Meanwhile, in a completely different room, the remaining Elders of the sect watched live data coming from the device created by An Fuqi. He was an undeniable genius when it came to such matters, but his machinery was too sophisticated.

  Probably only he was able to read it without any problems.

  “May Shang has begun her nightmare,” said Xuan Jiang in a soft voice. She played the most important role, controlling her formation and reading the data.

  “I admitted it, I’m handling the translation,” replied Elder Fei Wuji, who, although he preferred to fight on the battlefield with his huge axe, was surprisingly useful in such matters.

  The rest of the Elders simply watched the test results. It was quite good entertainment, albeit short-lived.

  The machine was quite strange in its construction, a huge tetrahedron inscribed in a cube, from which many steel pipes emerged, but also complex formations and runes were built into the entire contraption.

  The most important part, however, was its lower section, a crack from which meters of thick paper emerged. This is where the data from the dream May Shang was currently in was specified. Elder Jian received it, while Elder Wuji interpreted it in a way that was understandable to others.

  Originally, it was intended as an easy way to check the loyalty of the Elders themselves. After all, the Island Mountain Sect was sensitive to spies and Evil Cultivators. Eventually, it was decided that it was also worth checking the so-called “geniuses.”

  However, it was also a good form of entertainment.

  Although they couldn't see everything in its entirety, from time to time they could see fragments of what was happening! In addition, there were emotions, but also a summary of events.

  However, something strange quickly became apparent. May Shang's nightmare seemed to be different somehow.

  Suddenly, they saw an image. It was a dark room... After a moment, they saw an inscription on a part of the machine that described the events. “May wakes up with difficulty from her sleep.”

  “Strange,” commented Shen Baoxu. “This is the first time I've seen a nightmare start with waking up.”

  Wo Shi Hao was stunned. “The first time I used this thing, I was in the middle of a battle... And she wakes up in bed?”

  However, apart from that, it wasn't that strange for now. Although it was true that most nightmares started immediately with bloodshed and fear, there were a few slower beginnings.

  However, as time went on... things started to get weird.

  “What's going on here?” Even the usually calm Ze Yun was mercilessly surprised to see some strange results. “She went to university? It must be some kind of academy? That would make sense, fear of Cloud Academy... But... Chemistry classes? What kind of word is that?”

  “I think it's some kind of slang for alchemy?” Xuan Jiang wondered aloud.

  “Okay, but that still doesn't explain those strange images... What are those strange beasts? They have no legs, but they move so fast... And light comes out of their eyes!”

  “Fei Wuji, we only saw them for a few seconds, why do you assume they're beasts? I actually think I saw some people inside, so it must be some kind of vehicle.”

  “Don't be ridiculous! I've never seen anything like that before!”

  “Silence! Something new has appeared!”

  Everyone looked at the text displayed by the machine on the paper, which had suddenly appeared.

  “May went to have lunch with her friend after a long day…?”

  “Wasn't it supposed to be a nightmare?”

  “It's been a few minutes now, and nothing else has happened... Oh, a new image...? Some strange food. What are these weird yellow triangles? They look disgusting. Do they eat things like this in the Outer Court?”

  The strangest thing, however, was the length of time it lasted; normally, everything would have been over long ago. Nightmares usually lasted a few minutes, sometimes a little longer, but here, even after ten minutes, nothing seemed to be happening.

  “Elder Jiang, has anything like this happened before?”

  “No, never. I think the record was around nine minutes, but even in that case, something was actively happening, but what's happening here... It's an anomaly.”

  “What determines the duration?”

  “It's hard to say. Probably many factors, such as life experience, which she doesn't have because of her age, the strength of her fears, which, considering her age, shouldn't be that great, but also her potential...”

  “Potential?”

  “Yes... Nightmares strengthen the soul, but thanks to the machine, they are limited so that they do not damage it. That is why these dreams are usually short... Such a long duration means that her soul will be able to withstand such a long state of nightmare...”

  “Maybe the machine is just broken?” Elder Gong suggested, looking annoyed.

  “That's impossible. We checked its operation many times before today. In addition...”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  She suddenly stopped as a new text appeared. It read, “Suddenly [], appeared in front of May.”

  “Hmmm? Shouldn't there be a name here? Is this some kind of interference...?”

  “This shouldn't have happened...” Xuan Jian declared.

  Suddenly, an image appeared. It was seen from May's first-person perspective, so they couldn't see what May herself looked like in this world. The image showed a figure sitting next to May... However, her face was blurred.

  “I can't see this person's face...?”

  “What's going on here?!” Shuguang Gong exclaimed. “This whole May is kind of shady!”

  “Be quiet,” Ze Yun interrupted him. “Let's just keep watching, and we'll draw conclusions later.”

  May's emotions were indicated as “concerned.”

  However, to the further surprise of the sect elders, nothing else happened. The subtitles and images indicated that she later continued her lessons, then returned home and went to sleep! All the elders cursed under their breath.

  Everyone knew that the nightmare had now truly begun when they read that someone had started knocking on her door in the middle of the night.

  “The nightmare is just beginning... It must have been over a day from her perspective!”

