Trapped

Wei Yuan flew for nearly half an hour in a single breath before gradually slowing to a stop. Below him stretched a range of pitch-black mountains, their peaks sheer and treacherous. In the valleys flowed several streams shimmering with an eerie blue luminescence. Along the water's edge, a few unidentified demonic beasts prowled slowly. At Wei Yuan's speed, the distance he had covered would take an ordinary Great Shaman one or two hours to fly. Even if they gave chase, they shouldn't have been able to pursue him this far unless they possessed some secret technique for tracking across great distances. Just then, a speck of red suddenly appeared on a peak below—a woman clad in a vibrant red bridal gown. Stirred by curiosity, Wei Yuan dropped down before Dream Eater and asked, "How did you find me?" "Once you entered my bridal gown game, a bond was forged between us. No matter the distance, no matter where you are, so long as you remain within the heaven and earth of the Nether Cold Realm, I can appear at your side. That is my ability as a great demon." Wei Yuan eyed Dream Eater suspiciously. "You wouldn't use that ability to help Shu Li catch me, would you?" Dream Eater shook her head. "Shu Li knows I despise him above all else. Ever since I lured him into a trap that nearly brought about his demise, he has stopped making such demands." Wei Yuan was taken aback. "And he didn't kill you for that?" "He believes I am still useful. Would you kill me?" "Yes," Wei Yuan said without hesitation. Dream Eater seemed frightened and took a step back, her delicate face filled with shock and fear, looking utterly pitiable. As she retreated, the hem of her bridal gown swayed upward, revealing a pair of snow-white little feet. Plump and fair to the point of glowing, their toes were faintly translucent. *She really knows what she's doing. She really does...* Wei Yuan marveled inwardly, his opinion of Dream Eater thoroughly recalibrated. This demon named Dream Eater was truly dedicated to her craft—dedicated to a terrifying degree. Humans and the demons of the Nether Cold Realm were completely different species, their aesthetics worlds apart. Dream Eater's behavior was the equivalent of a human dressing up as a female baboon—and an incomparably stunning female baboon in the eyes of a male baboon at that, perfect in every conceivable detail. Just how perverted did one have to be to pull off something like this? Knowing Dream Eater's true background and having already endured the terror of her bridal gown game, Wei Yuan was naturally immune to her temptations. Moreover, his willpower was rock-solid—or at least that was what Wei Yuan told himself. "You didn't come looking for me just to play games, did you?" Wei Yuan asked gravely. "Have you been to Shu Li's realm?" "I have," Wei Yuan nodded. "What did you discover?" Wei Yuan did not answer right away, merely looking at Dream Eater. After a tense pause, Dream Eater explained, "We are all bound by an oath. Everything regarding the realm of a Nether Shaman can only be spoken of within that realm; it cannot be uttered outside. If you didn't know already, I wouldn't be able to tell you." Wei Yuan understood then and said, "I discovered that the realm is simply the manifestation of the Nether Shaman's mindscape world. In other words, entering the realm is equivalent to stepping into the Nether Shaman's origin soul. Once a Nether Shaman manifests as a realm, they can no longer move, nor can there be any wandering Nether Shamans. They can only act through avatars. I realized this the moment I saw Shu Li's three avatars." The moment the words left his mouth, Wei Yuan saw an invisible thread surface from Dream Eater's body, ignite with a transparent flame, and burn away to nothing. Dream Eater looked considerably relieved and said, "You truly knew! That eases the oath's restrictions on me by quite a bit. You saw all three of Shu Li's avatars?" Wei Yuan nodded. "What I can tell you is that he originally had nine avatars." Wei Yuan's eyes lit up. "Which means Shu Li just suffered a crushing defeat and lost at least five or six avatars?" Dream Eater fell silent again, but her meaning was crystal clear. Wei Yuan asked again, "Are the realms of Nether Shamans close to one another?" This was a question Dream Eater was permitted to answer. "Generally, they are immensely distant. Even upon ascending to Heavenly Shaman, they cannot reach one another." "Is there anything else I can know?" Dream Eater said, "Something truly terrifying is hidden within Shu Li's realm. You must be careful." "Even you find it terrifying?" "Utterly terrifying!" Wei Yuan knew that a Nether Shaman who had operated for so many years could not possibly lack trump cards. Just like his own mindscape world, an outsider would only realize upon storming inside that