"Hey, Butcher, see, there's grass here, thorn grass. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info" Zhao Mai dragged the rope on his waist and dragged the strong man forward. The shadow of the Megilot Mountains casts a shadow on all parts of the country where the temperature is cooler than in others, and the plants are able to grow.

A large cactus perched on the side of the road, green, fat, and vibrant. Zhao Mai stopped in front of it, admiring the power of nature, and then cut off a piece with a dagger, peeling off the thorns on the surface, and cutting off part of the crust along the way.

"Damn it, Butcher, put this thing in your mouth and chew it!" Zhao Mai broke his mouth open and shoved the cactus strip inside.

Butcher was in a trance, his mouth moved twice, and the cactus fell out again. He was so dehydrated that he had lost most of his sight and all of his hearing, and his sense of touch was beginning to blur. Zhao Mai hugged his waist and helped him lie down under the cactus.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to drain you right now. Zhao Mai put his hand on the cactus and said apologetically: "I know that you have not grown up easily, and you have gone through countless hardships to become like this. But now that I'm going to save my friend, there's only one way. ”

Ever since he had guessed that this might be the World of the Remnants of the Dead, he had been quite careful about using magic. Unlike other places, this planet called Atas has used excessive magic to drain the life of the world, turning a rich, abundant, and green beautiful place into a world ruled by deserts, Gobi, and wastelands. The gods have long since given up here, and may not have left, but they do abdicate responsibility for anything here. Only some of the elemental planes are still connected to Athas, and the priests here still exist, but their power is not from God, but from some element, and in the service of the wrong master.

Because, the key to open the elemental passage is in the hands of the Witch King, that is, some strong people who have both mage arcane and psychic powers. All the "temples" are actually just serving the Witch King, helping them to rule, in exchange for their own spell-casting abilities, and eventually become a group of puppets.

The Witch Kings rule the city-states, they are eternally young, they are tyrannical and vicious, they are users of blasphemy (environmental destruction) spells, and they are almost invincible. The caster is feared, but if he does not take refuge in the Witch King, the caster will also be killed, because the caster kills the world, and the blasphemer is hated by everyone.

Whether the casters knew about it or not, or they didn't care at all, every time they cast a spell, they were indeed continuing to extract life force from the world of Atas, and they were making the world move in a more barren direction. In opposition to the blasphemers are a group of people who have been called guardians, who are more restrained, using magic within a recoverable, renewable range. It is said that at the right time, with the right spell, it is possible to slightly reverse the planet's continuous slide towards death. The Guardians are pursuing this timing and incantation, but they are too weak to accomplish anything so far. And, since there is no difference on the surface, the Guardians, along with other blasphemers who are not protected by the Witch King, are hunted down in the same way, and the number is getting smaller and smaller.

The only ability that doesn't deepen the consequences is the psychic ability, which affects things with its own power rather than the power of its surroundings, and doesn't - or doesn't always - destroy nature.

Zhao Mai is a druid who needs the Force of Nature to cast spells. But here, the cycle of the Natural Force has long been destroyed, and in barren places, the ability to regenerate has been lost. Every time Zhao Mai casts a spell, he is extracting the life force around him, first plants, then animals, and finally himself. This is a kind of harm to nature, so every time he does this, he will become less sensitive to the natural force, and he must intensify his meditation to slowly make up for it. In other words, the more he consumes the Natural Force, the worse his ability to manipulate the Natural Force becomes.

But blasphemy is blasphemy compared to saving the lives of one's own friends. Although he loves nature, he is not doting. Naturally, there will always be life and death, and there will be intimacy. Wolves also tend to their own herd, killing sheep in order to survive. Atas is a poor sheep, a weakened sheep, but not yet Zhao Mai's sheep.

He held his breath, his palms stretched out, his fingers spread, and he focused his thoughts on the cactus to communicate with its natural force. After that, the druid cleared the distractions and channeled the natural force to condense the droplets.

The cactus immediately began to turn yellow, wither, and the edges became charred. This is a sign of being sucked out of life force. But the water has condensed and is full of life. Zhao Mai controlled the water and put it to Bucher's mouth. Wetness brings strength, and instinct causes the semi-unconscious strong man to suck hard to make up for the thirst in his body as soon as possible.

Bucher's condition improved, and Zhao Mai stopped praying for watermaking. However, the cactus' corruption continues, only with a slight decrease in speed when the spell stops. Ecology is like this, as long as the balance is broken, the process of destruction begins to roll forward, and it is not something that can be stopped if you want to. Taking advantage of the fact that the cactus had not completely turned into charcoal, Zhao Mai hurriedly cut off some intact ones, peeled off the skin, and used them as food.

This stuff doesn't taste good at all, unless it's thoroughly fried in oil, soaked in water and cooled, and then mixed to make a cold dish. I remember that my mother once saw the "sharing" of the circle of friends, so she fried the cactus that occupied a place at home. Dad didn't know if he ate it or not, anyway, Zhao Mai ate some in his mouth, and it felt okay.

Butcher's breathing became steady, his eyes opened, and his sanity began to return. It was only at this time that Zhao Mai had the leisure to look at the mountain peaks in front of him. He was glad that there were plants, and though they were just low grass and twisted trees, they were green and vibrant. He saw cacti, growing out of cracks in rocks and other places, stubbornly fighting against the sea of sand. They can't get too big, and time doesn't just bring bad weather, it also attracts diners. Some cacti have signs of being eaten, which means that there are animals, dangers, and meat. The natural Force Sense of the mountains is a bit stronger than in the sea of sand, and once you enter it, you should be able to cast a spell or two.

There are two roads in front of you, one is a rugged path hidden in the mountain wall, although it is mostly covered by wind and sand, but it is enough for people to pass. I don't know who carved the road out of here, and I don't know where it leads. But where there are roads, there is civilization, and there are villages or gathering places.

The other way is to go inside through the canyon between the two mountains and into the depths of the mountains. Zhao Mai can vaguely feel the existence of water, and there may be springs or underground rivers in it. Of course, where there is water, there can be dangerous creatures, and they will not welcome more people to share the water. As a druid, Zhao Mai can try to communicate with them, but there is no guarantee of the outcome.

Zhao Mai thought for a while, and suddenly realized that there was no point in making a choice. Because I don't know where a group of people came out of nowhere, they were going down the mountain along the road and coming in the direction of Zhao Mai. They wore white robes and white turbans covering their mouths and noses. You can't guess their intentions if you can't see their expressions, but it's important to be on guard.

At this time, he couldn't care about the life and death of the cactus anymore, so Zhao Mai was ruthless, drained its vitality, and doused Bucher with water. The rest of the water is drunk from the reserve and then poured over the head. His clothes were still hot, so the water produced white steam. At the same time, Butcher understood the situation, and stood up tremblingly, squinting his eyes vigorously trying to see the situation on the other side.

"Just close your eyes and rest for a while, you'll recover faster. Zhao Mai stuffed the long sword into his hand and stuffed some cactus strips into his mouth. "It's sour and bitter, but it's nutritious and good for you. Treat it as a radish and eat it hard!"

"There's an enemy, aren't you? I hear footsteps. How many are there, and what kind of weapon?"

"There were eleven of them. Zhao Mai sighed: "They are armed with stone spears, stone hammers and hardwood sticks. I'll try to communicate with them first, you don't know the language here, don't speak, it's okay to be vicious. ”