Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 159 Rescue
The Seven-Colored Peacock King spread its wings, and with a dazzling light, everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and when they opened their eyes again, they were already thousands of meters in the sky!

Amidst the howling wind, the Peacock King erected a golden barrier for them.

Lingling clung tightly to the Peacock King's feathers, watching the mountains and rivers rushing past below, feeling both awe and anxiety.

"Sister, you must hold on," Lingling kept repeating to herself.

The night wind whistled past her ears, and she squinted, staring intently at the gradually clearer outline of the mountains ahead.

Although the Tribunal's rescue team set off before them, the time difference was negligible in the face of the Peacock King's astonishing speed. They arrived over their target area just as the eastern sky began to lighten.

"That's it!" Lingling shouted, pointing downwards, her voice breaking in the wind.

Standing on the back of the Peacock King, Qin Xiaonan looked down from high above and saw that the valley ten kilometers northwest of the mountain village, where Leng Qing had last sent out a distress signal, was now shrouded in an eerie green mist.

Even more alarming, the nearby mountain village was engulfed in flames, the raging fire turning the pre-dawn sky crimson.

“Lan Xi.” Qin Xiaonan said in a deep voice, looking solemnly at the blue-haired girl beside her.

Lan Xi nodded knowingly, her slender fingers tracing graceful arcs in the air.

As she moved, a huge vortex of water elemental energy suddenly condensed in the sky.

"The Milky Way pours down!"

A giant column of water descended from the sky, like a celestial river pouring down, instantly engulfing the entire burning mountain village.

The collision of water and fire produced a deafening roar, and billowing white mist rose into the sky.

In just a few breaths, the raging fire was completely extinguished, leaving only wisps of smoke drifting in the morning light.

Lingling stared in shock at the scene. Although she didn't know magic, she knew that water magic of this scale was definitely at the super-rank level. Lan Xi's seemingly casual attack was even more powerful than the full-force attack of some super-rank mages.

The Seven-Colored Peacock King slowly landed at the entrance of the valley.

As soon as they landed, a pungent stench, a mixture of burning and rotting flesh, assaulted their senses. Even more terrifying, the green poisonous mist floating in the air was emitting a faint hissing sound, corroding even the rock surfaces with honeycomb-like holes.

"Step back." Lan Xi stepped forward, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

A deep blue ripple appeared in her eyes, and a pure water-based energy surged from her body.

"Purify the sea, cleanse the dust!"

A soft blue halo spread out from her center, and wherever it passed, the poisonous fog dissipated as quickly as morning dew under the blazing sun.

The contaminated soil has been revitalized, and even the charred remains are covered with a layer of glistening water, preventing the toxins from spreading further.

Qin Xiaonan squatted down, her fingertips lightly touching the ground.

The imprint of the sun disk was slightly warm in his palm—the lingering scent of sandworms here was even stronger than he had imagined.

It seems that the Sandworm Monarch was indeed taken away by the Black Church.

Qin Xiaonan was aware of the sandworm's capabilities; if it were to erupt in a densely populated city, the consequences would likely be dire…

Compared to sandworms, scaly banshees, which also possess parasitic abilities, are simply not worth mentioning.

I must find it as soon as possible.

Following the traces of the battle left behind, the group then headed northwest.

There were signs of battle along the way—charred lightning craters, bushes frozen into ice crystals, and rocks shattered by wind blades.
"Wait!" Qing Ning, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.

Not far away, the corpses of three judges lay strewn among the rocks. Their deaths were gruesome—their faces were a bizarre bluish-purple, their skin was extensively ulcerated, revealing the blackened, corroded bones beneath. Each of them had a fist-sized hole in their chest, the edges of which were covered in fine sand.

"It's poison. And it's mixed with the corrosive effects of sand worms." Qin Xiaonan crouched down to examine them. "They were probably corroded by toxins, and then parasitized by sand worms."

Because these people's internal organs were gone, they must have been eaten by sandworms.

Lingling bit her lip hard, her eyes trembling as she looked at the tribunal badge on the deceased's chest—not her sister, but her familiar colleagues.

As they continued onward, the toxic smog in the air grew thicker and thicker, and even the surrounding vegetation withered and turned black.

When they reached the top of a hill, the sight before them made everyone gasp – the entire valley was shrouded in a thick, green, poisonous fog, like a boiling cauldron of venom.

“Let me do it.” Lan Xi stepped forward, her long, sea-blue hair moving without any wind.

She gently raised her hands, and a glistening water sphere appeared in her palms.

"Pure Sea, Sky Curtain!"

The water sphere suddenly expanded, transforming into a massive curtain of water that descended from the sky.

This pure water element seemed to be the nemesis of these toxins; the poisonous fog dissipated at a visible speed, revealing the true face of the valley.

Qin Xiaonan keenly noticed the abnormality of the valley—the surrounding rock walls had unnatural arcs, and the soil on the ground showed obvious traces of magical shaping.

This is by no means a naturally formed valley, but a closed space forcibly created by earth magic.

As an earth-elemental super-tier mage, Leng Qing is capable of altering local terrain; a valley of this size is clearly the result of her exerting all her strength.

After Leng Qing and his team resolved the sandworm crisis, the Tribunal team had no time to rest before they were ambushed by Night Owl.

This poison-type high-level mage from the Black Church appeared like a ghost, first using deadly poison to ambush the healing mage in the group, cutting off their healing support.

"Watch out!!" A judge had just issued a warning when a green light pierced through his chest.

The toxin instantly eroded his heart, and he collapsed and died before he could even scream.

The owl was enjoying the cat-and-mouse game.

He gradually weakened them with poison, and whenever a judge fell, he would release sandworms, watching the corpses twist and deform, turning into new "sand worms" to hunt down his former companions.

"Run! Split up and run!" Leng Qing commanded.

But the Night Owl had already laid out a poisonous fog barrier around them, and the judges, like trapped beasts, fell one after another.

Left with no other choice, Leng Qing activated a super-level earth magic.

The earth trembled beneath her feet, and the rock strata rose up as if alive, creating a closed ring-shaped hill on the flat ground, protecting the survivors within.

But this last refuge also became their prison—the owl slowly released poisonous mist, allowing the deadly poison to seep into the rock walls little by little.

"Why struggle?" Night Owl's chilling voice echoed through the poisonous fog. "To become Lord Salang's creation is your honor."

However, to his surprise, the enemy's reinforcements arrived so quickly.

He saw the flames in the mountain village being extinguished by the steam from afar, and knew he couldn't stay there any longer.

So, after expending a great deal of magic power to release an even more powerful poisonous mist, they hurriedly withdrew.

(End of this chapter)