Yechen retrieved his long knife, and another idea emerged in his mind. He promptly spread the blood that had flowed out onto the bullets' heads, loaded them into the chamber of his revolver, and aimed at a wooden bench nearby, firing.

Bang!

After the gunshot, a hole appeared in the bench, but it was smaller than those typically made by regular bullets, as if its power had been diminished.

"Huh? What's going on?"

Seeing this, Yechen was puzzled. Not only did the blood have no effect on the bullets, but the damage seemed to have decreased.

However, observing from the side, Lail understood the clues. He calmly explained, "Regular bullets can't withstand the enhancement from your blood. They deform during acceleration, resulting in reduced effectiveness. You could try directly filling the chamber with blood; perhaps it will produce a different reaction."

Without hesitation, the young man followed his teacher's words, exposing the chamber of the revolver to the air. He then used the blade to squeeze out more blood drops from his skin and attempted to let them flow into one of the revolver's chambers.

As the crimson blood seeped in, the interior of the silver chamber began to emit a strange glow, indicating the onset of a dramatic reaction.

Under Yechen's astonished gaze, the crimson liquid began to rapidly coalesce, then expand, and finally deform swiftly. As Yechen had anticipated, it condensed and formed into a bullet of blood-red color.

"Wow, truly miraculous."

Yechen couldn't help but exclaim, and his fingers involuntarily pressed down on the hammer. He raised the silver revolver and, the next moment, aimed at another wooden bench beside him and pulled the trigger, firing.

Bang!

After the gunshot, wood chips scattered everywhere.

This time, the bench didn't just have a small hole like before. It was as if it had been hit head-on by a miniature cannonball, exploding into countless fragments right in front of Yechen. The area around the scattered fragments was marked with traces of blood, giving the impression that the bench had been pulverized by blood.

Similar to the changes in the blood-stained blade, the power unleashed by this "blood bullet" was obviously several times stronger than the ordinary gunpowder bullets Yechen had fired in the past, and terrifyingly so.

"Not only can blood enhance the cutting power of cold weapons, but it can also be used to create high-damage bullets," murmured Lail as he observed the dried blood on the wreckage of the bench.

A mixture of astonishment, curiosity, excitement, and joy quickly began to swirl in Yechen's heart, prompting him, accustomed to pain, to immediately squeeze out more blood from the cut on his arm and create a second "blood bullet."

However, this time Yechen didn't rush to fire it. Instead, he held it in his palm to observe and checked the time on his pocket watch because he wanted to conduct an experiment to test how long this bullet made from his own blood could maintain its form in the outside world.

After all, he had only made two "blood bullets" just now, and Yechen's eyes were already feeling dizzy. This was still the blood flowing in his body, and if he made too many of them recklessly, Yechen would undoubtedly fall into an extremely dangerous state of shock due to excessive blood loss.

But if these blood-made products could be stored for a long time, then Yechen could gradually stockpile them.

With caution, the young man carefully put away the "blood bullets" and fell silent for a while. Finally, he raised the biggest question in his heart to his teacher, the strange sounds he heard in his nightmares that were almost deafening and mentally crushing.

"So, teacher, what were the sounds I heard in my dream? Why did they make me feel extremely uncomfortable? Do all people who have nightmares encounter these kinds of sounds?"

"It's probably the voice of the maze itself," Lyle responded, pausing for a moment before giving a somewhat ambiguous answer.

"Nightmares are essentially the maze's way of calling out to each individual. And this voice is the first step in that call. By overcoming the first layer of nightmares, you've successfully responded to the maze's call, and in return, the maze will feed back to you through Aoling magic."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"According to the terminology passed down by our hunters since ancient times, those who can maintain their sanity after experiencing the first nightmare are called 'listeners of its song.'"

"And those who lose themselves in the nightmare will end up in a state of mental frenzy in reality, becoming irrational lunatics. Such individuals are referred to as 'the fallen.'"

Lyle explained slowly.

It's hard to imagine that the voice of the listeners of its song is really a song.

After listening, Yechen couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with thoughts.

Countless questions sprouted in his mind like mushrooms after the rain:

What did it mean for the maze to call and feedback? Was this maze not just a vast and intricate terrain, but some conscious life form? Why did it summon me, and why did it give me the power of Aoling magic? What was the significance of all this?

