Duke's spiritual power scanned multiple times, but he couldn't find any trace of that earring inside the space ring.

He had never taken out the earring, nor had he lent the space ring to anyone else.

Yet the earring had disappeared mysteriously.

Duke looked at his palm again, thinking, "Could it have come out on its own?"

The more he pondered, the more he felt this was possible, and so he probed with his spiritual power and found something indeed in his palm.

This object had no physical form but existed as some kind of mysterious energy.

Duke then captured some information, confirming this was indeed a plane coordinate, which for some unknown reason had automatically fused into his body.

The plane coordinate had inexplicably activated just now, directly bringing Duke, who was meditating, to the Nightmare Plane.

This time, it wasn't just a mental apparition; he had arrived here in person.

When Hanna's earring was first triggered, it directly brought Muse to the Nightmare Plane.

That first-class wizard apprentice died over there, and even the body couldn't be found.

Duke quickly thought through his options, took out two basic magic recovery potions, and drank them directly, replenishing about eighty percent of his internal magic power.

He had just undergone an afternoon of high-intensity spell practice, emptying his internal magic power several times.

Having just entered a meditative state not long ago, his magic power had hardly recovered.

Duke immediately replenished his internal magic power to ensure he could at least cast some decent spells.

He then checked the state of each enchanted item on his body and found everything in normal status, ready to be deployed anytime.

Duke tried to communicate with the plane coordinate again, trying to return, only to discover he couldn't return yet and must wait a while before heading back to the Wizard Plane.

The familiar dormitory environment offered no sense of safety to him.

Duke continued to study the plane coordinate in his palm, realizing that it would automatically accumulate energy and, once full, would automatically pull him to the Nightmare Plane.

In theory, high enough spiritual power could control this pull, deciding whether to visit the Nightmare Plane or not.

But Duke was too weak; this plane coordinate had already far exceeded his current level of power.

The plane coordinate was merely a complex combination of rules, devoid of consciousness, only operating according to its inherent rules.

Duke was instinctively taken to the Nightmare Plane by the plane coordinate, his spiritual power too low to control the process.

He hadn't even sensed it before being brought here.

Duke always believed that as long as he activated the plane coordinate with spiritual power, he could travel to the Nightmare Plane.

But in reality, this process consumed energy, and after Duke returned to the Wizard Plane with the plane coordinate last time, its energy was depleted.

Since then, Duke hadn't used it again, hence he didn't discover this point.

Duke took a deep breath to calm himself but accidentally inhaled a lot of dust from the house, causing him to cough uncontrollably.

At that moment, a few cawing sounds of crows came from outside the house.

Duke immediately covered his mouth, suppressing the spasms in his lungs, his face flushing red.

He didn't want to make any noise that might attract some creatures from the Nightmare Plane, as this place was too dangerous for him.

Duke just wanted to stay quietly until the energy in the plane coordinate was exhausted.

But the surrounding situation didn't allow him to continue staying like this.

It seemed the coughing sound had spread, leading to not only crow calls outside but also some rustling noises.

The rustling crawling sound came from behind the dormitory. Duke cautiously moved to the wall by the balcony and peered back.

Behind the dormitory lay a vast forested area, and in the distance, a large swarm of black ants was crawling by.

These ants were colossal, each as big as a tiger.

The dormitory wasn't directly in the ants' path, but it was still beside their route.

Duke could already see a few scattered ants crawling around the ant army. If they continued in their direction, they would soon come here.

Duke didn't know how powerful these ants were, and he didn't want to find out, so he prepared to leave immediately.

If he delayed any longer, he'd be spotted by those ants.

Duke then moved to the window, glanced outside, and although he still heard crow calls from afar, he couldn't see any crows.

After hearing the crow calls gradually fade, he seized the moment to open the door and leap down, landing silently.

Duke took out the shadow insect bag, releasing some shadow insects to patrol around, keeping watch for him.

He walked a distance, and looking back, saw that the rest of the dormitory buildings had vanished, leaving only the lone building he had stayed in.

This building appeared very out of place against the surroundings.

Duke thought, "It's a good thing I left; otherwise, I'd inevitably attract the attention of other demons if I stayed there longer."

He looked around, feeling lost, not knowing where to go.

Seeing the distant ant army, Duke had no choice but to keep moving forward.

The surroundings were mainly forests and mountains, with the ground bare, occasionally dotted with vegetation.

These trees and plants were unfamiliar to Duke, looking quite strange.

He saw a tree full of pale eyes, some closed, some open.

A few eyes noticed Duke's presence, staring at him, sending an inexplicable chill down his spine.

Instinctively, Duke steered clear of the tree, sensing that being near it might bring about something sinister.

Fortunately, the tree retained its inherent nature—rooted in place, it didn't chase after Duke.

As Duke advanced, a stone road gradually unfolded ahead, neat stone slabs seemingly crafted with precision, all identical in size.

"Could there be someone ahead?" Duke wondered.

As soon as he stepped onto a slab, a sharp cry emerged beneath his feet.

"Ah! You stepped on me! Watch where you're going!" an angry male voice exclaimed.

Looking down, Duke saw that the stone slab had developed a man's features, his foot planted right on its nose, bending it askew.

"Oh! Sorry!" Duke quickly apologized, hopping forward.

Yet, stepping on the next slab, another voice spoke, but this one was odd, a woman's voice, seemingly pleased.

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