What's wrong with this?

This seems perfectly fine from start to finish!

Drip blood, recognize master, bind the Formless Leaf!

This smooth little combo, what could possibly be wrong with it?

Jiang Ye almost blurted out "nothing's wrong."

But he understood how well Zhou Yuling understood him.

If he really said there was no problem, Zhou Yuling would likely become even more alarmed, even directly suspecting he had issues!

So, the acting master struck again. At the right moment, Jiang Ye's eyes revealed expressions of doubt and worry.

With just these expressions, he showed that he couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong either, then asked Zhou Yuling in return:

"What do you think is wrong?"

Zhou Yuling: "I can't quite say, it's just a vague feeling, a very uneasy premonition... Do you have this feeling too?"

Jiang Ye thought for a moment, then answered very seriously: "If you mean uneasy, I wouldn't go that far."

"I just feel that binding the Formless Leaf was too easy."

"Originally I thought this experiment would fail, so I had mentally prepared several alternative experimental plans."

"But looking at it now, the experimental plans I thought of don't seem necessary."

Of course, whether they'd be used depended on how others fared after binding the Formless Leaf.

If they only became Fake Clones, then he'd still need to find a way to trick them into a [clone kills clone] operation, thoroughly turning everyone into "one of his own."

But if they directly became his own people.

Then, that would save a lot of trouble!

Thinking this, Jiang Ye asked the mysterious strong player again: "Esteemed expert, do you feel anything is wrong?"

The mysterious strong player shook his head, but still displayed the caution of a researcher, adding: "After all, Jiang Ye's situation is different from others."

"You successfully binding the Formless Leaf is naturally a good thing."

"But for others, it might not be 100% successful;

there could still be some risks."

"However, correspondingly, the risk level should be less than 10%."

"With this 10% failure probability, using others for experiments shouldn't cause major issues."

Saying this, the mysterious strong player flashed away again.

The young man previously frozen into an Ice Sculpture had his little finger directly severed!

Within three seconds, the mysterious strong player flashed back to the treetop.

After thawing the little finger's frozen state, blood dripped onto another "Formless Leaf."

The young man, being frozen, showed no change in expression.

But Jiang Ye was basically certain—

He should have heard the same process in his mind.

And undoubtedly, he chose [Yes]!

And that "Formless Leaf" dripped with blood...

Originally, only the main body and non-leaf clones could sense that "Formless Leaf" was a clone.

And that "Formless Leaf" didn't contain a conscious clone awareness.

But it should have been right after the young man chose [Yes].

The clone consciousness within that "Formless Leaf" automatically awakened.

And also heard a prompt similar to before:

[Ding!]

[Player Lin Zhiyong chooses to recognize you as master, do you agree?]

[Yes/No?]

Jiang Ye naturally chose [Yes] without hesitation.

So, under everyone's gaze, that "Formless Leaf" shot down again, sinking into the Ice Sculpture young man's forehead.

Immediately after, the frozen effect automatically lifted.

The young man's face showed ecstatic joy, completely unable to hide it!

"It really worked! I also bound the 'Formless Leaf'!"

Two consecutive successful cases made the strong players present completely relax.

And Jiang Ye's clone that entered Lin Zhiyong's body...

Seeing the young man's consciousness remained intact, he initially thought binding the "Formless Leaf" only turned him into a Fake Clone.

But he soon discovered this situation wasn't quite the same as [Fake Clone].

Instead...

it was similar to Guiwen clone's [Nesting Inner Demons].

With just a thought, he could instantly take over this young man's body!

Like seizing the body!

Jiang Ye really wanted to test whether, after such body seizure, he could directly access the young man's memories.

But...

After all, there were still many strong players present who hadn't bound Formless Leaves.

He worried that if he experimented, someone might notice something suspicious.

So, he restrained his experimental urge, thinking it better to wait until everyone had bound "Formless Leaves"...

Then he could make a dazzling appearance as the "family head," giving everyone a unified surprise :)

Thinking this, Jiang Ye's gaze returned to the mysterious strong player.

The mysterious strong player seemed quite pleased too.

Under the entire Formless Tree, except for Zhou Yuling, everyone was quite happy.

