"I was wondering what took him so long to show up—turns out he was off preparing this whopper of a surprise!" Jasper Xiao straightened up, feeling strength return to his body. He waved away the hands supporting him, eyes wide with admiration as he looked across the way. "Well, well, someone's getting more impressive by the minute!"
From Sauron's revival and the eruption of Mount Doom until now, it's been days and days of chapters titled "Battle of Light and Darkness"—so what have our protagonists been up to? Actually, way back, the twins on the other side of the continent already sensed the storm brewing.
Let’s rewind to the day Mount Doom blew its top. Far away, at the biggest crater in the northern volcano range, someone was sitting cross-legged, perfectly calm, quietly meditating. Thick volcanic ash mixed with eye-watering sulfur shot into the sky, and the bubbling lava radiated so much heat it felt like hell on earth. But the man perched on the rim looked like he was chilling in paradise—his aura seemed to touch the heavens, cool and otherworldly.
His face was calm, hands naturally forming a seal, and above his head spun a flawless, glowing divine wheel. At the same time, a mysterious light slowly bloomed at his brow—a two-petaled flower, the mark of the brow wheel. The petals swirled, like life and death trading places, radiating a vibe you couldn’t put into words. At its center, it looked like a heavenly eye, ready to see everything above and below in a flash.
Aside from the divine wheels on his head and brow, everything else was tucked away, hidden deep inside. No flashy blood energy or world-shaking power on display, but the guy had a presence that made you think twice before messing with him.
While he was quietly meditating, the man suddenly frowned and opened his eyes.
He gazed seriously toward the southeastern sky. From this remote northern spot, you couldn’t see any changes or hear a thing. The eruption at Mount Doom, the towering black clouds—distance blocked it all. But the man clearly sensed something. He raised his hand, and with a flick, a little sun that’d been cruising deep inside the volcano shot up, hovered over his palm, and spun, casting a dark red glow.
That red glow was fiercer than usual.
He stared at the little sun for a moment, confirmed what was happening, then raised his left hand and tapped his brow with his sword fingers.
At his brow, the two-petaled flower bloomed, resonating with his left hand’s gesture. After years of studying Middle-earth magic, he couldn’t pull off the omnipresence thing like Galadriel, but he could now do things he’d never managed before.
"Yellow River, Yellow River, this is Yangtze! The volcano's magic energy is acting weird—something's definitely up." The man stared at the flames swirling in his right hand, using his avatar for long-distance chat: "Volcanic magic power always goes up and down, but today it's off the charts. According to my notes, Mount Doom is the root of Middle-earth's volcanoes. No official news yet, but I'm betting something's happened at Mount Doom. Sauron might be back."
"Yangtze, Yangtze, this is Yellow River! I noticed it too. My Sword Embryo is at a critical stage—I'm using it to spar with those dark demon soldiers to toughen up the sword spirit, but suddenly they're acting like they've had a triple espresso. Now forging the sword is a total headache!" On the far side of the continent, a consciousness pinged back: "Honestly, I think Sauron's not just revived—he's supercharged. Otherwise, the demon soldiers wouldn't be this hyped."
"How's the Sword Embryo holding up?" The man knew how crucial this stage was. They'd spent ages babysitting it day and night—messing up now would be a disaster. "Did the sword spirit take any damage?"
"The demon soldiers may be going berserk, but we're hanging in there. Our Sword Embryo's got guts! Not quite ready for a head-on smackdown, but a mix of offense and defense means we're holding our own."
Even before the sword spirit's fully formed, it can spar with demon soldiers. This weapon's future is looking seriously epic.
The chat continued: "If you want the kid to grow fast, you gotta feed 'em well. The Sword Embryo's gobbling up way more energy than we thought. The Ringwraith wood's long burned out, and all the volcanic magic you scrounged up is barely enough. Hell energy's way too scarce—not cutting it. The Sword Embryo's at its final step before hatching, and to make it through, we need a massive fire. If the miasma weren't so sketchy, I'd use it to raise the sword—it's crazy high-level and powerful."
"Actually, now that Sauron's back, Mount Doom should be erupting again—prime spot for what we need. But I've got a bad feeling." The man looked serious: "Staring east, I can't shake this sense of dread. With my Insight Technique, if I'm feeling this uneasy, it's not nothing. I'm worried Sauron's too strong to contain—Jasper Xiao can't handle it alone. We need to help out."
