CHAPTER 678: 678 NIGHTMARE HALL

"Ah, the Thunder Pool is really too small!"

Several hours later, when Yun Xiao set foot on the other side of the Thunder Pool, he turned around and couldn’t help but feel dissatisfied, especially looking at the Thunder Pool which now had only a few scattered bolts of thunder, he couldn’t help but express his melancholic thoughts.

Because during these hours in the Thunder Pool, almost all the thunder within had been divided up by Yun Xiao and the Golden Snake Worm, and if it wasn’t for the lack of thunder, he would have liked to stay a few more hours in the Thunder Pool.

Right now, the few bolts of thunder Yun Xiao saw upon turning around had just emerged in the Thunder Pool, and this speed was clearly of little use to him and the Golden Snake Worm.

If the old man in charge of the Boundary Tower knew that the thunder stored for a long time in the Thunder Pool had been consumed by a young boy in just a few hours, I wonder what kind of amazing expression he would have?

Of course, Yun Xiao was not going to concern himself with these thoughts. He just felt that the thunder energy of the Thunder Pool wasn’t too fierce and wasn’t abundant enough; although it had significantly enhanced the strength of his physical body, it had not brought him to the level of Seventh Rank Intermediate Vein Demon physical strength.

After absorbing the thunder energy, the Golden Snake Worm fell into a deep sleep again, probably digesting that energy; Yun Xiao was already no stranger to this phenomenon.

Speaking of which, the thunder energy consumed this time by the Golden Snake Worm might be ten times that of Yun Xiao’s, as in this type of energy competition, Yun Xiao never had the upper hand.

"I wonder what the next test will be?"

Having experienced the test of the Thunder Pool, Yun Xiao was actually looking forward to the next challenge. If there were energy like the thunder for him to absorb, the Golden Snake Worm, deep in slumber, wouldn’t snatch it so fiercely as it just did.

The Golden Snake Worm, while awake, and while asleep, differed in their competition for energy; if the former could grab eighty percent, the latter could at most take only twenty percent.

With this thought in mind, Yun Xiao quickly walked forward. In just a moment, he faced an ancient and mysterious black hall that appeared massive before him.

This hall seemed to have appeared out of nowhere just now, or perhaps it had stood here since ancient times; in any case, Yun Xiao hadn’t spotted a trace of this black hall before. As he took another step forward, the hall miraculously appeared.

"It seems there’s only one way to go, into the hall!"

Feeling the high walls rising up on both his sides and behind him, Yun Xiao already had some experience. As he stepped forward again, reaching the front of the hall, he finally saw clearly the three big characters on a huge plaque above the hall.

"Nightmare Hall!"

Yun Xiao exhaled a long breath, seemingly understanding what kind of tests were inside this black hall, which were likely to create some very realistic illusions, and were a test of the Power of Soul.

It seems the previous six tests targeted the physical body, but now at the seventh layer, it was targeting the soul. However, Yun Xiao was very confident in the strength of his soul, and with no way back, he pushed open the great doors of the Nightmare Hall and stepped inside.

What Yun Xiao didn’t know was whether it was his past life as Long Xiao Battle God or his current life as Yun Xiao, he had countless things he couldn’t let go of, and this so-called Nightmare Hall was not as easily overcome as he imagined.

Hoo, hoo, hoo...

Just as Yun Xiao stepped into the Nightmare Hall, he felt a cold wind hit his face and the scene before his eyes suddenly changed. He was shockingly standing at the entrance of the Jade Pot Sect.

Clang, clang, clang!

Ding, ding, ding!

Bang, bang, bang!

A series of sounds came, and Yun Xiao looked up to see cultivators of Jade Pot Sect, including Yu Shu, Lu Zhan, and Li Shan, all listed with their bodies covered in blood, obviously experiencing a fierce battle of life and death.

And regarding these enemies of the Jade Pot Sect, Yun Xiao didn’t recognize a single one. He had a vague feeling that something was odd, but at this moment, he couldn’t recall what that feeling was?

Obviously, after entering the Nightmare Hall, Yun Xiao had fallen into some kind of illusion and even his soul power couldn’t clearly discern whether this was reality or illusion.

"Ah!"

Just as Yun Xiao shook his head vigorously, trying to grasp a fleeting feeling, a scream suddenly came. When he looked up, his eyes burst with rage.

At this moment, the fourth elder of the Jade Pot Sect, Li Shan, was being stabbed through the chest by his opponent’s sword, piercing through his heart from the back, and it was evident his heart had been ruthlessly penetrated, leaving no chance for survival.

"Elder Li Shan..."

