Wei Yuan had initially been concerned about Bao Yun's dharma idol, but after sensing the aura of the Heavenly Abyss, she had postponed forming it. Every day, she went to sit beside the extraterrestrial fiend in the Nether Cold Realm for a while.
Worried, Wei Yuan asked what was going on. Bao Yun explained that being cowed by the aura of the juvenile celestial fiend that day had shown her that she still had weaknesses. Thus, she had decided to come here every day to contemplate the Heavenly Abyss's aura until the day when even the Heavenly Abyss could no longer bend her will—that would be the moment to form her dharma idol.
After listening, Wei Yuan opened his mouth, but found himself speechless. Since when had she secretly begun cultivating a momentum of invincibility as well?
Just among the people around him, Wei Yuan knew of three or four who were cultivating a momentum of invincibility, not even counting himself or Feng Chutang, who had been beaten back onto the orthodox path by his elders halfway through.
Had the recent generations of young disciples in the Palace of Grand Beginning gotten a bit too full of themselves?
Still, Bao Yun was adamant, and Wei Yuan felt that forming a dharma idol earlier or later was not an issue, so he let her be. After saying goodbye to Bao Yun, Wei Yuan returned to the surface to oversee the construction progress.
After taking a few steps, Wei Yuan felt a sudden intuition. Looking back, he saw Bao Yun still standing in place, gazing quietly at him.
Wei Yuan sighed, returned to her side, and asked softly, "What is it now?"
"Nothing, but..." Bao Yun suddenly embraced him and sealed his lips, a wisp of warm fragrance gliding right inside.
Wei Yuan snorted. His eyes lit up, having already channeled the Divine Light of Discerning Delusion. Yet the Bao Yun before him was still Bao Yun, her eyes closed, focusing entirely on sealing his mouth.
Wei Yuan pushed her away, glanced around, and said, "Come out. This trick isn't amusing."
"Why do you always see through it?" The darkness beside them dissolved like a solid substance, and Dream Eater emerged from within.
Today's Dream Eater was slightly different from their first meeting. Her face had become even purer and more innocent—so tender and vulnerable that it stirred pity, yet also tempted one to take advantage and deceive her.
"How did you figure it out?" Dream Eater was curious.
Wei Yuan gave a cold snort and said flatly, "When I was only in the Dao Foundation, your dreams couldn't trap me. Now that I have attained a dharma idol, I have mastered the Heavenly Eye divine ability and my spiritual consciousness remains lucid. There is even less chance of you fooling me."
Dream Eater poked out her tongue. "Fine, how boring. Next time I won't play with you."
Wei Yuan said coldly, "If I didn't still have a use for you, this sneak attack on me would never end so easily!"
Dream Eater showed no fear at all. She covered her mouth with a light giggle, her shapely body trembling with laughter as two rounded, snow-white thighs peeked out from beneath the hem of her skirt. Barefoot and stockingless, she floated in midair.
Seeing that she showed no fear, Wei Yuan gave a cold laugh. In his hand appeared a cluster of black-and-red flames. This was karmic fire drawn from the Red Lotus Bodhi—and he had taken a full third of it at once.
Thus, though the flame was not large, in the eyes of true connoisseurs it was exceedingly terrifying. When Wei Yuan had burned away the karmic debt of several hundred thousand Shaman troops in one breath, it had only been slightly more than this cluster of flame.
The karmic fire cast almost no light, yet it instantly illuminated Dream Eater's true form.
It was an amorphous monster resembling an octopus, its head and body merged as one, with its gigantic head covered in eyes—at least a thousand of them. These eyes were of varying sizes and shapes, each gazing independently in all directions. Wherever their gaze fell, subtle ripples pulsed outward.
If any living being fell within its sight, these ripples signified alterations to that being's dreams. And around Wei Yuan, dense ripples were everywhere; at least half of the eyes were fixed on him, attempting to manipulate his dreams.
The monster extended a long tentacle, at the tip of which grew a young girl—this was the Dream Eater Wei Yuan saw. She was not floating in midair because of levitation, but because she was supported directly from behind by that thick tentacle.
Illuminated in its true form by the red-and-black flame, more than half of Dream Eater's eyes snapped shut in an instant, terrified to look directly upon the flame in Wei Yuan's hand. Its voice turned shrill and grating: "How do you have such a flame?! How do you have so much of it?!"
Wei Yuan said flatly, "Not only do I have it, I have even more. And I can use it like this: 'All dharmas taught in the world should be viewed thus...'"
"Stop, stop, stop! I believe you, stop chanting!" Dream Eater let out a wailing cry.
Wei Yuan ceased the Red Lotus Universal Deliverance True Words and asked, "Can we talk seriously now?"
"I was being serious all along! Look at this puppet I made, look how much effort I put in! It was crafted specially for you, modeled after all your normal preferences!" Dream Eater shifted her body slightly, causing stormy waves to heave across her chest, before showing off her thighs again.
Wei Yuan felt as though tribulation clouds were about to gather over his head. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Which of your eyes saw that I like this sort of thing?"
Dream Eater touched a finger to her lips and giggled. "Don't be shy. Haven't we played the Paper Bride game many times? With so many eyes, I've seen it all. Oh, there are some quirks that don't quite fit mainstream human tastes, so I didn't bring them out. Do you want them now?"
Wei Yuan gave a soft sigh. "It seems you still refuse to talk properly."
He raised the flame to his lips, preparing to blow it outward.
