Pre-death assessment

Being suddenly and inexplicably targeted by the Heavenly Stems would naturally frighten anyone.

Although they also encountered the Heavenly Stems in the third stage.

But the third one is a Heavenly Stem that is divided into four, and it is in charge of peace in the third level.

The one in front of us is a complete Heavenly Stem.

Moreover, it's in this fourth level, which is like hell.

Who knows what kind of person the other is or what they want to do?

Xiao Bai, of course, noticed Lao Gui's gaze at this moment.

But she didn't dare to look him in the eye or say another word.

The Heavenly Stems are high-ranking figures that no lord or top hunter would dare to offend.

Of all the people, only Ling Wu slightly raised his gaze and met Lao Gui's eyes.

Their gazes met, and it seemed as if an invisible force was clashing, causing the entire fourth level of the pre-death assessment space to fall into inexplicable silence.

At this moment, Lao Gui paid no attention to anything around him, nor to anything in the entire pre-death assessment space.

His gaze remained fixed on Ling Wu, as if Ling Wu was the only person in his eyes.

This guy, in the end, didn't die after all; in the end... he came to this pre-death assessment space once again...

This eye contact lasted for a long time, until finally Lao Gui was the first to look away.

It was as if nothing had happened, as if nothing had been seen.

Everything as usual!

Ling Wu smiled slightly, then looked away and continued eating his grilled fish.

Soon, the hunt was over.

Ling Wu slowly stood up and clapped his hands: "Everyone is tired from the previous battle, let's get a good night's sleep first."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the courtyard.

"Brother-in-law, I've tidied up the room for you."

Jiang Luo quickly followed behind.

The rest of the people also rested.

……

The next day, everyone mobilized and began a frenzied hunt for the lords in the fourth level of the pre-death assessment space.

After several days, everyone finally received a crystal.

Next, they can create fear, whether it's against people or lords, and everyone can collect fear points.

Jiang Luo possesses psychic superpowers, allowing her to amplify the fear of others as much as possible, thus accumulating more fear points.

"Speaking of which... after collecting enough fear points, what's the final step?"

The group walked together on the road, heading towards an abandoned urban area not far away.

There is an extremely powerful lord there, and they are going to deal with him now.

"Nothing much needs to be done; customer service will take care of itself."

Ling Wu slowly said, "No one can help anyone else at this point. I can only tell you that no matter what happens, hold on and don't completely collapse under your greatest fear."

"As long as you persevere to the end, you will have completed this fourth test."

"So before that, you'd better think carefully about what you are really most afraid of, what you are most afraid of happening or experiencing, and prepare yourself mentally."

This hurdle requires you to rely entirely on yourself, overcome yourself, and improve yourself.

So indeed, no one can help anyone else.

Ling Wu can help them collect their fears, but ultimately, overcoming one's greatest inner fear depends on oneself.

Everyone nodded and began to think about what they were most afraid of.

Is it a ghost? A snake? Pain? Blood? Crowdedness? Fear of heights?

In any case, everyone has something they truly fear deep down, no matter what level or stage they reach.

"What if... you can't hold on?"

Li Ming asked curiously, "What would happen if you couldn't get over this hurdle?"

Ling Wu didn't say it explicitly, but just glanced at Xiao Bai.

It's very simple: if you fail the test, you will be completely consumed by your deepest fear.

Then he completely lost his mind and became a madman.

And slowly, it turned into what I feared most.

For example, Xiaobai used to be a little girl, a little girl who was very afraid of ghosts.

But she didn't make it through that final hurdle; she went mad and then became the female ghost she feared most.

Noticing Ling Wu's gaze, Li Ming narrowed his eyes slightly.

So... if you fail the test, you'll eventually become a lord?

Yes, since they failed the test, they will never be able to leave this fourth level.

Of course, they will remain in this hell forever.

Then, because he was driven mad by his greatest fear, his mind was filled with thoughts of what he feared most.

And if you can't overcome your fear, your body will help you become fear!

In that way, you will forget everything from your past, and your memory will only contain what you fear, which is what you yourself have transformed into.

Therefore, all the lords in the fourth level of this pre-death assessment space were actually challengers at the very beginning.

The reason these lords are so diverse is that each of them has different fears.

To put it bluntly, the fourth level of the pre-death assessment space is a hell formed by materializing and combining the things that many people fear most.

Therefore, there are ghosts and demons, as well as all kinds of terrifying and bloody monsters.

As expected, everything in the pre-death assessment space was, in fact, a human being.

