đź“– Chapter 941 - An Unbeatable Optimist!
The paper human cutout stared at Wang Baole and couldn’t help but wonder if it had really misjudged this Outer Domain cultivator in front of it. This suggestion was really… too evil!
It was obvious what Wang Baole had in mind. However, even if the paper human cutout wanted to help, it really couldn’t.
“It’s useless. Even if I seal them, when the time comes for the trial to end, all seals will collapse. Sealing the Illusion Crystals temporarily won’t have any effect on the matter of entering the next trial, so…”
Before the paper human cutout could finish speaking, Wang Baole’s eyes brightened with joy as he interrupted it.
“Many thanks, Senior. It doesn’t matter if the seals collapse once the trial ends as long as you teach me the method to break them beforehand. Senior, please help me!”
The paper human cutout was taken aback. After a moment of silence, it just shook its head helplessly. This matter wasn’t too troublesome for it, and thinking about their mutual cooperation, it ended up nodding its head under Wang Baole’s earnest gaze.
Seeing the paper human cutout agree, Wang Baole grew even more excited. Thus, with the paper human cutout’s help, he traveled all around the Illusion Planet. It took him an entire day to finish traversing the planet, and he met many illusory phantoms as well as fellow trial-takers.
Among those phantoms, there were a few former Planet Realm cultivators. And at one point, Wang Baole even felt the fluctuations of the Eternal Star Realm phantom. Fortunately, the paper human cutout intervened and allowed him to avoid it smoothly.
Just like that, a day later, Wang Baole had traveled all around the Illusion Planet and located the remaining 29 Illusion Crystals. Rather than take them away with him, he asked the paper human cutout to seal them and left them where they were.
Finally, after all of them were sealed, Wang Baole found himself a hiding spot with a smile on his face. While waiting, the paper human cutout taught him the method of unsealing the crystals.
This method wasn’t difficult. In order to make things easier for Wang Baole, the paper human cutout didn’t use Starfall Empire techniques to seal the crystals but rather those of the Never-Ending Dao Domain. At the same time, while sealing the crystals, it intentionally left a flaw in the seals.
To some extent, rather than saying that it was teaching Wang Baole a method to break the seals, it was just teaching him a rune. This rune was like a master key; even if Wang Baole didn’t understand the seals’ principles, he would still be able to open them.
Later, at Wang Baole’s behest, the paper human cutout sealed even that first Illusion Crystal, so that all 30 Illusion Crystals had been sealed. By now, Wang Baole was extremely excited and only hoped for time to pass more quickly.
While Wang Baole was learning how to break the seals, the Chosen who had come from the Outer Domain had scattered all over the Illusion Planet to search for Illusion Crystals. Unfortunately, their search wasn’t going very well; moreover, there were still many Planet Realm illusory phantoms as well as an Eternal Star Realm phantom roaming around.
If a person was unlucky and encountered multiple Planet Realm phantoms at the same time, or if they encountered the Eternal Star Realm phantom and then a Planet Realm phantom while they were running away, failing the trial was all but guaranteed. And that was only a secondary issue; the most important thing was that there were just no clues to any Illusion Crystals, making everyone on the Illusion Planet just run around like headless chickens. No matter what methods they used, they couldn’t find a single Illusion Crystal.
However, there were also some intelligent people who deduced that the Starfall Empire would surely reveal some clues eventually. Thus, like Wang Baole, they all found places to hide and meditated silently, maintaining their peak condition at all times.
Although it couldn’t be said that there were many people like this, there were at least a few dozen. Time passed, and when there were three days before the end of the trial, or 60 hours to be exact… a clue finally appeared. In a certain location that held an Illusion Crystal, a powerful fluctuation suddenly broke out, allowing all the Chosen on the planet to immediately sense it!
In his hiding spot, Wang Baole’s closed eyes instantly flew open. He wasn’t surprised. From his communication with the paper human cutout in these past few days, he knew that for the last 60 hours, every two hours, an Illusion Crystal would reveal itself. He was clear that the most brutal segment of this trial had begun.
And this was indeed the case. Once the first Illusion Crystal’s location was revealed, all the cultivators nearby were shocked and immediately flew over. Although there were only a dozen or so people nearby, the competition was intense, and casualties were inevitable.
Soon, someone stood out from the crowd and snatched the Illusion Crystal. After they fled, the aura of the second Illusion Crystal appeared in a different location.
Another battle instantly broke out. By now, all the Chosen had figured out what was going on and knew that there would be another Illusion Crystal every two hours. Thus, most of them didn’t choose to immediately rush toward whichever location was revealed but judged how close it was before deciding.
Just like this, a full day passed, and a total of twelve Illusion Crystals had revealed themselves. After fierce battles, each of these twelve Illusion Crystals now had owners; however, the fluctuations that revealed their locations hadn’t gone away. Clearly, even after obtaining an Illusion Crystal, a person would still have to fight off everyone who came to snatch it.
