Nightmare Authority

For some reason, Xu Jiu felt a little uneasy and numb under the gaze of the tiny human before him.

The size of this Dream Realm Crystal Wall Bubble clearly belonged to the weakest Junior Wizard Apprentice.

He couldn't even break through a toad's hide! What was there to fear?

"So what if you're Zero Ring? Aren't you the same?"

Xu Jiu snorted coldly, and the terrifying shadows shrouding his body rapidly spread.

The solidified wheel of black tentacles shot out in an instant, like countless tongues sealing off Yin Ming.

"Zero Ring? Then I can relax!"

Yin Ming let out a sigh of relief. Spiritual power and magic power poured into the metal sphere, causing the complex True Name Runes engraved on its surface to light up.

A Lava Troll more than ten meters tall, wreathed in terrifying flames, seemed to have crawled out of an Abyssal volcano. Its crimson eyes were cold as it looked down imperiously at Xu Jiu.

Dozens of dark, sinister shadow tentacles twisted and dispersed under the Lava Troll's scorching flames before they could even touch it.

Billowing black smoke rose above its head, carrying a pungent sulfurous smell. Its blazing heat warped the air, and crimson magma flowed from it like water, making it resemble a humanoid living volcano ready to erupt at any moment.

"A warlock? How is that possible?"

"This is clearly a spirit world. You don't even have a body... You're cheating..."

A demon warlock?

He could still use a warlock's methods without a body?

That wasn't scientific.

Bodies were the privilege of Void Spirits in dreams.

Xu Jiu widened his toad eyes and looked up at the savage, black-and-red giant form of the Lava Demon.

His first reaction was not fear, but furious humiliation.

"Pfft..."

Before he could finish speaking!

The Lava Troll's mountain-like fist came crashing down.

The disgusting warts on Xu Jiu's back secreted transparent gelatinous mucus, which quickly condensed into a shield.

The terrifying heat coating the Lava Troll's fist instantly melted the transparent gelatinous shield. Xu Jiu's bloated toad body was sent flying like a punctured ball, leaving a horrific burn across his entire body.

"First Ring: Twisted Treant. First Ring: Winged Serpent."

Even a lion used its full strength to hunt a rabbit. His limitless spiritual power and magic power could not be wasted.

With a light tap of his fingertip, Yin Ming made the two External Core metal spheres spin. They successfully formed two invisible energy links, and the rune patterns on their surfaces lit up one by one as three translucent phantoms appeared behind him.

The savage Lava Troll!

The Twisted Treant with the face of an evil ghost!

The giant green-scaled serpent with a pair of dark gray wings!

As the three massive phantoms manifested, Yin Ming, the shared true Bloodline Origin of the magical beasts, merged physically with the Lava Troll's feet, the Twisted Treant's roots, and the Winged Serpent's tail.

The dharma form behind Yin Ming resembled a horrifying three-headed monster stitched together by some bizarre scientist, its intimidation multiplying several times over.

"Croak... Respected Wizard, I am willing to offer up knowledge in exchange for my life."

Three pairs of lantern-sized eyes radiating dim light stared at him. And you called this a Zero-Ring Wizard Apprentice area?

Xu Jiu's arrogance vanished completely. He sprawled on the ground, trembling all over.

Before absolute power, he could not even muster the slightest thought of resistance.

His two toad eyes rolled ceaselessly as he stared at the weakest point of the Dream Realm Bubble. His salivary glands kept secreting, building up mucus capable of corroding the Crystal Wall.

Damn it! This kind of wizard can control three First Ring extraordinary magical beasts at once. Shouldn't he be in the One-Ring Wizard area? Staying in the Zero-Ring Wizard Apprentice area, wasn't this just screwing over spirits?

In his heart, Xu Jiu cursed out the other Void Spirits.

What happened to Nightmare Spirits being invincible within their regions?

Wizards were merely bugs scurrying around at random!

That only applied to those weak, ordinary wizards.

There would always be one or two exceptions. A Junior Wizard Apprentice's Dream Realm Bubble could already possess the strength of a One-Ring Wizard. How terrifying would Senior Wizard Apprentices be?

"No need! I prefer it when you call me—little wizard."

