Chapter 839: Uninvited Guests in Fool's Village
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 839: Uninvited Guests in Fool's Village
Fool's Village.
As I ascended the Starlight Tower, I witnessed with my own eyes the darkness that now shrouded the sky above the village, blotting out the starlight.
This was the breach created when my soul descended upon Fool's Village—a rift that had allowed a massive influx of dream creatures to discover its existence.
Once countless dream creatures formed a dream tide and assaulted the village, this dream known as Fool's Village was effectively anchored with actual dream coordinates by these entities.
If Fool's Village had previously been an unlocatable existence within the Primitive Dream Realm, it was now completely exposed.
Its conceptual coordinates could be anchored, forcing me to use my Domain Order to cover the entire village, utilizing the Power of Knowledge to seal it off.
To be honest... I had been conflicted about how to ultimately "handle" an existence like Fool's Village. I couldn't predict how things would develop.
If the process of shaping life for the Fool's Dream clan went perfectly, all of them could cross over into reality.
But what if it didn't go smoothly?
Would they remain in Fool's Village... left to their own devices, continuing to repeat their lives in the Primitive Dream Realm forever, just as they had in the past?
Was that even possible?
And so, I thought of another way.
Or rather, it wasn't so much a thought as it was an "observation" of a possibility.
I observed that Fool's Village was undergoing a "displacement" within the Primitive Dream Realm, following the anchor between myself and reality.
Logically, it should have been impossible for me to move a "dream world" as massive as Fool's Village.
It wasn't until I learned from the Village Chief what Fool's Village truly was, and how the Holy Relic maintained its existence, that I understood.
Fool's Village was the Dream Scroll, and the Dream Scroll was Fool's Village itself.
Of course, the Fool's Dream folk weren't aware of this. This was a hypothesis I had formed based on the Village Chief's descriptions and my own investigations.
The Dream Scroll appeared to be "recording," but in reality, it was "enacting." Every member of the Fool's Dream clan constituted a scene within that scroll.
The reason their dream consciousness hadn't been tainted by nightmares was that the Holy Relic remained untainted. When a member of the clan was forcibly corrupted by dream creatures, it triggered the Dream Scroll's repair mechanism; they would spontaneously leave the village to preserve the rest of their kin.
However, I had intervened in that process, which was the primary reason for the Village Chief's initial hesitation. Fortunately, my method of stripping away the nightmares hadn't caused any ultimate disaster.
Because the Dream Scroll was part of the Holy Relic, once it anchored to me, it began spontaneously moving toward the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment anchored in reality.
This caused Fool's Village to continuously "surface" within the Primitive Dream Realm.
I took advantage of this trait to strengthen the anchor.
I also reinforced my Domain Order to solidify the connection between the two. Everything I did was intended to accelerate the descent of Fool's Village into reality.
Even if it couldn't fully manifest in reality, reaching the Shallow Dream would at least ensure it was no longer in danger.
After all, in the Shallow Dream, even I could directly guide the order of reality into the dreamscape. Those dream creatures wouldn't have the right to act tough in front of me.
Given the relationship between the Dream Scroll—the essence of the village—and the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment, anchoring it permanently in the Shallow Dream of the Expansion Realm would be a simple task.
Thus, the initial plan seemed perfect.
As for the life experiments... at worst, I could take my time later to research how to turn the Fool's Dream folk into true living beings.
Accelerating the village's departure from the deep layers of the Primitive Dream Realm was a highly beneficial plan that went with the flow of the current situation, but it also carried significant risks.
The main issue was that the "displacement" of the Fool's Village concept within the Primitive Dream Realm would inevitably stir up unknown entities slumbering within those depths. Though the probability was low, it wasn't zero. Furthermore, such movement would attract swarms of dream creatures to raid the village.
The Village Chief had summoned me for exactly this reason.
Those dream creatures were already attempting to break through my Domain Order with sheer, overwhelming numbers!
"It's alright. If it's just this much, those dream creatures won't be able to break my seal. Besides, I've screened for their specific traits. The great net woven from the Power of Knowledge surrounding the village is designed specifically to intercept them."
