Chapter 42: Entering the Dream

Chapter 42: Entering the Dream

Li Wei sat in his room, hesitating for a long while.

In the end, he decided to give it a try.

He lay down on the bed, closed his eyes, and activated the Great Dream Soaring Technique.

His consciousness plunged swiftly, falling into a bottomless abyss.

Whether it lasted long or merely an instant, Li Wei could not tell.

At last, he felt himself come to a stop.

Opening his eyes, he saw everything shrouded in mist—visibility no more than three meters.

Recognizing the familiar surroundings, he was surprised to find himself still within his own room.

He rose, only to see his body lying motionless on the bed.

Looking down, he noticed his form had turned translucent white.

"Soul?" A chill ran through him.

"Out-of-body experience?"

He reached out to touch his body on the bed, but his hand passed through as if grasping air.

Just then, when he attempted to return to reality using the Great Dream Soaring Technique, a sudden force pulled at him from within.

His consciousness shot upward like a fish bursting from the ocean’s depths—dizzying, disorienting.

Huff!

Li Wei jolted upright, glancing around. Everything seemed normal.

The gray haze had vanished.

"Was that just a dream?"

His heart settled. He lay back down and once again cast the Great Dream Soaring Technique.

He returned to the misty dream world.

Walking about the room, he found most objects visible yet intangible.

The walls were solid, unyielding—as if sealed behind an impenetrable barrier. The window wouldn’t budge.

Peering through the glass, he saw only darkness outside.

Staring too long made him uneasy; something seemed to lurk within that blackness, stirring dread.

He quickly averted his gaze, afraid of what might emerge from the void.

After circling the room, he realized only the door could be opened.

Pressing his ear against it, he heard nothing.

He tried casting spells within the dream.

The fireball spell, the invisible armor incantation—both worked perfectly.

Yet the gray mist here was strange: flames could not dispel it, nor extend the reach of light.

He could see clearly within a radius of three meters; beyond that, all blurred into obscurity.

Even with a fireball in hand, only the immediate vicinity grew sharper—the darkness beyond remained untouched.

Holding the glowing orb, Li Wei cautiously opened the door.

Beyond lay utter blackness—empty, silent.

He hurled the fireball forward. The dark swallowed it whole, returning neither sound nor echo.

After a moment’s hesitation, he tentatively extended his hand into the void—and felt nothing unusual, as though sight alone had been severed.

"There's no point staying here. Should I go out and see?"

Soon, he made his decision.

Li Wei stepped across the threshold and entered the dark.

Passing through the doorway, he found himself inside a vast library. Books floated everywhere, and in midair, shifting diagrams of magical constructs twisted and transformed ceaselessly.

He turned back—the door stood alone amidst the towering shelves, its other side leading to his room.

He returned briefly, encountering no resistance, and exhaled in relief.

Now deeper inside the great library, curiosity stirred within him.

"Where is this place?"

After a moment, a flicker of recognition came.

"This... isn't this an expanded version of the third-floor library in the Mage Tower?"

He walked forward, catching a book drifting by. The title was blurred, indistinct.

Glancing around, he saw most books shared the same hazy quality.

From behind a shelf emerged a colossal tome suspended in air, upon which sat a silhouetted figure, back turned. Before it, magical constructs shifted rapidly in complex sequences.

Then Li Wei spotted a familiar pattern.

"The fireball spell construct?" He stared harder—and froze.

The figure atop the giant book was Master Rohta.

Understanding dawned. This was Master Rohta’s dream.

Surveying the scene, admiration welled within him.

"So even in dreams, Master Rohta labors tirelessly over magic."

He realized now—Rohta appeared to be deducing a new spell.

Stuck in waking life, his subconscious continued the work in sleep.

Li Wei did not disturb him. Instead, he studied the floating constructs above.

His gaze swept over the drifting books—and a thought stirred.

"If this is a dream… perhaps I can…"

He stepped onto one of the hovering books. It held his weight.

Using it as a step, he began climbing toward the aerial constructs.

With a shift of will, surrounding books flew to his feet, forming a staircase beneath him.

"How fascinating dreams can be!"

A smile touched his lips.

Rohta remained utterly absorbed in his calculations, oblivious to Li Wei’s movements.

Li Wei approached one construct, studying it carefully, trying to memorize its form.

After a long while, he gave up and turned toward another.

This spell model was the cantrip *Stone Missile*.

Alas, the model was incomplete.

Either due to the dream’s distortion, or perhaps because Rota himself wasn’t quite proficient yet.

Li Wei searched all around for a complete spell model.

“So many spell models—could it be that Rota truly learned every single zero-tier spell?”

He could already see over a dozen; Li Wei had no idea how many more might be hidden.

“This is… a first-tier spell model?”

Li Wei tilted his head upward. Floating at the highest point of the library was an incredibly complex spell formation.

Upon touching it, fragments of information flowed into him.

His eyes lit up—it was the model for *Fireball*, a first-tier spell.

Moments later, he sighed. “What a pity. It’s even more fragmented than the zero-tier models.”

After circling the chamber, he finally found one intact spell model.

Li Wei’s expression fell. “*Little Fireball*? I already know this one.”

A sudden thought struck him—hadn’t Rota been using *Little Fireball* to deduce new spells?

Could it be that because Rota was most familiar with *Little Fireball*, its model remained whole?

Li Wei reached out and touched the *Little Fireball* model. Instantly, Rota’s cultivation experience flooded into his mind.

A moment later, he casually summoned a book from the shelves.

As he flipped it open, several lines of text appeared on the page:

【Basic Meditation Method (Mastery)】3542/4000

【Little Fireball (Zero-tier Minor Completion)】1266/4000

【Invisible Armor (Zero-tier Minor Completion)】167/4000

【Great Dream Soaring Spell (Zero-tier)】5/10000

Li Wei’s heart trembled—the experience in *Little Fireball* had surged by hundreds of points.

“Did I just absorb Rota’s cultivation experience in *Little Fireball*?”

He turned his gaze toward the other spell models surrounding him.

If he knew these spells, could he draw Rota’s experience from each of them too?

Joy surged within him.

“So this is the true power of the *Great Dream Soaring Spell*!”

“No—something’s wrong. The dream is ending.”

Li Wei watched as the vast library began to crumble. Thick waves of gray mist poured in from all sides, and darkness swallowed the edges of the dream.

He dashed toward the door. After only a few steps, his body lifted into the air.

Whoosh!

Just before the dream shattered completely, Li Wei shot through the doorway and back into his bedroom.

He turned—beyond the threshold, utter blackness churned, clawing at the room, but held back by an invisible barrier.

His heart pounded. He’d nearly been consumed by the dark.

He slammed the door shut, sealing the abyss outside.

(End of Chapter)