CHAPTER 546: CHAPTER 491: DREAM REALM AND SAILING SHIP

The night deepened over the unnamed island.

A massive serpentine body covered in steel scales coiled up, encircling a warm bonfire and an exquisite tent, serving as the first line of defense for its master.

Whoosh—

The chilly night wind gusted by, causing the half-extinguished fire to flicker on and off. Between the serpent body and the tent, a thick shadow gently wavered; it was the Shadow Sub-dragon, Kaka, attentively monitoring every rustle and stir.

If danger were to approach, it would instantly drag the entire camp into the Shadow Realm.

In a mere three days, the two people and their two companions had already ventured into the very heart of the Treasure Sea.

With the Pipi Snake as their mount—even though it was only a small species of sea monster—no ocean predator dared to provoke them. In these times, ordinary sailors might sign a life-and-death contract before embarking on an ocean voyage, but for them, it was little more than a spring outing.

It was already the coldest month of January, where traditionally heading north from the Southern Continent should mean lower temperatures.

However.

In reality, the coldest part of the Treasure Sea was precisely where they currently resided. Continuing northward would instead gradually lead them to a wondrously warm region, where the temperature would steadily rise, just like the land of the Old Continent.

During the winter, a monsoon current from the east of the Eritrean Sea would consistently transport warm tropical seawater to the northern Heights of the Treasure Sea, rendering that vast region perpetually spring-like.

Inside the tent, enhanced with various witchcraft enchantments.

Olivia, clad in a loose white nightgown, was curled up sweetly asleep in the warmth of Aiven’s embrace.

Even though she was an Official Knight aside from a wizard, using her boyfriend’s tummy to warm her feet in winter was a privilege exclusive to a girlfriend, and she was unwilling to give it up.

Her likes were straightforward—Olivia was never one for coyness. In fact, facing Aiven, the girl tended to make bold advances.

In the Material World, the two seemed fast asleep, yet in another realm, it was time for their Spirit Realm exploration.

This was part of a wizard’s practice, and if conditions allowed, they would not miss a single day.

Crackle...

Rumble...

Amid the heavy rain clouds in the sky, thunder roared violently, and colossal shadows swayed, intermittently accompanied by the sharp cries of countless birds.

This world lay atop an enormous canopy, where jade-like trunks stood like walls between heaven and earth. Above was a clouded peak, below was a cloud-covered ground—both out of sight.

Bigger than houses, the tree leaves were lush to the extreme; a single cluster of branches seemed enough to support a small island. Many strange and wondrous birds resided among the canopy of this world.

Now, in the sky above, two gigantic Thunderbirds flapped their horizon-encompassing wings, launching into a deadly battle with sharp claws, beaks, and terrifying thunderbolts.

One was enormous, like a tumultuous thundercloud, the other slightly smaller, but clad in a blue armor with floral decorations, holding ground in fierce combat.

These raptors fought as if determined to bring about world destruction, locked in an intense battle around the giant tree canopy. Each collision caused violent tremors across the leaf-laden world, breaking branches, and disrupting numerous bird nests, sending them tumbling down.

Nearing the top of a certain tree leaf, with her figure dimmed using [Tourmaline: Mimic] and almost merging with the leaf, Olivia stood quietly.

On her shoulder, a Kingfisher composed entirely of emerald glowed increasingly with a green spiritual light.

Now, she looked up, awaiting an opportunity.

A giant black nest hovered above, where a long sword, flashing with sharp blue electrical light and resemblance to both a bird’s beak and wings, was quietly pinned.

That was the primary target of their Spirit Realm exploration this time.

Although substances couldn’t be brought into the Spirit Realm, the precious Spiritual Materials produced there could be taken out.

Spiritual Materials existed as a blend of information, energy, and rules, requiring specific objects from the Material World to serve as carriers to achieve similar effects in the Spirit Realm.

Legends passed among knights suggested that the world’s first extraordinary weapon had once originated here.

Aiven’s extraordinary longsword "Lightning Rod" was damaged in the fight against Griffith, and using the Sword Staff to execute [Desperate Thunder Swordsmanship] was not particularly smooth, making him determined to acquire this lightning attribute longsword.

Since accidentally discovering this place and leaving a beacon, they had been contending with the Thunderbird dwelling in the Spirit Realm for several days. Aiven handled the task of directly drawing its attention, while Olivia chose whether to perform long-range assaults or infiltrate the nest to seize the treasure based on the situation.

