Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated.
For every 5 Patreon memberships I receive, I'll release 15 chapters all at once. Your support means a lot to me.
******
Driven by such doubts, Anna was soon imprisoned in a cell at the auction house, where more than half a year passed in this manner.
Inside the cell, Anna could neither eat nor sleep well. Living a life of eating husks and wild vegetables day after day numbed her nerves, and by this point, her mind was on the verge of collapse.
Her brain could no longer distinguish whether this place was an illusion or reality!
Over the past six months, she had tried using iron nails to scratch her own skin, hoping to prove she was in an illusion. But that sharp, intense pain and the sight of bright red blood seemed nothing like a hallucination.
Beyond that, Anna had also tried to cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the White Tiger Meditation Method that Davis had passed down to her, hoping to increase her soul power and escape. However, her soul power did not increase by even the slightest margin.
Not only did her soul power fail to rise, but Anna felt absolutely nothing while practicing the techniques, as if the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the White Tiger Meditation Method were merely figments of her imagination.
If this was an illusion, why was it so real!
And if this was reality, why was the "dream" she had six months ago so vivid?
Anna pondered these questions every day, using every method she could think of to prove this was just an illusion. But the more she thought this way, the less she could distinguish between the imaginary and the real. Ultimately, she sank deep into her own delusions.
"I can't tell! Exactly what kind of place is this? An illusion? Or reality? I can't tell! I really can't tell anymore!"
"Was that time spent with Brother Davis and Sister Zhuyun really just my imagination?"
"No! That's impossible. That previous time, the experiences with Brother Davis... they couldn't possibly be a hallucination... absolutely not!"
"I must find a way to leave this place! As long as I can find Brother Davis, I can confirm whether this is reality or an illusion!"
"If this is an illusion, then Brother Davis is likely the key to breaking it. As long as I can find him, I can escape! If this is reality..."
Anna didn't dare think further. If this was reality, it meant she would have to start everything all over again.
Time flew like an arrow, and another half-year passed in a flash. It was now the middle of a bitter winter. In a dark alleyway in Star-Luo City, a thinly dressed young girl lay on the ground, her body covered in wounds.
At this moment, heavy snow began to fall from the sky, gently burying the girl's body. This girl was Anna. Five months ago, mirroring the events of her "dream," she had been put up for auction as a commodity. In the dream, she had encountered Davis, who treated her kindly.
But this time, Anna was clearly not so lucky. She was bought by a nobleman to be a servant. That noble lord had given her a meditation method, allowing her to cultivate soul power.
However, Anna had been desperate to find Davis to confirm whether this world was real or a dream. Thus, on a dark and windy night, she fled the nobleman's territory and came to Star-Luo City, sneaking into the Star-Luo Imperial Palace.
Yet, after arriving at the palace, she fell into total despair—because in this world, there was no such person as Dai Davis. She was treated as an assassin and hunted by the palace guards.
Though Anna eventually escaped with her life, she collapsed in the alley, severely wounded. Her blood stained the surrounding snow red as the cold swept through her body. Anna's consciousness gradually blurred, and finally, amidst endless despair and confusion, she closed her eyes forever.
...
"Ahhh!!!"
Suddenly, Anna let out a tragic cry and snapped her eyes open, panting heavily for breath.
She jerked her head up only to see a massive black tiger standing before her, looming like a small mountain.
The hot breath exhaled by the tiger brushed against her cheeks. A massive flood of memories forced its way into Anna's mind, regardless of whether her small frame could handle it. Finally, Anna slumped onto the ground, gasping as she murmured.
"Brother Davis, that just now was..."
"Nana, don't you remember?" Suddenly, Davis's voice came from the mouth of the Star-Luo Holy Tiger. "After you completed the first stage of special training, I was to conduct the second stage. Then I moved suddenly, using Zhuyun's third soul skill, Netherworld Springfall, to pull you into an endless nightmare!"
"This! So that means everything just now was a nightmare I had... Thank goodness..." Having said this, Anna let out a sigh of relief. She lay on the ground with an exhausted expression, a faint smile on her lips. At the same time, scalding tears burst from her eyes, and before long, her face was covered in them. She covered her face and sobbed, venting the grievances and discontent she had experienced within the illusion...
At that moment, accompanied by a flash of light, Davis deactivated the Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Under the reproachful gazes of Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing, he walked over to Anna.
The three of them were perfectly aware of Anna's experiences within the dream. Zhuyun and Zhuqing had been complaining earlier that Davis was being too cruel to Anna. It wasn't as if they had some deep blood feud, so why torture Anna like that in an illusion? After all, he was still Anna's brother and master.
The two had even pleaded with Davis to stop torturing Anna's consciousness in the illusion, but in the end, Davis had rejected their suggestion.
Precisely because he was Anna's brother and master, he understood her weaknesses better than anyone.
Davis sat down beside Anna, reaching out to stroke the young girl's head. "Nana, do you know what your greatest weakness is?"
"What is it? I have the Transcendent Divine Tool, the Sea God's Trident; I have the Divine Tool, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud; I have a top-tier mutated Martial Soul, and my physical strength is comparable to a high-level Soul Douluo. My soul ring configuration is also top-tier. I don't know what weaknesses I could possibly have."
"True," Davis nodded slightly. "Nana, your strength is great. In this world, the number of people who can defeat you in a head-on clash definitely doesn't exceed five. But the weakness I'm talking about doesn't lie in your physical body or your Martial Soul. It lies in your heart—it is a weakness within your soul!"
Anna looked puzzled. "A weakness in my heart..."
"Exactly! Your greatest weakness is that you are far too dependent on us. Once we are not by your side, even the slightest disturbance leaves you feeling lost and helpless. Just like what you experienced in the illusion—in fact, exiting that illusion was actually very simple!"
As Davis spoke, it was true that he had set an exit for Anna within the illusion: to obtain a soul ring and become a Soul Master. It was that simple.
Davis wanted to see if Anna could rely on her own strength to become a Soul Master again without his help.
If Anna could have become a Soul Master once more within the illusion, she could have walked out of it. But clearly, Anna had failed the test. Once Davis, Zhuyun, and the others were not around, Anna completely lost her head.
After obtaining a meditation method, the first thing she thought of wasn't becoming stronger, but going to find Davis. How could that be allowed?
Davis knew that the Ninth Trial of the Sea God would be extremely difficult. If Anna did not have an indomitable heart, she would never be able to pass the trial of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires.
Therefore, he had to use his own methods to temper Anna's soul!
(End of Chapter)