Chapter 287: Passing through the Hall of Heart Demons

“The most promising candidate?” Looking at the empty space, Rod smiled bitterly inwardly. This phrase seemed complicated—was there some hidden trick here? Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Rod felt somewhat exhausted. What seemed like a simple process had cost him countless efforts. His heart was tightly clenched. Though he knew they were illusions, heart demons, he still felt a pang of pain the moment he struck them. Such a test was even more nauseating than combat. Rod would rather face a group of enemies than endure such trials. Sometimes, mental torment is more painful than any physical suffering; the mental strain is the most arduous challenge.

As for the two tests mentioned, the first one was probably just staying in place while moving forward. If it were someone else, unaware of the issue and eager to progress, they might unknowingly fall into these heart demons and keep moving forward, only wasting time or even running out of energy and facing danger, leading to mental collapse. Truly, danger lurked everywhere.

Exhaling heavily, Rod was finally rewarded. After passing these two tests, the exit to the Hall of Heart Demons lay ahead. Exiting there would lead to the third test! At the thought of this, he felt a bit happy. He quickly headed in that direction, though his vigilance remained high. Who knew what surprises might arise? Those illusions couldn’t be trusted.

Moving forward, this time Rod didn’t stay in place, but his progress was extremely slow. It took a long time to cover less than a third of the distance. Although there was no time limit for the second test, such a slow pace was unacceptable. By the time he reached the entrance, others might already have gone in first. After all, only six spots were available for the third test! Two people had already entered, meaning four spots remained: one for him, one for Sognar, one for Lucy, and the last likely belonging to Zi Yang. With four people to be eliminated, time was of the essence. If he didn’t hurry, someone else might take his spot.

Muttering the mental cultivation technique “Cultivating the Mind” as he moved slowly, he tried to calm his heart. This time, he noticed his progress had finally accelerated a bit, bringing him some excitement.

Yet before Rod could calm down from his excitement, he saw the entire space suddenly change—violent winds blew, thunder cracked, and familiar faces kept appearing in his mind. One scene after another: the old man fighting bravely in the City of Flames before ultimately falling; seeing his brothers betraying him; watching the members of the Swift Wind Mercenaries fall one by one right before his eyes while he was powerless to do anything… As these scenes kept changing, Rod’s eyes gradually turned red, his breathing grew heavier, and a sense of rage slowly built up within him. Clenching his fists, he felt an urge to vent his anger.

Inside his body, his blood energy suddenly accelerated under such circumstances, his heartbeat doubled, and his combat energy also began to flow rapidly, causing his skin to turn red! Rod’s seventh form as a demon fully manifested—his eyes were blood red, his skin developed faint scales that were barely visible if not looked closely at. He gasped heavily, with veins bulging on his head, looking fierce and eerie.

As his blood flow reached its extreme limit, coupled with the surge of combat energy, it finally reached a climax. His body could no longer bear the strain, and tiny drops of blood began to seep from his pores. This time, the blood was a strange purple—the blood unique to demons, yes, purple blood, the blood of a demon in its full form.

“Damn it! What’s going on? How can I not control it?” Suddenly, a cool sensation came from his hand, and Rod briefly regained his clarity.

Realizing his situation, he was horrified. What was happening? How could this be? Was there still a test? Indeed, this test was extremely dangerous and fierce, driving his blood energy into chaos. Yet even though he understood what was happening, he found himself unable to control its spread.

He could only watch helplessly as he descended into his inner demons. If this continued, there would be only one outcome: his meridians would break, and he would die. By then, everything would be lost.

What was going on? How could he be completely unresponsive? What was even more terrifying was that the always-effective “Mental Cultivation” technique had no effect at all here.

