Chapter 129 Reaching the Mountains

"Hey, Butcher, did you see it? There is grass here, thorn grass." Zhao Mai grabbed the rope around his waist and dragged the strong man forward. The shadow of the Meguilot Mountains casts a shadow, so the temperature in some places will be relatively lower than in other places, allowing plants to grow.

A large cactus stopped on the roadside, green, plump and full of vitality. Zhao Mai stopped in front of it, admiring the power of nature, then cut off a piece with a dagger, peeled off the thorns on the surface, and cut off part of the hard skin.

"Damn it, Butcher, put this thing in your mouth and chew it!" Zhao Mai opened his mouth and stuffed the cactus strips inside.

Butcher was in a daze, moved his mouth twice, and the cactus fell out again. He was so dehydrated that he had lost most of his vision and all of his hearing, and his sense of touch had become blurry. Zhao Mai picked up his waist and helped him lie down under the cactus.

"Sorry, I can only squeeze you dry now." Zhao Mai put his hand on the cactus and said apologetically: "I know it's not easy for you to grow, and you have gone through countless hardships to become like this. But now I want to save my friend , and this is the only way.”

Ever since he guessed that this might be the world of the catastrophic setting sun, he had been very careful about using magic. Unlike other places, on this planet called Atas, the excessive use of magic drained the world of its vitality, turning a beautiful, fertile, lush, and green place into a world dominated by deserts, Gobis, and wastelands. The gods have long since given up on this place, maybe not leaving, but certainly giving up on being responsible for anything here. Only some elemental planes are still connected to Athas. Priests here still exist, but their power does not come from gods, but is taken from some element and serves the wrong master.

Because the key to opening the elemental passage is in the hands of the Witch Kings, who are powerful men with both the arcane magic and psychic powers of the mage. All "temples" are actually just serving the Witch King, helping them rule in exchange for their own spellcasting abilities, and eventually become a group of puppets.

Witch-Kings rule the city, they are eternally youthful, they are violent and vicious, they are the users of blasphemous (environmentally damaging) spells, and they are nearly invincible. The caster is feared, but if he does not surrender to the Witch King, the caster will also be killed, because the caster kills the world, and the blasphemer is hated by everyone.

Regardless of whether the casters know it or not, or they don't care at all, every time they cast a spell, they are indeed continuing to extract life force from the world of Atas, making the world move in an even more desolate direction. Opposing the blasphemers is a group of people called guardians. They are more restrained and use magic within a recoverable and reproducible range. It is said that at the right time, with the right spell, it is possible to slightly reverse the planet's steady slide towards death. The Guardians are pursuing opportunities and spells like this, but unfortunately they are outnumbered and have yet to achieve anything. Moreover, since no difference can be seen on the surface, the guardians and other blasphemers without the protection of the Witch King are hunted in the same way, and their numbers are getting smaller and smaller.

The only ability that will not worsen the consequences is psychic power, which uses one's own power rather than the power of the surrounding environment to affect other things, and will not - or will not always - destroy nature.

Zhao Mai is a druid, and he needs natural force to cast spells. But here, the cycle of natural force has long been destroyed, and the ability to regenerate has been lost in this barren place. Every time Zhao Mai casts a spell, he is extracting the life force around him, first the plants, then the animals, and finally himself. This is a kind of harm to nature, so every time he does this, his sensitivity to the natural force will be reduced, and he must strengthen his meditation to slowly make up for it. In other words, the more he consumes the natural force, the worse his ability to manipulate it becomes.

But compared to saving the lives of your friends, blasphemy is blasphemy. Although he loves nature, he does not indulge in it. Naturally, there will always be life and death, kinship and distance. Wolves will also take care of their own pack and kill sheep in order to survive. Atas is a poor sheep, a weak sheep, but he is not Zhao Mai's sheep yet.

He held his breath and concentrated, stretched his palms flat, spread his five fingers, focused his thoughts on the cactus, and communicated with its natural force. Afterwards, the druid eliminated distracting thoughts and guided the natural force to condense the water droplets.

The cactus immediately began to yellow, wilt, and become charred at the edges. This is a sign of being sucked out of your life force. But the water has condensed and is full of vitality. Zhao Mai controlled the water and put it to Butcher's mouth. The moisture brings strength, and instinctively makes the semi-conscious strong man suck hard to make up for the thirst in his body as soon as possible.

Butcher's condition improved, and Zhao Mai stopped praying for water creation. However, the corruption of the cactus continued, but the speed slowed down a bit after the spell stopped. Ecology is like this. As long as the balance is broken, the process of destruction will begin to roll forward, and it cannot be stopped at will. Before the cactus was completely charred, Zhao Mai quickly cut off some intact ones, peeled off the skin, and used them as food.

This thing is completely unpalatable unless it is thoroughly fried in oil, soaked in water, allowed to cool, and then mixed into a cold dish. I remember that my mother once saw a "share" in the circle of friends and fired the cacti that took up an eyesore at home. I don't know if Dad ate or not. Anyway, Zhao Mai took some and felt okay.

Butcher's breathing became steady, his eyes gradually opened, and his consciousness began to return. Only then did Zhao Mai have time to look at the mountain peaks in front of him. He was glad that there were plants here, even though they were just short grass and twisted trees, it was still green and alive. He saw cacti, growing out of cracks in rocks and other rocks, stubbornly fighting against the sea of ​​sand. They can't get too big, and time brings not only bad weather but also diners. Some cacti have signs of being eaten, which means there are animals, dangers, and meat here. The natural force induction in the mountains is stronger than that in the sea of ​​sand. After entering, you should be able to cast one or two spells.

There are two roads in front of you. One is a rugged path hidden on the mountain wall. Although it is mostly covered by wind and sand, it is enough for people to pass. I don’t know who dug the road from here, let alone where it leads. But where there are roads, there is civilization, and there are villages or gathering places.

The other way is to go inward along the canyon between the two mountains and enter the depths of the mountains. Zhao Mai could vaguely feel the existence of water. There might be springs or underground rivers inside. Of course, where there is water, there may be dangerous creatures, and they will not welcome more people to share the water. As a druid, Zhao Mai can try to communicate with them, but the result is not guaranteed.

Zhao Mai thought for a while and suddenly realized that making a choice was meaningless. Because a group of people appeared out of nowhere and were walking down the mountain towards Zhao Mai. They wore white robes and white hoods covering their mouths and noses. If you can't see their expressions, you can't guess their intentions, but it's very important to be on guard.

At this time, he could no longer care about the life and death of the cactus. Zhao Mai made a determined effort to drain its vitality and watered Butcher to wake him up. Let the reserve grain drink the remaining water, and then pour it down. His clothes were still very hot, so the water produced white steam when poured on them. At the same time, Butcher also understood the situation, stood up tremblingly, and squinted hard to try to see the situation on the other side clearly.

"Just close your eyes and rest for a while. This will help you recover faster." Zhao Mai put the long sword into his hand and stuffed some cactus strips into his mouth. "It's sour and bitter, but it's rich in nutrients and good for you. Just think of it as a radish and eat it as hard as you can!"

"Are the enemies coming? I heard footsteps. How many are there, and what weapons are they?"

"There are eleven people in total." Zhao Mai sighed: "They are holding stone spears, stone hammers and hardwood sticks. I will try to communicate with them first. If you don't speak the language here, just don't speak. That’s it.”