High above the dream world—
Lizarius remained perfectly still.
His golden eyes followed the two transparent dream constructs as they patiently instructed the siblings.
The constructs no longer merely demonstrated techniques.
They answered questions.
Repeated movements.
Explained underlying principles.
Whenever Ling Yue became confused—
her duplicate immediately adjusted its explanation.
Whenever Ling Wei hesitated—
his own copy approached the problem from an entirely different perspective.
Lizarius observed quietly.
*Interesting...*
He had originally created the constructs simply to demonstrate techniques.
Nothing more.
Yet the longer he watched—
the stranger the phenomenon became.
The dream constructs were born from the siblings' own subconscious.
Every memory.
Every habit.
Every pattern of thought.
Every method through which they perceived and understood the world.
All of it became woven into the construct itself.
Which meant...
When they explained something—
they naturally explained it in the way their original selves understood best.
The lizard's thoughts accelerated.
*They're teaching themselves.*
*No...*
*They're teaching the version of themselves that has yet to understand.*
It was remarkably efficient.
Far more efficient than his own explanations.
He recalled the sword technique.
He had explained it repeatedly.
Ling Yue had remained confused.
The dream construct had demonstrated it only a handful of times.
She understood.
Another conclusion quietly formed.
*Dream constructs are not merely copies.*
*They are mirrors.*
*Mirrors of cognition.*
His tail swayed once.
*The more I study dreams...*
*The more I discover.*
Dreams possessed far more applications than he had initially imagined.
---
Time continued to flow.
Another two months passed.
Training never ceased.
Neither sibling rested.
Neither required food nor sleep.
Every day consisted solely of learning.
Fighting.
Improving.
Again.
And again.
Until—
without warning—
the dream changed.
The battlefield dissolved.
The sky vanished.
The world itself split apart.
Neither sibling even had time to react.
---
Ling Wei opened his eyes.
"...Hm?"
A cold breeze brushed across his face.
He instinctively tightened his grip around his sword.
The endless white dreamscape was gone.
Instead—
he found himself standing within a vast canyon.
Towering cliffs rose on both sides.
Loose stones littered the uneven ground.
The silence felt unnaturally real.
He immediately looked around.
"...Yue?"
No answer.
His voice echoed through the canyon.
"...Yue!"
Nothing.
His brow furrowed.
*Where am I?*
*What happened?*
Before he could think any further—
the ground trembled.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Heavy footsteps echoed between the cliffs.
Ling Wei's gaze sharpened.
Then—
a gigantic Iron Tusk Boar burst around the bend.
Its steel-gray tusks gleamed beneath the pale sky.
Its cultivation...
Late Fourth Stage Spirit Refining.
The beast immediately locked onto him.
Then charged.
BOOOOM!
The earth shook beneath its hooves.
Ling Wei inhaled sharply.
*So...*
*This is what Yue meant...*
She had spoken before about the later stages of the dream.
Real exhaustion.
Limited spiritual energy.
Pain.
Pressure.
Everything becoming identical to reality.
He could feel it now.
His spiritual energy no longer felt endless.
Every breath mattered.
Every movement carried weight.
His grip tightened around the sword.
"...Then let's see."
The boar closed the distance in mere moments.
Ling Wei stepped forward instead of retreating.
Wind-attributed spiritual energy flowed into his legs.
His movement technique activated.
WHOOSH!
His body drifted sideways like a passing gust of wind.
The charging boar thundered past.
Before it could turn—
Ling Wei's sword flashed.
Three condensed qi blades formed beside the blade.
SHING!
The attack descended toward the beast's exposed flank.
---
Elsewhere—
Ling Yue slowly opened her eyes.
Darkness surrounded her.
Cold air pressed against her skin.
Water dripped somewhere in the distance.
She narrowed her eyes.
Spiritual qi gathered within them.
Gradually—
the darkness became clear.
"...An underground cave."
Her voice echoed softly.
Unlike before—
she wasn't surprised.
Instead—
a faint smile appeared.
"I guess..."
"...it's started."
She flexed her fingers.
Immediately noticing the difference.
Her spiritual energy had returned to its true limit.
No endless reserves.
No infinite stamina.
Everything felt real again.
Exactly as Senior had intended.
She slowly drew her sword.
SHING.
The metallic ring echoed throughout the cavern.
Then—
a low scraping noise answered her.
