"Xing'er, are you alright?" Seeing the still slightly dazed Shen Xing, Shen Gong quickly stepped forward and asked.
Shen Xing scratched her head and said, "Dad, my dream just now seemed different from before. I used to get bullied really badly in every dream, but this time I was super powerful, like a real dream."
"Aren't you just dreaming?" Seeing that Shen Xing was fine, Shen Gong finally relaxed.
"Xia Yi, is Wulin okay?" Now that Shen Xing was alright, Yali couldn't help but turn to Xia Yi.
"It was just a dream, what could possibly go wrong?" Xia Yi shook his head.
"But Sister Yue said that Nightmare Old Demon can already merge dreams with reality—so it's both a dream and reality." Yali was still uneasy. She was really worried something had happened to Tang Wulin after Shen Xing slapped him.
"Reality?" Xia Yi looked at Yali like she was an idiot and pointed at Shen Xing, "Can she unleash such a powerful attack in reality?"
"What exactly is going on?" Yali still couldn't feel at ease.
"Alright, I'll explain it to you," Xia Yi said helplessly, shaking his head. "You're right, judging from the dream just now, the Nightmare Old Demon does have the ability to merge dream and reality—but that's limited to Devil Island. I can feel it; the dreams on Devil Island are completely different from those outside. Once you're out of Devil Island, it's purely a dream."
"So that means if your godson gets into trouble on Devil Island, it could be real trouble. But outside the island, no matter what happens in the dream, it's harmless."
Xia Yi glanced at Shen Xing and continued, "Just now, outside of Devil Island, it was her dream. In that purely dreamlike state, she's omnipotent. As long as she dares to imagine it—no matter how absurd—it becomes real. Put simply, in a dream, anything is possible. If she firmly believes she's a Limit Douluo, then she is one. Though, her understanding of Limit Douluo might be a bit off."
Xia Yi paused and then said, "This kind of thing can only happen in a purely dream-based state. Once you combine dream and reality, you can no longer break away from the rules of reality, and such absurd things can't occur."
"I see. But I clearly heard you say she was a Limit Douluo, and that's when she became one," Yali said, still confused.
"She didn't realize she was dreaming and didn't dare to think it. I merely gave her a little nudge," Xia Yi replied, shaking his head.
Hearing that, Yali began to understand a bit, though she was still curious. "Dreams and reality merging—how does that even work? How is that done?"
"You've heard of sleepwalking, right?" Xia Yi said.
"Sleepwalking?" Yali froze, surprised at the simplicity of it.
But Xia Yi's explanation actually made sense.
When the body is controlled by the dream—doesn't that count as a merge between dream and reality?
"If that's the case, then what about that time in Star Luo City? How did you pull it off?" Leng Yulai also became interested.
Back then in Star Luo City, Xia Yi used his Dream-Traveling Immortal Art to bring Leng Yaozhu over. He couldn't have had her sleepwalk all the way from the Blood God Legion to Star Luo City, could he?
"Back in Star Luo City, Sister Yaozhu, you were a dream," Yali looked at Leng Yaozhu dumbfoundedly, disbelief in her eyes. "You didn't have any method to teleport to Xia Yi's side at will—everything was done through dreams?"
"You're not dumb, are you?" Leng Yaozhu glanced at Yali.
"I merely projected the dream into reality. It wasn't just controlling the body through a dream," Xia Yi snorted in disdain.
"So, what now? We can't just stay with the North Sea Legion forever, right?" Yali asked again.
Once Xia Yi leaves, the Nightmare Old Demon could pull Shen Yue and Shen Xing back into the dream at any moment.
"Of course we're going to the island." Xia Yi chuckled, ready to use this chance to explore the island.
"But," Xia Yi raised an eyebrow and said, "Devil Island is shrouded in the Nightmare Old Demon's dreamscape. His dream isn't like Shen Xing's—it's merged with reality. As soon as an outsider enters, they'll unknowingly fall into his constructed dream, then be forced to sleepwalk under his control."
