..."Hearing Adonis's incantation, the complexions of the two hulking men opposite flickered slightly. One of them sneered, "Hmph, relying on your own strength, without the aid of another water mage, you think you can cast a Water Forbidden Spell? Stop wasting your breath."

For Adonis's current magical attainment, attempting to cast this low-tier Water Forbidden Spell was indeed stretching his limits. The immense magical power required for a Water Forbidden Spell was far greater than he had imagined. Adonis's face turned pale from the rapid depletion of his mana, and his entire body trembled slightly—all clear signs of mana draining away too fast. Yet, he forced himself to hold on, continuing his chant: "Gather mighty mana, blend it with the power of light, stand against wicked will, purify defiled souls, let the light return to the earth, let the spirit be cleansed. ..."By the time he reached this point, all of Adonis's mana was exhausted, and he shook violently. Adonis couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. Though he knew the energy demand for this Water Forbidden Spell was astronomical, he had originally hoped his magical equipment might allow him to barely pull it off, giving Elif a chance to escape safely. But he had still gravely miscalculated the sheer energy needed. All his mana was gone, yet the Forbidden Spell was only halfway complete, and he had not a single drop left.

Elif, also a mage, noticed Adonis's predicament immediately.

But he could offer no help at all. He was a Fire Great Archmage; his element was directly antagonistic to Adonis’s, creating a complete mismatch where he couldn't assist in the slightest.

He could only watch anxiously from the sidelines, eyes wide with worry.

The two Dragonkin across from them had clearly discerned Adonis's state as well. A faint sneer touched their lips; they were obviously waiting to enjoy the spectacle of Adonis's failure.

As for Adonis, he saw that due to the lack of mana, he was about to be violently counter-assaulted by the very magical energy he was trying to control.

A surge of despair washed over Adonis. Just then.

Adonis felt a surge of potent, pure water-elemental magic slice through his barrier, transmitting precisely into his body. This energy was actually far stronger than his own had been! Though Adonis couldn't fathom why, the immediate crisis left no room for contemplation. With this surge of power supporting him, it was enough to finish the remainder of his spell. He hurriedly continued the chant he hadn't completed: "Rescue the beings besieged by darkness. Shatter the ambition of shadows—Water Realm Purity Incantation!" The two Dragonkin were stunned. They certainly hadn't expected Adonis, whose mana was supposedly spent, to suddenly have the energy to continue casting the Water Forbidden Spell. They exchanged startled glances and instantly unleashed their speed, rushing towards Adonis. Their movement was swift, but they were a step too late. Adonis’s Water Forbidden Spell, the Water Realm Purity Incantation, was complete. Suddenly, a massive wave of water-elemental energy erupted violently,

surging towards the two Dragonkin and immediately enveloping them within its range. The surrounding trees and objects instantly froze solid under the might of this chilling energy, including the two Dragonkin, who were frozen stiff—leaving a colossal block of ice standing before Adonis and Elif.

Seeing this, Elif, standing nearby, spoke in disbelief, "Old Ghost Adonis, when did your magical mastery become this formidable? I truly thought you'd be barely managing to cast it. To think you could unleash the full power of a Forbidden Spell—that’s incredible! Have you broken through your Great Archmage boundary?" Adonis offered no reply upon hearing this.

Instead, he swept his sharp gaze around the surroundings, as if searching for something, but he was ultimately disappointed, as the area showed no discernible anomalies. Adonis then bowed toward the empty air and spoke with gratitude, "Adonis thanks the senior for saving my life. I implore the senior to reveal themselves so that I might have the chance to repay this debt."

Hearing Adonis suddenly utter such an unconnected statement, Elif grew puzzled and asked, "Old Adonis, have you been scared senseless? What are you talking to the air for?" Adonis merely shook his head at Elif and waved to stop him from speaking further, respectfully repeating his previous words to the void.

Seeing this, Elif’s expression clouded with worry. Had Adonis truly lost his mind? Just then, a gentle voice drifted from the air: "No need to thank me. You two must leave quickly. Your Water Realm Purity Incantation won't cause lasting harm to these two Dragon kin; it will only confine them temporarily. They will break free before long. So, you should depart quickly and spread the news. As for meeting, I will naturally seek both of you out when the time comes."

Hearing this voice, astonishment crossed Adonis’s face for the first time. He recognized it clearly as the voice of a young man. He had naturally assumed someone possessing such formidable magical energy must be an elder. To learn it was a youth was truly astonishing. This young man’s magical proficiency clearly surpassed his own by a wide margin. How had he cultivated such skill? Could he also be Dragon kin? Adonis dared to entertain the thought.

However, he instinctively understood the youth spoke the truth: the two Dragonkin would break free soon. Wasting no more time, he spoke respectfully in the direction of the voice, "May I be honored to know your name, so that Adonis may find a way to repay your kindness?" Now knowing the helper was not an elder, Adonis had dropped the term 'senior' and opted for a more formal honorific.

Silence followed for a moment, then a voice returned, "Call me Mohan. We will meet again in the future. You need to leave now; I can feel those two Dragonkin starting to struggle against the ice."

