449: Chapter 448 Regaining the Undying Flowing Shadow

Hearing this, everyone followed Chu Xuan's gaze and looked at the soles of their feet.

Looking closely now, they finally noticed the abnormality, and their expressions changed in unison.

"What is this?"

"When did this appear?"

Everyone used various methods, trying to strip it away.

However, that ink-like darkness was like a layer of shadow attached to their feet; it couldn't be touched, nor could it be stripped away.

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly. He first went to Wu Wanqiu's side, the Fire of Nirvana igniting in his palm as he tried using [Nirvana Stripping].

A layer of pitch-black shadow was pulled out by Chu Xuan.

"It's working!" Wu Wanqiu said with joy.

Seeing this, the others also felt encouraged.

But in the next instant, the mass of black shadow in Chu Xuan's hand dissipated into nothingness.

And at Wu Wanqiu's feet, a mass of darkness appeared once again.

Everyone's hearts immediately sank to the bottom.

"It works, but not completely..."

Chu Xuan's eyes flashed with an unusual light. "It seems the Specter here is ready to let me leave, but it has no intention of letting you go. It wants to keep you all here."

Everyone's faces turned deathly pale.

At the same time, the black shadows beneath their feet began to spread upward, quickly covering their soles and continuing toward their ankles.

During this time, no matter how Chu Xuan stripped away those black shadows, they would reappear on the person in an instant.

By now, the black shadows had begun to slowly spread toward their calves.

"My feet aren't listening to me anymore..."

"It feels like being stuck in a quagmire..."

"We... are being eroded by the night!"

Whether it was because they couldn't leave or because the night's erosion was intensifying, the unease and fear in everyone's hearts began to grow.

Many began to feel despondent; some muttered gibberish, while others started to lament, giving up their will to live and simply sitting on the ground to wait for death.

Even Lin Liguo, who had reached Level 10 and was a man whose conviction was always incredibly firm, began to show a look of dejection.

"As time passes and negative emotions weigh heavier, the erosion by the night deepens," Chu Xuan murmured, frowning slightly. "If we had chosen to come to the rooftop from the very beginning, there might have been a chance to leave, but now it's becoming difficult..."

"What?"

Hearing Chu Xuan's words, everyone looked up at him, their faces filled with indignation as they began to complain to him.

"They're starting to lose their minds..."

Chu Xuan suddenly turned his head to look at Cai Hou and Fat Pig.

These two were being eroded by the night the fastest; their entire lower bodies were completely black, fangs were protruding from their mouths, and they glared at Chu Xuan with intense hatred.

"Why should you be able to leave while I have to stay here and wait for death!" Fat Pig and Cai Hou gritted their teeth, their faces turning a greenish-black, looking like monsters ready to devour someone.

Only a lingering shred of reason kept them from doing more than slowly closing in.

Time—only ten minutes remained.

By the looks of it, these people wouldn't last more than five minutes before completely losing their sanity.

"For these people, this is almost a certain-death mission. No wonder the mission penalty was 'None'..."

Chu Xuan raised his hand and delivered two slaps, sending the ill-intentioned, slowly approaching Cai Hou and Fat Pig flying.

"Speaking of which, for this mission, the first stage was nothing to me."

"But for the second stage, if I hadn't gone in with the assumption that I wasn't the Rule-Breaker, passing wouldn't have been easy. We might have even ended up killing each other—if five died first, the mission would have failed immediately..."

"And this third stage—if I hadn't had a previous experience, I might not have been able to figure out within the time limit that the exit was actually on the rooftop..."

Chu Xuan stepped onto the rooftop's parapet and looked down. The mountain steps below were clearly visible. He could leave at any moment if he wished.

He didn't look again at the people who were either complaining indignantly or weeping dejectedly like children. Instead, he looked around, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"I was just a bit away from dying here, but in the end, I won."

"In this mission, I already got what I wanted in the first stage—all my attributes reached 200. Even if the final clear rating isn't high, I'm satisfied."

"But you must kill all the remaining Challengers and sacrifice them to the Evil God of The Gloom to complete the ritual before you can occupy the castle..."

"You, in the end, are still a loser!"

The night grew deeper. In Chu Xuan's eyes, the surroundings, which had been dark but visible, began to grow blurry.

The others on the roof had stopped speaking. More than half of their bodies were completely black. They alternated between shivering and wailing or cursing.

Chu Xuan's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly, "Once I leave this place, I will immediately rank up and then come back for you!"

"I can sense the night cloak and the paper effigy; you can't escape! And the indestructible flowing shadow—these things belong to me, and I will definitely take them back!"

"I just wonder if you can grow stronger even faster in such a short time..."

The night twisted like rolling ink.

Chu Xuan continued, his calm words carrying a hint of faint mockery. "How pathetic. You've had your eye on me for a long time, and even followed me the whole way, yet you didn't dare to show your face from start to finish. You can only watch helplessly as I leave..."

After saying this, Chu Xuan prepared to jump down.

But then, he suddenly paused and turned back, looking at the people whose upper bodies had also completely turned pitch-black.

He curled his lips. "By the way, rather than letting them become your food, I might as well give them a quick end..."

The night twisted and rolled even more violently.

In one spot, an imperceptible dark vortex formed.

"Found you!"

Chu Xuan's gaze suddenly sharpened. He pointed at that vortex, and the fifty Slashes he had already condensed within his body poured out.

In an instant, the sound of clanging rang out everywhere!

The area had been empty, but as the Fire of Nirvana, carrying the Slashes, shot toward it, a tall black figure appeared out of thin air.

The figure's face was indiscernible, its entire body shrouded in a cloak. The darkness around it was particularly dense, forming a vortex.

As the Slashes roared in, a shrill scream echoed.

Almost simultaneously, something like liquid surged in front of it, and a pitch-black round shield appeared instantly, covering it and blocking most of the remaining Slashes.

Boom boom boom boom!!

The successive Slashes struck the same spot, instantly tearing a gap in the round shield.

Liquid seemed to surge at the rupture, about to heal it.

Bang!!

Chu Xuan had already arrived. Following the gap in the round shield, he threw a heavy punch, sending the tall figure behind it flying.

Remnants of the Fire of Nirvana still clung to its body, and a circular hole had appeared in its chest, its edges also covered in the Fire of Nirvana.

Ignoring the backlash he suffered, especially the sharp pain in his chest, Chu Xuan grabbed the cracked round shield as he withdrew his fist and snatched it back.

Once in Chu Xuan's hand, the round shield transformed into a demon-subduing pestle.

indestructible flowing shadow!