Xia Yi looked at Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai with a smile and said, "With your God Source Realm spiritual power, as long as you don't want to be pulled in, he won't be able to drag you into his dream. So, what do you say—should we storm in directly, or pretend to be drawn into his dream and see what he's up to? Either way, even if we're pulled into the dream, I'll know it."
"Let's let him pull us in. I want to see what Wulin's military training really involves," Yali looked at Xia Yi. After his explanation, though she still felt a bit muddled...
She did understand one thing: Tang Wulin's military training is all happening in the dream. If they don't enter the Nightmare Old Demon's dream, then even if they see Tang Wulin after landing, he'll just be sleepwalking and won't be aware of what he's facing.
"Yaozhu, what do you think?" Xia Yi ignored Yali and looked at Leng Yulai and Leng Yaozhu.
This annoyed Yali, and she snorted in displeasure, refusing to look at him. She turned to Leng Yaozhu and clung to her arm, whining, "Sister Yaozhu!"
If Xia Yi dared to ignore her, surely he wouldn't dare to ignore Leng Yaozhu?
"Let go," Leng Yaozhu glared at Yali, then turned to Xia Yi and said, "Let's go with Yali's suggestion."
"I'm fine either way." Leng Yulai smiled and shrugged without giving any specific opinion.
To her, it didn't matter whether they entered the dream or not—she didn't take the Seven Old Demons seriously at all.
In her eyes, the only real threat now was the Will of the Plane.
Her powerful spiritual senses had already detected that the Plane Will's dispersed forces across the continent were gathering toward Devil Island.
This time, the Will of the Plane was definitely going to act.
She just didn't know what exactly the Plane Will was planning.
Still, she rather hoped the Will would act now. Its power hadn't fully awakened yet, making this the best time to deal with it.
Although it might be dangerous, if the Plane Will dared to appear, she'd risk everything to force it back into slumber.
Otherwise, once it fully awakens, dealing with it would become far more difficult.
"Since that's the case, let's go break into Devil Island." Xia Yi nodded. After bidding Shen Gong farewell, the group flew directly over the island.
Looking down from above, they could see very clearly—below was a vast expanse of islands covering a wide area, but everything looked eerily calm.
The islands were all pitch black, ink-like in color, with complex terrain. There was vegetation, but it all appeared black as if dipped in ink.
Even stranger, there wasn't the slightest trace of life.
In the center, a larger island was shrouded in a purple-red glow, which even Yali's late-stage Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power couldn't penetrate.
"The entire island has no life force at all—no natural energy either," Yali said gravely. In such a place, even Limit Douluo wouldn't be able to recover soul power once it's depleted.
She had no idea how Tang Wulin and the others were managing their training.
"We'll go take a look." Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai didn't immediately release their God Source Realm spiritual power, but instead descended from the sky with Xia Yi, aiming for that glowing island.
As they got closer to the purple-red glow, even Xia Yi felt an overwhelming sense of dread, as if his body were about to be torn apart.
But his martial soul cheered excitedly.
"This feeling…" Xia Yi paused, then quickly understood—there was energy on Devil Island that could evolve his martial soul.
"Open!" Leng Yaozhu shouted. The Yellow Emperor Sword appeared in her hand, and with a powerful swing, golden sword light tore open a gap in the purple-red glow. She immediately took Xia Yi through it.
Leng Yulai and Yali followed closely behind.
Inside the glow was a massive valley.
Surprisingly, it wasn't black anymore. Lush plants grew all around. In the distance, a huge purple-red beam of light shot into the sky. Seeing it, the earlier feeling of dread returned.
What shocked Xia Yi even more was that there was natural energy here—he could sense that the concentration of life force far surpassed that of the outside world.
Even more so than the core of the Star Dou Forest or Shrek Academy's inner court.
The source of the purple-red pillar was a giant, irregularly shaped crystal embedded in the ground—partially buried. The terrifying light was emanating from it.
