Chapter 882: Milestone Success and the Power of the Fool's Dream
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 882: Milestone Success and the Power of the Fool's Dream
Fortunately, Yu Yun didn't suffer any accidents.
"I'm fine..."
Though Yu Yun existed in the form of a "Dream State Soul," her transmitted words were saturated with exhaustion.
This state of affairs made me worry about her current condition.
"Yu Yun, do you feel unwell anywhere? If it's too much, we can give up for now. We have plenty of opportunities; don't push yourself until you break," I said urgently.
"I'm okay... Sister Xiao Han... I'm just... a little tired... Zzz... snore..."
Yu Yun forced herself to stay awake long enough to explain the situation to me, but in the next moment, she fell into a deep sleep.
Falling asleep within the Primitive Dream Realm... it was a strange way to put it.
However, so-called sleep was essentially a state of conscious relaxation, and the same held true even within a dream.
Yu Yun slept on, her occasional instinctive movements letting me know that no accident had befallen her.
Looking closely at her now, her form was even more petite than before, and the Dream State Soul Essence had been completely depleted.
Regardless, with the conclusion of the experiment, I had used Yu Yun and my Soul Depiction technique to confirm one thing: purified Nightmares were indeed what I called Dream State Soul Essence!
Obtaining this definitive information in advance would drastically accelerate the progress of the experiment to convert Soul Essence into Dream State Soul Essence!
After all, a massive amount of Dream State Soul Essence was the foundation for the Fool's Dream clan to achieve true life.
I held Yu Yun beneath the Tree of Fool's Dream, keeping watch over her.
The experiment seemed to have ended, but for me, it had only just begun.
I had to monitor Yu Yun's state at all times because I wasn't sure if her current form counted as "life."
As of now, Yu Yun hadn't caused any major disturbances, reality offered no prompts, and she hadn't become a Primal Fool's Dream.
Of course, there were still many elements and concepts I hadn't tested in this experiment.
The intertwining of consciousness and memory, the birth of wisdom, the deepening of the soul, the definition of racial concepts, the inscription of bloodline information...
I didn't know what was still missing, but I intended to give the Fool's Dream everything I could think of.
I didn't know how long Yu Yun would sleep, but I planned to stay by her side for as long as it took. I wasn't short on time.
Accompanying the Fool's Dream wasn't a waste of time; observing Yu Yun's changes every moment was also a process of cognitive discovery.
At this time, Yulan, Yu Guo, and Yu Xing also came forward to keep me company.
Many of the Fool's Dream creatures on the periphery stopped their playing and gathered around. They were all anticipating Yu Yun's success—the success of the experiment.
"Sister Xiao Han, did Yu Yun... succeed?"
"I'm not sure... From an experimental standpoint, it was a success, but there is likely still a long way to go before she becomes a true living being."
"So it's what you call a 'milestone success,' right, Sister Xiao Han?"
"Mhm~ Yes~ A milestone success," I replied with a smile.
After the experiment ended, I waited for an entire day.
During this period, I wasn't idle. Although a day might seem short, if one is merely waiting for a sleeping Yu Yun, the time can feel incredibly stretched.
I leaned against the Tree of Fool's Dream with the other three little ones accompanying me. From time to time, other Fool's Dream creatures would wander over—some out of curiosity, others... with questions.
Yes, questions. Questions they encountered during their learning process.
Most of their problems stemmed from the Tree of Great Knowledge. Studying knowledge was the most common activity for the Fool's Dream creatures who chose to stay in Fool's Village.
I resolved their doubts one by one. These questions weren't without answers; rather, some were so complex that even with the answer in front of them, they couldn't understand the derivation.
Their questions were all over the place. After all... even the Fool's Dream had their own likes and preferences.
For instance, some would even bring basic knowledge regarding the transcendent system to ask me.
The one that left the deepest impression on me was a passing comment made by a Fool's Dream creature after her question was answered.
She asked me if the Fool's Dream could also master this kind of power once they became true living beings.
My answer to her was... "Yes."
After my conversation with the Rebel Witch Sheryl, I realized that for ordinary people who lacked Spirit Vision—that ticket to the transcendent—they had to pay a higher price and exert far more effort.
The same applied to the Fool's Dream.