However, after Lyle said, "You don't need to delve into these things right now," Yechen could only set aside these doubts and refrain from asking further.

"From now on, you don't need to go hunting in the mountains. You have three days to familiarize yourself with Aoling magic. After three days, we will begin the trials. There are three trials in total. Once you complete them all, you can leave this place forever."

Lyle announced calmly. Yechen shifted his thoughts from fantasy back to reality, maintaining a calm exterior as he nodded in agreement, though internally, he was filled with both anticipation and anxiety.

Although over the past decade or so, the daily life of the youth had been dominated by studying, training, and hunting, causing him to feel numb to the word "trial," the thought of finally being able to leave the land beneath his feet after completing this final test left him feeling mixed emotions.

Despite Yechen's long-standing anticipation of leaving this small world known as the Everwinter Domain, with an area of no more than a thousand square kilometers, he had no idea whether the outside world would be more beautiful or more ugly.

After all, Lyle had never given him a definite answer to this question. Ultimately, whether it was good or bad, Yechen would have to rely on his own eyes to judge.

With the next three days free from the usual mountain hunting and skill training, Yechen focused on studying and mastering his Aoling magic.

Through his experiments, he found that the enhancement provided by the blade stained with Yechen's blood could last for a full hour, while the bullets condensed from Yechen's blood could only maintain their form for a short three minutes. Once the time limit was up, these blood creations would revert to ordinary blood and quickly dry up, losing any peculiarities.

Furthermore, through experiments, Yechen also discovered that even if he stored his own blood with coagulants, it was useless. This blood-based Aoling magic seemed to rely only on freshly drawn blood for immediate use. Once separated from the body for too long, it would lose its effectiveness.

If Yechen made more than one bullet within a span of ten minutes, his body would experience severe dizziness for up to several tens of minutes. In actual combat, this was clearly disadvantageous for Yechen.

This meant that, to ensure stability before confirming and approaching prey, Yechen could only store one "blood bullet" in the gun chamber. If he needed to use a second "blood bullet" without experiencing dizziness, he would have to wait for a rest period of up to ten minutes after firing.

"Well, if the upcoming prey can withstand ordinary gunpowder damage like me, then the 'blood bullet' will be a trump card that should not be easily played. Most of the time, I'll have to rely on the 'blood blade' for close combat."

Yechen lay on the fur blanket, rubbing his slightly pale forehead, and came to the conclusion as stated above.

Although the nightmares had greatly enhanced his physical abilities and strengthened his blood production function, Yechen had still slightly overdone it in blood extraction for testing purposes these past few days. Thus, this last day was dedicated to rest and recovery.

With his decisions made, the young man closed his eyes, awaiting the arrival of a new day, with no intention of letting the previous nightmare bother him again.

Yechen had no understanding of the mechanics behind nightmares, only knowing that he slept soundly that night.

Three days had passed, and the trial was approaching.

In the early morning, Yechen adorned himself with his polished long knife and loaded revolver, standing in the center of the church hall, awaiting the moment when his teacher would give instructions.

Lael remained seated on the old chair in the front row, facing the broken statue with his back to his student Yechen. Before announcing the task, he made a request to Yechen.

"Yechen, recite the Three Tenets of the Hunter."

The young man immediately recited the principles that his teacher had taught him over the years.

"Hunter's First Tenet: Always maintain rationality, consider all possibilities, and do not let anger or fear blind your judgment."

"Hunter's Second Tenet: Always pursue wisdom and skill, hone yourself to the utmost, and extend your path to its limit."

"Hunter's Third Tenet: Always uphold your humanity, never yield, never succumb to corruption."

Lael nodded in satisfaction after hearing Yechen's recitation, then proceeded to announce the content of the first trial.

"Yesterday, a convict from White Frost City escaped during the night and is currently taking refuge in the ruins of a village south of the mountain. Since you have only hunted low-intelligence beasts before and have never hunted intelligent beings, he is an ideal target for you to practice your Aoling skills. Killing him will be the task of your first trial."

"Remember, the other party has also experienced the nightmares of the maze. Although he lost himself in the dream and became a 'fallen one,' he still possesses Aoling skills, which remains a threat you should not underestimate."

"Always keep the Three Tenets of the Hunter in mind. Do not let the fact that he is humanoid make you hesitate. Do not let mercy become your downfall."

After explaining the content of the first trial, Lael waved his hand gently.

"Go."