Chapter 376 There is also a strange gray fog on the earth - Socially Anxious Witch in the Apocalypse

Is it just being lost? Su Miao looked at the comment by "Heart Meow Meow" on the first floor and had a suspicion. The gates opened by the Bureau of Twelve do indeed lead to the Inner World. The problem arises when the gate that Lin Jiu Jiu is responsible for malfunctions, directing her to the Ice Wasteland, a world being eroded and destroyed. If that's the case, the solution is quite simple: find another gate confirmed to lead to the Inner World. This task could be assigned to Lin Jiu Jiu. Most core members of the Bureau of Twelve have entered the Inner World, but the organization's foundation remains on Earth. Even without the presence of the Bureau of Twelve members, the organization continues its operations normally. "Jiu Jiu, have Tao Yu Jie and the others gather intel about the Inner World." Su Miao put down her phone and said. Lin Jiu Jiu replied, "Yes, I've already instructed them to." Su Miao nodded and continued browsing threads. She wanted to check if Irena had posted anything recently, but Irena's profile showed she hadn't posted in a long time. Unsurprisingly, Irena had entered the Inner World and wouldn't return soon. Hopefully, when Irena comes back to Earth, she can bring more intel about the Inner World. As for now, Su Miao decided against entering the Inner World herself. Having unexpectedly entered the Ice Wasteland, Su Miao gained practical guidance from the local deities and a great sage, giving her insight into the application of laws. Given how dangerous the Inner World is, she figured she'd use this time while others adventured there to reflect and learn. Even a slight grasp of the laws could increase the destructive power of her magics to unimaginable levels. Moreover, magical attacks not integrated with laws struggle to damage those evil deities. This is crucial. Beyond this, Su Miao realized something very important. Her magic was becoming increasingly destructive, occasionally leaving the battlefield in utter chaos and void if she's not careful. In worlds like the Ice Wasteland and the Inner World, it's acceptable, but on Earth, such destruction would be disastrous. Earth already suffers from apocalyptic catastrophes, and more devastation would be ill-timed. Especially since Su Miao's magic tends to habitually incorporate laws, its destructive power becomes even more terrifying. She might unwittingly destroy Earth… This is not the outcome Su Miao desires. Thus, Su Miao believes she must devise a solution. Similar to Lin Jiu Jiu's method, deploying a field where all battles and destruction occur without affecting the real world. This field should be capable of immediate deployment and closure. It should be able to influence, weaken, and autonomously attack enemies. There should be safe zones to pull protectees directly inside. And so on… Su Miao wrote down each requirement in her magic notebook but ended up crossing them out because she still doesn't know how to create such a field. A magic book on the topic would be fantastic. Hmm? Su Miao glanced at her phone and saw an unfamiliar name among numerous messages. [Artyom]: Your Highness, I am your loyal servant Artyom. I've collected several magic books in the West and am eager to deliver them to you, but upon returning last time, I found you had already moved. Please let me know when you see this message, and I will come immediately to present the books at your feet. Su Miao blinked, remaining silent. Had she not seen this message, she might have completely forgotten about Artyom, much like the undead she commanded to capture mutant rabbits for experiments. Su Miao sent her new coordinates and awaited the kind of magic books Artyom might bring her. In the following period, Su Miao immersed herself in magical studies. Lin Jiu Jiu and Xia Xiao An returned to routine courses, martial arts, and ability training. Myna received a message from a friend, informed Su Miao, and went out to meet the friend. Su Miao recalled how Myna previously introduced the concepts of emperor-grade and king-grade among mutant animals; she's curious what insight Myna will bring back this time. A week passed in the blink of an eye. A flyer docked outside the magic barrier of a mutated persimmon tree. Dressed in a suit, Artyom disembarked from the flyer, holding a locked briefcase, and slowly ascended the mountain. Part of this gesture was to show respect to Her Highness Su Miao, while also avoiding an attack by the mutated persimmon tree. Ten minutes later, Artyom arrived at the mountain peak and saw Su Miao in the courtyard, engrossed in her magical research. Artyom set down the briefcase and knelt on one knee, "Your Highness, I've brought the magic books." He took