Chapter 538: The Secret Behind Dream Cultivation! |
“Ready?” Moon asked once I’d gotten myself under control.
I nodded, not even sure what I was saying yes to.
Moon slipped into a meditation posture that managed to look comfortable even with her titanic frame. The three cubs gathered against her sides. “Share dream,” she explained. “Learn faster.”
I could actually feel her pressure growing now, this time with intent behind it. Dream qi began to pool around us, potent far beyond what I could create at my current level. The silvery substance began to thicken, swirling about us like gossamer mist.
A Dream Disciple wouldn’t normally be able to enter shared dreams, that skill only developed when the rank of Lucid Novice was reached. But Moon’s cultivation was so high that she was able to create a dream space that I could access temporarily.
That was good news for me.
It would literally let me feel what it was like to be a Lucid Novice which would accelerate my natural breakthrough.
As the dream realm took shape, the cave faded away, and I found myself standing in what could only be described as a panda’s paradise. Endless bamboo groves stretched from horizon to horizon, mountains in the very distance seeming to be made of crystallized honey, while the very sky radiated the soft colour of real honey. Everything spoke of warmth and peace and total contentment.
I moved through the groves, stunned at not only the extent of it all but how realistic everything felt. Where normal dreams often had fuzzy details and impossible physics, this space had all its rules intact. Every leaf had proper texture, every breeze carried the scent of growing things, every sound had appropriate volume and direction.
The place was surprisingly gentle; it was clear that Moon was more concerned with the simple pleasures in life than displays of power. Though I supposed that made sense; she had chosen to spend her time caring for cubs and helping an injured stranger rather than conquering territory.
After a while of exploring, I decided to try creating my own dream construct. The thing was that anything you could create in a dream could eventually be manifested in the waking world. It wasn't immediate, I would need to reach Thoughtshaper realm for it to work properly, but the seed began here.
I held out my hand and tried to visualize a simple sword. Drawing on Hou's memories of sword training, I tried to channel my understanding into the energies of dream qi. It responded sluggishly, forming a vague sword-shaped outline that flickered and dissolved almost immediately.
I frowned, trying to analyze what I had done wrong.
Usually, this was where I would ask Azure to help me understand, but I really was on my own here. I had to rely on my analytical abilities and the fragmentary knowledge I'd dug from Grandmother Hou's book.
The problem seemed to be one of focus. A dream construct required not just visualization, but genuine belief in their reality. I had previously thought of the sword as more of an imaginary object rather than an actual entity that existed. In the dream world, belief was actual reality similar to another sort of cultivation system I had some experience with.
I tried again, this time putting more belief into the act of imaging things. Instead of thinking of "I'm imagining a sword," I experimented with "I am creating a sword." The difference was subtle but significant in its impact.
This time, my dream qi responded more readily. A normal straight bladed sword with a simple crossguard and a leather wrapped handle appeared before me. It was nothing special, however it felt nice and solid in my hand as I tested the balance.
The moment the construct solidified something clicked deep in my soul. Dream qi started to seep around through new channels and I could feel my cultivation increase to Lucid Novice realm.
It was a smooth breakthrough.
It didn’t have any of the dramatic energy displays that usually came with breakthroughs.
Moon's approval washed over the dreamspace like warm sunlight.
The next major step was Thoughtshaper and that would be more difficult to obtain. They could create constructs that persisted throughout multiple dreams, affect others’ dreamscapes as well. It required a far deeper understanding of the impact belief had on reality in dream realms.
***
The next week whizzed past in the flurry of training.
One of the more interesting aspects was how effective an instructor Moon turned out to be despite her rather limited vocabulary. She would demonstrate exactly how I needed to move the dream qi to be able to do what she wanted me to, and would instill into my mind the feeling of being able to do as she wished through demonstration rather than lengthy explanation.
Hours were spent meditating, feeling the pull of sleep on my mind as I learned to balance walking the fine line the art of dream cultivation required. Dreaming was not simply about creativity and art, because it was vital to remember that several seconds inside your head could translate to hours inside one’s dreams.
