Chapter 256: Disappearance

Chapter 256: Disappearance

The group of wizards advanced steadily through the inverted cloud-sea world, occasionally engaging in brief, intense skirmishes.

Days passed uneventfully, spanning over ten days. According to Levin Mills’ assessment, they had searched roughly half of the distorted zone’s inner space.

Hearing this, Jie Ming and the twelve recruited wizards expressed satisfaction. Though the mission lasted longer than expected, the rewards exceeded their hopes. As Jack had mentioned, the creature density here was higher than outside, and they occasionally collected rare, valuable resources, including materials for potions that permanently enhanced spatial perception.

ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ ɴovelfire.net

However, the scouting mosquito swarms suffered significant losses. Though the heavyset wizard replenished them, the soul shock from the death of deeply contracted beasts was unavoidable. Several First-Order Wizards grew noticeably weaker, their faces pale.

Jie Ming, however, remained in good condition. His Qi Refinement, which harmonized essence, energy, and spirit, gave him soul strength and physical resilience far beyond his peers, with rapid recovery. His body-forging techniques had even adapted, developing resistance to the mental shocks. Still, due to certain anomalies he’d noticed during the mission, he feigned weakness to avoid drawing attention.

That day, after finishing the morning’s search, Jie Ming prepared to contact the others to exchange information. The “Glimmer Bugs,” as the mosquitoes were called, were specialized scouting beasts, capable of real-time communication through their mental links, even across vast distances via the network formed by each wizard’s swarm.

But as the connection began, Jie Ming sensed something wrong. The network was short one person.

The sudden anomaly sent chills through the group. Despite being spread out over tens or hundreds of kilometers, the mosquito network allowed constant contact with every team member. Yet, one wizard had vanished without a trace.

It was as if someone had disappeared from a group walking side by side.

Through cross-checking, they confirmed the missing wizard was one of the recruits. Even more unsettling, the disappearance occurred not at the search line’s edge but near its center.

Questioning the wizards on either side of the missing one revealed no unusual energy fluctuations before or after the incident. Not daring to take risks, the group swiftly retreated to the previous day’s search position, then cautiously gathered at the edge.

Jie Ming, positioned farther out, arrived late. He found the group anxiously surrounding the heavyset wizard, whose face was grim as he closed his eyes, seemingly communicating through the mosquito network.

After everyone assembled, the heavyset wizard opened his small eyes, shaking his head at Levin Mills. “No contact. The Glimmer Bugs aren’t dead, but they’re unreachable…”

“Is it a spatial distortion that teleported them too far?” Jack asked gravely.

“No, they’re still within communication range,” the heavyset wizard replied, his expression odd, filled with confusion. “It feels… like the bugs are ignoring my signals.”

“What do you mean? Are they out of control, or is the communication blocked?” Levin Mills asked, stunned.

“Exactly what I said. I can reach the Glimmer Bugs, but they’re ignoring all my signals, and the wizard isn’t responding either,” the heavyset wizard emphasized, his tone laced with bewilderment.

This bizarre situation baffled everyone. Though the cause was unclear, they couldn’t ignore the issue.

After discussion, they decided to investigate the area. Flying for hours, Levin Mills suddenly raised a hand. “Stop.”

The wizards halted, looking at him questioningly.

After carefully sensing the surrounding space, Levin declared, “About five standard hours ago, a wizard skilled in ‘energy shaping’ fought here.”

“Five standard hours?” A wizard’s day was divided into ten standard hours, so five meant roughly half a day ago—yesterday.

“At that time…” a recruited wizard spoke up, drawing attention. “I know a bit about it. He encountered a group of Void Plane creatures and collected a good haul. He even bragged to me about it.”

“And after that?” Levin Mills pressed.

The wizard thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No contact after that.”

“So, he was fine until at least that point,” Jie Ming said, his expression serious.

The others grew solemn, grasping the implication. This was likely the site of the missing wizard’s last battle, after which something inexplicable caused their disappearance.

The group heightened their alertness, advancing cautiously while deploying every scouting method, including the Glimmer Bugs.

After a long, vigilant flight with no signs of enemies or anomalies, Jie Ming suddenly felt his Mysterious Astral Mortal Dust Barrier ripple.

“Enemy attack! Be on guard!” he roared.

But the other wizards’ reactions chilled him to the bone. Despite his loud warning, they seemed oblivious, continuing forward as if sleepwalking.

A cold glint flashed in Jie Ming’s eyes. Without hesitation, he fired controlled energy bolts at each wizard.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bolts were easily blocked by their autonomous shields, but the sudden attack snapped the seemingly unconscious wizards awake. They immediately turned to Jie Ming, wary but not overly hostile, as his attacks were restrained.

Levin Mills was about to question Jie Ming when his expression changed.

Puff, puff, puff…

A series of soft sounds echoed. To Jie Ming and the others’ shock, ghostly white mist-like creatures surged like a tide from the solid clouds below. Covered in fine, dense fur, they resembled clumps of thick mist from afar.

Jie Ming instinctively scanned them with his All-Purpose Eye but found nothing, as if they were merely moving patches of the cloudy ground. His eyes widened as he focused the All-Purpose Eye on the nearest creature. A flood of information poured into his mind, forcing him to shut it off and step back, frowning.

He understood why their scouting had failed. These creatures didn’t just resemble the cloudy ground—their material composition was nearly identical, allowing them to perfectly evade detection.

“Something’s wrong!” Jie Ming realized instantly. His Mysterious Astral Mortal Dust Barrier was still rippling, indicating continuous attacks.

Glancing around, he noticed the other wizards’ reactions were off. Though awake and aware of the enemies, their responses were sluggish, their gazes dull, showing little intent to act.

“Careful! These creatures specialize in ‘soul curse illusions’!” Levin Mills’ voice, infused with a soul-shaking resonance, boomed in everyone’s ears.

Jie Ming instantly grasped the creatures’ sinister tactics. Soul curse illusions were a peculiar type of curse that mimicked illusions, clouding the victim’s soul and dulling their thoughts.

While these creatures’ individual strength was weak, and their curses could be resisted even by apprentice wizards, their sheer numbers—tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions—made their collective curse terrifyingly potent. Even Levin Mills, a Third-Order Wizard, had been affected when caught off guard.