NOVEL WEB Chapter 13: Slave
This scene left everyone shocked, and at the same time, they looked at the masked man, trying to deduce his identity.
Li An, who had also swapped his armor for a black one, was not worried about the possibility of his identity being discovered. However, when it came to Ning Xue, he feared she might lose control. But to his relief, she was quite calm.
Smiling behind the mask—which resembled Jason's, but in black—no one noticed his expression.
"Well, since everyone is here, we can begin the breach! I invite all strong men to help," said the Captain, who, after recovering from the shock, called upon the strongest individuals present to open the secret realm.
Li An, who was waiting for the arrival of the third person from the Fifth Realm, furrowed his brow, trying to figure out the other party's identity. Would it be a merman or a human?
In the end, he reached no conclusion, which irritated him. However, he quickly calmed down, controlling his emotions as much as possible.
Then, he looked forward and saw the three strongest individuals—Ning Xue, the Princess's Escort Captain, and the Academy Instructor—activating their vital energy in the vortex, which began to glow with a strong blue energy, spinning faster and faster. Eventually, it became impossible to see through it.
All that human eyes could detect was the vortex growing from fifty centimeters to three meters until it finally stabilized. The three then withdrew their energy. The two at the Fifth Level were completely drenched in sweat and nearly out of energy, while Ning Xue remained as usual, showing no signs of fatigue.
Stepping out of the vortex, she walked up to Li An and, under everyone's gaze, threw him inside.
Caught off guard, Li An was launched toward the portal.
"Good luck! As the first to enter, take all the good things. Don't disappoint this princess," he heard a voice in his mind.
Upon crossing the portal, Li An felt a force suppressing his true strength, leaving him only at the level of an almost martial artist.
"What kind of formation is this?" he wondered, curious. However, he didn't waste time thinking about it now. His goal was to obtain as many benefits as possible.
Opening the map, he analyzed the entire area:
[Mermaid Secret Realm]
[Mermaids are a unique race among mermen, known for their musical abilities and for possessing the most beautiful singing voices in the world.]
[Secret Realm created by a musical formation that suppresses everything that enters! The objective is to select a person with a strong body.]
[Reason: Unknown]
[Danger Level: 0.9]
[Test Difficulty: 10.0]
[Areas: 4]
Heart Well (First Area)
Combat Test (Second Area)
Mind Shroud (Third Area)
Demon-Suppressing Staircase (Fourth Area)
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"What kind of test is this? Will it test the Tao Heart?"
Li An was quite confused, trying to understand what this had to do with a strong physique.
"Two tests are aimed at the mind, and the last one is unknown..."
He had no idea what the mermaid's true goal was. In the end, he sighed and stepped through the portal leading to the first area.
The next moment, he arrived at the surface, where he found a stone well right in front of him. As he approached, he noticed characters engraved on it, forming a sentence:
"To reach the second area, jump into the well and go to the bottom."
Upon reading this, Li An couldn't help but admire the mermaid. If he hadn't had the map, he would probably have thought it was just a regular well and jumped in without any preparation. But now, he understood that this test affected the heart.
"What will strike me? Women? My past life? Some hidden resentment in my heart?"
He had many doubts and began preparing for any situation, activating his innate ability to comprehend all the possible paths that could emerge before him.
Three hours later, he had understood everything, significantly strengthening his spirit.
When he opened his eyes, he noticed that no one else was around and deduced that each person must have fallen into a different location.
Taking one last deep breath, Li An jumped into the well. The moment his body touched a white liquid, everything around him changed.
The next moment, he appeared in a forest. He was chained, his arms restrained, his clothes tattered, and to his surprise, his body had changed—he was now just a small, thin child.
"What the hell is happening?"
Li An had no idea. He expected anything but turning into a slave in a caravan.
As he tried to understand the situation, a man dressed as a guard noticed that he had stopped walking. Without hesitation, he lashed his back with a whip, producing a sharp crack against his flesh.
"AAAAAHHH!"
Li An screamed in pain. His body was no longer the same as before. The next moment, he shot a completely cold gaze at the guard but quickly hid his expression and continued walking.
"What kind of test is this?! Even the pain feels real..."
"System?"
"Map?"
Nothing. He had nothing. This increased his discomfort but did not make him despair, as he knew it was all just an illusion.
"Mermaids are truly powerful..."
He thought as he continued walking among a group of slaves, with several guards following behind.
Ahead of him, there was a dirt road, and on both sides, only trees.
Marching straight ahead, he suddenly saw a cliff in the distance. Guards were positioned there, forcing the slaves to jump.
"Execution."
Li An froze. His brain stopped for a moment.
"Shit! What kind of test is this?!"
This time, he couldn't remain calm. His little heart was pounding, almost jumping out of his chest.
"Test or not, I'm not going to die like this!"
Li An gritted his teeth, quickly turned around, and delivered a precise kick to the guard's private parts. The man couldn't react in time due to the speed of the attack, and in the next instant, a sharp crack echoed as the blow landed.
The guard let out an agonizing scream! Before he could recover, he saw the small boy rushing at him again, biting his pocket and snatching a key hidden inside.
Without wasting time, Li An spun on his heels and dashed to the right, vanishing into the trees.
"Catch him! Chase that bastard!" the guard shouted, his voice filled with rage. He never imagined that a mere slave would dare to attack him—especially in such a sensitive area. This only fueled his fury even more.
"I will kill him!"