Human or Ghost?

The figure appeared suddenly and moved with incredible speed, catching everyone off guard. Most of them didn't even have time to react and could only vaguely see a blur!

But Luo Jun, who was standing at the very front, could see it all clearly!

That's a Strange Bird!

Strange Bird bigger than a person, with no feathers at all, completely bald and slippery, only having a bird-like outline!

Like the previous humanoid monster with its crudely modeled appearance, this is also a Chaos Creature!

But unlike the previous slow-moving oddball, this one was extremely fast; judging from the others around it, they probably couldn't react in time.

Should we make a move?

A burst of internal energy rose from Luo Jun's hand. Just then, an old hand grabbed his wrist, pushed his internal energy back, and then swept past him, as if to rush towards the Strange Bird!

Master!

Luo Jun was well aware of Old Yuan's strength, but he hadn't forgotten the Death Omen Xiao Min had witnessed. This Strange Bird was clearly no ordinary monster; would it be dangerous for his Master to go and deal with it?

Thinking of this, Luo Jun flipped his hand and grabbed Old Yuan's wrist, preventing him from rushing out. With his other hand, he took out the magic wand that could create walls.

He planned to use this thing to build a wall to stop the Strange Bird!

However, it seemed that Old Yuan was not going to give him a chance. After realizing that Luo Jun had grabbed him, Old Yuan twisted his wrist and suddenly a strange force arose. Even though Luo Jun's wrist strength was far superior to his, he was able to break free. Old Yuan shook off Luo Jun and was about to step forward when he suddenly noticed a cold glint in the darkness ahead!

The cold light was faster than the Strange Bird, actually catching up with Strange Bird before it could reach it. Then, it suddenly changed direction and pierced through the Strange Bird Strange Bird horizontally, pinning it to the wall with a clang!

It was a sharp sword!

Sharp and domineering, it can even pierce into the walls of a maze!

The Strange Bird was pinned down by the longsword, but it did not give up struggling. It displayed the semi-liquid properties of clay, and its body began to split in two along the blade, about to break free.

Just then, a bolt of Thunder Light flashed from the black mist, striking the sword hilt. A dazzling arc of electricity crackled, and the Strange Bird began to twitch and coil around the sword. A moment later, the Thunder Light dissipated, and the Strange Bird turned into a charred mess, with a Gold Ingot rolling out.

Sharp!

Luo Jun secretly admired the skill. Both the speed and accuracy of the sword strike and the intensity of the subsequent lightning strike were top-notch. The two abilities complemented each other perfectly, creating an effect greater than the sum of its parts!

"Wow! What happened?"

At this moment, Sun Xiaowei and the others realized, "Why was there suddenly a flash of lightning and thunder? What exactly happened...?"

Before he finished speaking, the long sword trembled slightly, then it pulled itself off the wall and flew backward.

At the same time, from the hazy distance, a slender figure emerged, caught the longsword, and shook off the charcoal ash clinging to it.

"Ling Jian?!" Everyone recognized the newcomer; it was none other than Ling Jian, who had always acted alone!

"I never expected to run into you here!" Ma Qiao laughed heartily. "You've come quite a distance, haven't you? It's over a hundred kilometers from the Origin, isn't it?"

Ling Jian glanced at the group, said nothing, then suddenly his expression changed, he coughed, and vomited blood.

"Are you injured?" Everyone rushed forward, but Ling Jian waved his hand and said, "I'm fine. I just encountered two of these monsters and suffered a minor loss... I killed one, but the other escaped, so I chased it here."

"You're amazing!" Sun Xiaowei handed over a bottle of Healing Potion, praising, "These Chaos Monster are really tough to deal with, and you managed to take on two by yourself?"

"It's just that it's immune to physical attacks." Ling Jian didn't stand on ceremony, took the potion, drank it, and his complexion improved. "Switching to elemental power will easily take care of it..."

"That lightning strike just now..." Old Yuan looked at Ling Jian: "You brat, you really are from the Ling Family, aren't you?"

Ling Jian glanced at Old Yuan and nodded. "Do you recognize me, sir?"

"I wouldn't say I know them," Old Yuan chuckled. "The Ling Family family has many branches; even Ling Ao himself might not recognize them all, let alone an outsider like me."

"I don't know the name Ling Jian, nor have I heard of any operation-type expert in the Ling Family. But I have heard of a young man who refused to become a member of the Ling Family branch."

