Outside the dream—
the sealed chamber remained utterly silent.
More than four hours had passed.
The formation lights embedded within the walls continued their steady glow, casting faint ripples of spiritual light across the chamber.
Nothing appeared unusual.
Nothing moved.
Nothing changed.
Except for one thing.
Ling Yue still had not awakened.
And neither had the monster.
Ling Wei stood quietly against the wall.
His arms were folded.
His gaze remained fixed upon the floating white-scaled lizard.
The creature had remained motionless for hours.
Not cultivating.
Not speaking.
Not moving.
Simply floating in the air.
At first, Ling Wei had been worried.
Then concerned.
Then confused.
Now—
he was merely trying to understand what exactly was happening.
*What is he doing?*
He could still sense Ling Yue's condition.
She was alive.
Unharmed.
Stable.
In fact—
the connection felt surprisingly peaceful.
Almost tranquil.
Which only made the situation even stranger.
Ling Wei glanced toward his unconscious sister.
Nothing had changed there either.
She remained asleep.
Breathing evenly.
Showing no signs of distress whatsoever.
*Four hours...*
*What exactly is happening in there?*
Unfortunately—
he had no way of knowing.
So he waited.
And continued waiting.
---
Meanwhile—
inside the dream.
The timer suspended high above the heavens continued its relentless countdown.
**34 Days : 07 Hours : 18 Minutes**
The white dream realm had changed considerably.
What had once been an endless blank expanse now possessed mountains.
Forests.
Rivers.
Training grounds.
Battlefields.
Countless landscapes.
Much of it had been created unconsciously by Ling Yue herself.
Other portions had been shaped by Lizarius.
Over time, the dream realm had gradually become more detailed.
More stable.
More complete.
At that moment—
a battle had just ended.
The enormous Fourth-Rank Jade Wind Mantis dissolved into countless particles of light.
Its twin scythes shattered.
Its massive body collapsed.
Then vanished entirely.
Silence followed.
Ling Yue stood alone amidst the fading battlefield.
Breathing heavily out of habit.
Even though she no longer needed to breathe here.
Her sword hung loosely at her side.
Her clothes were stained with blood.
Dream blood.
Not real blood.
Sweat dripped from her face.
Dream sweat.
Not real sweat.
The sensations still felt strangely authentic.
Pain.
Exhaustion.
Fatigue.
After more than thirty-four days—
she had begun treating them as real.
The battlefield slowly dissolved.
The dream restoring itself once more.
Ling Yue lowered her sword.
Then looked upward.
Far above—
the small white-scaled lizard floated quietly in the sky.
Watching.
Observing.
Exactly as he had for most of the month.
Golden eyes remained calm.
Unmoving.
Silent.
The same expression.
Every day.
For over a month.
Ling Yue had long since stopped being constantly frightened by him.
At least—
not all the time.
The fear remained.
But familiarity had dulled its edge.
After all—
during the past thirty-four days—
the creature had done remarkably little.
He simply watched.
Studied.
Experimented.
Occasionally altered the dream.
Occasionally asked strange questions.
Occasionally disappeared into thought for days at a time.
The lizard slowly blinked.
His gaze shifted from the fading mantis.
Toward Ling Yue.
Thirty-four days of observation had yielded considerable results.
The dream realm had become significantly more stable.
His control over it had improved.
The strain required to maintain accelerated dream processing had fallen dramatically.
Most importantly—
he had discovered something unexpected.
Dreams learned.
Adapted.
Improved.
The realm itself became easier to manipulate the longer it existed.
Almost like a living ecosystem slowly maturing.
The discovery alone had made the experiment worthwhile.
Far below—
Ling Yue finally sheathed her sword.
Then called upward.
"Senior."
The lizard looked down.
Ling Yue hesitated.
Then asked the question she had been wondering about for days.
"...Have you learned what you wanted to learn?"
Silence.
The white-scaled lizard floated motionlessly in the sky.
Thinking.
After a moment—
he answered honestly.
