Anomaly

"Mercenary Tao, what exactly are you…?"

Even with the Sage’s composure, what he saw at this moment gave him a tremendous shock.

The Mind Island, which should have been small, had not been submerged and lost itself after the Mind Storm he triggered and the impact of the Collective Subconscious Ocean.

Instead, it began to undergo a bizarre transformation.

Cracks spread across Mercenary Tao’s Star Spirit Body like porcelain, and then a pitch-black aura began to seep out from within. That aura represented other consciousnesses.

An enormous number of consciousnesses were hidden within Mercenary Tao’s body.

And those consciousnesses did not belong to Mercenary Tao himself at all!

Then, under the Sage’s watchful gaze, the so-called Mind Island rapidly expanded at a visible rate, while unfamiliar consciousnesses began appearing throughout this world.

The space occupied by Mercenary Tao grew larger and larger, and the consciousnesses under his command grew increasingly powerful.

At last, a genuine pitch-black Mind Island actually appeared. Mercenary Tao stood upon it and roared at him.

The next moment, it was as though tens of thousands of consciousnesses roared at once.

In the Sage’s eyes, a consciousness resembling a Yin Ghost Dragon flew from that island and crashed violently into his consciousness body.

Although he was on the verge of becoming a Mythical Creature completely, becoming a new Mind Dragon, the impact still affected the Sage.

He nearly got knocked straight out of this Collective Subconscious Ocean.

But the more terrifying attack was not that. It came afterward.

Not far from the "sea region" where the two of them were, the Mind Islands gathered together like fireflies began to perish in clusters.

Terrifying power began spreading through the mental realm.

It was a resentment that seemed to emanate from the depths of the soul.

Released by a monster powerful enough to shake the world.

Almost instantly, the Sage was injured by the shockwave.

Meanwhile, Bai Cangshu stood upon the pitch-black island. Feeling that impact, which seemed intent on killing every living being, his mind shook violently.

He sensed the Consciousness Space cracking apart from the Sage’s attack, then realized that, in a sense, he had probably already lost control.

But power had its uses when controlled, and it also had its uses when out of control.

Bai Cangshu had plenty of experience losing control of his body. Rather than panicking, he was excited.

Because for the first time, he felt the terrifying intensity of the energy within his body!

Although it was not something he could wield alone, it was no exaggeration to say that the Inner Force Red Dust had unleashed when he returned from death, enough to freeze a thousand miles with one strike, was utterly insignificant compared to the power he possessed at this moment.

"Ha, haha~"

"Sage, since you want me to go mad, you’d better endure it properly!"

The next moment, Bai Cangshu’s Star Spirit Body turned completely black.

Boom!

The pitch-black Yin Ghost Dragon slammed into the Sage in the sky.

The Sage was currently enduring the shockwave of the Spirit World Evil Lord ravaging the Living World. Amid the chaos, he sensed countless consciousnesses rushing at him.

Like countless mad souls gnawing at him.

Those consciousnesses seeped into every opening, while every thought roared madly.

They did not want to die.

They should not have died.

If they had to die…

Then they would drag everyone down with them!

The Yin spirits of those innocent humans whom White Face had sacrificed and killed roared madly, endlessly crashing into the Sage’s powerful consciousness, seeking to take his place.

Resurrection, resurrection, resurrection!

This was the consciousness that remained after these Yin spirits had soaked in the Yellow Springs for who knew how long, after experiencing cycle after cycle of slaughtering one another and being resurrected.

The azure giant dragon the Sage had transformed into also kept writhing.

He had already abandoned the idea of attacking Mercenary Tao this way.

The Sage gave one last look at Mercenary Tao, who had likewise transformed into a pitch-black spirit body atop the black island. At this moment, he understood one thing.

He had made the wrong choice.

Mercenary Tao was a terrible match for him.

Not only was he difficult to hypnotize, but that intuition, sharp enough to be called "abnormal," was also his nemesis.

He possessed the ability to form contracts with anyone whose cognition he had altered. Such contracts did not manifest in written form.

Once a contract had effectively been formed, when he suffered a fatal injury, he could make the person contracted with him pay the price in his stead.

