Chương 546: Chapter 541: Junior Greets Senior

I wandered the streets of the golden city like a ghost. When I looked down at my hands, I could look right through them to the stone below. The citizens of this realm were walking past me as usual, their ornate clothing, their assured stride, and yet none of them noticed me. This was completely different than when I entered as a full spiritual manifestation. When I did enter that way, I could engage with my surroundings easily.

Right now, I was simply a consciousness, drifting through existence as a fragment of myself without any grounding. It was an extremely disconcerting sensation. Every time someone passed me, I got a small chill but nothing more. But I couldn't get distracted by that, what I needed to do was find Du Yanze. The best way to start looking was to begin by going to the city lord's mansion, which was where I had last seen him before leaving this world.

The main problem was that I didn't look anything like the divine being that he knew. Right now, I looked like a ghost version of Hou Hongyun. The pale blue eyes and copper hair were completely different from my appearance as Ke Yin. That meant that I'd need to be careful and diplomatic in the way that I approached Du Yanze.

The very last thing I wanted to do was frighten someone who had possibly been stuck in a time loop for who knows how long, watching the same sequences of events over and over again, while every person around him forgot. That would drive any man insane, and I didn't want to be on the receiving end of what that looked like. I moved down the street, headed in the direction of the administration area where Feng Zhaoyang lived. The architecture in this part of town was as grandiose as I recalled.

Each building sought to outdo the other in terms of opulence. Golden filigree adorned them, intricate carvings embellished the facades, and spiritual energies derived from Xuan Yi caused the walls to shimmer. The citizens dressed in attire that flaunted their wealth and importance. Colorful flowing robes, jewelry that sparkled with sunlight, and accessories that served no practical function beyond proclaiming one's wealth and standing. It would have been laughable if it weren't so tragic.

Everyone in this realm truly believed themselves to be exceptional; destined for great things. Their collective delusional thinking had become the very foundation of their reality. Around halfway to the administration area, I felt it. There was a disruption in the spiritual energy surrounding me. It was very subtle, but evident, nonetheless. The distortion was originating from an alleyway off to my left. The sun struggled to reach the bottom of the alleys due to the depth created by towering structures.

None of the typical citizenry appeared to sense anything unusual. They continued on their merry ways, engrossed in their own stories of individual brilliance. When I focused on it, I realised it was too clean and pure to be Xuan Yi. This was dream qi. Another dream walker trying to dream walk to this realm. Immediately, I reduced my spiritual presence as much as I possibly could. My form became ethereal and thin. I found an alcove hidden amongst two buildings and positioned myself to watch whatever happened next.

Reality began to warp as a glowing circle formed ahead of me. Its borders oscillated rapidly with silver-colored dream qi. This was an impressively constructed Dream Gate. Creating a stable Dream Gate required Dream Architect-level cultivation at a bare minimum, and this gate seemed solid and under control. A man walked out of the gate. He was ancient; sporting a long white beard, and had his hair pulled back into a classic style. He wore scholarly-style robes that were simple yet well-crafted.

What impressed me was that he had a solid, physical body, not a spiritual projection like mine. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. For merely a fleeting instant, a translucent crown formed atop his head; intricate patterns of dream qi configured various geometrical forms. It was the Crown of Clarity, the signature of an Oneiric Sovereign! Then the crown shattered.

The old man's physical body flickered wildly and the next thing I knew, his solid body converted into a spirit projection. His robes became semi-translucent, and his feet lifted off of the earth. He had gone from fully corporeal to a wisp of consciousness in the space of a heartbeat. He stumbled, or tried to, but his spiritual form didn't interact properly with the physical world.

He made a gasping motion, pressing an insubstantial hand against his chest as the Dream Gate behind him instantly dissipated, releasing all of its silver-colored dream qi into nothingness.

"Not again," he complained.

"Each and every cursed time." The old man's spiritual form steadied itself, though he still looked shaken. His spiritual energy had plummeted from Oneiric Sovereign to roughly that of a Dream Disciple. The law of the Realm had effectively removed nearly all of his ability to cultivate dream energy; forcing his consciousness into this weakened spiritual projection.

"Calm yourself," he said aloud, seemingly addressing himself.

