This Is Not a Dream

For a split second, Zhao Changhe almost thought again, Anyway it's a dream, I'll beat him up.

He swallowed the urge back down.

His experience in Zhao Cuo told him that giving in to pointless impulse achieved nothing. He couldn't even win a fight, so wasn't that just walking to his death? Even if he "died" and woke up in reality, the task wouldn't get done. What would be the point?

Besides, he was already faintly starting to question whether this place really was a dream... Given his own train of thought, he couldn't even imagine such a sickening piece of trash. How could he dream up something like this?

The villagers of Zhao Cuo slaughtered so miserably, the innocent children... All of that just to vent frustration over a "thwarted attempt to fool around with a village girl."

Yue Hongling had traveled thousands of li to deliver a warning, bound by a sense of righteousness that spanned the heavens, yet all these people thought about was how to prey on her.

Zhao Changhe felt sick enough to vomit. He had never experienced this before. "Hatred" turned out to be a flavor like this-a violent emotion that had never once been born during his peaceful student life in reality, now growing and spreading in his heart.

Regardless of whether this place was real or a dream, Zhao Changhe had no desire to "wake up" so early right now. He really wanted to get these father and son killed first.

He maintained his persona of a "simple, honest youth" and joined the outer sect of the Luo Family. That very night, he was issued a set of clothing, a set of daily utensils, and a temporary dormitory.

The temporary dormitory hadn't been assigned to him permanently; it was the single-room courtyard where the outer sect's senior brother lived. The idea was to have the senior brother show Zhao Changhe the ropes for a bit and teach him some basic rules and common sense. In all likelihood, he would be reassigned to a shared dormitory tomorrow or the next day...

On the surface, the arrangement seemed quite thoughtful. If Yue Hongling came to visit in the future and brought it up, saying, "Supplies were issued the very night he arrived, and the senior brother personally took him in for special guidance," no matter how you looked at it, that sounded like pretty good care... As for how well he learned later on or whether he wasted his life away in the outer sect, that would be a matter of his own aptitude, and Yue Hongling wouldn't have anything to say.

Zhao Changhe saw right through that routine the moment he thought about it, but he didn't care. Was he seriously supposed to bow and take Master Luo as his master? How disgusting.

The outer sect senior brother was named Luo Qi. Word had it he was a household servant who adopted the Luo surname, and he might hold an official post in the estate down the line. A classic martial arts family template could be glimpsed right here.

He was called the "senior brother," but he was actually even younger than Zhao Changhe, looking roughly sixteen or seventeen. With delicate features, red lips, and white teeth, he looked rather effeminate.

"Your name is Zhao Changhe? You certainly are tall and sturdy, looking like you have some strength to you." Luo Qi's expression was somewhat cold and rather unpleasant. For a fine, exclusive courtyard to inexplicably gain an extra outsider living in it-no one's expression would look good.

His tone was also a bit girly, his voice slender... Zhao Changhe didn't go out of his way to suspect anyone of cross-dressing. Seeing Luo Qi ask, he just smiled honestly. "Yes, I just arrived. The head of the family told me to come learn the rules from Senior Brother first."

"There aren't any rules." Although Luo Qi's tone was cold, his curiosity ran heavy. "I heard Yue Hongling brought you to the estate? Why didn't you latch onto her thigh and take her as your master?"

Zhao Changhe played dumb. "Maybe I'm stupid."

As a result, Luo Qi actually agreed wholeheartedly. "That must be it."

Zhao Changhe: "?"

Luo Qi said, "This stupidity isn't about how your brain works, but your age. You're already eighteen or nineteen, aren't you? Starting to learn at this age, what kind of bird-brained results could you possibly get... Learning a few random routines to guard the house and scrape by for a meal is about it. How could Yue Hongling possibly be willing to take on an apprentice like that? Speaking of which, she's about the same age as you, yet she's already famous across the land... Sigh..."

Zhao Changhe went blank.

Too old... He heard this kind of reasoning often enough. Even if you wanted to get good at a sports event, you had to start training from childhood. He was a university student, nineteen this year, and he had never heard of anyone starting to train at this age ever reaching the national level.

How many Kou Zhongs and Xu Zilings could there be out there?

Putting aside the Luo Family business, however, and just looking at the goal of his "dream entry," it seemed that killing that enchantress didn't require all that high a level. That was just a battlefield where a bunch of cannon fodder hacked blindly at each other, and even his level would be enough to hack a few to death. Since the enchantress mingled on that kind of battlefield, she must have belonged to the weaker side-at the very least, she showed no sign of having Yue Hongling's level of wiping out a group with a single sword strike.

Join the Luo Family to practice martial arts-find the enchantress and kill her. This seemed to be the process this dream entry was supposed to have.

He thought for a moment and asked, "Senior Brother, what does crossing multiple Profound Passes mean?"

