TRWSB – Chapter 219 Five Elements Magic Patterns

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City Lord’s Manor

“City Lord, here is the information on Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong,” the City Lord’s trusted aide reported.

Xuan Liang skimmed through the documents briefly, a flicker of surprise flashing in his eyes. “A seven-element mage, not even twenty years old, suspected of having contracted a Saint-level magical beast—this Zhuang Hao is truly remarkable! Who would’ve thought a talent like this would come from such a remote and insignificant nation as the Yuan Kingdom.”

“Qi Shaorong isn’t ordinary either!” the aide added.

Xuan Liang smiled faintly and said, “Anyone who can command someone like Zhuang Hao at will surely isn’t simple.”

“The records mention that Zhuang Hao once contracted a Saint-level beast. Is that true?” Xuan Liang asked with a frown.

“It’s not entirely confirmed. That beast is currently hiding deep in the mountains mining ores. Zhuang Hao didn’t bring it with him.”

Xuan Liang asked in confusion, “Why didn’t he bring it?”

“Apparently, Zhuang Hao leased it out for three hundred million a year.”

Xuan Liang was utterly incredulous. “What the hell is this guy thinking?! Leasing out a Saint-level beast for such a low price—either he seriously undervalues it, or it’s simply not a Saint-level beast at all. Most likely the latter.”

“City Lord, when it comes to exploring the tomb, the more powerful Zhuang Hao is, the better!” the aide reminded.

Xuan Liang nodded. “Indeed.”

Main Hall of the City Lord’s Manor

Qi Shaorong and the invited ninth-level experts gathered together with Xuan Liang.

“Young Master Zhuang, Young Master Qi, you’re finally here,” Ge Hong greeted them warmly.

Qi Shaorong smiled at Ge Hong’s friendliness. “Sorry to keep you waiting. You were just waiting on us?”

“No, a few others haven’t arrived yet, and the City Lord himself isn’t here either,” Ge Hong replied.

Qi Shaorong sighed in relief. “Looks like we’re early then. That’s good.”

Ge Hong: “…”

Standing beside Ge Hong were Ge Ya and Ge Lin. Ge Lin seemed visibly uncomfortable upon seeing Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong.

Xuan Liang soon entered the hall and began explaining the general layout of the Fire Demon King’s tomb. He also discussed the distribution of the spoils.

Xuan Liang proposed dividing the total gains into seventeen shares: he would take six shares, Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong would get three, and the remaining eight people would each get one share.

Some of the ninth-level experts voiced their dissatisfaction, believing Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong were receiving too much.

Zhuang Hao, a bit taken aback by Xuan Liang’s generosity, modestly offered to take just two shares. Although he personally felt that three shares weren’t excessive, considering Qi Shaorong’s strength was publicly perceived to be only at the eighth level, many considered Qi Shaorong a burden that Zhuang Hao had brought along. Zhuang Hao didn’t want to become a target for criticism.

However, Xuan Liang insisted. While the ninth-level mages were displeased, they didn’t want to offend Xuan Liang and thus eventually agreed.

With the arrangements settled, the group set off.

They rode a giant bird to the airspace above the Fire Demon King’s tomb.

“Is this the real tomb?” Qi Shaorong asked.

Xuan Liang nodded. “Yes. The Fire Demon King built a smaller decoy tomb nearby to mislead people. This one is the real tomb.”

“The guards at the outer layer have already been dealt with. Let’s head in,” Xuan Liang said with excitement.

Xuan Liang led the group inside.

Qi Shaorong and the others walked for a long time down a narrow corridor.

“It’s a long corridor,” Qi Shaorong remarked.

Zhuang Hao nodded. “It is.”

“How much further do we have to go?” Qi Shaorong asked.

“No idea.”

Suddenly, a wave of intense heat surged toward them.

“What is that?!” Qi Shaorong cried out, suddenly feeling as though he were standing in molten lava.

Zhuang Hao stepped in front of him, shielding him from the brunt of the heat, making it more bearable.

“What was that?” Qi Shaorong asked.

“Flame Vortex,” Zhuang Hao replied.

Qi Shaorong noticed glowing magical patterns on the corridor walls. “What are those?”

“They’re magical array inscriptions, powered by beast cores or fire crystals. When activated, they trigger the Flame Vortex—that’s what just happened,” Zhuang Hao explained.

Invisible flames surged toward the group. Qi Shaorong saw a nearby ninth-level expert scorched red.

Zhuang Hao grabbed Qi Shaorong’s hand and absorbed all the invisible flames into his own body.

Qi Shaorong looked at him, worried. “What should we do now?”

“The magic array requires energy to function. One way is to wait until the energy stones run dry,” Zhuang Hao said.

Qi Shaorong: “…”
By then, they’d probably be roasted alive. Even with Zhuang Hao taking most of the heat, he still felt terrible.

“Another way is to destroy the array’s core,” Zhuang Hao said, scanning the stone walls.

