Natural Affinity

A strange sensation continuously spread through his body. Shi Quan felt more relaxed than ever before. Gradually, the Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul in his hand began to emit faint blue light. Seemingly affected by the aura of the Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul, the plants around him also began to glow with faint blue light.

At first, only the plants around Shi Quan changed. But as time passed, the affected area grew larger and larger. Even stranger, the Blue Silver Grass in his hand did not absorb his Inner Force, yet suddenly began growing wildly, spreading in all directions.

Countless wisps of faint blue light flowed out from the grass and converged, rapidly merging into the Blue Silver Grass. The Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul extended another hundred meters before finally stopping.

When Shi Quan woke up, the once-bright sky now held a high-hanging moon.

Everything around him had already returned to normal, and the Blue Silver Grass in his hand had returned to its former size. However, Shi Quan could clearly feel that his connection with the surrounding Blue Silver Grass had become far sharper.

Some powerful plant-type Spirit Masters gained a special ability after cultivating to a profound level, known as Environment Control.

They could use the aura of their own Spirit Souls to control creatures of the same attribute.

In other words, once he mastered Environment Control, Shi Quan's Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul would be able to directly control the Blue Silver Grass around him.

In the original story, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul could easily achieve Environment Control because his Blue Silver Grass possessed the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline.

Although he had not yet reached the level of Environment Control, judging by the connection between his Blue Silver Grass Spirit Soul and the surrounding Blue Silver Grass, it was only a matter of time.

Through this cultivation session, Shi Quan also came to understand the ability brought by Dream Butterfly's special spiritual inheritance.

Natural Affinity.

It was similar to a talent. This talent enhanced Shi Quan's ability to perceive all things between heaven and earth. During cultivation, he could commune and resonate with all things, unconsciously transforming alongside them and reaching a state of unity between man and nature.

Though it did not noticeably increase his combat strength, its benefits to cultivation were astounding. With the help of Natural Affinity, Shi Quan's Comprehension and perception had both improved significantly, and his cultivation speed was much faster than before.

He had thought the two Spirit Rings and innate abilities were already the biggest Bombs. He had never expected Natural Affinity to be the true trump card.

"A Meng, how long did I cultivate for?" Shi Quan asked.

"About five hours."

Shi Quan continued, "Did anyone come by while I was cultivating?"

"Don't worry. I kept watch over the surroundings the entire time you were cultivating. No one came." Xiao Meng paused, then asked curiously, "A Quan, that state you entered during cultivation was so unusual. It seemed extremely compatible with my inherited talent."

"You mean Spirit Enlightenment?" Shi Quan nodded and pondered. "The Spirit Enlightenment State can focus all my attention on a single point. But in that state, I ignore everything around me. It would be dangerous to use it outside, so I rarely do."

Xiao Meng said happily, "With me around from now on, you won't have to worry. While you cultivate, I can scout the surroundings. If anything happens, I'll warn you immediately."

"Alright." Shi Quan had used Spirit Enlightenment during cultivation precisely because Xiao Meng was there to warn him, which was why he had dared to use it without concern.

"Time to go back and test the Dream Entry ability." Looking at the bright moon in the sky, Shi Quan smiled faintly, got to his feet, and headed off.

As he traveled, he asked, "A Meng, does the Dream Entry innate ability have any special restrictions?"

Xiao Meng explained, "Dream Entry is limited by strength. The target cannot be much stronger than you, or there is a risk of being discovered. Once discovered, you will suffer a backlash from dream power, and your soul will be injured. With my current strength, I can only enter the dreams of people who are already dreaming. Once I become a little stronger, I can directly enter the consciousness of sleeping people and guide them into corresponding dreams."

"It can even do that?" Shi Quan's eyes lit up.

He quickly returned to the Dormitory.

He swiftly washed up and got himself settled.

"A Meng, are there any nearby dreams I can enter?" Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Shi Quan asked curiously.

"There are many." As she spoke, blue-white motes of light scattered down from above Shi Quan's head. A miniature Xiao Meng flew out from his forehead, circled above his head once, then landed between his brows. The antennae atop Xiao Meng's head glowed with blue light as they gently touched Shi Quan's forehead.

The next second, Shi Quan felt his entire body become weightless, as though his soul had left his body. Then he found himself on Xiao Meng's back. The world before him changed as well. Everything in the room became blue-green strands of light, like an illusory space. He could even see his own figure, while beyond the room floated countless light clusters of different colors.

"A Quan, these light clusters are dreams. You can enter any of them." The wings beneath him fluttered gently, trailing blue-white light as Xiao Meng carried Shi Quan directly before a white light cluster. "Want to go in and take a look?"

