There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

This slow, deliberate attack was obviously unlikely to hit Lu Qing. She casually took a step back and dodged the man's attack. However, after she dodged, a phantom figure appeared where she had been standing and was hit squarely by the broom.

"It hurts."

Lu Qing frowned. Even though she had dodged it, she still felt a pain, as if she were the one who had been hit by the broom.

That's right, this is Charles's childhood memory. Since it's Charles's memory, she should be able to feel Charles's feelings as well.

But for some reason, she couldn't sense Charles's thoughts. Since it was a memory, she should have been able to sense Charles's thoughts as well.

These are probably missing, since the mask only contains some memories, not a complete soul.

Lu Qing walked around for a while and found that there was nothing outside the room, and she could not see anything. The figure that represented Charles was also illusory. Perhaps this was because Charles did not know what he looked like when he was a child.

Now that she knew where she was and couldn't find a way out for the time being, Lu Qing settled down for the time being and observed this memory as an outsider.

After the orphanage director beat Charles severely, Charles fainted from the excruciating pain, and Lu Qing's perspective shifted to another location.

It was unclear how much time had passed since Charles was brutally beaten, but Lu Qing appeared in a relatively clean house. Standing in front of her, besides the orphanage director, was a man with scars on his face, dressed in a black robe.

"From now on, you'll be living with this adult. Remember, you can't run around. If you dare to try to escape, the consequences won't be as simple as just getting a beating," the dean said to Lu Qing (Charle).

"Is this the only one?" the man in black robes asked in a low voice.

“Yes, sir, I tested it with the things you gave me before, and there is only this one.” The dean said to the man in black robes with a fawning smile.

"Then let's leave it at that." The man in the black robe nodded, then took out a large gold coin with exquisite patterns engraved on its surface from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"Thank you, sir!" The dean eagerly picked up the gold coin, his fingers constantly stroking the patterns on its surface.

The man in the black robe said nothing, but simply pulled Charles away from the orphanage.

The memory did not end there. Charles seemed to have a very deep impression of this memory. After being taken out of the orphanage, the man in the black robe took Charles to a tavern, ordered a bunch of food that Charles had never eaten in his life, and even had someone give him a bath and change him into a new set of clothes.

It's obvious that after all this, the man in the black robe would have rapidly risen in Charles's heart.

As Lu Qing had expected, Charles obediently followed the black-clad man into a carriage, and his memory ended there.

Once the surrounding scenery returned to normal, Lu Qing found herself lying on a cold experimental table, her hands and feet bound by tough leather straps.

No, to be precise, it was Charles who was tied up like this. Lu Qing sat up from the experimental table and found that in addition to Charles, there were four other humans of different ages tied up on the experimental table.

“You shouldn’t have run away. This way, the experiment could have been postponed for a few more days,” the man in charge of the experiment said coldly, standing outside the experimental table.

------------

Chapter 506: The Insect Hunter

“For those who try to resist, of course we must use different methods.” The man said, looking at the Guiji cultist beside him, “Double the dosage they are injected with.”

“Isn’t it a waste of test subjects like this?” Upon hearing the man’s words, the Guiji Cultist beside him looked somewhat conflicted and said, “There are too few people who can feel an affinity for the power of the void. If we double the injection dose, these test subjects will probably only be usable once.”

“I told you to use it, so use it. Isn’t it good to have another chance to record a large injection of Void Potion?” The man said with some dissatisfaction, looking at the cultist who had spoken.

"No, I have no objection."

"Sigh, who told you to run away and anger the boss? Double the dosage. I can only wish you good luck. If it succeeds, it will be a very good experimental record." The Guiji Cult member in charge of the experiment said to Charles while adjusting the equipment.

After speaking, the cultist shouted to his men, "Sixth generation Void Potion, experimental type, double dose, prepare for injection!"

“Void Potion, sixth generation…” Lu Qing’s heart stirred with emotion as she listened to the words of the Guiji cultists.

All the scenes here are things that Charles experienced when he was a child. The time period is about fifty years ago, and the Church of Netherworld was already conducting these unknown experiments more than fifty years ago.

What was the purpose of their experiments? What is the effect of the Void Potion? Now that it's in its sixth generation, fifty years have passed. How many generations of the Void Potion have they developed now?

