Chapter 631 - Strange Situation

Translated by Jouissance of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

You XiaoMo didn’t know why he was here, but now he could finally confirm that this was an illusory world. Otherwise, how could he take one step and end up in another world?

Knowing that he couldn’t understand them, the dark-skinned man still pulled him over enthusiastically, saying a long string of words to his companions that You XiaoMo couldn’t understand. However, You XiaoMo could tell that they didn’t mean any harm

Then, You XiaoMo left with their group.

Not long later, You XiaoMo realized that he had gotten things wrong. This wasn’t Egypt, it was just that their language was similar. They weren’t black people either, just very, very tan from walking in the desert for prolonged periods of time.

These people weren’t normal mortals. You XiaoMo could sense a very slight pulse of energy from them, something only practitioners had. However, their cultivation base hadn’t even reached the lowest level of Man yet.

Their group walked on and on through the desert. During this time, there wasn’t even a hint of another person or any greenery whatsoever. They had stopped to rest once, and rehydrate themselves, before continuing in the same direction. They didn’t offer You XiaoMo any water, but he didn’t ask for any either.

He had thought that they would manage to walk out of the desert just like that, but then a group of sand bandits jumped out at them.

It was a very sudden attack, and You XiaoMo didn’t even know where they had come from. Was it possible that he simply didn’t notice?

Obviously not, what with his cultivation base!

The sand bandits were a group of men on camels, swords in hand. Due to staying in the desert for prolonged periods of time, they were also extremely tan, but their eyes were bright, greedily staring at the group, approaching with malicious smiles.

The men of the group seemed to be on guard against these people and they all drew clubs from under the camels, running up to meet the bandits. The women and children huddled together in fear, trembling.

Then the first person fell, bleeding out...

You XiaoMo began to become suspicious. This was an illusion, right? But then, when the second, then third person fell, he couldn’t stay idle any longer. Who cares if it was an illusion? Thus, he acted.

The scary and powerful bandits were dealt with almost instantly by You XiaoMo. You XiaoMo didn’t kill them, but he incapacitated their cultivation and movement.

This scene had all the men and women’s eyes wide, expressions incredulous. Then, when they looked at You XiaoMo, their expressions were no longer friendly, but fearful and even somewhat hateful.

There was only fear, no gratitude at being saved.

You XiaoMo, originally wanting to try and communicate with them, was stunned. What sort of reaction was this? He had saved them, after all, was there a need to look at him that way?

You XiaoMo didn’t take it to heart. They were just mirages anyways.

Soon enough though, he experienced constant ostracization. It was clear that they were trying to anger him, like they were testing the degree of his patience.

So You XiaoMo decided against following them. It didn’t take him long to walk out of the desert alone, and what appeared in front of him was a swath of magnificent buildings, stretching out seemingly forever.

This illusion really was quite the hard worker, even creating cities for him. But how was he to leave?

When he walked into the city, he was practically smacked in the face by the dense ambient spiritual energy. He had noticed a while ago that the spiritual energy in this illusion was particularly dense, but the people of the desert didn’t seem to know how to use it, so their cultivation levels were incredibly low.

A year later.

You XiaoMo appeared in a dirty little alleyway. He was wearing the same attire as the locals, large swaths of fabric wrapped around him, like a mummy.

Any normal person would’ve probably developed hateful, antisocial thoughts about taking revenge on society and the world at large after all he had been through. After he had entered the city, everything seemed to pass like he was in a fantasy world.

The people he had saved in the desert seemed to have reported him to the city’s leader. That day, barely within an hour of settling down in a local tavern, he had been surrounded. Originally, he had wanted to teach them a lesson, but then he suddenly realized that there was someone with an even higher cultivation base than he in this world, sticking to the shadows and sabotaging him.

He didn’t know who it was, but the other seemed to be able to accurately predict where he was and where he would go. Within half an hour of arriving in a new place, a bunch of heavily armed people would come running, trying to catch him, forcing him to constantly have to flee and find a new place to stay. Generally, he wouldn’t be able to stay in one place for over half an hour before having to move.

