The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

Lu Wenjun held the Divine Machine in one hand and smiled.

"—You'll have no choice but to settle things with me fair and square!"

Mad Spirit stood still, silently raising his twin blades.

He could no longer use the jump-face kill because he was clearly focused on Lü Wenjun, and Hisamitsu's orders prevented him from targeting Mingxiao. He possessed the power to cut through the wardrobe and leave the room, but his physical structure prevented him from doing so.

That's not his ability, that's not his role. If the pursuer flees in terror from the target, what's the point of the performance?

"As you wish, kid." Mad Spirit's voice was like a viper's hiss. "Let's play something exciting."

Magic spread around the mad spirit, forming a dark red bruise. The crimson hue seeped into the environment, turning the wooden floor into gray stone bricks, the ceiling into the night sky, and thick fog filled the air.

In a fleeting instant, the environment shifted, and the man-made sealed room became London under a foggy night. Deep within the fog, between the cracks in the bricks and tiles, hundreds of blood-red pupils lit up. A dense mass of vertical pupils covered every inch of space; if Lü Wenjun dared to open his eyes even for a moment, he would be instantly captured by terror!

The battlefield was compressed by magic, turning into a narrow, filthy alley. Lü Wenjun held his sword in one hand, but no flash of light was seen; instead, the whistling of the wind could be heard.

Kuang Ling stomped on the wall with both feet, like a gray hurricane sweeping across the battlefield. He attacked from both sides simultaneously, his left hand wielding a dagger to slash at Lü Wenjun's face, while his right hand aimed a knife straight for his heart.

Lu Wenjun took a step back, turning his head to dodge the feint attack, and used his left hand to parry Kuang Ling's dagger with his white blade. He instantly spun around and delivered a short-charged side kick. Kuang Ling used his agility to dodge to the side... but Lu Wenjun, who had anticipated this, countered with a leg strike, the vicious blow hitting Kuang Ling directly in the back of the knee.

After being struck, Kuang Ling swayed dramatically, twisting up and down like an invisible ghost. He leaned back and threw his dagger straight at Lü Wenjun's face. Lü Wenjun swung his white sword to deflect the dagger, then slashed down with the blade to block the vicious upward slash!

For a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate, then simultaneously leaped away. Kuang Ling fully utilized his speed advantage, leaping and bounding through the narrow alley, unleashing venomous strikes from all directions. Lu Wenjun, however, stood firm, his single arm and blade providing impenetrable defense. Despite his current blindness, his control of the battle was far superior to Kuang Ling's.

The strike came from above.

No need for a direct confrontation, just shift your position.

The stab came from behind.

Parry with a backhand knife, then counter with a slash to the opponent's throat.

Left side. Dodge. Right side. Block. Forward. Attack. The dark world is devoid of visuals, yet the trajectories of the strikes are clearly visible.

That was the feedback from the sound; the keen hearing developed during the long period of recuperation replaced the eyes at this moment, creating a pitch-black field of vision.

He could hear the sharp screech of blades cutting through the air, and feel Kuangling's slow breathing. He knew Kuangling was kicking towards the ceiling, about to unleash a dense pincer attack from above. The storm of attacks was imminent; even a single misstep would mean total defeat.

He judged the force, predicted the direction, found the optimal landing point, and then parried with his sword! Parried! Parried!

The short sword and dagger clashed at lightning speed, illuminating the misty night in an instant. He swung his wrist, unleashing 17 swift strikes in one fluid motion. His precise judgment thwarted every attack from the Mad Spirit, and the final strike pierced through the onslaught, aiming straight for the chest, causing the Mad Spirit to bounce back!

Mad Spirit silently descended backward, the wound on his chest healing with magic. Lu Wenjun's attacks were meaningless to him, yet the very fact that they had engaged in combat surprised the creator of fear.

"How is this possible..."

In terms of strength, he is undoubtedly superior at present. Due to his abundant magic power, he possesses endless stamina and has unparalleled mobility within the range of alternate classes. Both his arm strength and agility are already at the limit of humanoid life forms of his current level.

The story of Jack the Ripper is far more famous than that of Spring Legs. Even if the opponent used the Enhancement Technique to strengthen his physical abilities, he could only contend with him for a short time, and there was absolutely no possibility of him winning the battle.

But why is it that every time we face off, our attacks are blocked?

Why has the attack been so slow to achieve any results?

The opponent has lost his sight and an arm, so why is it that he seems to be the one at a disadvantage...?

"You can't understand it, can you?"

It must seem very strange from the other person's perspective.

Originally, he was nothing more than a child clinging to life in his bed. A powerless being destined to die from birth. How could he still wield a blade? How could he fight on equal footing with it?

