Reborn as Xiao in another world, targeted by the little red bird

"This is……"

When Bai Jie opened his eyes, he found himself in a sand pit. Outside the pit, a sandstorm seemed to be raging, and everything in sight was yellowish, with a faint scarlet tinge in the yellow sand.

He climbed out of the sandpit, his gaze briefly sweeping over his surroundings.

Within sight, the sandy ground was filled with gullies and pits, resembling a messy bed with bedding.

"Was there a battle that happened not long ago? Interesting. I broke through the stalemate not long after the start of the second cycle. I thought I would be the first to emerge at such a speed, but it seems there is someone ahead of me. Who could it be?"

The rumbling sound penetrated the sand curtain and reached Bai Jie's ears. Sensing the intense resentment and malevolent energy emanating from the direction of the sound, he knew without looking that it was the Blood-Crowned Ghost Willow making the noise.

However, according to the intelligence he found, when the Blood Crown Ghost Willow activates its "Shadow Play", not only is its own strength greatly reduced, but at this time it is like an ordinary towering withered tree. It will not take the initiative to attack, and even its defense will be several beats slower, which is the perfect time to kill it.

Bai Jie felt a surge of curiosity. Was it the person who came out in front of him who had provoked Blood Crown Ghost Willow?

He walked out of the area covered by the blowing sand and caught a glimpse of a giant bird flying away out of the corner of his eye.

"Has the Raven God been lured away?" Bai Jie muttered to himself.

That was actually the spirit of Pu Yuan, but Xiao had never shown him this move, so he naturally assumed it was the Raven God.

“It’s perfect that you’ve lured them away. I’ll gladly accept this Lunar Eclipse Fruit.” With that, Bai Jie raised the corner of his mouth and drew his sword.

According to the intelligence he found, Blood Crown Ghost Willow's strength would have just dropped to the level of breaking through to the King level. As long as the Raven God who was with him was not around, he could kill him.

After killing Blood Crown Ghost Willow, the blood mist in this space will condense into a scarlet fruit, which is the so-called Lunar Eclipse Fruit.

He was originally worried about how to get a "good teammate" to draw the Raven God's fire so that he could take advantage of the chaos to kill Blood Crown Ghost Willow and obtain the Lunar Eclipse Fruit. Unexpectedly, right at the beginning of the game, a "good teammate" he had never met before helped him solve this problem.

Bai Jie turned his head to look at the source of the "booming" noise, and saw the Blood Crown Ghost Willow wildly waving its countless thick roots, like a terrifying giant squid lurking in a thick sea of ​​blood.

The moment Bai Jie saw the Blood-Crowned Ghost Willow clearly, a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart. His intuition told him that something was missing from this withered willow.

Before he could investigate the source of this strange feeling, the Blood-Crowned Ghost Willow also noticed him, pulled out a root, and hurled it at him.

Bai Jie collected his thoughts, his figure flashed and then disappeared. The next moment, a root as thick as several people crashed down on the spot where he had been standing, the entire root sinking into the gravel. When he was lifted up again, only a very deep trench remained, with sand constantly rolling down the edge of the trench.

Seeing this, Bai Jie remained calm. However, just as he was about to counterattack, he suddenly sensed three auras appearing nearby. So he withdrew his sword and once again chose to retreat from Blood Crown Ghost Willow's attack.

Having probably heard the commotion of fighting and wanting to check the situation as soon as possible, three figures ran out from the area shrouded in yellow sand before Blood Crown Ghost Willow's attack could land.

Bai Jie was dodging the attacks when he glanced at the three of them and his face instantly darkened.

All three were older men with graying temples, and they were dressed in the same style of clothing.

Sect disciples usually wear uniform clothing. Although elders and sect leaders have the freedom to dress as they please, as far as he knows, many elders and even sect leaders are tempted by this naturally formed spatial treasure. However, some are too ashamed to compete with the younger generation for the treasure on mortal territory, so they simply disguise themselves as ordinary sect disciples to participate in the competition.

Therefore, these three people are very likely in cahoots, and in this case, they will inevitably deal with themselves first, eliminate their competitors, and remove any unforeseen circumstances.

