Doomsday Jigsaw Puzzle

Chapter 218: Chapter 22: The True Trump Card of Bai Wu

Her eyes sensed the gaze of Bai Wu, different from those of the other people in this group, or maybe, there was someone even more profound among them.

The nine-tailed fox looked towards Bai Wu.

"Little fox, how about you let me have you if you cannot eat that brawny one? I want to eat that one full of meat," the merman said as he looked towards the nine-tailed fox.

The sparrow on the tree branch licked its lips with evident greed in its eyes. "I like his eyes. I want to eat that short one," it said.

Bai Wu grasped the green bronze axe in her hand, drawing out the most suitable short sword for close combat from her body, standing at the forefront right against Five Nine King.

Bai Wu and others would be quite in danger if Five Nine suddenly got entangled with some strange creature, but it would be fairly good if there were only one Five Nine.

It would be quite troublesome for Five Nine to deal with this alone, despite being just one against three, but it did not matter as much since Five Nine was not the only one involved.

All three Nine Evils were fully equipped with perfect-grade distortion artifacts. And moreover, three Nine Evils of the evil fall tier.

[Perfect-grade distortion artifact: Seaside Boundary. Rare distortion artifact of summoning sea elemental force. Nine-grade distortion.

What battle test is this place preparing for them down next? Is this the most dangerous one of that small bunch of four that can hold your breath the longest? It is not dangerous itself, as there is no water here, and it should be merman’s home ground, but don’t mistake this for just another greedy eater from among the little four-petaled flowers[

It’s worth mentioning the fish scales that are colorful, which seemed to refract cursive light treasure beads, looking far into the distance.

She looked quite simple and honest, chewing on evil flesh, biting listlessly into the sky, her expression neither cold nor coquettish. The mermaid possessed highly developed humanoid features, with the nine-tailed fox being the only one with a complete humanoid form.

On the other hand, another part floated on the surface of the water, trailing like green silk cascades along her back, with one part in her hair. The double eyes of a female evil body, which had been torn apart, now life-threateningly dangled, as she gnawed on a beautiful evil body within the misty, steamy creek, with hair long enough to reach her waist but insufficient to describe the mermaid’s appearance.

The mermaid —— those are the words spoken, chilling to the bone, a voice that could make one shiver.

"More... I still want more... My favorite food? What is food?"

Bai Wu followed her line of sight and discovered the third evil entity in the field.

A missing arm, flesh torn and bloodied, skull shattered by monstrous force.

The sound of limbs being violently torn apart followed the nine-tailed fox’s speech, heard by the unarmed people as they fell.

Bai Wu and her group maintained a considerable distance from the evil, not having started a battle at this very moment.

Could one of them be an illusory figure expert in deception, just like Hong Yin?

[Nine-grade distortion, Limb Extension: A rare distortion artifact. Resurrection of limbs, qi knot boundary. Perfect-grade distortion artifact: Soul-Hunting Kill.

It almost seemed like it made a crucial mistake moving forward... well, not really. It is one of the four little flowers with the greatest soul charm, although its nature is not inherently misleading and is not fully equipped with coquettish ways; however, you better not underestimate the allure of a small nine-tailed fox spirit, even though there are several grades of different distortions, with each particular grade having more or less of a tail. This lineage of evil distortions is very observant[

Although there was a kind of vacant valley spirit qi, it should be a nine-tailed fox’s enchantment, distinctly different from the aura of White Snake and Kongque, in its essence. freёwebnoѵel.com

Sitting on the lotus flower, she held up an oil-paper umbrella, her gaze cool and detached, forming a row of nine-petaled lotus flowers underneath, the nine massive arteries of her tail.

Nine-tailed fox.

"This is food, not a guest," one of them said, with a transformation level higher than "the woman," a notch above the Kongque on the other side of the Qiuqiujia edge.

Kongque said, "All the guests are good to watch; welcome to the glow," not paying much attention to the three intruders who had just entered the entrance.