I spoke to comfort the anxious Village Chief.
"Is that true? No... I mean... Sage, a dream creature might have already broken through your seal..."
"Broken through my seal? How is that possible?" My eyes widened slightly in disbelief. But once I confirmed it was true, my expression soured.
The plan to lead the Dream Scroll to the Shallow Dream hadn't even been in motion for long before something like this happened...
It seemed I had still seriously miscalculated my own strength.
From now on, I couldn't afford to be as "leisurely" as before. I had to remain vigilant against intrusions at all times.
After all, if even a single dream creature got inside, it would be a wolf among sheep!
"Stay here... I'll go deal with it." As I finished speaking, a flight of stairs guided me toward the upper reaches of Fool's Village.
My mind was already racing with ways to reinforce the Domain Order. To reach the Shallow Dream as planned, I had divided the sealing and maintenance of order for Fool's Village into at least three stages with backup contingencies.
But looking at it now, three stages weren't enough.
How else could I reinforce the order?
Should I rely on... that rudimentary sense of space I'd only recently acquired and hadn't yet mastered?
As I pondered these things, I arrived at the breach in the seal.
"Wait... this doesn't look like a dream creature?" I looked at the figure before me. It was clearly different from the bizarre, shifting forms of the dream creatures.
Furthermore... the information radiating from this "existence" felt very familiar.
It triggered a distant memory.
A Dream Demon!
"A Dream Demon?"
I frowned in confusion, then recalled the information about the outside world I'd gathered while communicating with Sister Bai recently.
Currently, any Transcendent Academy in the Main World capable of researching the Primitive Dream Realm had arrived in the Expansion Realm for "collaborative research."
As a specialized existence from the Abyssal Demon Academy, it made sense for a Dream Demon to appear here.
But her presence here was highly abnormal!
This was the deep Primitive Dream Realm!
How did these Dream Demons find their way down here?
"Hahaha... Who would have thought the culprit behind the Dreamscape Calamity was actually this peculiar dream world? Such strange dream rules... They might stop those dream creatures, but they can't stop me! Hehe... I wonder once I get back—huh?"
The Dream Demon clearly hadn't grasped the situation yet. With a little "help" from me, she tumbled into Fool's Village, her mouth still rambling like a madwoman.
Until she saw me.
"Don't you know that getting carried away can lead to a very ugly death?" I locked eyes with her. Either way, I wasn't the one who was going to be embarrassed.
"You... You! How can there be a person in this dream world?! And... the language of the Main World! Who are you?!" Upon seeing me, the Dream Demon flinched instinctively. She wasn't just startled by my presence; she was shocked by such an illogical existence.
"You don't recognize me?"
Looking at the Dream Demon, I suddenly felt like laughing. In the Transcendent Academies of the Main World, surely anyone with a bit of status should recognize me?
After all, I'm quite distinctive. Take this white hair, for instance.
It's only recently become somewhat trendy in the Witch Academy; anyone else seeing white hair should immediately think of me.
Besides, my grievances with the Dream Demons weren't a one-time thing. From the initial incident in Ninglan New City to that assassination attempt... even if the Abyssal Demon Academy didn't have a high profile, they should still know who I am.
After all, I'm currently on the hit lists of several other Transcendent Academies.
However, I was actually being unfair to this Dream Demon. Their role wasn't that of a student at the Abyss Academy; they weren't even true living beings. They were merely tools for exploring the Primitive Dream Realm, so naturally, they wouldn't know the prominent figures of the Main World.
From another perspective, I didn't recognize the students of other Transcendent Academies either, so I suppose we were even.
"Should I know—urk..."
Before the Dream Demon could finish, I subdued her in an instant.
Did she really dare to raise a hand against me in a place like Fool's Village, which was dominated by my Domain Order?
In the Primitive Dream Realm, anyone who doesn't understand the rules and lacks the means to utilize them is classified as an "ordinary person."
Even Dream Demons were no exception.