Seeing it, even Leng Yaozhu, Leng Yulai, and Yali all felt immense pain, like their bodies were being ripped apart. Instinctively, they activated soul power to resist.
Xia Yi grunted and raised his hand to stop Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai from shielding him. He could feel the surrounding energy pouring into him. Though it felt like his body was being shredded, his martial soul was rapidly absorbing it.
"We've been pulled into the dream—we're already sleepwalking." Xia Yi's voice echoed in the minds of Leng Yulai, Leng Yaozhu, and Yali.
"Perfect timing. While we were distracted by the light, he pulled us in—deserves the title of Divine Origin Realm spiritual master." Xia Yi grinned. Even though they were in a dream, everything before them was real.
"You're the Sea God Pavilion Master. The Seven Old Demons won't trouble you. If you want to see Tang Wulin, go find him yourself. We're going deeper." Xia Yi glanced at Yali, then looked up at the purple pillar. Even if it didn't help evolve his martial soul, he wouldn't let it go.
According to Gu Yue's speculation, this was evolved Destruction God Power—there should also be Life God Power here. Xia Yi had to find them both.
"I want half of the energy. That's fair, right?" Leng Yaozhu said, smiling at Xia Yi. Yali had told her before via soul communicator that this energy came from the God of Destruction and Goddess of Life.
Since that's the case, she wasn't going to miss out.
She also wanted to create a human god realm. Even if this energy wasn't enough, it was better than nothing.
The abyssal energy had been taken 90% by soul beasts. She and Leng Yulai only got about 2–3%.
Though this energy wasn't as abundant as the abyss…
Its quality was far superior.
No matter what, she wouldn't hand it all to the soul beasts again.
"Alright, let's find the Goddess of Life's energy first, then split it evenly," Xia Yi nodded. Though he needed a lot of energy to evolve his martial soul, compared to this vast Destruction power, his share was minuscule.
He also wanted to try combining Destruction and Life powers into Creation Force, as Gu Yue described, and deliver it to the nascent Soul Beast God Realm.
This was Creation Force—one of the universe's highest forms of energy, equal to Chaos Force.
Chaos Force could help top-level gods cross into God King rank with just a tiny bit.
Creation Force wasn't as aggressive, but could create life and greatly aid in forming a god realm.
Its only drawback: it couldn't exist for long.
Once it appears, it must be used quickly, or it'll dissipate on its own.
"You—you're trying to split Devil Island's power? No! I won't allow it!" Hearing Xia Yi and Leng Yaozhu's conversation, Yali panicked. Devil Island belonged to Shrek Academy.
As Sea God Pavilion Master, how could she let people divide Shrek's private property in front of her?
"This power has turned the surrounding islands lifeless. We're dividing it for ecological balance," Xia Yi said righteously.
"Could your excuse be any more lame? Do you think I'm big-chested and brainless?" Yali snorted. "No matter how silver-tongued you are, I won't agree."
"In that case, fine. Beat Yaozhu and Yulai, then you can call the shots." Xia Yi replied calmly.
Leng Yaozhu smiled and silently raised her Yellow Emperor Sword.
She wasn't really going to fight Yali—but appearances had to be kept.
"You—you all…?" Yali's eyes flamed with anger. Xia Yi was blatantly robbing them!
But she had no solution.
Beat Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai? With her?
Even she knew that wasn't happening...
"Don't say 'you' or 'yours' like that." Leng Yulai didn't even bother to look at Ya Li, and said coldly, "Don't make it sound like the power here was placed by your Shrek Academy. Since it wasn't your academy that put it here, then it's a matter of whoever is capable to take it. Your Shrek Academy has been occupying it for so many years—shouldn't that be enough?"
"Zhu'er, Yulai, help guard me while I investigate." Xia Yi ignored Ya Li, activated his martial soul, and while absorbing the surrounding destructive energy, began moving toward the pillar of light formed by the destruction.
(End of Chapter)