Dog-man Reed reacted quickly, roaring as his body instantly swelled to a five-meter tall combat form, his sturdy arms sweeping with a muffled sound that tore through the air, soon intercepting those shadow tendrils.

There was no loud collision, only a dull energy burst.

The tendrils were slapped apart by Reed's immense strength, transforming into a mass of swirling black smoke, but the smoke did not disappear. Instead, it writhed swiftly, as if alive, trying to reassemble.

The other tendrils hit by Reed also behaved in the same way, scattered but not extinguished.

"Ray of Light."

Duke extended a finger, from which a beam of light instantly shot out. After being struck by the beam, the tendrils immediately emitted black smoke and soon melted away like ice and snow.

"As expected, it requires Light Attribute energy to counter, and it works quite well." After observing Reed's battle with the tendrils, he had roughly guessed this.

These tendrils were not living beings but pure Dark Attribute energy conglomerates, possessing only some instincts.

After eliminating the tendrils, Duke noticed some objects dropped to the ground. Upon closer inspection, they were pieces of black crystal. It was unclear what they were.

He collected these items, intending to study them after leaving, or to ask someone for answers if he couldn't figure it out.

After collecting these items, Duke looked around, planning to explore this area for a while.

The fragment area he saw before coming here was vast, almost a small continent, with an area so extensive it couldn't be fully explored even in three months.

Duke looked up again, seeing many shadows retreating in the sky, all of them fragment areas.

This was a unique feature of this place. For some unknown reason, the fragments were moving automatically, and they seemed to do so in a regular pattern, even automatically avoiding obstacles ahead, as if alive.

The fragment area where the Emperor Flame Turtle was located was also quite large, but due to the disturbance caused by the Emperor Flame Turtle, it was temporarily dangerous, so he had to leave for the time being.

Duke looked towards an area with relatively stable dark energy and more open terrain, preparing to start his exploration from there.

Time passed silently in exploration. The area was astonishingly vast, with bizarre landscapes.

There were hills like solidified black waves, huge crystal forests shimmering with dim phosphorescence, bottomless dark abysses that swallowed all light, and rivers flowing with ink-like dark liquid.

The air was always filled with a cold, viscous Dark Attribute energy, which was like a nourishing source for Duke. He felt his Shadow Affinity had improved imperceptibly in such an environment, and absorbing the Dark Attribute energy became increasingly effortless.

...

A month later.

Duke was hiding in a vast area filled with towering, twisted black crystal pillars.

These pillars were dozens of meters high, with a faint glow flowing inside, forming a natural maze.

He was searching for valuable items in this area. Over the past month, his bag had accumulated a lot of things. Their value was still unclear because many of them were unrecognized by him, and he didn't know how much they could be sold for.

Dog-man Reed followed behind him. During this time, he had faithfully shouldered his duties, multiple times detecting dangers that Duke had not sensed.

Suddenly, Reed sensed something, instinctively looked up, and saw two tiny black dots in the distant sky.

Noticing Reed's action, Duke also looked up and discovered those two black dots.

He found that the two black dots were getting closer from a distance, moving in a very regular pattern, indicating they were not debris but likely goods, with a high probability of being wizards participating in the Void Corridor this time.

This was naturally not a good sign, as the arrival of other wizards would inevitably increase instability.

During this month, Duke was almost certain there were no other wizards here, probably just him.

Because he hadn't encountered another wizard in so long, not even any traces.

It was likely due to the continuous movement of this fragment area, making it rare for other wizards to arrive here.

Now that someone was coming, Duke needed to stay alert and see if he could avoid conflict.

Regardless, this place was large enough, so even if more wizards came, there would be plenty of space.

The two black dots rapidly enlarged, becoming gradually clearer in outline.

They were not flying witchcraft artifacts but two strangely shaped creatures.

They were covered entirely in black scale armor that seemed to absorb light, with long, serpent-like bodies and broad, semi-transparent membrane wings on either side.

The edges of the membrane wings were laced with dim purple energy patterns, each silent flap leaving a faint trace behind, like ink dripping into water.

"Void Serpents?" Duke thought, recognizing these rare and difficult-to-tame Dark Attribute void creatures.

They were born with the ability to traverse unstable spaces, making them ideal mounts for exploring the Void Corridor. However, they were extremely valuable and hard to find. The Wizard Plane had no such creatures, and only a few capable entities could harness them.

Void Serpents generally existed as summoned beasts, which could be summoned at will.

Summoned beasts differ from slave creatures, usually requiring a summoning contract with other-dimensional beings, with various ways to establish it.

The content of a summoning contract is entirely negotiable between the parties, with the summoned beast sometimes having more rights than the summoner, depending on their respective strengths.

If a summoning contract is made with a particularly powerful being, the summoner might have to pay a high price to summon the other even once.

Strictly speaking, it is a form of transaction, entirely different from the concept of slave creatures.

These two Void Serpents are rare summoning creatures that can be summoned anywhere for a certain price. This method also bypasses the Void Corridor restrictions, allowing more personnel at hand.

However, not everyone has the means to establish a summoning contract with powerful demons; it depends on one's strength, luck, and access to other-dimensional beings.

As the two shadows approached, Duke could see a figure on the back of each Void Serpent.

But they were still too far away to discern their appearance.

Duke originally intended to avoid conflict with them, but it seemed these two individuals were heading towards this area, unable to leave quickly, making contact almost inevitable.

He could only hide with Reed, observe the situation, and act accordingly.

The Void Serpents gracefully spiraled down, eventually choosing to land on a relatively flat, large black crystal stone surface several hundred meters away from Duke's hiding spot.

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