Was this really an illusionary world?

Heaven’s sake, he was going crazy!

You XiaoMo noticed that this world didn’t seem to have any inconsistencies, which meant that he couldn’t break the illusion, so he might be trapped in the illusion forever.

Normally, illusions would be a trial of emotions, temptations and inner demons. At first, that was what he had thought this was, but then he realized that there was too little that was wrong with this world. It was just like a real world, and he had really been forced to his limit.

You XiaoMo wondered to himself despairingly, when will this end?

That was when the black shadow that was hiding under his feet, waiting for an opportunity, took his absent mindedness as a chance to enter his body. In the next moment, it appeared in his mind...

“Hahaha... I’ve finally gotten a chance. I’ve been waiting a year for this moment, and now it’s finally come! Huh? It seems that my luck isn’t bad, a Rainbow Grade four Mage. What a prize...”

The sharp, excited voice that erupted in his head in that moment could be described with five words: extremely unpleasant to the ears. It was a hundred times worse than nails on chalkboard. He didn’t know how to describe it; it was like a sound wave attack.

You XiaoMo grasped his head in pain, and then he felt that dark shadow attack his soul. Fuck! One’s soul was no joke. He could clearly feel the pain of his soul being assaulted. If this was an illusion, he’ll write his name backwards from now on!

You XiaoMo began to counterattack. Did that thing think it was free to do as it wished by being in his body?

If it was outside, then he might be worried. He had already realized that this dark shadow was the mysterious person that was stronger than him in this world. Well, at least this saved You XiaoMo the trouble of seeking the other out.

The battle between souls was the crudest form of combat. Whoever had more power would win!

That dark shadow let out a scream. “Impossible! Your soul, you’re just a Grade Four mage, how come your soul is so solid?” It was practically tangible.

You XiaoMo sneered. Afraid? Good. He knew why, but there was no way he was telling.

The black shadow tried to run. Right now, it knew that it couldn’t match up to You XiaoMo. Such a powerful soul could only be matched by a legendary Grade Seven mage.

However, the dark shadow was one step too late. There was no way You XiaoMo was going to let the other escape from inside his body. You XiaoMo trapped the other inside, slowly eroding away at the other’s soul. This guy was a mage as well, and a Grade Five mage, too. His screaming didn’t stop, but he couldn’t defend against the constant expenditure, his soul slowly thinning. One more strike and his soul would be destroyed.

“Wait. Let me go and I’ll tell you a secret. You probably want to know if this is an illusion or not, right?” the dark shadow begged. Id he didn’t say something, then he would die. Completely, and utterly.

You XiaoMo stopped his attacks, but not because of the other’s words. He sneered, “You think I need you to tell me? Do you think I’m an idiot that hasn’t realized that this isn’t an illusion yet?”

The dark shadow hurriedly said, “I know you have a lot of questions. I can answer them.”

“Okay then, talk. What the hell is the TongTian Palace doing?” You XiaoMo got straight to the point.

The dark shadow swallowed. “This is reality, you already know that. In fact, this is the second exam. Not only you, but everyone else is experiencing the same thing. The basis of soul power is the soul, which means that the soul is extremely important, so this exam tests your soul. If you had failed, I would’ve transported you out anyways. Originally, you shouldn’t know any of this. Once we tell you, then you fail.”

You XiaoMo chuckled. “So you mean that I’ve failed?”

The dark shadow’s eyes flashed. “If you let me go, I can promise to not tell anyone and let you pass.”

“This isn’t very professional of you, is it?” You XiaoMo spoke meaningfully.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The dark shadow gave a strained laugh. “I really did underestimate your strength. Even I’m not a match for your strength. I think I’m probably the only one who’s been beaten so badly by a examee, to the point of begging. I just hope you won’t tell anyone about this after you leave.”

You XiaoMo smiled. “No worries, I won’t tell anyone. After all, killing a member of the TongTian Palace isn’t anything honorable. If anyone finds out, then I’ll be in trouble, wouldn’t you say, you liar?”

The dark shadow startled.

And then, a thick layer of killing intent enveloped him.