The chamber fell silent.
Even the faint hum of the formation seemed to dim.
Ling Wei and Ling Yue stiffened the moment the words left the lizard's mouth.
"Knock her unconscious."
The command hung in the air like a blade suspended above their heads.
Ling Yue's breath caught in her throat.
Within Lizarius's vision, her fear thread flared violently—bright, unstable, trembling like a candle struggling against a storm.
Ling Wei reacted immediately.
Almost instinctively, he stepped half a pace forward, placing himself slightly in front of his sister.
"...Senior."
His voice remained controlled.
Respectful.
Yet the tension beneath it was impossible to hide.
"What... what do you mean?"
The small white-scaled lizard hovered silently in the air.
His golden eyes remained calm.
Unblinking.
Unreadable.
Then—
"No need to fear."
His tone was even.
Neither comforting nor threatening.
Simply factual.
"I have no intention of harming you."
The statement should have eased their worries.
Instead, it only deepened them.
Ling Yue's breathing grew more uneven.
Her fear thread twisted violently.
Because the next words followed almost immediately.
"If you refuse..."
A brief pause.
The lizard tilted his head slightly.
"I will do it myself."
Silence.
Ling Yue's pupils contracted sharply.
Ling Wei's expression finally changed.
Not merely fear.
Realization.
A cold realization.
*He's serious.*
There was no anger in his voice.
No impatience.
No threat.
Only intent.
Pure, unwavering intent.
Ling Wei forced himself to think.
Rapidly.
*Why?*
*Why her?*
*Why unconscious?*
Nothing in their previous interactions explained this.
The lizard had never shown hostility.
Never displayed aggression.
Only control.
Always control.
His gaze drifted toward those calm golden eyes.
Then something clicked.
*He's not asking.*
*He's managing variables.*
Ling Wei slowly exhaled.
"...If Senior wishes to avoid harm, then there must be another method."
The lizard remained silent for a moment.
Then—
"I cannot guarantee precision if she remains conscious."
The answer was simple.
Direct.
Final.
Ling Yue's entire body trembled.
"P-precision...?"
Her voice barely escaped her lips.
Lizarius's gaze shifted toward her.
He could see it clearly now.
The emotional threads surrounding her had become increasingly chaotic.
Fear.
Anxiety.
Confusion.
All intertwining into a tangled mass of unstable fluctuations.
Her soul state had become increasingly turbulent.
Every reaction introduced new variables.
Every spike of emotion distorted the process.
Too many uncertainties.
Too many unpredictable changes.
He continued calmly.
"If I attempt soul observation while she remains conscious..."
A brief pause followed.
"I may damage her."
The words fell into the chamber like cold water.
Ling Wei's eyes widened slightly.
Soul observation?
Damage?
He did not understand the technique.
Nor did he possess the knowledge to comprehend its principles.
But he understood the implication.
This involved the soul itself.
A realm far beyond anything he could currently grasp.
Slowly, Ling Wei released a breath.
Then he made his decision.
"...If it is only unconsciousness."
His voice lowered.
Steadier now.
"I will do it."
"Big Brother—!"
Ling Yue flinched.
Shock and disbelief flashed across her face.
But Ling Wei did not look at her.
His eyes remained fixed on the lizard.
Because he understood something she did not.
Refusing would not eliminate the danger.
It would only change how it arrived.
The lizard observed both siblings quietly.
Then spoke again.
"You will control the strength."
A statement.
Not a suggestion.
Ling Wei nodded once.
"...I understand."
Ling Yue instinctively took a step backward.
Her hands tightened at her sides.
Fear continued to rise within her chest.
Yet beneath it remained something else.
Trust.
Fragile.
Shaken.
But still present.
Ling Wei slowly raised one hand.
Spiritual energy gathered within his palm.
Carefully.
Precisely.
Not enough to injure.
Only enough to suppress consciousness.
His expression tightened.
"...Yue."
She hesitated.
Her eyes trembled.
"Big Brother..."
"I will not hurt you."
A brief pause.
Then, more softly—
"Trust me."
Silence.
Ling Yue swallowed hard.
Her body shook once.
Then she slowly closed her eyes.
Reluctantly.
"...Okay."
Ling Wei exhaled.
Then struck.
Not violently.
Not cruelly.
Simply with precision.
A pulse of condensed spiritual energy entered her meridians.
It disrupted the flow supporting her consciousness.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Ling Yue's body swayed.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Her eyes rolled back slightly.
Then she collapsed.
Ling Wei caught her before she could fall.
Unconscious.
The chamber became utterly still.
Ling Wei carefully supported her weight.
His jaw remained tightly clenched.
"...It's done."
He looked upward.
The lizard observed silently.
Golden eyes scanning.
Evaluating.
The fear thread surrounding Ling Yue immediately dimmed.
The violent fluctuations vanished.
The instability settled.
Better.
Safer.
More manageable.
Lizarius gave a small nod.
"Good."
Then—
without hesitation—
he extended a claw toward her.
The space around Ling Yue distorted faintly.
Almost imperceptibly.
Soul perception began spreading outward.
Like invisible water flowing through dimensions unseen by mortal eyes.
Ling Wei immediately stiffened.
"...Senior?"
But the lizard no longer responded.
His attention had already moved elsewhere.
Beyond flesh.
Beyond breathing.
Beyond the physical body entirely.
Toward the sleeping mind.
Toward the dream layer hidden beneath consciousness itself.
Time seemed to stretch strangely within the sealed chamber.
For Ling Wei—
only minutes passed.
For Lizarius—
it felt as though he were peeling apart an entirely different world, layer by layer.