SCRRRAAA—
Her gaze snapped toward the darkness ahead.
Two crimson eyes opened.
Then four.
Then dozens.
An enormous centipede slowly crawled from the shadows.
Its armored body scraped against the cave walls.
Venom dripped from countless black mandibles.
Its cultivation...
Middle Fifth Stage Spirit Refining.
Ling Yue calmly lowered her stance.
"...Alright."
Her emerald defensive scales quietly appeared around her.
One.
Then another.
Her sword rose.
Wind stirred gently around her feet.
The giant centipede released a shrill hiss—
and lunged.
---
Time passed.
One battle became two.
Two became three.
Three became four.
The dream never stopped.
Neither did the beasts.
---
Within the canyon—
Ling Wei drove his sword through the neck of another spirit beast.
SHING!
The wolf-like creature collapsed before dissolving into drifting dream particles.
He exhaled heavily.
"...Ha..."
His breathing had grown noticeably rough.
Sweat dampened his robes.
His arm felt heavier than before.
Without thinking—
he waited.
Normally—
the dream would restore everything.
His fatigue.
His injuries.
His spiritual energy.
All of it would disappear almost instantly.
Several seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Ling Wei frowned.
"...Hm?"
He looked down.
The shallow claw wound across his forearm remained.
Blood still stained his sleeve.
His breathing was still uneven.
Even his meridians remained partially depleted.
"...It didn't recover like Yue said?"
For the first time since entering the dream...
Nothing reset.
---
Elsewhere—
inside the underground cave—
Ling Yue split another centipede in half.
BOOM!
Its enormous body dissolved into light.
She leaned lightly against her sword.
"...Finally..."
Her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Her spiritual energy had fallen below half.
The bruises covering her arms still ached.
She waited.
"...?"
Nothing.
She blinked.
Then glanced down at the cuts across her hands.
"...Senior forgot?"
Before she could think any further—
the familiar calm voice echoed throughout the dream.
"I altered the rules."
Both siblings immediately stopped moving.
Lizarius continued.
"After further consideration..."
"I concluded that immediate restoration produces poor combat habits."
His tone remained as emotionless as ever.
"If all injuries vanish immediately..."
"There is no consequence for inefficient combat."
"If spiritual energy is restored instantly..."
"There is no incentive to manage its consumption."
Silence.
Then—
he calmly announced,
"From this point onward..."
"When your spiritual energy is exhausted..."
"When your body reaches its limit..."
"When your injuries accumulate..."
"A restoration period of five minutes will occur."
"Until then..."
"You will remain in your present condition."
Another brief pause followed.
"...Survive."
Silence.
Both siblings stared blankly.
Then—
Ling Yue's voice erupted throughout the cave.
"...What?!"
She looked upward despite knowing she couldn't see him.
"Senior!"
"That isn't fair!"
"If you're going to change the rules..."
"...You could've warned us first!"
She puffed out her cheeks in obvious dissatisfaction.
"Who suddenly changes the rules after people have already started fighting?!"
High above—
the invisible Lizarius simply listened.
Then answered honestly.
"I do."
Ling Yue froze.
"..."
"...Of course you do."
She sighed dramatically.
"I should've expected that."
She was about to continue complaining—
when—
SKREEEEEE!
A deafening screech echoed throughout the cave.
The ground trembled violently.
Her expression immediately changed.
Another gigantic centipede burst from the darkness.
Then another.
Then a third.
Ling Yue's eye twitched.
"...Really?"
The three Fifth Stage spirit beasts rushed toward her simultaneously.
She hurriedly raised her sword.
Emerald scales spun into position.
"...We'll discuss this later, Senior!"
The first centipede struck.
CLANG!
---
Within the canyon—
Ling Wei barely had time to process the announcement.
The earth suddenly shook beneath his feet.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Three Iron Tusk Boars charged from different directions.
Each lowered its massive tusks.
Each aimed directly at him.
Ling Wei looked at the beasts.
Then upward toward the empty sky.
A helpless smile appeared on his face.
"...Senior..."
"...You really don't believe in easing people into things."
No answer came.
Only silence.
Ling Wei sighed.
"...I suppose..."
He slowly raised his sword.
"...Surviving for five minutes is the lesson."
Wind gathered beneath his feet.
The boars closed in.
And the battle began anew.
---
Day after day—
the battles continued.