"No."
Ling Yue blinked.
"...No?"
Thirty-four days.
Countless experiments.
Constant observation.
And that was his answer?
The lizard's tail swayed slightly.
"I learned much."
His golden eyes swept across the dream realm.
The mountains.
The forests.
The rivers.
The battlefields.
The timer.
Everything.
Then he continued.
"But every answer creates additional questions."
Ling Yue stared.
The response sounded oddly profound.
Then again—
perhaps that was simply how ancient monsters thought.
Lizarius slowly turned his gaze toward the sky.
Toward the timer.
Toward the passage of dream-time itself.
**34 Days.**
Outside—
barely four hours.
A useful ratio.
An extremely useful ratio.
Yet even now—
he could feel limitations.
Boundaries.
Imperfections.
The dream realm was still incomplete.
Still not truly his.
Still dependent upon Ling Yue's subconscious as its foundation.
And that meant there was more to discover.
Much more.
For the first time in a very long while—
Lizarius found himself genuinely intrigued.
Not by cultivation.
Not by evolution.
Not by survival.
But by understanding.
And understanding—
was often the first step toward power.
---
### Two Months Later
The dream realm had transformed yet again.
What had once been a blank white expanse now resembled a complete world.
Mountains stretched across distant horizons.
Forests swayed beneath artificial winds.
Rivers flowed endlessly through vast landscapes.
Countless environments existed throughout the realm.
Each created for a purpose.
Each serving as a testing ground.
Far above—
the enormous timer continued counting.
Unceasing.
Relentless.
**94 Days : 11 Hours : 37 Minutes**
More than three months.
Inside the dream.
Outside—
barely half a day had passed.
---
At the center of a vast grassland—
Ling Yue moved like a streak of wind.
SWISH!
Her sword flashed.
A spirit beast collapsed.
Before she could continue—
the creature vanished.
Not died.
Vanished.
Its body dissolved into dream particles.
Disappearing entirely.
Ling Yue immediately stopped.
"...Hm?"
She lowered her sword.
Looking around.
Nothing appeared.
No replacement.
No new opponent.
Silence filled the field.
After nearly three months here—
she no longer questioned many things.
She did not tire.
Did not grow hungry.
Did not require sleep.
Did not need recovery.
The dream sustained everything.
At some point, she had simply accepted it.
Still—
this was unusual.
The beasts normally reappeared instantly.
She glanced upward.
Far above—
the small white-scaled lizard floated exactly where he always did.
Watching.
Observing.
Thinking.
The same as every day.
Ling Yue hesitated briefly.
Then called out.
"Senior."
Golden eyes shifted toward her.
"The beast disappeared."
A brief pause.
"Do you know what happened?"
The lizard stared at her.
Then answered simply.
"I did that."
Ling Yue blinked.
"...You did?"
"Yes."
Silence.
Confusion appeared on her face.
"...Why?"
The small white-scaled lizard remained quiet for several moments.
His gaze swept across the battlefield.
Then returned to her.
Finally—
he asked a question.
"Why do you only use those arts?"
Ling Yue blinked.
"...Arts?"
"The sword technique."
"The movement technique."
"The defensive technique."
His tail moved slightly.
"The same three."
"The entire time."
Silence.
Ling Yue thought about it.
Then answered honestly.
"...Those are the only techniques I know."
The battlefield grew quiet.
The answer was not surprising.
Not really.
In fact—
it confirmed exactly what Lizarius had suspected.
Humans were strange.
They possessed enormous creativity.
Yet were often restricted by resources.
For three months he had watched her fight.
Improve.
Adapt.
Yet every improvement occurred within the same framework.
The same three techniques.
Again.
And again.
And again.
No variation.
No expansion.
Only refinement.
Useful.
But limited.
The lizard remained silent.
Thinking.
Then—
he asked another question.
"Do you wish to learn a new technique?"
Ling Yue froze.
Completely.
For a moment—
she thought she had misheard.
Then her eyes widened.