Thus, battles continued to break out. One day later, the owners of most of the twelve Illusion Crystals had been changed many times.
However, there were three that no one dared to fight for from beginning to end.
One of them belonged to the scholarly young man from the top sect of the Heretical Dao. Sitting on a mountain peak, he frowned and stared at the Illusion Crystal in his hand. Whenever someone new arrived following the fluctuations of the crystal, they would hesitate before ultimately choosing to pass by.
Another one no one dared to fight for belonged to the bell-wearing girl from the Nine Phoenixes Sect. Just like the scholarly young man, no one dared to attempt to snatch her crystal. Also just like the scholarly young man, she seemed to have some doubts about the Illusion Crystal and was staring at it intently.
As for the third… The reason why no one tried to snatch it was because everyone who came before them had been killed!
This Illusion Crystal belonged to the black-clothed youth with a large sword on his back and a powerful baleful aura. It could be said that during this trial, he was the one who had killed the most fellow trial-takers.
Aside from those three Illusion Crystals, competition over the rest of the Illusion Crystals was constantly ongoing. Even though a new Illusion Crystal would appear every two hours, that didn’t stop people from going after the ones which already had owners.
However… As time went by, after most of the Illusion Crystals had changed owners again and again and finally landed in the hands of formidable characters, some people gradually noticed that something felt wrong.
This feeling came from the Illusion Crystals themselves. As requested by Wang Baole, the paper human cutout didn’t hide the aura of the seals on the crystals, so they weren’t difficult to detect.
However, these trial-takers had never seen an Illusion Crystal before. Although the aura of the seal gave them a feeling of wrongness, they couldn’t be certain about anything and could only wait and see.
Just like that, more and more Illusion Crystals appeared, and when it came time for the twenty-second Illusion Crystal to reveal itself, fluctuations burst out from Wang Baole’s hiding place. Other trial-takers quickly appeared in his vicinity.
Facing these newcomers, a cold light flashed in Wang Baole’s eyes. He wasn’t some soft-hearted person. When he was besieged earlier and then hunted down by the bell-wearing girl, it would have been wrong to say that he hadn’t had any thoughts of killing. Now, when someone rushed in to plunder his Illusion Crystal, Wang Baole sneered and immediately launched a counterattack.
A boom rang out as the Emperor Armor manifested and the Nightmare Eye appeared behind him. Wang Baole’s attacks were swift and powerful, injuring several people in an instant. He didn’t hold back and fully displayed his powerful cultivation base, giving off an intimidating aura that made the trial-takers who had come to snatch his Illusion Crystal all hesitate.
Soon, a new Illusion Crystal revealed itself, so the attempt to snatch Wang Baole’s didn’t last long. The trial-takers scattered one after another, some going to find a weakling to rob and others going after the newly revealed Illusion Crystal.
They came quickly and left decisively!
From beginning to end, whether it was the seemingly impulsive first attackers or those who watched and waited, no matter how anxious they were to get themselves an Illusion Crystal, they all remained calm and rational. They were like venomous snakes probing their prey and waiting for an opportunity. If there was no opportunity, they would immediately run away.
Even though some of them had taken the initiative to attack, Wang Baole’s counterattack had only injured them. Although that had something to do with Wang Baole not choosing to chase them down and kill them, it also had a lot to do with their own strength.
Wang Baole narrowed his eyes as he stared at their departing backs. After being in contact with these Chosen this whole time, he knew quite a bit about them. Although all of them had impressive backgrounds, there were naturally stronger and weaker ones among them. However, without exception, none of them were fools… Even Li Linzi knew how to take advantage of an opportunity to sell favors. He, too, couldn’t be considered a fool.
“That bell-wearing girl from the Nine Phoenixes Sect is full of tricks and has a sharp mind. She is a formidable enemy!
“There’s also the masked woman who was in the same boat as me. Even now, I still can’t see through her…
“And there’s still the scholarly cultivator from the top sect of the Heretical Dao… I don’t even know his name, but he gives me the feeling that he’s even more difficult to deal with than that bell-wearing girl!
“Plus, there’s the strange little girl who used the Underworld Law, as well as… that baleful young man in black who’s killed more than a dozen Planet Realm cultivators!
“Looking at it this way, even that little fatty who I ripped off isn’t simple, either… and there’s also that Expert Brother…” Wang Baole narrowed his eyes, but soon, a bright light appeared in them.
“But so what?! Although my background isn’t as good as theirs, although my cultivation base isn’t very high… My entire life, I’ve relied on my own hands and my own hard work. Without anyone’s help, I’ve struggled step by step and risen up to this point all by myself!” Wang Baole lifted his chin proudly, and a feeling of loftiness arose in his heart.
“...Ahem, am I not someone?” The paper human cutout seemed to be unable to listen any longer and cleared its throat.