Chapter 179: Dropping the Disguise

A crisp dragon's roar echoed through the underground cavern. In an instant, towering trees shot up from the ground, coalescing into a lifelike wooden dragon that roared toward the Soul-Devouring Beast.

The wooden dragon was much larger than the Soul-Devouring Beast. It opened its massive jaws to bite down; the Soul-Devouring Beast was not skilled in frontal combat, and its physical durability was average. If this strike landed, it would surely finish the beast off!

But just then, the Soul-Devouring Beast flapped the fleshy wings on its back, leaving an afterimage in place as it dodged the wooden dragon's fatal blow with dazzling speed.

Han Huizhen had no time to be shocked and hurriedly controlled the wooden dragon to strike at the Soul-Devouring Beast again. If she could just take down this beast, the illusions would naturally collapse.

Yet, just as the wooden dragon slammed toward the Soul-Devouring Beast, the creature's figure vanished into thin air. The wooden dragon lost its target and stood frozen in place, waiting for Han Huizhen's next command.

A sense of despair rose in Han Huizhen's heart. She knew clearly that the Soul-Devouring Beast's illusion had enveloped her again, which was why she could no longer see where it was.

It was too strong; a level 45 Soul-Devouring Beast was simply not something she could handle in her current state.

How could such a monster suddenly appear on the outskirts of the Crying Soul Secret Realm?

If this continued, their final outcome would be total annihilation, and even she, the safety officer, would die here.

Thinking of this, a look of resolve flashed in Han Huizhen's eyes. She raised her dagger once more and spoke in a deep voice.

"Intense pain can help you temporarily break free from the Soul-Devouring Beast's illusion. I'll count to three, two, one. We will use pain to break the illusion simultaneously, and then you must run immediately. Do you understand?"

"Senior, what about you?" Ji Lingyu couldn't help but ask.

"Don't worry, I have my own way to escape," Han Huizhen said with a smile.

At this point, escaping together was surely a pipe dream. Only if she, the highest-level safety officer, risked her life in a desperate fight would the others have a chance to survive.

Just as Han Huizhen prepared to fight to the death, all the illusions receded like a tide, as if they had never existed at all.

The Soul-Devouring Beast had come suddenly and left just as suddenly, leaving everyone completely bewildered.

One had to know that the Soul-Devouring Beast's hunting method was to first confuse its prey with illusions, and only after the prey was exhausted and unable to escape the illusion would it launch a sneak attack to kill and devour them.

They had already fallen into the illusion; there was no reason for the Soul-Devouring Beast to abandon prey that was already in its grasp.

Han Huizhen was stunned for a long while before she reacted from the shock. She hurriedly dragged her bleeding leg to check on the others in the squad.

Although Ji Lingyu and the others were injured, fortunately, they were only superficial wounds and nothing too serious.

The truly serious matter was that Ye Lin had disappeared! There was no trace of Ye Lin to be found anywhere nearby!

"Could it be... that he sacrificed his life to lure the Soul-Devouring Beast away?" Han Huizhen's heart trembled.

With the Soul-Devouring Beast and Ye Lin both gone, this was the only explanation!

"No! I have to go find him!"

Han Huizhen forced herself to stand up. As a safety officer, her duty was to protect the safety of the squad members.

Now that Ye Lin's life or death was unknown, she absolutely could not just wait here.

But she had a puncture wound in her leg, and she broke into a cold sweat from the pain the moment she stood up.

"Senior, don't be anxious! Why don't you see if you can find the big shots in the academy to help?" Ji Lingyu hurriedly asked.

He saw it clearly: whether he chased after them or Han Huizhen did, it would be of no help to Ye Lin and might even become a burden. They needed to find real experts.

"There's no way," Han Huizhen shook her head with a bitter expression. "Once the Crying Soul Secret Realm is closed, no one can open it before the time is up. The Dean and the others can't get in, which is why they let us second-year students serve as safety officers."

"We are still very far from the depths of the Crying Soul Secret Realm; why would a level 45 Soul-Devouring Beast appear here!" Han Huizhen grabbed her hair in self-reproach.

Ji Lingyu and the others fell silent.

Then, Ji Lingyu drew his sword with a look of determination.

"Senior, I'll go with you! Since the Dean and the others can't get in, we have to rely on ourselves!"

"Count me in!"

"I'm going too!"

Xu Yu and Lin Wenyu spoke up as well.

"You all..." Han Huizhen looked at them, somewhat surprised, and then her eyes also became firm. "Alright!"

Han Huizhen took out first-aid supplies, simply applied medicine and bandaged her wound, and stood up once more.

Just as they were about to set off to find Ye Lin, they suddenly felt their bodies stiffen, unable to move at all.

"What's going on? I can't move!" Ji Lingyu was shocked.

"Me too!" Xu Yu's expression turned ugly.

"Duan Ling! Is that you?" Han Huizhen quickly realized where the problem lay.

"You guys just stay here obediently. Leave finding Ye Lin to me."

Duan Ling had already woken up from her unconscious state. She rubbed her still-aching cheek and walked toward the deeper parts of the Crying Soul Secret Realm.

"No! Duan Ling, come back! We must discuss this; it's too dangerous for you to go alone!" Han Huizhen shouted to stop her.

"Dangerous? Don't worry, Senior Han. You should be worrying about other living things."

As soon as Duan Ling finished speaking, a pale green toxic gas spread from her body. Anything that came into contact with this gas, even hard rock, was corroded with a hissing sound.

This scene left Han Huizhen and the others dumbfounded. They had a premonition that if Duan Ling went all out, her lethality would be terrifying!

A poison-user's profession might have average one-on-one combat power, but for indiscriminate killing against many, it was absolutely the most terrifying of all professions.

"By the way, the poison on you will automatically wear off in three minutes. Don't come bothering me, otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't accidentally use the wrong poison next time."

Duan Ling left without looking back.

And just as Han Huizhen and the others were worried sick about Ye Lin, Ye Lin was currently excitedly dragging a Soul-Devouring Beast as he sprinted through the Crying Soul Secret Realm.

"Woohoo! I'm free!"

After shaking off Han Huizhen and her group, Ye Lin finally didn't have to pretend to be blind anymore. He felt like the Monkey King having just escaped from under Mount Wuzhi.

He tossed the level 45 Soul-Devouring Beast into the distance, much like a bully throwing a poor maiden he had just snatched onto a large bed.

Immediately after, a pair of brand-new eyeballs instantly grew back into Ye Lin's empty sockets. He raised two fingers, with his middle finger hooked over the second joint of his index finger.

"Soul-Devouring Beast, damn you, I'm back. This time, I'm definitely going to cut off your head! Get ready for the show! Domain Expansion: Infinite Airport!"