When the first gaze appeared, Arthur felt as if there were thorns on his back.
When the second gaze appeared, Arthur's blood seed to freeze.
When the third gaze appeared, Arthur's soul couldn't help but shudder.
And when the fourth gaze appeared, Arthur...
Was utterly composed!
He was now the snake.
He had no idea what had happened.
He was just hungry.
No!
It was hungry!
At this mont, the frequency at which the skill "Bluff" flickered had exceeded what the naked eye could detect; it was completely lit up.
Like a lamp.
An eternal lamp.
Moreover, at this mont, the XP that was needed to level up "Bluff" was completely unnecessary; in the field of view that only Arthur could see, it began to increase 1 1 1 1.
"Bluff Lv8"
"Bluff Lv9"
"Bluff Lv10"
...
The long-stagnant skill "Bluff" started to improve.
With every level increased, Arthur appeared more natural.
The fourth gaze that appeared lingered slightly on Arthur before shifting with the previous three gazes towards that area shrouded in brilliance.
Then ca the fifth gaze, the sixth gaze.
The casting gazes kept increasing.
Each ti a gaze was cast, it would subconsciously glance at Arthur first.
But Arthur was too inconspicuous.
Or rather...
Arthur really resembled a 'snake' too much.
Which led these beings to also consider Arthur a 'snake'.
And this perception caused Arthur's "Bluff" to start skyrocketing.
When the eleventh gaze ca over, the numbers that were once just 1 had already turned into 99!
99 99 99...
Layers upon layers, densely packed numbers, were increasing frantically.
"Bluff," which was just steadily improving, seed to be on a rocket at this mont—
"Bluff Lv11"
"Bluff Lv12"
...
"Bluff Lv99"
...
When "Bluff" reached Lv99, the constant appearance of experience points suddenly halted.
Not because they were gone, nor was there any decrease.
The 99 numbers were still 99.
What changed was "Bluff" itself.
The disappearance of the required number to level up in "Bluff Lv99 (59499/-)," but the increasing numbers were still there.
However, it seed to have reached a limit, and "Bluff" could no longer improve.
All of this, Arthur saw clearly.
It could also see the brilliance clearly—
A tree!
A colossal Golden Tree!
The endless brilliance blood from the branches and leaves.
And although its body could not have seen clearly before, bathing in such brilliance, its body grew rapidly.
In just thirty breaths, it grew from the size of a pinky to 10 ters long.
The growth in body size made it stronger and hungrier.
It quickened its pace towards the tree.
There, it was so fragrant.
So fragrant that, without needing to act, Arthur instinctively rushed there.
And this scene made those eleven gazes even more expectant.
These gazes watched Arthur.
The increasing numbers of "Bluff" suddenly started a new wave of explosive growth, changing from 99 to 999.
A tenfold change.
By the ti Arthur had crawled halfway there, the numbers in "Bluff" Lv99 had already turned into "14489055/-".
And these numbers were still increasing.
Arthur's instincts told him that such numbers were greatly beneficial.
So, he felt no sorrow.
Instead, under the watch of those eleven gazes, he swiftly moved forward—with the appearance of a beast driven by instinct!
And by the ti Arthur, crawling, reached the base of that colossal Golden Tree, the number in "Bluff" Lv99 had reached a terrifying "30028500/-".
At the sa ti, Arthur's serpentine body had reached 100 ters.
But even with such a body, under the Golden Tree, he was hardly noticeable; he couldn't even begin to describe the enormity of the Golden Tree.
Because when he was here, he looked up and saw...
Worlds.
Worlds within the leaves.
Each leaf represented a world.
A total of 129,600 leaves.
The cycle of life and death never rests.
Their number neither increases nor decreases.
Each ti a leaf withers and falls, a new leaf grows in its place.
Arthur watched the falling leaves, watched new life.
He struggled to rise, climbing towards the trunk of the tree.
He wanted to reach the top of the tree to look around.
But, as this thought surfaced, his "Death Intuition" issued unprecedented warnings, not just flickering but also buzzing in a way he had never experienced before. In his vision, he saw—
A humanoid with seven heads and nine arms, without a head, brandishing flas.
A bird-headed, fish-bodied monster churning up monstrous waves.
A one-eyed, bodiless monster spewing thunder and lightning.
A girl under a black veil weeping softly.
A gentleman holding a golden cup with a face full of haughty disdain.
An old man with a decaying body, ceaselessly making a loud racket.
These six instantly reduced him to ashes, leaving not even his soul behind.
And—
The one hidden in the fog, murmuring softly, whose face was unknown.
The one whose essence was scarlet, roaring viciously without pause.
The silent one filled with endless power, remaining quiet and unspoken.
The humanoid with three heads, a single arm and leg, giggling and laughing.
These four imprisoned his soul and made him experience pain.
Only—
The lady cloaked in a cape and concealing a serpentine body granted him a quick end.
Horror!
Great horror!
Once he truly climbed to the top of the tree, his "Bluff" would no longer be able to continue hiding his true self.
He would be completely exposed.
He,
changed his original idea.
He continued to let instinct drive him, climbing and searching on the Golden Tree.
Here, there was no concept of ti.
But his body had still grown from 100 ters to 1,000 ters long.
Even then, he was still so insignificant, hardly worth ntioning.
At the sa ti...
A sense of twilight descended upon his body.
Arthur could clearly perceive that his body had reached its limit.
It wasn't just the limit of his body.
It seed there were also limits set by 'destiny'.
'Destiny' constrained him.
His crawling pace beca slower and slower.
Until he could no longer move at all, the trunk of the Golden Tree that he clung to trembled slightly, and a drop of sap oozed out from the bark, enveloping him within it.
In an instant, he felt reborn.
He instantaneously broke through 'destiny'!
He instantaneously shook off 'destiny'!
At this mont, he was cast away from the branches of the Golden Tree!
It was as if he had moved from one world to another!
Of course, this wasn't the most important part!
The most important thing was that the owners of the eleven gazes had made their move!
These eleven gazers did not 'crush' him.
Because...
They were wary of each other, guarding against each other.
They extracted the 'sap' that had rged into his body.
Splitting it eleven ways.
Taking their own shares, they left contentedly.
And him?
He kept falling downward.
Until...
He fell into a river.
Not a splash was made.
Pain!
An unimaginable agony!
He felt as though his soul had been torn apart!
He experienced death!
Or perhaps, he had already died.
His body drifted along the river's flow until—
"What a poor little snake."
In a pleasant voice, he was scooped up by a hand.
It was a remarkably coly old lady.
The old lady had a youthful face, but the endless sense of years made him call her 'old lady'.
The very coly old lady stroked his head.
He, lived again.
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