Change in the Battlefield

Anyone familiar with Chen Miemie would notice that tonight, he seemed much smarter than usual.

Whether it was his decisiveness in making choices or his ability to discern lies during conversations, he acted like a seasoned wise man.

In reality, Chen Miemie hadn't suddenly evolved.

It was just that after Origami joined the team, he carried an entire think tank with him.

They could whisper in Chen Miemie's ear, offering advice.

And now, the think tank had revealed itself.

Trial had been observing Chen Miemie, and the group of anomalies on Chen Miemie had also been observing Trial.

Mystics and anomalies were the same; before a battle, they would gather as much intelligence on the opponent as possible to formulate targeted tactics.

This was the first time Qinghua fully unleashed her porcelain-transformation ability in front of Chen Miemie.

The entire mirror world, as far as the eye could see right up to the horizon, transformed into an environment resembling a porcelain pool.

It didn't stop there.

Within the porcelain world, thick spider webs spawned among the porcelain trees and mountains. The whole world suddenly became misty, as if it had aged decades in an instant.

There was originally water in this world too. The water split into droplets, swirling to form a water curtain that enclosed the surroundings.

Trial also had a sense of smell, and it seemed to catch a whiff of an incredibly rich and tempting aroma of roast chicken.

Trial: ...

It knew Chen Miemie had tricks up his sleeve, but it never expected his trick was carrying a massive army with him.

Was he a sore loser? The trial was going perfectly fine, and now he was resorting to ganging up?

Chen Miemie chose to fight for two reasons.

One was that he wasn't afraid of death; even in the mirror world, his connection with Xiao Hong couldn't be severed.

The other was that the think tank at home, after a comprehensive discussion, concluded that they could win.

Through prolonged secret observation, Qinghua and the others had discovered that although Trial was a Danger Level 7 anomaly, one tier higher than them, it didn't seem particularly adept at combat.

The logic was simple.

If it could kill people through simple fighting and killing, why would Trial go to such great lengths to set up a trial? Furthermore, it wouldn't have been taken down ten years ago by a team led by four Mystery Level 6s.

Of course, not being adept at combat was relative. Anyone below Mystery Level 6 would hardly be qualified to fight Trial across two tiers.

Qinghua, Pure Water, and Red were all Mystery Level 6, and they possessed the immortality of anomalies.

The three of them combined were already stronger than Bishop Yi's former team.

The battle was bloody yet unpretentious.

Trial was a cluster of air ripples, formless and colorless, originally very difficult to locate.

But since Qinghua and the others chose to strike, they had prepared countermeasures.

Now the world was full of water droplets and spider webs.

Trial, this cluster of air ripples, was like someone wearing an invisibility cloak who had lime powder thrown over them, outlining its shape.

If Trial paused even slightly, it would be surrounded by the triple forces of porcelain transformation, water invasion, and spider webs.

It didn't dare to stop. In a one-versus-three scenario, it knew it couldn't withstand their combined erosion.

Trial wasn't without retaliation; its attack method was very straightforward.

It swiped at Qinghua's position.

The air around Qinghua shook like a piece of cloth, contorting Qinghua's body into a twisted shape. If it were a mystic, they would have been twisted into a pretzel and died a painful death.

After being attacked, Qinghua didn't resist or try to heal. She simply allowed herself to be torn apart, then walked out anew from another pile of porcelain.

Pure Water was even less afraid of Trial's attacks. In a one-on-one situation where they entered a state of mutual erosion and alienation, it wouldn't be a match. But now, Trial was running for its life. As for the shaking of airwaves, how could Pure Water, a puddle of water, be afraid of that?

This was an opportunity to besiege and kill a higher-tier existence. Pure Water, who loved hunting the strong, was so excited it was practically boiling.

Red was made of flesh and blood; she wouldn't take Trial's attacks head-on. Her strategy was to hide among the countless little spiders on the webs covering the world.

Like Pure Water, in a one-on-one fight against a higher-tier existence, Red might eventually be found and killed, but this wasn't one-on-one.

What gave Trial the biggest headache wasn't these three pursuers.

It was Loop, who stayed by Chen Miemie's side the whole time.

Loop's mystery level wasn't high enough, so she didn't attack Trial.

However, when Trial tried to execute a decapitation strike and ambush Chen Miemie, Loop cooperated with Origami to sense the incoming attack, pushing or moving Chen Miemie away.

The price was that Loop would often be twisted into a mass of flesh and blood.

But the next moment, a new Loop would appear to continue protecting him.

Occasionally, when Loop failed to seamlessly transition, a flock of roast chickens would jump out to take the hit.

Chen Miemie himself wasn't afraid of dying either. However, this was the tactic formulated by Qinghua and the others: not letting him expose his super immortality for now, and using Chen Miemie as bait to fish for the enemy.

Being protected so much created the illusion that Chen Miemie was afraid of being attacked. When Trial threw caution to the wind to assassinate or hijack him, that would be the moment to close the trap.

Trial fell into an absolute disadvantage.

This also matched the previous estimates made by Qinghua and the others.

Its lack of combat proficiency was one aspect; additionally, a large portion of its power was being used to maintain the operation of the entire trial. The trial wasn't something it could just stop at will; the extraction of its power was beyond its control.

Running away when you can't win is a very normal reaction.

However, the world inside the magic mirror wasn't particularly large.

At least for three Mystery Level 6 anomalies, the entire territory was within striking range.

In the end, everything went according to Qinghua and the others' plan.

Trial couldn't just wait to be worn down to death; it launched a desperate attack on Chen Miemie regardless of the cost.

Trial risked having half of its air ripples alienated, broke through the encirclement, killed Loop and Bobo, and finally arrived in front of Chen Miemie.

It wrapped its air body around Chen Miemie.

"Stop!" Trial's threat was highly effective, and all attacks ceased.

Although the attacks stopped, Trial's act of taking a hostage forced it to stop moving. Chen Miemie's surroundings were heavily encircled by the anomalies and their powers.

For the current Trial, there was a high probability it wouldn't be able to break out.

In this world, verbal sparring only happened before a fight; once hands were thrown, there was no room for useless chatter.

Trial had fallen right into the trap. After completing an airtight encirclement, Qinghua and the other two held absolutely nothing back, unleashing their fiercest attacks on the trapped Trial, acting completely indifferent as to whether the hostage would get hurt.

Facing such lethal attacks.

Power surged within Trial.

Just when everyone thought Trial was going to kill the hostage Chen Miemie in a mutually assured destruction.

Something entirely unexpected happened.

Trial tanked all the attacks head-on. The power it had gathered was actually used to protect Chen Miemie, whom it had wrapped up.

"You? Why would you..."

Trial lost its previously young voice and reverted to its original ancient, hoarse tone.

"Heh heh, your tactics are a bit immature. You aren't afraid of getting hurt, you just didn't expect them to strike so decisively."

Praise the Eternal Moon, I never intended to kill you. I couldn't possibly stand idly by and watch you get hurt right in front of me.