Reverse flow of the Yellow Springs

The Little Mad King swung his longsword, cleanly and smoothly severing the illusory left leg.

Even though the transformation was using a clone of Little Mad King herself, it had no effect on her whatsoever.

Ignoring everything else, Huanbian leaped into the maze using only one leg.

The illusory maze is an escape method given by the Lord of All Changes, a means of transformation.

The knowledge and power derived from chaos enabled it to quickly construct a labyrinth.

The eerie psychic energy materialized, reflecting different scenes like crystal.

One can glimpse reflections of fear, pain, and hope; dreams and nightmares; history of reality and fantasy; and scenes of suffering, ecstasy, and despair.

These abstract imaginings bring the images within the crystal to life.

Meanwhile, the passages within the maze appear to appear, dissolve, merge, split, and change direction randomly. Even space itself is distorted as a result.

Only the most loyal servants of the ever-changing Lord, and those who are deeply mired in madness yet possess keen insight, have any hope of understanding the design of the labyrinth of madness.

In this field, no combat power is needed to act as sentinels.

The labyrinth itself provides sufficient protection to prevent any reckless person from attempting to attack the great schemer.

This is a gift from the highest heaven, and also the greatest trump card for survival in the illusion.

This is a palace defense located deep within the Void Realm, in the highest heavens. Even the legions of other chaotic gods would get lost within it.

Although it is only a replica constructed of psionic energy, even a Supreme Being would not be able to pass through it quickly once inside.

The brief burden of being chosen for eternity nearly shattered the illusion.

It must use the maze to escape the pursuit of Li Yelai and Little Mad King.

'I can't die! Such an interesting human—no, such an interesting chosen one! It would be a great tragedy if I weren't involved in this conspiracy.'

'My lord, anticipate the intrigues and changes that will surprise you!'

The Phantoms are not afraid of death, or rather, all the chosen ones of the Trickster faction are like that; they are willing to die for the sake of weaving beautiful conspiracies. They will die with a smile.

But it doesn't want to miss out on such a brilliant conspiracy; it has to get involved!

Escape, must escape!
However, Li Yelai responded with delight!

Then, he looked at Little Mad King not far away and said, "You stay outside and provide backup, I'll go and kill it!"

Little Mad King nodded slightly and disappeared back into the shadows.

Li Yelai, on the other hand, plunged headlong into the maze.

Within the illusory labyrinth, in a chaotic space.

The phantom, its leg severed, staggered forward. It was now a clone of the Little Mad King, and even though losing its left leg meant its body could no longer be perfectly concealed—a fatal injury for a master assassin—its steps were no longer steady. Yet, its speed remained considerable.

Upon entering the labyrinth, 'she' quickly treated her wounds and used a concealment technique, then ventured deeper and deeper into the labyrinth. She passed through crystal walls, each wall displaying countless variations behind her, bewitching and misleading other intruders. It even caused them to collide and fight each other.

These will all become its means of escape.

At the same time, 'she' was also quickly checking her stockpile of clones.

It dared not use the clone of Li Yelai anymore.

Powerful as it may be, the price is simply unacceptable!

Even now, despite having a different body, it can still feel that ominous cause and effect within it.

Although it is gradually fading away, it still makes it uneasy.

Moreover, the consequences and devastation brought about by the power chosen by the four gods are beyond its capacity to bear.

As for the doll's replica, it has been severely damaged.

Although it can still unleash some fighting power, it's no longer suitable to use it against an enemy like the champion.

Adding to the already crippled clone of the Little Mad King, the losses of the stored clones this time are severe.

The remaining clones all seem ill-equipped to deal with the champion.
'Sure enough, I should have collected more blood from powerful beings to create more clones. If only I had a clone of a hegemon.' Huanbian was thinking this when he suddenly stopped as he passed through a crystal corridor.

In front of it, an alien tin man rushed out from another corner.

It was a tin man dressed in lumberjack's clothes, but where his heart should have been on his chest, the tin was missing, revealing a bloody heart. It seemed to have been ripped from a human or a demon and forcibly inserted.

As their eyes met, the tin man charged forward.

"Let me test your heart!" the Tin Man roared, raising his steel axe.

'Tsk!' Huanbian clicked his tongue.

It was a terrifying demon, and with my vast knowledge of illusion, I easily learned its origins.

It is a strange creature, the Tin Man, born from a dark fairy tale.

In that fairy tale, a lumberjack's axe was cursed by a witch, causing him to cut off his own leg while chopping wood.

He then asked a blacksmith to forge him a metal leg, but the curse remained.

He lost his hands and feet one by one, until he finally cut off his own head.

A passing blacksmith fitted him with a tin head, turning him into a tin man.

That's an idiotic assumption. Why don't you just throw the axe away?
In short, it follows the protagonist and his companions to the Emerald City, hoping to obtain what they each desire there.

