Black Gold Island.

This strongest dark area inside the Mist, the residence of a horrific Evil Fallen king, was now welcoming dusk.

Uneasy waves beat against the rocks.

Terrible white light turned everything at the center of the island to naught, with the once imposing Slave Great Hall resembling an ancient temple disappearing without a trace.

The red and black frontline, however, remained unchanged, even though the entire center of the battlefield was nothing but absolute emptiness.

Reconstruction allowed the disassembled matter to all be reshaped into flying ermines, like a countless swarm of ants gnawing at their prey...

The Source Power that overflowed from Black Gold Island turned to naught in an instant, with tremendous power spreading everywhere.

But the prey being chased by the ants didn’t seem like prey at all, rather more like a ranger.

His crimson figure constantly flitted about, dodging perfectly time and again.

Jing Wu was utterly astonished, how could anyone possess such immense strength?

Even if it was his elder brother, his speed would only be so much.

But looking at the ease with which the crimson monster moved... could it be that this terrifying speed was still not his limit?

What kind of monster was this, after all?

In this world, within Bai Wu’s people, how could there be such a character that he himself would not remember?

With such a character, how could it be possible for him not to have taken part in the battle of Baichuan City?

Jing Wu could not see through this crimson figure.

But listening to the other’s voice, he always felt somewhat familiar.

Jing Wu couldn’t remember.

He also didn’t know that what he was facing was a true hero.

With the power of the curse, sacrificing a part of life’s future encounters, faithful to his own beliefs...

This was the path chosen by the Crimson.

Each shackle imprinted on his body that was unlocked represented a renunciation.

It also meant that his future would become increasingly lonely.

The Crimson of the Well World, having unlocked shackle after shackle, saved only two...

Friendship, Future.

Wu Jiu hadn’t taken this step, but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t for the sake of correcting this twisted world.

Everything was only because the enemy before him...

...was no longer the unbeatable Jing Wu from before.

Crimson afterimages were everywhere, constantly mocking Jing Wu.

Nobody could kill the other, yet in this battle, Wu Jiu seemed to have the upper hand.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Jing Wu seethed with anger. But that red line... flickered before his eyes like lightning, twisting like a blood-red, messily drawn snakelike line, forming an abstract painting...

Too fast!

Jing Wu suddenly gave up.

Disassemble Everything and Reconstruction were both withdrawn, and the terrifying oppressive energy of Black Gold Island emerged once again.

Even the Slave Great Hall that had been leveled appeared again.

Jing Wu’s breathing became slightly more rapid:

"So annoying, who are you exactly?"

"You guess."

It was still the annoying answer, very much like that kid from Bai Wu.

But Jing Wu knew clearly that Disassemble Everything could do nothing against Bai Wu.

He could defeat all enemies with his two legendary powers, but he was uniquely unable to resolve Bai Wu.

And now... there was another person.

With a simple method of "speed being invincible," Jing Wu’s confidence crumbled a little more.

Wu Jiu had to admit, Reconstruction was truly a divine skill for the "construction industry."

If it were Bai Wu, would he teasingly say at this moment, "Are you interested in joining the Baichuan City construction brigade?"

Once again, he thought of Bai Wu.

At this moment, when the battle suddenly came to a halt—

Jing Wu suddenly sensed something as well, alongside Crimson-Shelled Wu Jiu—they both felt the approach of two powers.

Both powers were extremely foreign to Wu Jiu.

But for Jing Wu... one of the powers was extremely familiar.

He didn’t know whether to feel joy or astonishment because that power was very similar to his own.

Outside the massive slave hall, next to the black-robed Jing Wu, a crack appeared.

A tall figure wearing a white lab coat stepped out from the crack.

"It’s been many years, Little Wu, you’ve grown stronger," the figure said.

Jing Wu felt a sense of fear.

Indeed, among the six siblings, the strongest was Laosi, who went mad after soaking in the Well Water.

