Even after exiting the virtual world, Ash was still dizzy and didn't understand what was going on.

What did Sword Princess understand?

He was in this state of confusion until the trial began. When a knight in silver armor and holding a double-headed sword charged at him, he subconsciously followed his body's instinct to draw his sword to block. However, the double-headed sword's trajectory burst into flames, forcing him to dodge in a panic.

"Be careful." The voice of the fox mask was still clear and pleasant. "He is the leader of the Silver Fire Knights, a battle-hardened two-winged magician who is skilled in killing and burning corpses. The caravan towns he robbed would often turn into a sea of ​​fire. If you still look like you haven't woken up yet, he will provide you with a set of eternal sleep packages."

See cut!

At the moment when the knight cut down the double-headed sword, Ash drew his sword and cut off the weak part of his sword, pressing the double-headed sword to the ground.

Youlan did not let down the opportunity he created, and grabbed the knight from above. Her chained hands were enough to hit the knight's pituitary gland through the helmet.

Phew!

As the flames roared, the double-headed sword swung, creating a blazing sword curtain that almost covered the knight's entire body. In this state, the two men had no way to attack, and even had to retreat to avoid the knight's next explosion of fire curtain!

"I don't remember many believers of the Fire of Calamity." said Ash.

"It's a replica extracted from my memory." Youlan said in a brisk tone, "Frank, the leader of the Silver Fire Knights, you wouldn't recognize him even if I told you."

Coincidentally, Ash actually knew this person. He had vaguely seen the history of Silver Lantern's rise in the magician's manual before, which included this person. "The person who once competed with you for the qualification of the Tribulation Fire Seed? Later, because of a close relationship with a member of the group, he lost the qualification of the seed?"

"Eh?" Youlan blinked, "You actually knew... but you are wrong about one thing."

"Hmm?" Ash knew that he must have made some mistakes. After all, he was not reading Frank or Silver Lantern's magician manual, but another outsider, so naturally he would have many subjective assumptions.

"Frank was framed." A brisk laugh came from behind the fox mask, "by me and Nobeda."

As if he could hear their conversation, Phantom Frank's fire curtain exploded, and he rushed towards the two of them with boiling flames all over his body!

"But there's no evidence of Frank's misconduct—"

"Humans can never grasp the truth," Youlan lightly avoided the phantom Frank's slash and slammed the side of the helmet with her chain hand: "Instead, they choose to believe in one layer of the truth, choose to lean towards one side of reality, and create an illusion that they can accept."

“When you need a conclusion, you will naturally find evidence to prove it. Even if the evidence is only 1% true, it can be 100% in your statement.”

Ash found the right opportunity, and quickly thrust his sword. The tip of the sword passed through the gap in the flames and accurately pierced through the neck guard of Phantom Frank.

However, steam and flames suddenly burst out from Frank's armor, and his body turned into boiling lava - Frank turned out to be a berserker knight who was proficient in swordsmanship, fire magic, and suffering!

Ash found something suspicious: "No, the person who provided the clues was not you stakeholders, but someone else in the Fire Temple—"

"Because of suffering, because of inclination, because of delusion."

Youlan dodged the fiery blow from Phantom Frank and said, "The Holy Fire Temple requires believers to abstain from sex, and we can indeed be faithful in abstaining from sex. With the oppression of the environment outside and the abstinence rules inside, all the thoughts of believers naturally become fuel for Dafa. This is why the Holy Fire Temple can support five Dafas."

"But it's too hard, Ash. Do you understand? This kind of life is too hard." She said, "Dafa is a container for believers to escape reality and place their souls, but after a long time, people will get tired of it. So once other containers appear, they can't wait to get in and create an illusion of temporary happiness together."

“Everyone is looking up at the stars, but forgets that they are in the gutter.”

"Of all the rumors about Frank, 10% are true, and 90% are just other people's artistic creations. Nobeda gathered these rumors together and turned them into irrefutable evidence of his crime."

"So, Frank was not framed by Nobeda..."

Youlan grabbed Phantom Frank's wrist and hit his mouth hard until the latter let go of the double-headed sword.

"...It's better to say that he was framed by the entire Tribulation Fire Temple." Youlan said: "He became an 'illusion'."

Phantom Frank's momentum did not diminish after he abandoned his sword. His armor suddenly exploded, and his entire body turned into a giant lava beast. He put his fist together and tried to smash Youlan to death.

Zheng.