The fairy tale ends happily, of course. It gained a heart and acquired emotions.

But in the dark fairy tale, the Tin Man did not get what he wanted.

So, he resorted to extreme measures to obtain the heart he desired.

But no heart satisfied it, so it became a ferocious hunter.

I wonder which unfortunate child heard this dark fairy tale and, amidst the fog of disaster, created this terrifying demon.

Or perhaps, a psychic actually encountered this strange phenomenon?
With a flicker of his ever-changing eyes, he instantly discerned the power of this terrifying demon.

The metal on this tin man's body is imbued with a strong mystical aura, so its defensive capabilities should be quite good. Its axe also possesses a blessing that enhances its ability to cut through flesh.

It is a bit troublesome.

It seems to have been caught in the illusory labyrinth and thus entered it. It should have been lost within the labyrinth, but by a twist of fate, it appeared before the illusion.

Is it a coincidence, or just bad luck?

Huanbian cursed under his breath, and a long sword appeared in his hand as he rammed head-on into the tin man.

The moment his longsword clashed with the tin man's woodcutter's axe, Phantom's remaining right leg lightly touched the ground, and he vanished before the tin man's eyes.

The tin man was shocked when his attack missed, and then roared angrily.

The next moment, a sharp longsword pierced out from behind him, its terrifying power piercing through the tin man's defenses and penetrating him from behind.

But this was not a fatal wound for the Tin Man. As a monster, its fatal wound was completely different from what humans understood.

Then, it suddenly swung its axe backward, using its elbows and shoulders to generate power, completely unrestricted by its limbs.

However, its opponent at this moment is the illusion, the treacherous chosen one who possesses a vast amount of knowledge.

With a flick of her ethereal jade hand, the tin man's body froze, stiffening. With another sweep of her finger, the tin man collapsed to the ground. Countless drops of foul-smelling blood gushed from its wounds. Finally, it transformed into an ordinary piece of tin.

The illusion instantly dispelled the mystical protection on the metal sheet, killing the troublesome demon. "What a piece of trash, daring to try and frame me." The illusion spat and then moved again.

However, it encountered trouble again when it ran into a Silent Demon as it walked out of the Tin Man's corridor.

After cleaving the Silent Demon in two with a single blow, it encountered a Scarecrow.

After defeating the terror demon three times in a row, it felt even more uneasy.

In the mesmerizing crystal labyrinth, could these guys really just happen to appear in front of me by such a coincidence?
However, the next moment, it knew the answer.

At the passage where the crystal walls appeared in a constantly shifting manner, it saw a pierced demon and that blood-red cloak.

"What a coincidence!" Li Yelai pulled his halberd from the head of a silent demon, his double pupils looking at the illusion.

Li Yelai may not understand the illusory labyrinth, but he does understand his own curse.

Li Yelai knew that the formidable enemy he was destined to encounter was precisely the nemesis of this kind of maze.

Not to mention that Huanbian, who copied Li Yelai's body, also has the effect of inevitably encountering powerful enemies.

Two formidable enemies are inevitable! Run? Where to run?

We are the destined enemies!

Huanbian was surprised, then revealed a delighted smile: "Ah, so that's how it is, this is your curse! No, it seems there's more! No wonder you're so powerful, with this curse, you were still able to grow to the sixth sense, you're truly resilient!"

The approaching danger did not frighten Huanbian; instead, it filled him with even greater joy.

Li Yelai didn't care about that; the danger level of the illusion was too high, and it had to be eliminated immediately.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to detect if a strong human being was replaced.

The black and gold dragon-patterned halberd in his hand roared like a dragon, and the golden wings behind him fluttered slightly.

In that instant, Li Yelai arrived in front of Huanbian, wielding his halberd horizontally, unleashing the Eighteen-Handed Strike - Elephant Stomp!

The illusion was activated by Little Mad King's ability, Flowing Illusion Strike, which sent eighteen phantoms soaring into the sky.

Nine of them suddenly stabbed towards Li Yelai, while the other nine and the main body rushed in different directions.

Li Yelai's halberd thrust and slashed repeatedly, instantly sweeping away nine phantom figures.

'Can you even match the Little Mad King's number of consecutive Phantom Strike attacks? You can't be allowed to live!' Li Yelai's eyes flashed. Spatial fluctuations appeared behind him, and buckets of blood gushed out.

Unleash the facial makeup, Bai Qi's facial makeup, Blood Prison Demon Suppression!
In that instant, a terrifying pressure descended. The entire crystal maze trembled, and the ten fleeing figures were instantly forced back to the ground.

The nine phantom images dissipated, revealing the true form, which was lying on the ground in a disheveled state.

It had already rushed over a hundred meters, but it was still caught by Li Yelai's heavy pressure.

