Millions of kilometer from the Royal Province of Ivory was the Black Province. The terrain was filled with prairies, but the grasses were as tall as trees. The whole province seemed to be one giant prairie from a distance. The grasses were not any stronger than regular, mortal grasses, but they each had an impressive growth rate, an anomalous ability to restrict magical power, and colored in black and red. When one grass is uprooted, another one would replace it and grow to dozens of meters within days. 

Yang Yang had traveled all the way here to complete a few missions. He had left the Ivory Royal Institute with dozens of silver-merit missions while be traveled here to the Black Province to complete a golden-merit mission.

In the Black Province was an ominous pit where several legacy students had reportedly gone missing. Many Wisdom King elders had tried to search for these students, but the pit contained a special spell formation that prevented the access of anyone above the Manifest Aspect level. It was suspected to be the location of a powerful magus’ legacy. 

No one was sure of who the expert was, but investigations had proven that the pit had existed for millions of years, meaning the expert was from ancient times. The pit was considered to be a forbidden zone by the House of Black, but dozens of legacy students, and thousands of opportunists around the continent, had tried their luck here throughout the ages. Few people had ever made it alive and fewer people had ever made a profit. 

However, the life-token that were connected to several legacy students were still intact. They had entered the pit seven years ago, and were connected to high-ranking elders in the Ivory Royal Institute. 

Obviously, these elders had put up a mission for the return of these legacy students, and Yang Yang had chosen it. Although the mission was dangerous, the reward was two golden-merits. High risk, high reward. Yang Yang was confident that nothing would be too dangerous for him to handle in this pit. 

He stood on top a flying warship that was given along with the mission. It specialized in speed and defense rather than attack power. The specialities emphasized the purpose of the mission: get in, get out.

The tall grasses parted for him as he passed. Yang Yang did not use any magical power. It was as though the grasses were peasants and Yang Yang was an emperor. They knew that they had to make way for their superior. All beings with simple consciousness would naturally take this stance in front of him. 

Many hours pass before he found any shred of civilization. It was a small fort, but heavily guarded by the House of Wu’s army. It was the exact location of the pit. Yang Yang arrived at the fort’s gates, showed his legacy student medallion, and entered the fort. 

Inside the fort were few people, but they had the rank of chiliarch, making them Manifest Aspect magi. One of the chiliarch led him to the pit. 

It was roughly a kilometer in diameter, and infinitely dark downward. Not even using a grand lighting spell formation would be able to accurately measure the depth of this pit. 

“Here it is. Sir Yang, it is my duty to warn you to think thrice before entering. Several students from your institute had done the same thing, and now they’re no where to be found. At least ninety-nine percent of participates had been stuck in there, and the only people who had ever made it out alive were half-step Wisdom King geniuses. They said that powerful spell formations and ghastly monsters lurk in the darkness. It is almost as though another world is located under there.” The chiliarch looked at him with stern eyes. “I highly suggest that you wait until you’re a tenth-step Manifest Aspect magus before dipping into this dreaded ditch.” 

“Thank you, friend. However, I am confident in my abilities. I am simply on a rescue mission; the legacy of this pit’s owner does not interest me”  Yang Yang’s warship dove into the pit. “I’ll be back soon.” 

The chiliarch shook his head. “Alas, another one.” 

He bent down, plucked a white flower, and tossed it into the pit. He pressed his hands together as though he was praying. 

......

The warship nose-dived into the pit with great speed. The combination of gravity and a magic-powered engine allowed the warship to exceed the speed of sound many times over. 

Along the way were several spell formations to protect and prevent the average magus from falling into the pit. They also served as tests before entering the forbidden zone. 

Some spell formations were particular strong so Yang Yang had to use the Flame of Purity to burn a hole through them. It took him many hours, but he bypassed nine-hundred, ninety-nine spell formations before being stopped by an even grander spell formation. This was not something set up by the House of Black; rather, it was a part of the pit. 

“Hm...” Yang Yang analyzed the spell formation. He summoned the Flame of Purity again, formed a javelin from it, and threw it. A hole was burned into the spell formation, but it was a tiny hole that quickly regenerated itself. He repeated this process again and again, each time with stronger flame and stronger magical power. Nothing had work; his greatest feat had been burning a cantaloupe-sized hole. 

“Tch!” Behind him, a burning Wheel of Life appeared. Filled with vastly more magical power, Yang Yang coated the warship in the Flame of Purity, and drew upon the magic-powered engine. The engine, also filled with greater magical power, charged forth like an arrow released from a bow. 

The warship collided with the spell formation, simultaneously smashing and burning it. “Go, go, go!” 

Despite the spell formation’s effort, the warship managed to break through. Yang Yang laughed as the warship descended further downward. He had successfully entered one of the forbidden zones on Ivory Continent, the Arcane Abyss.