After entering the earth cave, everything seemed to turn bleak—not merely dark, but as though shrouded in a layer of black fog before your eyes. You could even stir them with your hands, yet they are endless.
There is no wind in the earth cave, but these pitch-black mist moves autonomously and continuously. The passage frozen like solid steel, the frozen drops at the top, and various corpses scattered everywhere along the way—if an ordinary person came here, their first choice would surely be to scream and run away immediately.
Meanwhile, Su Ming simply shouldered the Giant Sword as he headed downwards.
The passage is straight, and you can even see the marks left by iron shovels around, with small layers of cuts overlapping like dragon scales.
"They really did it—digging a tunnel through the frozen soil layer by manpower—this is water grinding Kung Fu." Su Ming touched the wall and nodded in appreciation, reminded of an old tunnel warfare movie.
Xiaowang lacks night vision, so he is now holding up a light ball as a means of lighting while he jumps and hops over monster corpses on the ground.
"These corpses all died from gun wounds, and just recently; the deeper underground we go, the warmer it gets—their blood hasn't solidified yet; are these large rats?"
He noticed that the Supreme Mage seemed to not look at those corpses, so he voluntarily explained.
Su Ming was satisfied with Wang's performance—not panicking at the sight of so many corpses, showing strong resistance to disgust—this is the future.
He patted Wang's shoulder as they walked to a slightly broader area, the silver starlight on the Giant Sword in his hand shimmering more brilliantly: "Appearing in Siberia, perhaps a beaver? Irrelevant, we've now reached the end of the tunnel—see, passing through the frozen soil layer, the man-made passage has connected to a naturally formed underground cavern—this is where the game begins."
Indeed, as they ventured deeper underground, the traces of human handiwork diminished. When contacting the rock layers, the tunnel connected with the system of natural underground caverns.
"Underworld... we might encounter underground races there; they're generally unwelcoming." Wang sighed—the underground races are essentially the descendants of the earliest demons on Earth.
Back then, when the Snake God Set chose to devour his kin and embark on the Path of Transcendence, he had quite a few followers. Although he fled later, these Primordial Demons were not completely eradicated.
They hid deep underground, lived and bred there. Later, some 'alien races' produced by Celestial Gods Group experiments also hid underground, intermarrying and merging—this is the origin of the current underground race. Developed over tens of thousands of years, they almost spread through the global deep underground spaces.
This explains why Earth's underground hosts traditional Demons, Minotaurs, and Scorpion Lions—these mythical creatures.
Su Ming nodded, looking at the three bifurcating paths ahead: "You're right, but some underground races are slightly mild, such as 'Monster Metropolis' underground in New York. Plus, Siberia has an Eternal Race superhero. He hasn't been active for years, so we can temporarily assume the underground environment here is relatively safe."
Monster Metropolis is the domain of Xia Kelala's family, a Succubus who will be Wade's future wife. As a Demon, she's only three hundred years older than Deadpool, considered young.
At this time, her father is still the ruler in Monster Metropolis. That majestic Underground City has yet to merge completely with New York's sewage system.
They still hide deeper, not surfacing, only occasionally consuming corpses thrown into the sewage. Most times, they manage self-sufficiently, breeding tentacles or slimes as food.
Wang blew a breath with puffed cheeks, having a slightly bad feeling about matters involving time or other-dimensional energy; they're never trivial.
Nonetheless, he composed himself, tightening the mask on his face: "Alright, Master, we have three paths ahead—which one should we choose?"
"It doesn't matter—all three paths have dark energy flowing; whichever we choose, they lead us to the same end. Look at the footprints—they show three forces chose different paths, which is quite interesting."
Su Ming stood at each cave entrance for a moment, licked his fingers, and extended them to feel the wind—the conclusion was all the same.
The entire underground system is thick with the smell of blood and dark energy, making strangulation and Cloak's assistance limited—at such times, experience plays a crucial role.
Wang nodded, his large, innocent eyes sparkling under the magic light ball: "I understand they all lead underground, but which path should we choose? I should listen to you, Master."
Su Ming looked down on the ground, choosing the path with streaks of blood on the surface, chuckling in approval: "Smart—I wish all idol trainees were as sensible as you. Don't touch what isn't meant to be touched—what's the point in being an ambassador?"
The young Xiaowang wore a puzzled expression like a Black Man: "???"
Deathstroke put away the Nightfall Giant Sword—the path with blood traces is the narrowest among the three—he switched to the Godslayer; a short curved saber is more suitable in tight spaces.
He grabbed Xiaowang, flying down the passage for quite a distance before placing him down, walking slowly: "The path we're on—this blood smell is human blood, but the traces end here. Let's see if we can find a survivor."
"These bloodthirsty mutant creatures pursued them before us—now the cave is so quiet—finding a living person might be difficult." Wang caught up with the Supreme Mage's pace, listening closely. In the pitch-black twisting tunnel ahead, there were no sounds of firing or resistance.
Su Ming glanced at him: "You don't use guns, do you?"
"Uh, hot weapons aren't prevalent among mages. As a Guardian Race descendant, as long as I can block bullets, it's enough." Xiaowang practiced with the handgun Deathstroke gave him, fiddling with it without even disengaging the safety.
