Light Fortress
Chapter 310 - 13 Hypnosis Seed_2

Chapter 310: Chapter 13 Hypnosis Seed_2

This was indeed a disheartening affair!

The next second, Wild Dog composed himself and said gravely, "The strand of ’Heaven’s Eye’ has already been delivered to the East Continent Grand Judge. Looking at Zhou Jiren’s attitude, he must have set off for Moon City by now."

"The wonderful realm outside Moon City... is more complex than one might imagine..."

Duke Zhuxue put down his feather pen.

He rubbed his brow laboriously and murmured, "The forces North Continent can currently deploy are limited. If we could utilize Zhou Jiren and his disciple to resolve the wonderful realm... that would be the best scenario. What I fear is..."

Wild Dog listened intently.

Duke Zhuxue did not hide anything.

After a slight pause, he continued, "What I fear is that this wonderful realm might be larger than expected... The Empress once had a premonition that a massive collapse of order was about to occur, likely a spread of turmoil from the ’Old World.’ This sudden emergence of the Moon City wonderful realm does not fit North Continent’s pattern studies of the ’black spots’... I have an ominous feeling about this."

As if facing a formidable enemy, Wild Dog anxiously asked, "Lord Zhuxue, the Rust Bone General seems to be not far from Moon City, with him backing us up..."

"If the worst-case scenario were to occur, Rust Bone alone would not be able to handle it," Duke Zhuxue shook his head. "Zhou Jiren is among the Titled of the Five Continents with the strongest ability to save his own life... I hope that on this trip to the wonderful realm, he can provide detailed intelligence. If it is merely an ancient sealed object that has emerged, that would be manageable. We could simply determine the extent of the realm’s influence and avoid the risks."

"If it’s related to the ’Old World’... then the situation could be quite grave. It might require the Empress herself to come and investigate. If things get more troublesome, it will be up to those few individuals at the highest seats to intervene."

Towards the end, a faint look of disgust crossed Duke Zhuxue’s brows as he said, "Let’s hope it’s not that bad... You go to Moon City and assist Rust Bone in stabilizing the situation. Keep a watchful eye on changes and, before the detailed information about the wonderful realm is clear, do not act rashly. Just wait for news from Zhou Jiren and be ready to provide support at any time."

"...Yes," Wild Dog responded respectfully.

...

...

"Zhou Jiren went to North Continent?"

"Yes."

"His disciple came to Changye?"

"Yes."

"Including that new S-tier... Gu..."

"Gu Shen."

Before the floor-to-ceiling windows, a large chair slowly turned.

A middle-aged man, draped in a Judge’s cloak, sat before a long table, with falling snow and moonlight behind him, deep into the night, yet he was still deep in thought.

Sitting opposite him was a young man in a gray-black suit, with a scholarly appearance.

Teacher and student looked at each other for a moment.

"There have been some problems at the Moon City Fortress in North Continent, ’Heaven’s Eye’ is likely trapped within the wonderful realm, awaiting rescue," Han Dang said softly. "This is hot off the press... not many people know yet."

"After the last impeachment, I have been waiting for Zhou Jiren to return to Changye," the man deep in thought spoke coldly. "It turns out, he doesn’t even have the courage to come back. I guess he is going to North Continent Fortress just to avoid a second impeachment. To think the East Continent Grand Judge would be such a disgrace is truly disappointing."

Zhu Wang added, "Your previous mission in Qing River was really disappointing."

Han Dang remained silent, merely bowing his head.

His fingers were deeply embedded in his flesh, his expression growing more pained.

After the last mission in Qing River, a seed had taken root in the bottom of his heart, sprouting and growing larger.

This seed was called "guilt"... The reason for the guilt was not the failure of the mission, but because Han Dang sincerely believed that his investigation was false, a very significant mistake.

He would occasionally fall into a state of "repentance."

This "guilt" was making Han Dang increasingly terrified.

He was no saint.

The mission in Qing River was intended to ensure that Zhou Jiren’s newly accepted disciple failed the evaluation... How had he ended up like this?

Why should he feel guilty!

