The villain, caught in a chaotic situation, only wants to boost his popularity.

Within the black mist, a pair of scarlet eyes slowly opened, and sand swirled around it, creating a storm that even made the air whistle.

[Real-world comment section] Upon seeing this, an analysis quickly began:

"I understand that the prison mirror knows it's a simulated illusion, but how did it find the core bomb?"

This brings us to the clever mathematical trick in the original work: finding the center point of the initial appearance of the two thousand demons! The core of the second-stage explosion is hidden at this center point, then it begins its pre-explosive animation; once the animation is complete, it will guide the lock-on to explode!

"I still prefer an intelligence-based character like Prisoner! In the original work, Prisoner directly withstood a single, undetectable nuclear bomb!"

"But is there really a solution for the third stage? In the original work, the Prison Mirror withstood a powerful attack head-on!"

"Just the sheer number of chains... I feel suffocated even through the screen!"

The Tower of Echoes, third floor [The Eyeless Floor].

A figure stands a hundred meters in the air.

Four golden chains wrapped around his body.

His eyes were bloodshot.

He was clad in golden eagle armor.

The feathered pheasant crown fluttered in the wind.

He held a golden spear, the tip of which was surrounded by quicksand that emitted a buzzing sound.

"[A scene of utter desolation]!"

A hoarse, broken voice emanated from beneath the golden eagle armor.

Then the chains binding him suddenly expanded.

The chain, as thick as a child's arm, instantly extended to several meters wide, and exploded outwards in a lotus shape from him!

Amidst the piercing, metallic clanging, the chains interlocked and connected.

In just three seconds, the entire sky above the blind spot was sealed off by an impenetrable grid, and even the sunlight was cut into fragments.

Below, Mu Jing and Xue Li stood side by side.

The next moment, the chains plummeted down like a collapsing sky!

In Mu Jing's perception, the entire world seemed to be completely sealed off by an impenetrable grid.

But he knew this was just an appetizer.

"Buzz... Rumble..."

Low-frequency vibrations penetrated the bone marrow through the air, and the chains swayed and slowly fell, like a group of butchers toying with their prey, deliberately prolonging the prelude to death, enjoying the prey's taut nerves in fear.

Mu Jing leaned close to Xue Li's ear, his warm breath brushing against her earlobe, and whispered something.

Xue Li snorted and didn't respond to him immediately.

She was still upset that Mu Jing hadn't explained things beforehand.

After a moment, she nodded very slightly.

However, the thin layer of sweat on her palms betrayed her inner worry.

Mu Jing used his silver knife to cut the thin rope between the two, and a cold light flashed from the blade.

He looked up at the dense cloud of demonic energy a hundred meters in the sky, his voice carrying a resolute sharpness:

"Then, this game concludes!"

"Crackling sound—"

The chains finally crashed to the ground, like countless giant steel pythons awakened from their trance, frantically burrowing into the desert, splashing up sand and creating a deafening roar.

Xue Li touched the ground with her toes and her figure darted into the gaps in the mesh chains like a butterfly.

But Mu Jing did the opposite—instead of dodging, he took a step in the direction the chain was falling and grabbed the chain that was emitting black energy with his bare hands!

The moment my fingertips touched the cold metal, a sharp, piercing pain shot through my veins and spread throughout my body.

Soon, spiderweb-like bluish spots appeared on the inside of his forearm, spreading rapidly like ink dripping into water.

In an instant, it spread all over his upper arms and thighs, and wisps of black mist seeped out from his pores, enveloping his entire body in a dark fog.

"60 seconds! That's enough!" Mu Jing's voice, shrouded in black mist, rang out, still as steady as if it had been tempered with ice.

Just then, the golden figure a hundred meters in the air suddenly moved!

Hold the golden spear horizontally in front of you!

Black energy, like countless thin snakes, emerged from the body and surged wildly into the gun!

The golden spear was completely swallowed by the black mist, but within the black fog, it outlined a dragon shape that was even more ferocious than its physical form. Hundreds of millions of black snakes swimming against the current coiled around the spear, hissing as they flicked their tongues.

It clenched its fingers, and five semi-transparent threads shot out from its fingertips, precisely piercing the tail of the suspended black spear.

"Pain that pierces to the very core!"

Its voice emanated from beneath the golden eagle armor, hoarse like a rusty saw blade scraping against an iron plate, utterly devoid of any human warmth.

As soon as he finished speaking, the black mist that was wrapped around the gun suddenly surged!

Within the dragon-shaped outline, the golden spear began to spin at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

The quicksand and black mist at the tip of the spear swirled together, emitting a sharp, piercing screech.

The next second, it lightly hooked its index finger.