the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was vastly more terrifying on the inside than on the outside. Right in front of Dream Eater, Wei Yuan casually placed down a realm beacon, preparing to return to the mortal realm first to search for records in the Hall of Merits and consult his elders. The Palace of Grand Beginning primarily fought against the Shamans and the Liao Clan, accumulating vast archives of secret lore that were bound to contain methods for invading and subjugating the realms of Nether Shamans. Right at that moment, an unexpected crisis struck! Wei Yuan's figure suddenly blurred. A deep, dark abyss of an opening appeared above him. His form elongated continuously as he was sucked into the aperture, utterly powerless to resist! In the blink of an eye, Wei Yuan vanished into the hole. Yet before it closed, a pair of icy eyes appeared from within, casting a glance at Dream Eater and saying, "How brazen of you!" Dream Eater showed no fear at all. "As if you didn't know I would seize any chance to see you dead." "Then you should also know that failure brings punishment." A whip-like bolt of pitch-black lightning shot from those eyes, lashing violently across Dream Eater! Dream Eater shrieked in agony as her bridal gown shattered, exposing her tender, snow-white body. The lightning whip lashed down without mercy, blow after blow, each strike leaving a charred black scar across her flesh. Dream Eater's screams echoed through the mountains. From time to time, a translucent form emerged from her, but the moment a corner showed, it was pulled back into her body, offering no escape. The lightning whip struck straight at the soul with indescribable, insurmountable pain that had to be endured raw. Even an ancient great demon like Dream Eater could not help but scream shrilly. Shu Li lashed her ninety-nine times in a single breath before finally halting. "This is your punishment." By now, Dream Eater was covered in charred marks, with two crossed lash scars on her face. She no longer had the strength to move, managing only to gasp out, "Over such a trivial thing... you actually used the maximum ninety-nine lashes on me. You're afraid, Shu Li... you're afraid!" Dream Eater suddenly laughed with hysterical delight, repeating over and over, "You truly are afraid!" The icy eyes remained expressionless, coldly stating, "In the next ninety-nine bridal gown games, you must wait until after the bridal chamber before you are permitted to kill your target." Dream Eater froze, then flew into a rage. "Shu Li! I will live to see you fall!" The bridal gown games did not involve only humans; many other bizarre and grotesque species took part, and not a few demons as well. Whatever Dream Eater's puppets experienced, she experienced as well. Whenever a puppet became tainted, she would destroy it with her own hands. Yet crafting Dream Eater's puppets was exceedingly difficult and cost her an immense amount of effort; each puppet she made was like a child to her. Having to destroy a puppet with her own hands brought pain akin to ending the life of her own offspring. Seeing Dream Eater's fury, a faint ripple finally stirred in those eyes. "Relying on him? As it happens, he is already suppressed beneath my Nether Gold Mountain." With that, the eyes slowly faded away, and the black hole in the sky vanished along with them. Dream Eater gave a cold sneer. Only after verifying Shu Li had departed did she look toward the spot where Wei Yuan had placed his realm beacon. But she froze immediately—the ground was completely empty. The realm beacon had vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, Wei Yuan felt the world spinning violently before everything plunged into darkness. At the same time, a crushing weight bore down upon him, his bones cracking and groaning under the pressure! Wei Yuan was currently an origin soul form without flesh and blood. The groaning of bones was merely an outward manifestation; in reality, his origin soul could not endure the overwhelming pressure and was beginning to suffer damage. *Where is this?* Wei Yuan tried to look around, only to discover that not only could he not turn his head, he couldn't even open his eyes! Sweeping outward with his divine sense, he found the surroundings exerted an immense obstruction against it; his divine sense could penetrate less than a zhang. What it did perceive felt like metallic iron above and crystallized earth and stone below. Then Wei Yuan realized that seven realm beacons were gathered right beside him—the very beacons he had planted in other locations, including three buried deep underground in different places. How had they all ended up here? Trapped in dire straits and seeing that his origin soul was on the verge of injury, Wei Yuan immediately withdrew from the Nether Cold Realm.