At the moment the ritual was completed, the remaining two statues simultaneously burst into intense light, and an enormous, majestic aura filled with a desire for destruction descended upon the plaza!

Everyone stood there, pale-faced, feeling a fear from the depths of their souls, as if facing a being from a higher level of evolution!

"Get out of the way!"

Chu Xiu shouted sternly, raising the Yin Wind Banner in his hand, and a powerful Yin Wind Blade shot out toward the suddenly appearing figure. However, the person merely extended a hand, and in the next moment, it was as if an invisible wall formed in front of him, causing the Yin Wind Blade to instantly disintegrate into pure energy upon impact!

This made Chu Xiu's expression extremely ugly.

At this moment, the figure had already leaped into the air, flying above the center statue of the plaza, greedily absorbing the long-stored pain energy within the statue!

As he absorbed the energy, his body rapidly grew, and the aura around him increased at an astonishing speed!

In the span of a single breath, he had grown to a height of five meters, revealing a demon body covered in ancient patterns, with muscles that looked like pieces of jet-black granite, and a dozen sharp, spider leg-like limbs extending from his dark back.

Once all the pain energy was absorbed, a King of Pain descended, striking fear into all the Trial Takers.

[Pain Incarnation (Leader)]

[Tier] Warrior Tier Level 1

[Attributes] Constitution 56.6, Spirit 20.8, Energy Level 124.68

[Skills] ???, ???, ???, Pain Curse (All pain sensations of the targeted creature will be amplified)

[Traits] ???, ???, ???

[Talent] ???, Pain Distortion (Any stimulation of pain within its Domain can trigger distortion; the lower the Spirit, the stronger the distortion), Sovereign of Pain (All pain within its Domain can be converted into its life force, and the distortions applied to itself will always be positive distortions)

The Nether Demon Eyes flashed, and the scanned panel left Chu Xiu completely numb.

A Leader of the Warrior Tier!!!

This was the first time he had seen a Leader-level creature. Chu Xiu didn't know how strong a Leader was, but one thing was certain: a Leader's strength far exceeded that of an Elite! Each one required a large number of Awakened to hunt down together, and no Awakened could single-handedly defeat a Leader of the same tier!

Not to mention that this Leader was also suppressing Chu Xiu by a large Realm!

The Pain Incarnation before him, with its terrifying three-dimensional attributes, was undoubtedly the strongest enemy Chu Xiu had encountered so far!

The displayed talents and skills of the entity only deepened the sense of despair!

Pain Distortion meant that if Chu Xiu got hit even once, it would be death! Conversely, any damage he inflicted on the Pain Incarnation would instead create positive distortions, continuously adding buff effects to it!

As for the Pain Curse, it was likely the skill of the Great Elder, the one that meant death for whoever it targeted.

In fact, at any moment, a large amount of pain is produced within the human body, from joint friction, cell inflammation, etc.

However, the human body secretes endorphins with pain-relieving effects, which is why we don't feel it.

This is also why those addicted to drugs experience extremely painful withdrawal symptoms once they run out of drugs, because the normal endorphin secretion function in their bodies has been destroyed, and without drugs, the full-body pain surfaces.

And the Pain Curse can amplify the body's sense of pain, making it impossible for endorphins to suppress, subsequently leading to distortion!

"There are still many hidden traits and talents."

"Is this the strength of a Leader..."

Gazing at the gigantic demon creature before him, Chu Xiu's expression was extremely grim.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xue and the others on the other side were completely in despair.

From assured victory to instant reversal of the situation, the enormous contrast shattered their will, even though they lacked the Nether Demon Eyes, they could still sense the overwhelming aura of the Pain Incarnation, so strong that they couldn't even muster the will to resist!

Chu Xiu moved unobtrusively near Jiang Xue.

"I'll hold it off in a moment, and you take the chance to use the escape artifact. It's your only chance to survive," Chu Xiu whispered.

Jiang Xue: "..."

She stared blankly at Chu Xiu. Even though she didn't utter a word, Chu Xiu understood her meaning.

You just want to steal my escape artifact, seeing as this trial is about to fail!

Thinking this, Jiang Xue felt even more hopeless.

Originally, there was still a chance to escape, but with Chu Xiu, the bandit, here, even escaping was impossible.

"I promised your sister, and I'm still thinking about the reward she mentioned," Chu Xiu persuaded.

"Moreover, it's your only chance now. Without my help holding it off, you wouldn't possibly have the opportunity to activate the escape artifact."

"As for me, you don't need to worry. Though the creature is powerful, I can last three hours, long enough to see the trial through to the end."

Jiang Xue was silent, and after a while, she looked up, her large eyes behind black-framed glasses staring at Chu Xiu with a quiet gaze.

"I'm not as smart as my sister, but I'm not stupid either..."

Chu Xiu pursed his lips, "It's up to you, but you'd better decide quickly. Once I can't hold that beast anymore, it'll be too late."

With that, Chu Xiu said nothing more, turning his gaze to the Pain Incarnation opposite him, which had already expended all the pain energy.

By now, his face had completely transformed into the visage of the pained man at the center of the statue, his pale green eyes watching Chu Xiu with a playful gaze.

"Why didn't you attack me while I was absorbing energy?" He spoke with a teasing tone.

"Because it's useless," Chu Xiu lifted his eyes indifferently, "Isn't that right, Wu Xiujie?"

"Oh?" A hint of surprise appeared on the face of the Pain Incarnation, "How did you know?"

His tone was unhurried, clearly aware that Chu Xiu was stalling for time, but he didn't care at all.

This was the confidence brought by absolute power.

