Sorcerer: I want to be an Academic Prodigy

Chapter 443: Chapter 442: The Mysterious Island Appears

Deep within the Great Sky River, only the pristine void surrounded them.

To assume that nothing exists would be dangerous. It’s not that other things don’t exist, they’re just hidden deeper, more obscurely, and are harder to detect.

Ivan and the swamp ant moved slowly forward, daring not to be the slightest bit careless.

As they advanced, the swamp ant didn’t forget to release its Ze King Domain Aura. A faint black light spread in all directions above and below, forming a regular sphere around them.

At that moment, Ivan also released his Domain Aura—the Sacrificial Light and Sacrificial Birth Light, a barely visible, pale red spread out, instantly surpassing the range covered by the faint black light.

Compared with the Ze King Aura, the pale red light was more delicate and concealed. The level of power between the two auras was clearly not on the same tier.

...

Seeing this, the swamp ant silently retracted its Ze King Aura. It was best not to embarrass itself.

Time passed, and what made the pair increasingly uneasy was the complete absence of any disturbances along the way. Let alone void creatures, not even a void wind had stirred.

“Sorcerer Ivan, something doesn’t feel right,” the swamp ant warned uneasily.

“I know,” Ivan said, his gaze alert as he scanned the surroundings, trying to find more clues. “Usually, this kind of situation means either we’ve entered a sealed space, or we’ve wandered into the territory of a powerful void creature.”

“Should we change direction then?”

“No need. I think we’ll figure out the reason soon enough.”

His words weren’t without basis; through his Golden Bloodline, he sensed something ahead. If they moved a bit further, they would see it.

Now that they were almost there, it was natural he wouldn’t choose to retreat.

Having heard his reasoning, the swamp ant naturally had no objections and continued to fly forward.

Shortly after, a black dot appeared at the edge of their vision. The swamp ant appropriately slowed down, approaching the dot gradually.

An island.

Ahead was a floating island within the void, made of dark aqua stones, with patches of yellowing moss sporadically visible upon the rocks.

As they got closer, they discovered the island wasn’t large—its area was around a thousand square meters.

An island appearing out of nowhere in the void was certainly mysterious, no doubt it contained some problems. The swamp ant stopped at a distance from the island.

“Come out! I believe we can have a rather friendly conversation about things we both want to know or obtain.”

After pausing for a few seconds, Ivan suddenly spoke.

Was there someone else here?

Hearing his words, the swamp ant looked around above and below the island, finally setting its gaze on the island itself, though it didn’t sense any signs of life from it. But, it also trusted that Sorcerer Ivan wouldn’t make a rash judgment.

In fact, its assumption was correct.

Ivan, through his Golden Bloodline, could sense that the island in front of them was a virtual creature, even though its presence was so concealed that one could easily overlook it.

He even speculated that the reason for the absence of wind and disturbance was likely due to a Space Stabilizing Pearl.

The other party might possess a Space Stabilizing Pearl.

Therefore, he initiated a conversation, to see if a deal could be struck. If he could trade for the Space Stabilizing Pearl, it would save him a lot of time to explore the mysteries of space energy.

Time ticked away, and his words received no response.

“Don’t want to talk?”

“Asleep?”

“——”

Ivan thought of something and switched to another language—Chaos language, a tongue inherited from the Justice Star Ancestor, said to be the lingua franca of the Star Realm.

Still, after a long while, his words went unanswered.

“Well then, we won’t intrude any further.”

The opponent’s aura had retracted to a mere fraction, and Ivan couldn’t gauge their true strength. Thus, he wasn’t prepared to rush forward and possibly fall into a trap that had already been set up.

Upon his signal, the swamp ant turned around and swiftly flew to the other side.

Ivan didn’t turn around, but he was constantly attentive to any noises behind him, always on guard for any possible surprise attacks. In such an unknown place, he had to remain cautious.

‘Boom ka boom ka’

Before the swamp ant went too far, an unusual noise came from behind, like a long-dormant machine starting up, shaking the surrounding area with billowing dust.

The swamp ant quickly circled back and saw heads, tails, and feet protruding around the island; it was indeed a void creature.

One head and one tail with ten massive feet, each with sharp claws, it looked somewhat normal.

It was clear to it that this was an exceptionally aged island turtle, probably nearing the end of its life. Yet, the old turtle’s face still bore a fierce expression, greed evident within its eyes.

“Roar!”

Accompanied by a resolute roar, like a starving person who suddenly spotted delicious food, the old turtle immediately entered a hunting state and launched an initial attack on its prey.

Its short tail morphed into a long one, which split into numerous chain-like spears made of fine steel.

The chain spears shot out rapidly, aiming at both Ivan and the ant from multiple directions.

“Looking for death!”

Ivan would never go easy on any creature that launched an attack against him.

With an outstretched hand, a scythe as tall as him appeared beside him, soaring out with a strange sharp edge, targeting the tip of the tail that was like a chain spear, which was connected to the body.

Not only that, he was also multitasking, slapping out with his other hand as the Black Magic Hand reappeared.

The Black Magic Hand aimed for the opponent’s head.

“Whoosh, whoosh.”

The aged island turtle sensed the danger. Ignoring the attack on them, the chain spears immediately changed direction, attempting to intercept the scythe that had flown out first.

Just as the chain spears were about to succeed, the scythe suddenly accelerated, more than doubling its speed.

The chain spears obviously were not to be trifled with either and picked up speed as well, intertwining and making the area appear filled with phantoms.

“Clang!”

“Bang!”

There were successive collisions, with the turtle’s tail against the scythe, knocking the scythe away.

The Black Magic Hand clashed with one of the old turtle’s feet, an immense paw against an immense paw, the black and red flames splattered wildly around. Many flames followed the impact and landed on the old turtle but failed to inflict any meaningful harm.

There was no doubt that both of Ivan’s attacks ended in failure.

This was an incredibly troublesome void creature. Aside from the Magma Lord he encountered underground, this was the first time he had faced such a formidable opponent.

However, Ivan wouldn’t be daunted just like that.

“Again!”

“Wait, hold on, we can talk,” the turtle seemed to have regained its senses and, seeing him about to attack again, hurriedly shouted to stop him. Its voice was especially hoarse, speaking the same Chaotic language.

“Human Hero, I have long been dormant here, and just woke up without reacting properly, acting instinctively in an impolite manner. I hope you can overlook this and perhaps we really can talk.”

As it spoke, the old turtle’s face no longer bore an aggressive look, and its eyes were free of greed.

“Heh, I guess you dare not deplete your own energy any further,” Ivan scoffed coldly. His last move, the Black Magic Hand, although it did no damage, had allowed him to probe something.

Mixed within the Black Magic Hand was some Sacrificial Light power, and when it touched the old turtle’s body, it made him realize that the island turtle was all bark and no bite.

The island turtle’s body was incredibly weak, its life force so thin it was like decayed wood that would crumble upon touch.

On another note, during the brief engagement just now, the old turtle hardly moved its body, which clearly indicated the severity of its condition.