Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1240: Section 1241: The Resentment Tribulation

“Angel?”

As Angel was lost in thought, a deep and husky male voice came through the glowing Blood Pearl in his hand, reaching his ears.

Angel hesitated for a moment before speaking softly, “Mentor.”

The Blood Pearl that had provided him with a warm strength in his dream was actually the essence blood left to him by Sanders. And, the fact that Sanders’s voice could come through the Blood Pearl meant that Sanders was now very close—

Perhaps, outside the Ice Valley.

After a brief chat, Angel stood up, ready to meet Sanders outside the Ice Valley.

The Holographic Tablet displayed the time, showing he had been unconscious for half the night, and the situation around him had not changed from before he passed out. Toby was also lying on the table asleep, just like yesterday.

However, looking at Toby made Angel think of last night’s dream.

Without a doubt, it was the torrent of information brought out from Toby’s dream that had caused him to have a terrifying dream.

“What exactly is happening to you?”

…

At this moment, Sanders was standing on the trunk of a tree outside the Ice Valley.

After returning to Sky Island and dealing with some of the subsequent matters of Lassudral, he immediately set off to return to the Ice Valley. Just now, he had contacted Angel through the essence blood.

However, what Sanders found strange was that the voice transmitted from Angel seemed a bit off.

It felt as though there were a heavy tone to it.

Aside from Angel’s own voice, there was another faint and strange noise. It was dark and silky, rustling, emitting a “hiss” from the throat.

It was like the sound of… a serpent’s hiss.

Was it an illusion? Or had something happened on Angel’s end?

While Sanders was puzzled, a figure emerged from the Ice Valley—

When Angel came out from the Ice Valley, he looked around but didn’t see Sanders. He was about to reconnect through the essence blood when a sudden whistling wind sound came from behind him.

He turned sharply, only to see Sanders flying from a distance, accompanied by a palm strike brimming with energy!

“Here we go again!” Angel paused for a moment, then immediately reacted. However, the palm strike was already very close; it was difficult to escape. Angel decided to use his arms as a shield, hoping to temporarily withstand it with his strong physique.

“Smack!” It was the sound of flesh colliding with flesh.

Angel was stunned for a moment because he did not feel any force coming from Sanders’s palm. He couldn’t help but open his eyes and looked through the gap in his arms towards Sanders: “Mentor, why are you testing me again?”

“Testing? I am not that idle,” Sanders said flatly. “I’m helping you to dispel the darkness.”

A look of confusion flashed in Angel’s eyes. Just as he was about to ask what he meant, a gentle energy suddenly transferred from Sanders’s palm into his body.

Clean, warm, bright—like the warm beacon in the boundless darkness of his dream that had guided his way not long ago.

As this force swept through his body, Angel suddenly heard a “hissing” sound by his ear. At first, the hissing was loud, but slowly it grew much softer, until it was gone.

When the hissing sound disappeared, Angel felt an inexplicable sense of relief, as after days of heavy rain, he suddenly encountered a clear blue sky.

“Mentor, what is this… What happened to me?” Although Angel felt extremely comfortable now, he hadn’t overlooked the strange hissing sound from before or the ‘dispelling of darkness’ that Sanders had mentioned.

In Sanders’s eyes, the gloomy aura enveloping Angel formed into a bizarre serpentine shape which the Purification force completely expelled.

When he heard Angel’s question, Sanders finally withdrew his hand and said nonchalantly, “I wanted to ask you the same thing. How come you have attracted such intense Negative Energy after only a few days?”

“Negative Energy?”

As Sanders explained, Angel finally understood the cause and effect of everything.

Putting aside the double tone during the Blood Pearl conversation, the moment Angel emerged from the Ice Valley, he felt nothing, but in Sanders’s eyes, Angel was shrouded in an incredibly thick gloomy aura.

This aura continuously emitted Negative Emotions all around.

It was like a vengeful spirit, spreading hatred, terror, and anger—various forms of negative energy.

It was as though Angel had been swallowed by this vengeful spirit, making him look extremely dangerous. That was why Sanders, without any warning and appearing as though attacking Angel, was actually gathering the force of Purification to expel the gloominess from him.

Angel felt a sense of disorientation after listening.

His body was emitting negative energy… Could it be that all the malicious whispers from his dreams had followed him out?

“Where have you been these past few days? How did you come into contact with so much negative energy? If it were any stronger, it could almost form a Spirit of Resentment.” Sanders frowned as he asked, and it was fortunate that Angel hadn’t been tainted for long, as it hadn’t started affecting his thinking. Otherwise, if Angel himself hadn’t noticed, the ominous energy could have truly integrated into his body, leading to various complications.

Angel shook his head helplessly, “I haven’t been anywhere. I’ve just been in the Ice Valley.”

“Then where did this negative energy come from?”

Angel hesitated for a moment, then took Toby out of his pouch: “If there are no surprises, it should have come from Toby’s dreams.”