The dragon-shaped black mist wrapped around the spear shot out like a cannonball, carrying the momentum to crush everything, and aimed directly at Mu Jing who was running wildly!

This is the final, devastating move of the third stage!

Mu Jing knew, of course, that once the [Ruined World] chains on the ground touched her, she would be marked by the [Blind Demon], and the blue spots would erode her entire body like ink, eventually leading to her death if they reached her heart.

Once marked, the [Pain Piercing the Heavens] sword in the sky comes with a built-in "headlock," making it impossible to escape its pursuit no matter how you try to dodge!

"11……10……"

Mu Jing's voice remained steady amidst the raging wind, as if he were reciting a narration unrelated to life or death.

But he knew that this was a death countdown etched into his very bones; the moment the second hand reached zero would be the end of him.

Behind him, a spear churning with black energy drew a ferocious arc in the air, its red tip almost licking the back of his neck.

[Real-world comment section] Frenzied spamming:

"Holy crap, this 'Pain Piercing the Heavens' aura is incredible! Just looking at that dragon-shaped outline churning with black energy, I feel like I'm about to be torn to shreds! How is Prison Mirror supposed to withstand this?"

"Dragon! The dragon is the symbol of emperors!"

"I have lost my beloved forever, and all I see is ruin!"

Stop with the jokes, bro! Our main character's shipping is in ten seconds!

"No, no! This death countdown isn't from the prison mirror! It's from this demon! Haven't you heard? The prison mirror starts counting, and the twist is coming!"

"Look! The prison mirror is about to show off its skills again!"

In this deadly predicament of being attacked from both sides—

Mu Jing abruptly stopped in his tracks and roared, "[Ice Lotus Flower • Spiral Staircase]!"

A purple ripple suddenly exploded beneath his feet.

A half-person-high ice lotus suddenly bloomed, its petals edged with a cold frost.

Transparent ice blocks continuously emerged from the center of the lotus, spiraling upwards layer by layer, instantly solidifying into a spiral-shaped ice pillar!

Unlike before, this icicle did not stop, but shot rapidly into the sky like an arrow released from a bow—

5 meters, 10 meters, 20 meters...

In just a few seconds, it pierced straight through the golden eagle armor, which was over a hundred meters high!

The dragon-shaped black mist below seemed to possess sentience, suddenly twisting its trajectory and drawing a ferocious upward arc, biting firmly towards Mu Jing's direction!

The golden figure, hundreds of meters in the air, suddenly looked down.

It wasn't until the Mirror of the Mu River shot right beneath it like an arrow that it suddenly realized something was wrong.

But it was too late!

Mu Jing had already transformed into a blur, crashing into its golden eagle armor at bullet speed!

It instinctively raised its foot to kick, but a clear, resonant sound suddenly rang out, and a blinding white light instantly tore through the black mist.

"【Deviation】!"

The moment Mu Jing sensed the rapidly approaching demonic energy, he used the force of the impact to push it away forcefully.

His psionic energy was immediately triggered, and the resulting reaction force sent him flying like a kite with a broken string.

But would that golden figure give up?

As the black energy surged, a black chain shot out like a venomous snake, almost wrapping around his ankle!

At that very moment—

"Crack—BOOM!!!"

The torrents of gold and black collided violently a hundred meters in the air, unleashing a deafening roar!

With a roar that was inhuman, the golden light was finally swallowed up by the black mist and dissipated into the sandstorm.

Just as the "Broken Arrow" was about to fall, his voice boomed again: "[Divergence]!"

A flash of white light, and he landed smoothly.

At the same time, the countless mesh chains collapsed rapidly like melting snow, turning into wisps of black smoke and dissipating into the air.

The spiderweb-like blue spots on his body faded away, and wisps of black mist dissipated, revealing his originally clean skin.

Just then, a wooden door engraved with ancient runes suddenly pierced through the void, revealing three large, blood-red characters on its lintel: Fourth Layer [Earless Layer].

The real-world comment section exploded again:

"Lock Mirror really mastered the mechanics this time! He managed to break the lock on [Pain Piercing the Soul] at the last moment, using the demon's own attack to counter-kill – that's called using their own weapon against them!"

"The key is teamwork with your aunt! If the ice pillar is too slow, it will be caught by [Scattered Blaze]; if it's too fast, it will crash into the demon ahead of time. The timing is more precise than a textbook!"

"Oh no, the production team is persecuting Xuehua again!"

"Abuse of China TV is back!"

"We suggest the production team rename it: 'NTR Night'!"

The scene abruptly shifts to the Sixth Holy Spirit Bureau, in the Director's Office.

"Chief, they... they're acting so strangely! They could be fighting back-to-back, why are they staring at each other?"

…………