"The Dream World is a vast treasure, but it also harbors terrible dangers..."
Leilin mused to himself.
Compared to the
The evil gods within were beings that even the ancient Wizards had once feared.
And the perils of the Dream World far exceeded those of the real world—one moment's inattention could lead to the complete collapse of one's true spirit.
Whether encountering an evil god or stumbling upon other environmental hazards, every scenario was extraordinarily dangerous for Leilin in his current state.
What if someone discovered his laboratory and used it as a bridgehead to cross into the Wizard World?
Just the thought of it made his scalp tingle.
He didn't mind being called a human collaborator or anything of the sort, but he would absolutely not play guide without any benefit.
Moreover, having already claimed the Central Continent as his own private domain, Leilin had no desire to see an even more powerful force establish a foothold there.
With the Central Continent's current strength, a single evil god arriving could make the entire Wizard World tremble with fear.
None of that would serve Leilin's interests.
"I'll keep a low profile and focus on exploration!"
After reassuring Furi, Leilin immediately decided to relocate the castle. The current location would be placed under strict quarantine and sealed off, forming an observation zone.
Furi was very understanding about the whole matter. Problems arising during high-level Wizard experiments were perfectly normal, and the seriousness Leilin now displayed was something she had never seen from him before. This incident had to be extremely dangerous. Furi was a sensible woman and immediately supported Leilin's decision.
In truth, even if she hadn't supported it, she had no choice—this kind of high-level contamination was extremely dangerous for low-level Wizards and Warlocks alike.
Furi would never dare risk her child's safety.
After the relocation, Leilin remained at the site under the pretext of monitoring the contamination.
After many experimental disasters, such anomalous scenes and processes constituted valuable research material. Combined with the fabricated signs of experimental failure that the Chip had created, many Warlocks had been thoroughly deceived. As a result, his behavior aroused no suspicion whatsoever, allowing his covert investigation and exploration of the Dream World to continue.
The original Astral laboratory had now become a bizarre bridge connecting the Wizard World and the Dream World. Leilin stood before a statue of a humanoid figure, a contemplative expression on his face.
"So the Dream World's encroachment on this place has already begun?"
Staring at a statue that should never have appeared inside the laboratory, Leilin rubbed his chin, his face clouded with thought.
As a conduit between two worlds, the laboratory itself had been heavily affected by the Dream World's influence. Especially after Leilin's several attempts, the original laboratory had undergone inexplicable changes.
In Leilin's perception, the erosion from the Dream World had never stopped for a single moment, constantly transforming the laboratory's original materials and structures.
If Leilin hadn't already evacuated everyone from the castle, something terrible would surely have happened by now.
And the current laboratory, even with Leilin's Radiant Moon-level strength, felt extraordinarily dangerous.
Leilin stepped forward and touched the statue's surface with his finger. A rough texture transmitted through his fingertips.
[Ding! Scan complete. Target shows no significant radiation. Statue style is consistent with the Eiffel period. Estimated construction time: 61 years ago...]
The Chip projected a dense stream of data before Leilin's eyes, but it was not the information he had hoped for.
"Based on my earlier observations, this time period should be when the Dream World's invasion of this laboratory reaches its peak intensity. After this window passes, the two spaces will gradually drift apart, eventually severing the laboratory's connection to the Dream World entirely!"
The Dream World and the Wizard World were two different great realms, like two parallel sheets of white paper. This laboratory served as a node of mutual attraction between them.
Whether it was the owl feathers left behind from before, or the peculiar explosion from the previous Astral experiment, something had created this extraordinary phenomenon—a probability so infinitesimally low as to be practically negligible. Even Leilin could never replicate it.
But as space and worlds continued to move, these two realms would inevitably separate, and the laboratory would lose its miraculous function.
This window wouldn't last long. After all, linking two alien worlds required energy of terrifying magnitude. Although Leilin didn't yet understand the underlying mechanisms, he could make an educated guess.
And through the Chip's detection, at this very moment, the density of Dream Power inside the laboratory had reached an absolute peak.
"Based on the current rate of erosion, even an evil god on the other side could cross through..."
Looking at the erosion charts and the Dream Power density curve the Chip displayed, a thin sheen of cold sweat appeared on Leilin's forehead.