The moment his soul perception fully extended into Ling Yue—
everything changed.
At first—
there was resistance.
A natural barrier.
An instinctive defense.
It felt like diving into deep water and encountering pressure dense enough to halt one's descent.
Her subconscious pushed back automatically.
Faint turbulence rippled throughout the dream layer.
But Lizarius remained patient.
Motionless.
Precise.
He did not force his way through.
He adapted.
His soul frequency shifted subtly.
Gradually aligning with the rhythm of her subconscious mind.
The resistance weakened.
The turbulence settled.
Then—
it split apart.
WHOOM.
He passed through.
Silence.
Then—
a world began to form.
This was not the white void from before.
Nor was it a carefully constructed projection.
This was raw.
Unfiltered.
Personal.
A dream.
Lizarius hovered above it.
His golden eyes scanned the landscape below.
A courtyard.
Soft sunlight illuminated the stone pathways.
A gentle breeze stirred the branches of nearby trees.
Everything appeared peaceful.
Normal.
Too normal.
He observed carefully.
There were no villagers.
No clan members.
No servants.
Only fragments of memory woven together into a fragile imitation of reality.
Lizarius did not move.
Not yet.
Instead, he studied the structure itself.
The dream possessed layers.
Thin ones.
Delicate ones.
Like sheets of paper stretched across deeper instability.
Beneath the tranquil surface, he could sense countless emotional currents flowing through the subconscious landscape.
Fear.
Stress.
Anxiety.
Residual emotional scars.
Memory anchors.
Then—
he noticed them.
Threads.
Not physical threads.
Not like those visible in reality.
These were softer.
Fainter.
Yet still perceptible to his senses.
Red-grey strands pulsed around various objects and locations.
Fear.
Doubt.
Uncertainty.
Emotional residue left embedded within memory.
And beyond them all—
a single golden thread twisted through the dream sky.
Subtle.
Unmistakable.
Connected directly to him.
The intruder.
Lizarius narrowed his eyes slightly.
*So this is her subconscious world.*
Interesting.
He extended his perception further.
Immediately—
the dream reacted.
The sky flickered.
The courtyard distorted.
A ripple spread through the environment like a nervous breath.
Ling Yue's dream-self suddenly paused.
Her expression shifted.
Confusion.
Unease.
The instinctive awareness that something was wrong.
Even if she could not understand what.
Lizarius halted.
So the Presence Stage was already taking effect.
Even without direct interaction.
Interesting.
He observed her carefully.
The dream-self slowly continued walking.
Her fingers brushed across a wooden table.
Everything remained remarkably realistic.
Stable.
Yet fragile.
A structure built from memory rather than logic.
Then—
Lizarius moved.
Not physically.
Not directly.
Merely a subtle shift in perception.
A deliberate adjustment.
At first—
there was nothing.
No sound.
No sensation.
Only an endless void.
Then—
a crack appeared.
Light seeped through.
Slowly.
Gradually.
Like a world being peeled open from within.
Ling Yue blinked.
Confusion immediately filled her expression.
She was standing once more.
But something felt wrong.
The surroundings had changed.
No chamber.
No formation.
No stone walls.
Only an endless white expanse stretching beyond sight.
Soft light filled every direction.
Her breathing tightened.
"...What is this place?"
Her voice echoed strangely.
Not outward.
But inward.
As though the world itself were listening.
Then—
she felt it.
Another presence.
Silent.
Heavy.
Impossible to ignore.
Her body stiffened instantly.
She turned.
And saw him.
The small white-scaled lizard hovered several steps away.
Golden eyes calm.
Watching.
Observing.
Ling Yue's heart skipped violently.
"Y-you...!"
Her voice cracked.
"How are you here?!"
She looked around frantically.
"Where am I?!"
The lizard did not approach.
Did not pressure her.
Did not attempt to intimidate her.
He simply answered.
"Calm yourself."
A brief pause.
Then—
"You are currently dreaming."
Silence.
The words took a moment to sink in.
Ling Yue froze.
"...Dreaming?"
Her voice sounded distant.
Disbelieving.
She lowered her gaze toward her hands.
Toward her own body.
Everything felt real.
Far too real.
The sensation of wind.
The ground beneath her feet.
The beating of her heart.
Every detail mirrored reality perfectly.
Yet—
something was undeniably wrong.
The edges of the world flickered faintly.
Like reflections upon disturbed water.
Her breathing became uneven.
"This... this is impossible..."
Her voice trembled.
"I was just—I was..."
Then memory returned.
The courtyard.
The conversation.
The command.
Ling Wei raising his hand.
The sudden darkness.
Her collapse.
Her eyes widened.
"...Big Brother?"
She immediately spun around.
Searching.
The lizard's gaze followed her calmly.
"He did not harm you."
A brief pause.
"You are safe."
Ling Yue's body trembled.
She tried to steady herself.
But fear and confusion continued to knot together within her chest.
"This is..."
She looked around again.
"My dream?"
The lizard gave a slight motion.
Neither agreement nor denial.
Simply acknowledgment.
Then—
the world shifted.
The endless white expanse rippled softly.
Fragments of her subconscious began surfacing.
Images appeared along the edges of reality.
Ling Wei standing beside her.
Their family courtyard.
The Clan Hall.
Moments from her childhood.
Memories from recent days.
Thoughts she had buried.
Emotions she had ignored.
Fear.
Hope.
Loneliness.
Determination.
All drifting through the dream like countless floating shards of light.
The dream itself seemed to breathe.
To unfold.
To reveal pieces of its hidden depths.
And throughout it all—
the white-scaled lizard remained silent.
Watching.
Analyzing.
Understanding.