The morning after the battle with the Umbral Fenrir, the air in Frostveil Monastery was tense and brittle. Ice crystals danced in the filtered sunlight that slipped through cracks in the mountain stone, scattering shards of rainbow light across the floor. Tianming stood by the broken vault, one hand on the beast's cold fur. Umbral Fenrir had taken a physical form that was smaller now, more akin to a midnight hound than the titanic predator of the Abyss.
The beast's breathing was steady, shallow. Subdued.
"He's... recovering," Zhao Yueyin said. She crouched beside him, watching the former enemy with the eyes of a cautious hawk.
"He's not an enemy anymore," Tianming replied. "He's mine now. And through him, I can feel the Abyss—just a flicker, like a whisper behind a door."
Lan Mei folded her arms. "Then it's time we talked about what's next."
The Frozen Oracle appeared, stepping lightly over the cracked frost. "You must head south. The cult's forces are moving. The Dream-Eater has been unleashed."
Tianming turned sharply. "The Dream-Eater?"
The Oracle nodded gravely. "A spirit beast from the Void, older than recorded history. It feeds not on flesh, but on sanity. It crawls through dreams, sowing fear, and turning the brave into cowards. One dream, one whisper, and entire cities crumble."
Lan Mei paled slightly. "That's what destroyed Shenshui City five decades ago. It wasn't a plague—it was that thing."
"It was bound," said the Oracle. "Now it's free. You must reach the Temple of Echoes before it does."
---
Three Days Later – Southern Pass
The journey south from Xuejing was arduous. Unlike the snowy valleys, the Southern Pass was plagued by violent spirit winds and shifting terrain. Mountains of granite bled red under the sun's gaze, and thunderclouds clung low to the hills, threatening calamity.
Tianming rode ahead on the back of Umbral Fenrir, the beast's sleek form weaving nimbly across broken roads. Zhao Yueyin and Lan Mei flanked him on spirit horses summoned by their clans.
By the second day, the winds grew worse. On the third night, as they camped beneath a dead willow tree, Tianming's eyes snapped open just before dawn.
He had dreamed.
In that dream, he walked alone through the ruins of the Imperial City. Fire rained from above. Screams echoed from alleys and broken towers. In the distance, the Emperor's Palace crumbled like paper.
Then a voice, soft and silken, whispered into his ear:
"One by one, your stars shall fall. And in the end, even the brightest light dies."
Tianming stood abruptly, drenched in sweat.
"A nightmare?" Zhao Yueyin asked, stepping out from the shadows.
"No. The Dream-Eater found me."
She stiffened. "You resisted. That's... rare."
"I didn't resist," he admitted. "Something inside me pushed it out. The system? The celestial core? I don't know. But it wasn't me."
Lan Mei emerged, readying her blades. "Then we ride harder. If it's reaching this far into our minds, it's getting close."
---
The Temple of Echoes
Located deep within the Valley of Winds, the Temple of Echoes was a monastic site once dedicated to mental cultivation and dream-walking. Built around a natural spring with high psychic resonance, it had been a place of peace and prophecy for millennia.
Now it stood in ruin.
When Tianming and his companions arrived, black mist curled from the shattered columns. The temple grounds were littered with the unconscious bodies of monks, their minds trapped in unending nightmares.
Tianming knelt beside one. The monk's eyes were wide open, mouth agape, and his hands clawed at nothing.
"He's still dreaming," Tianming murmured.
The Oracle's voice echoed in his mind. To fight the Dream-Eater, you must enter the Dreamscape.
He placed his hand on the monk's forehead. The system responded.
> Dream-Link Initiated Anchor Points: Zhao Yueyin, Lan Mei Dive Commencing...
---
Within the Dreamscape
The world shimmered.
Tianming blinked and found himself in a city made of glass and memory. Every building reflected fragments of his past—training in the starlit courtyard of his childhood, his first spiritual awakening, his first failure. The sky was a churning mass of eyes.
Zhao Yueyin and Lan Mei stood beside him, though their forms were semi-transparent, like ghosts.
Lan Mei gasped. "This place is... wrong."
Tianming drew Starpiercer. "We find the Dream-Eater. We kill it."
The shadows twisted. From behind a mirror-tower stepped the beast—a tall, faceless thing with arms like tendrils and a chest that opened into a vortex of screaming mouths.
> Entity Detected: Dream-Eater (Abyssal-Class) Abilities: Mind Invasion, Illusion Rebirth, Dream Consumption
The creature raised its arms. The world buckled. Tianming suddenly found himself alone in his childhood home. His mother sobbed in the corner, covered in blood.
"You let them die," the illusion whispered.
"No," Tianming growled. He slashed through the vision.
Next, he stood over Zhao Yueyin's corpse. Her eyes stared blankly.
"You couldn't protect her."
He roared, invoking the Stellar Dominion Array. A burst of starlight shattered the illusion.
Lan Mei reappeared, struggling against her own phantom—a twisted version of her father berating her, blaming her.
"You are not real!" she screamed, slicing it apart.
They regrouped.
The Dream-Eater hissed, recoiling. It tried again, sending a wave of illusions, but now they were ready. Tianming activated Voidbane Flame, lighting the dream-world ablaze. The creature screeched.
Zhao Yueyin channeled the Crimson Phoenix Art, her flames purging false visions. Lan Mei struck at its heart with blades glowing in resonance with Tianming's array.
Tianming called on the Umbral Fenrir's soul—its essence reached him even through the dream. With a mighty howl, he unleashed the Lunar Eclipse Howl.
The dream rippled. The creature faltered.
"You... are unworthy..." it moaned.
"I am the light that will pierce your void!" Tianming shouted.
He leapt forward, spear-first, and plunged Starpiercer through the vortex of mouths. Light exploded.
---
Outside the Dream
The monks stirred. One by one, they awoke, gasping as though surfacing from water. The mist evaporated. The Temple of Echoes, though cracked and broken, felt lighter.
Tianming exhaled, blood dripping from his nose.
> System Notification: Dream-Eater Defeated Reward: Mindsteel Will (+35% Resistance to Mental Attacks) Celestial Core Resonance: +12%
Zhao Yueyin steadied him. "You're changing. Again."
"We all are," Tianming said. "The deeper we go, the more we leave behind the old world."
Lan Mei wiped her blade clean. "And the more we realize what we're really up against."
He nodded. "We were chosen to guard this world, not because we're perfect, but because we refuse to break."
---
In the Cult's Sanctum
Master Corvus stared at a dark pool. The image of the Dream-Eater unraveling replayed over and over.
"He's stronger than expected," said his shadow advisor.
"He's walking the path of stars and flame," Corvus murmured. "Then it's time we prepare the Gate. The true Gate."
The advisor bowed. "Shall I awaken the Sleeper?"
Corvus turned, eyes glowing with dark promise. "Yes. Let the gods we forgot remember our names in dread."
To Be Continued in Chapter 44: The Sleeper Stirs