—Wenjun, you must practice more.

—Because you are naturally frail and sickly, if you wish to live like others…

—Then we can only overcome it through hard work!

"Because I tried my best," said Lü Wenjun.

Because I tried my best.

Because I tried my best.

Struggling to dodge his father's fists. Struggling to toughen this fragile body. Running through deep mountains, struggling in mud, escaping the jaws of wild beasts. Uglyly struggling on the edge of negative numbers.

It took several years of hard work to finally reach the starting point of an ordinary person.

It took several more years of hard work to finally become who I am today!

Lu Wenjun stepped forward silently, brandishing his single-edged sword. He swung, swung, and swung again. He parried the blade, struck the hilt, and slashed at the Mad Spirit's wrist. White and gray flashes of light crisscrossed, yet the strikes from his human form were far more swift and powerful than the Mad Spirit's. He suppressed the attacks of the two daggers with only one hand and one sword, his fierce offensive like a storm, forcing the arrogant Mad Spirit back to the end of the alley.

Are you surprised? Confused? Incredible?

He spat out a mocking laugh through his teeth. The smile transformed into a scream from within.

"Don't get me wrong, you scum."

"—Your third-rate swordsmanship, which relies on bullying the weak, is no match for my ten years of hard work!!"

In that instant, Kuangling realized the truth.

It's a difference in skill level.

Lu Wenjun's swordsmanship was mediocre within the family, and could not be compared to geniuses like Versana.

Even so, it was a skill acquired after enduring arduous times. It was the culmination of suffering and the fruit of hard work. Even if it was mediocre compared to the pinnacle, it was certainly not something that those who bully the weak could attain. How could a phantom spirit that slaughters the weak with brute force and supernatural powers possibly surpass a human who fights for survival in skill?

Therefore, he could easily see through his moves. Therefore, he could easily block his attacks. Even if he lost his sight and an arm, he could still hold his own against him through memory and experience!

"I see."

Make a judgment, gather magic.

Engaging in close combat further would only bring humiliation. Since they've adopted such an arrogant demeanor, then shatter that pride with absolute power.

This is not a battle between warriors, but a struggle between mages. With magic and spells, they will plunge him back into the abyss of fear!

The mad spirit ceased its movements, crossing its twin swords before it. The wounds on its face lay exposed, absorbing the almost limitless magical energy within the haunted house. This overwhelming power nearly doubled its size. It burst forth, transforming into a chilling gray wind, leaving behind a dense array of deadly slashes in the misty night!

The slashes were too fast, as fast as phantoms! That terrifying speed, combined with the blade's deadly strike, formed a web of death; no phantom spirit of the heretical level could survive within this gray net. Even without spells or special abilities, pure speed and power could translate into absolute "death."

That attack had surpassed the limits of skill; even the most exquisite martial arts could not cross the chasm of the mortal realm. Therefore, Lü Wenjun unhesitatingly activated his divine enhancement, causing a blood-red sun to appear on his chest.

His reflexes improved once more; the Mad Spirit's slashes slowed in the dark world, forming a semi-transparent, sound-wave-like trajectory in his imagined vision. He leaped, charging into the air, and swung his blade towards the trajectory formed by the sound waves. Tense yet composed white sparks erupted amidst the raging storm!

Slash! Slash! Slash! The two fighters, leaping and clashing at high speed, had already become phantoms of gray and white. One moment they were on the ground, the next they were standing against a wall. The brilliance of their clashing blades flashed repeatedly in a matter of seconds, the aftershocks of their collisions slicing the walls and ground erratically, like invisible weasels dancing wildly in the mist!

In such a high-frequency exchange of blows, even breathing felt like a luxury. Yet, Lü Wenjun exhaled deeply, and not only that, he even laughed. He felt as if he had returned to the day he first boarded the train, the moment he first gained his transformation ability. Back then, his heart was also filled with such joy, fullness, and power, a feeling of freedom that allowed him to fight fiercely against powerful enemies, a feeling that coursed through his veins!

"That's all there is to it!!"

A sharp downward slash sent Kuang Ling's dagger flying from his hand. At that moment, Kuang Ling unleashed a backflip kick, simultaneously striking and knocking away Lü Wenjun's single-edged sword. Lü Wenjun, however, swung his arm out wide, grasping the giant sword formed from lies.

Hisamitsu's command, the will-o'-the-wisp at the start, the sealed trap. Three consecutive attacks brought three consecutive enhancements; the Giant Slayer had transformed into a massive, heavy sword. Lü Wenjun hurled the blade with all his might, like a wall of light slicing through the earth!

