At this moment.
Baiyu was caught off guard and simultaneously sensed the spiritual worlds of three individuals. Chaos and confusion surged like tides, fermenting and intertwining in his mind, causing a splitting headache.
Three types of emotions, different voices, it was as if three little demons were fighting in his mind.
This feeling was unpleasant.
Now Baiyu finally understood what those afflicted with mental illness truly felt.
Moreover.
The pain in his head was just one aspect.
The negative effect of this situation was that his Pollution Level skyrocketed, threatening to overwhelm him.
For ordinary people.
They would have mutated into monsters by now.
But Baiyu's formidable endurance allowed him only to experience a splitting sensation in the palms of his hands, where two peculiar mouths opened.
Two tongues lined with sharp thorns extended outward.
This was a mutation he had long since developed, yet this time, apart from the opening of the two mouths.
He seemed to have undergone another form of mutation.
Golden scales began to cover the skin on his arms.
It looked.
Like he was wearing an extremely dazzling Golden Scale Armor.
But this wasn't good news.
Baiyu hadn't mutated for a long time; he had always been cautious about the mutation on his palms.
That was the first time he experienced mutation after consuming a potion from Scholar's Space.
Since then.
Baiyu consistently monitored the situation, preventing it from worsening, but now it seemed that caution was futile.
Eventually, death is inevitable.
The mutations continued, with both arms now covered in golden scales.
Seeing this scene.
Baiyu sighed inwardly.
He knew from a long time ago that his mutation differed from others.
Others mutated.
Instantly transforming entirely, losing their rationality, becoming monsters from top to bottom.
But Baiyu's mutation didn't progress so quickly.
Instead, it occurred in sections, progressing slowly.
And during times when he didn't surpass his endurance limits, these mutations didn't impact daily life.
As if nothing was wrong.
However, this time, the pressure from three spiritual worlds simultaneously acted on him, seemingly breaching his threshold of tolerance.
At that instant.
He could feel various thoughts and notions from the three individuals.
Next to him, Erza naturally witnessed all of this, but she couldn't do anything; Baiyu's situation could only be overcome by himself.
After roughly an hour.
The mutation process completely vanished.
Aside from the mouths splitting open on his palms, Baiyu now had golden scales covering both arms.
As his Spiritual Power gradually recovered, these abnormal features began to recede.
The skin returned to its former state.
At this moment.
Baiyu could feel a buzzing sound in his head.
As if ten giant fans were blowing from every direction, 360 degrees without pause.
This condition.
Was already much better than before.
Erza approached to help him up, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Baiyu shook his head, remaining silent.
The mental exhaustion left him unable to respond adequately, added to the cacophony of chaotic, miscellaneous murmurs in his mind.
He needed time to slowly clear away these emotional distractions.
Erza, understanding as ever.
Seeing Baiyu's poor condition, she didn't continue to disturb him, instead quietly staying aside, her expression tense.
Several more hours passed.
Baiyu took a deep breath, as if unloading a heavy burden, and a bitter smile graced his face: "I was careless this time."
Indeed, he was careless.
Otherwise.
He wouldn't have ended up in such a state.
Not only did new mutations occur physically, but mentally, he received a harsh blow.
His spiritual world was severely wounded.
Even now, murmurings that couldn't be escaped, from unknown creatures, continuously echoed in his ears.
These whispers are one of the sources leading to insanity and mutation.
Fortunately.
Baiyu had strong determination.
His murmuries couldn't threaten him yet, but they were undoubtedly annoying.
And then there were the mutations.
This also caused great concern.
Even when only the palm had mutated, Baiyu was already sensitive to this eerie phenomenon.
Now both arms had mutated fully.
This caused Baiyu great distress.
Though he didn't know why his body was undergoing these changes.
Such agony of gradual mutation step by step was extremely unpleasant, testing his mental endurance greatly.
For now, there were no issues.
But Baiyu could be certain.
Once his entire body mutated, what awaited him was undoubtedly death.
This is the pitfall of Nightmare Difficulty.
Perhaps each Nightmare Difficulty won't immediately lead to death.
However.
Every Nightmare Difficulty definitely contains hidden traps.
This is Baiyu's experience.
Take for example this time; the difficulty of the Nightmare Task lay in obtaining two Forbidden Divine Soldier Fragments to charge the Light Caller's Staff.
After charging.
It was necessary to imprint marks on three individuals.
This series of procedures, though not hard, was also not simple.
The most challenging aspect was.
How to withstand that final wave of spiritual damage.
The average Tier Six Martial Artist wouldn't make it through this stage, instantly mutating.
Thus.
Nightmare Difficulty is most vile for its hidden traps, easily causing one to unknowingly fall victim.
Luckily, the task was already completed.
Baiyu focused his mind, entering Scholar's Space.
Sure enough, on the task panel in the space, there was a check mark beside the Nightmare Difficulty.
He walked up to the task panel and claimed his Nightmare Difficulty reward.
Two hundred Points.
And then the Sequence Seven Magic Elixir Recipe for a Prayer Technique Apprentice.
Naturally.
The rewards for Nightmare Difficulty tasks were indeed selectable, but the other rewards weren't as significant to Baiyu as the Sequence Magic Elixir Recipe.
Baiyu's choice was straightforward.
The Sequence Seven Magic Elixir name, "Master."
Master:
Half a bottle of Thousand-Year Ink.
Two liters of Spiritual Water.
One Wisdom Fruit.
One eye from a One-Eyed Giant Bear.
...
A Magic Elixir Recipe chart popped out from the drawer beneath the task panel.
Unlike the Sequence Nine Prayer Technique Apprentice and Sequence Eight Fanatical Scholar roles.
Master.
Was no longer focused on learning and support capabilities.
Seemingly, it steered toward knowledge impartation and research knowledge aspects.
Of course.
Baiyu hadn't yet advanced, so the specific abilities were unknown.
With both the recipe and the advancement ceremony, now he only needed to gather materials; generally, Sequence Seven Magic Elixir materials aren't Rare.
However.
Baiyu's Prayer Technique Apprentice sequence seemed not to fall within this classification.
From Tier Nine to Tier Eight, it had been apparent, the materials for Prayer Technique Apprentice Sequence weren't easy to acquire.
Each advancement.
Required a significant financial cost.
Simply the value of those materials wasn't a straightforward figure.
After noting the materials list, Baiyu exited the Scholar's Space, considering how to proceed with advancement.
And at that moment.
The Legendary Ship had also reached Villiduo Anomaly Bureau.
This was under orders from Long Shanyun.
To enter the Spirit Realm, one must pass through the Anomaly Bureau, with the entry located underground there.
Whether it's a person's passage or the route of the Legendary Ship.
It's all here.