Yin Ming did not understand the Dream Realm, nor did he understand the giant toad's abilities.

The unknown meant danger. If he could kill it, he would kill it.

Not only did he not pause, he controlled the three dharma forms to attack with all their strength.

The consumption of spiritual power and magic power was enormous. In the real world, even a One-Ring Wizard would not be able to sustain it for long.

[First Ring Talent: Thorn Vines.]

The Twisted Treant grew countless Thorn Vines.

The Winged Serpent spat venom that turned into a poisonous mist, while the Lava Troll spilled magma that formed a domain of flame.

In the real world, even maintaining one weakened dharma form would only last ten seconds. Who knew how many years it would take before he could skillfully control them?

A dream without spiritual power or magic power consumption was such a rare chance to experiment. How could he possibly miss it?

[...]

[Wizard No. 864960259 has killed a Zero-Ring Void Spirit: Frog Spirit, and obtained Zero-Ring authority over the Nightmare World.]

A cold voice suddenly rang out in Yin Ming's mind.

He hurriedly controlled the dharma forms to stop attacking, and the rolling black smoke within the Dream Realm Bubble gradually dispersed.

Not even a trace of flesh or bone remained of the toad. Only a gray, murky memory crystal was left behind.

"Who? What was that voice?"

Yin Ming looked around but did not find a single figure.

The mysterious voice did not sound again, but the Inscription Runes on his brow had unknowingly undergone a subtle change.

With a slight sense of perception, he learned that the Inscription Runes had gained a new function.

"The good news is that I have a body in the Dream Realm. The bad news is that this body is an ugly toad."

Yin Ming did not transform into a Void Spirit. A Zero-Ring limit body in the form of a toad was of little use to him anyway. However, the Nightmare Authority was a good thing. It allowed him to sense the existence of nearby Dream Realm Bubbles.

He picked up the gray memory crystal and brought it close to the rune pattern on his brow. Two choices immediately appeared:

[Read extraordinary memories!]

[Read all memories!]

Yin Ming chose to read all memories.

All of Xu Jiu's memories instantly appeared before him, including not only his inherited memories, but also those of several Wizard Apprentices he had devoured.

[...]

The Nightmare World was divided into seven regions, clearly separated from Zero Ring to Six Ring.

Void Spirits! They were formed when spiritual power leaking from countless shattered Wizard Dream Realm Bubbles fused together.

Spiritual power of countless varieties merged and converged into a vast, murky torrent of spiritual power. It continuously gathered toward the Void Abyss, forming a white egg. What finally hatched from it was a Void Spirit.

Wizards had bodies in the real world, but upon entering dreams, they became illusory spirit bodies.

Void Spirits were the exact opposite. They possessed bodies limited by the region's rank in dreams, but could not survive once they left the Dream Realm.

Tragically, Void Spirits also knew that the Nightmare World was an illusion, and that they themselves were nonexistent phantoms. Perhaps out of envy toward living beings, Void Spirits fed on Wizards' Dream Realm Bubbles.

[...]

"The Inscription Runes are actually called Nightmare Runes. They are a Permanent Rune."

It was the first time Yin Ming learned that wizardry also had Permanent Runes. However, what they consumed was no longer spiritual power, but spirit—the so-called upper limit of spiritual power.

Drawing the Nightmare Rune had consumed 7 points of spiritual power, but that included losses during the drawing process. The Nightmare Rune itself required only 4 points of spiritual power, so Yin Ming's spiritual power limit had dropped from 25 points to 21.

He had returned to square one in a single day. Breaking through the third layer of Mirror Reef was now far beyond reach.

[...]

After a long while, Yin Ming awakened from the chaotic memories.

He had not gained much extraordinary knowledge. Xu Jiu had only been born recently and had devoured merely a few Junior Wizard Apprentices.

Most Wizard Apprentices, aside from cultivating meditation methods, knew only three of the most basic Zero-Ring spells.

After removing duplicate extraordinary knowledge, he had gained only: [Zero-Ring Wizardry: Shadow Touch.] [Zero-Ring Wizardry: Corrosive Touch.] [Zero-Ring: Spiritwood Cultivation.] [First Ring: Giant Spirit Meditation Method.]