Ling Yue stood frozen within the endless white dreamscape.
The boundless world around them remained calm.
Silent.
Unchanging.
Yet her heart was anything but.
Fear still lingered.
Confusion still lingered.
And now—
a growing sense of disbelief had joined them.
Several moments passed before she finally gathered the courage to speak.
"...Senior."
The white-scaled lizard's golden eyes shifted toward her.
Ling Yue swallowed.
Then carefully asked,
"What exactly do you want from me?"
Silence.
For several seconds, Lizarius simply stared at her.
Then—
a realization surfaced.
*She believes I entered because I require something.*
Interesting.
Searching for hidden motives behind everything.
A very human way of thinking.
His answer came calmly.
"I require nothing from you."
Ling Yue blinked.
"...What?"
"I merely required someone upon whom I could test a newly acquired ability."
The dreamscape fell silent once more.
Ling Yue stared at him.
Her expression gradually became stranger.
"Test?"
"Correct."
"...You mean..."
Her voice rose slightly.
"...you just learned this?"
"Correct."
Ling Yue stood motionless.
The answer was so absurdly straightforward that she genuinely didn't know how to respond.
Several moments passed.
Then she asked,
"So..."
"...you didn't need me specifically?"
"You could have used anyone?"
"Correct."
A pause.
Then—
"Even my brother?"
"Correct."
Ling Yue's eye twitched.
For the first time since entering the dream, a portion of her fear was replaced by pure disbelief.
"Then why didn't you just say that?"
The words escaped before she could stop them.
The white-scaled lizard tilted his head slightly.
Then answered,
"Because one cannot enter a dream if there is no dream to enter."
Silence.
Ling Yue froze.
The statement lingered in the air.
Then slowly—
very slowly—
understanding dawned.
"...Ah."
A moment later—
"...Ah."
Her expression became increasingly complicated.
"So that's why."
The lizard remained silent.
Ling Yue rubbed her forehead.
Trying to process the explanation.
"You needed someone who was asleep."
"But you couldn't exactly ask us to go take a nap."
"So you asked my brother to knock me unconscious."
"Correct."
The answer arrived immediately.
Direct.
Matter-of-fact.
As though they were discussing the weather.
Ling Yue suddenly looked up.
"Then that thing about damaging me if you performed soul observation while I was conscious..."
Her eyes narrowed.
"...wasn't true."
The lizard considered the statement.
Then shook his head.
"Incorrect."
Ling Yue blinked.
"It wasn't?"
"No."
His tail flicked once.
"If you remained conscious, I could not enter your dream."
"Then—"
"But I was still prepared to render both of you unconscious myself."
Silence.
Ling Yue froze.
The lizard continued calmly.
"I simply preferred not to."
A chill crawled down her spine.
"...Why?"
The answer came immediately.
"Humans are fragile."
Ling Yue felt her stomach sink.
The lizard continued speaking in the same detached tone.
"I possess little experience handling creatures of your size."
"I judged the probability of accidental injury acceptable."
A brief pause followed.
Then—
"The probability of accidental death was considerably less acceptable."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ling Yue stared at him.
Her face gradually lost all color.
The lizard appeared completely unaware of the effect his words were having.
Or perhaps—
he simply didn't care.
"I reasoned that if I accidentally killed you before rendering you unconscious..."
He paused.
"...the dream would likely cease functioning."
Ling Yue's mouth slowly opened.
Then closed.
Then opened again.
No words emerged.
Because she had suddenly realized something deeply unsettling.
The lizard had not been threatening her.
Not intentionally.
That was simply how he thought.
Cold.
Logical.
Practical.
As though evaluating an experiment.
As though calculating variables.
As though death itself were merely an unfortunate inconvenience.
For several long moments—
neither spoke.
The endless white dreamscape remained perfectly silent.
Ling Yue was still trying to process everything she had just heard.
Trying—
and failing.
The creature's logic was simply too alien.
Too different from her own.
A moment passed.