The dream showed no mercy.
The environments changed endlessly.
Scorching deserts.
Frozen tundras.
Ancient forests.
Storm-ridden mountains.
Endless swamps.
Burning volcanoes.
Dark caverns.
Each landscape produced different enemies.
Different dangers.
Different conditions.
The siblings no longer questioned the changes.
They simply adapted.
Again.
And again.
Again.
The five-minute recovery rule never changed.
Every injury remained.
Every mistake accumulated.
Every careless decision demanded a price.
At first—
they suffered.
They died a few times.
Ling Yue exhausted her spiritual energy far too quickly.
Ling Wei conserved too much, allowing himself to become cornered.
Both nearly collapsed countless times before the dream finally restored them.
But gradually—
they changed.
They no longer fought merely to win quickly.
They fought to survive.
To endure.
To use only the strength required.
No more.
No less.
An entire year passed within the dream.
---
A vast frozen wilderness stretched to the horizon.
Snowstorms howled across endless fields of ice.
Ling Wei stood alone.
His robes were tattered.
Countless old bloodstains stained the fabric.
His breathing was heavy.
"...Ha..."
"...Ha..."
Before him—
a gigantic Ice Bear slowly collapsed.
The massive Fifth Stage spirit beast crashed into the snow with a thunderous boom.
Moments later—
its body dissolved into drifting dream particles.
Silence returned.
Ling Wei lowered his sword.
His arm trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
From exhaustion.
His emerald defensive scales had long since disappeared.
His spiritual energy reserves had fallen dangerously low.
Even standing required effort.
Yet...
His expression remained calm.
Far calmer than the man who had first entered this place.
His gaze instinctively swept across the frozen landscape.
Searching.
Listening.
Expecting another attack.
Nothing.
Not yet.
He quietly adjusted his breathing.
Recovering every fragment of spiritual energy he could before the next battle arrived.
Far above—
golden eyes watched silently.
*Efficient.*
*He no longer wastes movement.*
*Hm.*
---
Elsewhere—
a volcanic battlefield shook violently.
Lava surged between cracked stone cliffs.
Heat distorted the air.
A massive Flaming Sky Bird shrieked as it descended.
Its wings ignited the atmosphere.
BOOOOM!
A torrent of fire engulfed the battlefield.
At its center—
Ling Yue stood unmoving.
Six emerald scales revolved around her body.
The instant the flames reached her—
WHOOSH!
The scales shifted.
Three gathered before her.
Two moved overhead.
One protected her back.
The fire crashed against them.
The tremendous force instantly spread through all six scales.
The barrier trembled—
but held.
Ling Yue's eyes sharpened.
"Now."
Wind gathered beneath her feet.
Her reconstructed movement technique carried her forward like flowing water.
She slipped beneath the bird's sweeping claws.
No wasted movement.
No unnecessary speed.
Only perfect timing.
Her sword rose.
At the same instant—
three condensed qi blades formed beside it.
The technique she had once struggled even to comprehend...
Now emerged as naturally as breathing.
SHING!
One qi blade severed a wing.
Another pierced its chest.
The third disrupted its balance.
Before the beast could recover—
Ling Yue stepped in.
Her real sword completed the attack.
A single clean slash.
The enormous bird froze.
Then—
its body split apart.
BOOM!
Flames scattered across the battlefield before dissolving into countless particles of light.
Silence.
Ling Yue slowly lowered her sword.
Her breathing remained steady despite the fierce battle.
The emerald scales continued orbiting quietly around her.
No longer requiring conscious thought.
They had become instinct.
She glanced briefly at the disappearing remains.
"...Next."
There was no excitement.
No celebration.
Only readiness.
Because after one year...
Battles had become routine.
Above the volcanic sky—
Lizarius continued watching in silence.
His golden eyes moved between the siblings.
Comparing.
Calculating.
Recording every improvement.
*Interesting.*
*Neither technique resembles its original form anymore.*
The sword art.
The defensive art.
Even the movement technique.
Each had evolved through countless life-and-death battles.
No longer merely techniques he had created.
They had become techniques the siblings themselves had tempered.
Refined through experience.
Adapted to suit their own fighting styles.
A faint ripple crossed his thoughts.
*So...*
*Techniques continue evolving after they are learned.*
Another valuable observation.
Without realizing it—
the two humans had become participants in a far greater experiment than simple training.