[Nine-grade distortion, Senluo’s Eye: A perfect-grade distortion artifact. Fei Lie Claw, a rare distortion artifact.

It might not be as enchanting, but it could attach various random negative properties, although those eyes filled with Xie Yu were far more willing to get deeper into intimate love with humans than the White Snake, which enjoyed sticking close to people. The second of the four little flowers[

Kongque was extremely pleased with her "guests" in this fortress. She could welcome oddities with strange fetishes and evil parts that could unite.

This female being was extremely alluring, and not just when looking at Kongque’s body; even her legs were bird-like, and if one were to overlook the green-feathered wings instead of arms, one must admit that Bai Wu recognized her more as a certain species of flying avian rather than a humanoid Kongque.

Kongque.

With a bird-like chirp, Bai Wu could just see her with a glance. The mist here was quite thin, though somewhat thicker on the second level when compared to the purple mist.

In the third level, where every single thing was perfectly clear, this place seemed like a scaled-down version of the fun playground for young girls compared to the second level with its giant snake house.

Even if you listened very closely, you could still hear the sound of water babbling and the rustling trees with their serpentine branches, as if a faint mist was rising from a trickling stream past the artificial mountains.

Even though the third level already felt like a secret flower garden with red and purple intertwining, these red flowers blooming like roses in season were extremely beautiful.

They wouldn’t suddenly spit out poisonous fog that was harmful to humans, nor would they try to eat a person in one bite.

It turned out that these plants were simply rare ornamental species, and Bai Wu found it strange that they did not possess any "special abilities."

Besides this plant, there were also many beautiful Hong Yin flowers in the third level, which were actually a type of purple thread grass used as a mild herbal remedy.

The third-level stronghold was a domain of color.

This species moved even quicker than a sharp-snouted mackerel, as if people in the marine domain were nothing unusual to it.

Had my near-marine environment effect already worn off? How could his speed possibly exceed mine?

Is this really a person?

The man seemed to be warning himself, as he could sense the excruciating pain, like a tearing sensation, that a merman would feel. But at this moment, everything in the deep sea was silent.

In the ocean of his mind where only one thought of strength reigned supreme, this seamless forest presented no hindrance to the advancement of the second-stage extremities.

The colorful fish scales bore marks of terrifying wounds from his sharp strikes, and his eyes gleamed like a knife’s edge.

He was more than a pheasant feather or unicorn horn, able to join the ranks of second-stage advancements. Few were able to achieve such a ranking.

A true natural talent in combat would be a ’Tier 95’, but without even trying to probe the bounds of average level, he didn’t recognize anyone else’s fighting ability.

If one could consistently maintain the highest speed, they would be the Lord of the rankings, especially at the second advancement level.

With the first advancement level, one could increase their immunity to slow effects by eighteen percent, enough to be considered for the Lord of the rankings.

The advancement model, ’Extreme Shade.’

Suddenly feeling a chill on her back, Lin Ruoxi was only a few meters away from the robust Wang’s attack when she showed a look of surprise, which was not what she expected at all.

The merman had such a silly, simple-minded face as if he were thinking of its food.

The resistance of the water accounted for the person’s decelerated speed on one side, an opposite effect.

The merman’s speed was extremely higher within this piece of deep sea, which was not the true deep sea.

Wu Bai, who originally did not relax at the white fog, suddenly launched an attack with his nine tails; however, the mermen were very quick.

Wang Zhu and Lin Rou supported Wu Bai within the underwater domain, his body seemingly losing consciousness, plunging into the water.

Wu Bai felt a moment of bewilderment as the scenery around him began to transform.

These strange fragments were very much like the full moon.

But Wu Bai held one odd fragment in his hand, as the scenery around him started to change.

Because Wu Bai was not facing the nine tails, he was not given the ’Soul-Hunting Kill’—which could casually dismiss the physical combat abilities—as Wu Bai sensed it in anticipation.