Luo Qi said, "The human body has nine Profound Passes. Once you break them open, you can peep into the Three Great Hidden Treasures. If you can open them all, that is the realm of the Celestial Person, capable of anything. Ordinary people don't need to consider this. Speaking purely of the Profound Pass Ninth Level, that is a heaven of nine stages, and every single step is exceptionally difficult. People like Yue Hongling and our family head-wherever they go, who wouldn't give them face? Anyone a step higher than that is a grandmaster figure, someone you'd hardly ever get to meet easily."

"The family head is at the Profound Pass Ninth Level?"

"Word is he's at the eighth." Luo Qi's face displayed reverence. "I don't know when I'll ever be able to reach that kind of realm..."

Zhao Changhe curled his lip in a barely perceptible way.

At his age, he was on the same tier as Yue Hongling. No wonder he was so wary of her; he probably really couldn't beat her. Still, it was enough to prove that the Profound Pass Eighth Level was indeed terribly badass. Master Luo dominated his region, while Yue Hongling roamed the realm at will.

"Then..." he tentatively asked, "what about you, Senior Brother?"

Luo Qi said proudly, "By a fluke, I've already broken through the first heaven!"

Zhao Changhe: "..."

Yue Hongling was only about two or three years older than you, yet she was already at the eighth heaven. What on earth are you feeling so proud about?

Not receiving Zhao Changhe's flattery, Luo Qi knew what he was thinking and smiled slightly without explaining.

An outsider would feel that the first Profound Pass was merely an entry-level threshold, and that wasn't wrong. But very few people considered that the Luo Family Manor wasn't some grand, prestigious sect either, and mere outer disciples within the estate cultivated low-tier cultivation methods. Under normal circumstances, what kind of level could they be? Breaking through the first Profound Pass at this age counted as officially crossing the threshold into martial arts; it was already no easy feat.

Not everyone could use a martial arts prodigy like Yue Hongling as a benchmark. In fact, his qualifications meant he shouldn't have been lingering in the outer sect for a long time now.

Hopefully, when this Zhao Changhe practiced bitterly for ten years and found that breaking through this layer of obstruction was harder than shaking a mountain, he would remember today.

"It's late. Go to sleep first, we'll talk about anything else tomorrow." Luo Qi stretched lazily, casually pointing at a small hut outside the courtyard. "I've cleared out the room for you, stay there for now... You surely don't want me to teach you martial arts tonight, do you? Or were you planning to sleep in my room?"

"Not at all, not at all... Many thanks to Senior Brother." Zhao Changhe forced a smile and backed out.

Returning to the utility room that had been cleared out for him, Zhao Changhe leaned against the hard wooden bed, and the smile on his face vanished.

People weren't familiar with you yet; if you tried to ask about too many key points all at once, they might not bother with you. Better to talk tomorrow. In truth, the matter of sleeping itself was a key point.

That was how to go back.

Sleeping... If this was a dream, was there anyone who could still sleep inside a dream? If he really fell asleep here, would he continue having nightmare hack-and-slash sessions, or would he wake up directly and return to the real world, or conversely, "dream" of the real world instead?

Which was a dream and which was real...

Zhao Changhe took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

Even though a head full of chaotic thoughts made it hard to fall asleep, the wooden bed was hard and fucking cold... But having recently been tormented to the point of mental and physical exhaustion by nightmares, the kind where he could fall asleep the moment he collapsed anywhere, Zhao Changhe curled up and tossed and turned for a good half hour before finally slowly losing consciousness.

He fell asleep.

No dreams.

This was the only time in the past half month or so that Zhao Changhe hadn't had a nightmare, and he slept exceptionally heavily. But if he had a choice, he would rather not have had this.

As the night grew deep, a burst of chaotic, battle-like sounds abruptly jolted Zhao Changhe awake from his sleep. He instinctively flipped over and sprang up, the sounds of overwhelming battle cries and angry roars reaching his ears. Raging flames had ignited the estate, burning the night sky crimson.

He could faintly hear human voices calling out: "Leave no dogs or chickens alive!"

Zhao Changhe's expression looked extremely grim.

His first judgment was that being able to fall asleep here, sleeping without dreaming, and waking up right back here-was basically enough to prove that this really wasn't some so-called dream entry; this damn thing was time travel!

The difference between time travel and entering a dream was that not only could you not go back, but getting killed meant you really died!

His second judgment was-the Blood God Cult was attacking, and Yue Hongling's long-distance warning had happened that very night.

As for Master Luo's request for reinforcements to the capital, the messenger probably hadn't even set off yet... Meanwhile, Yue Hongling had left in the evening, and by the middle of the night like this, she was most likely staying at an adjacent city, sleeping soundly.

At this moment, there was no one left who could render righteous assistance.