As the sword rang out, a layer of cloud waves burst out of Phantom Frank's throat, and then his head flew up, and blood that seemed to be burning gushed out from the broken part.

Facing an enemy he didn't know, Ash naturally had no psychological burden.

Boom! Phantom Frank fell down with a loud bang and extinguished into a ball of black charcoal. Two balls of flames flew towards the two people.

However, Ash did not pay attention to the improvement in his physical fitness, but stared at Youlan thoughtfully.

"You guys obviously killed him." Ash said seriously, "Silver Lantern, who sees reality as an illusion, won't shirk this responsibility."

"I'm not Yin Deng, I'm the Mirror Master. Your habit of mentioning another lady in front of a lady is not good." You Lan pretended to be angry: "But, you don't actually understand our thoughts."

"Reality is a momentary illusion. It's not just that reality is an illusion. More importantly, people are also pursuing illusions." She said, "No one cares about the truth. Everyone just wants to drown in the illusion they created. The leader of the Knights who broke the precepts, the lofty ideals, the Dafa... they are all the same."

"But hopes without results are all poisonous illusions." Youlan's voice was gentle. "The stronger the will, the deeper the poison. In the end, illusions become shackles, and eternity naturally becomes a cage."

If the tone of Yin Deng revealed a pure, boiling, and intense darkness, then the words of the Mirror Master emanated a turbid, still, almost invisible darkness. Although they were different statements, they led to the same conclusion.

However, Ash felt that although the mirror master recognized Yin Deng's ideas, she did not care about Yin Deng's pursuit. Yin Deng was like a child still looking up at the starry sky, with the blazing light of the stars wrapped around her, while the mirror master had already lowered her head to look at the road, and the dim starlight in her eyes seemed to come from the stars that had already died.

As if sensing something strange about Ash, Youlan laughed like a silver bell: "Have you just realized that I am also a dangerous person? In the next battle, would it be better if I stand in front of you?"

Ash came to his senses and realized that this problem had reached the point where it had to be solved.

Without the protection of the cicada pupa, the mirror master could kill him at any time. So in the trial, how much trust should he have in the mirror master, and how much caution should he have?

Can he really trust his own judgment completely?

You know, his life no longer belongs to him alone and cannot be wasted easily.

At night, Igula and the others must be trying to save themselves.

Good news, he promised to go back to see Liz.

In the virtual world, someone is waiting for him.

"Mirror Master," Ash pondered for a long time and finally said, "You refuse to take off your mask, your values ​​are too different from mine, we have been together for too short a time, and there is a direct conflict of interest between us... Honestly, I cannot place my trust in you."

Youlan sighed, but seemed a little relieved: "I understand."

"but."

Ash held out his hand to her, "I trust the judgement of the beholder."

Youlan blinked, "What does it have to do with him?"

"Although the fighting ability you just showed is slightly higher than mine, you are still no match for the spectator." Ash said, "In that case, what you said last night that you and the spectator didn't fight must be true. If you really fought, you wouldn't be uninjured at all."

"The fact that you didn't fight only proves that the viewers didn't think you were an enemy."

Youlan shook her head: "Couldn't it be that I have a private deal with him? For example, we clones can discuss replacing the original together, or he is actually a sultry pervert, and I can use a little honey trap to seduce him——"

"I don't like that way of thinking." Ash smiled and said, "People who like me, are they plotting against me? People who get close to me, are they trying to murder me? If I think like that about anyone and anything, it would be too troublesome and tiring."

"If the whole world is full of conspiracy, it only means that I am proudly against the whole world."

"Perhaps you are right. Everyone is immersed in their own illusions." He blinked at Youlan, "But the viewer and I are complementary twins. It is impossible for us to have illusions together!"

In fact, Youlan had already prepared alternative plans. For example, they could split the battlefield, with one person in the air and one on the ground for long-range attacks, and one in front of the enemy and one behind the enemy for close combat. This way, they wouldn't have to worry about teammates betraying them. After a few battles, they could slowly improve their coordination within a safe range...

But looking at Ash, she suddenly felt like she had been tricked.

After they return, they will definitely be blamed by the viewers. After all, if they had fought well in the Cicada Hall, Ash would not have discovered this loophole...

"What if you and the viewer are both wrong?" Youlan said, "Or what if I suddenly have other ideas and I just don't like you?"

Ash didn't say anything, but there was a smile in his eyes as if he could see through her harsh appearance.

"snort."

Youlan held his hand and told him the truth.

“No one who has worked with me has no regrets.”