“From Toby’s dreams?” Sanders looked at Toby, who was still unconscious, with confusion. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary on Toby. “What do you mean?”

Angel recounted everything that happened yesterday.

After hearing Angel’s explanation, Sanders pondered for a moment: “The curse was lifted but he remains unconscious, and as soon as you entered the dream, you were discovered, with a flood of information rushing into your mind… This does sound very unusual.”

“I have also been studying the Dream Entering Technique recently, and in the literature I’ve looked at, there’s no record of a case like yours. You were discovered as soon as your Dream Tentacle entered halfway into the other party’s dream, which is unprecedented. Unless the other party is a formal Dream Sorcerer, it is difficult to immediately detect changes in a dream, especially since you hadn’t fully entered the other party’s dream.”

Angel seemed to realize something, “If I hadn’t been detected, could the flood of information that rushed into my mind be… overflow from being filled to the brim?”

Sanders nodded: “Very likely, you actually weren’t discovered, but rather Toby’s dream was so filled with negative energy that your Dream Tentacle inadvertently became an outlet for it to escape.”

“Based on what you said, you barely entered for a moment before fleeing. Yet even so, the accumulation of negativity on you is quite alarming. This implies…” Sanders looked toward Toby, his eyes flickering, “the negativity in Toby’s dreams has reached such an extreme concentration. Perhaps, this is the reason why Toby remains in such a deep sleep.”

Angel: “Why would Toby be in such a state?”

Sanders countered with a question of his own, “What do you think?”

“There seems to be only one possibility.” Angel’s eyes flickered with concern as he softly voiced his guess: “The Tribulation of Five Flavors!”

Sanders nodded: “Correct. The last time you entered his dream, it showed only signs of entering the tribulation. It seems that now it has formally begun.”

If it weren’t for the Tribulation of Five Flavors, it would be impossible for such horrific negative emotions to exist in Toby’s dreams.

Toby had already faced “The Fury Tribulation,” with four more to endure: love, hate, resentment, and sorrow.

“Considering the jealousy and possessiveness it showed in its dream last time, combined with the resentful negativity you have just come into contact with, it is very likely that Toby is now facing ‘The Resentment Tribulation’,” Sanders paused, “Fortunately, you were lucky not to have fully entered its dream. Otherwise, facing such terrifying resentment, the consequences would be dire.”

Angel also felt a wave of fear, but after the initial scare, his concern for Toby grew.

Each tribulation is a brush with death. The five tribulations Toby faced were as perilous as death itself. Surviving them required not just good fortune but also a test of Toby’s will.

Moreover, it hadn’t been long since “The Fury Tribulation.” According to what Greya had said before, it should not have been possible to enter another tribulation so soon.

But life is unpredictable. Toby was afflicted with the Calamity Curse, and bad luck wouldn’t spare him. This misfortune clearly extended to the Tribulation of Five Flavors. In addition to the curse, Toby was also affected by the emotional domain field of the giant serpent in the Shadow Cave; the combination of both factors led to the current predicament,

Angel didn’t know if Toby could endure facing ‘The Resentment Tribulation’ so soon.

The most important thing was that Toby had to face the tribulation alone. Others couldn’t help… No, that’s not right, Angel suddenly thought of something: “Since the negative emotions accumulated could be released through the Dream Tentacle, could this be used to lessen the negative emotions Toby faces, thereby reducing the difficulty of the tribulation?”

“Are you planning to become a carrier of negativity?” Sanders raised an eyebrow.

Angel nodded.

“If you can stop the source of negative emotions, your suggestion might alleviate the tribulation. But what if the source continues to release negative emotions?” Sanders paused, “And besides, these negative emotions are meaningless to you. But for Toby, as long as he can survive ‘The Resentment Tribulation,’ they serve as a source of his strength.”

“The most important thing is, are you certain you’ll always be lucky enough to escape from his dreams each time?”

Angel fell silent.

“If you really want to alleviate the tribulation, the only option is to go back and ask Greya to see if she has any solutions,” Sanders concluded with this sentence.

Angel nodded, that was all he could do.

Putting Toby’s situation aside for the moment, Sanders said to Angel, “Although Toby hasn’t awakened yet, his curse has been lifted, so let’s prepare to leave. We should head back to the Southern Domain as soon as possible, to avoid any unexpected developments.”

Angel thought it over; he didn’t know if the willful blockade outside the Continent of Yuantan had been lifted, and even if it hadn’t, it was possible that some powerful entities could have other methods of tracking them.

So, it would be best to leave as soon as possible.

Moreover, in Sky Island, Popota’s identity was about to be exposed. Once that happened, Frostmoon would undoubtedly search for him with all their resources. Angel couldn’t guarantee he could always stay by Popota’s side. Once Popota moved beyond the protection of the Blood Night Shelter, he could be detected by the Prophet Wizard of Frostmoon.

With this in mind, Angel nodded in agreement:

“Okay, back to the Southern Domain!”