Shi Quan was still curiously studying his surroundings. Everything before him was so illusory, yet so mysterious. Hearing Xiao Meng's words, he finally replied, "Sure."

Xiao Meng beat her wings, and a layer of warm white light spread from her body as she carried Shi Quan into the light cluster.

White light flashed, and Shi Quan felt as if he had returned to the real world. Looking at the familiar Sports Field of Notting Academy, he had yet to recover his senses when the scene rapidly changed, bringing him into Marde's office.

"A Meng, what's going on?"

Xiao Meng explained, "Most people's dreams are made up of countless fragmented scenes. They do not follow a fixed sequence, so the setting of a dream often changes rapidly. Only when someone harbors a powerful obsession deep in their heart will the contents of their dreams become more orderly."

"President Su, this is this year's class schedule. Please take a look."

A voice sounded within the dream.

The speaker in the scene was a young teacher from the academy.

"President Su?" As Shi Quan wondered about this, his gaze fell upon the seat that had originally belonged to Marde. Sitting there now was Director Su.

Shi Quan could not help but laugh. He then realized that this was probably Director Su's dream. In his dream, he wanted to become the president of Notting Academy. He had likely coveted that position for a long time.

"Dreams often reveal some of the thoughts and secrets hidden deep within a person's heart. Used well, this is quite a useful ability for digging out other people's secrets."

Shi Quan looked at Xiao Meng beneath him and asked, "A Meng, you said just now that you can guide dreams?"

Xiao Meng nodded. "That's right. At my current strength, as long as I enter a dream, I can guide it. But I can only guide it in simple ways. If I alter it too drastically, the dream's owner will develop resistance and notice our presence."

Shi Quan asked in delight, "Does that mean that once I'm stronger, you might even be able to control dreams?"

Xiao Meng proudly raised her head. "That's right."

"It really is powerful."

With this ability, as long as someone was hypnotized, it would be easy to dig out the deepest secrets in their heart. It was comparable to soul searching.

If it were used even more skillfully, could it kill people in dreams, brainwash them in dreams, or make them sleep in dreams forever? Just thinking about those abilities was frightening.

After visiting two more dreams with Xiao Meng, Shi Quan's consciousness finally returned to his body.

He had originally wanted to see the dreams of Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Yu Xiaogang, but unfortunately, none of the three were dreaming.

Dream Entry was also very powerful, but its dangerous aspect was that when he entered dreams, his actual body would be like someone sunk in deep sleep, without any ability to protect itself. Therefore, he had to choose a safe place before using Dream Entry.

"I wonder where Teacher has gotten to."

It had already been more than half a month since Marde had left the academy. Judging from the Reputation Treasure Chest, quite a few people should already know about his theories. It seemed that the plan had succeeded; he just did not know whether Marde had gained Xue Qinghe's backing.

There was no use thinking too much now. Everything would become clear once Marde returned.

Over the following days, Shi Quan continued cultivating when it was time to cultivate and eating when it was time to eat.

At night, he would check whether Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Yu Xiaogang were dreaming.

The first opportunity Shi Quan found was with Xiao Wu. What made him laugh most was that Xiao Wu was actually dreaming about him. Naturally, the dream involved Xiao Wu beating him up, making him kneel and beg for mercy while repeatedly calling her Sister Xiao Wu.

Xiao Meng could not stand it, so she forcefully guided the dream in the opposite direction. Instead, Xiao Wu was viciously beaten up by Shi Quan in the dream until she wailed and cried for her parents. In the end, she woke up in fright. Even from the Dormitory on the top floor, Shi Quan seemed to hear Xiao Wu's thunderous, furious shouting.

Shi Quan later entered Yu Xiaogang's dream as well. In it, he saw many people: Tang Hao, Flender, Liu Erlong, and even a young Bibi Dong.

Aside from them, Shi Quan also learned quite a bit from Yu Xiaogang's dream about the Spirit Soul Theory and Spirit Master data he had been researching, so it was a small gain.

Tang San, on the other hand, had not dreamed even once in half a month. Shi Quan had no way of visiting his dreams even if he wanted to.

"A Quan, someone is here."

Hearing Xiao Meng's warning, Shi Quan immediately awoke from cultivation. His Spirit Power transformed into Spirit Sense and spread toward the door.

"Teacher is back!" When he clearly sensed the figure outside, Shi Quan's eyes brightened noticeably.

The round trip had taken Marde a full month.

Knock, knock, knock!

Hearing the knocking outside, Shi Quan quickly rose and opened the door.

"Xiao Quan."

Marde's familiar voice rang out. He was dressed in travel-worn clothes, but judging from the excitement in his voice, the trip had gone smoothly.