A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 66 Blood-Red Beach

Looking at the books in the system, Jiang Shuzhou fell silent.

"I was judging others by my own petty standards."

Unexpectedly, the infamous founder of the Flesh and Blood Gospel School was not the ruthless and morally depraved person Jiang Shuzhou had imagined. Instead, he was a rather traditional alchemist who valued tradition.

This was completely beyond Jiang Shuzhou's expectations.

Now that Jiang Shuzhou has obtained the most valuable book, the most urgent task is the competition.

Two hours have passed since the start of the competition, mainly because Jiang Shuzhou was so engrossed in studying that he forgot the time.

But that's not important. Jiang Shuzhou has already made a plan. He plans to go and check out the Flesh Nest. He thinks he might be able to control the Flesh Nest and then take control of the Flesh Evil Puppet.

Finding the Flesh and Blood Nest was not difficult; the previous Flesh and Blood Puppet had already given Jiang Shuzhou a clue as to its location.

It's not hard to find in the cave.

The flesh and blood lair cannot be too far from the controlled flesh and blood puppet, and it must have a source of nutrition.

What source of nutrition can compare to the ocean?

The ocean contains everything, and the organic matter it contains is enough for the flesh and blood nest to sustain its existence.

The answer is obvious: follow the coastline.

Sure enough, Jiang Shuzhou found the cave after walking along the coast for an hour.

"call."

Flames erupted from the blade of the Miao sword. This was the new spell "Flame Attachment" that Jiang Shuzhou had learned yesterday, which mainly involves attaching flames to objects.

The flames ignited by magic will not burn the spell's user, so Jiang Shuzhou can use them with peace of mind.

The only drawback of this spell is that it is not very harmful, so it can only be used for lighting and is difficult to do anything else.

However, things are different now. Jiang Shuzhou's spell strength has increased by almost double, and the power of the flames attached to him has naturally increased as well.

The fire now provides sufficient destructive power.

Picking up his Miao knife, Jiang Shuzhou walked into the cave.

The flames attached to the Miao sword emitted a bright light, revealing the entire cave.

The ground was covered with countless red moss, damp and sticky. According to Jiang Shuzhou's understanding, this was likely the organ used by the flesh and blood nest to absorb nutrients.

Connected to it are tubes that resemble blood vessels, which are clearly organs used to transport nutrients.

As he walked forward into the dark and damp cave, holding up his flaming Miao sword for light, Jiang Shuzhou became more and more certain as he went.

He is now certain that the Flesh and Blood Nest is located here.

In the pitch-black cave, Jiang Shuzhou held a knife in one hand and a gun in the other, the flickering flames on the blade illuminating his path.

"￥!?*"

Suddenly, an indistinct murmur arose, drawing attention in the otherwise silent cave.

It must have been the sound coming from the flesh and blood nest.

The increasing number of blood-red pipes on the ground also proves this point, indicating that it is not far away.

As Jiang Shuzhou ventured deeper, the Flesh and Blood Nest came into view.

"Help...me..."

"They...are all...dead..."

Why...?

A series of agonizing cries rang out as Jiang Shuzhou raised his sharp blade high, the flames clinging to the blade illuminating the path ahead.

Jiang Shuzhou saw the nest of flesh and blood, and although he was prepared, he still felt horrified.

The cave walls were covered in flesh and blood. In front of Jiang Shuzhou was a blood-red pool made of flesh and blood, with a small hill at the bottom formed by the fusion of dozens of skinless human heads.

On both sides are walls of flesh and blood formed by the fusion of countless upper bodies.

They were wailing, as if they were enduring immense pain.

They were cursing, cursing the peace that the living could enjoy.

They are afraid, afraid of their current state.

"This isn't right, is it?"

Based on the information, the Flesh Nest shouldn't be like this; at least these people wouldn't have their own consciousness.

Clearly, Jiang Shuzhou overestimated that mage; he actually fantasized that a mad mage could create something normal.

