Half a Year, Tang Yuehua Comes Calling

It was evening.

Lu Yan put away the hefty one hundred and twenty Gold Soul Coins, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.

The first day of business had brought considerable profits, so naturally, he was in high spirits.

He had gained more than money. During the day, the Dream Butterfly Martial Soul had quietly absorbed the Emotional Power leaking from Hou Jin and the others. Nurtured by it, his Spiritual Power had also increased slightly.

Reality was bleak and neglected;

but in dreams, everyone could become the center of the world. Power, wealth, beauties... anything the heart desired was within easy reach.

Knowing full well it was nothing but an illusory bubble, how many could resist the temptation to sink into it?

With those Gold Soul Coins, Lu Yan bought a piece of Thousand Year Whale Rubber.

Although people had yet to discover its special effects, it was still left behind by a thousand-year soul beast, so its price was naturally steep.

To him, money would always be fuel for cultivation.

Time passed, and half a year slipped by in an instant.

Heaven Dou City remained as prosperous as ever, while a small shop called "Heaven" quietly rose to fame and entered the public eye.

Every customer who experienced it sang its praises, as though they had truly stepped into Heaven.

Over the past half year, Lu Yan himself had also grown rapidly.

His Soul Power steadily rose from level twelve to level sixteen. Yet compared to the improvement in his Soul Power, the breakthrough in his Spiritual Power was even more remarkable.

Every day, the Dream Butterfly absorbed a substantial amount of Emotional Power. Small streams gathered into a mighty river, and after half a year of accumulation, the amount had become extremely impressive.

The most obvious manifestation of his vastly increased Spiritual Power was the advancement of his Purple Demon Eyes—he had successfully crossed the realm of Panoramic View and firmly entered Subtle Insight.

That day, a woman with dignified and elegant bearing arrived outside Heaven. She wore a lake-blue long dress and was accompanied by a maid.

"Is this the place?" the woman in blue asked softly.

"Owner, this is it." The maid looked into the shop, a trace of reminiscence and yearning flashing through her eyes.

If she were not so short on money, she truly would have liked to come a few more times. In dreams, one can have all one's wishes fulfilled.

"Have all one's wishes fulfilled...?" Tang Yuehua murmured softly.

The two entered the shop, and the maid called out:

"Shopkeeper, a distinguished guest has arrived."

Hearing her, Lu Yan rose to his feet and looked toward the two women at the entrance.

He knew them both—one he had met in reality, while the other he had only seen in the dreams of the woman beside her.

The woman in blue possessed extraordinary grace and exquisite features. Her full, graceful figure made it obvious at a glance that she had been pampered since childhood and had never endured the hardships of the world.

She was Tang San's aunt, Tang Hao's younger sister, and the Owner of Moonlight Pavilion—Tang Yuehua.

Tang Yuehua studied the little boy before her. His childish face could not conceal his youthful air. Though she had heard from the maid that the shopkeeper was young, seeing it with her own eyes still surprised her.

A child of only seven or eight had actually managed to run a fairly famous shop alone in the vast Heaven Dou City.

She could not help recalling herself when she had first arrived in Heaven Dou, though she had been far better off than Lu Yan.

"Little shopkeeper, please arrange a session of Deep Dream for me," she said gently.

Money was no obstacle to her. She only wished to fulfill her desire.

Lu Yan was delighted. He had not expected her to be the first one to arrive.

Still, it was fortunate that it was her. Tang Yuehua's cultivation was not high, so he was capable of entering her dream.

And with this money, he would finally be able to buy the Five Thousand Year Whale Rubber he had coveted for so long.

He had been waiting for this for quite some time.

"May I ask how I should address you?"

"If you do not mind, you may call me Aunt Yue." Tang Yuehua looked at the bright, delicate little boy before her, her voice carrying a natural warmth.

People were naturally inclined to like beautiful things.

