Temporary identities can be issued in large quantities;

Formless Leaves number nearly a hundred thousand;

So that permission identity that exploded out from Jiang Wenxing...

Could there be more than one of them?

In other words, as Zhou Yuling had just proposed —

A player who intentionally feigns death and slips into the "Taboo" does not necessarily lose the Privileged One identity.

But they would create an extra permission iron piece for the world outside the "Taboo"!

This is precisely the third clause described under the second effect of the Forbidden Body —

Death spits out a permission iron piece.

The reason that this rule, which already worked, was emphasized so strongly might lie here.

Meaning: as long as people keep faking their deaths...

they could continuously generate permission iron pieces of the Privileged One?!

Maybe there's even a pair of hands behind the scenes encouraging the proliferation of Privileged Ones?

Actually, this kind of guess echoes what Zhou Yuling had suspected when she heard the hint after bleeding onto the iron piece.

Only back then, Zhou Yuling and Jiang Ye thought —

That permission iron piece was bait thrown by Jiang Wenxing using a temporary identity.

The genuine permission identity, they believed, remained in Jiang Wenxing's hands.

But now it seems...

Even Jiang Wenxing's permission iron piece might have been merely "temporary"!

As long as a player who is a Privileged One dies, the world could gain another Privileged One iron piece...

And the original Privileged One player might not truly die!

Of course, actually obtaining the Privileged One identity is clearly not that simple.

At first, Zhou Yuling was trapped inside the formation, unable to move.

If not for the black iron chain, she still wouldn't have obtained the Forbidden Body.

So for others, even if they pick up a permission iron piece, it probably won't be easy to become a Privileged One... right?

Jiang Ye's first reaction was to speculate along these lines.

But then he reconsidered and felt something was off.

That mysterious strong player—if he risked everything to get that permission iron piece...

and later agreed in the trade to take only that iron piece,

then could he become a Privileged One without the iron chain?

For a moment, a thousand thoughts flashed through Jiang Ye's mind.

Zhou Yuling felt the same.

Suddenly her face went pale as if she had realized something.

When she turned to look at Jiang Ye, Jiang Ye smiled at her with that "friendly" expression again.

In that instant, Zhou Yuling's mouth twitched, but her expression eased slightly, as if resigned.

Seeing her like that, Jiang Ye spoke candidly:

"Looks like we thought the same thing again—"

"You used up that permission iron piece..."

"But our deal with the mysterious strong player still needs one more permission iron piece."

"And according to our speculation—"

"Active death allows one to actively resurrect within the 'Taboo.'"

"The place where you die can also spit out another permission iron piece."

"If that's so, why don't you just fake your death?"

"One, you could create a new permission iron piece for me..."

"Two, entering the so-called 'Taboo' might let us learn more."

"For example, what exactly is this 'Taboo'? Is Jiang Wenxing also in there?"

"Either way, it's killing two birds with one stone."

Zhou Yuling cursed inwardly: Yeah, great for you!

Who knew whether she could even escape that so-called "Taboo"!

And keeping the Privileged One identity after faking death was only her guess!

What if she didn't keep it?

A power as awesome as that, Zhou Yuling truly did not want to give it up!

But...

No matter how exasperated and helpless she felt...

Zhou Yuling knew she had no room left to bargain...

Still, she tried to gain one point for herself:

"Aren't you really afraid I'll be trapped dead inside the 'Taboo' and never come back?"

That question wasn't because Zhou Yuling fancied that Jiang Ye cared for her.

It was because she felt she mattered in exploring the Court of Disorder.

If she really got stuck in the "Taboo" and couldn't return, Jiang Ye would lose a major helper!

Sure enough, Jiang Ye hesitated slightly.

But soon he asked meaningfully:

"Do you think Jiang Wenxing died passively or actively?"

Zhou Yuling thought for a moment and without much hesitation answered: "As a Reincarnator, I find it hard to believe he died so easily..."

That is, she believed Jiang Wenxing had actively faked his death.

Jiang Ye smiled: "I thought so too."

"Moreover, Jiang Wenxing faked death decisively."

"No matter how arrogant he looked, when it came to life and death, he was probably very cautious."

"If he could resolutely fake his own death in danger..."

"I infer that active resurrection inside the 'Taboo' should not be difficult."

"And you have an SSS-level Ultimate Ability, Free Movement;

you could likely return instantly to beneath the Formless Tree."