Casting spells wasn't something that could be done simply by having so-called mental strength. This made me think of affinity. After my Heart Sense underwent that metamorphosis, it broke through its limits and touched upon the domain of affinity.
Precisely because I was originally the type with zero affinity tendencies, I understood just how terrifying the boost from affinity was in the transcendent field.
This led to another question.
What kind of power should the Fool's Dream master?
Should I have them master standard transcendent power and cultivate themselves?
I instinctively wanted to reject that idea. How could the Fool's Dream be so ordinary!
Then I thought of something else... the power of Holy Relics. That was the power I had originally wanted to bestow upon them.
But... even now, I couldn't define the power of a Holy Relic.
I had already given meaning to the characteristics of the Holy Relics themselves.
But how could the Fool's Dream use such power freely?
Powerful races were born with strength granted by their race and bloodline. Even witches—witches who were transcendent from birth—possessed self-generated mana.
The word "mana" might sound light, but in witch history, before the techniques for Resonant Mana Sources were invented, mana alone could bring calamity to a world!
In small worlds, any random witch could be called a Calamity Witch or a World-Destroying Witch.
Because mana was simply that terrifying.
After all, mana was the highest energy level of transcendent energy that a void lifeform could master.
So, the question returned to the start: what power should the Fool's Dream master?
This was a problem that truly gave me a headache.
It wasn't until the moment Yu Yun woke up that a very familiar power popped into my mind—"Power of Knowledge."
But that was merely a hypothesis.
Immediately after, my attention and gaze were entirely focused on Yu Yun.
"How is it? Are you okay, Yu Yun?"
"Ugh... Sister Xiao Han, I'm fine." Yu Yun subconsciously rubbed her eyes and looked at me.
As her gaze gradually cleared, I knew she was likely out of danger.
"It's good that you're okay. Why don't we head out?" I said, holding the now significantly smaller Yu Yun in my soul form.
"Okay! Um... Sister Xiao Han, am I in a form similar to yours now?"
"It is indeed very similar. But clearly, at this stage, you haven't completely finished the metamorphosis into a Dream State Soul Essence. I might need to refine the Soul Depiction technique further to help you complete this process."
I carried Yu Yun while discussing experiment-related topics with the others, eventually returning to the Constant Dream Laboratory.
Once back in the dream, I returned to reality in my soul essence form and took control of my physical body.
After moving around a bit, I stood before Yu Yun.
Currently, Yu Yun and I were separated by the barrier between reality and dreams. I have to admit, I was starting to feel a bit nervous.
Because what I was about to do next was have Yu Yun attempt to cross from the dream into reality in her Dream State Soul form!
If this attempt succeeded, it would completely prove that my line of thinking was correct!
"Yu Yun, can you try to cross the boundary between dream and reality in your soul form?" I asked.
"I'll... try..."
Yu Yun spoke hesitantly; she was clearly lacking confidence.
As she began her attempt, she suddenly took on an expression of great pain.
"No... I can't... it feels like my soul is... is being torn apart..." Yu Yun said with difficulty.
"Soul tearing?! Stop, quickly!" I hurriedly tried to intervene, but Yu Yun persisted.
"Yu Yun! Stop now! Do you hear me!" This was the first time I had seen Yu Yun disobey my words.
"I... I want to prove... that your direction is right, Sister Xiao Han... A Dream State Soul must be able to cross between dreams and reality... If I can't cross, it's not... not your mistake, Sister Xiao Han... it's because I'm not strong enough..."
Yu Yun spoke in fragments. Despite the obvious agony, she continued.
"Don't force yourself to suffer for no reason!"
"It's okay... even if my soul tears, I'll just return to my original form at worst... Do you see? Sister Xiao Han, it's possible!" Yu Yun cried out excitedly, showing me the part of her body that had crossed into reality, completely ignoring the pain she was enduring.
Seeing her body straddling the line between reality and the dream world moved me, but the sight of her soul tearing was more than I could bear. I reached out and yanked her back into the dream.
"I saw it. So stop pushing yourself. Please, value yourself more, okay?" I said to Yu Yun with a very serious expression.
"Ugh... I understand." Yu Yun seemed to have just recovered. she looked at me and lowered her head to admit her mistake.
"It's good that you know you were wrong. I know you really wanted to prove something, but I'm not lacking in time, ability, or opportunity. You all are more important than any so-called success, do you understand!"