On another note, aren't all the followers of the Guiji Cult supposed to be madmen corrupted by the power of the void? Why do she find the people here to be so calm?

As Lu Qing thought this, she began to carefully observe the Guiji followers who were conducting the experiment. She discovered that they did not have the slightest trace of the void aura on them, or rather, they did not show any signs of being contaminated by the void.

It's possible that Charles's memory didn't record these details, or it's possible that... none of these people were corrupted by the power of the void, and they joined the Church of Silence entirely voluntarily!

This is very likely. Think about it carefully. As the world's largest cult, how could the Guiji Sect not have some powerful force backing it up? Moreover, in reality, wasn't the one that attacked the town of Fremures a private army under a nobleman?

So the question is, why did these people join the Guiji Cult? What is it about these madmen who want to overthrow the Sacred Tree and expose humanity to the rampant power of destruction and death that attracts them?

Lu Qing thought about it carefully and found that there were quite a few things that could attract people. After all, this was a dream world with extraordinary power, and the Guiji Sect was not a sect that only talked nonsense and deceived people with words.

While the power of the void is terrifying, it can indeed greatly enhance the strength of living beings, only increasing the mortality rate by a few hundred million.

Let Lu Qing make a bold assumption: what if the Guiji Sect's experiment was actually researching how to reduce the risk of absorbing void power, and this void potion was the result of their research?

A cold sensation suddenly appeared on Lu Qing's shoulder. Lu Qing, who was thinking about the Guiji Sect, was slightly startled, but then immediately realized that it was a sensation transmitted from Charles.

The next moment, a cold syringe pierced his shoulder, and two vials of dark red Void Potion were injected into Charles's body.

"Where did they get their syringes?" Lu Qing couldn't help but wonder as she watched the Guiji cultists inject Charles with the medicine. However, the next moment, an unparalleled pain surged through her entire body.

After the Void Potion was injected into Charles's body, it immediately transformed into a violent force, wantonly destroying the cells in Charles's body. While causing widespread destruction, the potion also contained a gentler force that continuously repaired the damage within his body.

A large number of muscles couldn't help but curl up, then were shattered by the terrifying force, and then kept healing. Even Lu Qing found the pain unbearable, let alone the person who was tied to the experimental table.

They struggled violently, letting out shrill screams. The middle-aged man closest to Charles was rapidly decaying, with large amounts of blood flowing down the lab table. On the other side, a young man's body was swelling up, turning into a pool of blood-red flesh.

The experimental subjects, bound to the testing table, were injected with double the dose of the drug, and their flesh disintegrated at an unimaginable speed, ceasing all movement within minutes.

Only Charles's appearance didn't seem to have changed much; however, intense pain constantly enveloped his body. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps it was some other reason, but Charles awakened some special power due to the power of the Void Potion.

He subconsciously used this power to connect with a dormant earthworm buried deep underground, and emotions filled with violence and pain surged into the earthworm's brain through the connection.

"Roar!!"

A massive earthworm tore through the laboratory floor, roaring and thrashing about, crashing into every corner of the lab and destroying a large amount of equipment.

The incident happened so suddenly that the Guiji cultists had no time to react. In just half a minute, a large number of casualties were caused, and the savage earthworm knocked Charles and the experimental platform away.

In a daze, the belt on Charles's body came loose, and the wounds caused by being knocked away by the earthworm began to heal under the effect of the Void Potion.

Although young Charles didn't know where the Void Worm came from, he realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He struggled to his feet, enduring the pain in his body, and ran out of the laboratory without looking back.

"Hahaha......."

A biting wind blew over Charles, and his luck didn't seem to be so good either. After Charles escaped, he found that a cold blizzard was raging outside.

His thin clothes did not provide him with warmth, and the effects of the Void Potion gradually dissipated over time. His consciousness became increasingly blurred, and his physical sensations slowly faded away.

He then collapsed on the cold snow, silently awaiting death.

But just then, a man and a boy dressed in thick leather appeared before him. With his last ounce of strength, Charles hoarsely pointed in the direction he had escaped from and uttered the four words he had learned from the other test subjects: "The...Return...Silence...Cult..."

Her memories ended there. Lu Qing opened her eyes and found herself back in reality, with the dark mask floating quietly in front of her.

[Insect Hunter Mask]

[A shocking experiment, an unspeakable encounter—the insect hunter's lifelong search finally yields a glimpse.]