Yes—beneath the Formless Tree.

From the fact Jiang Wenxing couldn't chase into the Time-Stop Prison, it's clear —

His Free Movement cannot reach the Time-Stop Prison.

So Reverse Summoning naturally can't grab people inside the prison either.

Thinking now, when Jiang Wenxing realized the Time-Stop Prison had slipped out of control, he probably grew cautious and prepared to fake his death.

Those black gourds and the black iron chain he left behind deliberately...

Jiang Ye looked at Zhou Yuling.

That iron chain, after the massive formation vanished, had fused into Zhou Yuling's body.

But she seemed to feel no discomfort.

Jiang Ye wanted to see whether the chain would explode out when Zhou Yuling died.

If it inevitably exploded, then maybe it wasn't Jiang Wenxing's deliberate trap.

But if it didn't inevitably explode...

then the Zhou Yuling Jiang Ye had used as a lab rat still had a hidden bomb inside.

Because of that bomb, Jiang Ye would need to be more cautious about seizing Zhou Yuling's body.

With that in mind, Jiang Ye looked again at Zhou Yuling.

Zhou Yuling sighed and glanced at the prison: "Then release me from the prison first."

"After all, inside that prison I can't even 'actively die.'"

Jiang Ye nodded slightly, then used clone swapping to send Zhou Yuling out of the prison.

Outside the prison, beneath the Formless Tree, many of Jiang Ye's backups stood ready to receive her.

Actually Jiang Ye remained curious —

Which judgement of "death" triggers first: the Forbidden Body's determination of death, or the effect for clone kills clone?

In the past Jiang Ye had been confident that clone-kills-clone would trigger first.

But this time he had a sense that things might be different...

Of course curiosity aside,

it was obviously impossible to run an experiment for this curiosity right now.

Not to mention that turning Zhou Yuling into a real clone would erase her memory.

Also, the effect that binds someone inside the "Taboo" makes passively dying Zhou Yuling only resurrect on Rebirth Day.

That would be far too inconvenient!

So they'll wait for a later time when Privileged One iron pieces are abundant to test with other people.

At that moment Jiang Ye had made up his mind and gave Zhou Yuling a look.

Or rather, all the Jiang Yes present gave her hundreds of looks...

Zhou Yuling felt so pricked by those gazes that she nearly crawled out of her skin.

In that instant she even wanted to use Free Movement and run on the spot!

The moment she left the prison she felt it —

The abilities listed on the data panel were all usable!

The most tempting was the SSS-level Ultimate Ability Free Movement!

She clearly felt —

With a single thought she could escape Jiang Ye, even escape this Formless Domain!

She could go anywhere there was a person!

Even, if not people...

wherever there were monsters, she could use them as escape points!

But...

She had already pledged herself to the Formless Leaf;

escaping would be pointless!

Of course a fleeting thought crossed Zhou Yuling's mind —

Was it possible that the moment she left the Formless Domain, the Formless Leaf hidden inside her would self-destruct?

But that possibility was slim.

It was clearly wishful thinking...

Zhou Yuling sighed slowly.

Jiang Ye added one more reminder: "Come back as quickly as possible after you resurrect. Don't waste time exploring the 'Taboo.'"

Zhou Yuling nodded;

she knew that well.

Having decided, she directly attempted the second effect of the Forbidden Body.

Jiang Ye had thought she might have to stab herself to die.

In reality, no.

The unique effect granted by the Forbidden Body allowed this Privileged One, Zhou Yuling, to die on the spot with a single thought.

And...

Jiang Ye saw with his own eyes —

The moment Zhou Yuling actively died...

her body turned into points of light!

It looked as if she had been erased!

That image caused the hundreds of Jiang Yes, hundreds of pairs of eyes, to go utterly silent.

Of course the Observer clones were paying attention too.

However...

After the points of light scattered, the place where Zhou Yuling had died produced only one permission iron piece!

There was no miniature black chain popping out at all!!

So...

Jiang Ye pondered.

He had earlier thought that if the chain didn't appear it must have been a trap Jiang Wenxing set.

But thinking deeper now, he felt —

The chain had been hidden under the pitch-black ground at that time.

It even seemed like a plot point Jiang Wenxing planted quietly when he destroyed his clay figure.

So that thing might not necessarily have been a trap after all.