"It's very simple," Chu Xiu began to analyze.

"Looking at it from the perspective of hindsight, the best strategy for us Trial Takers to clear this trial is to slowly gather information among the villagers, finding those who still retain some emotions and haven't been completely brainwashed by you without raising alarms, to gather intelligence."

"And as long as we grasp the key clue of 'destroying the statue to disrupt the ritual,' we can easily pass the trial. Although the three Elders are strong, if they split their forces, they would be defeated one by one. Even if they concentrated their defenses in one place, they would face attacks from all sides and be put in a very passive situation."

"Even if we failed at the end, we could safely return after reaching the time limit."

"Secondly, there's our chosen method, directly targeting the elite class of the village, focusing our forces for a surprise attack. Sixteen Trial Takers against the three Great Elders, the odds aren't low!"

Chu Xiu could handle one, Jiang Xue, after transformation, could handle another, and the remaining fourteen could easily encircle and kill the last Elder. Even considering the Guards, the Trial Takers had a significant chance.

"But you destroyed both of these methods!"

The mole had a very low sense of presence, so Chu Xiu hadn't found him, but looking back now, he played an extremely crucial role.

"When our investigation was at a standstill, you directly abducted the villagers to ignite conflicts and lured us to the altar, quickly attracting the village's defense forces' attention, making it impossible for us to investigate secretly anymore, forcing us to take risks."

"And when confronting the Elders, you further used a 'self-destruct' method to completely shatter everyone's will to fight, scattering our Trial Takers like birds and beasts, making it easy for you to hunt us down one by one!"

It had to be said, Wu Xiujie's performance was very successful. The effect of his body directly exploding was too shocking. Even Chu Xiu was scared into losing the will to fight. This wasn't his fault, facing such a terrifying ability where a point of the finger could cause the body to explode, who would dare to fight head-on?

Often, the outcome of a battle doesn't entirely depend on strength; the information disparity is also extremely important. Even a tiny bit of concealed information could make a world of difference in the battle's outcome.

Without Wu Xiujie, in the prison, those three Elders could have been directly overwhelmed and killed in one go because, as seen later, the actual defense of the three Elders was not outstanding.

Chu Xiu slowly figured this point out later and made various contingency plans, giving him the confidence to challenge the Great Elder. In fact, even if the Yin Ghost hadn't blocked the Great Elder, he had a backup plan, which he didn't get to use, as he smoothly killed the Great Elder.

Now, knowing the exact effect of the skills, Chu Xiu was even more aware that Chai San was entirely unable to resist, first because his finger was wounded, and second, because as a physical close combat profession, his Mental Attribute was not high.

If it were Chu Xiu, the effect of the Distortion would likely be greatly diminished.

This Warrior Tier elite's actual strength was far from as high as he initially imagined. In the real comparison of strengths, Chu Xiu turned out to be stronger, and quite a bit more so, which is why he killed so smoothly.

"Of course, this is also your flaw. When Chai San was hit, the distortion started from the wounded finger, not showing obvious distortion elsewhere. He was wounded and still held on for a long time, even managing to cut off his own hand to survive. But you, as an Awakened with no injuries, were instantly killed, although the effect was indeed shocking, on reflection, it doesn't make sense."

Chu Xiu's words made the "Wu Xiujie" opposite him reveal an appreciative look.

"I see. Human, I must admit you have a bit of cleverness."

"But that's it, in the face of true wisdom, it's far from enough."

"However, I admire your potential."

The Pain Incarnation stepped forward slowly, countless tormented souls swirling around his side, with sharp limbs at his back scraping continuously, producing a piercing sound.

"I can offer you an opportunity, the chance to become one of my followers."

"As long as you agree, I can let you leave safely, and you will become my emissary in the human world."

"Human, tell me your answer."

Chu Xiu was silent. He didn't immediately respond but glanced almost imperceptibly at Jiang Xue behind him and urged in a low voice, "Haven't decided yet?"

"I, I..." Jiang Xue was almost in tears, completely unsure of what to do and whether she should trust Chu Xiu.

No, to be precise, she was sure she shouldn't trust Chu Xiu, but she had no other choice now.

"If only sister could come out," Jiang Xue thought, trying to escape.

But she also knew that Jiang Yu had exhausted all the energy in her body and had fallen into a deep sleep.

Struggling for a long time, Jiang Xue lifted her eyes, her tear-filled almond eyes looking at Chu Xiu as if seeking a bit of comfort from him.

"Can you guarantee? Guarantee not to take my artifact?" she asked, trembling.

"I promise," Chu Xiu nodded solemnly.

"Alright! I believe you!"

Whether she was saying this to Chu Xiu or to herself, she didn't know. After speaking, Jiang Xue gritted her teeth, turned her wrist, and a peculiar black twenty-one-sided crystal appeared in her palm.

A faint spiritual light rose from the crystal, enveloping Jiang Xue, and her body gradually became more illusory.

Then Chu Xiu quickly reached out and snatched the crystal from Jiang Xue's hand.

"You!!! I knew it!!!" Jiang Xue stomped her feet anxiously.

Opposite, the Pain Incarnation clapped and laughed, having noticed Chu Xiu's little trick but deliberately not stopping it, just to watch this drama unfold.

However, at this moment, Chu Xiu smiled calmly at Jiang Xue, who was about to cry, "Don't worry, I won't take your things for free."

After quickly glancing at the attributes of the artifact, memorizing them, he turned his hand to put it away, replacing it with a sharp bone spear!

Chu Xiu's dark eyes fixed on the distant Pain Incarnation, saying word by word:

"As a return, I will lead you to complete the trial!"

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