Sword of Blazing Fire

Despite his doubts, Ahan's body language betrayed him, and he chose to follow Bai Xiaowen.

"Let's talk as we go..." Bai Xiaowen began to explain, "Assuming what's on the right is true, then what's on the left, whether true or false, is invalid."

"If the left side is the truth, then both the left and right sides are the truth. The 'truth' on the left side consists of 'one truth and one lie,' which is therefore invalid."

"If the left side is a lie, then one side is true and the other is false. The content of the 'lie' on the left side is inherently a mixture of truth and falsehood, so it cannot constitute a lie. Therefore, this is a paradox, and it is impossible no matter what."

"Therefore, the sign on the right-hand intersection must be a lie; it says it's a dead end, but it's actually a way out. The sign on the left-hand intersection is true, but it's a dead end. That's it."

Ahan (speechless. jpg): "... You really came up with all this in less than a second?"

"It's alright, just basic logical reasoning." Bai Xiaowen put on a show, but in reality, he only spent 0.1 seconds figuring out the truth or falsehood of the question.

As Bai Xiaowen and his two companions continued their journey deeper into the Shadow Labyrinth, they encountered a new fork in the road.

Under the "green light of forgiveness" emanating from the Eye of Amotava, at each fork in the road, a seemingly logical problem arises, forcing the three to consider which path to take.

With Bai Xiaowen as a bug, the originally complicated branching paths became a smooth road.

During their journey, Bai Xiaowen and Ahan had some conversations, and Bai Xiaowen learned about some of Ahan's past.

Thanks to Bai Xiaowen's shamelessness, the way the two addressed each other became much closer, and there was no need for titles like "Mr." or "Your Excellency."

"Ahan, with your amazing skills, why are you working as a sheriff in Hodge Town?"

Bai Xiaowen kept a secret: the sheriffs of small towns are usually Elite Template, while those of kingdoms and capitals are usually Boss Template. Ahan, whose strength is clearly stronger than that of Boss Tier of the same level, would never be found in a place like Hodge Town.

"Hodge Town is my hometown," Ahan said.

"Wow, I see. And you still have the girl you've been longing for in your hometown, right?" Bai Xiaowen said with a smile.

Ahan answered earnestly, "I met Ginny after I returned to my hometown."

"What did you do before?"

"Before... I was a mercenary,"

Ahan hesitated for a moment, then, probably feeling that Bai Xiaowen was a partner he could entrust his life to, he didn't hide anything, "I am a member of the Sword of Blazing Fire."

After saying the words "Sword of Blazing Fire, "Ahan didn't elaborate further, probably feeling that those four words already carried enough weight.

A moment of silence followed.

Bai Xiaowen blinked. "The Sword of Blazing Fire? Wow, it must be quite famous, right?"

Ahan: "... Haven't you heard of the Sword of Blazing Fire?"

Seeing Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's innocent expressions, Ahan looked embarrassed and sighed, "That's true, it's all in the past. Glory will eventually be forgotten... But your memories are terrible, the Sword of Blazing Fire has only been disbanded for 10 years."

Honest Ahan thought for a moment, then couldn't help but add, "Are you actually from the Black Tide Continent?"

Bai Xiaowen looked slightly embarrassed and quickly added, "I just turned 18 this year..."

Li Shuyi jokingly added, "I'm only 17 years old..."

"Okay, I see." Ahan understood. Ten years ago, when the Sword of Blazing Fire Mercenary Group was at its peak and its fame spread throughout the continent, the brother and sister were just seven or eight-year-old kids. They were orphans in a small seaside Hodge Town, so it was understandable that they had never heard of the Sword of Blazing Fire.

"Tell me, how many people are in your mercenary group? Are they all as skilled as you?" Bai Xiaowen asked with great interest.

Ahan said modestly, "They are much stronger than me. I'm just a strong, brute."

"Ahan, I need to discuss something with you," Bai Xiaowen said. "If we encounter enemies along the way, and Charlotte and I can handle them, please don't intervene, okay?"

Ahan looked at Bai Xiaowen with a puzzled expression. "Why? You're in charge of solving the mystery and guiding the way, while I'm in charge of dealing with the enemy. It's fair and reasonable."

"Well, Charlotte and I aren't very skilled yet, so we need to practice more," Bai Xiaowen said. "The more practical experience we accumulate, the faster we can grow and meet the threats that the Black Tide Continent is about to face."

