Tang Wulin hurriedly inspected his internal condition to find that his soul power was still there, as were those green and purple specks of light. Everything that he had learned was also cemented firmly in his mind.
Those hallucinations were simply far too terrifying and realistic, and he may have spent over a year trapped in them.
"Inside the hallucinations, time passes at a quarter of the speed as it does in the real world, so you've only been here for less than four months," Old Demon Greed said.
"Your friends still haven't completed their trials, so they'll require some more time. What I have to tell you is that it won't be a good thing for them to have their trials brought to premature ends. They need to go through the complete process and rebuild themselves on a psychological level, especially that kid." Old Demon Nightmare pointed at Yue Zhengyu as he spoke.
Tang Wulin immediately recalled Yue Zhengyu's horrific experiences, and as he looked around at the seven old demons, he finally truly believed them.
"Alright, I'll tell you all what happened. Firstly, I really don't know how I managed to trigger this Life Tide and Destruction Tide that all of you are talking about. From my perspective, I could only suddenly sense that the life energy around me had become more powerful at the conclusion of my meditation, and after that, I saw a really strange sequence of scenes."
Thus, Tang Wulin gave all of the old demons a specific recount of everything he'd seen, only neglecting to tell them about the two specks of light that had appeared in his soul power vortex.
He was still maintaining a shred of caution, so he naturally couldn't reveal everything. At the same time, he disclosed all of this information as he also wanted to hear the old demons' analysis. They were the beings that were most familiar with the life and destruction energies on the demonic islands, so their input on this matter would definitely be the most reliable.
After hearing Tang Wulin's story, all seven old demons' brows furrowed in unison as if they'd all fallen into deep thought.
"The purple light is definitely destruction, while the green light has to be life. This means that you most likely saw projections of the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction when you were in your trance-like state. There's only one place that they would protect, and that's the Divine Realm. Perhaps what you saw explains why we've been unable to contact the Divine Realm. This is extremely important information; I'll compile a detailed report based on what you've told us, then get you to deliver that report to the master of the Sea God's Pavilion after you get back to the academy," Old Demon Greed said in a serious manner.
"I'll be happy to do that." Tang Wulin immediately nodded in response.
Old Demon Greed continued, "I just don't understand why you were able to trigger all of this. Did you feel anything else at the time? And what was that golden speck of light?"
Tang Wulin replied, "I don't know, either, but when I saw that golden speck of light, my emotions suddenly began to fluctuate violently, and I was struck by a strong sense of sorrow reminiscent of when my parents left me."
Old Demon Greed's brows furrowed even further. "It's too hard for us to draw any concrete conclusions based on that information alone. You keep meditating here and see if you can enter that state again. After exiting Nightmare's illusionary realm, you won't be able to re-enter it, so you'll have to wait here for your friends."
"Alright," Tang Wulin immediately agreed before turning to Old Demon Gluttony before asking, "Was all that food you brought to me real? Is there any more of that?"
"No! Do you know how much of my food you've eaten? The life force energy here is so abundant; you don't even need food! Just go and cultivate!" Old Demon Gluttony grumbled before vanishing in a flash.
Tang Wulin then turned to Old Demon Sloth, and even now, the latter was still filled with rage and indignation. He swept a sleeve through the air in a furious manner and also disappeared.
Old Demon Desire chuckled, "You've really hurt Sloth's self-esteem this time. I feel sorry for your friends; he's definitely going to vent his fury on them. Greed, are you really not planning to test him? Your test is the sternest of all of our trials."
Old Demon Greed shook his head. "There's no need for that. Unless I forcibly wipe away part of his memory, my test won't do anything. I'm sure this kid won't be blinded by greed."
Tang Wulin couldn't help but chuckle internally. After all, he had always loved money ever since he was a child, so he was actually quite susceptible to falling into a trap of greed!
Thus, the old demons departed, leaving Tang Wulin and his friends, all of whom were still doing different things. Tang Wulin was quite relieved to see that they were all fine, and aside from meditation, he couldn't really think of anything else to do. At the same time, he wanted to sense just what function the purple and green specks of light in his body served.
However, no matter what he tried, he was unable to enter deep meditation again, nor was he able to ascertain the functions of those two specks of light.
His soul power could be cultivated normally, and there was nothing amiss about the rotation of his soul power vortex, either. It was as if those two specks of light merely existed in his body, but had nothing to do with him, and his energy was unable to affect them in the slightest.
A month passed in the real world, so four months had passed in Old Demon Nightmare's illusionary realm. The other members of Shrek’s Seven Monsters finally concluded their nightmarish journey.
The second one to awaken was Ye Xinglan, followed by Yuanen Yehui, Xu Lizhi, Xie Xie, and Xu Xiaoyan.
Yue Zhengyu was the only one who was yet to awaken.
When everyone heard Tang Wulin recount the ordeal that Yue Zhengyu had suffered, Xu Xiaoyan had a deep blush on her face for two full days, but no one could bring themselves to laugh. They were only horrified by just how terrifying these old demons were. Their tests had pushed them to the absolute extreme.
Tang Wulin was struck by a rather peculiar feeling as he looked at all of his friends. They had spent over four months here, which was only less than two years in the illusionary realm, but everyone seemed to have grown up and were wise beyond their years. This was undoubtedly going to be a trip that they'd never forget.
Yue Zhengyu finally awakened seven days later.
His body shuddered, and as soon as his vision became clear again, he immediately caught sight of Xu Xiaoyan.
His lips trembled, and he sat down heavily onto the ground. "I'm so sorry, Xiaoyan!"
Tears almost instantly began to flow from his eyes.
Everyone wore peculiar expressions as Xu Xiaoyan rushed over to him before holding him in her arms and gently patting his back. "It's alright, everything's in the past now. You did nothing wrong; I very nearly did the same thing."
Yue Zhengyu finally began to calm down after half an hour, yet he was still filled with hatred at the mere mention of Old Demon Desire's name.
"It's time for all of you to leave." Light flashed, and the seven old demons appeared before everyone in unison with different expressions on their faces.
All of Shrek's Seven Monsters still couldn't help but be horrified by the sight of them, with the exception of Tang Wulin.
They had endured far too much torture here, and they'd all been severely traumatized.
Old Demon Greed smiled, and said, "I'm sure you'll remember your experiences here for the rest of your lives. Congratulations on completing this military training. All of you have lasted until the very end, and that's an extraordinary feat in itself. All of you are more than qualified to be the new generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, and now, you'll be facing your final test. No one will take you away from here; you have to leave through your power. I have to remind you that from now on, you're in the real world, and not an illusion. You have to face the Northsea Legion on your own, and if you die, you'll stay dead. The aircrafts you stole have appeared in the illusionary realm, but the process wasn't entirely fake. At the very least, I can tell you all that the military officials from the Northsea Legion that you've encountered all hate you with a vengeance. Alright, you may leave at any time now."