Yun Xiao had a good impression of this elder of the Jade Pot Sect. Seeing his tragic death, his mind became desolate, but no matter how angry or sad he was, he found his body wouldn’t move, let alone go forward to help.

"Ah!" "Ah!" "Ah!"

Screams continuously came from ahead, with the sixth elder Su He and the Great Elder Lu Zhan consecutively dying, and finally even the Sect Master of Jade Pot Sect, Yu Shu, was chopped down, losing an arm, and collapsing in a pool of blood.

"Teacher!"

Seeing this, Yun Xiao couldn’t help but cry out in alarm, and this time, it seemed to finally catch the attention of those people, who then turned their gaze towards Yun Xiao.

"Yun Xiao, it’s you, it’s all your fault that Jade Pot Sect has suffered!"

Little did Yun Xiao know that right after he felt he could move his body, a fierce roar erupted from Yu Shu’s mouth, followed by his opponent’s sword plunging deep into his chest.

"No!"

Witnessing this, Yun Xiao was utterly horrified, his soul scattered, paying no mind to the meaning of Yu Shu’s words just now. This was the only teacher he had on Hidden Dragon Continent, the closest person to him besides his sister and mother. Witnessing his death like this was more than he could bear.

"No! This isn’t real! This is an illusion!"

Just as Yun Xiao was about to step forward, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him, and the horrible sight before him shattered into pieces like glass, dissipating into the air.

"*huff... huff...*"

Having broken into a cold sweat, Yun Xiao gasped heavily, staring at the fragmented space in front of him, feeling terrified realizing just how realistic the illusions of Nightmare Hall were, shaking even his firm determination slightly.

And Yun Xiao had a feeling that, as he ventured deeper into the Nightmare Hall, the tragic event of the Jade Pot Sect was merely an appetizer, and the main course was yet to come.

Swish!

As expected by Yun Xiao, as he stepped forward once more, his mind blurred again, and without his knowledge, the scene changed once more, presenting an extremely realistic vision before him.

"Mother!"

This time, what Yun Xiao saw was a person even closer to him than Yu Shu and Lu Zhan, it was his mother, Shang Li, who he had been separated from for three to four years.

At this moment, Shang Li, with her hair disheveled and her body covered in blood, was bound to a wooden post, her eyes lifeless, seeming not to hear Yun Xiao’s cries, as if she had already lost her soul.

"Tell me, where exactly is the Blood Moon Jade?"

Just when Yun Xiao found he couldn’t move at all, a somewhat familiar fierce voice suddenly came, and then he clearly saw a blood-stained whip fiercely lashing his mother’s body.

"No... please no!"

Seeing this, Yun Xiao was even more panicked than when he saw Yu Shu and Lu Zhan die because ever since he knew his mother might still be alive, he had been worried she would suffer greatly. This moment in the Nightmare Hall undoubtedly brought him into that reality.

The magic of Nightmare Hall lies in its ability to make one feel as if they are not in an illusion, making everything seem incredibly real, from Shang Li’s appearance to the voice of the tall, thin elder, exactly as it was back at the Shang Family’s place.

"Even if you beat me to death, I still won’t know!"

Shang Li raised her dim eyes and spoke, which made the tall, thin elder even more enraged. After a few more lashes, seemingly tired, he finally stopped.

However, just when Yun Xiao thought his mother would no longer suffer, the tall, thin elder waved his hand towards a direction and soon turned to a silhouette very familiar to him.

"Xue Qi, this woman refuses to confess, you try!"

The enchanting woman summoned by the tall, thin elder was none other than Xue Qi, who used to call Yun Xiao and Yun Wei siblings at the Shang Family, and was also the foster daughter of Shang Li.

"This ungrateful wretch!"

Seeing Xue Qi, a surge of old and new resentment flooded Yun Xiao’s heart, but in the next moment, he saw Xue Qi wielding the Blood Whip, lashing it repeatedly on his mother, breaking his heart into pieces.

"Shang Li, for the years you raised me, just tell me the whereabouts of the Blood Moon Jade, and I can ask the teacher to spare you!"

While lashing, Xue Qi threatened, and hearing the words "years you raised me," Yun Xiao felt an overwhelming rage that he could no longer suppress.

"Heh, raised me? I regret ever taking in an ingrate like you, Shang Li!"

Even Shang Li herself lifted her head, staring at Xue Qi with a cold sneer, which seemed to infuriate Xue Qi intensely.

"You really don’t know when to give up!"

A cold shout came from Xue Qi as she ferociously whipped the blood-stained whip towards Shang Li’s face.

At that moment, Yun Xiao desperately wanted to save her, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t move even a finger. Watching powerlessly as his mother was humiliated was perhaps the most excruciating torture of all.