Chapter 678: Chapter 678

"Will the nightmare you fear the most appear behind you?"

After hearing Senior Amin’s response, Leon couldn’t help but be slightly taken aback, and then began to ponder what he feared the most. However, before he could come up with an answer, the shell ship beneath him leisurely turned and plunged into the next layer of the Dream Realm.

Countless stretched shadows instantly merged, and the moment the shell ship successfully reached its destination, the world which had been vague and indistinct returned to clarity.

The River of Dreams, which had once hung high above everyone’s heads, silently flipped over and settled alongside the shell ship, transforming from the colorful and magnificent Milky Way of Paradise Lost into a nearly vertical, pitch-black waterfall brimming with countless shattered dreams, sagging slightly as it plummeted downward.

Without the divinity of a True God, forcibly guiding over four hundred Cleaners through more than ten layers of the Dream Realm, the Goddess of Pleasure Dreams had presumably expended a substantial amount of energy, and the vibrant colors surrounding her visibly dimmed.

Looking weary, the Goddess of Pleasure Dreams descended from the air, and as her mermaid tail slapped the water, a vast, dark wave surged forth, sweeping all the Cleaners off the shell ship and into the nearly vertical black waterfall.

However, as the panicked Cleaners tried to stabilize themselves, worried about falling into the Abyss, and began employing methods to fly, the surroundings suddenly rotated ninety degrees again, transforming the straight-dropping black waterfall into a surging, forward rolling river.

Extending a hand to support Leon’s underarm and pulling him up from the river, the Mistress of Dung said calmly:

"In the Dream Realm, directions aren’t that absolute. Except for certain specific ’Falling Dreams,’ up, down, left, and right aren’t so clearly defined, and they are also influenced by your cognition. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ ɴovelfire.net

So, even though the true Demonic Soul Abyss continues to fall endlessly, as long as you tell yourself that your body is not falling but walking on a constantly forward-moving great river, you can stand steadily on its surface."

After listening to Senior Amin’s explanation, Leon began to tentatively "hypnotize" himself with her help, constantly performing self-suggestion, and he was surprised to find that in a world as subjective as the Dream Realm, "deceiving" himself seemed to have a marvelous effect.

By repeatedly telling himself that the river beneath his feet was not falling but rolling forward, he found that even "gravity" obeyed his thoughts and gradually flipped over, pressing him onto the river’s surface.

"The Dream Realm truly is a miraculous place. By the way, Senior Amin, how did you know... huh?"

Just as Leon couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise and wanted to ask the Mistress of Dung why she understood the Dream Realm so well, his recognition of orientation wasn’t entirely stable after just learning to self-hypnotize, and his foot slipped slightly, directly sending him plummeting into the Abyss.

As Leon instinctively reached out to grab something to stabilize himself, the Mistress of Dung seemed to foresee this happening, extending her hand to prop up Leon under his arms and pulling him back up.

"When talking, your inner concentration decreases, so until you completely adapt to the orientation of the Demonic Soul Abyss, you better not speak, or you might plummet all the way down."

After warning Leon once, Senior Amin didn’t continue speaking but supported Leon on the dark river surface, beginning to stabilize her understanding of orientation.

The surrounding Cleaners, hearing their exchange, began emulating the two by closing their mouths and starting to hypnotize themselves.

However, deceiving oneself wasn’t easy, and even after knowing the correct method, someone would occasionally slip down a considerable distance, and it took the Cleaners over half an hour to fully adjust to the new orientation.

"Not bad, adapting quite quickly~"

Seeing everyone finally stand firm on the river and no one slipping downward for a long time, the colorful mermaid nodded in satisfaction, then withdrew her protection, folded her arms, and said:

"The Clean-up Bureau selected the Demonic Soul Abyss for the third assessment, presumably aiming for you to learn to face your inner fears during missions.

But that’s not my concern. I only want to regain my divine position and have no interest in training Cleaners, so I left a bit of Paradise Lost’s blessing on you, so you don’t confront your fears immediately.

However, this blessing isn’t permanent. If you’re defeated by a Nightmare, your inner fear will be ignited, breaking through my blessing and dragging your will down into the depths of the Demonic Soul Abyss, shattering you completely to become nourishment for the resurrection of the King of Nightmares..."

After briefly describing the situation of the Demonic Soul Abyss, the body of the Goddess of Pleasure Dreams twitched slightly, losing her mermaid form, and turned back into a patch of colorful light, which flowed into the conch she had previously inhabited.

"I’ve expended a lot and need a brief rest. As for the location of Mixue Bingcheng, it’s deep in the Demonic Soul Abyss. Just keep moving forward."

So, has the third assessment truly begun?

Looking at the conch, which after indicating the direction, silently hovered above everyone without further activity, the Cleaners immediately tensed up, preparing to force their way through the Nightmare River amid countless Nightmare attacks. However...

"Everyone, don’t rush just yet."

Under Leon’s somewhat puzzled gaze, Senior Amin suddenly addressed the Cleaners:

"Even with Ashima’s [Silver Glide] ability, it’s too dangerous to cross the Nightmare River . I suggest not rushing forward but first focusing on concealing your own aura.

This way, it might still attract a large number of Nightmares, but it can somewhat reduce the difficulty of this assessment and make our attack more covert."

After listening to the Mistress of Dung’s proposal, "Death" nodded in agreement, then immediately asked:

"Does anyone have an abnormal object that can conceal auras? Preferably one effective on a group, with long-lasting effects, and can maintain its power during high-speed movement."

The Cleaners, upon hearing this, could only shake their heads one after another.

Abnormal objects that conceal auras are common, with many Cleaners possessing one. But combining the conditions of group-effectiveness, long-lasting duration, and efficacy during high-speed movement makes it extremely rare.

Seeing no one stepping forward with a solution, the Mistress of Dung smiled gratefully, then flipped her wrist to reveal several bottles of yellow potions, cheerfully saying:

"If no one has one... how about trying my potions?"