Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Human perception can be manipulated. Whether it’s vision, hearing, smell or touch, to put it bluntly, it’s all the result of biological electric currents and neural information stimulating the brain.”
Meng Chao narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the surging undercurrent and howling gale of the abyss. “As long as the spirit magnetic field is sufficiently complex and the vibration of the psionic ripples is sufficiently exquisite, it’s possible to interfere with the human brain waves and create any illusion. That would then plunge people into unimaginable worlds… or nightmares.”
Ice Storm calmed her mind.
Her mother was a witch.
Her practice was different from magic and divine spells that originated from Holy Light.
Witchcraft originated from the human heart, and it attempted to activate the power in the deepest part of the brain.
Therefore, wizards and witches also had a profound understanding of the human brain, which far surpassed that of ordinary people.
After Meng Chao reminded her, she immediately reacted.
However, she remained very curious. How could Meng Chao react faster than her?
Could he be a wizard too?
A wizard with black hair and black eyes… How interesting.
“How do you know?” Ice Storm asked with bright eyes.
Meng Chao shrugged.
There were a lot of traps in the two ancient ruins at Monster Mountain Range. They had been built by creating illusions.
Many of the Supernatural Entities created by the monster mastermind were also very good at mind control and illusion attacks.
Upon returning after the apocalypse, his soul had been tempered in the apocalyptic flames. His brain had been greatly developed, and he was even immune to most mental attacks. In the fierce battle with the monster civilization, he had gradually grasped the ability to see through illusions.
Meng Chao removed his helmet and knelt on one knee. He pulled a lock of hair from his head and brought it to his mouth to blow lightly.
The lock of hair immediately flew into the abyss.
It was swept up and down by the strong wind.
Then, it was sucked into the bottomless darkness and disappeared.
Upon first contact, he experienced a prickly stinging pain that felt real. Perhaps it was due to the trajectory of the flying hair or the strong wind blowing at his face.
However, Meng Chao discovered that when he released the hair, his eyes and the depths of his ears had sensed extremely weak spirit waves.
Two extremely weak spirit energies had invaded his visual and auditory nervous systems respectively, interfering with his perception and forming a lifelike illusion in front of him!
“That’s right, this is an illusion,” Meng Chao confirmed again.
“Even if this abyss is really an illusion, how are we going to get there?” Ice Storm asked from the side.
“Maybe…”
Meng Chao thought for a moment. “We can just walk straight into the abyss since it doesn’t exist.”
“That can’t be, can it?”
Ice Storm frowned deeply. “Just like before, we can just walk straight to the abyss… There won’t be any unexpected incidents this time, right?”
“I don’t think so.”
Meng Chao muttered, “You should know better than I do the significance of the temple built by the Turan civilization. Firstly, it’s to worship the ancestral spirits, and secondly, it’s to test the blood descendants.
“The mechanisms in the temple are both to guard against intruders and to test whether the new generation of Turan warriors are qualified to inherit the power of their ancestors.
“Since it is a test, there must be a correct answer.
“You should know that in the whole of Picturesque Orchid, the two of us are not too weak. If we can’t pass the test even after racking our brains and using all our skills, how many people will be able to pass it?”
“That’s true.”
Ice Storm nodded in agreement, “After all, the scale of Blood Skull Temple is not too big, and its level is not too high. It is far from the Blood Hoof Clan’s main temple outside Black-corner City.
“As long as we receive Casanova’s blood, many gladiators who are far inferior to me will be able to enter this place to offer sacrifices to the warriors of the past.
“There’s no reason for us to be trapped in this nonexistent abyss.”
“Indeed.”
Meng Chao made a deduction based on his experience of exploring the ancient ruins. “As far as I know, similar mechanisms don’t necessarily require astonishing combat strength or divine techniques to pass. Many times, the tests are instead some very basic abilities, as well as unknown things like “opportunities” and “potential.”
“Some ordinary people, even if they don’t have the strength to truss a chicken, can still pass through the mechanisms in a daze and obtain unparalleled strength.
“Some people, even if they have mastered the ability to slay tigers and dragons, split mountains and rocks, ride the wind, and even control lightning, will still disappear into the depths of the mechanisms, and no one will be seen alive or dead.
“Considering that the level of this temple isn’t high, we shouldn’t complicate a simple problem. We should put ourselves into the identity of the lowest-level clan warrior and think about which aspect of our potential this abyss wants to test.”
“How can we guess it?” Ice Storm blurted out.
“Not guess, but think.”
Meng Chao’s mind raced, and he vaguely grasped something.
He asked Ice Storm, “Just now, when you saw this abyss for the first time, what kind of emotions emerged in the bottom of your heart?”