A new technique?
From him?
The same creature who rarely initiated conversation?
The same creature who spent most of his time conducting incomprehensible experiments?
The same ancient monster capable of manipulating dreams and time?
Ling Yue reacted instantly.
She bowed deeply.
"Yes!"
The answer escaped her before she could stop herself.
She quickly corrected her posture.
"This junior would be extremely grateful."
The lizard stared at her blankly.
As though he did not understand why she had suddenly become so excited.
Truthfully—
he didn't.
To him—
techniques were merely methods.
Tools.
Nothing more.
Yet to Ling Yue—
cultivation arts were treasures.
Many clans guarded them with their lives.
Powerful techniques were inherited legacies.
Objects entire families had fought wars over.
Receiving one from a higher cultivator was an opportunity beyond measure.
The lizard's tail flicked once.
Then he asked calmly,
"What kind of art do you wish to learn?"
Ling Yue answered immediately.
"Sword."
Then—
the lizard transformed.
White scales dissolved into light.
His small reptilian body vanished.
Moments later—
the familiar dark-haired young man appeared beside her.
Simple black clothing.
Strange sandals.
Golden eyes.
Ling Yue blinked.
Even after months of witnessing it, the transformation still felt deeply unnatural.
The young man ignored her reaction.
Instead—
his thoughts turned inward.
*Interesting.*
For months he had been studying dreams.
Studying subconscious reconstruction.
Studying memory manifestation.
But another question had remained unanswered.
*If this body is human...*
*Can I use human techniques through it?*
The dream body was not truly flesh.
Nor was it truly illusion.
It existed somewhere between the two.
A construct generated through dream authority itself.
Which meant—
in theory—
it should possess whatever characteristics he envisioned.
The young man became still.
His eyes unfocused.
Searching through memory.
Reviewing.
Reconstructing.
Everything he had observed.
Everything he had learned.
Everything he had witnessed.
Then—
a sword appeared in his hand.
Ling Yue froze.
The weapon had not been directly manifested through dream authority.
It had been created through something else.
The lizard examined the blade briefly.
Then raised it.
Spiritual energy flowed.
Calm.
Precise.
Controlled.
A moment later—
sword qi condensed beside him.
One.
Then two.
Then five.
Then ten.
Then twenty.
Floating swords formed around him.
Each constructed entirely from condensed spiritual power.
Ling Yue's eyes widened.
"A sword formation?"
She recognized it instantly.
A relatively advanced combat art.
Not something an ordinary Spirit Refining cultivator could casually perform.
The lizard ignored her.
His attention remained fixed on the technique itself.
A beast suddenly appeared nearby.
A massive wolf-like spirit beast generated by the dream.
The floating swords moved instantly.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
Streams of sword qi streaked across the battlefield.
The beast was shredded apart before it could even react.
Countless cuts erupted across its body.
A heartbeat later—
it dissolved into dream particles.
Gone.
Silence returned.
The floating swords disappeared.
The blade vanished.
The young man stared thoughtfully at his empty hand.
*Interesting.*
*Very interesting.*
The technique worked.
Not because he understood swordsmanship.
Not because he had trained it.
But because he perfectly remembered it.
Its structure.
Its energy pathways.
Its execution.
Its underlying principles.
Inside the dream—
memory itself could become reality.
A dangerous discovery.
Potentially an extraordinarily dangerous discovery.
His thoughts paused.
Then he turned toward Ling Yue.
She was staring at him.
Wide-eyed.
Completely stunned.
The lizard spoke calmly.
"There."
Ling Yue blinked.
"...There?"
"I demonstrated it."
Silence.
The young man nodded once.
"You may practice now."
Ling Yue continued staring.
Her mind had completely stopped functioning.
A full ten seconds passed.
Then—
"...What?"
The lizard tilted his head.
"The technique."
A brief pause.
Then he added matter-of-factly—
"You wanted to learn it."
Ling Yue pointed at him with a trembling finger.
"You just created a sword formation!"