Even if he was a mere walking carcass, he was only damaged physically, as if the ’Soul-Hunting Kill’ was only capable of crushing his spirit.

’Soul-Hunting Kill: Perfect Aberration Clause’

Nine tails suddenly stretched out, like in a cage of nine railings, sparkling with purple light in the frosty eyes of the nine-tailed entity.

Although it couldn’t hear anything Wu Bai said, the creature had been listening to him, but Wu Bai spoke the most.

Seeing the protective behavior of Wu Bai towards the two, made the nine-tailed fox believe more in Wu Bai as the leader of this group.

They were all tense despite the usual silence, but Wang was not deterred. He still had Bai Wu for protection, like always.

Wang had a gnawing hunger, his eyes locked onto the potential meal before him, which had already provoked Ice Freeze.

At this very moment, Bai Wu clearly understood that this seemingly docile fish was, in fact, one of the most ferocious hunters in existence. It was unafraid of any waterless land.

The air was unable to be inhaled into their bodies, having transformed into a liquid pressure so intense it was as if they were directly in high-pressure air.

This was indeed like being in a deep-sea environment.

Everything was dry; even their clothes ceased to matter, and hair stayed put. Due to Bai Wu and the others’ perception, this liquid state wasn’t truly authentic, but everywhere could seemingly transform into a liquid environment on a whim.

An otherworldly transformation: Perfect Chaos.

The air suddenly seemed to liquefy.

All the scenes around Bai Wu and the others frighteningly appeared as if separated by a layer of water, though everything seemed the same.

But the surroundings twisted and bent out of shape, even though the water element itself wasn’t felt.

If one opened their mouth, water would rush into the lungs. It seemed like everywhere was sea, making them dare not open their mouths, for fear they would be in the deep sea, which was why Lin Rouwu seemed to have something to say but opted not to.

The group suddenly felt lighter, and began to float upwards, following random bursts of water that bubbled up along with the odd air.

It seemed they inherently had no advantage against the three ninth-level altered beings, mere mortals before them.

The battle began in that instant.

Concentrating his energy into his sword, Wang made the Five Point Head Nod. He didn’t fully trust Bai Wu’s foreknowledge, having gotten used to his habits long ago.

"Maybe these eyes could bring us some negative effects, but the core team will not be caught due to their speed," said the leader. "There’s always that little hole outside... It won’t show off its feathers if it’s not a fox. Our trio won’t act tough. We’ll fall back if necessary."

Bai Wu still didn’t quite agree with Long Dui’s overly cautious approach. After all, he hadn’t managed to counteract the effects of the Nine-Tails technique. He had his own brand of courage.

"Let’s go up, you three," said a young man in the room, calling out to someone, his voice carrying his own thoughts.

Bai Wu suddenly noticed that Long Dui seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, perhaps due to anger or for some other reason.

"..."

"Leave these three to me, and you and Rouwu can hold off Wang if needed."

"A problem?"

"There is a problem."

"Is there a problem, Long Dui, you and the mermaid and the bird?"

Bai Wu looked back at Five Point.

"You two, Rouwu Lin and Wang, will protect me, as I may be forced into a certain state of immobilization. But I’m quite vulnerable to the Nine-Tails," said Bai Wu, seizing the opportunity to snack on the three evils.

Rouuwu Lin opened his mouth to speak but hesitated again.

"Because they really like to eat smart," retorted Bai Wu directly.

"How could you lot still stimulate appetite? Isn’t it shameful enough for you to look this ugly? Why should they get the preferential treatment over us, just so you can look appetizing?" said Lin Rouwu angrily.

The three evils could overhear the conversation, but they were too far to be seen by the group of four people directly.

"I want that axe in his hand," said one of them.

Watching the Nine-Tails’ shadow emerge, Bai Wu suddenly felt some kinship and his eyes widened, startling him.