out a key and opened the case, which contained five magic books: "Meteoric Firestorm," "Analysis of Forbidden Spells," "Divine Magic," "Abyssal Magic," and "Curse of the Evil God." Su Miao raised her hand, using Mage's Hand to bring the five books to her. "Abyssal Magic" and "Curse of the Evil God" were secured by a lock imbued with anti-magic chains. Initially, these two books attempted to struggle but became very calm once in front of Su Miao. "Very good," Su Miao nodded, giving Artyom a spatial storage device containing a substantial amount of mutated corn, potatoes, fruits, and so forth. "Continue gathering magic books. You can also enjoy the mutated fruits within." "Yes, Your Highness!" Artyom responded with great excitement, preparing to leave. "Drink this water before you go." Su Miao offered Artyom a glass of water. Artyom drank it promptly, rested for a moment, and left the magic barrier of the mutated persimmon tree. Su Miao opened "Meteoric Firestorm" briefly. It was essentially about channeling magical power to gather countless fireballs to rain down and obliterate everything within the range. The book detailed an initial magical array and several derived arrays. Before mastering the laws, using this magic could be somewhat challenging for Su Miao, but after learning the laws, it became incredibly simple. Su Miao estimated that she could effortlessly release a meteoric firestorm covering a thousand miles. But just this way, the damage against evil deities would likely be minimal. Su Miao set the book aside. She wore a puzzled expression, wondering why her thoughts veered towards combating evil deities suddenly. "Analysis of Forbidden Spells." This book delved into the theory of forbidden spells, documenting various types of forbidden magic and how to harness them, seemingly impressive. However, there was a caveat: employing any of these spells required the cooperation of numerous magicians, and the incantation period for these spells started at a minimum of three days. Observing this, Su Miao found it a bit disappointing; this book's reference value seemed less than "Meteoric Firestorm." "Divine Magic." This magical tome carried a particular appeal. Inside, six spells were recorded: God's Flame, God's Wind, God's Thunder, God's Vortex, Sword of Divine Judgment, and Light of World's End. On the title page was a note ostensibly penned by the book's first owner: [The above magic comes from the corpse of a god. You may indeed need to ascend to godhood to use them, best of luck in your research.] "From a god's corpse?" Su Miao glanced at God's Flame. The magical array in the book seemed intact, yet following it as-is would likely yield no success. That's because the magic array was incomplete, with the parts needing to be filled by the laws of flame and destruction. The book offered no guidance on what to fill that gap with… The initial acquirer either failed to understand the existence of laws or stumbled upon a rare find. In such scenarios, bridging the gaps would be tremendously challenging. A magical circuit built with errors could lead to an immense explosion, let alone dealing with the higher-tier laws. How terrifying could an explosion be resulting from the chaos of magical laws? One need only imagine the explosion of the divine spatial artifacts held by the evil deities in the Ice Wasteland. When Su Miao, Lin Jiu Jiu, Xia Xiao An, and Su Luo Li returned to Earth, mushroom clouds from the blast were still illuminating the Ice Wasteland sky. The rampant laws turned thousands of miles into a forbidden zone. "I'll study these and test them next time I enter the Inner World." Su Miao set the book down and turned her attention to the two chained magical tomes: "Abyssal Magic" and "Curse of the Evil God." With a wave of her hand, the lock imbued with anti-magic chains detached automatically. The books behaved well, refraining from causing any mischief after the lock was removed. Su Miao first opened "Abyssal Magic," and as soon as she did, a distinct aura, potentially tainted knowledge, seemed to emanate from its pages. In addition, the text was entirely penned in the ancient language of abyssal demons. This particular language had been briefly mentioned in "Pharmacology." Recalling this, Su Miao fetched "Pharmacology" and skimmed through, which referenced a few unique demonic potions, using materials heralding from the abyss. Perhaps to assist owners of "Pharmacology" in searching for ingredients, the book intentionally included the demonic pronunciations of certain materials in Abyssal Demon language. After all, when gathering magical potion ingredients in an unfamiliar otherworld, consulting the local demons could certainly be convenient, right? Hmm? Su Miao glanced through a few spells in "Abyssal