At the Night Owl Wharf, when Ahan killed the level 7 Boss Tier Clement, Bai Xiaowen was truly heartbroken... He wasn't heartbroken about Clement's life, but about the Kill Contribution and treasure chest.

However, he and Ahan were not very close at the time, and Ahan was on the verge of going berserk, so he couldn't stop him.

Ahan was quite accepting of Bai Xiaowen's statement, because the growth of the Spirit Realm figure, in addition to innate talent, also requires practical experience to continuously improve. Unless one reaches a certain level and settles down, the improvement effect of practical experience will gradually become less obvious.

A series of chaotic sounds came from a passageway to the side.

"An enemy!" Ahan's first reaction was to draw his sword, but remembering what Bai Xiaowen had just said, he slowly sheathed the heavy sword.

A group of Snakefolk monsters appeared before Bai Xiaowen.

Bai Xiaowen sensed Mental Scan before they appeared, which is why he spoke up to Ahan Ahan and asked him not to steal his Kill Contribution.

Bai Xiaowen had initially thought that the enemy would be a powerhouse like Gerold or Leona, but after seeing the situation clearly, Bai Xiaowen could only shake his head in disappointment.

The group that arrived was a group of Elite Tier Snakefolk. Although they were all High Elite Tier of level 7 or above, their templates were just that – equivalent to Benny and Gide from the Crow Organization. They were simply not up to par.

Of course, what Bai Xiaowen considers lowly Elite Tier monsters are all tough nuts to crack for ordinary awakened individuals. It takes several awakened individuals to gang up on them to win, and they would be at a great disadvantage in a one-on-one fight.

If you also consider the level Suppression, for example, a level 5 ordinary awakened being facing a level 7 or 8 Elite Tier... it would be a miracle if they could escape.

Out of respect for the high-level monster, Bai Xiaowen still used his Insight.

Compared to the "Mudflat Snakefolk" in the Internal Isolation Array the Undead Sinkhole Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space Pit, these Snakefolk are called "Deep-Sea Snakefolk." The difference in their skills is that they lack the general defensive skill "Mud Shell," but they have an additional skill called "Snake Dance."

[Snake Dance: Passive Skill. The agile body of the Deep-Sea Snakefolk increases its evasion rate against physical attacks by an additional 20%.]

In addition, as High Elite Tier, these Deep-Sea Snakefolk have an extra 150 to 200 points of Life Value, making their health bars appear quite long.

However, although they were much stronger than the Mudflat Snakefolk in the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, these Snakefolk were still no match for Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi.

The two Elite Tier creatures, Skeleton Champion and Kitz, charged ahead. One possessed immense strength, while the other had Blood Drain- steal passive ability, so they could withstand the Snakefolk without much trouble. Behind them, there was ranged support from the Bone Warlock and Bai Xiaowen. The frequent stun and interrupt effects made the Deep-Sea Snakefolk's attacks scattered and disorganized.

A single attack from High Elite Tier Deep-Sea Snakefolk can deal significant damage. However, without unified command and focused fire, it's difficult for Bai Xiaowen's side to suffer casualties.

Bai Xiaowen monitored the battle, and when the Skeleton Champion and Kitz were in danger of losing health, he would send out Rageclaw and Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier push forward. Under his control and command, almost all the firepower was aimed at the same Snakefolk.

One Snakefolk fell, then a second, a third... like toppling dominoes, it gets easier and easier as you go on.

The three remaining Snakefolk were somewhat afraid.

Bai Xiaowen raised his hand, and three Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier appeared behind the Snakefolk. He timed it perfectly; just as the three Snakefolk were about to turn and flee, their escape route was blocked. In this narrow maze passage, they were truly helpless.

A weakened Elite Snakefolk pulled out a conch shell, put it in his mouth, and began to blow it, the deep sound carrying far and wide.

Li Shuyi followed up with a final sword strike, stabbing the last Snakefolk to the ground, causing a Silver Treasure Chest to drop.

There were six Snakefolk in total, and they dropped two Silver Treasure Chest. Li Shuyi quickly picked up the chests. Since Ahan couldn't see the chests, he could only see Li Shuyi bending over, so he assumed she was searching the monster's corpse and wasn't surprised.