Then another.
The small white-scaled lizard seemed to drift into thought.
Completely ignoring her.
His golden eyes grew distant.
Focused inward.
Calculating.
Analyzing.
Testing.
Then—
his body suddenly blurred.
Ling Yue froze.
The small lizard vanished.
In his place stood a young man.
Dark hair.
Lean build.
Simple black clothing.
Loose trousers.
Strange footwear unlike anything she had ever seen.
Flat.
Open.
Exposing the feet.
The only thing that remained unchanged—
were the eyes.
Golden.
Ancient.
Unmistakable.
Ling Yue's jaw slowly dropped.
"...Huh?"
The young man glanced down at himself.
Flexed his fingers.
Turned one hand over.
Then the other.
His expression remained completely calm.
"Interesting."
Ling Yue stared.
Her thoughts immediately ceased functioning.
The young man continued examining himself.
"Dream Domination."
His voice remained unchanged.
Still unmistakably the lizard.
Still calm.
Still detached.
"The subconscious dream layer is currently under my control."
He looked around the endless white world.
Then gave a slight nod.
"As expected."
"I can manipulate it as I see fit."
Ling Yue blinked repeatedly.
"You—"
She pointed.
"You turned into a person!"
The golden-eyed man glanced toward her.
Then—
his appearance changed again.
Like water flowing into a new shape.
Dark hair lengthened.
His frame became smaller.
Curves formed.
Moments later, a young woman stood where he had been.
Brown hair.
Delicate features.
An unfamiliar face.
Yet somehow realistic.
Natural.
As though she genuinely existed somewhere in the world.
The lizard examined the form silently.
"Hm."
Ling Yue stared.
"What is that one?"
"A human."
"...I can see that."
The woman tilted her head slightly.
"A human I observed previously."
Then—
the form shifted again.
The brown-haired woman vanished.
A small child appeared.
White hair.
Golden eyes.
Tiny frame.
Then—
an elderly man.
Wrinkled skin.
Bent posture.
A long white beard.
Then—
another transformation.
Before her stood a perfect copy of Lian.
Every detail identical.
Every feature perfectly reproduced.
Even the expression.
The only difference—
the eyes.
Still gold.
Still ancient.
Still wrong.
The copy of Lian examined his hands.
Then nodded.
"Accurate."
Ling Yue could only stare.
Then—
the appearance shifted once more.
This time—
Ling Yue nearly screamed.
Because she was suddenly staring at herself.
Her own face.
Her own body.
Her own clothes.
Everything.
Perfectly replicated.
Even the smallest details had been reproduced.
The lizard tilted his head.
Mirroring one of her own habits.
Ling Yue immediately pointed.
"No."
The copy blinked.
"No?"
"No!"
"That is strange!"
The copy regarded her silently.
Then—
the appearance changed once more.
This time becoming Ling Wei.
Exactly Ling Wei.
Same face.
Same posture.
Same expression.
The only thing wrong—
those golden eyes.
Ling Yue shivered.
That somehow made it even worse.
Far worse.
The fake Ling Wei looked down at his hands.
Flexed them.
Then nodded.
"The dream reconstructs details more easily than expected."
Several moments passed.
Then the form dissolved.
Returning once more to the appearance of the dark-haired young man.
Simple black clothing.
Strange sandals.
Golden eyes.
His original experimental form.
Silence followed.
Ling Yue continued staring.
Then stared some more.
Then finally asked the only question her exhausted mind could produce.
"...Can you turn into anyone?"
The young man considered it.
Then nodded.
"Anyone I can accurately imagine."
The young man stood silently within the dream.
Golden eyes reflecting the endless white expanse.
Then—
he raised a hand.
The world changed.
---
The white dreamscape shattered.
Not violently.
Not explosively.
It was simply—
replaced.
Like one painting being exchanged for another.
Ling Yue blinked.
And suddenly found herself standing high above the ground.
Far above the clouds.
Her breath caught.
