far off.
Besides, he thought the Sahara was rich in resources, suitable for development. Take the wandering Sandstorm Wraith outside, for example—it definitely had a group of indigenous Earth Element Holy Spirits.
Similar to the mermaid clans, these beings grew in extreme regions, and their combat power and potential were generally stronger than Earth Element Holy Spirits from places like the Peruvian Gobi or the Tarim Basin.
"Troublesome, we'd need to gather all human Chaos and Spatial Forbidden Spells to forcibly clear a path."
Lu Jun murmured and shook his head. Indeed, every location where the Three Great Ridges rested was an unparalleled deadly land.
For instance, the Antarctic Ridge in the extreme southern ice world was filled with the most terrifying [Ice Intrusion Force], equivalent to unavoidable true damage. Any mage stepping in—even someone at the peak of human potential like Leader Hua—would slowly lose life until death.
It could be said that anyone entering Antarctica started a life countdown, inevitably dying; only with a mindset of sacrifice could one face it calmly.
Moreover, the Antarctic Ridge spread this Ice Intrusion Force worldwide, causing people everywhere to show signs of freezing. Even fire mages like Mo Fan were affected, and old or young humans fared worse.
Coupled with rising sea levels compressing human living space, the new generation grew weak. Prolonged, humanity's extinction was not far off.
This tactic was ruthless, ultimately forcing humans to take the initiative to assault the Antarctic Ridge in its home territory.
In the magical realm, high-level Emperors acted almost as lords of the planes, with each move easily impacting the entire world's ecosystem.
Lu Jun thought, "If low-level Emperors are merely the pinnacle of great power, and middle-level Emperors like the Pacific Dominator or the Three-in-One Nether King control single-rule authority, then the key for high-level Emperors is ecological position—or ecological dominion?"
He vaguely sensed the path for demons after reaching Emperor level. Could the same apply to humans at the Forbidden Spell tier?
Lu Jun wasn't sure. The original text ended abruptly at Emperor Forbidden Spell, so he had to explore himself.
Buzz buzz buzz!
At this moment, Lu Jun came to himself, stepping forward. He sensed the surrounding space shifting unpredictably. Behind him, Mo Fan's distance and direction constantly changed—sometimes left, sometimes right, even appearing ahead.
He almost thought he had taken the wrong path.
Suddenly, Lu Jun closed his eyes and sensed, across space, the mermaid girl at the edge of the Sahara Maze Realm moving rapidly.
Soon, the Water Element Holy Spirit moved away from the tail anchor point of the long-dragon formation to a safe place.
At this point, the mermaid girl had time to transmit a mental message: "Ling!"
Lu Jun nodded in acknowledgment. "The Sandstorm Wraith arrived? It's fine. Take care of yourself; I can make it through."
The Summoning Element Level 4 Mid-Tier spell [Contract Summon: Summoning Link] was like an invisible long line binding them together. The human chain in the long-dragon formation was merely superficial.
His mindset calm, he continued forward, casting his Mind Element Mid-level magic to survey the surroundings.
But the effect was mediocre. The Sahara Maze Realm had a special effect—everywhere were invisible whirlpools, like black holes, swallowing all mental energy. Probing them with thoughts felt like an endless void.
Just as Lu Jun was about to give up, something suddenly shone in his personal space, directly ignoring spatial constraints and rushing out.
Buzz buzz buzz!
Lu Jun jumped in shock. Focusing, he saw a crystal-clear triangular prism refracting seven-colored light.
The Treasure Triangular Dimensional Mirror had spontaneously activated, creating layers of transparent ripples. On the nearby ground, a winding white-glow path emerged, shimmering brilliantly.
"This is… the correct path through the Sahara Maze?"
Seeing this, Lu Jun was both surprised and delighted. He hadn't expected the Dimensional Mirror to have this function.
It made sense—the Triangular Dimensional Mirror related to Chaos, Space, and Summoning, even touching the Source. From now on, he could move freely in similar maze-like realms.
He resumed his journey, moving much faster this time. Mentally pouring his consciousness into the triangular prism, he became more agile. No longer a crude coverage, his energy branched into countless mental tendrils, probing each mysterious dimension.
Minutes later, Lu Jun found a clue: a campsite on the sand not yet buried by wind and sand. Human traces remained, showing they had hurried away not long ago.
"There's the scent of blood."
Lu Jun narrowed his eyes slightly, estimating that this National Institute team must have encountered some trouble and had been forced to give up waiting in place for rescue.
However, with these traces, it would be much easier to find them.
Moments later, following the footprints of this group, he crossed over a golden sand dune and saw an endless crimson desert. Two groups of densely packed black dots were clashing together, the sounds of slaughter shaking the heavens, demonic energy raging, stirring up a violent sandstorm.
"A clan war?"
Seeing this scene, Lu Jun grew solemn. In the Sahara, besides the Maze Realm, another great danger lay in the demon clans. Competition was fierce, and at the slightest disagreement, a clan battle would erupt.
Moreover, the demon clans surviving here were not the servant-level demons of ordinary outside regions.
The two sides currently fighting were standard Warlord-level clans, numbering in the thousands. Even Lu Jun himself, if he fell into them, would find it extremely dangerous to fight head-on.
"Desert Terror Foxes, Poison Flame Scorpions… mm, fits with the demon species of the Sahara outskirts."
Lu Jun swept his gaze over the battlefield and thought inwardly. The Desert Terror Fox was a tall, agile demon fox, while the Poison Flame Scorpion was also of considerable size, about half the height of a human, with a tail over three meters long, adept at poisonous flames.
At the center of the clan battlefield, several young human mages were awkwardly weaving through the demon tide, injuries constantly piling up on their bodies, struggling bitterly after falling into the fray.
If nothing else, this was precisely the National Institute team that had fallen in the Sahara.
Lu Jun's sharp eyes even spotted two or three corpses already lying in pools of blood—the situation was extremely dire.
Without delay, he decided to take action immediately. Beginning to trace out a Summoning Constellation, a moon-white gate opened atop the crimson sand dune, and a group of furious Earth Tyrant Dragons dove down from the hilltop.
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Each Earth Tyrant Dragon had a colossal body, covered in thick yellow scales. Over a hundred together appeared awe-inspiring, like lines of heavy tanks charging forth, leaving behind rolling trails of yellow dust in the air.
The Earth Tyrant Dragons possessed the Earth element. Charging wildly across the desert, they were not hindered by the soft sand but instead released earthwave-like magic, propelling their speed even faster.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Heaven and earth trembled as the Earth Tyrant Dragons crashed directly into the battlefield of the two clans, brutally trampling out a bloody path and tearing a gaping hole in the formations.
Blood flowers bloomed as the foxes and scorpions were occasionally trampled by the Earth Tyrant Dragons, their bodies torn apart like in a slaughterhouse.
The South African National Institute team, still holding out, was suddenly reinvigorated. A strong Black youth shouted out in surprise and joy, "Everyone hold on, the rescue team has Arrived"
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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