The shattered pieces of his consciousness allowed this— a simple power, to be obtained from the puzzle-like relics of his final days in the Fourth Well Domain.

Bai Wu’s grip tightened around the full moon fragment as it began to emanate light, at the same time in reality.

Yet, this person, in the depths of his consciousness, astonishingly lacked any kind of negative emotions that could provoke fear...

Nor did he harbor any fear within the core of his heart, for his core was pride.

Because his core was pride, yet his upbringing was that of false humility.

If Bai Wu, a man of great false humility, were to encounter someone stronger than himself, he would be very willing to acknowledge it.

"What do you seek, or are you trying to find out what kind of godless soul I am, with the view of helping me see something? What am I truly afraid of at the bottom of it all? I am also very curious about myself," said Bai Wu.

His "plant-like" way of living might forever classify him as a non-entity, but it would possibly prevent his physical death.

The Nine-tailed Fox thought this as well: It only needed to drag the opponent into the deep sea of consciousness and make use of their fear. Then, it would carry out the Soul-Hunting Kill and end their life.

In her own deep sea of consciousness, she could easily create fears or become victorious entities at will, for this was her domain.

This was a part of the domain under the control of the Nine-tailed Fox, which he had already seen through his careful observation.

Bai Wu could imagine that this woman, once transformed into something evil, possibly used to be a person like Hong Yin and himself, a person of few words.

Hong Yin’s voice was still as chillingly quiet as before, "Are there any last words you wish to say, given that you are about to die soon?"

Although only able to confront the Nine-tailed Fox one-on-one in this illusory realm of the Soul-Hunting Kill, it was almost the domain’s master.

Soul-Hunting Kill

...

...

The confrontation clearly favored the five-to-nine ratio, a one-against-two battle in this field. freēwebnovel.com

Although they possessed only the words of a perfect spell, which was not at all deficient, that was all they had.

But fishmen and sparrowhawks are strong enough to counter the five-to-nine, even if they don’t seem to measure up against the towering figure of the Nine-tailed Fox at this moment.

If the perfect spell were truly in harmony with one’s body, then it could be possible for them to become a towering figure like the Nine-tailed Fox, almost like a transformation of the same level.

The gap between a level-nine transformation and a non-level-nine transformation was immense.

The power of the five-to-nine was profound, so much so that the fishman felt utterly hopeless... an extreme balance of bizarre strength.

The elemental essence turned into a stagnant pool of water, the blade’s light completely neutralized, unable to dodge and dissipate out of nowhere.

Yet, the fishman and the sparrowhawk felt a kind of counter-pressure; they were clearly being sandwiched from one side, and his speed allowed him to completely capture the sparrowhawk with no escape.

Despite being at an advantage all along, the Five-to-Nine used all its strength. What should have been two level-nine transformations was hardly a challenge.

While one side remained vigilant with no effort, the other side was responding to the fishman; but even though Bai Wu couldn’t do his usual multitasking, the Five-to-Nine was nowhere to be seen.

Being seen by those eyes could easily classify one as part of a vulnerable group, but that wasn’t the case for everyone.

...Blindness, Blood Flow, Ice Freeze, Weakening Defense, Weakening Attack, Disease Transformation, Fiery Madness, Chaos, Dizziness, Slowdown...

Countless greenish-blue eyes opened, and her tails unfurled like fan-ribs, suddenly appearing.

The fishman was surprisingly being pressured on one side, and though the sparrowhawk was shocked to discover the fishman’s strength and speed far exceeding normal predator levels within this sea-like realm,

The Nine-tailed Fox seemed to be not a whit weaker in presence than a level-nine transformation, realizing this upon observing the Five-to-Nine’s native glow.

If he didn’t resolve this pesky shorty first, it would be too dangerous to even have a meal.

While the fishman, with his bizarre strength, started to pounce on the Five-to-Nine, a strange elemental essence gathered on the Five-to-Nine’s side, attempting to thwart him,