Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 335 The Barrier Key? An Old Man Who Has Seen Through Everything
The remnants of the holy city have been searching tirelessly for a long time along the invisible barrier of the Ural Mountains.

Every area was repeatedly explored.

However, the barrier constructed by the power of the Void Queen seemed to be a perfect whole, with energy flowing seamlessly without any flaws or fluctuations in energy tides.

Just as Michael frowned, almost ordering the abandonment of this futile search, an extremely bizarre scene unexpectedly entered his field of vision—

Not far away, an elderly local man with white hair and beard, wearing a worn-out cotton-padded coat and carrying a woven basket, was walking along the mountain path.

Just as he was about to touch the barrier that had left the Holy City's elites helpless, something astonishing happened: he simply and effortlessly passed through it!
That invisible barrier, powerful enough to repel Michael and nullify all holy light magic, seemed to exist entirely outside of this old man!

“This…?!” Michael’s pupils shrank sharply, almost thinking he was hallucinating from exhaustion.

Not only him, but several nearby holy judges also witnessed this incredible scene and exclaimed in surprise.

"Was that... an old man?"

"He...he went through it? He just walked through like that?"

"How can it be?!"

After a brief moment of shock, several anxious knights rushed to the spot where the old man had just passed through the barrier, trying to follow his example and step over it.

"boom!"

"Om-!"

The dull thud and the buzzing of the barrier rang out again mercilessly, and the knights were firmly stopped, even more disheveled than before.

"Why?! Why could that old man do it?!" A young knight rubbed his aching forehead, his voice filled with confusion and resentment as he growled.

"What exactly is going on?" Remiel's expression also became extremely solemn.

The entire Holy City team was thrown into a state of panic by this bizarre scene, and all sorts of speculations spread among the crowd.

With this huge question in mind, the people of the Holy City waited anxiously and remained on guard in this area.

The old man reappeared the very next day!

He seemed to have added some herbs to the basket he was carrying, and then walked back to the European side without any hindrance!
He once again ignored the barrier that separated the two continents!

Michael gestured for a mage to go and inquire about the situation.

Shaka then said, "I'll go."

She walked slowly toward the old man.

He spoke softly, "Excuse me, sir/madam. May I bother you?"

The old man stopped and turned around at the sound. His face was etched with the lines of time, and he exuded no magical aura; he was just an ordinary person.

The old man looked Shaka up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on her tattered yet still extraordinary mage robe, before smiling knowingly: "Young lady, judging from your attire... you're a mage, aren't you?"

Shaja nodded, not denying it: "Yes, old man."

The old man seemed to have anticipated this, and chuckled softly: "I know what you're going to ask. You want to leave Europe, but you're blocked by an invisible wall, aren't you?"

He paused, then looked up at the gloomy sky: "Every few days, people like you appear here, dressed in all sorts of robes, banging and striking at the air."

"Grandpa, do you know what's going on? Why can't we get through, but you can come and go as you please?"

The old man did not answer directly, but slowly, under Sharjah's wary gaze, he extended a hand covered in calluses.

In his palm, a faint purple energy slowly gathered, and then a tiny insect, no bigger than a fingernail, resembling a beetle but radiating a faint glow of void energy, "drilled" out from under his skin and quietly rested in his palm.

“!” Shaka almost instinctively took a half step back, and a faint holy light instantly gathered around his body as he assumed a defensive stance!
Void Worms! She could never mistake this for something else!
Seeing this, the old man was not alarmed. He simply looked at her calmly and said slowly, "Don't be afraid, little girl. It won't hurt you, at least... mine won't." He shook the quiet little insect in his palm. "To pass through that invisible wall, you need this 'little key.' With its help, you can come and go freely."

In an instant, Shaka understood everything!
This old man was not some reclusive master, but rather had formed a strange symbiotic relationship with this terrifying void worm!
This must be the method of the Void Queen Bervis – she did not completely prohibit passage, but set a cruel rule: only by accepting the parasitism of the Void Worms and becoming part of the Void system could one obtain the "permission" to cross the barrier!
Shaka felt a chill run down her spine. She forced herself to endure the discomfort and continued to ask, "Grandpa... are you... are you really willing to let such a dangerous insect of unknown origin stay inside your body?"

The old man withdrew his hand, and the void worm silently merged back into his skin.

His expression was very calm, even with a hint of sarcasm: "What's there to be willing or not willing about? To be honest, this little thing is quite intelligent, and it can occasionally keep this old man company and relieve his boredom."

He stretched his arms. "Moreover, since I got it, my old bones have become much stronger, and my old rheumatism has improved a lot."

"But it's a parasitic demon!"

"It may erode your will without you even realizing it, and could even take your life at any moment!"

Upon hearing this, the old man smiled broadly.

He pointed to the enormous, menacing Void Eye in the sky, which constantly exuded an oppressive aura, and said calmly:

“Little girl, look at the sky. How long has it been like this? Has any mage or great figure really destroyed it? I heard that even the most powerful holy city was destroyed by these monsters from outer space.”

He withdrew his gaze and looked at Shaka, his eyes filled with a resigned calm: "Even you great mages with supernatural powers can't do it, so what can I, an ordinary old man with my neck buried in the yellow earth, do?"

"If I can live one more day, have a bite to eat, and be able to move around freely to collect some herbs to exchange for food, then I've won."

He paused, then finally said, "As for this little bug... if it really wants to take my life, then let it. Anyway, without it, I might not be able to live any better in this world."

After saying this, the old man said no more, slung his basket over his shoulder, and disappeared back into the desolate mountains and fields of the European side, leaving Sharjah standing alone in the same spot.

The old man's words touched her deeply.
(End of this chapter)