"Don't!" Dream Eater shrieked, then whimpered pitifully, "Wasn't I just doing this to give you something pleasant to look at? Back when Shu Li was around, he loved looking at all my eyes. Should I switch back to my true form?"
"...You had better stick with this one."
Wei Yuan put away the karmic fire. Sure enough, Dream Eater dared not speak out of turn anymore. She asked, "What do you need me to do?"
"Last time, you said that if I shook Shu Li's foundation, you would give me spiritual items to enhance my Dao Foundation. Now I have taken his entire realm. Where are the spiritual items?"
Dream Eater flicked her finger in the air, manifesting a spring wellspring. "There are two kinds of spiritual items. The first is water from the Nether Spring. That Nether Spring is already in your hands now, but I have a drop that Shu Li gave me in the early days."
"What about the other?" Wei Yuan asked.
"The other is a remnant left by extraterrestrial fiends. When severely wounded, their wounds secrete a spiritual dew that has miraculous effects on enhancing the primordial spirit. But the catch is that one must endure the baptism of the Heavenly Abyss's fiendish qi. If you can't withstand it, you will be reduced to ash."
"I'll take the drop of Nether Spring," Wei Yuan chose without hesitation. Even he had no desire to experience the taste of the Heavenly Abyss's fiendish qi again.
A black jade vial flew out from behind Dream Eater. She then said, "Remember to return the vial after using it! You clearly have a Nether Spring yourself, yet you insist on taking mine..."
This vial could shift between illusory and tangible—it was a rare treasure in its own right.
Taking the vial, Wei Yuan stowed it away. Naturally, he wouldn't tell her that the Nether Spring had dried up long ago; Shu Li would never leave such good stuff behind for him.
In truth, Wei Yuan suspected that even those medicinal herbs and shaman treasure spirit matrices had only been left behind because of Hongye. Given Shu Li's personality as described in the dossiers, he would have burned everything to the ground rather than leave Wei Yuan so much as a stray hair.
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked, "A friend of mine has encountered an issue with her Dao heart. Do you have a way to resolve it?"
Dream Eater replied, "Isn't that simple? Most Dao heart problems come down to nothing more than obsessions and overthinking. In my dreams, as long as the root of the Dao heart's problem is found, most issues can be easily resolved. Still, my dreams aren't omnipotent; they're useless against stubborn donkeys."
"That will suffice. If you help me resolve that person's Dao heart problem, I will have rewards for you. What do you want?"
Dream Eater's eyes fluttered. "Have a word with that domain spirit of yours, and tell it not to always glare at me holding a ball of Spring Flames. I only come in to harvest a few dreams; I won't do anything else. If you'd like, I could even prepare a Paper Bride game for you, just like the one I gave Shu Li."
"Domain spirit?"
"That boundary stone of yours has a spirit of its own, though it probably hasn't fully awakened yet. As the Domain Lord, it ought to listen to what you say. I certainly don't want to take a blast of Spring Flames for no reason."
"And what do you harvest dreams for?"
Dream Eater said, "All sentient beings rest, and all generate dreams. The more dreams I collect, the stronger my power becomes. Didn't you say you have a friend whose Dao heart needs fixing? Even if I can't solve it right now, let me harvest a few kinds of dreams in your domain, and I'll be able to manage it."
Wei Yuan understood. The more dreams Dream Eater harvested, the more realistic the dreams it constructed would be—somewhat akin to illusions, yet far more sophisticated. Furthermore, the dreams were fraught with hidden peril; if one died in here, one truly died.
After intimidating it with karmic fire, Dream Eater knew Wei Yuan possessed the ability to destroy it, so he believed it wouldn't dare act recklessly.
Thus the two reached an agreement. Wei Yuan prepared to leave and head to the Northern Mountain Gate to pick up Eldest Senior Sister.
Dream Eater suddenly reached out a fingertip, tapped Wei Yuan on the chest, and said with profound meaning, "Actually, my abilities are very useful. You won't be able to do without me in the future."
Wei Yuan looked puzzled, only for Dream Eater to point toward the motionless Bao Yun standing not far away. Wei Yuan understood in an instant.
He gave a snort and said, "Not interested."
Helpless, Dream Eater dispersed the dreamscape. Watching Wei Yuan's figure vanish, she muttered, "Hmph, every single one is like this. Shu Li was just like a stone at first, but didn't he end up sneaking into my dreams every other day in the end?"
Before Wei Yuan's eyes, the scene shifted, and he found himself standing at the surface teleportation formation. Because this teleportation formation was critically important, Wei Yuan had his Dao Foundation warriors guard it, strictly forbidding any unrelated persons from approaching.
Checking the time, Wei Yuan found that hardly any time had passed. It seemed that in the dream, because both of their primordial spirits were formidable, Dream Eater had deliberately slowed down the perception of time, whereas in truth the two had conversed at an extraordinarily high speed.
Wei Yuan grew thoughtful; communicating this way would make exchanges far more convenient once one's cultivation was high enough.
Just then, Dream Eater's voice echoed in Wei Yuan's ear: "You still haven't told me—why did you see through my dream so quickly this time?!"
"Guess!" Wei Yuan retorted, then strode away.
Naturally, Wei Yuan wouldn't tell Dream Eater that the reason he saw through it was because the angle at which that soft fragrance entered his mouth and the subsequent movements were all wrong.
Yet thinking of that final matter Dream Eater had mentioned, Wei Yuan's heart stirred faintly. And once it stirred, it grew somewhat uncontrollable.
At that moment, the Dao Foundation warrior stationed at the border sent word: Tianyu had arrived once again, and had brought a new carriage.
Chapter 644