Today was the closest they had come to success.

However, as time passed, Olivia had yet to find an opportunity when a massive figure with sparse feathers plummeted down from the sky, immediately grabbing Olivia and fleeing.

"Caw, the big bird doesn’t play fair! The wind is tight, let’s scram!"

Behind them, apart from the Thunderbird that had initially fought Aiven, an additional two large and one small Thunderbirds dove down from the upper layer of clouds, swiftly charging towards them.

Whoosh—!

Aiven vibrated his wings in a cobra maneuver, dodging the opponent’s pounce and diving headfirst into the cloud beneath the treetops without looking back.

Up until now.

Because of the feedback from advancing to Tier 3 [Branded Swordsman], combined with the long-term hunting during Spirit Realm exploration, Aiven’s spiritual power index surged to 3.52, lighting up the "Beautiful" among the ten original essences of the "Life Tree Meditation Method".

He could already be considered a senior-level Official Wizard.

And with Olivia by his side day and night, she also benefited from Aiven’s fortune. With a Tier 3 main attacker charging ahead, significant spiritual feedback kept accumulating, and coupled with the powerful effects of the Essence Fruits, her spiritual power index soared to 2.1 over half a year.

But judging by their current strength, facing a family of Thunderbirds was still somewhat beyond their reach.

Next time, they need to come up with a better plan.

After an unknown amount of time had passed.

Olivia opened her slightly hazy eyes, slowly sat up from the bed, and suddenly realized that Aiven was not by her side.

Then she noticed that she wasn’t in the tent on the unnamed island in the Treasure Sea but in the Orange Leaf Castle of the Aimoer family in the Far Sails Territory on the New Continent!

"Am I... dreaming?"

Returning to being human, Olivia felt a bit unaccustomed, hesitated slightly, lifted the blanket, and stepped onto the golden high-heeled slippers placed by the bed.

She casually lit a whale oil lamp on the table and walked out of the room under the warm, bright yellow light of the lamp.

Tap.. Tap.. Tap..

The ancient castle was devoid of people, with only Olivia’s crisp footsteps echoing far into the darkness.

"Hahaha..."

"Heeheehee..."

Yet at this moment, her ears were suddenly filled with the playful laughter of a group of children.

"Huh, why are there kids in the castle?"

Although aware she was dreaming, Olivia seemed to remain in a half-awake, half-asleep state, not finding anything unusual about this strange situation.

She instinctively followed the cheerful voices, searching until she found herself at the entrance of a very unfamiliar stone staircase.

The stone staircase, with green moss marks, seemed to have weathered a thousand years, looking mottled and aged, clashing with the decorative style of the Orange Leaf Castle.

But the girl hardly hesitated, wearing only a thin, loose white nightgown, her long black hair draping over her shoulders, high-heeled slippers on her feet, and carrying a lamp, she descended the castle’s dim and narrow stone steps, "tap tap tap".

By this time, she had completely forgotten that in the imagery of dreams, descending the stairs meant gradually entering deeper layers of multiple dreams!

In the center of an unknown small town, on that empty square.

Whoosh——

A nimble monkey rode a white steed through a flaming hoop, a comical bear rolled around the arena on a large leather ball, colorful fireworks illuminated the entire night sky, and a clown with heavy makeup on his face was hurling flying sabers with a sharp laugh...

The spectacular circus performance drew loud cheers from the surrounding dark crowd of spectators.

The girl, who had paced to the edge of the audience, was also captivated by the show, involuntarily rising onto her toes.

However.

The circus appeared unproblematic, but from a distance, many men, women, old and young "spectators" were not real people but a group of humanoid puppets dressed in clothes and wigs, with ghastly pale faces!

Noticing the addition of a new spectator among them.

All their bodies remained still, yet their heads turned at different angles toward the girl’s direction, their stiff lips opening to issue a "friendly" laugh:

"Hahahaha..."

"Hahahaha..."

The laughter was cold and hollow, like the cawing echoes of crows in a cemetery.

Meanwhile, in reality.

Not far from the island where the temporary camp was set, an enormous sailboat, as light as a dream and as ethereal as vapor, moving not only across the sea surface but seemingly through the dreams of various creatures, slowly sailed by.

The ship was ablaze with lights and noise, yet Kaka, who stayed awake through his night watch, and the reptile Pipi, who never dreamed even when asleep, didn’t notice anything unusual...