"Agreed! That's why we're here—to help out. No way we're sitting this one out." The woman on the other end chimed in, "But I think charging into the front lines isn't the best use of us. That battlefield's way too huge, and even if we go all out, we can't flip the whole thing solo. We need to do what nobody else can—that's where we're really valuable."
"Right, in that case, I'll head out first." The man rose lightly, flipping his hand to stash the flame tide in his Pocket Vault: "This hell energy should last a few days. You stabilize the Sword Embryo and come when you can. I'll go do what only I can do."
He didn't spell it out, but the woman on the other end totally got it: "You want to catch that giant bug, huh? Those righteous goofballs like Gandalf really aren't cut out for that kind of enemy. We've tried tons of times and never caught it—think you can pull it off this time?"
Over the past year, they weren't just ignoring the world—they really did pitch in. But the Ringwraiths, being Middle-earth locals, know this land inside out. They've tried to deal with the Earth Devourer plenty of times, but it's always slipped away.
Just because it didn't work before doesn't mean it won't work now. Sauron wouldn't waste such a great sneak attack—he's probably sent the Earth Devourer to the front lines. Sure, it's still a huge stretch of land, but at least it's better than before. Plus," the man’s robe fluttered as if he were riding the wind, "I'm not the same guy I was a year ago."
A year might be no big deal for most masters—Joan, Xuzhu, Galadriel, the older you get, the less a single year matters. But for the twins, a year means a giant leap. They haven't been training long, and it's been nonstop battles and chaos, hardly any time to just chill and focus.
They'd built up plenty already—the only thing they were missing was time. Now, after a year of closed-door training, it’s a whole new world.
After days of traveling and searching at full speed, deep underground, Jack Young finally found what he was looking for.
"I see it—right up ahead!"
His gaze was sharp—even in pitch darkness, Jack Young could sense the Earth Devourer up ahead. This time, he wasn’t just using his ears or touch to figure it out; the two-petaled flower at his brow bloomed, psychic powers flared, and he could straight-up "see" everything.
He saw the Earth Devourer's form, watched it gnawing on rocks and boulders. The wildest part? He was right behind it, in a narrow tunnel—should’ve only seen its tail. But with all his senses working overtime, Jack could see through skin, bone, everything—one look and he had the whole picture.
"Yangtze, Yangtze, I'm almost at White City, and from way off I spotted a super chonky monster!" Jill Young's voice rang out in his mind, clearer than any phone call. Not just sound—she was close enough for video chat: "Check this out—this thing's way bigger than our champ, probably as huge as the ultimate creation! White City looks like it's in real trouble. I gotta pick up the pace!"
"The Earth Devourer’s heading for White City, too. If I’m right, it should be getting close." Jack Young walked along, floating behind the beast. He just strolled along, and the Earth Devourer never even noticed him. "Relax—if we play this right, their sneak attack could become our secret weapon."
"I whipped up some gadgets for you out of leftover forging scraps. Should come in handy."
Jack flipped his hand and pulled a metal rod from his Pocket Vault. It was about as thick as a bowl, nearly twenty meters long—looked like a giant sewing needle. He hefted it; for its size, it was light, sturdy, and flexible. Simple as it was, it showed off some real Master Smith skills.
Jack grabbed the metal rod and sped up. "Oh, it'll come in handy. This thing's got a hide like tank armor—only nifty gadgets like this can handle it."
"Hey, I'm telling you, this bug's body is totally Ascendant Rank—perfectly formed. You sure you can handle it?"
"Relax. If it were a natural Earth Devourer, maybe I'd worry, but this one's just a Ringwraith with a borrowed bug body. Ringwraiths are people, not born bugs. Trying to run this massive body with a not-even-Ascendant soul and all that blood energy? Sloppy work. If I can't handle this, I might as well go home and farm!" Jack dashed forward, eyes sharp and cold. "Still, its body is tough—lend me a hand and help me break through!"
"You got it!"
Whoosh—a strange light flared, and power matrix veins spread all over Jack. At the same time, his Twin Sigil buzzed, like something huge was about to channel through it. Next second, a dragon-shaped shadow shot out from the sigil and wrapped around his left arm!
Turns out, the twins can actually transfer power between each other!
Now that's what you call a helping hand.
"Is that enough?"
Jack leapt up, giant needle in hand, and stabbed right at the Earth Devourer's blood energy nexus. "More than enough!"