A Dream, Yet Not a Dream

Xue Xiaoran suddenly felt a chill all over his body, causing him to open his eyes.

He was not in the warm tent, nor was he beneath the blankets. He was lying in the grass.

He could do nothing and say nothing, only keep his eyes open as he watched the scenes before him rapidly unfold.

Learning to walk, learning to hunt, learning to build a little nest for himself.

Xue Xiaoran witnessed the growth of a soul beast.

One day, when Xue Xiaoran looked into the lake, he discovered that he was watching this life from the perspective of the Imperial Auspicious Beast.

Was this a dream, or...?

Xue Xiaoran fell silent. If this was a dream, then it was truly far too wondrous.

He witnessed its growth. From beginning to end, it had always been alone.

"So lonely."

Xue Xiaoran looked at the distant forest and sighed with sympathy.

That single look spanned ten thousand years.

Ten thousand years passed in the blink of an eye before Xue Xiaoran. He saw far too much death, far too many tragedies. All things existed in a cycle of reincarnation.

Xue Xiaoran sighed. If this was the life of a soul beast, then it was truly too suffocating.

Protected by Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts and never coming into contact with living beings from the outside world, the Imperial Auspicious Beast was like a canary locked inside a cage.

In the final scene, he saw himself. He saw himself leap from the waterfall, then fall into the bottom of the lake.

His vision immediately went dark.

Dawn was just breaking.

Xue Xiaoran woke naturally according to his body clock. He yawned. Sleeping out in the Star Dou Great Forest really did restore stamina; it was much more efficient than cultivation.

"Why did my Sea of Consciousness expand so much after just one night of sleep?"

Xue Xiaoran muttered to himself, finding it hard to believe.

His Purple-grade Demonic Eye had advanced. Was it really just because he had slept?

Xue Xiaoran did not know whether to laugh or cry. It seemed that yesterday, the Ten-Thousand-Year Azure Fire Wolf had pushed him so hard that he had unleashed his potential.

He sat up and pulled aside the tent flap before walking out.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast was lying nearby with its eyes narrowed. When it saw him emerge from the tent, it narrowed its eyes further.

"Senior." Xue Xiaoran cupped his hands in greeting.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast lowered its massive head. Confusion and complexity were hidden in its eyes as it nodded.

Xue Xiaoran sighed in relief. It seemed the Imperial Auspicious Beast was more broad-minded than other soul beasts.

Seeing that it was still early, Xue Xiaoran decided to take a bath. Yesterday, he had been drenched like a drowned rat, and he had not properly cleaned himself before.

With such a good water source available, Xue Xiaoran naturally would not let it go to waste.

He swiftly stored his clothes in his ring and jumped naked into the lake.

Nearby, the Imperial Auspicious Beast scratched the ground irritably with its claws. She was still watching!

Then she closed all three of her eyes. It was really unbearable to look at.

If she kept watching, she might not be able to stop herself from giving Xue Xiaoran a beating.

Taking off his clothes in front of a lady—was he being a hooligan?

Xue Xiaoran might not have known that the Imperial Auspicious Beast was female. If he had known, he probably would have done the same.

Come on, the Imperial Auspicious Beast is female. It is not like she could possibly be interested in me, right?

After washing up and changing clothes, Xue Xiaoran came ashore with several fish swimming beneath the water in his hands.

"Want some?"

Xue Xiaoran placed several fish in front of the Imperial Auspicious Beast and asked calmly.

If he told Master about this experience, Master would probably pester him every day with questions about the Imperial Auspicious Beast.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast nodded again. With a flick of her claw, she tossed a fish into her mouth.

Xue Xiaoran smiled. In the memories, he had seen that this Imperial Auspicious Beast loved eating fish the most.

He sat down nearby, started a campfire, and began eating dried rations.

Although he liked eating fish and could cook it as well, it took too much time.

Before long, he had finished eating, packed up the tent, and changed into a new set of casual clothes.

He walked step by step to the Imperial Auspicious Beast and cupped his hands toward her.

"Senior, thank you. I'll be leaving now. Until we meet again."

"..." The Imperial Auspicious Beast silently nodded.

Xue Xiaoran cupped his fists again with a smile, then began climbing upward along the rocks beside the waterfall.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast watched Xue Xiaoran's retreating back with her three eyes. Indeed, until they met again.

After climbing above the waterfall, Xue Xiaoran followed the traces left by yesterday's battle as he retraced his way back.

It had to be said that the commotion caused by one person and one soul beast chasing each other yesterday had been rather enormous. The surrounding soul beasts did not dare approach, allowing Xue Xiaoran to easily find the way back.

Trees lay toppled in all directions, and wolf tracks covered the muddy ground.

Following the tracks, Xue Xiaoran spent half a day reaching the place where he had parted ways with Xiao Hong Chen and the others yesterday. After taking a deep breath, he hurried toward the camp.

From far away, he heard the sounds of an argument.

"Can you Shrek students stop showing up beside our base camp? Don't you have your own tents?"

"What's wrong with staying beside you? We can fight soul beasts together too. Are you unwilling?"

"We can handle ourselves. We don't need your help."

The moment Xue Xiaoran entered the base camp, he heard Meng Hong Chen arguing with another girl. He could not help frowning. What a coincidence that they had run into a team of Shrek students.

Was it really a coincidence?

"Enough. Let them do as they please. Whether they stay or leave is none of our damn business." Xiao Hong Chen's voice carried a note of arrogance, as if he could not even be bothered to look at them.

"You!"

The girl snorted, like an enraged cat with its fur standing on end.

Xue Xiaoran's head began to ache just listening to this. He could not help leaping down from the tree.

"What happened?"

Xue Xiaoran rubbed the corner of his eyes with a headache, his expression somewhat displeased.

"Xiaoran! You're back!"

Meng Hong Chen was the first to cry out in delight, while Xiao Hong Chen also visibly relaxed.

Xue Xiaoran smiled and asked, "Where are Yan Yuyan and Yu Ling Lin?"

"They went looking for you." Xiao Hong Chen said. "They'll be back soon."

Xue Xiaoran nodded, indicating that he understood. Then he turned his gaze toward the girl dressed in a green Shrek Academy uniform and asked, "What brings Shrek Academy's team to the base camp of our Sun Moon Royal Academy team?"

His words and tone were exceedingly calm. There was not the slightest hint of using his status to pressure others; he spoke entirely in a manner akin to diplomatic discourse.

"My name is Xiao Xiao, and I'm from Shrek. It's like this: our team's base camp was attacked and destroyed by soul beasts, so we've been without a home. Could we stay in the same base camp as you until the training ends? Of course, we'll help with patrols, food, and hunting soul rings." Xiao Xiao was a girl with a green ponytail. Hearing no hostility in Xue Xiaoran's voice, she made her request with a smile.

"We'll listen to you." Xiao Hong Chen spoke before Xue Xiaoran could even turn around. Nominally, Xue Xiaoran was the captain of this small team.

As for why that was the case in reality, no one knew.

"Not a problem." Xue Xiaoran nodded calmly. "As long as you split the patrol and food-gathering workload evenly with us, you can stay."

"That's wonderful! Thank you! So there are good people at Sun Moon Royal Academy after all!"

Veins bulged simultaneously on the faces of the Xiao Hong Chen siblings nearby. So the two of them were not good people?