"Then, let's continue!"

"As I said earlier, both leaf creation and leaf binding actions can proceed!"

"The next strong player to bind a Formless Leaf..."

The mysterious strong player scanned the crowd.

He originally intended to directly choose Zhou Yuling.

But among those strong players, one young man stepped forward proactively:

"If you don't mind, senior, let me go next?"

Others seeing this, all stepped forward to express their willingness.

The mysterious strong player smiled slightly, about to continue operations.

But Jiang Ye slowly stepped forward, adding a point:

"Although binding Formless Leaves to quickly open the Extreme Court session is our common goal..."

"All of you are distinguished strong players, you wouldn't take advantage of others, right?"

His words immediately displeased some strong players.

The one clearly leading everything was that mysterious strong player.

The mysterious strong player hadn't said anything yet...

How dare Jiang Ye, a newcomer, accuse them of "taking advantage"?

The key point was, how were they taking advantage?

Knowing what they were thinking, Jiang Ye addressed the mysterious strong player:

"Your leaf binding action looks simple enough."

"But my leaf creation action requires clone sacrifices."

"That means, generating each 'Formless Leaf' consumes 1 of my survival points..."

"Should you all, esteemed experts, let a newcomer like me bear these survival point costs?"

Actually, since they'd all be family anyway.

These strong players' survival points would already belong to Jiang Ye.

But the problem was, he currently couldn't afford that many survival points.

So he could only rely on family fundraising.

Moreover, if he really paid the survival points himself...

Given Zhou Yuling's understanding of him, she'd definitely notice something wrong!

He was doing this to eliminate Zhou Yuling's suspicions of him.

However, what Jiang Ye didn't know was...

His mere request for strong players to pay 1 survival point already made Zhou Yuling suspicious!

After all, based on Zhou Yuling's understanding of Jiang Ye...

Why didn't this kid take the opportunity to demand outrageous prices?

For one "Formless Leaf," he only charged 1 survival point?

Reasonably speaking, given his personality, shouldn't he charge 10 or even 100 survival points?

Moreover, these strong players, and this mysterious strong player, had just treated his clone like that...

Not only made his clone bleed, but tried to take Jiang Wenxing's inheritance from him!

Even their attitude toward him carried obvious contempt!

But when Jiang Ye reappeared, he never mentioned these matters.

He didn't even seem to care about these things at all!

Was this still the vengeful Jiang Ye?!

This was clearly not right!

Maybe other strong players thought Jiang Ye was insignificant and had no choice against their contempt.

But Zhou Yuling thought...

No way!

This kid is definitely preparing some major trick!

And one that would make people regret it to the extreme!

Zhou Yuling grew increasingly uneasy.

But she couldn't help comforting herself—

Just earlier, whether it was Jiang Wenxing or these strong players targeting Jiang Ye...

She, Zhou Yuling, hadn't participated in targeting Jiang Ye.

In fact, she'd even spoken up for Jiang Ye!

So...

This sinister trap...

Jiang Ye probably wouldn't include her... right?

Honestly, Zhou Yuling wasn't very confident.

After all, she hadn't targeted Jiang Ye just now.

But before entering the Court of Disorder, the two had had some minor unpleasantness...

Zhou Yuling took a deep breath, feeling somewhat weary.

The mysterious strong player directly expressed agreement with Jiang Ye's point, and supplemented it—

Anyone wanting to bind a Formless Leaf must first pay 2 survival points.

1 survival point to Jiang Ye, 1 survival point to the mysterious strong player.

As service fees.

If only Jiang Ye demanded survival points, these strong players might dare refuse.

But with that formidable mysterious strong player stating this...

And it being only 2 survival points.

The strong players present ultimately agreed.

And so—

One by one, strong players handed over 2 survival points.

Jiang Ye, receiving survival points, created a Puppet Clone, then bled the clone to produce "Formless Leaves."

The mysterious strong player handled helping others bind "Formless Leaves."

The entire process proceeded smoothly and orderly.

Until all strong players present, except the mysterious strong player and Zhou Yuling.

Had become one big happy family.

The mysterious strong player looked at Zhou Yuling, smiling:

"What is Sister Zhou still hesitating about?"

"..."