Li Yelai's attacks did not stop. His left hand brushed across his cheek again, and his terrifying double pupils disappeared. At the same time, golden light bloomed in his pupils.

Mimicry: The Divine Dragon Soul!
Switch to the face mask, the face mask of Yi the Great, the face mask of the Heavenly Piercing Sun!

Golden ripples appeared out of thin air, and a giant spear emerged from the ripples.

The next moment, the intense killing intent emanating from the champion transformed into an instant-death curse!

The giant spear was covered with ominous black patterns, and terrifying instant-death power was gathering.

Tactics: Knock them down!

"What a tough opponent, Champion!" Huanbian sighed inwardly. This clone of the Little Mad King was completely finished.

As the heavy weight fell, it was slammed onto the floor of the crystal maze. The shattered crystal walls reflected countless images, like a revolving lantern.

Its already broken left leg was bleeding profusely, its body was losing body temperature, and even its heartbeat was being suppressed.

No, this body can't be saved.

While Metamorphosis can replicate a target's body, abilities, and curses, it also has limitations.

For the same target, multiple copies cannot be made for backup.

Each target can only store one copy.

If the physical body is destroyed, it must obtain more blood again in order to reconstruct itself.

In its reserves, the clones of the two powerful beings, Little Mad King and Doll, were both destroyed. And the clone of Li Yelai, which it had painstakingly acquired, was also left unused.

This was a huge loss. I definitely need to expand my collection from now on.

Seeing the giant spear emerging behind Li Yelai, Huanbian sensed the danger and added instant-death power to his mental attack.

Damn, they've got a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Even it would die if attacked by something like that, right?
There's no other way, I have to switch bodies!
The disheveled figure of the Little Mad King clone disappeared, transforming into a tall girl with short red hair.

That's a clone of Captain Lieyang! This bastard even got his hands on Captain Lieyang's blood?
Captain Lieyang's ability is... holy crap! Nuclear explosion!
Li Yelai's expression changed slightly. He couldn't care less about inflicting more instant death, and his spear shot out with a roar.

At the same time, he suddenly retreated.

The transformation is a low growl, Mythical Mimicry: Blazing Golden Crow!
Talent activated, transform into the blazing sun!
At that moment, terrifying light and heat erupted within the labyrinth, as if a small sun were rising from the ground.

At the same time, a light curtain containing the terror of imminent death pierced into the blazing sun.

The terrifying, instantaneous burst of light seemed to dim the blazing sun, and the illusion within was also struck.

But this still couldn't stop it from exploding!

A terrifying roar.

After repelling Li Yelai, the maze walls around him shifted as he moved, separating the two of them.

As the roar subsided, the crystal labyrinth vanished.

Li Yelai crawled out of the ruins, looked at the huge crater with a diameter of over a hundred meters in the distance, and fell into deep thought.

"Is he dead?" A tall figure appeared and asked softly.

“I don’t know, but it was definitely hit by my instant death.” Li Yelai shook his head slightly and then said, “But even if it doesn’t die, it can’t use the physical body of Captain Lieyang that it copied.”

Just as Li Yelai said, Illusion could no longer use the clone of the Blazing Sun. The life force of this body had been instantly stripped away, and death was inevitable. Moreover, even with a replacement clone, the power of instant death continued to rage.

Forced to continuously change his physical body, Huanbian only managed to exhaust his life force after changing six bodies.

"He actually killed me seven times in one go!" The illusion, now transformed into a silent demon, struggled to escape from the shadows. It tried to create as much distance as possible to avoid being captured by the formidable enemy it was destined to encounter again.

Meanwhile, Li Ye looked at Xiao Kuangwang and said, "Teammate, did you anticipate that someone would impersonate you, which is why you prepared the perfume?"

"That's not actually perfume, it's a code to let you know I'm around," Little Mad King said. "After all, there are times when I can't verbally remind you of my presence. And we assassins have the ability to prevent outsiders from smelling it."

Li Yelai nodded slightly, then asked, "What if I hadn't discovered it, or rather, hadn't believed you were you? After all, there was just an imposter."

“Hmm, I’ve considered that too. Then we can only bring out something that only we know to prove that I am who I am.” Little Mad King took out a small, transparent bottle that looked somewhat familiar to Li Ye from the space bracelet on his wrist.

She was about to open it when Li Yelai grabbed her arm and pressed it down.

"Enough, I believe you! No need to test it!" Li Yelai's lips twitched.

What the Little Mad King produced was none other than the sap from the photinia flower, which had once been used in the church.
If you open it now, then go back.

The psionicists in the group can smell it, so they're bound to misunderstand something.

Champion, you went out for a while and came back with a woman, and you still smelled like that.
That would make the misunderstanding even bigger.

Even with Li Ye's low emotional intelligence, he was certain he would be relentlessly elbowed by Cheese. (End of Chapter)