  “Can her soul withstand it? Although the nightmare is supposed to strengthen it, with so many hours of it, I’m afraid that…”

  Xuan Jiang, slightly offended by the questioning of the safety of the machine she had created the formation for, replied, “If she were in danger, my formations would immediately stop this nightmare.”

  This time, they watched everything with great attention.

  “Oh!” Jiang cried out when she saw what was happening.

  An image appeared of May having attacked the man while protecting the old woman!

  “Outstanding,” commented Wo Shi Hao. " She selflessly protected the old woman, even though she had no particular connection to her. In addition, she risked her life, even though she could have stayed safely at home.

  Ze Yun agreed with her assessment. “Furthermore, she has the instincts of a warrior. Without her memories, she is just a mortal, but despite this, she managed to defeat a grown man.”

  Shuguang Gong was annoyed by this fact, but even he had to admit that it was impressive. He couldn't say anything bad about May Shang at the moment.

  They continued to watch the events unfold.

  Some had mixed feelings about whether she should have gone to the woman's apartment. Some thought it was a mistake and that May was too gullible. A few Elders also criticized May's vulgar language.

  “Oh. That person with the blurred face again...”

  “How suspicious.”

  They watched the proceedings. Unfortunately, they couldn't hear the entire conversation due to restrictions.

  May seemed to be alone with this mysterious faceless person. Suddenly, a snippet of their conversation came through, but as soon as they turned their gaze to see what they were talking about, everyone heard a loud screech in their ears.

  “Aaagh!”

  “Fucking hell!” Fei Wuji roared.

  Some fell to the ground. Everyone was confused! However, no one had any doubts that something strange was happening in this nightmare. It seemed to be related to this mysterious person.

  “What was that...?”

  “It's as if this conversation... was censored? It's something May was talking to... Could it be...”

  “You're not suggesting that it's THAT. The ancient evil...? I thought it was dead.”

  “I don't know, but...” Elder Jian pondered with a slight fear. “This thing is strange. It interferes, and we don't even know how... It transcends the Golden Core stage... Hell! Even the Nascent Soul stage! I don't know who or what it is, but it seems to be able to tamper with things!”

  “Should we stop...?”

  “No. Let's continue.”

  They continued watching. Suddenly, another person appeared, claiming to be the old woman's grandson. Although the Elders were slightly stunned, they quickly recovered.

  “It's definitely a monster...”

  “May didn't want to let him in... Good judgment. Unfortunately, she succumbed to the old woman's pressure.”

  All the Elders knew it was over. She had let the monster in, so her fate was clear: death and the end of the nightmare.

  As expected, the grandson turned out to be a monster. He attacked May and stabbed her with a knife.

  Unexpectedly, however, she told the woman to kill the monster, even if it meant her own death!

  “That's remarkable of her! Even if she knew she wouldn't survive the wound, how many people would be willing to give their lives for the well-being of others?” Fei Wuji said, nodding his head in appreciation. After a moment, however, he looked at the photo that appeared. “But... What is that old woman holding? That's strange...”

  “Is it some kind of weapon? Hmm, I've never seen anything like it.”

  Soon, the dream ended with May's self-sacrifice.

  “I would rate all of this as outstanding and perfect character, but...” said one person.

  “Too many strange things happened,” added another.

  “Although May Shang has impeccable character, for some reason her dream was unusually long, and there were disturbances in it.”

  “Not to mention all those strange images. If she weren't a child, I would think she was a spy from another continent...”

  Suddenly, Xuan Jiang spoke up: “Fortunately, all the data has been preserved. We have a long night ahead of us. If we analyze all the information, we will find out the truth and whether it has anything to do with May Shang herself, or perhaps THAT THING interfered with her test...”

  ───── ??☆?? ─────

  “Wake up.” She heard a woman's voice and felt a nudge on her shoulder. She opened her eyes wearily and saw Zu Chen. She was clearly annoyed: “The tests are over, get up.”

  May felt slightly better and struggled to adjust her position and look around. “How long... have I been asleep?” she asked uncertainly.

  “Not as long as you think,” she replied casually. “It only took the three of us as long as it took you one to complete the test.”

  Ughh... They certainly weren't trapped in this nightmare for two whole days without sleep...

  She looked around. Yifan Wu was looking at her with contempt.

  He must find it laughable. The test must have seemed easy to him.

  May noticed that Zu Chen, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed. Suddenly, May's eyes met Peng Chen's. He didn't seem to be in the best condition.

  “He just went last, he'll get over it,” his sister explained, seeing May's gaze.

  “He was last because he didn't want to leave you alone. Pathetic, as if you needed his help.”

  May leaned against the wall and stood up. Although she hadn't slept long, it certainly allowed her to regenerate her strength at least a little.

  “All right, get up, this time for real. We have another test ahead of us.”

  “Another one?”

  Elder An Fuqi responded with his customary jest. “Yes, another one, but also the last one. I'd love to give you more time to rest, but… Tragically, we don't have time. So, everyone, follow me!”

  After everything, she didn't like having to take another test. She wasn't feeling very energetic, but she stood up straight after taking a deep breath. She followed the others slowly, hoping that the next test wouldn't be too hard.