“This…”
Ice Storm thought for a moment and said with certainty, “Fear, of course. It’s fear. This has nothing to do with strength. I think, when anyone first sees such a large abyss, the first emotion that emerges from the bottom of their heart is definitely fear.”
“That’s right, it’s fear.”
Meng Chao snapped his fingers lightly. “I feel that this mechanism is testing our ability to overcome fear, which is also courage.”
Ice Storm’s eyes lit up.
Advanced orcs were a race that worshiped bravery the most in the entire Other World.
Moreover, they believed that courage had nothing to do with strength. It was something that came naturally to them.
“There’s no need to be too strong in battle, only astonishing courage. In other words…” Ice Storm thought quickly.
Meng Chao was already one step ahead of her, stepping out of the cliff.
Ice Storm widened her eyes.
Just like how she had watched Meng Chao break into the first trap, she did not have time to cry out in surprise.
Then, she saw the strong wind whistling in from all directions as Meng Chao stepped into the air.
However, it did not disturb his vitality magnetic field and blew him into the darkness. Instead, it condensed into a stepping stone as thin as a cicada’s wing and as hard as iron under his feet!
The pitch-black stepping stone was not much bigger than Meng Chao’s feet, and it did not reflect any light. At first glance, it was exactly the same as the surrounding darkness.
However, Meng Chao stood steadily on it and took a second step forward.
As expected, the whistling squall condensed into a second stepping stone in front of him.
Just like that, Meng Chao took seven steps forward in one go.
The squall continuously condensed into stepping stones under his feet, gradually extending into the sky above the abyss into a small path that was as thin as hair.
Meng Chao stood still as if he was standing in the void, turning his head to look at Ice Storm.
Ice Storm steeled her heart as she stepped on Meng Chao’s footsteps and also walked into the abyss.
The two of them looked straight ahead and took more than a hundred steps in one go, arriving at the center of the abyss.
The darkness was endless in all directions. It was like a raging wave of darkness that continuously squeezed their souls, making them feel extremely small and that they would be completely devoured by the darkness at any time.
Ice Storm felt as if the world was spinning.
Finally, she could not help but take a glance at the abyss under her feet.
Even if she was rational, she was very clear that such a terrifying abyss could not exist under the Blood Skull Arena.
Her senses and fear instincts were still screaming hysterically in the depths of her brain.
She swallowed hard and mumbled, “If… If all of this is an illusion, what is the real thing under our feet?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s solid ground,” Meng Chao said.
“In other words, we won’t fall into the abyss at all?”
Ice Storm said, “Then, how would the mechanism punish those who are afraid and fail the test
“By controlling one’s perception, the illusion might be able to kill people.”
Meng Chao said, “Perhaps, a person who falls into the abyss in the illusion will still be smashed to pieces. Of course, his bones would not be smashed, but crushed by his muscles, which would be tightened to the extreme.
“On the other hand, as long as you realize this and believe that you are walking on the right and solid path, you don’t have to be afraid that you will be smashed to pieces.
“Look, the end is here.”
Ice Storm was slightly startled. When she looked up, she saw a cliff that looked like a tusk, similar to what appeared at the beginning of the dark void.
“So fast?”
Ice Storm remembered that she had only walked through half of the abyss. When she looked up, she did not see anything floating in front of her.
The cliff seemed to appear out of thin air. It was extremely strange.
“Since the abyss does not exist, as long as we have enough faith, the end point will appear at any time.”
Meng Chao said, “Perhaps the second mechanism is only a few dozen steps long. We have been spinning in circles under the guidance of illusions.”
Now, they were only three steps away from the finish line.
Three black stepping stones silently appeared in front of them.
Each stepping stone was an arm’s length apart.
This was a distance that even untrained rat people could easily cross.
Meng Chao stood in front of the three stepping stones.
Gazing at the finish line that was so close to him, he pondered for a long time.
Then, he took a step forward.
Without hesitation, he stepped on the two pieces of void between the three stepping stones.
Ice Storm widened her eyes.
She thought Meng Chao had miscalculated the distance.
However, that was impossible. The dark stepping stones were almost merged with the dark void, and it was indeed difficult to distinguish them.
Nevertheless, the faint light on the cliff in front of him had already outlined the shape of the stepping stones.
Even when he had walked to the center of the abyss and could hardly see any light, Meng Chao had not stepped on the wrong stepping stone.
How could he possibly make such a low-level mistake?
Then, something that Ice Storm could not believe happened.
Meng Chao clearly stepped into the void.
He was about to fall into an abyss that did not exist. According to his own words, if his brain was controlled by the illusion, his flesh and blood would be controlled by his brain and his bones would be forcefully crushed.
Yet, he stood firmly in the void without a stepping stone!