"I understand..." Having been lectured, Yu Yun quickly recognized her error.
Seeing her looking so pitiful, I didn't have the heart to keep scolding her.
Perhaps... in the moment it was happening, I should have supported Yu Yun in doing that, in being brave.
Because if it were me, I would have done the exact same thing.
There was no grand reason... it was simply because it was the most efficient way, and even if things went wrong, the worst-case scenario was exactly what Yu Yun said: returning to the beginning.
I could use the Mimicry Soul Technique to carry Yu Yun's consciousness and Seed of Wisdom, and everything would go back to how it was at the start.
"However... you were very brave just now, Yu Yun." I crossed my soul into the dream and gently stroked Yu Yun's small head. Facing the Fool's Dream, I couldn't bring myself to be a stern educator for long. "You proved to me that my hypothesis was correct, which gives me the motivation to keep going. But you aren't allowed to be so reckless next time, okay?"
"Mhm!" Yu Yun nodded vigorously!
Being praised for being brave made her truly happy!
As for whether she took the second half of my sentence to heart... that remained to be seen.
"Let's go. First, stabilize this state of yours, and then we'll slowly try to figure out how to perfect this life essence," I said.
Although the current Yu Yun could be described to some extent as a "Dream Soul Lifeform," she felt to me like a work of art made of building blocks—fragile enough to shatter at a touch.
Life shouldn't be so fragile.
Based on Yu Yun's current form and the problems that needed solving, the challenges facing the Dream Life Experiment were becoming clear.
I simply needed to overcome these problems one by one, step by step.
While helping Yu Yun stabilize her Dream State Soul, my previous thought resurfaced.
The power mastered by the Fool's Dream.
The idea that had popped into my head earlier: "Power of Knowledge."
This wasn't just a wild fantasy.
What was Power of Knowledge?
Power of Knowledge was the manifestation of order and the form of power derived from my domain order.
So, what was my domain?
My domain was built upon my self-awakened Body Cultivation and my two Great... no, now it was one Great Spellbook and the Holy Relics.
The Fool's Dream clan represented a "concept" similar to the Great Spellbook.
Therefore, the Fool's Dream clan could also be a part of the domain order.
Of course, this wasn't about enslaving the Fool's Dream to become part of my power. Rather, it was about distributing the order of the domain to them.
Since the Fool's Dream clan had replaced the Great Wisdom Enlightenment Art, theoretically, they could become the "subjects" of the domain order.
After all, I was the subject of the self-awakened Body Cultivation power, using Heart Sense as the foundation to dominate the domain order.
The Fool's Dream could do something similar!
Using the Fool's Dream as an "extension" of the domain wasn't just about distributing power; it was a win-win situation of shared burden and shared progress!
More importantly, the foundation of the Fool's Dream—the Tree of Fool's Dream—was closely related to the Tree of Great Knowledge. If the Fool's Dream carried the power of the Holy Relics, the rank of the Tree of Fool's Dream would essentially be on par with the Tree of Great Knowledge. Through mutual supplementation, they would form a complementary relationship with my domain.
It could be said that from the very beginning, the Fool's Dream was completely linked to me.
The Fool's Dream would use the power of the Holy Relics to supplement the domain order and master the ability of Power of Knowledge.
Even if their little heads couldn't necessarily comprehend domains and orders, let alone dominate such power perfectly, the order of a domain was itself a synonym for strength. At the very least, this would allow the Fool's Dream to barely master some power.
But this was still just an idea.
After all... even in the records I had collected from the Tree of Great Knowledge, I couldn't find an idea as crazy as mine.
Using an entire race as the carrier for [Transcendent Knowledge], and then using them as base points to complete the domain order!
Then, sharing the domain with them, jointly dominating and developing the domain's order. The stronger the Fool's Dream became, the more powerful this "Composite Domain" would grow!
No one could define if this still counted as a conventional domain, but it could exist this way, and existence itself was a form of validity.
So... I was willing to try!
Before long, Yu Yun's state gradually stabilized.
Now, I was no longer in a rush.
At the very least, I had one purification method as a final safety net. I only needed to purify enough Dream State Soul Essence.
In the meantime, I could also experiment with more purification methods to find a more convenient way.