Ling Jian frowned. Old Yuan continued, "I heard that because Ling Xin went to Ningdong to study and disobeyed the clan's orders, the Ling Family planned to recruit a young member. Initially, they chose a young man from the Elemental School, said to be exceptionally talented, possessing multiple elemental abilities. However, for some reason, during the assessment, this young man refused the clan's invitation, saying that his abilities were not yet perfect..."

"I don't know the specifics of the process, but I do know that the final result was that the royal family didn't forcefully recruit this young man. Instead, they chose another junior named Ling Yu as a second choice. However, that kid was impetuous and didn't live up to expectations. He was killed in the previous Conscription Mission, and because of the mission rules, he couldn't even unlock the resurrection item. It's a pity that he gave up his spot after only a few months as a member of the royal family."

At this point, Old Yuan glanced at Ling Jian: "You're the young man who refused the royal family's invitation, right? You say you're Manipulation School, but actually, you should be Elemental School, shouldn't you?"

Ling Jian sighed, "Old Yuan is indeed well-informed... But I'm not lying. I am indeed Elemental School, but I also have Manipulation School abilities... The reason I refused the royal family is also true. As an Elemental School, I found that my melee and physical attack abilities are too weak. This is a shortcoming that is difficult to make up for by relying solely on Elemental School training. However, I really don't have the talent for Martial Combat Faction, so I can only settle for second best and turn to studying Manipulation School abilities to improve my combat system by combining them with Noble Phantasms."

As he spoke, Ling Jian tossed the longsword in his hand into the air. Under his control, the longsword swung up and down in the air like a fish, moving with agility and freedom.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at his explanation.

What do you mean by switching to studying Manipulation School abilities? Even Cultivators with talent in one school of thought would find it difficult to master, and you just switch like that, cultivating both schools of ability and mastering them so strongly—where's the justice in that?

"Truly a genius capable of cultivating multiple elements." Old Yuan nodded in admiration upon witnessing this sword -Sword Control Technique. "Compared to other schools, the Elemental School has the most numerous and diverse internal classifications. Although essentially all use primordial energy to simulate Natural Element, the properties of different elements vary greatly, so most Elemental School Cultivators can only specialize in one. Those who can cultivate multiple elements simultaneously are geniuses with an extremely thorough understanding of primordial energy. This isn't something that can be achieved through hard work; it's an innate feeling and talent!"

"You flatter me, Senior," Ling Jian said modestly.

"Forget about talent, since we've met, let's work together." Ma Qiao laughed. "We've already discovered quite a few clues, and we have enough supplies. This time, we've got two more Gold Ingot."

"Gold Ingot?" Ling Jian was slightly taken aback. "You didn't know?" Sun Xiaowei controlled Xiao Hei to walk over and pick up the Gold Ingot from the ground. "Killing these Chaos Monster will drop Gold Ingot, which can be exchanged for treasures in the Black Shop. Didn't you kill one before? Didn't you see it?"

"I didn't notice..." Ling Jian shook his head.

"You didn't even notice all that glittering gold?" Ma Qiao scoffed. "They really are scions of the Great Family, with a fortune to spare, treating money like dirt."

"Hey, it's alright, the Gold Ingot isn't going anywhere." Luo Jun came over, patted Ling Jian's shoulder, and laughed, "Since you were able to chase us all the way here, it means the place where you killed that monster isn't far, right? Take us there, and we can find it, right?"

Ling Jian nodded. "Okay, come with me."

The group followed Ling Jian forward, turning several corners before arriving at a T-junction.

"This is it..." Ling Jian said, pointing to a patch of charred debris on the ground.

"I just walked here and saw that Strange Bird. I was confronting it when suddenly a monster attacked me from behind and injured me. I immediately retaliated with fire and lightning, turning that thing into pieces. This is the remains."

As he spoke, he used his longsword to sift through the pile of rubble, and indeed there were no Gold Ingot inside.

"That's strange..." Sun Xiaowei frowned and said, "We clearly had the ones we fought, and that Strange Bird from earlier too."

"Could it not be two monsters?" Mao Xintong analyzed. "This monster is multifaceted and might even split into two. Its main body attracts your attention while its clones ambush you. In reality, from beginning to end, there was only one monster—that Strange Bird?"

The error-free version can be read at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+shuba is the first site to publish this novel.

Ling Jian nodded. "That's possible..."

"This monster is indeed cunning and difficult to deal with!" Luo Jun stroked his chin. "Anyway, we've still earned a gold ingot. Brother Ling Jian is injured, so let's not rush to continue exploring for now. Let's rest for a while longer."

