Chapter Thirty-Four: Mission Accomplished, Stepping Back

A few people followed the direction Alexandra pointed. In the dim cave, a faint light flickered in the corner, and a silhouette hid within the darkness, its features indistinguishable. At that moment, the figure stood with its back to them, engaged in some unknown activity with the dragon bones.

The group, previously exhilarated, instantly calmed, realizing this shadow was the culprit behind everything before them.

“No matter who you are, your end is now!”

As this realization dawned, their hearts were once again filled with rage. Madame Gao, furious, roared and charged out of the elevator first.

Her aged, stooped form betrayed no sign of her years; as she pierced the air, the sonic boom echoed throughout the empty underground, shrill and piercing like a beast’s howl.

Simultaneously, Alexandra, Boto, Murakami, and Sowan—different in age, color, and gender—all unleashed power equal to Madame Gao’s.

One moved with the lightness of a swallow, another’s sword flashed like a dragon, one’s blade gleamed coldly, and another’s aura seemed to swallow mountains and rivers.

From five directions, the group locked in on the figure’s back.

Just as they rushed into this burial ground, the figure finally stood upright.

He turned to face them—though his features were obscured by darkness, his tall, upright posture and perfect, muscular form with a slim waist and broad shoulders caught their eyes.

Yet even more captivating than his model-like build was the small stick in his hand, the length of chopsticks, crafted like white jade.

Under the faint glow, the material shone with a gentle brilliance, appearing as a miraculously perfect work of art.

Before the five could discern the nature of the jade-like stick, the man drew a graceful arc through the air with it.

Immediately, a mysterious cadence rang out beside their ears.

“Flying sand and rolling stones!”

With that utterance, the massive rocks piled at the elevator entrance—previously shattered by the five—seemed to come alive, rising from the ground and hurtling toward them like cannonballs.

Their pupils contracted; disregarding their attack on the cave’s inhabitant, each used their unique skills to shatter the incoming stones.

Effortlessly neutralizing their assault, Gu Zhongyan once more wielded his newly forged dragon bone wand.

“Mists, gather!”

Invisible magic spread forth, and the vapor in the air and underground instantly condensed into thick layers of white fog, enveloping the entire cavern.

The five, carefully fending off the stone barrage, suddenly found themselves blinded by a blanket of mist, losing sight of Gu Zhongyan’s shadow.

Having cast the fog, Gu Zhongyan turned toward the enormous dragon bones, took a deep breath, and swung his wand.

“Shrink, quickly!”

Blue sparks burst from the tip of the wand, tracing a brilliant streak through the mist and striking the massive bones.

Yet, the blue light, upon contact, failed to shrink the bones as anticipated, seeming entirely ineffective.

Gu Zhongyan was not surprised; the power and efficacy of spells depended on the caster’s strength and the target’s resistance.

Dragon bones, being a unique and potent magical material, could not be influenced by simple spells.

Thus, he remained unfazed and intensified his magical output.

The blue glow expanded severalfold, illuminating the cavern with dazzling colors like the auroras of the polar realms.

With increased magic, the dragon bones finally began to change, their gigantic frame shrinking at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Once, twice, three times…

Soon, what had been a skeleton over a dozen meters long was reduced to the size of a single person.

Gu Zhongyan withdrew his wand, breathing deeply; the power within the bones was immense, and even at full strength, this was the smallest he could achieve.

But it was enough—he could relax now.

“Ha!”

Just as Gu Zhongyan shrank the bones to human size, the five from the Hand Society finally broke through the barrier of stones and fog.

With a shout, the invisible energy within each surged like a hurricane, tearing through the mist.

As the fog dissipated, they stared at the dragon bones, now reduced from their former dominance to a mere person’s size, stunned and unable to process the reality.

Clearly, Gu Zhongyan had no intention of allowing them time to accept it.

Watching their stupefied faces, hidden in the darkness, Gu Zhongyan grabbed the dragon bones with one hand and wielded his wand with the other.

“Sorry, my friends, I’ll be taking these bones.”

Then, before the five could react, he softly incanted,

“Phantom Apparition!”

With a swift sound, Gu Zhongyan, clutching the bones, vanished from sight under their incredulous gaze.

“No, where is he? Where is he?” Sowan cried out, eyes wide with excitement.

“Is it an illusion? Or some kind of concealment spell? I remember, teleportation magic isn’t like this. He must still be here, he must still be here!” Alexandra shouted, equally agitated.

The other three fared no better; they wildly unleashed their inner energy, indiscriminately attacking the space around them, as if convinced Gu Zhongyan had not left and was still present.

In truth, they were not entirely wrong—Gu Zhongyan was indeed still there, though not in their midst, but above them.

Whoosh!

A phantom appeared; Gu Zhongyan, holding the bones, emerged at the spot where he had entered the elevator earlier.

Beside the elevator, a burly security guard in black uniform remained asleep in the same posture as when Gu Zhongyan left.

He hadn’t forgotten his brief encounter with the guard before descending.

For safety, certain precautions were necessary.

“Erase it all!”

Approaching the guard, Gu Zhongyan took out his newly crafted dragon bone wand, gently tapped the man’s head, then flickered and used Phantom Apparition again to vanish.

This time, he did not return home, but appeared in the surveillance room of a financial firm in the central city district.

Following the same method, he used “Erase it all” to wipe the security guard’s memory, then cast “Fierce Flames” to destroy all surveillance footage.

After ensuring nothing was left behind, he finally used Phantom Apparition to return to his room.

Not to mention the excitement of Su Yan, who watched Gu Zhongyan and the dragon bones appear out of thin air.

Meanwhile, the five fingers of the Hand Society, once certain that Gu Zhongyan had left and taken their sole hope—the dragon bones—completely erupted.