The stone bricks forming the alley shattered under the slash, and the ghastly blood-red pupils evaporated in the light. Mad Spirit instinctively realized the greatsword's power, but his speed was ultimately superior. He used the stones as footholds, leaping repeatedly to dodge the enemy's deadly attack at the last second—

However, in that instant, the sword light that the giant killer had transformed into vanished. What appeared before the clumsy, desperately dodging Kuang Ling was another pair of eerie blue eyes. The eyes of Lü Wenjun, who had leaped high into the air!

The giant sword sliced ​​through the air, sending shards of stone flying. The roaring sword light also disrupted the visual perception built up by hearing, causing Lü Wenjun to open his eyes.

He stared again at that terrifying face, and the illusion constructed by assimilation reappeared through observation. The battlefield transformed into the hospital ward of his memory; the Ripper donned the skin of a doctor, his limbs instantly weakened, his body trembled uncontrollably, and his heart felt as if it had plunged into an ice cave, his boiling blood instantly cooling. He was almost captured again, about to fall into the abyss of fear.

However, he clenched his fist, letting his fingertips dig deep into his palm. More familiar than the weakness was the stinging pain in his palm. That sensation appeared on his sickbed, in the deep mountains, under the fighting ring, and in every regretful dream. It was the feeling of countless times he clenched his fist in despair, a pain that had accompanied him since birth.

It is precisely because they cannot bear this sense of injustice that they move forward.

It is precisely because of the desire to overcome this pain that I was able to grasp the blade!

Without lingering by the hospital bed, Lü Wenjun rushed to the far end of the ward. He shattered the illusion and leaped forward, relentlessly pursuing the enemy. Fear was no longer in his eerie blue eyes, for he had clearly grasped reality.

"A creation as ephemeral as you could never be stronger than me!!"

The lightsaber had long since dissipated, its power reversing due to the balance of power. No giant-slayer's strength was needed; a mere blade was sufficient to deal with the murderer.

Lu Wenjun reached out as if plucking stars from the sky and grabbed the Twin Divine Machines that had been knocked away earlier. The Twin Divine Machines turned from white to black at his command, transforming into deadly weapons.

He met the fear head-on and swung his black blade. The divine strike pierced the mad spirit's chest, a single, deadly blow that sent it scattering into ashes with a shriek!

Chapter 102 Fallen Moon Burns the Stars

The mad spirit scattered into ashes, like a hideous mass of flesh thrown into a fire. It attempted to draw magic to regenerate, but this time the lacerated wounds were difficult to heal.

The divine mechanism that takes away life breaks the logic of the regeneration spell. Since the life force that has been taken away cannot be restored by magic, no amount of power can bring back death!

Lu Wenjun withdrew his sword and retreated, flexing his right hand back and forth. Perhaps because defeat was inevitable, the Mad Spirit's stripping spell was dispelled. The gray-clad monster slumped against the corner of the wall, its face, covered in wounds, melting like wax above its dissipating body.

"Congratulations on completing the game," it said. "Congratulations-on-completing---"

It emitted Cooper's voice, and judging from the reaction, it was probably pre-recorded audio. However, the sound was strangely drawn out, like a malfunctioning radio.

"The nightmare will continue." It suddenly changed its tone, "to award you a prize. Fear will never die."

Lu Wenjun frowned: "Can't afford to play anymore?"

The mad spirit forced a smile, its face simultaneously displaying respect and anger; the conflicting emotions made its appearance even more hideous. Lu Wenjun became alert; something was amiss, this wasn't the mad spirit's usual reaction.

"There are still targets to be observed, but the Mad Spirit is dead. The Mad Spirit should not have died, therefore the nightmare will never end. Execute welcome procedure. Logic error. Reset pursuit process. Logic error. Logic error error error error. Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations! No, no, no—"

Mad Spirit raised his half-melted face and gave a sincere smile: "Congratulations! Here's your prize! Here's your prize!!!"

It melted completely, like a turbid torrent merging into this mad and chaotic haunted house. The entire complex trembled, and countless cracks in the bricks and walls emitted crazed laughter.

Lu Wenjun braced himself against the wall, and after defeating the Mad Spirit, the environment transformed back into a guest room, with the sofa, wardrobe, and chandelier all converging towards him. As the floor suddenly tilted upwards and the ceiling slowly slumped down, the distorted room folded away amidst laughter, resembling a slowly closing mousetrap.

The doorway was now a triangular shape, and he saw the wardrobe blocking the door slide away. He hurriedly leaped out of the insane room. A mere second later, he heard a deafening crash; all the furniture inside had been crushed to dust. Mingxiao, seeing him emerge, grabbed him and pulled him away, asking, "What happened? Can't you handle that junk anymore?"