"It's alright." Ling Jian waved his hand. "After drinking the medicine, my injuries are almost healed. No need to make an effort..."

Before he could finish speaking, his stomach suddenly growled...

Luo Jun chuckled and took out a portion of food, "Even if the injury isn't serious, we can't explore on an empty stomach. This maze is fraught with danger; we can't fight an unprepared battle."

Ling Jian sighed, took the food Luo Jun handed him, nodded, and said, "Thank you," before sitting down in the corner to eat.

Everyone continued to rest where they were. Luo Jun stared at Ling Jian, who was eating not far away, and muttered to himself, "That's a human..."

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Ying, who was chatting with others not far away.

"This isn't..."

Luo Jun narrowed his eyes.

When he patted Ling Jian on the shoulder, he had actually mentally calculated using the Dice of Heavenly Secrets: "I patted the real Ling Jian."

The result was an event with only a slight difficulty, which was easily accomplished. This proves that Ling Jian is real, and the slight difficulty likely stemmed from a slip of the hand and missing the target.

When Li Ying appeared, Luo Jun patted him on the shoulder as well, and made the same judgment at the time, but the result was "Mandatory Event"!

When Luo Jun saw the result, he was only suspicious and couldn't be certain. After all, it seemed that Li Ying was right in front of him, within easy reach. If this "Mandatory Event" meant that he was guaranteed to win, he would be wrongly accusing an innocent person.

But now, with Ling Jian as a control group, Luo Jun finally confirmed that the Mandatory Event at that time referred to inevitable failure!

When Li Ying reappeared, his personality and behavior were somewhat different from when he first entered the maze. Although this could be explained by the fact that he was frightened by the monster, Luo Jun couldn't help but be suspicious after reading the diary. In Zhuge Gan's story, there was a girl named A Liang whose experience was almost exactly the same as Li Ying's.

Of course, these clues alone are not enough to prove anything. What truly made Luo Jun wary of Li Ying was the process of his narration.

He and Zheng Yu encountered a monster. When ranged attacks failed, Zheng Yu rushed in but was swallowed up. Li Ying escaped in the chaos...

This story doesn't make much sense, because when they first introduced themselves, Luo Jun clearly remembered that Zheng Yu was an Elemental School, while Li Ying was Martial Combat Faction.

When encountering monsters, shouldn't the Martial Combat Faction take the lead, while the Elemental School provide support from behind?

Even if Li Ying was too scared to go in, they should have run away together. There's no reason for Zheng Yu, a fragile mage, to go head-to-head with him, right?

Therefore, Luo Jun suspected that this story was fabricated.

Now it's finally confirmed. Luo Jun stared at Li Ying, who was some unknown entity, his eyes filled with Killing Intent.

"What's wrong?" Old Yuan sat down next to Luo Jun. "Why did you secretly call me over?"

"Master, I still suspect that Li Ying has a problem."

When Li Ying returned a few days ago, Old Yuan noticed that Luo Jun was always staring at him. He secretly asked him why, but Luo Jun couldn't tell him the results of the dice test. He could only use Li Ying's various unnatural behaviors as evidence. Old Yuan thought it made sense and secretly used his magic weapon to test him. The result proved that Li Ying's identity was not a problem.

Of course, his identity is not the problem, but it cannot be ruled out that he has been brainwashed or Mental Control, which is why Old Yuan has been wary of Li Ying these past few days. But the problem is that when Li Ying talks about his past, his memory and logic are very clear. Moreover, as they have spent the past few days together, his initial unnatural state has disappeared, his communication with others has become more and more normal, and even his shrewd and worldly manner has returned, leaving no flaws whatsoever.

"I understand your concerns... but in my opinion, Li Ying is indeed fine. His unnatural behavior that day was simply due to being frightened." Old Yuan shook his head and said, "As for the inconsistency of that story, people can do anything absurd in a moment of panic. Even if Li Ying did lie, and the truth is he abandoned Zheng Yu and ran away alone, it's only natural to want to cover up such a dishonorable act..."

Luo Jun frowned. Old Yuan said made sense, and that was precisely the most troublesome thing.

Now, apart from the Dice of Heavenly Secrets, all other signs indicate that Li Ying is without fault.

But Luo Jun knew that the dice rolls would never be wrong!

The key is, how to convince Old Yuan!

(End of this chapter)