When people go mad, creation will naturally not be normal either, not to mention that the Flesh and Blood Gospel School is itself an abnormal school of thought.

At this moment, Jiang Shuzhou was starting to lose his composure. What was all this about?

I wish I hadn't come; this behavior is clearly out of control.

"Who are you?"

A voice rang out, and compared to the other frantic voices, this voice was clearly more rational.

Following the sound, Jiang Shuzhou saw a monster with four arms and two heads, covered in countless thin tubes that connected to the flesh and blood nest. Like the flesh and blood demon puppet, it had no skin.

"I am a mage."

Jiang Shuzhou replied that, considering the other party's ability to communicate, he was prepared to try communicating with them first.

"And who are you?"

Seeing the other person suddenly fall silent, Jiang Shuzhou asked in return.

"I am Ryan Bart, and like you, I am a mage."

What? Ryan Bart? Isn't that the mad mage?

You're something else, transforming yourself into a den of flesh and blood, that's truly defying the heavens.

"You're from the Mage Alliance, right?"

Suddenly, Ryan Bart asked.

"..."

Jiang Shuzhou didn't speak, but silently took a step back. Now, it wouldn't matter whether he said it or not.

This man had long since gone mad and had fallen out with the school of thought, harboring hatred towards both the school and the alliance.

"I knew it! I knew it! Hahaha, hehehe! They all have to die!"

Sure enough, that was probably just a brief moment of clarity for Ryan Bart, and now the keyword has been triggered, or rather, the time has come.

So what do we do now?

Ryan Bart has merged himself with the Flesh Nest, so Jiang Shuzhou can no longer control the Flesh Nest. More importantly, Ryan Bart has gone mad.

Even when he is lucid, he would probably be unwilling to be controlled, let alone when he goes crazy.

The plan to control the Flesh Nest failed, but every cloud has a silver lining, and the game system gave Jiang Shuzhou another option.

"Trigger hidden quest: Destroy the Flesh Nest."

"Use fire to destroy the lair of flesh; the fire will scorch all filth."

"Note that once you make your decision, you will receive a hidden mission. You need to hold your ground for one hour. If you successfully hold your ground, you will win. All other participants will be eliminated. Eliminated participants will be considered as if you killed them. Your location will be revealed, and all participants will consider you an enemy."

Since it can't be used by me, let's destroy it; it wasn't anything good to begin with anyway.

Destroying the Flesh Nest is simple. As the mission description states, the surface of the Flesh Nest secretes a highly flammable slime, and the contents of the pool are that slime.

"roar!"

At this point, Ryan Bart was no longer able to speak human language; he was clearly insane.

He tried to pounce on Jiang Shuzhou as soon as he saw him, but the thin tubes binding his body prevented him from moving.

The Miao knife in his hand radiated intense heat, with flames clinging to it.

it's time!

The tip of the Miao sword was dipped into the water, and flames ignited the pool, then began to spread wildly, eventually engulfing the entire Flesh Nest, including Ryan Bart, in flames.

The blood-red figures on both sides unleashed a torrent of curses at Jiang Shuzhou, starting with one curse and then more, until finally all of them were involved.

Countless mouths within the flesh and blood lair unleashed filthy curses and venomous insults at Jiang Shuzhou.

Jiang Shuzhou didn't know why they were acting this way.

Don't their souls want to be free?

Countless insults and curses transformed into a tangible mental attack; they wanted to crush Jiang Shuzhou.

However, it was no use. Jiang Shuzhou's will was strong, and he was completely immune to this level of mental attack.

Ignoring the flesh and blood nest behind him, Jiang Shuzhou knew they were powerless to fight back when all they could do was curse, as the flesh and blood nest had no direct attack capability.

The only thing we should be concerned about now is the participants; no matter what, they won't give up their results so easily.

Soon, this place will become the death ground for countless contestants.

We declare war on all participants!