Could it be that Jiang Wenxing didn't expect Jiang Ye to discover the chain?

After all, without the Observer clone, he really wouldn't have found it.

So the chain buried there might have been aimed at the Formless Tree?

But why would a chain targeting the Formless Tree affect that formation?

Was the formation truly generated by the extremely special Privileged One permission identity?

Or... did it rely on the prison to exist?

Somewhere in the depths, Jiang Ye even suspected that those permission iron pieces that could be mass-produced might be connected somehow to the Formless Leaves.

Privileged One...

If Privileged Ones can really be mass-produced, is there an upper limit to their number?

And if many Privileged Ones are generated...

then the "Taboo" might imprison large numbers of Privileged Ones who can only resurrect on Rebirth Day.

What would those Privileged Ones who resurrect en masse on Rebirth Day be used for?

Jiang Ye's mind immediately jumped to sacrifices.

He couldn't help but worry whether he had already fallen into a trap set by Jiang Wenxing or someone else, becoming a sacrifice along their reincarnation path?

But he quickly comforted himself.

No big deal.

Even if it was a trap, and Zhou Yuling became the sacrifice, what did that have to do with Jiang Ye...

With that thought Jiang Ye's eyes brightened with sudden delight!

He saw Zhou Yuling, who had just turned into points of light...

appear abruptly at his side again!

Whoa...

That speed! Fast as lightning!

Jiang Ye raised an eyebrow, about to ask.

But Zhou Yuling seemed to know what he'd ask and answered preemptively:

"The resurrection inside the 'Taboo' doesn't resurrect you at the place of your active death."

"But resurrects you somewhere within the 'Taboo'!"

"And..."

Zhou Yuling's expression grew serious and her breathing quickened as she said:

"The moment I resurrected, a prompt popped up and let me self-select a permission identity..."

"A huge range of permission identities—any I wanted!"

Her voice trembled with excitement as she spoke.

Seeing Jiang Ye's expression...

she quickly guessed: "You experienced self-selecting permission identities too?"

"So you chose the Nomadic Merchant identity?"

Jiang Ye nodded calmly.

Zhou Yuling had missed that information when she was seized.

But it wasn't hard to guess.

And based on what she revealed now...

"So the active resurrection effect also lets you rechoose a permission identity..."

"What did you choose?"

Zhou Yuling did not hesitate: "To be cautious, of course I chose the Nomadic Merchant."

"And fortunately I chose the Nomadic Merchant..."

"Because later I discovered that the resurrected me didn't immediately leave the 'Taboo.'"

"I only managed to leave because the Nomadic Merchant's SSS-level Free Movement allowed me to get out."

"If I'd chosen another identity..."

Zhou Yuling shuddered at the thought.

Jiang Ye understood her meaning, but couldn't suppress his confusion: "If you chose the wrong identity, couldn't you die again and use active resurrection to reselect?"

Zhou Yuling shook her head solemnly: "No."

"Although you asked me to come back quickly and not explore the Taboo, I still tried—"

"In the Taboo I seemed... unable to die!"

Unable to die...

Unable to die meant unable to resurrect, and thus unable to reselect a permission identity...

If she truly had chosen the wrong identity, she might indeed be trapped inside the "Taboo" and never get out.

But...

No!

Jiang Ye suddenly had a thought and his pupils snapped wide:

"If the SSS-level Free Movement is the only way to leave the 'Taboo'..."

"Then although resurrection seems to give you many identities to choose from..."

"Only the Nomadic Merchant might actually allow you to escape!"

"Otherwise you'd be stuck dead in the 'Taboo'!"

If that were the case, why would the Privileged One allow so many identities to be chosen?

That would effectively force you to pick only the Nomadic Merchant, wouldn't it?

Or...

Besides resurrection, maybe there are other ways to reselect a permission identity?

Or maybe within the 'Taboo' there are other means besides Free Movement to leave?

As Jiang Ye thought this, Zhou Yuling explained directly —

"The 'Taboo' apparently has other exit methods besides Free Movement."

Jiang Ye detected a subtle tone in her voice.

Sure enough, she went on plainly:

"If my perception was not mistaken..."

"The 'Taboo' seems to be the Mist!"

"So if there's a Mist Train, it should be able to leave as well."

As soon as she said that, Zhou Yuling and Jiang Ye exchanged a look.