Zhou Yuling remained silent, glancing at all other bound "Formless Leaf" strong players.

She really couldn't spot anything wrong.

So, she curled her lips and also handed over 2 survival points.

"My turn..."

The next second, she was frozen into an Ice Sculpture.

The next second, a prompt sounded in her mind—

[Ding!]

[You are about to bind a Formless Leaf, do you agree?]

[Yes/No?]

This voice made Zhou Yuling's heart skip a beat!

She had also obtained a temporary identity before!

Like Jiang Ye earlier, she immediately thought of the prompt when getting the temporary identity...

For a moment, she couldn't help suspecting this prompt was problematic!

However, temporary identity was essentially a temporary privilege.

Like being a VIP customer at Mask Master's Shop.

Essentially, it provided benefits.

So...

She was probably overthinking it?

Binding the "Formless Leaf" should give her benefits.

Even though she felt vaguely fearful and reluctant.

At this point, Zhou Yuling had no way back.

Everyone else probably chose [Yes], allowing them to bind "Formless Leaves."

If she chose [No], who knew what would happen...

So, after some mental preparation.

Zhou Yuling ultimately chose: [Yes!]

The subsequent process was the same as others.

Zhou Yuling looked at her palms, checked her body.

Nothing unusual.

Moreover, that previous uneasy feeling completely disappeared!

As if her worries were unnecessary?

Thinking this, Zhou Yuling looked at the mysterious strong player.

After consideration, she proactively said: "Now, only you remain, senior."

"But your situation is somewhat special..."

"I could sever your frozen little finger for you..."

"But how to thaw the little finger to make it bleed?"

This question puzzled Jiang Ye too.

But he thought it probably wasn't a big issue.

After all, this idea was proposed by the mysterious strong player himself.

So he should have a solution.

Sure enough, the mysterious strong player glanced subtly toward Jiang Ye, then smiled at Zhou Yuling.

This smile was meaningful.

Then he explained:

"My situation is indeed special."

"This freezing method, only I can undo it."

"But if I'm frozen myself, I can't undo the little finger's frozen state..."

"However, I've long thought of a solution."

Saying this, he smiled at Jiang Ye:

"Doesn't Jiang Ye have the Clone Replica Mirror?"

"Using it to create a mirrored clone, I can easily perform the leaf binding action on myself :)"

"..."

At this point, not only Zhou Yuling felt something wrong.

Jiang Ye finally sensed something wrong too.

Yes, it was this mysterious strong player's smile that seemed off!

Borrowing the Clone Replica Mirror was fine, of course.

But this kind of smile...

Jiang Ye himself smiling was fine.

Seeing others smile like this felt inexplicably irritating, as if being schemed against.

He thought for a moment, then frowned and asked:

"Other than this, no other solutions? Can't you create clones yourself?"

The mysterious strong player shook his head: "I have methods to create clones, but my freezing technique is extremely special;

ordinary clones can't master it."

"..."

Fine.

Jiang Ye didn't want to waste time, not even bargaining, and let the mysterious strong player use a Clone Replica Mirror.

After all, barring accidents, everyone present was family.

No need to calculate so clearly with family.

The mysterious strong player didn't discuss payment either, directly using the Clone Replica Mirror to create a mirrored clone.

Thus, two mysterious strong players stood there.

However, he didn't proceed with leaf binding using the clone as stated.

Instead, he had that mirrored clone suddenly shoot a cold beam, straightly cutting Jiang Ye's cheek!

This scene shocked everyone present!

Even Jiang Ye himself was stunned!

Although his main body had merged with this form...

But to avoid detection, essentially, he hadn't used his main body to occupy this clone.

So this clone was essentially still a level 0 small Calamity.

Hence, he again couldn't dodge the mysterious strong player's sneak attack, bleeding again!

However, Jiang Ye wasn't panicked at all.

After all, bleeding meant nothing to him...

Moreover...

Right when he bled.

That mirrored clone that attacked him suddenly dispersed into light points!

Looking as if it had been Erased!

This scene startled everyone present.

The mysterious strong player, however, slightly narrowed his eyes, then smiled and explained as if nothing happened:

"Don't be nervous, I just... conducted another experiment."