Xuan Liang aimed his magic staff at one of the magic patterns. Instantly, the temperature in the corridor soared again.

Qi Shaorong hastily added more protective layers.

“What happened?!” he asked.

“If you damage the wrong part of the core, the array can go berserk,” Zhuang Hao replied.

Qi Shaorong flushed red, anxiety growing. It was already too hot—now it felt like hell.

“I can’t take this anymore!” a ninth-level mage shouted, smashing the wall in frustration.

Hundreds of holes appeared in the corridor walls, and deadly arrows shot out from both sides. Qi Shaorong felt like coughing blood—tomb raiding clearly wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Zhuang Hao swiftly deflected the incoming arrows. After spending over a month in the Magic Tower, his understanding of magic had skyrocketed. He had stepped into the semi-Saint realm, far beyond ordinary ninth-level mages.

While the other ninth-level mages panicked, Zhuang Hao not only protected himself but also had spare energy to shield Qi Shaorong.

“There! Attack that spot!” Qi Shaorong shouted.

Zhuang Hao raised his magic staff and attacked the spot Qi Shaorong pointed to. With a loud explosion, the Flame Wheel Vortex stopped, and the arrows from both sides vanished.

As the heat wave receded, Qi Shaorong let out a long sigh of relief.

With the danger gone, a nearby ninth-level mage collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

Xuan Liang glanced at Qi Shaorong in surprise and said, “Young Master Qi, do you have knowledge of magic formations?”

Qi Shaorong forced a smile and replied, “I don’t, it was just a hunch.”

Xuan Liang chuckled and said, “Well, your intuition is remarkable!”

Qi Shaorong smiled faintly. For just a moment, he had thought the magic formation resembled the meridian system of a human body, and the spot he had asked Zhuang Hao to attack corresponded to the heart.

Xuan Liang turned to Zhuang Hao and said, “Young Master Zhuang, you’ve protected Young Master Qi quite well.”

After enduring the trial of the Flame Wheel Vortex, all the other ninth-level mages looked battered—except for Zhuang Hao. Despite being the weakest among them, Qi Shaorong looked rather energetic, thanks to Zhuang Hao absorbing most of the attacks on his behalf.

“It’s only right,” Zhuang Hao replied calmly.

Qi Shaorong glanced at Zhuang Hao and asked, “Are you okay?”

Zhuang Hao smiled and said, “You don’t need to worry. I’m perfectly fine.”

The invisible flames produced by the Flame Wheel Vortex might be deadly to others, but for Zhuang Hao, they were immensely beneficial. Now on the path to becoming a Saint-level mage, he needed a vast amount of energy—and this was just what he needed.

Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao suspiciously, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

Several ninth-level mages gave Zhuang Hao strange looks. The two who had previously objected to Zhuang Hao and Qi Shaorong receiving three shares each now looked especially conflicted.

“You’re really impressive, Young Master Zhuang! I nearly lost half my life, but you looked like you were having an easy time,” Go Hong said with a chuckle.

Zhuang Hao gave a light smile and replied, “Maybe it’s because I’m partially a fire-type mage as well.”

Go Hong gave a bitter smile. He himself was a dual-element metal and fire mage, yet he hadn’t found the experience easy at all.

After a short rest, the group continued forward.

Qi Shaorong frowned and muttered, “What else is lurking in this cursed place?”

As they passed through the corridor, a blood-red pool appeared before them.

Qi Shaorong instinctively stepped back, distancing himself from the pool.

“The water in that pool is likely highly toxic. We’ll need to fly over it,” Zhuang Hao said.

Qi Shaorong looked at the bubbling pool and replied, “I don’t think flying over will be that simple.”

Zhuang Hao shrugged and said, “Let’s give it a try.” He tossed a snow pear fruit into the air. The moment it passed over the pool, beams of multicolored lasers lit up from the dome above, converging on the fruit. It was instantly shredded into pieces.

Qi Shaorong swallowed nervously and muttered, “Oh.”

Zhuang Hao frowned and said, “It looks like once anything enters the airspace above the pool, the magic formation above activates.”

Qi Shaorong wrapped his clothes tightly around himself and took another step back. Damn it, was it too late to back out now?

Zhuang Hao looked at Xuan Liang and asked curiously, “Lord Castellan, do you happen to know how to solve this?”

Xuan Liang nodded. “The magic pattern above appears to be a Five Elements formation. To deactivate it, five different types of magic must be used simultaneously to strike the cores of the corresponding five-elemental runes—and the five spells must remain perfectly balanced.”

“Can five people each use a different magic type to attack the cores?” Qi Shaorong asked.

Xuan Liang nodded. “That’s possible too, but it would be difficult to ensure all five have equal strength. It would require time for them to coordinate. Given our current situation, I’m afraid we don’t have that luxury.”

Qi Shaorong nodded. “Then Ah Hao will handle it.”