Chapter 505: Chapter 505: Beginning the Trial
The sudden appearance of the passage puzzled everyone, as they couldn’t understand why there had been no reactions from the great hall even after they had been there for so long, yet now a passage had suddenly emerged?

Nobody dared to act rashly. After all, they were all utterly unfamiliar with this mystic place and even the great hall itself.

Jiang Xiaobai squinted his eyes, constantly staring at the dark passage in front of him, then he turned to observe the people who had just entered.

It seemed as if it was at the instant these people entered the great hall that such changes occurred.

He quickly counted the number of people in the hall, and concluded there were exactly twenty!

The system had previously hinted that this place seemed to be called the “Nightmare Trial”.

Without a system, others wouldn’t think things through in the same way. They all remained extremely alert, their eyes fixed upon the dark passage.

They seemed terrified that something might suddenly emerge from the passage any second.

Jiang Xiaobai, on the other hand, squinted his eyes. From multiple hints given by the system, he roughly understood that the trial had now been triggered!

Perhaps, reaching a count of twenty participants was the prerequisite to triggering the trial?

“What should we do now?” Ao Yan slowly asked, walking up to Jiang Xiaobai.

Jiang Xiaobai squinted his eyes: “I can almost guess that this is a trial ground. We saw plenty of ruins when we came here earlier…”

He couldn’t possibly disclose his possession of a system, so using the ruins of the previous sect buildings they had discovered, he inferred that this could be a trial inside a sect’s premises.

After all, everyone who came here had been teleported into a desert right from the beginning, and then they found the black castle.

Ao Yan and the others didn’t even know what lay beyond the desert.

However, without a doubt, once Jiang Xiaobai’s words of speculation were spoken, everyone understood that this place might potentially be the biggest opportunity.

At that moment, quite a few people felt their heartstrings being pulled. A few had already stepped forth and entered the black passage.

However, after the first person who entered eerily disappeared in front of their eyes, the others dared not act rashly anymore.

Jiang Xiaobai, on the other hand, was rather casual about it. With the help of the system, he knew that this was a trial related to one’s will and state of mind.

He quietly informed his teammates of the situation in general.

Everyone looked at Jiang Xiaobai in awe. Although they didn’t say anything, Jiang Xiaobai understood their gaze—

How the hell do you know?

“It’s a secret,” Jiang Xiaobai simply replied through a voice transmission.

No one else said anything more. Only AnRan looked resentful. He always felt that this was something Mu Qingyu had quietly told Jiang Xiaobai.

Thinking so made AnRan feel a strange wave of sadness well up within him.

Though you treat me as your real son, you actually didn’t tell me?

Jiang Xiaobai, of course, had no idea what AnRan was thinking. He simply warned everyone to be cautious, then stepped into the passage first.

As soon as his two feet had entered, he instantly felt a change in the scenes in front of him, and he found himself in a grand, glittering hall.

Turning his head to look, there was no passage behind him. Yet, Jiang Xiaobai was sure that he had only taken two steps.

“It probably uses the same method as when we first entered the black castle.” JiangXiongbai muttered to himself.

Having understood that the Nightmare Trial had begun, he didn’t think about anything else. Instead, he started to examine the extravagant main hall.

The main hall was extraordinarily luxurious. Everything in sight was made of precious and valuable treasures.

Jiang Xiaobai could even see that the fruits placed on the table in front of him were all heavenly and earthly spiritual fruits.

“Nightmare, Nightmare, does it magnify one’s deepest desires?” Jiang Xiaobai chuckled.

He knew this was a trial, so he didn’t touch the spiritual fruits in front of him.

Who knew if such a small action would lead to a trial failure and cause some unforeseen accident?

As he was thinking, the doors of the grand hall suddenly opened behind him.

A dazzling light appeared, revealing beautiful landscapes outside.

Jiang Xiaobai stepped out of the main hall and saw the entire sky filled with golden, sacred light. Everywhere was filled with a peaceful and serene aura.

He was standing on a mountain peak.

Lowering his head, Jiang Xiaobai could see many buildings below, which seemed to be a sect?

“Your Excellency.”

A voice came from beside him. Jiang Xiaobai turned and saw a woman – respectful just like Ao Yan – standing by his side.

“Your Excellency, the Sky Demon Sect has been eradicated. Our sect is now the most powerful force in the entire Immortal World with no one able to oppose us.”

“The Heavenly Emperor has been notified and is holding a victory banquet for you. Please, Your Excellency.”

The woman in front of him was extremely respectful, just as if she were one of his subordinates.

Jiang Xiaobai took a closer look and saw that this woman’s demeanor, appearance, and even the aura she gave off, were all exactly like Ao Yan’s!

But Jiang Xiaobai knew that it wasn’t Ao Yan.

Having read through thousands of fantasy novels online in his past life, he knew some tricks of the mystic trials and realized that all of this was illusory.

“If you want to bewitch my inner self, please, can’t you use a little more conventional means? What I feel for Yan’er is the love of a husband for his wife, not the desire to subdue her and treat her as a concubine.”

Jiang Xiaobai rolled his eyes and murmured to himself.

However, it seemed as though his words had been heard by this mystic place. The respectful expression on Ao Yan’s face suddenly disappeared, replaced by a grim cold smile.

The next second, Ao Yan screamed and tumbled to the ground. Simultaneously, the scene around Jiang Xiaobai changed rapidly, transforming into a cozy small home.

Ao Yan was lying in his arms, her body a mess of blood. Her left hand along with her entire shoulder had been torn off, and her right hand was tightly clutching Jiang Xiaobai’s wrist.

She was shaking all over, her eyes red and filled with resentment.

“Xiaobai… I can’t hold on anymore, our child…”

As Ao Yan spoke, she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

To be honest, when Jiang Xiaobai saw this scene, he was indeed startled and in immense pain.

But he immediately realized that this was the work of the Nightmare Trial.

Even though the Ao Yan in front of him seemed incredibly real, Jiang Xiaobai was not moved. He knew that all of this was just an illusion created by his mind. It could mimic reality to the greatest extent.

But, fictional is, after all, fictional.

All of this was none other than a nightmare.

“Fine, if you can’t hold on, just go peacefully. If it’s really bad, I’ll find a good Feng Shui burial ground for you,” Jiang Xiaobai said indifferently.

The frail body in his arms shuddered, then let out a cold hum and dissipated into nothingness.

Jiang Xiaobai again found himself in the golden main hall.

“System notification, the first stage of the Nightmare Trial has ended.