Their footsteps echoed in the darkness as Su Ming felt the increasing temperature—beneath them, the rock began turning somewhat slippery.
"There's something called a silencer, and in this kind of narrow place, facing really fast-moving enemies, use melee weapons when you can, then consider magic, and guns only as a last resort." He patiently taught Xiaowang, fostering some tunnel warfare ideas: "Of course, it's a different story if you have a shotgun in hand."
"I got it. Master, can you teach me how to use a gun in the future?" Wang nodded obediently, engraving the teachings of the Supreme Mage in his heart.
Su Ming looked around. The newly chosen path resembled an ant hole, with more branching pathways and kitty-ear-like tunnels continuously appearing in the already narrow passage, uneven with irregular sound refraction:
"Of course, practicing marksmanship is always beneficial. Imagine how strong a mage is who knows how to use a gun, with the Nightfall Giant Sword for close combat and a heavy machine gun for long range..."
"Huh? What about magic?" Wang tilted his head, feeling something was off.
"Just cast a lighting technique." Su Ming replied, walking briskly forward. Strangulation smelled the scent of living people, a scent with a hint of powder and fragrance: "This way, there are people alive down this path. See if I can find you a wife."
"A wife and such... I already have a fiancée." Xiaowang blushed, scratching his head in embarrassment.
"Hmm? An arranged marriage?" Upon hearing this, Su Ming couldn't help but look at the still naive Xiaowang, who was just a child: "Marriage is the grave of love. You're still young, don't rush it."
Wang shook his head, not showing much yearning for love. Perhaps he didn't even know what it meant.
Speaking of which, mages at Kama Taiji, despite having long lives, are generally unmarried. Even the Ancient One's eldest disciple, the Druid Master, though his beard and hair are completely white, doesn't have a wife.
"It was arranged by the elders in the family. The other family lives in a village at the foot of Kama Taji Mountain." Seeing that the Supreme Mage was unaware, Wang quickly explained a bit.
Su Ming nodded with an odd expression. Well, that's about the extent of Hamill's social circle. When in New York, he's cooped up in the office all day and never goes out unless Su Ming calls him.
And in Kama Taiji, he doesn't leave the library except for occasionally going home to water the plants. How could he possibly know people outside?
"Is the girl's family also magicians? I might know her elders." Su Ming held the Godslayer in hand to light the way, gossiping while patting Xiaowang on the shoulder.
"No, her family are farmers, relying on farming for a living. Her name is Zhang Aimei." Wang spoke up, clearly unaware of the lifespan difference between ordinary people and mages.
Su Ming pursed his lips, refraining from pointing this out. Xiaowang would eventually come to terms with the world's harsh realities. So he patted Wang's head: "From the Celestial Dynasty? Sounds like honest folks, which is good."
"Yes, you must know about our family's history. Our Celestial Dynasty bloodline is very important to us." Wang nodded, not elaborating further.
Su Ming indeed knew that Wang's ancestor was actually a monk with the secular surname 'Kan' (Kan). However, during an investigation at a temple, he was sent directly to the other end of the cosmos by a magic array at the temple, to a world called Siridar. There he met King Jehan and his sister, Princess Shialmar.
At the time, he was delicate and fair, practically like Tang Sanzang, and the princess immediately took a liking to him.
Although he was originally a monk, neither Buddha came to his aid after being thrown to an extraterrestrial planet, making him realize the illusion of divine beings. There were no immortals above, only aliens beyond the sky.
Plus, with the Alien Princess being so extraordinarily beautiful, he happily became the brother-in-law of the Alien King.
Unfortunately, those good days lasted only a few years before a rebellion broke out in the country. The court mage allied with the other-dimensional Demon King N'Garai and captured everyone, intending to perform a blood sacrifice.
To save everyone, Princess Shialmar made a deal with other demon lords. Although the rebellion was suppressed, she lost all her emotions in the process.
Thus, Kan and the children he had with the Alien Princess were ruthlessly returned to Earth.
Realizing the danger of the other-dimensional demon kings, Kan strove to spare his descendants similar agony. He sought out grandmasters, creating the Guardian Race, and happened to meet the most powerful mage of the time, The Ancient One, who took him in and taught him.
The two shared the same belief in protecting Earth, leading him to join Kama Taiji, swearing an oath to Emperor Xiang Weishan for his family to serve as servants and disciples to the Supreme Mage for generations.
Despite their Celestial Dynasty heritage, the family maintained quirky, alien-style names to honor the Alien Princess.
For example, Wang himself is named Wong, and Hamill is only named Hamir but doesn't carry a surname. They're all mixed blood of Celestial Dynasty People and Aliens, which makes them tougher than average. The only perk from that alien bloodline.
"Speaking of which, if you have a child in the future, what do you plan to name them?" Su Ming asked Xiaowang, curious about the family's tradition of varied surnames.
Having children was a premature topic for Wang, who nervously fiddled with the hem of his clothes. But since the Supreme Mage had asked, he needed to give an answer. Having never contemplated this before, he thought of one on the spot.
"How about Alexander?"
He voiced the name that popped into his head and gave Deathstroke a somewhat anxious look, as if bracing for disagreement.
Deathstroke seemed to stifle laughter, twitching twice: "Pressure Mountain Big? Alright then, as long as you like it..."