Chapter 8: The Gate of the Dream Realm

"What do you have to be so sad about?"

Sherry spoke out of the blue, "I should be the one feeling sorry, okay? Chopped by bugs, bitten by a giant lizard... Who even remembers I'm a book? Is this how a book is supposed to be used? Is there anyone in the world more miserable than me!"

"It," Ybur pointed to the dead giant lizard beside them.

"..." Sherry was at a loss for words.

Ybur then turned to observe the Luminous Stone.

"The essence of a Luminous Stone is actually nothing more than demonized rock salt. If licked over a long period, it could even possibly evolve ordinary animals into magical beasts. Therefore, this place must usually have visitors other than just the giant lizard."

Sherry reminded, "This place can serve as your usual hunting ground. As long as you wait patiently, prey will surely come."

Ybur's tentacles flicked twice, and it thought excitedly, "I was thinking the same thing."

But speaking of which, what does a Luminous Stone actually taste like?

With a bit of curiosity, Ybur crawled over and cautiously extended a tentacle to touch the Luminous Stone.

In the first second, it actually didn't feel anything.

It was just very salty, that's all.

But a few seconds later, Ybur started to feel... as if it had been "damaged". The tentacle that had touched the Luminous Rock began to excrete large amounts of liquid, and the skin started to wrinkle up, like a slug that had been salted. If it had the sense of pain, it probably would have leapt up in agony by now.

Ybur quickly backed away, somewhat anxiously, and its body shuddered twice.

"Haha, silly you!" Sherry exclaimed with schadenfreude.

Ybur felt speechless towards the foul-mouthed spirit of the book and turned around to burrow back into the giant lizard's body.

After having digested about half of the giant lizard's flesh from the inside, Ybur guessed the timing was about right and once again entered the Shallow Sea through meditation.

The sea breeze gently wafted, bringing the salty scent of seawater and a faint aroma of seaweed, as the shallow waves rhythmically lapped against the white sandy beach.

Ybur's Mental Phantom emerged from mid-air.

First, it carefully sensed the status of the few Mysterious Sources within its body.

—Mysterious Sources would dissipate.

Just as people could get lost in the Dream Realm, the Mysterious Sources could too.

The Dream Realm had a natural attraction to Mysterious Sources. Over time, the Mysterious Sources would be drawn away by the Dream Realm and disappear. Moreover, the deeper one delved into the Dream Realm, the stronger this attraction became. The rate of Mysterious Source loss would accelerate, and simultaneously, the Mysterious Source needed to open the gate to the next layer of the Dream Realm increased...

In the Shallow Sea, which was not the true Dream Realm, the rate of Mysterious Source loss was very slow. But once one entered the first layer of the Dream Realm, the rate of Mysterious Source depletion would surge. Therefore, once it had gathered enough Mysterious Source, it would need to spend time solidifying it, or else by the next entrance to the Dream Realm, all the Mysterious Source would have long been lost.

Even so, solidification couldn't completely stop the loss of Mysterious Source.

By around the Third Rank, the normal rate of gathering and solidifying Mysterious Source would already be surpassed by the rate of loss. To continue advancing, one would need to learn various Secret Techniques to further slow the loss of Mysterious Source, improve the efficiency of its gathering, or find some special container that could preserve Mysterious Source, and so on.

Upon checking now, Ybur breathed a sigh of relief. The three points of Mysterious Source were still stable, and it seemed far from depleting.

Curiously, the God Secret Source was showing no signs of depletion at all, extremely stable.

Ybur calculated a bit. To "push open the gate" for the first time and choose its pathway, it would only need six points of Mysterious Source, which was enough with one more gathering. Thinking about it, had it really only been two days since it was born until it stepped onto the Spiritual Brilliance Pathway?

But on reflection, it seemed Ruby had a similar experience—Ruby spent several months learning meditation, then the same amount of time to learn gathering Mysterious Source. But after mastering it, stepping onto the pathway had only taken two meditation sessions.

It felt like standing on the shoulders of a giant, inheriting Ruby's experience, making the initiation process smooth and time-efficient.

As for the pathway he would choose afterward...

Ybur and Sherry had discussed this matter. Though Sherry could be foul-mouthed, she was indeed reliable when it came to giving advice, and her suggestions coincided with Ybur's own thoughts.

Ruby was experienced in the Spiritual Brilliance Pathway, but the Spiritual Brilliance Pathway wasn't suitable for her.

Ybur had a better option in mind.

He spent several hours condensing the remaining three Mysterious Sources.

Then, Ybur began to prepare for the ritual.

The first gate-opening ceremony of entering a pathway required a place with "blood" and a "blade." His body was currently coiled inside the giant lizard, so naturally, the giant lizard's blood and teeth were available and perfectly met the ritual's conditions.

Ybur started to meditate seriously, and in his Mental Phantom's hands, a small knife slowly materialized.

He thrust the knife into the chest of his Mental Phantom.

In an instant, a pain from the soul pierced through his entire consciousness. Ybur trembled uncontrollably from the pain, yet he suppressed it and loudly recited the incantation for the gate-opening ceremony:

"I!"

"I offer my Mysterious Source to the Dream Realm!"

"I open the gate to the Dream Realm with my wound!"

——Pain can awaken a person from a dream, whereas death plunges one into eternal slumber from wakefulness. At the border between dreams and wakefulness, there lies the gate; ordinary people cannot find it, only those who are enlightened and grasp a glimpse of the Dream Realm through their pain may catch a shadow of that gate.

It was a wound, a scar opened by the Dream Realm.

Before opening the great gate, one must first open oneself.

Suppressing the severe pain, Ybur slowly pressed the knife downward. His Mental Phantom was gradually split open by the knife, and from the wound, stars of the Dream Realm flowed out.

He whispered softly, "Untie the laces—"

"Let the window be wide open."

"My blade cuts through my spirit and flesh, just like a key turning in a lock!"

For a moment, the dream-like starlight burst forth from the wound, filling every corner of his vision.

Ybur perked up and looked intently; the great gate slowly emerged among the stars. This was the door to beginnings, the origin of Transcendent Power; before this door, Transcendents should bow in reverence as apprentices.

Above the gate, there were six dim sockets. Ybur grunted, struggling to walk forward, and as he touched his palm to the gate, he felt a strong pull from the gate, a thirst of the Dream Realm's gate for the Mysterious Source.

Just as he was about to infuse his Mysterious Source into it, Ybur suddenly remembered his peculiar God Secret Source.

What would happen if he inserted that thing into it?

Then again, although the God Secret Source was named as such, it wasn't certain whether it truly belonged to the Mysterious Source or not.

Ybur hesitated slightly. The first gate-opening was when one would choose their profession, so utmost caution was necessary. Throwing something unknown into the mix, who knew what the consequences would be—Sherry certainly would have a field day criticizing him for it.

...But it didn't matter!!

Ybur immediately cast aside his reservations, excitedly thinking, I'm going to do it!

Ha-ha, reckless!!