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"If I remembered the dice's twisting sequence correctly... then it should be restored by now..."

Inside the Azure Dice dreamscape.

Gu Shen looked at himself in the mirror... Following the sequence from his memories, he had already restored the dice, yet what the mirror showed now was a mutilated body, with broken legs and severed arms.

He could not quite understand what was happening.

Once the cube had been restored, the Dream Interpretation should have been complete.

But now...

Clearly, something had gone wrong.

Gu Shen was not affected by the agony of his body constantly being torn apart in the dream. His thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

He retraced his steps, searching for the mistake.

The images of the cube dice twisting and bursting apart slowed in his memory, then slowed further—

"No... I didn't make a mistake... The restoration sequence is correct."

Gu Shen suddenly understood why.

"I was misled by the cube's scrambled appearance..."

"This dice looks restored on the surface, but the space inside it was scrambled long ago."

The appearance had deceived him.

Once he understood that, the rest of the Dream Interpretation was not particularly difficult. The only challenge was enduring the pain of twisting it with his Mental Power.

"To truly restore this dice... it'll take a lot of work. I need to identify the base face first."

The true base face was his own torso, treated as a cube.

The mirrored twists he had just made according to the sequence had not been wasted... Gu Shen recalled them in his mind, returning the pieces of his original torso to their proper places one by one... He began assembling and twisting the cube dice again.

Crack.

After five minutes of silence, the Azure Dice began spinning in the young man's palm once more.

By this point, every member of the Assessment Team wore an odd expression.

The Azure Dice dreamscape was being dismantled so quickly that this Dream Interpretation seemed... easy.

The cube dice kept rotating, occasionally pausing briefly before swiftly continuing along the correct restoration sequence.

But in truth... every turn consumed Mental Power. Those who Entered Dreams could easily lose their bearings, and a single mistake would lead to even greater and more numerous errors...

But Gu Shen's Dream Interpretation was different.

Fast! Precise! Ruthless!

It was a feast for the eyes, leaving everyone astonished.

At this point, there was no longer any suspense in the Red Cedar Tribunal Head's eyes. He knew what the cube's latest turn signified...

Gu Shen had found the correct solution to the Azure Dice dreamscape.

The rest of the Dream Interpretation was merely a matter of time.

This boy solved puzzles astonishingly quickly. He had originally thought that Gu Shen might need one or two hours—or even longer—just to unravel the dice's true nature.

But unexpectedly... it had taken only five short minutes.

Every year, there were proud Mental Affinity geniuses who wanted to try dismantling the Azure Dice dreamscape, but most dream-enterers needed several hours simply to awaken their mental awareness.

No one had ever awakened as quickly as Gu Shen... or made decisions with such calmness.

This boy's Mental Affinity talent was absolutely one in ten thousand! At least when it came to Dream Interpretation, the talent he displayed was far beyond what ordinary geniuses could match!

His Mental Power was weak, but his willpower was strong. His observation skills were sharp enough, and his mind was composed enough.

"S-class. Absolutely S-class."

The Red Cedar Tribunal Head gave his assessment impatiently.

The more he looked at Gu Shen, the more he liked him. His eyes were full of unconcealed admiration. No wonder Old Fellow Zhou Jiren had shamelessly asked the Council for an Amnesty Decree. This was a guaranteed profit with no risk of loss!

If this little fellow had been born in the Red Cedar District, he would have fought to take him under his wing.

"If he can solve the Azure Dice within four hours, that's already enough for an S-class evaluation. Only thirty-five minutes have passed since the beginning..." He laughed loudly. "He beat the fastest record by a full two hours. Look at this monstrous newcomer... We are witnessing an unbelievable miracle!"

Grand Arbiter Tang Qingquan folded his hands and stared intently at Gu Shen, as though deep in thought.

Suddenly, someone asked, "Once Gu Shen completes the Dream Interpretation, does this assessment count as finished?"

The Assessment Team fell silent at once.

Yes... according to the original rules, it should be. Of the three Nightmare-level dream Sealed Items, completing any one of them meant passing the assessment.

"I hope the assessment can continue."

The Grand Arbiter spoke softly.

Everyone's eyes converged on him... Within this Assessment Team, his status was vaguely higher than the others', and most importantly, he directly represented the views of Zhao Xilai from the Great Capital District.

"Was this Old Zhao's intention too?" The Red Cedar Tribunal Head frowned.

"No... this was my intention."

Tang Qingquan said leisurely, "Since Gu Shen has displayed such remarkable talent... why don't we see where his limits lie? Compared to solving your Azure Dice within an hour, consecutively solving three nightmare Sealed Items would be even more of a miracle, wouldn't it? We need to know his upper limit, and we also need to confirm... that Dream Interpretation isn't something he's merely good at by luck."

"I object!" The Tribunal Head looked displeased. "Consecutively dismantling three nightmares consumes a tremendous amount of Mental Power. Even if he isn't our disciple, we shouldn't treat him like this!"

The Grand Arbiter gave a soft hum, but it was merely a polite gesture of agreement.

