Tala, leveraging the resources of the Porcupine, scoured the United States for any sorcerers who might pose a threat. The old man was among them.
"Human sorcerer, you are no match for me."
A blast of telekinesis struck, knocking the pufferfish from the old man's hand, and the subsequent attack aimed directly at his face.
This old man's bones, if struck, would lose more than just skin.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, the old man's senior disciple, Jade, intervened.
However, Jade's intervention brought the old man no comfort, but rather great unease.
The reason was simple.
The magic Jade used to block Tala's attack was not the orthodox, righteous magic taught by the old man, but a dark magic infused with a large amount of dark energy.
"Interesting, a human girl capable of unleashing such powerful energy. This is truly fascinating."
Sensing the aura emanating from Jade, Tala abandoned the old man and turned to attack Jade with full force.
Jade did not flinch in the face of Tala's assault, counterattacking relentlessly and parrying all of Tala's attacks.
However, as Jade continued to use dark magic, the dark energy emanating from her grew, and she became increasingly corrupted by the darkness.
There was no absolute good or evil between dark energy and righteous energy; it was merely a matter of choosing sides.
Righteous energy, after the withering of the immortal gods, decisively chose humanity, while dark energy continued to bet on demons.
But as time went on, the demons began to fall into a disadvantageous position, and the possibility of a comeback grew smaller.
Dark energy had considered poaching from righteous energy, but the opportunity never arose.
Now, Jade had imprinted Tala's likeness onto herself, which provided a perfect opportunity for dark energy.
Thus, our "Mother of Dark Energy" poured a large amount of dark energy into Jade's body, intending to lure her away from the righteous energy faction and create a Dark Queen.
Compared to before, with the deliberate efforts of dark energy, the intensity of the dark energy emanating from Jade was now comparable to Tala's two shadow generals.
In one full-powered attack, she not only blocked Tala's assault but also slightly affected Tala's physical body.
Seeing Jade's performance, Tala's eyes darted, and a plan formed in her mind. She said, "I believe there is no need for further combat. Our objectives are the same."
Tala's words made Jade's body tremble, her skin turned bluer, and her eyes gradually became stained with blood.
"No! We are different!"
Just as dark energy was about to control Jade, righteous energy also made its move.
It would not allow one of its powerful pawns to be so easily snatched away by dark energy. After dark energy intervened, righteous energy followed suit, interfering and pulling back some of Jade's consciousness that was being controlled by dark energy.
As Tala prepared to press her advantage and continue to verbally manipulate Jade, Jade's large, watery eyes suddenly spotted something she utterly detested: an onion.
After discovering that the old man's magic had little effect on Tala and her subordinates, T-1000 acted based on childhood memories, quickly running into the kitchen to find an onion.
He emerged and threw it directly at Ikka.
Ikka, quick-witted, saw the flying onion and, like a vampire encountering garlic, rapidly retreated. Then, with a swift hand, he sliced the onion in half.
Although it caused no substantial harm to Ikka, T-1000 already knew from his reaction that these beings, like in the stories, were afraid of onions.
When T-1000 was young, his mother had told him that these Eastern mummies were most afraid of onions.
Every night before sleeping, T-1000 would place an onion by his pillow.
Seeing that they had even resorted to using onions, Tala decided to retreat. She stepped back a few paces and said, "Very well, we shall end here for today. But there will be other days, and we shall meet again."
With that, she and her two generals hastily fled the scene.
Watching Tala and her subordinates escape, Chendragon let out a long sigh of relief, feeling that they had finally made it through.
Just as he was about to celebrate with T-1000 beside him, a new problem arose with Jade.
The greatest difference between dark energy and righteous energy lay in their divergent development paths. Righteous energy excelled at manipulating fate, creating multiple coincidences by influencing the environment, and piecing these coincidences together to achieve its goals. In contrast, dark energy was much more direct and brute force.
Dark energy was adept at directly manipulating individuals, channeling a large amount of dark energy through a medium to influence and control them.
Through Bai Qi's diligent efforts during this period, the strength of dark energy had somewhat recovered.
This time, dark energy had shown unprecedented assertiveness, winning a battle for Jade's control against righteous energy.
"Jade, are you alright?"
Seeing Jade standing still for a long time, Chendragon, fearing for her safety, stepped forward to check on her.
The old man, sensing something amiss, immediately stopped him, but it was too late.
Just as Chendragon's hand was about to touch Jade, Jade suddenly looked up, unleashing a torrent of dark energy.
Her skin had turned completely blue, her hair whipped around in the surge of dark energy, and her eyes had become blood-red, like a demon's.
"Oh no, Jade has been marked!"
Seeing Jade's condition, the old man exclaimed in alarm, "We must wash off the demon's mark immediately."
"Don't touch me!"
Jade shrieked, and then all the H.A.L.O. Ninjas surrounded her, protecting her. One of them appeared before Chendragon, brandishing its large pincer and forcing him back.
"Jade, you must listen to me. You have to wash off the tattoo."
Despite Chendragon's earnest pleas, Jade retorted fiercely, "I am no longer your niece. You can no longer command me. I am the Dark Queen! This world will be mine to rule!"
"Oh dear! Jade is controlled by dark energy, Chendragon, wash off the tattoo!"
Jade was not foolish. The moment she noticed the magic solution in the old man's hand.
"Go and snatch the solution for me!"
The H.A.L.O. Ninjas, obeying their queen's command, charged towards the old man.
Perhaps it was due to the significant expenditure of energy from battling Tala and her subordinates, or perhaps it was because Jade was controlling the H.A.L.O. Ninjas.
Chendragon, along with T-1000, was unable to resist the H.A.L.O. Ninjas' assault and was quickly subdued and pinned to the ground.
This was quite fantastical.
If Bai Qi were present, he would undoubtedly be furious and curse, "Where did the skill you used to fight my Shadow Ninjas go?"
Back then, to escape Chendragon, Bai Qi had deployed ten times the current number of troops, yet Chendragon had defeated them all.
Now, not only Chendragon, but also T-1000, and the battle took place in an antique shop, with such a significant advantage, yet Chendragon was defeated.
By this logic, was Bai Qi even inferior to a young girl?