The specialty of a Dream Demon lay in their ability to shift between dreams and reality, but having delved this deep into the Primitive Dream Realm, she couldn't perform an instantaneous shift. Fool's Village wouldn't give her the chance.
Her primary function was to help adapt to the environment of the Primitive Dream Realm, serving as a tool to gather data.
The applicability of her abilities was essentially the same as the range of Dream Demon Spells.
Perhaps she had relied on her Dream Demon traits to reach such depths.
Or perhaps it had something to do with the anchor I'd left behind.
I had left three anchors—the three foundations of my domain: the two Great Spellbooks and my Body Cultivation power.
The Domain Order had shaped the stairs to anchor the concept of a "passage," representing my ability to travel between the dream and reality. The two fragments of [Transcendent Knowledge] used their own power to facilitate communication between the two realms.
Meanwhile, the Tree of Great Wisdom Enlightenment served as the associated object for the "Dream Scroll," acting as the motive force pulling Fool's Village toward the surface of the Primitive Dream Realm.
I didn't listen to any more of the Dream Demon's nonsense and simply bundled her up to take away.
I hadn't expected this "dream creature invasion" to be a false alarm, but I was glad it was.
I briefly inspected the order of the dream domain and the great net woven from the Power of Knowledge. The resistance this order provided against dream creatures actually exceeded my expectations.
Everything was still according to plan!
Now, the priority was to find the Village Chief and give her the good news, while also "interrogating" this Dream Demon to see if I could pry out any useful information or intelligence.
"I'm back~"
I called out to the Village Chief, who was still waiting anxiously on the Starlight Tower. Her expression softened slightly, but her gaze was quickly drawn to the Dream Demon behind me.
"Sage, you've returned? And the one behind you... did you not destroy the dream creature on the spot?" the Village Chief asked, sounding confused.
"This fellow isn't a dream creature. And she doesn't have a nightmare within her."
"Not a dream creature?" The Village Chief tilted her head, not quite understanding. Were there things other than dream creatures outside in the Primitive Dream Realm?
"Yes. They are called Dream Demons, a type of creature created by a transcendent race in the real world known as Abyssal Demons. They can dive into the Primitive Dream Realm. This one just snuck into Fool's Village and nearly became the one that got away."
After all, the screening process I'd built into the order targeted the "nightmare" trait. Regardless of what an entity was, the nightmare was the concept harmful to the Fool's Dream folk. Coincidentally, a Dream Demon was neither a dream creature nor a nightmare, which was why she had nearly slipped through my seal.
"Dream Demon?"
"Right. You can think of them as beings similar to yourselves. Like the Fool's Dream clan, they aren't true life forms. But they are very wicked and work for an even wickeder group of people. If you ever encounter one, you must tell me immediately so I can deal with them."
I slowly taught the Village Chief how to handle these matters, trying to show them how to avoid danger. Since a first Dream Demon had appeared, there would likely be a second.
A sense of vigilance had to be established first.
"I understand!" The Village Chief nodded seriously. "By the way, should I tell everyone about this? I think it's necessary for them to know. That way, everyone will be wary of these creatures."
"Of course. It's best to notify every member of the clan. The fact that these Dream Demons broke into the village was quite unexpected. It might be difficult for me to modify the identification and screening mechanism of the seal right now, so these Dream Demons might intrude in unexpected places."
I agreed with the Village Chief's suggestion and entrusted her with the task. As for me?
I was going to interrogate this Dream Demon right here and see if I could squeeze some useful information out of her.
I also intentionally wanted to send the Village Chief away.
The interrogation process would likely be a bit too "mature" for the Fool's Dream folk to witness.
Even though the members of the Fool's Dream clan were likely older than me by several lifetimes, I was referring to their psychological and cognitive age.
Choosing to conduct the interrogation here at the Starlight Tower also allowed me to remain at the highest point of the village. From here, I could easily oversee any abnormalities in Fool's Village and resolve them immediately, preventing any more Dream Demons from causing a large-scale disturbance.