I began to focus on creating constructs of increasing complexity but the sword remained my primary focus. Night after night I manifested it again, and tried to make it more perfect, more real, clearer in my mind and sharper outside it. I made refinements, stronger hilt, sharper edges, adjustments to ease hold and swing. The process was oddly similar to traditional weapon forging, except the hammer and anvil were my will and imagination.
By the third day, I could create the sword construct at will.
By the fifth day, I had expanded to other, simple objects: daggers. shields. and basic tools.
My ability to manipulate dream qi was increasing steadily, but I was still unable to manifest something within the real world.
Finally, on the seventh day something clicked.
I was practicing in the early morning hours, once more trying to create a sword construct in the physical plane, rather than a dream realm. I held out my hand and poured dream qi into an imitation sword, believing it was real.
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At first, there was nothing and I had wondered if I’d messed up again.
But thousands of hours of practice were hard to ignore, and soon silver light began to wrap around my fingers like wisps of smoke, flickering in and out of existence until it fused into an unsteady blade.
It took several seconds for it to complete form.
Unlike my dream versions, it was a simple sword, unembellished and solid but like a practice weapon more than a real blade of war. Yet it was real, created with nothing except concentrated dream qi and willpower.
The moment the blade finished forming, my cultivation base leaped forward, and the breakthrough of Thoughtshaper was much more visceral than my entry to Lucid Novice. Silver energy rippled out of me like water slamming against rocks.
Moon rumbled her delight, and the cubs chittered and skittered at me, trying to tap a paw on the starbright sword construct. I quickly dismissed it so that they wouldn’t hurt themselves on the edge. Even a poorly formed dream construct was as much a weapon as a real sword.
“Good,” Moon said proudly. “Strong. Fast.”
***
The next phase of training focused on breaking through to Nightbound Adept realm, but that came with its own challenges.
Dream cultivators advancing to this level needed to work with Night Domains, a layer of the deep dream filled with nightmarish beasts and deep psychological trappings of terror. It was dangerous work, challenging not just skill but mental fortitude. Unfortunately, Moon didn’t have any nightmare domains within her territory. The peaceful nature of her domain was wonderful for raising cubs and learning basic techniques, but it lacked the darker elements necessary for advancement to Nightbound Adept.
"Must go," Moon explained when I asked about the next step. "Find dark dreams. Dangerous."
I could see the concern in her eyes, and part of me was touched by it. She had become mama bear protective of me in recent weeks, fussing over me the way she tended to do her cubs.
"I'll be careful," I promised her, leaning in to press my forehead to hers. "And I’ll return when I breakthrough."
Moon looked less than convinced, but she nodded. She knew cultivation herself well enough to accept that to grow one must take certain risks and embrace the troubled waters beyond the familiar shore.
I left the cave the next morning.
The forest beyond Moon's domain was vast and diverse.
There had to be plenty of places where nightmare realms might take root.
It turned out to be easier than I expected to find my first nightmare realm.
It only took two hours of walking to find a section of woods where the trees grew in twisted, unnatural shapes. The air here felt wrong, oppressive in ways that weren’t normal in the real world.
Deciding this was the place, I settled into meditation.
As a Thoughtshaper, I could directly enter nightmare realms rather than waiting for them to find me in dreams.
The jump was jarring and violent, dragging me from restful forests to falling infinitely through a void of screaming faces. Terror washed over me, tides lapping at a shore that struggled to maintain its shape even as the nightmare gnawed at it.
I lasted maybe thirty seconds before something with too many teeth and not enough humanity ravaged my dream-body. The pain of it was indescribable and I thought for a moment I would actually die. Then suddenly I was back in the forest, whole and unharmed.
According to Elder Wan's explanation, contestants in the Dream World couldn't actually die from environmental hazards. The realm itself would intervene to preserve life, though the methods weren't always pleasant.
In this case, a nearby stream had somehow diverted itself to flow over my body during the nightmare, the cold water shocking me back to consciousness before any permanent damage could occur to my mind. My clothes were soaked, but I was alive and unharmed.
I wrung my robes out and sought another nightmare spot.
The second time went somewhat better.
I made it nearly two minutes in a realm of never-ending mirrors before my reflection stepped out and strangled me to death. I woke up this time because a family of rabbits decided that I made a good windbreak and piled themselves on top of me until their weight woke me up.