Magic" and unexpectedly sensed special dark laws within. These dark laws attempted to erode anyone reading the magic book. An ordinary person might unwittingly fall victim, affecting their nature or even causing a fall towards becoming demonic. But Su Miao, being a witch already wielding dark laws, was unfazed. She hovered a small purple fireball above the magic book, and "Abyssal Magic" grew conspicuously silent, refraining from emitting any dark law energy again. Skimming through the book's spells, Su Miao couldn't help but frown. The abyssal magic either involved sacrificing others or oneself. Due to excessive sacrifices, spellcasters couldn't always afford the cost, leading to the introduction of devouring as well. The more you sacrifice, the more you devour, which should suffice for future sacrifices. Ridiculous... As for the sacrifice's target, naturally, it's the evil deity the spellcaster worships. Su Miao found that apart from a few spells worth studying, most had little reference value for her. "Curse of the Evil God." This magic book bore no author's signature. Su Miao strongly suspected that the author refrained from signing to avoid being cursed by future owners of the book. It recorded numerous potential manifestations of being cursed by an evil deity, such as: Feeling listless in everything; Feeling on the brink of death; Lacking any attachment to life; Harboring hatred for all and occasionally wanting to go mad; Wishing for the world's quick destruction and, if possible, giving an evil deity a good slap to make them destroy the world; An abrupt fondness for darkness, distortion, creeping shadows; Growing extra limbs, becoming inhuman; Becoming a substitute for the evil deity; Transforming into a demon; And so on. Su Miao found it hard to evaluate these phenomena of being cursed by an evil deity. However, the book contained valuable content, teaching how to construct altars, contact evil deities of unknown realms, negotiate, and offer sacrifices... A vital cautionary note indicated that certain evil deities might use the contact's lack of understanding of the deity's language to entrap them, unwittingly leading them to become worshipers, servants, slaves, or even offerings to the deity. Simply put, with each sacrifice, the evil deity would generously grant the worshiper their desires. Power, wisdom, abilities, and so on. The deity provides whatever is desired, particularly during the first sacrifice, which often determines whether the worshiper would make subsequent sacrifices. Typically, once lured in by the initial benefits, the worshiper continues sacrificing until their soul and flesh entirely belong to the evil deity. Su Miao closed the book, looking puzzled by its title. "Curse of the Evil God" appeared to be about curses but was actually enticing individuals to construct altars and make sacrifices to evil deities. After pondering for a while, Su Miao stored the four magic books in her magical space, deciding to study "Meteoric Firestorm" first. This allows her to better understand the laws of flame. In the blink of an eye, a week passed, and Su Miao made slow progress in her study of the laws of flame. Researching such a singular law proved so challenging that Su Miao found it difficult to imagine tackling the numerous laws yet to be learned and mastered. A month slipped by, and Su Miao set down her magic notebook. She gazed at it and came to a realization. Understanding laws through personal research alone had limited value. To better comprehend and internalize laws, practical combat experience was necessary. Entering the Inner World and consulting weaker evil gods, demon lords, or the like might be more fruitful. For instance, a sage like the owl, who upon encountering new gods, would be delighted and offer extra guidance... "Su Miao, something's happened!" At this moment, Xia Xiao An ran over and spoke up. Standing beside her, Lin Jiu Jiu's expression was tense. Su Miao asked, "What happened?" Xia Xiao An said, "Ashen fog, the ashen fog from the Ice Wasteland, has appeared on Earth." Su Miao asked, "Where?" Xia Xiao An replied, "Down by that cliff." Su Miao nodded and, with a single step, vanished, reappearing at the cliff Xia Xiao An had mentioned. This cliff had formed after the last major earthquake, leaving behind significant amounts of dust below. A slight breeze would shroud the cliff in a hazy fog. Normally, no one would venture here or associate these phenomena with the bizarre ashen fog. But indeed, below the cliff lay the same enigmatic ashen fog from the Ice Wasteland. Starfall burst forth! A simple Starfall descended, igniting the eerie fog below. Instantly, a fiery dragon roared through the abyss below the cliff, a spectacle both breathtaking and terrifying! (The End of the Chapter)