"Gu Shen, as you can see, three 'dream Sealed Items' lie before you. The Assessment Team's final assessment is very simple... Touch the three dream Sealed Items in sequence, enter their dreams, and complete Dream Interpretation."
A long table divided the classroom. Gu Shen sat at one end, while the formally seated Assessment Team occupied the other.
"The time you take to interpret the dreams of the three Sealed Items will determine your final assessment rating."
The one explaining the rules was Tang Qingquan, the Grand Arbiter of Yinghai District. When he spoke, the expressions of the other Assessment Team members shifted slightly, but none of them said anything.
The Grand Arbiter remained expressionless as he slowly leaned forward, examining the unremarkable youth before him.
He had judged countless people, yet he could not discern any astonishing spiritual fluctuations from this boy.
Being selected as an authority for an assessment rated "S" was no easy matter.
Every Assessment Team member dispatched to Da Teng City this time was a powerful extraordinary with a certain level of strength.
They were all studying the boy before them.
Three items rested on the table: an ancient lantern, an hourglass whose sand had completely run out, and a restored Rubik's Cube die.
"You know the rules of Dream Interpretation, don't you?"
The Grand Arbiter asked in a routine manner. He had read Gu Shen's file. This newcomer had performed outstandingly in the Fire Disaster Case, and Zhou Jiren had even secured an Amnesty Decree for him. He must have done plenty of preparation for this assessment.
"The rules..." Gu Shen looked a little lost. "What rules?"
Tang Qingquan frowned.
He did not understand. Zhou Jiren had gotten the Dream Interpretation test questions out of someone on the plane. Had he not explained them to this newcomer?
"Is this your first time entering a dream?"
The assessor beside the Grand Arbiter was fairly patient. Looking at Gu Shen, he said seriously, "Dreams are worlds woven from spiritual power, so everything within them is illusory... No matter how powerful a Sealed Item is, it is no exception."
"Once you touch a Sealed Item, there is no turning back."
He pointed to the three items on the table. "As for how to interpret a dream, it is not complicated. First, you need to realize that you are in a dream. Then, you need to find what is unusual within it. Finally, use that unusual element to naturally achieve 'insight'—what we call 'Dream Interpretation'!"
Gu Shen listened carefully, using Awakening of Insects to verify what they had said about Dream Interpretation.
When he had awakened on the grassland, he had first realized that he was inside a dream.
Then he had discovered the "unusual element"... The unusual element within Awakening of Insects was probably that dense bank of rain clouds.
Dream Interpretation for Awakening of Insects had been very simple.
Not long after he woke up, the clouds over the grassland began to rain. Following his instincts, he sat down, then immediately comprehended the Breathing Method hidden within the grassland's alignment with the rain. Just like that, he had achieved insight and interpreted the dream.
"The three Sealed Items brought here this time have particularly intense properties." The Assessment Team member solemnly handed him a small copper shard. "This is called the Heart-Peering Shard. If you cannot withstand their dreams, we will forcibly pull you out... The price will be minor spiritual damage, and you will need ten days to half a month of rest."
"Of course... If you leave a dream this way, your assessment will also be over."
He paused, then leaned back in his chair. "Do you understand?"
Gu Shen accepted the Heart-Peering Shard.
He weighed it in his hand. It had a satisfying heft. It looked like copper, but seemed to contain some other mystery. It felt cool to the touch.
"I understand."
Gu Shen gripped the Heart-Peering Shard and took a deep breath.
Senior Apprentice Sister Luo had said that the Adjudication Court housed thousands of dream Sealed Items... These Sealed Items possessed different properties and were used to temper spiritual power. Some extraordinaries who had perfectly mastered the rules of dreams could even use Sealed Items as weapons.
If these Sealed Items had been specially prepared to assess him... could they have been selected from the assessors' personal Sealed Items to prevent any "leaks" of the test questions?
He walked to the table and examined the three dream Sealed Items.
The hourglass sat quietly on the table. All the sand inside had settled at the bottom. It looked no different from an ordinary object, but after staring at it for a few moments, Gu Shen's heart was immediately entangled by an aura of decay and deathly stillness.
This was probably a dream Sealed Item related to "time."
Mm... a very dangerous thing.
Gu Shen looked at the die again, but could not see anything unusual about it. It was simply an ordinary die.
Impossible to predict, impossible to assess.
Finally, he turned to the lantern.
The most eye-catching item on the table was the battered old lantern before the Grand Arbiter.
Though it looked like an antique from centuries ago, a vigorous flame burned within its core, illuminating the tattered painting on its oiled-paper exterior. Countless chasing flames and ghosts were depicted upon it. As the fire flickered, they seemed to breathe, as though alive.
It looked like a hand-painted style from Yinghai long ago. He looked at the Grand Arbiter. Gu Shen had researched the identities of every Assessment Team member, and only this man came from Yinghai District. Perhaps this was his Sealed Item?
The Grand Arbiter was resting his elbow on the table, staring at him expressionlessly.
"Make your choice quickly." Tang Qingquan tapped the table and urged, "There is no real difference between the three."
"...All right."
After hesitating for a moment, Gu Shen reached out and touched the Rubik's Cube die.
After looking them over, the Rubik's Cube die had seemed like the gentlest and most harmless Sealed Item to him.
After touching it, Gu Shen followed the Assessment Team's instructions and held the Rubik's Cube die before him.
He waited for a second. Nothing happened.
Then, in the next second, Gu Shen realized that he had been terribly wrong...
Crack!
A crisp explosive sound rang out!
Something seemed to split apart in his mind. His entire soul felt as though it had been struck by lightning!
Excruciating pain surged through him.
Gu Shen lowered his head, his expression stunned.
The restored cube in his palm spun rapidly, scrambling itself as a series of crackling explosions burst forth—
Because his spiritual power was too weak.
Gu Shen struggled against the pull of the Rubik's Cube die's spiritual power...
He desperately tried to watch the cube's final twisting path.
Several seconds later.
Crack.
When the cube stopped, Gu Shen in the real world had already frozen like a stone statue.
A breeze swept past.
Bright sunlight drifted into the classroom with the wind, falling upon the faces of every Assessment Team member behind the long table.
At the moment when the Grand Arbiter had spoken earlier,
their expressions had all shifted subtly for an instant.
"Tang Qingquan, you changed the rules without authorization... That goes against our original intention." The Tribunal Head of the Red Cedar District Prison Institute said in a low voice, "The original rule was that he only needed to choose one item and complete its Dream Interpretation to pass the assessment."
"What difference does it make?" The Grand Arbiter said flatly. "If Gu Shen can complete the first Dream Interpretation... we can tell him afterward. This was Old Zhao's decision."
The Tribunal Head of Red Cedar District frowned.
How could there be no difference?
This assessment was of great importance. After learning that he had to touch three Sealed Items... Gu Shen would definitely hold back during the first Dream Interpretation.
More importantly, it would lead to a misjudgment.
If there was only one Dream Interpretation, then he would certainly give it everything he had...
But with three Dream Interpretations waiting for him, the boy would likely misunderstand the difficulty of this assessment.
Each of these three Sealed Items contained a dream branded with nightmare-level difficulty!
"What a pity. He did not choose my Cage of the Netherworld Phantom. Otherwise, this assessment could have ended early."
The Grand Arbiter smiled. "Perhaps he thought your Azure Dice looked simpler?"
"...I have already prepared to Enter Dream and take him away." The Tribunal Head sighed softly. "The dream within the Azure Dice is torturous. If he cannot endure it, giving up early may be a good choice too."
Before you continue