Chapter 1431: Nightmare

As the Beast Tamer of the Echo Spirit Lord, her voice had been nourished by feedback. By controlling it, she could imbue her voice with an amplification effect, strengthening the sound waves to better transmit them into her pet's brain. Even if the pet was in a state of sleep, there was a high probability of them hearing it within their dreams.

At the same time, inside the dream.

The Echo Spirit Lord listened to the mocking laughter all around, feeling unbearable pain. It covered its ears, hot tears streaming down its face.

Little Xiao Xunbao was nearby, greedily absorbing energy, when it suddenly let out a burp.

It was startled and hurriedly covered its mouth.

The Echo Spirit Lord was still covering its ears and weeping.

Upon realizing that the Echo Spirit Lord hadn't heard its burp, Little Xiao Xunbao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wake up!"

Suddenly, a voice from beyond the heavens rang out from high above, echoing through the entire dream like a 3D surround-sound effect.

The Echo Spirit Lord's crying stopped. It jerked its head up to look at the sky, and then, as if realizing something, it looked at its opponent—who was impossibly dark—its gaze turning sharp in an instant.

Little Xiao Xunbao sensed that something was wrong. It moved to the side and silently began to circulate its energy.

"Echo!!!"

The Echo Spirit Lord opened its mouth, and this time, it successfully produced a sound.

The piercingly shrill cry transformed into a force of destruction, spreading out across the entire arena.

"Sun Jie Sun Jie..."

The Nether Ring Monarch, which had been laughing, vanished. Qiao Sang and Serana on the high platform, as well as the host and guests at the commentary desk, and the audience in every direction, all disappeared without a trace.

Immediately after, everything around them shattered with a "Crack!" as if a mirror had been broken.

In reality.

The Echo Spirit Lord kept its eyes closed, failing to wake up for a long time.

In the spectator stands, the audience, who had been waiting for the Echo Spirit Lord to wake up, couldn't help but start discussing, and a clamor arose.

"What's going on? It's been so long, why hasn't the Echo Spirit Lord woken up yet?"

"I don't know. Is the Nether Ring Monarch's hypnosis proficiency too high?"

"Even if the Nether Ring Monarch's hypnosis has reached the level of Profound Truth, it shouldn't take this long to wake up. It's not like the Echo Spirit Lord hasn't fallen into Profound Truth-level hypnosis before; back then, it would wake up as soon as Serana called it. Now, Serana has been calling for a long time and it still won't wake up. Something must be wrong."

"If the Nether Ring Monarch is performing Dream Eating, shouldn't a pet with sufficiently strong mental power discover something is wrong and wake up faster?"

"Don't you think the dream the Echo Spirit Lord is having is quite unusual? It was even crying."

"Profound Truth-level hypnosis can manipulate the content of a dream. The Echo Spirit Lord must be having some kind of nightmare."

"I really want to know what kind of dream could make the Echo Spirit Lord cry."

"The Nether Ring Monarch entered the Echo Spirit Lord's head. Could it be that it's not performing Dream Eating?"

"Almost a minute has passed, but the Echo Spirit Lord still hasn't woken up," Nephthys said at the commentary desk.

"If the Nether Ring Monarch has been on the field the whole time, then the result of the match should already be out," Auror sighed.

"Heart-Heart."

The Beloved Heart-Heart let out a cry, indicating that if the Nether Ring Monarch weren't inside the Echo Spirit Lord's body, perhaps the Echo Spirit Lord would have woken up long ago.

Nephthys pondered for two seconds and speculated: "Perhaps the Nether Ring Monarch isn't performing Dream Eating inside the Echo Spirit Lord's body, but a higher-level skill capable of influencing the target within the dream. The command Qiao Sang gave earlier was just to mislead Serana."

"That is very possible," Auror agreed. "Otherwise, the Echo Spirit Lord wouldn't still be asleep after so long."

"Heart-Heart..."

The Beloved Heart-Heart wore a moved expression and let out a cry, indicating that Qiao Sang is truly a terrifying Beast Tamer. Even in the round-robin tournament, she still has such tricks hidden up her sleeve.

How can it not wake up? What skill is the Nether Ring Monarch using inside the Echo Spirit Lord's body... On the high platform, Serana's forehead was beaded with sweat from anxiety. She gathered her energy at the tip of her tongue and let out a shout even louder than before: "Loudly! Wake up!"

Inside the dream, everything around them shattered like a mirror.

Then, as if the broken mirror were being reassembled, everything that had disappeared reappeared.

The impossibly dark opponent, the full crowd of spectators, the host and guests at the commentary desk, and her own Beast Tamer and her opponent on the high platform.