His laboratory's connection to the Dream World had reached its zenith, after which it would continuously decay. But at this peak point, it was enough to support the passage of entities at the seventh rank or above!
In other words, if there happened to be an evil god in the Dream World that discovered the laboratory's existence right now, it could descend directly into the Wizard World through this conduit!
This was a convenient shortcut—the blood sacrifices and soul offerings that had once been necessary for an evil god's invasion would no longer be obstacles.
"Fortunately! There's no evil god on the other side. And fortunately, this peak can only last for a few days at most..."
A flicker of relief crossed Leilin's face. In such a short window, unless his luck was astronomically terrible, the probability of an evil god finding the laboratory was still extremely low.
Moreover, during this time, he could safely explore the Dream World.
With that thought, Leilin turned his gaze to the other items in the laboratory.
Besides the humanoid statue, a new workbench had appeared at the original location of the Astral Gate. On it were collected specimens of plants and minerals in large quantities.
Even the numerous items from the ruined buildings—discarded coats, hats, and the like—were piled in disorganized heaps to one side, each surrounded by powerful restraint runes. Even their aura and radiation had been completely sealed off.
"The Dream World is fundamentally a world of illusions, so why can these things still exist in the Wizard World?"
This question plagued Leilin. According to his understanding and the words of that owl from before, the Dream World was composed of the dreams of all sentient beings and should consist of purely illusory scenes.
Yet items from those illusory scenes had been brought into the real world, and even ancient evil gods could truly manifest in the Wizard World. Everything was shrouded in far too many mysteries.
"Could it be that the culprit behind all of this is the Dream Power?"
The Dream World was different from the Wizard World—it might not even contain the concept of air. If an ordinary person entered, they would likely suffocate to death immediately, yet other animals and plants thrived there without issue, leaving Leilin perpetually puzzled.
And throughout the Dream World, a mysterious energy permeated everything.
"Dream Power!" This was what Leilin called this force. Based on his earlier theories, it was precisely because of this power's existence that the Dream World was extraordinary—it existed specifically to break all established rules.
"Chip! Activate Astral Vision. Build a multi-spectrum color map. Begin automatic filtering!" Leilin commanded calmly.
[Ding! Astral Vision activating!]the Chip reported faithfully.
Astral Vision was a visual ability unique to the Star Illusion Clan. Since they had originally been Astral beings, their eyes could often perceive things invisible to Wizards.
After obtaining extensive data from the
With the Chip's mechanical response, Leilin's pupils became enveloped in a layer of blue, as if transformed into two sapphires, radiating a crystalline luster.
In Leilin's field of vision, the surrounding colors were filtered layer by layer until only a dark red remained.
Unlike the crimson of his bloodline power, this dark red was filled with a sense of gloom—it seemed to contain every grievance in the world, making Leilin deeply uncomfortable.
"I remember that during yesterday's observation, the Dream Power concentration in the laboratory wasn't this high!"
Leilin watched the dark hue accumulate ever deeper within the crimson Dream Power and shook his head, a thread of worry surfacing in his mind.
He walked over to the workbench, swept aside the other clutter, and revealed a precision cultivation dish.
The entire dish appeared to be crafted from crystal, and through its outer surface, the contents inside were clearly visible.
It was a slowly writhing living thing—resembling a black beetle with enormous compound eyes and six barbed lower limbs.
In Leilin's Astral Vision, vast quantities of dark-red Dream Power were pouring continuously into the beetle, concentrating and compressing, as if replenishing something.
"Dream Power—the force that blurs the line between illusion and reality, existing solely to break all rules?" Leilin murmured.
His hands began to emit a layer of crystalline white light.
Whoosh! He seized streams of dark-red energy in his palms, but they slipped through almost immediately. The impressive soul power of a fifth-rank Radiant Moon Warlock was completely powerless against this Dream Power!
"It's simply not part of the same system at all..."
Leilin let out a bitter smile, then after a moment's thought, placed the cultivation dish into a different energy pool.
"Experiment number five hundred eighty-one, beginning!"
Through constant trial and error, searching for energy that could interact with Dream Power—and ultimately attempting to wield Dream Power itself—this was what Leilin had been striving toward all along.