Chapter 648: Relics and the Gazing Moon Hall

Haley ultimately lacked the courage to launch a counterattack in Luo De’s arms.

The overly pleasant scent emanating from Luo De left her dazed, nearly stumbling—let alone formulating any counterplan.

After a brief calming of the burning slave mark.

The two continued forward, hands clasped.

Walk in any direction—it would all lead to the center eventually.

“There are three relics: the Pale Eye, the False Blood, and the Silent Crown.”

They strolled through a forest choked with pale-white mist.

Bored out of her mind.

To calm her inner restlessness, Haley began explaining to Luo De the locations of the relics within the labyrinth.

“They’re located in the Gazing Moon Hall, between the Blood Pool, and on the Throne of Silence. Of course, their positions are randomized too.”

“Are we going to look for them now?”

Luo De replied offhandedly.

He scanned the trees within the labyrinth—dry, grotesque.

Seeing their lifeless state, as a forest warden, it annoyed him.

Fortunately, he no longer needed to manually apply nutrient solution—a crude method.

Simply switching the [Child of Nature]’s natural phase to “Sprout State” would nourish the trees, even yielding better results.

“No.”

Haley didn’t know why.

Suddenly, the surrounding trees felt gentler to her—no longer so cold and malevolent.

She continued: “Though each relic’s location presents some challenge, overall they’re quite simple—I could easily retrieve any one alone. In the end, everyone will converge at the ruined altar in the center.”

“So the trial’s main event is the mass slaughter at the central altar.”

“You could say that—but we must still watch out for the demons that occasionally burst from the labyrinth.”

As she spoke,

Haley’s staff fired a magic missile.

The missile skillfully passed between two dead trees, severing a strip of flesh hidden in the underbrush.

Luo De looked.

It wasn’t ordinary flesh—the exposed crimson tendons and muscles connected at both ends to two eyeballs, thick with blood vessels, writhing on the ground.

“Throat-Strangling Ambushers—a type of demon that primarily uses Eye-Mage beams. They sometimes disguise themselves as vines, waiting to drop and strangle throats. Beware their [Fear Beam].”

No sooner had Haley finished speaking,

The two eyeballs on the ground clicked, and an invisible magical force struck Luo De.

Of course,

Such a weakling couldn’t even trigger a system alert against Luo De’s extremely high mental resistance.

The pupils of the eyes contracted.

Luo De crushed them underfoot into pulp and laughed: “If you see more, spare them—I’m quite interested in Eye-Mage beams.”

The [Eye Growth] skill of the Hundred-Eyed War Spirit was just sitting idle; he’d also mastered the technique of sacrificing eyeballs to overload their power. The more Eye-Mage beams he collected, the better.

Haley gave him a strange look.

She didn’t understand why such a handsome man would be drawn to such disgusting, evil magic.

She glanced at his shoes and the blood splattered upward, her eyes rolling slightly.

She grumbled:

“Look at you—your pants are dirty.”

“Oh? Minor thing.”

“The blood of Throat-Strangling Ambushers can corrode (a lie). Let me wipe it off for you.”

“No need.”

Before she could finish,

Haley had already pulled out a cloth imbued with cleansing magic, knelt gracefully before him, one hand resting on his knee, the other gently wiping.

Luo De looked down.

Her collar had somehow slipped low—when she bent forward, a large expanse of flesh was exposed before him.

Deep blue, translucent mounds.

Swaying with each wipe, nearly revealing her white undergarments, brushing perilously close to his thighs, then pulling away.

Moreover, her mage robe had a slit.

As she knelt, it deliberately revealed her slender, tightly pressed legs—captivating, hypnotic.

“There. All clean.”

Haley didn’t rise immediately. She lifted her gaze, gazing at Luo De with a hint of seduction.

Then her lovely features bloomed into a warm, gentle smile.

“...Thank you.”

“What’s this? Do we need to say that between us?”

Haley feigned indifference, playfully patting his thigh.

She rose slowly, expression calm, not even glancing at him.

She didn’t even offer to hold his hand again.

Her chin lifted slightly, radiating smugness.

Won!

Look at how he stared at my chest!

Look at how he stumbled over his words!

Who says you can't learn real tricks from shoujo romance manga!? This is the technique I learned: blending maternal tenderness with sensual charm!

This round is Haley’s victory! The advantage is still mine!

Luo De, Luo De.

Burn my tenderness and allure into your brain—then suffer endlessly, craving me, until you become my devoted servant!!

Luo De didn’t sense the Star-Spirit girl’s thoughts.

Suddenly, a row of dense eyeballs tore open along his arms; behind him, the massive crimson Hundred-Eyed War Spirit manifested, its countless palms also opening with withered yellow eyes.

[Global Vision +11]

Each additional eye increases perception by 2.85%.

Luo De rarely used this skill.

But the labyrinth’s mist truly crippled perception—the [Spider Sense] range had been severely suppressed.

Luo De turned his head toward the left.

“There are people there. More than one.”

“Oh?”

Haley looked over.

Only mist—magic perception couldn’t penetrate—but she trusted Luo De implicitly.

“Let’s go see.”

Haley had seen Luo De single-handedly overpower and brutally beat a blue dragon—her confidence had soared.

She no longer held back her steps or used invisibility magic.

She strode boldly toward that direction.

Though she occasionally muttered under her breath, resenting why that man didn’t take her hand.

After walking a short while,

Before they saw any people, a strange structure appeared in view.

Deep in the forest, a circular clearing surrounded by charred ancient trees, their twisted branches like spastic fingers reaching inward.

At its center stood a low, hemispherical stone hall.

Built from pale, bone-like rock, its surface riddled with fine cracks, as if ready to collapse at any moment.

“The Gazing Moon Hall!”

Haley exclaimed.

“One of the relic locations?”

“Yes! Even though we don’t have to seek them before reaching the central altar, securing a relic early is still an advantage!”

As they drew closer,

Luo De noticed the stone hall had no door—only a narrow arched crack, its edges glowing faintly blue, eerie.

And the people he sensed stood just beyond that arched crack.

Three Star-Spirit participants, all with their frontliners still active.

An elephant-dog hybrid, a four-legged dragon-beast, and a War Dancer controlling armor and various weapons.

Perhaps due to recent combat, all three frontliners were heavily wounded.

Luo De saw the fear and hesitation on their faces, and held back.

Haley also sensed something was off.

He asked, “What’s going on?”

A female star spirit mage who used a giant xiangao as her frontline warrior clearly recognized Hai Li; her eyes widened in shock and uncertainty:

“Hai Li, the Hall of Peering Moon is wrong—completely different from usual. Lei Meng died inside.”

(End of chapter)