Development progress: 20%

------------

Chapter 507: The Pope and Knight Myron

[Insect Hunter Mask]

[A shocking experiment, an unspeakable encounter—the insect hunter's lifelong search finally yields a glimpse.]

Development progress: 25%

The Insect Hunter Mask, shrouded in dark mist, slowly floated in front of Lu Qing, and a very special link connected Lu Qing to it.

Lu Qing could sense the powerful force hidden within the mask. She stretched out her right hand, her five slender fingers slowly grasping the edge of the black mask. The next moment, a dark, shrunken phantom of an earthworm emerged from beneath Lu Qing's feet, circling and hovering around her body.

Her method of controlling the vengeful spirits seems to differ from what the Pope described...

The Pope never mentioned that the Mask of Vengeance had any development potential, nor did he make any similar claim, such as that the Vengeance within the mask would become stronger with continuous practice. According to the Pope, the stronger the Vengeance was before it was destroyed, the stronger the Vengeance summoned by the mask would be.

As for the mask she made... Lu Qing frowned. She felt that the power within the mask was much weaker than she had imagined. Was this meant for her to further develop it?

"Besides the difference in strength..."

Lu Qing tried to activate the mask twice, but found that she could not summon the resentful soul inside the mask at all. Instead, the phantom of earthworms surrounded her.

She poked at the illusory earthworms surrounding her with her finger and found that it really was just an illusion. Her finger couldn't touch it, and if she threw a pebble down from above the illusory earthworms, it would fall to the ground without any hindrance.

Looking down at her palm, Lu Qing squeezed it hard, but didn't feel any increase in her strength.

"The panel doesn't show the mask's specific uses either." Lu Qing glanced at the diary in her mind. The description of the Insect Hunter Mask ended at the development level. Could it be that the diary didn't show its uses because the mask really had no use at all?

"It can't just be decorations, can it?" Lu Qing muttered to herself. Then, as if she remembered something, she looked up at the sky but couldn't find the figure she was looking for. "Vayne, come here for a second," she called out to Wayne in her heart.

"Gah, I'm here, I'm here!" Wayne said to himself as he flew quickly from afar.

"Where did you go just now?" Lu Qing asked with some confusion when she saw Wayne flying over. She had shared her vision with Wayne for a while and found that he had been flying low in the forest.

"Oh right, I noticed something rather strange earlier and wanted to tell you, little master, but you were fighting that monster so intensely that I didn't say anything. I almost forgot about it just now." Vain, remembering the strange thing he'd discovered, quickly said:

"Something's happened to the Pope and Knight Myron!"

"The Pope and Knight Myron are in trouble?" Hearing Wayne's words, Lu Qing was slightly taken aback, then quickly asked, "What happened to them?"

“Gah…they might…” Wayne hesitated, recalling what he had seen earlier, “Stuck?”

"what?"

........

“Gah, little master, this phantom on your body looks like a magic immunity shield.” Wayne stood on Lu Qing’s shoulder, carefully observing the phantom of the earthworm on her body.

"A magic immunity shield?" Lu Qing listened to Vain's words in surprise and said, "You mean it can protect me from magic attacks?"

"Not only attacks, but all magical effects will be blocked, including mental attacks. The strength is at a medium level of white, and it can be immune to all magical effects below the shield level, and can be immune to one magical effect of the same level."

"Well, the effect isn't so great when it comes to high-level magic effects," Wei explained to Lu Qing.

"I see." Lu Qing nodded in understanding, quite satisfied with the effect of the shield.

It's okay that the shield's strength is relatively low, since the current development level is only 25%. As the development level increases, the shield's strength will likely increase as well, and there might even be some new features added.

Overall, the strength is not bad, but it feels a bit of a loss to get such a magic immunity shield after taking such a big risk and then being trapped in Charles's memories and experiencing what it's like to be a test subject.

"By the way, are you sure the Pope and Knight Myron are both... stuck?" Lu Qing asked Wayne after a slight hesitation.

"Caw, don't doubt my judgment. I just flew right in front of them and pecked their heads twice, and they didn't react at all," Wayne said, widening his eyes as he looked at Lu Qing.

"..." Lu Qing didn't know whether to complain about the Pope and Knight Myron's state or about Wayne pecking at their heads.