And even if he were conscious at this moment, he could only watch helplessly as his condition continued to deteriorate. What kind of test was this? Why was it so terrifying? Rod’s heart was filled with shock, and more so, fear of this Hall of Inner Demons. No wonder those who left here wouldn’t reveal anything about what was inside—perhaps that was the main reason. This place had left an indelible impression on them. Recalling the expression on Melon’s face when explaining the interior of the Netherworld that day, Rod smiled bitterly to himself—so that’s how it was.
Fortunately, Xuanyuan helped him right away; otherwise, who knows what would have happened.
In fact, something was wrong with Rod’s situation at this moment. At the very least, no one had ever faced such a test in thousands of years—no one had endured such a terrifying ordeal. The difficulty of this test had increased significantly because he had experienced too much, hidden too much in his heart, and borne too much burden. That’s why his inner demons grew stronger, and once they erupted, they would be uncontrollable. This moment was precisely when those demons were about to burst forth.
“Quiet down, quiet! What’s going on… Why…?” This time, Rod became panicked. His whole body ached, and purple blood seeped out from his pores, as if his body were about to tear apart.
“Calm down, quickly calm down! You must stay calm!” After a while, Rod spoke to himself in a deep voice. Panicking now wouldn’t help at all!
On one hand, he directed some mental energy into his body to control his combat energy, hoping to stabilize its flow. On the other hand, he began to recite the mantras from the “Meditation” technique to control his emotions and mood. Finally, he sent some mental energy into his consciousness sea—the only place truly peaceful.
With Xuanyuan’s assistance, Rod gradually felt his mind becoming clearer and his body more comfortable. His combat energy was slowly brought under control, with his combat energy core playing a crucial role! If it hadn’t been strong enough, it might have collapsed under his forced control by now.
Everything was gradually improving. Finally, after more than ten minutes, Rod managed to escape the torment of the illusions and return to reality. Covered in blood and looking disheveled, he gasped for breath, drenched in cold sweat. It was indeed extremely dangerous.

“The trials of the Heart Demon Hall are over. Congratulations, you have passed the three trials of the Heart Demon Hall. You may proceed to the third stage of the trials. You are the third person to reach this stage since the opening of the Netherworld. Congratulations! I hope you will achieve good results and enter the core of the Netherworld!” Another ethereal voice came from the void, causing Rod to shake his head with a bitter smile. Who knew what other trials might lie ahead? It seemed a bit early to say such things now.

The surroundings changed once again. This time, Rod returned to the Heart Demon Hall. Looking up, he saw seven figures inside—the hall itself plus himself made eight! But soon Rod realized Lucy was missing. Sognar, Ziyang, and the member of the York family were all there, each with a different expression, likely suffering from the trials of their heart demons, their faces twisted in pain.

Seeing this, Rod was surprised. Lucy had passed the heart demon trials even earlier than him. It seemed she had already entered the third stage. As for Sognar, Rod walked over toward him carefully, afraid of disturbing him. Unfortunately, when he was about ten meters away from Sognar, he was suddenly hit by a powerful force and flung aside.

A barrier—a powerful barrier! It seemed those who underwent the heart demon trials in this hall were protected!

The Heart Demon Hall revealed even more mysteries. It seemed each person was in their own isolated world, protected from harm.

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and a figure ahead vanished from sight!

“Failed?” Rod murmured, looking at the disappeared person. Perhaps they had failed the trials and were thus expelled from the hall.

Thinking of this, Rod felt relieved. He didn’t have to worry about Sognar being threatened by Ziyang and the others. He glanced at the gate ahead and prepared to head there to enter the third stage.

Yet in an instant, a cold smile appeared on his lips as he turned back. The middle-aged man from the York family suddenly emitted a red glow, followed by the gradual disappearance of the barrier around him. He knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. It seemed he had passed the trials. Who would have thought he could make it too? Truly, fate brings strangers together.

He slowly walked toward that guy, seemingly sensing someone approaching. The guy suddenly looked up at Rod, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror. He had exhausted all his energy in the Hall of Mind Demons and had barely managed to get out. Unexpectingly, he encountered such a devil. He regretted removing his barrier a little. By looking at the barrier on Rod, he understood everything! But there was nothing he could do—the trials in the Hall of Mind Demons had left him utterly exhausted, without even the energy to maintain his own barrier. He could only watch helplessly as the barrier that could have protected him and allowed him to proceed to the third stage disappeared. He saw Rod approaching with a demonic smile.

“What… what do you want?” His eyes widened as he slowly stepped back, staring at Rod. The middle-aged man asked loudly, his gaze tinged with madness and panic, occasionally glancing at the door behind Rod, as if thinking about something.