"No!" Lü Wenjun shook his head. "It doesn't seem like a deliberate design... This thing probably has a bug!"

"Huh? Can spells really have bugs?"

“Possibly,” Hisamitsu interjected. “I just gave him the order! People I charm usually go crazy.”

"Sister, what kind of ghostly thing are you?"

"His divine scheme is truly hellish!" Hisamitsu retorted, "A pseudo-immortal phantom used for a different level of difficulty! Facing the life-conversion attack of a plant god! I ask you, which kind-hearted person would consider this when designing a different level of spell?"

Lu Wenjun figured it out: "It was originally designed to be an undead that would forever hunt down its target... but Jiu Guang interrupted its pursuit, and my blade made it 'die'! From the perspective of the Mad Spirit, it didn't complete its mission at all, but the haunted house ruled that we won. These contradictions piled up and drove the entire haunted house spell crazy!"

"This thing is already crazy enough, I can't imagine what it would be like if it got any crazier!"

Mingxiao ducked to avoid the sudden blade, and the previously empty wall suddenly sprouted countless blades. The intersection in front of them twisted, shifting, copying, and turning like building blocks, causing the path ahead to increase exponentially, forming an almost endless series of forks.

The mad spirit's laughter echoed at the ends of those countless roads, the laughter spreading, overlapping, and expanding endlessly, as if every molecule in the air was screaming, the laughter deafening.

Lu Wenjun watched as the house numbers beside him changed. It started as 1101, then became 8, -10, -178263… The rapidly changing numbers blurred into streaks of light, like an overloaded slot machine. But a terrifying thought suddenly arose in his mind. He believed he was seeing every single number… every single house number…

Yes, the house number hasn't changed. The house number simply exists here for a limited time.

Behind that door lay an almost infinite space, and the mad spirit shattered the original order. Thus, the truth hidden within the haunted house was revealed: he was actually observing the simultaneous emergence of infinite possibilities, but his consciousness was insufficient to perceive reality, so he replaced it with "alteration"!

"—!"

Lu Wenjun stopped, leaning against the wall. As he began to speculate, an overwhelming amount of information overwhelmed him, nearly bursting his brain. He realized that every door in those countless branching paths presented the same scene, and now all those endless matters would be destroyed, just like the self-collapsed room before, becoming a rat trap that would capture and kill them all.

"My alchemy grades are terrible, please, someone tell me what this is." Hisamitsu looked slightly dazed. "I feel a little nauseous."

"That magician is a complete madman!!" Mingxiao cursed. "This isn't some haunted house; it's part of his True Transformation Spell! He squeezed out a piece of his divine realm and put it in the underworld to create this pseudo-infinite self-circulating box!"

"He performed brain surgery on himself?? Just to participate in some crappy scaring contest??" Hisamitsu exclaimed incredulously, "He's insane!"

"You just found out, sis?!"

Despite the inappropriate timing, Lü Wenjun felt an urge to applaud. After all, a person who can dedicate themselves to a cause they love, regardless of whether it is righteous or evil, deserves respect.

So he clapped and cursed at the same time: "Are we going to be killed by that idiot?"

"It can't be that bad... I still have one more spell chance to cover my weaknesses... Damn!"

Mingxiao narrowly dodged the snake's bite, which transformed into a snarling human head in mid-air before being kicked away by Lü Wenjun. He heard Mingxiao say, "Two options! I can use this avatar to send Wenjun away without a problem, and then ask the current Underworld King to handle it. The Underworld King is a mythical being; he can deal with this thing without any issues."

“That would be running away, so embarrassing! Bring out Plan B,” Hisamitsu said.

“Plan B is a bit…” Mingxiao hesitated, “…it involves writing self-criticisms and reports, which could cause diplomatic problems and be difficult to resolve. From a proper magician’s perspective, I don’t really recommend it…”

Numerous ghostly figures appeared at the crossroads ahead, but Lü Wenjun suddenly stopped and grabbed Mingxiao's shoulder.

Ignoring the impending crisis, he said to Mingxiao, "Senior, don't you think that magician is arrogant? He's using the guise of an entertainment facility to dig up our old wounds!"

Mingxiao nodded subconsciously.

“I agree! I think this shabby place is absolutely terrible, and I’m having a terrible time here! I’d be even more annoyed if I had to run away now!” Lü Wenjun shouted. “To hell with self-criticism and diplomacy! Let this self-important guy learn his lesson!”

Mingxiao's rabbit ears stood up, and she revealed a bright smile.