As Bai Jie had predicted, the three middle-aged men exchanged glances, revealed their king-level auras, and attacked Bai Jie together.

"Hey, you and Blood Crown Ghost Willow ganged up on me? Isn't that a bit too much?"

Although Bai Jie's tone revealed a hint of dissatisfaction, his body had already suffered the consequences, and he instinctively turned and ran.

"If you're not satisfied, you can go and get your companions," a middle-aged man laughed a few times, then whispered to his two companions beside him, "Let's finish this quickly."

And so, Bai Jie ran ahead, with three middle-aged men chasing behind, and several roots following behind them, it was unclear which group they were chasing.

Bai Jie had provoked quite a few people and had a wealth of experience in escaping. Before long, he shook off the three middle-aged men chasing him, who were forced to fight with Genxu, who was close behind.

Bai Jie, hidden in the shadows, watched the fierce battle between man and tree from afar, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

You think you can kill him with that level of skill?

However, since others have escaped the illusion, he can no longer personally kill Blood Crown Ghost Willow. He is all alone and has no teammates to keep an eye on others. If he lets others take the final result, wouldn't he suffer a huge loss?

Only he can do the job of picking peaches.

Before long, the battle between the three and the root was still undecided, a questioning voice suddenly rang out from nearby.

"Where...where am I? What just happened? How did I get here?"

Bai Jie looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure appear out of thin air in the place that had been empty just moments before. Just like his words, the person looked completely confused.

Bai Jie moved to the side to make sure the person who suddenly appeared wouldn't notice his presence.

He was also somewhat puzzled. Logically speaking, those who could break through illusions usually understood their own situation and wouldn't ask such questions, unless...

They were able to get out not by their own efforts.

As if to verify Bai Jie's thoughts, more and more people appeared around, all of them looking puzzled.

Among the crowd, he even spotted Yang Ce. As expected of his "good friend," Yang Ce immediately noticed his gaze and looked over. If he hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been discovered by Yang Ce.

In addition, the aura of Blood Crown Ghost Willow continued to rise, rapidly breaking through the Emperor level and continuing upwards.

One-star Emperor level, two-star Emperor level, three-star Emperor level... Finally, the aura strength settled at ten-star Emperor level. Two more minor realms and he could reach the peak that Emperor level can achieve.

Under the immense pressure of the Emperor-level expert, the air fell into a deathly silence.

Could these people defeat Blood Crown Ghost Willow at this moment?

Even Bai Jie, who had extensive experience in dealing with life-or-death situations, couldn't give a definite answer right away. He could only say that it depended on the wealth of the elders and sect leaders mingling among the crowd. But if it really came to that, he could only prioritize survival and couldn't even think about seizing the treasure.

Although he loves to court death, he doesn't want to die at all.

Bai Jie moved to a less conspicuous spot and analyzed the current situation.

Undoubtedly, Blood Crown Ghost Willow withdrew the power it used to create the illusion, which led to its rapid rise in power and everyone being passively removed from the illusion.

For Blood Crown Ghost Willow to do this, the person who came out before her must have done something extraordinary.

Thinking of this, Bai Jie peeked out from his hiding place and looked at the menacing Blood Crown Ghost Willow from afar.

Due to the interference of the blood mist and the considerable distance, Bai Jie could not see things clearly. After looking for a while, he finally discerned a hint of something amiss from the outline of the Blood-Crowned Ghost Willow reflected in the mist.

It seems... its "head" is gone.

Bai Jie understood.

The research materials he found mentioned that the Blood Crown Ghost Willow uses "shadow play" to extract the resentment of the dead and harvest the souls of the living. The two mix to form the blood mist that floats in this space, which is absorbed by the tree canopy and transformed into its power.

Now that its crown has been cut off and taken away, how could it not be anxious?

If the canopy is used properly... this tree can be killed.

He chuckled lightly: "There are many of you, so I'll leave the most dangerous job to you."

Bai Jie quietly retreated to the back of the crowd, recalling the direction in which the giant bird's silhouette disappeared, and chased after it.