He spoke calmly. "Since someone objects... then let's settle this by a show of hands. The other three—those in favor of ending the assessment early, please raise your hands."

The Red Cedar Tribunal Head frowned and looked around.

No one raised a hand. No one voiced agreement.

"Four to one." The Grand Arbiter looked at the Red Cedar Tribunal Head and said blandly, "The minority yields to the majority. Then... it's decided. The assessment will continue."

Only the final step remained.

Gu Shen's entire body had already been restored; only his head was still twisted one hundred and eighty degrees. He merely needed to turn it back to complete the final Dream Interpretation.

He did not rush to finish that last step.

Instead, he softly spoke the name in his heart.

"Chu Ling."

Within the dark dice dreamscape, mirrors refracted in every direction, leaving no room for a second person. After voicing his thoughts, Gu Shen waited quietly for a while.

The dice dreamscape remained silent.

There was no response.

He smiled self-mockingly. The reason he had called out Chu Ling's name was, in truth, because he had harbored a faint hope.

She had said... that whenever he needed her, no matter when, she could establish a Mental Link with him!

It seemed that Chu Ling had not heard him this time.

Just as Gu Shen prepared to twist his head back and leave the dreamscape—

The dim mirror before him suddenly rippled. A string of jet-black garbled code covered the mirror, and at last, a flawlessly white girl appeared within the world of mirrors.

"I've been here all along."

Chu Ling clasped Both Hands behind her back and smiled gently. "This is your test... so I thought it would be better not to disturb you. Just now, when you were only one step away, I wanted to appear, but you never called for me."

The moment he saw Chu Ling's face, the stone hanging over Gu Shen's heart suddenly fell away.

He smiled in relief. "So you were here all along..."

The Dream Interpretation within the dice space was about to be completed. Looking back on it all, this truly had been a nightmare—but knowing that Chu Ling had actually been silently accompanying him... somehow, this nightmare no longer seemed so unbearable.

"Your Dream Interpretation speed is incredibly fast." Chu Ling smiled. "Even I was surprised. I never expected your talent in this area to be so high. Those people outside are already dumbfounded."

"Ah-ha..."

Gu Shen smiled as well. He instinctively wanted to raise a hand and scratch his head, but his entire body was reversed, making the motion feel exceptionally strange.

He took a deep breath and steadied his mind. "There are still two more assessments to go..."

Two more nightmares.

He had a feeling that his greatest problem was his current Mental Power.

Dream Interpretation consumed an enormous amount of Mental Power.

Within the dice space, every twist of a mirror was an expenditure.

He wondered whether he could still hold on through the next two Dream Interpretations...

Seeing Gu Shen's exhausted face, the girl in the mirror revealed a trace of heartache in her eyes.

Gu Shen could tell that she seemed to have something she wanted to say.

"Actually... you've already completed this assessment." Chu Ling said softly. "The original assessment only required you to complete the Dream Interpretation of one dream Sealed Item."

"The original... assessment?" Gu Shen froze for a moment.

"Someone changed the rules." Chu Ling's voice was very low. "Because you solved the dream too quickly... they want to see whether you can complete three Dream Interpretations in succession."

"With your Mental Power, completing all three shouldn't be a problem... but afterward, your Mental Power will inevitably be overdrawn."

Hearing this, Gu Shen roughly understood.

Ever since the Grand Arbiter had begun urging him on, he had vaguely sensed that something was wrong... Though he had been mentally prepared for the difficulty of the Sealed Items, he had not expected them to consume so much Mental Power.

If he had truly been kept in the dark and completed three in a row, he would probably need to lie in a hospital bed for ten days to half a month before recovering.

"So... I've already met the assessment standard?" Gu Shen frowned. "Someone on the Assessment Team deliberately changed the rules and dragged out the process?"

"Mm."

Chu Ling said softly, "That man is Tang Qingquan, the Grand Arbiter of Yinghai District. He seems to have some objections to you. The changes to the assessment rules... we can't resist them. We can only accept them."

Even without Chu Ling telling him, Gu Shen could more or less guess.

That Grand Arbiter's attitude toward him was indeed different from that of the other Assessment Team members. He had sensed it the moment he entered the venue.

"If you give up now, it may not be impossible. Zhou Jiren knows the rules, and he'll fight for the rights you're entitled to." Chu Ling offered a suggestion. "It's just that... the process of fighting for those rights will be rather difficult."

"Give up..."

Gu Shen shook his head.

He looked at the girl in the mirror, his tone resolute. "After getting this far with such difficulty, how can I give up?"

He had suffered and sweated for this very day.

"Then you're planning to... continue?" A trace of worry appeared in Chu Ling's clear eyes.

"That's right. Of course I'll continue."

Gu Shen suddenly smiled. "I originally thought this assessment would follow the rules... but since someone has chosen to be unjust, they shouldn't blame us for being unrighteous."

The girl in the mirror reacted for a moment.

Then she covered her lips and giggled.

Chu Ling was truly happy.

Because Gu Shen had not said "I" just now.

He had said "we."