Chapter 24: Is This Really a Dream?

Bai Yue’s trembling body startled Mu Chenxi awake.

Master is afraid.

So Master… is also afraid.

Yes, how could she not be?

In each of her countless, painfully real premonitions, Master always met such a tragic end.

Mu Chenxi took a deep breath, tightened her arms, and held Bai Yue close.

“Master, don’t be afraid!”

Her voice was soft, but unwavering.

“I will enter the dream again tomorrow night! I don’t care what it is—even if it’s a Transformation God Stage demon—I will find a way to kill it in that dream!”

She could not fear.

Even more, she could not give up!

She had to protect her Master!

This was the only obsession in her heart at that moment.

Bai Yue was shaken to her core by her disciple’s resolute and powerful words.

Only then did she realize her own loss of composure.

She quickly took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the chill and trembling in her heart, and replied firmly.

“Mm!”

Faced with an invincible enemy, Master and disciple supported each other with sheer will, refusing to be crushed by despair.

“Master, I’ll continue healing.”

Mu Chenxi held Bai Yue tightly and closed her eyes again, circulating her cultivation method with all her strength.

At the same time, her mind raced, frantically searching for any way to rapidly increase her power.

Kissing Master…

Originally, it should have been the best method, but it had the opposite effect…

The Taishang Forget-Emotion Sword Art she specialized in—this sword art she prided herself on—was utterly powerless under the absolute suppression of the Transformation God Stage.

For a moment, she truly felt helpless.

What should I do… what method is left…

Mu Chenxi’s anxiety surged again, and her once-steady breathing grew chaotic.

“Chenxi, calm down.”

Bai Yue sensed her disciple’s restlessness and gently stroked her back.

“The key to breaking this lies in your Dreamscape!”

“If it can foretell danger, then it’s a power beyond reason. We should use it, not be ruled by the fear it brings.”

Bai Yue analyzed seriously, her desperate will to live making her mind clearer than ever.

“Master, I’ll continue to explore the Dreamscape deeper.”

“Tomorrow night, I’ll enter the dream under this Moonlight—it should help me sink deeper.”

Mu Chenxi found a new resolve.

“Good.”

Bai Yue nodded.

Mu Chenxi closed her eyes again.

This time, she finally managed to calm her mind and focus on healing.

Bai Yue, too, continued to think, racking her brain for any other possibility to break the impasse.

But their enemy was a lofty Transformation God, while she herself was merely at Foundation Establishment, and even Chenxi, a Nascent Soul, had no power to resist.

The gap in their strength was so vast, it was almost hopeless.

Before such absolute power, any trickery seemed laughably weak.

Bai Yue had pondered the whole day, but found no solution.

Now, the only sliver of hope truly seemed to lie in Chenxi’s unbelievable Dreamscape.

***

Night fell, and Moonlight flowed like water.

Mu Chenxi leaned against Bai Yue’s embrace, adjusting her breathing, preparing to enter the dream.

It was her own request—this way, she could feel Master’s presence and warmth more clearly, bringing her peace.

Bai Yue, of course, did not refuse.

If it were under normal circumstances, such an intimate position would have left her blushing and flustered.

But now, only tension and anxiety for their lives remained.

Sleepiness arrived as expected.

Mu Chenxi closed her eyes, letting her consciousness sink.

This time, when awareness gathered once more, the scene before her was clearer than ever!

No… it wasn’t the scene that became clearer…

It was the descent of her consciousness!

Her consciousness had arrived within her dream self!

Mu Chenxi looked down in shock at her hands.

Her fingers were interlaced with another hand—soft, warm, and so real.

She was holding Master’s hand.

Mu Chenxi looked up and met Bai Yue’s gaze, seeing concern that was all too real in her eyes.

Is this… really just a dream?!

“Chenxi, are you alright?”

Bai Yue’s worried inquiry sounded in her ear, the familiar voice incredibly clear.

“I’m fine, Master, be careful!”

Mu Chenxi reacted instantly, pulling Bai Yue behind her, spreading her Nascent Soul divine sense to scan their surroundings.

Above!

Mu Chenxi jerked her head up.

In the sky, where the full moon hung, a pitch-black fissure silently tore open.

The Fire Demon’s grotesque form slowly floated out.

It looked down with a twisted grin at the two below.

The terrifying Transformation God Stage pressure crashed down!

Mu Chenxi felt the Spiritual Energy in her body freeze, her limbs heavy as lead.

Behind her, Bai Yue let out a muffled groan, slumping softly against her back, sweat beading on her forehead.

“Damn it!”

Mu Chenxi forced the stagnant Spiritual Energy within her to move, gritting her teeth.

With a thought, she summoned her Storage Pouch, releasing her Sword, which soared forward, unleashing her strongest possible strike!

But it wasn’t nearly enough.

The Fire Demon opened its mouth contemptuously, spitting out a crimson fireball with casual ease.

It seemed ordinary, yet the instant it touched Mu Chenxi’s Sword, it exploded with devastating force!

The blade’s glow vanished, sent flying like scrap metal to embed in the ground far away, all Spiritual Energy drained.

Just a casual attack, and her sword was destroyed.

Mu Chenxi’s pupils contracted sharply.

Despair washed over her again.

“Ants dare to resist?”

The Fire Demon’s shrill voice rang out, full of disdain at her audacity.

“Very well. I’ll show you what true despair is.”

Before it finished speaking, the Fire Demon moved!

It left a shadow in the air, moving so fast Mu Chenxi couldn’t even lock onto it!

The next second, a scorching presence appeared behind her.

From its abdomen, a twisted lion-faced mouth gaped open, spewing a torrent of blood-red demon flame!

In the instant the Fire Demon vanished, Bai Yue seemed to sense what was coming.

A look of determination flashed in her eyes.

She used all her strength to shove Mu Chenxi away!

And in that moment, she herself was engulfed in crimson fire.

“Chenxi, run!”

“Run!”

Mu Chenxi stumbled from the force, and as she turned, she saw the scene that shattered her soul.

She watched Bai Yue struggle in the flames, her desperate screams echoing in her mind.

“No!”

She charged forward without hesitation, pushing her Cold Ice Profound Body to its limit, pouring all her Spiritual Energy out in a desperate attempt to smother the demonic fire.

“Don’t…”

It was Bai Yue’s final cry—the last sound Mu Chenxi heard.

After that, her world was swallowed by endless crimson and agony.

Huff—! Huff—!

Mu Chenxi’s eyes snapped open.

She gasped for air, chest heaving, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.