Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 136 The Vanished Ancient Kingdom of Loulan?
From a distance, the two mottled ancient characters on the ancient city wall are visible.

The passage of time has left deep marks on the characters, and strange energy fluctuations flow between the strokes, clearly indicating that it is not a script commonly used today.

Qin Xiaonan squinted, trying hard to make out the name, but she couldn't.

"It's Loulan." A clear, melodious voice rang out. "Judging from the structure of the characters, it's definitely the emblem of the ancient Western Region kingdom of Loulan."

Loulan Ancient City?

Qin Xiaonan's heart skipped a beat.

In his memory, Loulan was a mysterious ancient kingdom that suddenly disappeared on the Silk Road more than two thousand years ago.

Legend has it that the entire kingdom was swallowed up by a sandstorm overnight, becoming one of the greatest mysteries.

He looked up at the city floating in the void, every brick and stone on the city wall was covered with strange runes, which were faintly visible in the silver light.

"This city doesn't seem like a physical entity?" Qin Xiaonan asked, frowning.

He could sense that it was neither a pure mirage nor a completely material existence.

Lingling pointed to the pillar of light in the sky and said, "The one that's working should be the silver pillar of light in the center of the city." She pointed to the center of the ancient city, "There's a powerful spatial anchor there that temporarily fixes the ancient city in the present world from the river of time."

Just as the two were talking, a heavy creaking sound suddenly came from the city gate.

The city gates slowly opened!
Even more incredibly, what emerged from the city gate was not a phantom, but a group of real humans!

The leader was an elderly man dressed in a magnificent brocade robe, with a long, snow-white beard that reached his chest, and holding a scepter inlaid with sapphires.

He was followed by twelve armored guards, each with the same runes engraved on their armor as those on the city walls.

Most strangely, the dust they kicked up as they walked was clearly visible, and the clanging of their armor was clearly audible, creating a stark contrast with the illusory ancient city around them.

Qing Ning was somewhat surprised: "How is this possible? Real humans have emerged from the virtual city?"

At this moment, the team approaching the ancient city was not only composed of Qin Xiaonan and her group, but also included other mages. Everyone was curious about this suddenly appearing ancient city.

But no one was the first to delve into it.
Without investigating the situation, no one dared to take action without authorization.

Qin Xiaonan noticed that the old man in the brocade robe in front of the ancient city gate was still standing in the same place and did not move forward.

"He seems to be speaking," Lingling said, perking up her ears. "Although I can't understand him, his gestures seem to be inviting us inside."

Qin Xiaonan clenched her fist: "I'll go scout ahead."

“Be careful.”

"I always felt there was something off about that old man."

Seeing Qin Xiaonan step forward, the surrounding teams also became restless.

The squad leader gritted his teeth: "Keep up! We can't let them get the upper hand!"

When Qin Xiaonan was ten meters away from the old man, he finally heard what the other man was saying—it was an ancient and obscure language, with an eerily calm tone, repeating the same sentence over and over.

Moreover, the old man's face looked particularly strange under the blazing sun—his skin was as smooth as a wax figure, very unnatural, and his eyes looked like glass balls embedded in their sockets, without even blinking.

That stiff smile remained on his face, looking somewhat creepy.

Something's not right." Qin Xiaonan instinctively wanted to back away.

The moment he took a step, the surrounding scenery collapsed like a shattered mirror!
Lingling, Qingning, and the other mage squads behind them all vanished without a trace.

Even the ancient city of Loulan, which had been suspended in the void, had vanished without a trace.

As far as the eye can see, there is only an endless golden sea of ​​sand, steaming and shimmering under the scorching sun.

Faintly, one can hear the sounds of camel bells and ancient murmurs, as if they were coming from a distant time and space.

"Illusion? Spatial displacement?" Qin Xiaonan immediately mobilized the void magic power within his body, and pale purple energy flowed in his pupils.

Void magic made him exceptionally sensitive to spatial fluctuations.

At that moment, he could clearly sense the surrounding space trembling slightly like ripples on water. Suddenly, a heavily armored squad of twelve men emerged from behind the sand dunes ahead.

They were completely encased in bronze armor covered in runes, each plate gleaming with an eerie green patina.

The face beneath the helmet was blurred, with only two points of crimson light visible.

The spears in their hands were not made of metal, but rather the spine of some kind of creature, with a viscous black liquid dripping from their tips.

"Kill!" The lead knight roared hoarsely, and the twelve men charged forward simultaneously.

Their movements were terrifyingly synchronized, and their spears pierced the air with a shrill, ghostly wail.

Qin Xiaonan remained calm in the face of danger, and with a wave of her hand, a huge sand wall stood in front of her.

But the knights' lances were so sharp that they pierced through the wall and continued charging towards him.

Upon seeing this, Qin Xiaonan quickly retreated.

He keenly noticed that black mist was constantly seeping from the gaps in the knights' armor, leaving charred marks on the sand.

Changing tactics, Qin Xiaonan made a fist with her right hand: "Void Devouring!"

A purplish-black energy vortex formed in his palm, engulfing the three knights who had charged forward first.

Their armor creaked and twisted before finally being torn to shreds.

He then slammed his hands on the ground: "Quicksand - Sinkhole!"

The sand within a radius of 100 meters instantly liquefied, and the knights' heavy armor caused them to sink rapidly.

Taking this opportunity, Qin Xiaonan conjured golden light blades at her fingertips—the power of the Shattered Gold Soul Seed.

"go!"

The golden blades of light struck the runes on the chests of each knight with pinpoint accuracy.

With a series of crisp, shattering sounds like breaking glass, the runes exploded one after another.

The knights froze instantly, and the black mist inside their armor surged out wildly, emitting a shrill scream in the sunlight before disappearing without a trace.

When the last knight fell, the entire space suddenly trembled violently.

The desert landscape peels away like faded paint, revealing the true scene behind it.

Qin Xiaonan was shocked to discover that he was already inside the ancient city!

However, there was nothing there.

The dilapidated city wall was close at hand, and strange vines he had never seen before crawled all over the mottled bricks.

The stone slabs underfoot were already broken and exuded a rotten smell.

There were no ancient streets or mysterious Loulan inhabitants as expected, only a suffocating desolation.

Just then, the space rippled again, and two mages appeared, having broken through the previous fog.

Upon seeing Qin Xiaonan, he said, "Kid, you're not bad."

A forced smile appeared on Lin Zhan's face. "He's even faster than us old guys."

Before he finished speaking, a series of synchronized footsteps suddenly came from all directions.

The sound started like muffled thunder, gradually becoming deafening.

At the end of the street, a dense mass of armored soldiers emerged, numbering at least over a hundred!
These soldiers were completely different from those they had encountered before.

They were shrouded in black armor, with eerie green flames shining through the gaps in their helmets.

Moreover, their steps were perfectly synchronized, and the ground trembled with each step they took.

(End of this chapter)