Chapter 605: To the Farm

Fang Yi suggested, "Perhaps you might want to speak about what you experienced? It could help you figure out how to better overcome the same scenario again."

Hong Xi continued to shiver like a wounded mouse. She raised her head to Zhang Lie and pleaded, "Master, do I have to continue experiencing this?"

Zhang Lie steeled his expression. "What do you think? When your brother ascends to the second realm, he'll face the same training."

Fang Yi began describing his own experiences. "In the fourth layer, I led a wonderful life. I forgot all my old memories and lived in a time of peace.

The races of the world federation all got along in harmony. The dimensional realm never appeared, and there was no such thing as genetic evolution. I was a regular human, who went to university, got married, and had a family and children."

Hong Xi sighed weakly, "At the beginning, sure. I've experienced both pleasant dreams and nightmares in the fourth layer multiple times. I once became a weapon used for international warfare, forced to slaughter countless enemies. When the war finally ended, by the time I returned home, my parents and brother had all been killed by an opposing force, and their corpses were mailed back to me decomposing and rotten."

Everyone present shivered. Hong Xi gestured before her. "Can you imagine how it feels to receive such a large package, filled with the only remnants of your family you'd ever have again?"

This—this was too cruel. For hunters who hovered at the edge of life and death, however, this wasn't something that would necessarily cause their mental state to crumble. They consumed genetic lifeforms daily and killed for a living; the boundaries of life and death had already begun to blur.

Hong Xi continued, trembling, "That isn't it. Subsequently, when I lost in a war, I was enslaved by the opposing forces, then reared like a dog. Worst of all, the one who enslaved me looked exactly like my former nemesis from the Musi clan. Now that I'm back in the real world, I can't help but vomit when I recount how I wagged my tail and licked his feet in the illusion."

The members of Team Zenith let out simultaneous expressions of revulsion.

Zhang Hanxiang frowned. "Brother, don't you think you're overdoing it?!"

Zhang Lie shook his head. "You need to learn to overcome these traumas—that's the goal of this training. I can't control the contents of these illusions. All of you are the ones who do so. The more you fear something, the more the illusion will try to replicate it.

"I know this is hard, and I know this is challenging, but in case you ever face a foe skilled in such techniques, I can't have you all landing up in a mental institute like Amurong. Do you understand?"

.

Everyone shivered. They had all witnessed what had happened to Amurong, and how the former presiding authority of the world federation had been sent to a mental institute, his reputation and name tarnished for good.

They had believed that Zhang Lie had done something to him, but they only understood now that it had all been Zhang Lie's illusions, so strong that even Amurong couldn't resist them.

Zhang Hanxiang rushed up to her brother. "I have to train, I have to train! I don't want to end up naked and dancing in front of strangers!"

Indeed, having witnessed the adverse effects of succumbing to an illusion, the hunters steeled their hearts and forced themselves to undergo the grueling training.

Sun Mengmeng requested seriously, "Let's start a new round of training immediately. I'm prepared."

Zhang Lie shook his head. "You've all just left the illusions behind. If I send you back in now, your mental state will start to deteriorate—and I want to train you all, not ruin you. We have plenty of time remaining, so let's go on an excursion."

Sun Mengmeng asked, "Is it really alright to pause this training halfway?"

"Don't worry. There's plenty of training ahead for all of you—a continuous cycle of combat practice, mental resilience training, and a break. We'll be setting off immediately."

Zhang Hanxiang was more concerned about something else.

"Brother, where are we going next?"

"I'll show you all the farm that I've set up. Once I ascend to the third realm, all of you will be responsible for taking care of it."

With his hands, Zhang Lie split the air around him, causing them all to appear by the seaside.

The sea was a crystal-clear blue, its surface unusually calm and placid. Brief gusts of wind rippled the water, causing it to break into a myriad fragments. The sunlight gave the surface of the water a golden gleam. The sky was an unbroken blue, with nothing more than a few wisps of white cloud in sight.

Glancing all around her, Zhang Hanxiang shouted, "It's the sea!"

Zhang Lie restored the cracked space behind him.

The blue of the sky seemed to meld perfectly with the blue of the sea, forming a scenery where the horizon couldn't be seen.

Sun Mengmeng asked, "Zhang Lie, why have you brought us to the sea?"

Zhang Hanxiang had already removed her shoes and was running barefoot over the beach, the waves lapping over her feet. She shouted back, "Why else? To have fun, of course!"

Her face glowed with joy, as though she were a flower blooming. Her dress was uplifted by the wind. Her bright eyes glittered in the sun brighter than any jewel.

Zhang Hanxiang felt as though she had returned to an idyllic past, while Zhang Lie watched her quietly from afar, his smile fatherly. He was the only one who remembered acutely that this was the first time that Zhang Hanxiang was walking along the beach with her own two feet.

As Zhang Hanxiang felt the icy bite of the water, she shivered and chuckled.

Zhang Lie said, "Relaxing was one objective, but another is—"

Before he could continue, a bout of howling interrupted him. Where the sea and sky met, a line of black appeared. A horde of genetic lifeforms rushed toward Zhang Lie, stirring up the entire ocean. Waves charged forward, lapping the shore, sounding like peals of thunder, like stampeding hooves.

The idyllic ocean suddenly began to rampage. The members of Team Zenith gathered together and frowned—none of the lifeforms present were weak; they were uniformly peak-grade.

They had instinctively all gathered around Zhang Hanxiang, hemming her in from four sides. None of the members of Team Zenith panicked. They knew that they had the ability to defend themselves, and Zhang Lie was there for them too.

Sun Mengmeng frowned. "Why have these lifeforms appeared here, and in such large numbers?"

Peak-grade lifeforms tended to be leaders of a pack, and it was rare to see two or more in close proximity—but here was a group of peak-grade lifeforms all gathered together! Just what was leading them, a disaster-grade lifeform?