This continued for days. I would find another nightmare realm, enter one, suffer some horrible death, and then escape because of some miraculous intervention. A tree branch falling across my chest. A sudden rainstorm. A deer stepping on my foot at just the right moment.
With every death, I learned more about managing fear, holding onto my personal identity amidst a mental assault. A terrifying nightmare realm targeted your sense of self. Attempted to convince you that what you saw was real and fixed. To survive, to hold your ground, you needed to cling to the knowledge that it was just a dream. That was much easier said than done when everything felt so realistic.
By the time the week was over, I could survive in minor nightmare realms for minutes at a time. I started to distinguish exactly what form the attacks would take and develop defenses against them. More importantly, I learned how to take the power of the nightmare and turn the fears and pain into usable dream qi.
It was on the ninth day that I broke into Nightbound Adept.
I was trapped in a realm where the ground tried to swallow anyone who stopped moving, forcing me to run constantly while things with claws chased me through a maze of thorns. Instead of just trying to survive, I finally managed to turn and face one of my pursuers. The nightmare creature dissolved under direct confrontation, and suddenly I understood a fundamental truth about fear; it only had power when you ran from it.
Dream qi surged through my meridians as the realization triggered advancement to Nightbound Adept. The nightmare realm shattered around me like glass, unable to maintain coherence in the face of my newfound understanding.
I woke up naturally this time, feeling more centered and confident than I had in weeks. The forest around me seemed less threatening somehow, as if achieving Nightbound Adept had given me a natural resistance to minor sources of fear and despair.
***
My trip back to Moon’s cave took most of the day but I was excited to share my success with her. The cubs saw me first. They chirped excitedly, then ran in a circle around my legs as I entered the cave.
Moon emerged from the depth of the cave with obvious relief written upon her large face.
“Safe,” was all she said.
It was clear to me my safety mattered more to her than some breakthrough.
“I missed you too,” I said, understanding what she was trying to say.
I really meant it. After nearly a full week of battling nightmares alone, Moon’s calm and gentle demeanor felt similar to returning home. The cubs became demanding of my attention. They climbed all over me and examined each part of my body as though searching for injuries. I laughed and stroked the cubs’ fur softly, appreciating their warm greeting.
Moon motioned for me to join her at the meditation site.
“Next?” Moon questioned after we settled.
“Dream Architect,” I replied. “But I’m not sure how to breakthrough to that realm.”
Dream Architect was a major milestone that required forming permanent dream constructs and gaining access to Dream Gates. It was the first realm where dream cultivators could truly affect the physical world on a significant scale. The problem was, I didn’t really know what Dream Gates were, I had never seen one.
“Show,” Moon said simply when I asked her about them.
She closed her eyes and began to gather dream qi, but this time the amount was staggering. Silver energy poured out of her massive form like a river, filling the entire cave with concentrated dream essence. I had to strengthen my own spiritual defenses to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer density of power.
In front of us, the air started to vibrate and warp.
Reality seemed to fold in on itself, creating a circular opening that revealed... somewhere else. Through the portal I could see a different landscape entirely: mountains made of crystal under a star-filled sky.
This was it – a Dream Gate.
Seeing one for the first time was breathtaking.
Moon opened her eyes and smiled at my obvious amazement.
"More," she said, apparently enjoying my reaction.
She waved her hand and two more Dream Gates materialized in different areas of the cave.
The first Dream Gate from before showed a world where everything looked as if it was made of music; I could see buildings constructed from crystallized melodies and rivers that flowed in complete synchrony.
The second showed a world where gigantic stone statues roamed a desolate terrain, moving slowly while each footstep shook the earth.
“Wait,” I said, staring at the two worlds. “Aren’t they…”
The third gate confirmed my suspicions.
It led to a golden city where everyone wore elaborate crowns and strolled with unwavering self-confidence.
I had been to that realm before; in fact, I had been to all three of them…
The first gate led to the Realm of Living Lyrics.
The second gate led to the Mortal Martial World.
And the third gate led to the Realm of the Chosen.
They weren’t dream worlds at all; they were inner worlds belonging to Civilisation Realm experts!