But in Jing Wu’s view, his older brother Jing Yi was the truly terrifying one.

As Jing Yi drew closer, even Wu Jiu stopped pondering the distant power that was getting closer.

He felt like he was facing a formidable enemy—although he had never met Jing Yi before, he felt a sense of familiarity from the white lab coat he wore.

The crimson blade at his elbow took a defensive stance, and the red mist swirled around him, as if it might disappear at any moment.

Although he handled Jing Wu with ease, the fact that he and Jing Wu were unable to do anything to each other was true.

The enemy that had now arrived was far more powerful than both Jing Wu and himself, Wu Jiu could sense.

This was an unprecedentedly strong adversary.

"Big Brother... how did you come to be here?" Jing Wu asked.

The change in the situation took Jing Wu by surprise.

Big Brother?

Wu Jiu understood that the man before him was the farm owner that Bai Wu had once mentioned.

Jing Yi’s eyes surveyed the surroundings, unconcerned with the battle between Jing Wu and Wu Jiu as he frowned and said:

"Where is the Doomsday Puzzle piece?"

Jing Wu didn’t respond at first. But Wu Jiu instantly became alert.

If he had come for the Doomsday Puzzle piece, and the same held for the other party, it was too much of a coincidence.

While he could hold off Jing Wu, he definitely couldn’t do the same with Jing Yi.

"It’s in my island’s secret chamber, Big Brother, but how did you come to be here?" Jing Wu still seemed bewildered by Jing Yi’s sudden arrival.

As Jing Yi’s eyes seemed to observe certain cause and effect, he increasingly felt that something was wrong.

He had already discovered the people who were trying to infiltrate the island from afar, but, similarly, Jing Yi also noticed another presence drawing closer to the island.

"My master originally didn’t care about the Doomsday Puzzle pieces, because even if they were all collected, no second person could resonate with the Twisted and find the location of the Well," Jing Yi said.

"But now, a trouble you’ve never managed to solve has continued to grow and has become a key figure that could influence the outcome of the future battle. Little Wu, I am very disappointed in you."

The black mist slowly enveloped the island.

The island, which should have been bright in the daylight, suddenly turned dim.

Zheng Yue, Nie Chongshan, Jiang Zhu, Liu Bingshu, and Li Xin who were approaching the island, also suddenly halted in their tracks.

They looked up at the sky, only to see an endless black mist rolling like dark clouds.

It was as if a colossal squid capable of blotting out the sun and sky in the blue sea of heaven had suddenly spat out a mouthful of ink...

"What’s happening, how did the sky suddenly become so dark?" Zheng Yue had a bad feeling.

A chill rose deep within Nie Chongshan’s heart.

As a top-level fighter, Nie Chongshan’s battle instincts were extremely sharp, so he could sense those dangers which were absolutely beyond his ability to handle.

This danger... did not exist during the battle between Jing Wu and Wu Jiu, but now it had emerged.

The demon wings spread out, forming a wall that barred everyone’s way:

"If we continue, we might encounter danger..." Nie Chongshan said.

For Nie Chongshan, who always charged ahead with an unyielding will to fight, to utter such words meant Zheng Yue also realized the seriousness of the matter.

The black mist continued to gather, and in front of them, it began to take form.

A graceful female figure emerged from the black mist.

In the jungle on the outskirts of Black Gold Island, this female figure with lifeless eyes seemed dazed, her upper body exposed, her unfocused eyes staring at Nie Chongshan, who was blocking the way for the group.

She had no words, but her message was simple—

This way is closed.

Jiang Zhu and Nie Chongshan had quite similar dispositions and got along exceedingly well.

However, Jiang Zhu was simply not on the same level as Nie Chongshan and hadn’t realized that a formidable character had appeared, one that could drive people to despair:

"Old Nie, what’s the situation? It’s just a woman, possibly the island’s guard, but surely she can’t stop you, can she?"

Nie Chongshan was as wary as if he were facing a powerful enemy.