"That Snakefolk was probably calling for reinforcements. Some powerful guys might be coming, like Gerold and his group in the Round Table Hall," Ahan said.

Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "It's good that they're chasing after us. If there are only a few of them, we can just take them out. If all four of them come, our speed boost will still be active, so we can just run away." As an S-Tier item, the Marching Stratagems has a speed boost effect that lasts for 60 minutes.

When Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi were killing the Elite Snakefolk, they preferred to spend more time whittling them down rather than using their "ultimate move," which they were saving for the Snakefolk bosses.

Moreover, under the buff of the Marching Stratagems,"Bai Xiaowen not only runs fast but also has formidable combat power, mainly due to the "half stamina consumption" effect—think about it, the stamina-consuming Orochi Nagi could only be used once before, but now it can be used twice! Not to mention other skills such as Dark Swipe.

The three ran for a while longer, but the expected Snakefolk reinforcements never appeared. Even Ahan began to doubt whether he had misjudged the situation.

Reaching the end of the passageway ahead, a wide-open space opened up before me. This turned out to be one of the many halls in the Shadow Labyrinth, serving as a hub connecting the different passageways.

"Be careful, I sense danger." Ahan said seriously, drawing his two-handed greatsword and gripping it tightly, his wary gaze sweeping over the area.

"Hello, you've finally been caught, you cunning rats."

As these words were spoken, a tall and robust Snakefolk appeared in front of them. Mylo, one of the four Snakefolk Boss Tier under the command of the mysterious will.

At the same time, rustling sounds came from behind. With his Mental Scan, Bai Xiaowen knew without looking that another Snakefolk Boss Tier, the flirtatious Snakewoman Leona, was coming from behind.

"Just the two of you?" Bai Xiaowen said, casting his Insight. "I'm afraid the two of you are no match for us."

[Mylo (Level 8 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Human Species / Snakefolk]

[Class: Amotava Faith Warrior]

[Attributes: Strength 70, Agility 34, Constitution 52, Spirit 22]

[Skill 1: Surging Water Strike: Omitted]

[Skill 2: War-Spear Throw: Omitted]

[Skill 3: Frenzied Cleave: Mylo wildly swings his trident, dealing heavy damage to all targets in front of him. Targets with lower strength than Mylo will be knocked back.]

[Skill 4:???]

[Skill 5: Abyssal Infusion LV2: Increases Life Value by an additional 400 points, and reduces the duration of abnormal status or control effects by 40%.]

This Mylo has the exact same class as Kasares in the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space, and even two of the detected skills are the same. The difference is that he has an additional Frenzied Cleave, as well as a LV2 Advanced Boss general skill.

Leona came next.

[Leona (Level 8 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Human Species / Snakefolk]

[Class: Enchanting Priest Amotava]

[Attributes: Strength 29, Agility 33, Constitution 40, Spirit 74]

[Skill 1: Bewitching Snake Dance: Passive effect, Leona has a 20% bonus evasion rate. Activating this skill reduces the attack accuracy of enemies eyeing Leona by an additional 50%. This skill requires a continuous casting animation, can be stopped at any time, and has no cooldown.]

[Skill 2: Enchanting Form: When Leona casts this skill, enemies within range have a chance to Willpower Check every 10 seconds. If they fail the check, they will be forced to stare at Leona. If Willpower Check, they will be immune to Leona's skill effects for 10 seconds, and will receive a 10% bonus on their next Willpower Check.]

[Skill 3:???]

[Skill 4:???]

[Skill 5: Abyssal Infusion LV2: Omitted.]

"That little devil..."

Bai Xiaowen muttered to himself that if Leona's skills were disregarded, her appearance was hardly considered beautiful by normal standards of beauty; the fine scales on her profile and neck alone were enough to send chills down one's spine.

Of course, Leona's figure is still quite good, especially her upper body, where certain indescribable parts are almost naked, adorned only with scales and two seashells that sway back and forth—it's simply unfair...

After Insight the skills of the two Boss Tier, Bai Xiaowen began to consider tactics. If Leona didn't have any offensive spells, then releasing Vengeful Spirit would be a good option. The previous battle with Kasares had already proven that Vengeful Spirit were the natural nemesis of violent warriors with low Divine Might.

Ahan leaned on his heavy sword, his icy gaze sweeping across the hall. "Wait, where's the last one? You sneaky bastard, get out here right now!"