Below—
an enormous city stretched beyond the horizon.
Countless structures rose toward the heavens.
Tower after tower.
Glass.
Steel.
Light.
Shapes unlike anything she had ever seen.
Ling Yue froze.
"...What?"
The word escaped automatically.
The city seemed endless.
Roads crisscrossed in every direction.
Strange metal objects moved along them.
Thousands.
Tens of thousands.
Far more than she could count.
Then—
the dream shifted.
The sun vanished.
Instantly.
Day became night.
Ling Yue's eyes widened.
Then widened further.
Because the city did not become dark.
It became brighter.
Countless lights ignited across the landscape.
White.
Yellow.
Red.
Blue.
Entire rivers of light flowed through the streets below.
The strange metal vehicles continued moving.
Buildings glowed from within.
Gigantic signs illuminated entire towers.
Some shifted colors.
Some displayed moving images.
The entire city looked alive.
Breathing.
Pulsing.
Endlessly awake.
Ling Yue stood speechless.
Far below—
millions of tiny figures moved through the streets.
Working.
Walking.
Talking.
Living.
The sheer scale was incomprehensible.
Then—
something roared overhead.
FWOOOOOSH—
Ling Yue nearly jumped.
A massive metal object streaked across the sky.
Its speed was unbelievable.
Far faster than any carriage.
Far faster than most flying spirit beasts she had ever seen.
Her head snapped upward.
"...What was that?!"
The young man glanced toward it.
"An airplane."
Ling Yue stared.
"An air... what?"
"Airplane."
The enormous machine vanished into the distance.
Leaving only blinking lights behind.
Ling Yue looked down again.
Then upward.
Then down once more.
Her mind struggled to keep up.
The city was too vast.
Too bright.
Too impossible.
Nothing resembled the world she knew.
After several moments she pointed downward.
"T-Those moving things."
"The metal ones."
"What are they?"
The young man followed her gaze.
"Cars."
Ling Yue looked at him.
Then at the city.
Then back at him.
"...Cars."
"Without spiritual energy?"
"Without beasts pulling them?"
Silence.
The answer somehow made everything even more absurd.
She pointed toward one of the gigantic towers.
The structure disappeared into the clouds above.
"How tall is that?"
"Several hundred meters."
"...Several what?"
The young man fell silent.
Clearly realizing the measurement meant absolutely nothing to her.
Ling Yue slowly lowered her hand.
Then another question surfaced.
A more important one.
She turned toward him.
"...Senior."
"Hm?"
"What is this place?"
The young man gazed across the endless city.
For the first time—
something strange appeared within those golden eyes.
Not emotion.
Not quite.
Something quieter.
Something older.
A memory.
Then he answered.
"Earth."
Silence.
Ling Yue froze.
The city lights stretched endlessly beneath them.
Millions upon millions of lights.
Millions upon millions of lives.
A world beyond imagination.
A world beyond cultivation.
Beyond sects.
Beyond clans.
Beyond everything she had ever known.
Her gaze slowly returned to him.
To the young man standing quietly beside her.
The creature she had always imagined as a mysterious beast.
A monster.
An ancient predator.
Yet now—
for the first time—
she realized something she had never truly considered.
He had not been born here.
He had come from somewhere else.
Somewhere unimaginable.
Somewhere beyond her understanding.
The city below continued shining.
Cars flowed like rivers.
Airplanes crossed the heavens.
Towering buildings pierced the clouds.
And standing above it all—
Ling Yue suddenly felt very small.
Very ignorant.
Very far from understanding the being beside her.
After a long silence—
she finally whispered,
"...There are really places like this?"
The young man continued watching the city.
Then gave a small nod.
"There were."
The answer was simple.
Yet something about it felt unexpectedly lonely.
Unexpectedly distant.
As though he were speaking of a world that no longer belonged to him.
The city lights continued to glitter beneath the endless night sky.
And for the first time since meeting him—
Ling Yue found herself wondering not what the creature was.
But where exactly he had come from.