The woman’s body was extremely feeble, if it were a head-on battle, naturally she couldn’t stop him.

But the terrifying spiritual pressure she exerted prevented Nie Chongshan from daring to move forward even an inch...

And Zheng Yue, after closing one eye, suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream

"Ahhhhhh..."

The usually languid and elegant Zheng Yue, at that moment, bled from all seven orifices and collapsed thunderously to the ground.

Not far away, the beautiful woman’s eyelashes fluttered.

The Talent Sequence Mirror Flower, Water Moon, dragged a person into a dream. It constructed a near invincible dreamscape, providing her with various uneven battle condition boosts.

This sort of ability that was both dream and illusion was terrifying, but essentially, it was a use of spiritual power, a type of Source Power.

Zheng Yue sensed that this woman’s body seemed to possess strong spiritual power and wanted to test it with Mirror Flower, Water Moon.

But in an instant... he was dragged into a terrible nightmare woven by the other party.

He found himself in some pitch-black forbidden place, where his soul felt like it was being sawed apart with a chainsaw, a pain beyond bearing.

Unable to endure this pain, Zheng Yue’s orifices bled, and he fainted.

...

...

Right at the heart of Black Gold Island.

Hei Wu coalesced, and many of the children who had once been on the farm walked out of the Slave Hall.

They too had lifeless eyes and bore marks of J, Q, K, and such on their wrists.

Dozens of children, none older than fourteen years of age, were formed from the Black Mist.

The faces that should have held childlike innocence and naivety were all looking at Wu Jiu and Jing Wu with a malevolent, sinister expression.

Many scenes flashed through the mind, sensing that the "thieves" had been intercepted; Jing Yi’s expression slightly relaxed.

The real formidable enemies were those about to land on the island.

Even though Wu Jiu and Jing Wu didn’t recognize the owner of that aura, Jing Yi did.

"Just three years’ time... everything is a total mess. How should I deal with you? You possess the mightiest power left behind by my Master, yet you’ve always been unable to comprehend it." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Jing Wu was taken aback.

Indeed, before encountering Bai Wu, Jing Wu’s life had been going too smoothly.

He always considered himself a genius, but he never managed to control Disassemble Everything and Reconstruction.

It wasn’t until after his defeat to Bai Wu and Zero that Jing Wu made a breakthrough.

The pain of death, the humiliation of losing to a human, finally led him to make significant progress.

But he still couldn’t compare to Bai Wu.

"Is Big Brother talking about Bai Wu? I admit that I underestimated him the first time I lost to him... But afterwards, his growth has been astoundingly fast..."

Jing Wu didn’t want to admit it, yet he no longer felt that sense of humiliation:

"I lost to him... It wasn’t a fluke; I did my best. Haven’t I been more loyal than Xiaomei and Jing Si in these seven hundred years? For seven hundred years! I was the only one consistently striving to liberate the Twisted Master!"

Because he wanted to surpass Bai Wu, the power he had always been unable to control was finally mastered...

Bai Wu made dramatic strides in these three years, but wasn’t Jing Wu the same?

It could be said that in these three years, with the thought of surpassing Bai Wu in his heart, Jing Wu’s growth exceeded the total of the previous centuries.

But even so... he still couldn’t defeat Bai Wu; what more was there to say?

Wu Jiu, observing the conversation between Jing Yi and Jing Wu, felt an immense pressure.

For some reason, he could dodge attacks from Jing Wu, but he wasn’t sure he could evade these children.

In seven hundred years, the "remnants" of the farm devoured countless children of exceptional talent, and these children became the nourishment for the Twisted Master’s remnants...

But after the Twisted Master’s return to the human world, the resentment of these children also became servants of the Twisted Master.

And now, Jing Yi, having re-established a connection with the Twisted Master, was another kind of slave master.

"You tried your best? It seems you can only do so much. Fortunately, I never had any expectations for you, so don’t talk about yourself in such a noble way. For seven hundred years, you’ve achieved nothing, and that, as it turns out, is the fact of the matter. But perhaps it’s also a way to think about it, at least taking you back will be less trouble."