"You were prepared for this. Three months collecting resources. Two years of refining techniques. You can restore enough to make this worth it." The man began circulating dream energy through an unconventional set of patterns I'd never seen before. The energy circulated in spiral motions rather than the circular patterns I knew. He was tapping into ambient dream energy from his surroundings and filtering it through a custom-built spiritual matrix. About ten minutes later, the results became apparent.

The old man's translucent body began to solidify, beginning with the outermost edges and progressing inward, defining his fingers, arms, torso, legs. He was recreating his physical presence in this realm using dream energy gathered from his surroundings. But what made my eyes widen the most was how his spiritual energy had recovered. Sure, it wasn't his original Oneiric Sovereign cultivation realm, but Thoughtshaper realm cultivation was still a lot better than Dream Disciple.

When he was done, he looked like a normal inhabitant of this realm. If I hadn't witnessed the process, I wouldn't have thought otherwise. He opened his eyes and smiled, flexing his now solid hands.

"There. Much better now." He murmured.

"Let's see what I can learn from this trip. I just hope it goes better than last time. And I hope that crazy madman doesn't…" That was when he sensed me. He turned his head toward where I was hiding as his eyes narrowed. With a thought, his spiritual energy surged forward, trying to bypass my concealment. I could feel him testing my cultivation level.

"I know you're there," he called.

"Another dream walker? Show yourself." I thought about how best to proceed. Running obviously would create further complications. Fighting was hopeless considering the difference in our cultivation levels. Which meant the only real option I had was to speak to him and hope he was one of the few reasonable cultivators. With a sigh, I stepped out of the shadows. The first thing that became obvious was just how vulnerable my translucent body looked before him.

The old man's aggressively postured demeanor quickly relaxed when I dropped my concealment technique and he was able to sense cultivation level.

"Dream Architect? Just Dream Architect?" He laughed.

"Here I thought perhaps you'd be competition! How long have you been dream walking, boy?" I decided to play along with his assumption. If he wanted to see me as a junior cultivator stumbling through his first serious expedition, that could work to my advantage.

"This is junior's first time," I bowed.

"Your first time?" The old man's expression transitioned from amusement to a look of concern.

"And you decided to come here?! To the Realm of the Cursed?! Oh boy... this is one of the most treacherous dream worlds imaginable. Unprepared minds can be corrupted by Xuan Yi within hours here!"

"I didn't realize," I replied.

"I only just formed my first Dream Gate, and it led me here." The old man studied me for a long moment, then his expression softened into something that looked almost paternal.

"Ah, youth, always charging into danger without proper preparation," he sighed.

"You can't just walk into a Dream Gate when it first forms." He waved for me to draw closer.

"Come here, boy. What's your name?"

"Hou Hongyun."

"I am Lu Chenyang," declared the old man, proudly raising his shoulders.

"Oneiric Sovereign of the Slumbering Scholars Sect. I've been dream walking for three centuries." He paused, clearly waiting for me to react with appropriate awe.

"Three centuries?" I decided to play the part of a shocked junior.

"Senior Lu must have incredible experience."

"Yes indeed," replied Lu Chenyang smiling contentedly at my admiration.

"You're lucky that you encountered me instead of those other cultivators who commonly roam these dream worlds. A lot of them would steal your techniques or worse." He pointed toward the surrounding alleyway.

"This realm in particular attracts the desperate and the foolish. The desperate seeking power, the foolish thinking they can gain easy benefits."

"This lowly junior would greatly appreciate any guidance from someone with senior's experience," I bowed slightly.

"Hmm, good attitude," Lu Chenyang puffed himself up at that statement, clearly enjoying my display of deference.

"I like that. Tell you what, young Hou. Since you showed proper respect and I'm in a generous mood, I'll show you around. Consider it a free lesson from someone who has been dream walking for longer than you've been alive." I bowed once again to accept. If he wanted to teach me advanced dream walking techniques for free, why would I turn him down? Besides, staying in his good graces would be useful. An Oneiric Sovereign, even one currently suppressed to Thoughtshaper level, had knowledge worth learning.

"Good, good. A respectful youth, that's so rare these days," Lu Chenyang smiled, gesturing for me to follow him.

"Alright, come on, let me show you why this particular dream world is so special."