Chapter 94: Dream Thief and Dream Weaver (5th Update)

Chapter 94: The Dream Thief and the Dream Weaver (Fifth Update)

Li Wei stared at Tanya, puzzled by her sudden tension.

Hadn’t the Lost One already fled?

Then, a deafening roar tore through the air.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The mist above shuddered like waves upon a stormy sea.

And from the sky plummeted the Lost One—like a falling star.

In that instant, Li Wei understood what Tanya had been dreading.

Boom!

The creature crashed into the ground, greatsword in hand, unleashing a shockwave of terrifying force.

In a flash, Li Wei was hurled more than ten meters backward.

Crack!

Three layers of his invisible armor shattered.

Merely grazed by the blast’s aftermath—and still the damage was staggering.

One could only imagine the devastation of a direct hit.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Li Wei staggered back, retreating seven or eight steps before finally halting.

He looked up. A green glow enveloped Tanya.

She had dodged the core of the attack; the luminous barrier absorbed the brunt of the shockwave.

After such a devastating assault, the Lost One slowed.

Swinging his massive blade, he pressed forward, hacking at Tanya.

Too close—she scrambled desperately, evading blow after blow, never finding an opening to strike back.

Li Wei couldn’t see the battle clearly.

But from the violent churning of the mist ahead, he could tell—the clash was fierce.

He began moving toward the epicenter.

“When I appeared, she only noticed me then. That means Tanya’s field of vision is about the same as mine.”

“The Lost One sees far beyond her—that’s how he’s been hunting her relentlessly.”

“We must kill him. Otherwise, we can’t escape—only retreat from the dream.”

“But why didn’t Tanya immediately exit the dream when pursued? Is there a reason?”

“Can’t one withdraw during combat? Or would it be interrupted?”

In just a few steps, countless thoughts raced through Li Wei’s mind.

A fireball coalesced in his palm.

Mana poured into it, deepening its hue—from red, to orange, then dark orange—until it blazed with blinding intensity.

Even so, the radiant light could not pierce the dream’s fog.

Tanya couldn’t see it—but instinctively, she felt a nameless dread, as if catastrophe loomed near.

Whoosh!

The searing fireball shot forth, slicing through the mist, aimed at the heart of the chaos.

Blind firing.

He didn’t need to see the enemy—only that they stood within range.

Boom-crash!

The fireball exploded. Flames surged outward, swallowing over ten meters in an instant.

The Lost One vanished beneath the inferno.

In a heartbeat, the blast ripped his body into fragments.

Seeing the creature destroyed, Tanya wasted no time.

She unleashed her ultimate technique—a flicker of green light—and reappeared ten meters away.

The explosion’s blazing edge halted just before her.

“Hah… thank goodness.”

She exhaled in relief.

Then another figure emerged before her eyes.

Her heart, just settled, leapt once more.

She stared warily at Li Wei.

Having witnessed a single strike that obliterated the Lost One, she instinctively assumed Li Wei was at least a third-rank mage.

In dreams, spiritual power ruled supreme.

And among all classes, mages were masters of spirit.

A third-rank mage’s mental strength far surpassed others of equal level.

Within the dream world, their power suffered almost no weakening.

Among peers, a mage would be vastly stronger than her.

Li Wei remained cloaked in invisibility.

His spiritual essence shielded, even Tanya could not discern the face beneath the hood.

Without preamble, he asked, “What is a Lost One?”

Tanya blinked in surprise—this formidable mage, yet seemingly a newcomer?

Impressed by his strength, she was eager to befriend him.

She explained, “Lost Ones are dream-wanderers who’ve strayed too far into the dream realm, or souls who entered by accident.”

“Corrupted by the dream mist, they gradually lose themselves. Once self-awareness fractures, their bodies begin to decay—fading away, becoming mere monsters driven only to attack other dream-walkers.”

Li Wei pondered briefly, then asked, “Do you know why dream-wanderers become lost?”

Tanya hesitated. “I’m not certain. I’ve heard it said that those who experience too many dreams begin confusing their own consciousness with others’ memories—unable to return to their anchor point, thus trapped, adrift upon the river of dreams.”

Li Wei fell into quiet contemplation.

He’d felt something similar before.

Acquiring another’s memories wasn’t like watching a film.

Memory shards forced foreign recollections into the mind—violently, irrevocably.

At first, it was easy to tell whether a memory belonged to oneself.

Gradually, as memories blurred, it became difficult to discern if they were still one’s own.

This problem could be alleviated through the cultivation of mental strength.

The stronger the mind, the greater the capacity to bear memories, and the less likely one would lose oneself.

Since perfecting the foundational meditation technique, Li Wei had not experienced that sensation again.

His memory capacity was vast.

Devouring memory fragments wasn’t an ability unique to Li Wei.

All dreamwalkers could do it.

Li Wei would carefully select which memory fragments to absorb, discarding those unsuitable.

Moreover, he had a proficiency panel to aid his cultivation—his progress didn’t rely entirely on absorbing memory fragments.

Recently, he’d rarely absorbed cultivation experiences from memory shards at all.

Instead, he spent most of his time grinding proficiency within dreams.

Others didn’t possess his advantages; absorbing memory fragments for cultivation insights was their only shortcut.

Once someone had tasted the sensation of rapid power growth, it was hard to return to slow, steady advancement.

But overindulgence in memory fragments led to losing oneself.

Once begun, it became impossible to stop!

Li Wei asked, “Is there a solution?”

Tanya replied, “Become a dream thief or a dream weaver, and you’ll escape the risk of losing yourself.”

“A dream thief? A dream weaver?” Li Wei looked at her, puzzled.

Tanya explained, “Dreamwalking is a supernatural profession. Dream thieves and dream weavers are advanced paths branching from it.”

“A dream thief can steal another’s dream, replacing the original self to become the protagonist within that dream.”

“Compared to directly absorbing memory fragments, dream thieves explore dreams by impersonating others, greatly reducing the impact of foreign memories on their consciousness.”

“A dream weaver can craft another’s dream, guiding the original self to reveal hidden truths within the dream.”

“Becoming a dream weaver is far harder than becoming a dream thief. It demands immense mental strength and profound insight to weave dreams so vivid they feel real.”

Hearing this, Li Wei gazed at her and asked, “Do you know how to advance?”

Tanya shook her head. “I don’t. I only learned these things from the Wandering Spirit Society.”

“The Wandering Spirit Society?”

Now more mysteries emerged.

Li Wei felt the dream world suddenly grow lively.

Before meeting Tanya, he had always wandered alone in the dream realm.

He’d assumed dreamwalkers were rare—but now it seemed they might be numerous after all.

(End of Chapter)