The only difference from before was that the audience was cheering, seemingly surprised that it had woken up, while the impossibly dark opponent in front of it wore a solemn expression.

Has it already woken up?

The Echo Spirit Lord felt a moment of uncertainty.

Before it could think too much, the impossibly dark opponent in front of it suddenly vanished.

Immediately after, its own Beast Tamer issued a command: "Call!"

"Echo!!!"

The Echo Spirit Lord subconsciously followed the command, letting out a piercingly shrill roar.

The arena exploded, and the ground shattered.

"Xun xun!"

The impossibly dark opponent appeared not far away, wearing a pained expression.

"Echo!"

The Echo Spirit Lord's eyes lit up, and the clouds of doubt in its mind vanished.

At this moment, it was absolutely certain that it had truly woken up.

"Call again!" its Beast Tamer's voice rang out.

"Echo!!!" The Echo Spirit Lord roared.

Invisible sound waves spread rapidly.

The Echo Spirit Lord didn't notice that this roar of its had completely drowned out a sound wave coming from the outside world.

"Call!"

"Echo!!!"

"Call!"

"Echo!!!"

"Xun xun..."

Behind the Echo Spirit Lord, Little Xiao Xunbao was silently wiping sweat that didn't exist from its forehead.

It was exhausted. Fortunately, it was clever enough to switch to a different dream, fooling this guy...

In reality.

Time ticked by, second by second, and the Echo Spirit Lord still showed no signs of waking up.

The clamor in the spectator stands grew louder and louder.

On the high platform, Serana did not give up, constantly calling the Echo Spirit Lord's name.

On the other side, Qiao Sang felt a bit pleasantly surprised as she watched the Echo Spirit Lord still in a deep sleep.

Little Xiao Xunbao is really something. Even with Serana calling out with all her might, it could still keep the Echo Spirit Lord asleep. So much time has passed; the Nightmare trait should have caused quite a bit of damage to the Echo Spirit Lord...

As these thoughts flashed through her mind, Little Xiao Xunbao floated out from the Echo Spirit Lord's body.

The entire arena went silent for an instant, and then erupted into a tidal wave of clamor, with everyone exclaiming that the Nether Ring Monarch had finally appeared.

However, it was soon discovered that the Echo Spirit Lord still hadn't woken up.

"No way, the Nether Ring Monarch has come out, and the Echo Spirit Lord still hasn't woken up?"

"Is the Echo Spirit Lord never going to wake up?"

"That can't be right. It's just hypnosis, surely it's not that serious."

"The Echo Spirit Lord has been asleep for so long, and it was crying so miserably before. Do you still think it's just simple hypnosis?"

"Oh my god, do you mean the Echo Spirit Lord is going to sleep until the match ends?"

"Loudly!!!" On the high platform, Serana's heart skipped a beat when she saw the Nether Ring Monarch appear, but she didn't give up, continuing to shout loudly.

"The Nether Ring Monarch has appeared, but the Echo Spirit Lord still hasn't woken up," Nephthys sighed at the commentary desk. "I wonder if the Echo Spirit Lord will be able to wake up within the allotted time."

One second, two seconds, three seconds... A Mechanical-type pet wearing a referee badge came onto the field to observe the Echo Spirit Lord, then blew the whistle representing the end of the match and waved a green flag in the direction of Qiao Sang and Little Xiao Xunbao.

Serana's face turned pale, and she stopped shouting.

At the same time.

Inside the dream.

Little Xiao Xunbao collapsed to the ground, its eyes spinning in dizziness.

The Mechanical-type pet wearing a referee badge waved a green flag in the direction of Serana and the Echo Spirit Lord.

"Let us congratulate the Echo Spirit Lord and its Beast Tamer on winning this match!" the host announced loudly.

"Echo!"

The Echo Spirit Lord cheered, raising its arms.

However, at this moment, its opponent, which had previously collapsed, suddenly opened its eyes, clutched its stomach, and burst into laughter:

"Xun xun xun!"

The Echo Spirit Lord froze for a moment, realized something, and its face turned deathly pale.

Everything around them suddenly came to a complete standstill, the entire arena shattered like glass, and then reassembled.

The Echo Spirit Lord opened its eyes.

It discovered that its opponent was waving its claws at the spectator stands.

"Let us congratulate the Nether Ring Monarch and its Beast Tamer on winning this match!" the host announced loudly.

The Echo Spirit Lord sensed something and jerked its head up.

A virtual screen appeared out of thin air on the field. It watched as its avatar changed from color to black and white.

The Echo Spirit Lord felt as if its heart were being stabbed by a knife, as if it had fallen into a nightmare.

"Echo!!!"

No!!!