Chapter 334 This Can’t Be Right?!!

The rapidly depleting golden liquid in the bracer’s crystal instantly snapped Black to full alertness.

He swiftly drew another backup sixth-level mind protection witch artifact from his bosom—a bone pendant engraved with thorn patterns.

Spiritual force surged in; the pendant emitted a pale halo, instantly erecting a second “Thorn Mind Barrier” over his body.

With this added insurance, Black dared observe his surroundings more carefully.

He noted not all wizards had fallen.

About twenty to thirty remained lucid like him, clearly employing high-level protections.

However, lacking his ability to dilute presence and hide, they faced frenzied assaults from masses of tentacles.

These awake wizards had spontaneously clustered, wizardry lights flashing ceaselessly, repelling tentacles and attempting meat wall attacks to find escape.

“Good, not the worst yet. If these mains hold the line, break this ‘cage’ together, then rescue the illusion-trapped…”

Hope just rising in Black, mutation struck!

The wizards’ counterattacks seemingly enraged the beast or caused sufficient pain; the entire vast cavity violently shuddered, emitting a low yet piercing buzz.

This buzz wasn’t mere sound but a soul-direct roar!

Crack!

Another crystal-clear, soul-perceived shatter!

Black’s pupils contracted; incredulously, the newly raised “Thorn Mind Barrier” shattered like fragile glass, dissipating.

The bone pendant’s glow instantly dimmed, surface runes falling silent.

“…This power?!”

Waves crashed in Black’s heart.

Another sixth-level protection crushed so easily?

The beast’s casual roar held mental impact absolutely at seventh-level!

He sharply glanced at his left wrist again.

The “Mind Barrier Bracer” still emitted stable, gentle halo, faithfully performing its duty.

Though fluid Aging Gold depletion was alarming, it hadn’t bottomed instantly—still resisting omnipresent illusion erosion.

This stark contrast sparked momentary self-doubt: “Am I… in deeper illusion? This bracer still working—is that the hallucination?”

Reality allowed no overthinking.

The energy ripple from the second barrier’s shatter, though faint, drew nearby tentacles’ attention.

Like sharks scenting blood, they writhed probing Black’s prior position.

Fortunately, “presence dilution” lingered.

Tentacles scratched blankly at empty air, failing precise location, then sulkily retracted, rejoining “fishing” prominent targets.

But other lucid wizards weren’t so lucky.

The beast’s “soul roar” was indiscriminate area attack; their orderly formation instantly chaos!

Many protections shattered on impact; eyes turned bewildered yet blissful, smiling as tentacles coiled and dragged them away.

Worse, those barely enduring, protections not fully broken—their attacks turned erratic.

Bombarding empty spots wildly at times, ruthlessly striking allies at others!

Black clearly saw one wizard suddenly scream in terror, as if beholding extreme horror.

His protection wizardry flared blindingly; then, a bone-deep gash inexplicably tore his arm, blood gushing.

As if some invisible monster assaulted him.

Another wizard maniacally charged an empty area, slamming bodily into “invisible walls.”

Yet that void seemed truly solid; each impact cracked bones, spewed blood—he remained oblivious, face ecstatic!

“Blurring reality-illusion… intel’s ‘fuzzy boundary between real and illusory’—this is it!” Black instantly comprehended, chills racing from spine to crown.

Illusions here weren’t mere mental deception!

If the victim “believed” the illusion, their body manifested corresponding real harm!

That soul roar not only destroyed many protections but dragged barely holding wizards into deeper illusions!

Black forced rapid calm.

He first cast several common soul-system tricks, cross-verifying perception reliability—confirming high probability of true cognition.

Then, gaze returned to the bracer, mentally calculating based on Aging Gold depletion.

Results sank his heart.

“At this rate… bracer’s Aging Gold lasts five days max!”

Combining Jie Ming’s data and two sixth-level artifacts’ instant destruction, Black concluded: inside this beast, constant sixth-level high-tier illusion and mental interference field permeated!

Stimulus triggered instant seventh-level terror bursts!

Good news: the beast seemed intent on “farming” prey, not instant kills—reserving as food or energy.

Bad news: trapped here was certain death; escape solution urgent.

Fortunately, core-hunting was soul-system wizards’ forte!

Black converged all aura, maximizing “presence dilution.”

Like an invisible specter, he reverse-traced the beast’s vast, complex energy veins.

Surprisingly smooth—no combat en route; he easily followed veins to the core.

Finally, prying open a concealed barrier like two black carapaces clamped shut, he entered a relatively narrow cavity.

Cavity center: a peculiar creature floated.

Modest size, about human height—main body a semi-transparent purple jellyfish, extending dozens octopus-like tentacles with suckers.

It radiated reality-distorting intense mental fluctuations—the entire beast illusion field’s source!

This purple creature clearly hadn’t anticipated unannounced core intrusion; its encircling dozens of eyes seemed stunned, unable to fathom why outer layered illusion defenses and mental misdirections utterly failed.

But instinct reacted; dozens tentacles wildly danced, cavity’s dense mental energy instantly mobilized and converged!

Black’s heart tightened; subconsciously preparing another backup.

Yet anticipated earth-shaking mental assault never came.

In his view, the purple creature futilely flailed tentacles; surrounding energy violently fluctuated—no substantive attack landed.

Eyes and dozens met; both momentarily bewildered in standoff.

Black instantly sensed wrong; no hesitation—soul force like invisible hand lunged, easily seizing the mere fourth-level purple creature’s soul core.

For a fourth-level soul wizard, controlling such was child’s play.

He deftly searched its soul memories.

Moments later, he released, face filled with lingering fear and extreme shock.

From memories, he learned his journey’s peril!

Unlike his experience, veins were layered in illusions, paths twisted, invisible mental guides subconsciously ignoring correct directions.

Those “ignored” energy vein nodes each held sixth-level wizard-felling lifelike illusions.

Cavity passage entrances guarded by near-real phantoms.

Countless subtle mental guides like subconscious hints diverted intruders from true paths…

And earlier, the purple creature’s final tentacle flail wasn’t bluff.

It mobilized all symbiotic beast energy, instantly erecting and releasing near seventh-level high-tier illusion attack—enough to shred or permanently trap any sixth-level intruder’s mind!

But to Black, its desperate resistance seemed pantomime.

Black sharply glanced at his left wrist again.

Indeed, bracer crystal’s fluid Aging Gold silently plummeted over half in those “uneventful” seconds!

The purple creature’s sixth-level-killing terror illusion—upon touching Black—was forcibly “consumed” by the bracer!

Black himself felt near nothing beyond depletion!

This… this right?

This can’t be right?!

Black inwardly roared madly.

He wasn’t foolish; now fully understood.

The vast cognitive gap with the purple creature, ignoring deadly traps as nothing—all because this unassuming wrist bracer bore every illusion-layer attack!

But… could a second-level wizard truly craft this?!

Effects, performance, bottomless protection potential… utterly subverted his alchemical artifact cognition!