Jing Wu immediately became alert and looked at Jing Yi uneasily:

"What do you mean?"

The word "reclaim" had already made the meaning quite clear.

"Before my master was sealed in the High Tower, he created us and endowed us with some extraordinary abilities. Regrettably, you didn’t make good use of these abilities. The human heart is unfathomable..."

Jing Yi seemed a bit sentimental. From beginning to end, he looked at Jing Wu with an expression of indifferent cruelty.

"Each of you is human. Some of you are saintly monks, others have taken on the roles of husbands and fathers. Indeed, there is a supreme highlight in each of you."

"But for that very reason, you have value to be twisted. The more genuine the emotion, the more distorted you become after corruption."

Jing Wu couldn’t understand these words, but the oppressive force, so powerful that he felt no will to resist, made him feel suffocated.

Wu Jiu was astonished. Could it be that these two brothers... would actually turn on each other?

Was that a good thing?

It was only now that he heard for the first time that these Well Glyph Monsters were transformed from humans.

It seemed that these people had admirable qualities before they were twisted and corrupted.

"Over seven hundred years, you are the only one who has truly exerted yourself for my master. If it weren’t for this incident, my master and I might have ’deliberately’ overlooked you. You’re just unlucky."

"Not long ago, something happened on the farm, your second brother destroyed the formation."

"I don’t know if he has done something to you, it should be beyond his capabilities, but who knows."

The white lab coat fluttered in the wind, and Jing Yi’s gaze softened:

"Let me guess, have you suddenly developed some emotions unique to humans?"

"Like... guilt? Self-blame?"

"After being defeated by Bai Wu several times, has your hatred towards Bai Wu inexplicably diminished quite a bit?"

Jing Wu’s eyes widened as if struck by what Jing Yi had speculated.

In recent days, he had indeed been engulfed by such emotions.

Seeing Jing Wu’s reaction, Jing Yi also believed that he had guessed correctly—Jing Wu was likely no longer "pure."

After all, before being twisted, this person was someone who cherished his subordinates very much. It was alright for these human qualities to be distorted, but once they were restored, they would inevitably become enemies of the distortion.

But Jing Yi was mistaken.

Jing Er really had gone to the forbidden land, crossed countless Split Bodies of "fish," and found his own memories within that ancient formation.

But that was all he could do. Jing Er could not achieve more.

The emotions that Jing Wu was engulfed in had nothing to do with the formation.

It was merely the departure of two subordinates that had plunged Jing Wu into solitude.

This solitude, compounded by defeat at the hands of Bai Wu and the shattering of his remaining pride, gradually led to changes in Jing Wu.

But Jing Wu’s words just now led Jing Yi to believe...

The effect of the distortion had changed.

But everything was just "the unpredictability of the human heart."

The gentle Jing Yi became filled with murderous intent. In just an instant, the density of the Hei Wu surged several folds.

Wu Jiu had not anticipated this turn of events... The original formidable foes were now seemingly turning on each other.

The next second, Jing Yi’s hand was already clasping Jing Wu’s throat.

Jing Wu tried to unleash Disassemble Everything, but he found that at this moment... he couldn’t do anything.

He had imagined his end countless times—

Perhaps the Twisted Master, recognizing his seven hundred years of loyalty, would allow him to take command again.

Perhaps the distortion would ultimately be purified by Bai Wu, and he would die at Bai Wu’s hands.

But he had never thought that one day he would die at the hands of "one of his own."

"My master will surely allow the distortion to spread across the world, but in this process, you have lost your value. Goodbye, my fifth brother."

The Wells are unable to be killed, as if they are Immortal. But this so-called immortality is nothing more than a gift from the Twisted Master to those he has chosen.

Every gift has its own price.

For seven hundred years, Jing Wu showed the most desperate expression he had ever had.

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