The grassland fell silent.
Ling Yue stood frozen in place, looking unconvinced.
"Senior..."
The dark-haired young man glanced at her.
Expressionless.
Golden eyes calm and unblinking.
Under that unwavering gaze, Ling Yue found herself growing increasingly nervous.
"...This is still impossible."
Silence.
The lizard stared at her.
Ling Yue immediately bowed again.
"I'm sorry!"
The lizard remained silent for a long moment, staring at her blankly.
Then—
he asked calmly,
"Have you tried?"
Ling Yue froze.
"...No."
"Then how did you come to the conclusion that it's impossible?"
Silence.
Ling Yue opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
Then opened it again.
Yet no answer came out.
The lizard continued.
"You've spent ninety-four days fighting opponents inside this place."
"You've improved."
He tilted his head slightly.
"So why is it impossible?"
Ling Yue stared blankly.
Because—
for the first time—
she realized she didn't actually know.
She had simply assumed it was impossible.
The same way every Spirit Refining cultivator would assume it was impossible.
The lizard pointed toward the floating sword once more.
"Try."
Ling Yue hesitated.
Then slowly stepped forward.
The sword hovered before her.
Waiting.
The young man watched silently.
Golden eyes calm.
Patient.
As though he were observing another experiment.
Which—
in a sense—
he was.
Because now he wanted to know something.
Not whether the technique worked.
He already knew it worked.
The real question was—
could a human learn something he had created by combining beast instincts, cultivation principles, dream reconstruction, and fragmented memories?
For the first time—
Lizarius found himself genuinely curious about the answer.
And for Ling Yue—
it was the first time she had ever attempted to learn a technique personally created by a monster.
Neither of them realized it.
But the outcome of this experiment would influence far more than a single sword art.
A moment later—
the dream grassland remained silent.
Ling Yue stood awkwardly with her head lowered.
Still embarrassed.
Still apologetic.
The lizard simply stared at her.
Golden eyes unblinking.
After several moments—
he finally stopped trying to understand why she couldn't learn it.
Instead—
he raised a finger.
The dream trembled slightly.
A ripple spread through the surrounding space.
Then—
another Ling Yue appeared.
A perfect copy.
The same face.
The same cultivation.
The same clothing.
Even the same sword hanging at her waist.
Ling Yue blinked.
"...Eh?"
She looked at the copy.
Then at herself.
Then back at the copy.
The duplicate remained completely expressionless.
The lizard glanced between them.
Seemingly satisfied.
"Good."
Ling Yue wasn't entirely sure what was good.
The lizard continued calmly.
"If it can learn it..."
His golden eyes shifted toward her.
"Then you can learn it."
Silence.
Ling Yue opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Then finally nodded.
"...That... sounds reasonable."
Although she wasn't entirely convinced.
The lizard ignored her uncertainty.
His attention had already shifted toward the duplicate.
"Begin."
The dream-copy nodded.
Immediately—
spiritual energy began circulating through its meridians.
Ling Yue's eyes widened.
Because the circulation route was familiar.
Very familiar.
It was her own cultivation method.
The duplicate wasn't using some profound Golden Core technique.
It wasn't using a sect inheritance.
It wasn't using an ancient art.
It was using Spirit Refining energy.
Her energy.
Her foundation.
Her body.
Everything was identical.
The copy slowly raised its sword.
The lizard spoke.
"Observe."
Ling Yue immediately focused.
This time, she didn't dare miss a single detail.
The duplicate's spiritual energy flowed outward.
Not explosively.
Not violently.
Instead—
it gathered along the blade.
Compressing.
Condensing.
Layer upon layer.
The process resembled a spirit beast preparing to strike.
The energy wasn't becoming stronger.
It was becoming denser.
More focused.
More stable.
The lizard watched carefully.
Comparing the execution to his revised calculations.
The copy continued.
A moment later—
a second stream of spiritual energy separated from the blade.
Ling Yue's eyes widened further.
The energy detached completely.
Remaining suspended beside the sword.
A translucent blade-shaped construct gradually appeared.
Small.
Unstable.
Faint.
Yet undeniably real.
"...Sword qi?"
The copy maintained control.
The floating construct wobbled slightly.
Then stabilized.
The lizard nodded.
Good.
Very good.
No Golden Core cultivation.
No divine sense.
No advanced spiritual control.
Pure Spirit Refining execution.
The theory worked.
The duplicate continued.
Another construct formed.
Then another.
Three floating sword qi projections hovered around the copy.
They were nothing compared to the twenty swords Lizarius had created earlier.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was possibility.
The point was proof.
Proof that it could be done.
The lizard finally turned toward Ling Yue.
"Can you do that?"
Ling Yue stared.
The copy stared.
The floating sword projections hovered silently between them.
Several moments passed.
Then Ling Yue pointed at the copy.
"...No."
The lizard blinked.
"You just watched it."
"I know."
"It used my body."
"It used my cultivation."
"It used my spiritual energy."
"Correct."
Ling Yue looked genuinely distressed.
"But I still can't understand it."
The lizard stared at her.
She stared back.
A long silence followed.
Finally—
Lizarius realized the problem.
His tail twitched.
Ling Yue immediately looked hopeful.
"You understand?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
The lizard thought for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"You learn differently than I do."
Silence.
Ling Yue waited.
The explanation never continued.
"...That's it?"
The young woman nearly stumbled.
That wasn't an explanation.
That was a conclusion.
The lizard looked back toward the duplicate.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
Humans really were troublesome.
He had assumed observation alone was sufficient.
It was sufficient for him.
Observe.
Analyze.
Reconstruct.
Implement.
Simple.
Apparently—
humans did not function that way.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
After several moments—
he raised a finger again.
The dream shifted.
Suddenly—
everything froze.
The duplicate stopped moving.
The flow of spiritual energy became visible.
Glowing lines appeared throughout the copy's body.
Meridians.
Energy routes.
Circulation pathways.
Every movement slowed to a crawl.
Thousands of times slower than before.
Ling Yue's eyes widened.
Now she could see everything.
Every turn.
Every circulation cycle.
Every transfer of energy.
Every minute adjustment.
Nothing remained hidden.
The lizard pointed toward the frozen image.
"Watch again."
Then, after a brief pause—
he added,
"Slowly."
For the first time since the lesson had begun—
Ling Yue felt as though she might actually understand.
And for the first time since creating the technique—
Lizarius felt as though he might finally learn how humans learned.