His Demonic Ability was inherently adept at passing the fake off as real and deceiving others’ perceptions. Combined with the Dreamer Sequence potion produced by the world of Lord of Mysteries, he was almost invincible in every mission world.

Most Reincarnators had contracts planted in them before they even learned of his abilities, and ultimately died helplessly in battle.

The rare Reincarnators who were difficult to influence would eventually be killed after he found a flaw in their abilities, since they could not kill him.

Battles between High-tier Reincarnators were battles of intelligence and rules.

In this field, he was exceptionally powerful.

But someone like Mercenary Tao should perhaps have been left for Tang Sanzang to deal with.

Frowning, the Sage gave Mercenary Tao’s abnormal mind one final look before withdrawing from the Collective Subconscious Ocean.

As his Star Spirit Body departed, he watched the frenzied consciousnesses, unable to find their target, rush back toward Mercenary Tao and open their mouths to bite him.

His gaze was cold. Just as he had expected, an ability that concealed so many consciousnesses and souls within one’s body was bound to be unstable and carry immense negative consequences.

Watching Mercenary Tao’s consciousness begin to be devoured, the Sage’s eyes shifted before he finally left completely.

Because of his ability, he was highly sensitive to factors such as coincidences and accidents.

For an ordinary person, it was perfectly normal for a battle plan to go wrong and for them to subconsciously pick an opponent with whom they had poor compatibility.

But for the Sage, such coincidences and accidents often held deeper meaning.

By now, Mercenary Tao possessed far too many abnormalities in his eyes.

Abnormal physical abilities, abnormal thinking abilities, an abnormal mind, and this abnormal "Strong Luck."

But unfortunately, no matter how unusual someone was, if they were too reckless before they had fully grown, they would inevitably encounter an enemy they could not handle and perish ahead of time.

"I will remember you, Mercenary Tao."

The Sage opened his eyes and found that his body had been completely frozen. The next moment, his body vanished and reappeared outside the ice.

The figure inside the ice had already become Short Hair, who had been severely injured and on the brink of death to begin with.

The poor fellow opened his eyes the instant he felt the cold. He only had time to transmit a single thought with Mental Power before being frozen to death within the ice.

The enormous block of ice flew into the black void on its momentum.

Hearing the voice beside her, Lilith panicked, and tears had already spilled from her eyes.

"Coward, run away~"

There was only helplessness and sorrow in Short Hair’s voice.

She had always disliked being called a coward by Loka and Short Hair, but from now on, there would never again be anyone who called her "coward" while protecting her.

Those two ordinary, unremarkable do-gooders were both dead…

Even though… they had done nothing.

Drip.

Large tears fell.

Fubuki turned around and saw the man in black priest robes standing behind them with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Run!"

Fubuki’s heart lurched. Using her psychic power with difficulty, she lifted Lilith and the unconscious Lily of the Three-Section Staff, throwing them both into the distance, but she no longer had the strength to fly herself.

Red Dust stood in the distance. Seeing the Sage break free, fear had already appeared in his eyes.

No… there’s no chance anymore. These two monsters… can’t be killed…

Red Dust gripped the Snow Drinker Blade so tightly that the hilt creaked.

The pitch-black Yin spirits standing all around them turned their heads at the same time in the next moment and looked toward the Sage.

The Sage’s gaze was cold as he watched Mercenary Tao continuously spew out all kinds of Yin spirits as though he were leaking air, then said,

"Has his consciousness already collapsed to the point where he cannot control a single Yin spirit within his body…?"

"What a pitiful way to die."

Tens of thousands of Yin spirits might be terrifying to others, but the Sage did not fear them.

Moo!

The black cursed spirit closest to Bai Cangshu suddenly threw back its head and shrieked. The next moment, accompanied by a bang—

Its body exploded violently.

Then came the next one.

Bang bang bang bang…

The Yin spirits exploded one after another, and terrifying spirit power began flowing back.

The huge figure wrapped inside the Cocoon of Greed suddenly moved.

"Phew~"

A massive breath came from within the Cocoon of Greed. Crimson mist emerged from the ice, and the next moment, the ice cracked apart and shattered with a bang.

The giant figure landed on the ground.

"Sage… how could those idiots I’ve killed who knows how many times possibly resist me…"