All the details of the Qing River mission had become blurred in memory, as if he had been groggy, slept through it, and then awakened with no recollection of it.

But what happened afterward, Han Dang remembered very clearly.

Not long after, Luo Er was titled ’Heaven’s Eye’!

This was big news that shook the entire East Continent Council... The impeachment against Zhou Jiren, along with Mr. Shu’s faction’s suppression, dissipated as soon as ’Heaven’s Eye’ appeared.

From that day on, Han Dang began to suspect that in Qinghe District, he had been implanted with a "Heaven’s Eye" hypnosis seed.

The most terrifying aspect of a Spirit Extraordinary lay precisely here.

Even though Han Dang had reached the pinnacle of the eleventh layer of Deep Sea, he was completely unable to find evidence of having been hypnotized... and the only way to counteract it was to apply a reverse hypnosis on himself from a different angle, powerful enough to negate the suggestion.

The only person Han Dang could think of who could help alleviate this condition was one person alone.

Teacher.

During these days, he had been staying in Changye for recuperation, battling the nightmares in his heart with his teacher’s help.

Seeing the pained expression on Han Dang at this moment.

Zhu Wang knew... his disciple had once again fallen into a state of painful guilt.

"...Lift your head, look directly into my eyes."

A commanding voice resonated within the room.

In Zhu Wang’s eyes, it seemed as if an inverse spinning petal bloomed and closed.

He spoke softly and deliberately, "My beloved disciple, do not doubt yourself, you are the most outstanding Spirit Extraordinary of the Judgement Institute in twenty years... Continue forward, adhering to the path within your heart, do not bow your head, one day, you will surely reach the Titled realm, capable of seeing through falsehoods and disregarding fetters."

These words, like stones into Heart Lake.

Each word stirred a thousand ripples.

Han Dang’s expression became intensely strained.

His face began to uncontrollably contort, veins throbbing on his forehead, and his form-fitting suit was completely drenched in sweat, and in just moments, it seemed all his strength had been drained from him.

"Look what Zhou Jiren and the others have done to you..."

Zhu Wang exclaimed angrily, "How can we forgive, how could we pardon?"

As he spoke, the petals in Zhu Wang’s eyes spun faster in reverse.

Han Dang let out a low roar.

He closed his eyes.

In his mind, those fragmented, fleeting memories seemed to reemerge, but it was only a flash of lightning before being torn apart again.

It was as if he had returned to the moment before his memory loss.

Vaguely, countless strands of hair seemed to swarm towards him, that tide of spiritual power as if it would swallow him whole.

After leaving Qing River.

This "sense of guilt" had continuously entwined around him, tightening more and more, and now it was vaguely developing into a trend towards "nightmare"... For no reason at all, even the circulation of his breathing technique had become difficult.

The more he complied, the more he repented from his heart, the more relieved he felt.

But the more he opposed, the more he refused to feel guilty, the more pain he felt!

To be the master of his own spirit... how could he bow his head?

This hypnosis session lasted a full ten minutes.

Han Dang was spiritually exhausted, slumping onto the chair.

Zhu Wang, draped in the Grand Judge’s cloak, looked at his "beloved disciple" with an equally distressed expression, knowing that ringing the bell is easy but un-ringing it is hard, he was certain that the "hypnosis seed" in Han Dang’s heart at this moment had originated from a Titled Spirit Extraordinary... Considering the East Continent, such powerful Transcendents were few.

Apart from Heaven’s Eye, who else could it be?

All he could do was provide "slight relief."

There were only three ways to break free from the seed.

One was to rely on oneself. This option, at present, seemed nearly impossible.

Two was for the person who planted the seed to personally undo it. If this "Heart Nightmare" indeed belonged to Heaven’s Eye, she would neither admit it nor lift the curse.

The last option... was to find a Spirit Extraordinary stronger than Heaven’s Eye by a wide margin, to forcefully undo the hypnosis.

All three options, each more difficult than the last.

Especially the third... the difficulty of a Spirit Extraordinary achieving the Titled status was enormous; after reaching the twelfth layer, no one could be sure of defeating another, finding someone capable of forcibly removing Heaven’s Eye’s hypnosis was extremely