Hunter, Steel Beast, Lord.

Everything is transformed by those who attempt to overcome obstacles.

Even those core high-ranking members, since they all came from top hunters, naturally meant that they were once human as well.

They're here to try their luck too!

The pre-death assessment space aims to keep as many challengers as possible, transform them, and then further improve the pre-death assessment space.

With a more comprehensive pre-death assessment system, more challengers can be retained.

What a perfect closed loop!

As they were talking, they arrived at their destination.

Ahead lay a city, ravaged and scarlet.

The entire city was shrouded in a crimson blood mist, permeated with a putrid stench.

Climbing atop the dilapidated building were wriggling flesh and blood, like the blood vessels of some creature.

The entire city seemed to be completely covered by a living thing.

And here lives a lord.

A lord second only to a "sinner".

In the fourth level of the pre-death assessment space, one becomes the second most powerful lord.

"The entire city is that guy's territory."

Xiao Bai slowly said, "He is very strong and terrifying. No one has ever dared to enter his territory."

This lord is so powerful that even Xiaobai's domain has no effect on him.

Because the other party's domain is far superior to hers.

"Should we just take action?"

All eyes were on Chao Lingwu, awaiting his command.

Ling Wu simply smiled faintly and uttered two words: "Of course!"

Wow!

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Ruyan was the first to be affected.

His form transformed into a giant fire phoenix, soaring into the sky and arriving above the scarlet city.

Then its enormous wings spread and flapped wildly.

Splash splash splash...

Suddenly, countless fireballs rained down like a meteor shower.

Cracking explosions echoed through the crimson city, and the entire city was instantly engulfed in flames.

No terrain is complicated in front of a fifth-realm fire elemental expert!

Even the most complex terrain can be burned into a flat plain.

Just after Liu Ruyan set the entire city ablaze, a sharp, piercing scream suddenly came from the sea of ​​fire below.

shhhhhh...

The next moment, countless figures shot into the sky from the raging flames.

Those were all strangely shaped, deformed babies.

Some have grotesque facial features, some have crooked limbs, some are just skin and bones like skeletons, and some even have fleshy wings growing from their backs.

They all looked incredibly ugly.

But strangely, each of the deformed fetuses possessed extremely strong fighting ability.

They weren't even afraid of Liu Ruyan's flames, risking being burned as they lunged at her.

Countless ghost infants swarmed forward, each emitting a sharp, piercing sound, making them look incredibly eerie.

"These ghost babies number in the thousands."

Xiao Bai said in a deep voice, "And that guy's true form is inside one of the ghost infants."

"Let's get started!"

Ling Wu let out a breath: "If we kill them all, we should be able to find their true form."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ming and the others rushed forward one after another, displaying all sorts of bizarre superpowers one after another.

Lei Zhenyu was completely bewildered again: "Sister, where is this place? Holy crap, this is terrifying! I think I'm dead?"

"Alright, you're not dead. Let's deal with these ghost babies first, then I'll explain things to you slowly."

Lei Yun has explained this many times, so this time she simply didn't bother to explain again.

As soon as she finished speaking, a vast amount of lightning surged from her body.

She obtained Jin Jun's thunderous power, but could only inherit it up to the fourth realm.

Just like Lei Zhenyu!

"Holy crap! Sis, how come you have lightning elemental superpowers too?"

Lei Zhenyu was taken aback.

What happened?

I think I was killed during the first level, right?

How did you suddenly end up in this place?

And how did my older sister become so strong?

"Stop talking nonsense, these monsters are not simple," Lei Yun shouted.

"Okay! You'll have to explain this to me properly later."

Lei Zhenyu nodded, and then without saying a word, he and Lei Yun rushed forward to attack the ghost infants.

"The lair is located directly below the center of the city."

Li Qingxue then activated her X-ray vision, continuously scanning.

The location of the nest was quickly pinpointed.

Then she looked toward the deepest part of the nest.

Then his expression suddenly changed, as if he had seen something unacceptable, and his sanity plummeted.

Because she saw that deep within that nest was a sealed chamber of flesh and blood.

Amidst the blurred flesh and blood, neatly embedded were some white bodies.

Those... were all people, all women.

Moreover, they were all pregnant women.

The bodies of the pregnant women seemed to have grown into the entire cave, fused together with the viscous flesh and blood.

Some tentacle-like tubes connect to the veins and blood vessels of each pregnant woman, as if delivering nutrients to them.

With the delivery of nutrients, every pregnant woman's huge belly twitches.