Tang Yuehua did not sit in one of the chairs provided by the shop. The maid swiftly took out an exquisite and luxurious lounge chair.

"Little shopkeeper, I have a slight obsession with cleanliness. I hope you will forgive me," Tang Yuehua explained.

Lu Yan nodded. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

He lit the Illusionary Incense and summoned the Dream Butterfly Martial Soul.

"What a beautiful Martial Soul." Tang Yuehua's eyes brightened slightly. At that moment, Lu Yan's voice sounded at just the right time. "Please relax and fall asleep naturally."

Tang Yuehua nodded, took the thin blanket handed over by the maid, and gently draped it over herself.

Under the effects of the Illusionary Incense, she soon drifted into sleep.

"The time has come." Sensing that Tang Yuehua had fallen asleep, Lu Yan immediately activated his First Soul Skill: Mental Severance.

Silver Light Spots swiftly sank into Tang Yuehua's body.

The core of so-called Deep Dream lay in the use of Mental Severance.

It temporarily severed the connection between the Physical Body's senses and the mind.

Even when immersed in a beautiful dream, a slightly louder disturbance outside could still wake someone. The boundary between reality and illusion remained clear. But once the anchor of the Physical Body was lost and Spiritual Power became the sole sense, that boundary blurred, while the sensation of time and space passing also faded away.

Enter the dream!

With everything prepared, Lu Yan quietly entered Tang Yuehua's Dream.

"So... she wants to return to the past?"

By now, he was thoroughly familiar with entering dreams, and he quickly grasped the deepest obsession in her heart.

"Then... let's go back."

Lu Yan began constructing the Dream. His methods were practiced and skillful, just as they had been when he first wove Tang San's Dream.

Lu Yan stood apart from the Dream, like an observer.

He watched Tang Yuehua in the form of a young girl, following closely beside Tang Hao and Tang Xiao like a cheerful little bird. Her smile was radiant and bright, devoid of the poised elegance she now possessed as the Owner of Moonlight Pavilion. All that remained was the carefree vitality of a young girl.

A moment in reality could already amount to days, months, or even years within a Dream.

The agreed time had arrived.

Lu Yan withdrew his consciousness and left the Dream.

Looking at the woman's peaceful sleeping face on the lounge chair, he had to admit she was an exceptionally rare beauty.

"Second Brother... don't go!" Tang Yuehua abruptly sat up, futilely reaching into the air as she called out toward the sky. A glistening sheen of tears faintly filled her eyes.

She was crying.

"Aunt Yue, time is up." Lu Yan's voice pulled her back to reality.

Tang Yuehua turned at the sound, her gaze level with Lu Yan's. Looking at the little boy before her, her eyes still held lingering affection and sorrow that had yet to fade.

She looked like a kitten that had been abandoned.

Her hazy consciousness returned to reality. Her jade-like hand gently stroked the corner of her eye, wiping away that glint of silver.

Elegant, natural.

"Little shopkeeper... can I... do it once more?"

Still immersed in the beautiful illusion of the past, she found the days when the three siblings had relied on one another far too hard to let go of.

"One may only enter a Dream once per day," Lu Yan answered calmly.

"All right..."

Tang Yuehua's voice was full of regret, yet she took out a bag of Gold Soul Coins without hesitation and handed it over.

These one thousand Gold Soul Coins were more than worth it. Even if it cost ten times as much, she would gladly pay.

The maid beside her stared in stunned disbelief. A thousand coins earned in just a few minutes—this shop was practically a gold-devouring pit.

It truly made one love and hate it at the same time.

"Little shopkeeper, we will meet again."

Tang Yuehua rose to her feet, her tone resolute.

Since reality could not be relived, she could at least seek a moment of solace in her dreams.

"You are welcome to visit again."

Watching them leave, Lu Yan looked at Tang Yuehua's departing back, the corners of his lips curling upward.

Only half a year had passed, and Tang Yuehua had already come.

Could the others be far behind?