Mohan, who had provided the timely assistance, felt a degree of admiration for Adonis as he overheard his conversation with Elif. Seeing him in dire straits, he had intervened to help him overcome the crisis.

Hearing Mohan’s words, Adonis wasted no further breath. He bowed deeply in the direction where the voice originated, then grabbed the still-dazed Elif and hastily cast the Flight spell, soaring away.

Not long after Adonis and Elif departed, the massive ice block confining the Dragonkin began to emit cracking sounds. A thin fissure then appeared right down the center of the ice, followed quickly by more and more cracks spider-webbing across the entire surface. With a loud crack, the entire block shattered into pieces, flying outwards. As the ice vanished, the forms of the two Dragonkin emerged. However, due to the lingering effects of the Water Forbidden Spell, the casual confidence that had marked their faces was gone. Their expressions were now somewhat pale; clearly, even the innate, robust magic resistance of the Dragon race could not shield them entirely from the powerful energy of the Forbidden Spell without incurring damage.

At this point, one of the Dragonkin spoke, sounding incredulous, "Bridget, doesn't that strike you as odd? Based on that human mage’s skill level, he shouldn't have been able to unleash a Water Forbidden Spell. But why did he suddenly seem imbued with boundless mana, allowing him to cast it so quickly? It’s extremely strange."

The Dragonkin called Bridget frowned and added, "I found it strange too, Brooke. That human mage was clearly out of mana, yet it was as if he suddenly possessed an endless supply, which caused us to let our guard down and get hurt. Does this human mage possess some secret technique to instantly boost his power? But we saw him cast no other spell. Truly bizarre."

Brooke sounded worried as he replied, "What are we going to tell the Young Chieftain when we report back? We promised him before we left that we would definitely kill these two human mages. Not only did we fail to kill them, but we were injured and let them escape. I imagine punishment is unavoidable this time."

Hearing Brooke’s lament, a flicker of discomfort crossed Bridget’s face. "Ah, I think we should report the facts exactly as they are to the Young Chieftain. Since this whole incident was so strange, I suspect the punishment won't be too severe."

Brooke could only nod in agreement. The two quickly turned and vanished into the night, apparently hurrying back to the Dragonkin encampment to report.

After they departed, a ripple disturbed the quiet air not far from where they had stood. A figure slowly coalesced—it was Mohan, who had lingered nearby and hadn't left.

Mohan’s face was etched with concern as he murmured softly, "Young Chieftain, it must be true. It has to be the Dragonkin Young Chieftain I encountered before. And only the Dragon race's absurd magical defense could account for only suffering minor injuries under the power of that Water Forbidden Spell. This is trouble. Even if the Church of Light is powerful, they can't fight against two Empires simultaneously while also dealing with the Dragon race. No wonder the Aoyue Empire and the Shui Lan Empire dared to mobilize against the Tian Long Empire without fear of the Church of Light's influence. We can only hope Adonis manages to notify the Holy Dragon race in time, or the humans will be in grave danger."

However, since a Dragon kin was involved, he realized he needed to notify Shui Ling'er and the others immediately. Mohan’s thoughts shifted to concern for Daili and the others’ safety. He didn't linger but hurried toward the direction of the Tian Long Empire.

After several days of tireless travel, Mohan finally reached Liuyun City, the southernmost city of the Tian Long Empire. Along the way, Mohan continuously gathered the latest news on the war between the three Empires. It turned out that under the full-scale assault from the two Empires, even the mighty Tian Long Empire was struggling immensely. Feiji City, responsible for resisting the invasion of the two Empires, was already on the brink of collapse under their fierce attacks.

The Qilin Legion of the Gongsun family had also suffered devastating losses. Currently, all three other major legions of the Empire, besides the Tian Long Legion itself, had been redeployed to reinforce Feiji City. There were now at least eight hundred thousand Tian Long Empire soldiers defending the area around Feiji City. The overall commander for this massive engagement was Murong Tian, the patriarch of the Murong family, who had been urgently entrusted with this heavy burden in this critical moment.

Gongsun Wuji, the head of the Gongsun family, was appointed as the Deputy Commander, sharing the command responsibilities with Murong Tian for the battle.

Even so, the defensive forces surrounding Feiji City appeared thin, as the combined military strength of the two invading Empires exceeded a staggering 1.55 million troops—nearly double the strength of Feiji City's defenders. Furthermore, the supreme commander for the two Empires this time was Elmer, the renowned general from the Shui Lan Empire, whose name had long been famous across the continent. He was one of the four great generals of the continent, serving alongside Murong Tian in their prime.

The other two were Vera, the famous general of the Aoyue Empire, and Roberta, the famous general of the Kanya Empire. At that time, they were collectively known as the Four Great Generals of the Continent, but due to various circumstances, they had never had the chance to face each other directly, leaving no one certain who held the superior skill.

Consequently, neither side felt confident of an outright victory, leading to cautious maneuvers rather than large-scale engagements, with both sides trading minor successes and setbacks.