Chapter 298: Who Exactly Is It?

After saying this, a giant fox radiating dazzling golden light from its entire body emerged from the Void. Its fur was as brilliant as gold, each strand seeming to emit a charming luster, while its eyes were like cold stars beneath a deep night sky, flickering with a brilliance where wisdom and ferocity coexisted.

Seeing this extraordinary golden fox appear, even the three, who had seen many strange and unusual things, could not help but gasp—clearly, this was the sign that the real trouble had begun.

"You... who exactly are you?" Lin Xuan asked, breaking the silence first.

The Golden Giant Fox curled the corners of its mouth, revealing a mocking smile, "I am the master of this place; all living things in this forest are controlled by me. Let me tell you, anyone who enters this place without receiving approval will be severely punished. You three are lucky, you have piqued my interest a little. How about this, as long as you can complete three trials and prove that you are special enough, perhaps you can leave here alive."

"We don't have time to play games with you!" Wang Zhenqiu, always straightforward, retorted angrily.

But before the words had faded, the surrounding scenery changed abruptly—the dense forest instantly transformed into a boundless dark space, with only a few sporadic lights flickering in the distance. At the same time, a powerful sense of oppression made everyone feel it difficult to breathe.

"Now is not the time to be stubborn," Xiao Qing calmly reminded her companions, "We have no other choice but to follow its requirements."

Hearing her friend state this, Lin Xuan nodded, then faced the existence shining with golden light and bowed deeply, "Since Your Excellency is willing to give us a chance, may I ask what this first trial is?"

"Heh, you've got some backbone." The golden fox's tone was full of disdain, but it seemed quite satisfied with Lin Xuan's answer. "Then, let's start with a simple one—'Mystery of the Heart'. What you need to do is very simple, you only need to tell each other the deepest secrets hidden in your hearts. However, if any one of you lies, or deliberately hides the truth..." Having said this, it paused, and a more intense and eerie aura radiated from its body, "As for the consequences, I believe I don't need to say it explicitly, you should be able to guess, right?"

As the words fell, dark images gradually emerged in the originally pitch-black space around them, each image corresponding to an important fragment in everyone's memory. This made everyone feel an unprecedented sense of oppression and fear, as if they would be trapped here forever and unable to escape if they made even the slightest mistake.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Qing spoke: "Since it is a test of sincerity, then I will say the first sentence. Actually, I have never told everyone that since I was a child, it was prophesied that I would become someone who changes the world, which is exactly why I have always worked hard to cultivate and wanted to become stronger... but this is not because of ambition or desire, but out of deep concern for the unknowability of fate, and the desire to protect those who are very important to me."

After saying these words, she raised her head to look at her friends, her gaze gentle and full of trust, "It's your turn."

Xiao Qing stood at the very front, a pale green energy ball already gathered in her hand. Her face was resolute, and a flash of determination crossed her eyes. "Come on, we cannot let this guy continue to be arrogant." Her low voice carried a trace of imperceptible trembling, but her tone was unwavering.

Lin Xuan stood behind her to the side, a faint halo appearing on the short sword in his hand. There was a sense of firmness and courage in his eyes: "Xiao Qing, I will cover you, charge!"

Wang Zhenqiu did not speak, only nodded forcefully. He saw his fists clenched tight, with a few flickering small flames circling his body, clearly having prepared his own power, ready to erupt to support the two of them whenever needed.

Seeing this, the fox did not show fear but instead contemptuously wagged its beautiful tail, emitting bursts of shrill laughter from its mouth, "Hmph, mere mortals actually dare to dream of challenging my authority? Simply ridiculous!"

As soon as the words fell, it leaped up violently, instantly transforming into a stream of light in the air to attack the three!

"Not good, scatter quickly!" The experienced Lin Xuan immediately realized the danger, shouted, and simultaneously dodged quickly to the left. Almost at the same time, Xiao Qing quickly released the power she had been gathering for a long time forward—"Green Spirit Shield!" A sturdy barrier woven from tree leaves suddenly appeared in front of them, just in time to block the fox's first wave of fierce attacks.

However, the golden fox clearly had strength that could not be underestimated; after the first impact was blocked, it immediately changed its offensive strategy. It could be seen that several thin and sharp Wind Blades like blades gradually emerged around its body...

"Damn, this guy can actually use this kind of move!" Wang Zhenqiu frowned slightly, hurriedly channeling the firepower within his body to try to resist it. "You two step back a bit first and protect yourselves, let me try to see if I can burn these Wind Blades!"

Hearing this, Xiao Qing, who had originally intended to join the counterattack, hesitated for a moment but still followed the arrangement and retreated a distance. At the same time, Lin Xuan was also looking for an opportunity on the side to provide assistance. Only a "Boom—" loud noise was heard ringing out continuously—it turned out to be countless burning arms of fire breaking out from beneath the ground, trying to grab the Golden Giant Fox in the air...

Seeing this scene, Xiao Qing's heart tightened, and she immediately shouted loudly: "Brother Wang, watch your back!" Because she suddenly discovered that a portion of the sharp energy that had been dodged was silently attacking behind Wang Zhenqiu.

Upon hearing this, the latter hurriedly turned his head to look behind him and quickly took countermeasures. After a "Bang—" sound, that mass of cold ice that was about to harm the innocent instantly dissipated into the air. But immediately after, the entire space seemed to begin to tremble...

Just at this moment, the golden-furred fox suddenly laughed out loud: "Hahahaha, foolish humans, do you think you can defeat me like this? Look at my ultimate skill—Ten Thousand Illusory Thousand Shadow Array!" After saying this, its figure suddenly transformed into countless afterimages and scattered in all directions, as if the entire battlefield were shrouded in a huge illusion...

Xiao Qing looked at the figures dancing all over the sky, indistinguishable between true and false, and could not help but say somewhat flustered: "What do we do now, how are we going to find the real main body..."

"Don't panic," Lin Xuan replied steadily, trying to comfort everyone while analyzing the current situation: "As long as we calm down and observe the opponent's movement patterns, we should be able to find clues; after all, the real one cannot possibly replicate so many clones perfectly."

Wang Zhenqiu nodded thoughtfully after hearing this: "You're right, since we can't distinguish directly, then we will use the most primitive and also the most effective method—break them one by one!"

Just as they were discussing how to break through the current situation, one of the targets that looked very close to the real body took the initiative to launch an attack. "Watch out!" Xiao Qing discovered this first and quickly reminded the other two to be ready to welcome the upcoming great battle...