CHAPTER 429: 429. A SMALL WALK IN THE DREAM

Inside his quiet seclusion room, Gunn Calway placed his porcelain teacup gently onto the polished floor. His loyal butler immediately stepped forward, picking it up without a word.

"Seems like he activated the Feather of Dreamwalker," Gunn murmured, peering into the distance as though he could see beyond walls. "Two miniature illusions will be created from each other’s memories. They’re swapped... forced to survive in the twisted versions of their past. The Feather doesn’t show the whole life, but crafts the deadliest moments into something even more terrifying."

The butler remained silent, waiting.

Gunn sighed. "A pity. Once, our ancestors could reach the Dream Realm directly. But after the collapse of the Ancient Races... it was forever cut off. Still... some say the Feather can even reveal forgotten memories. If one is lucky."

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A vast forest unfurled beneath a warm dawn. Among the towering trees, wooden walkways linked clusters of elegant houses. High Elves, graceful and fair-skinned, walked along these paths, their laughter like wind-chimes.

In the shadows below, Dark Elves moved silently, faces hidden beneath worn cloaks. Whenever High Elves noticed them, they veered away quickly, avoiding eye contact as if the Dark Elves were cursed.

It wasn’t hatred born from skin color. It was history. Once, long ago, elves had lived together in harmony. There was no division of "High" or "Dark."

But everything changed after the World Tree fell. The last remnant of that sacred tree had been guarded by the Elves, until a group of Dark Elves attempted to steal it to extend their own lives. In the chaos, the remnant was destroyed.

Enraged, the High Elves slaughtered the thieves... and ever since, all Dark Elves bore the guilt of that ancient sin, branded as traitors forever.

In this world, Tyler now found himself. He inhabited the body of a young Dark Elf boy, perhaps even Kael Driftsbane’s past self. His reflection, however, looked more like his own face, elongated ears aside. Tyler stumbled through the day, following the motions of this boy’s life.

His parents treated him with cautious kindness. He went hunting with friends. Each day brought silent jeers or outright abuse from passing High Elves.

Once, while carrying firewood, a group of High Elf youths shoved him into the dirt, laughing as they passed. Tyler kept his head down, teeth gritted, thinking, "I just need to survive this nightmare."

Yet, amidst this darkness, there was one ray of gentle light. Her name was Iris, a High Elf maiden with luminous emerald eyes and golden hair.

She became good friend with Kael. Today Tyler as Kael was panting after dragging a heavy sack of roots. With a soft smile, she handed him a basket of fresh fruits and wiped his sweaty brow with a silken cloth.

"Take care of yourself." she whispered. She even held his hand.

A thrill stirred in his chest. But moments later, voices called out. "Iris, are you there?"

Iris glanced nervously around, then vanished into the trees with her friends. Tyler hid behind a trunk, watching her go.

"What are you doing alone, Iris?" a voice called from the distance.

"Nothing. I felt tired."

"Come on."

Tyler clutched the fruit basket, breathing hard. "So... is this it? A doomed love story?" he murmured, watching the forest path where Iris had gone.

He’d seen enough drama and read enough ancient stories to know how this would play out. Surely someone would discover Iris’s kindness and spread rumors. Or worse, some rival suitor would orchestrate tragedy. He could almost feel the script unfolding, the dream bending toward some inevitable heartbreak or bloodshed.

But something didn’t sit right. Tyler replayed Iris’s soft smile in his mind, searching her emerald eyes in memory.

He frowned. In his lifetime, he has experience with countless women. He’d learned to spot the subtle tension of hidden affection, the unconscious trembling in a girl’s voice when she cared...

But Iris’s eyes had been empty. Beautiful, polite... but cold, like a merchant offering a polite discount to a stranger. Was she truly kind, or was there another game at play here? Was this a trap laid by the dream itself?

"Maybe... she’s playing with Kael’s heart," he whispered, staring into the canopy above as specks of light filtered through the leaves. Maybe this wasn’t a love story. Maybe this was the beginning of the nightmare.

But it didn’t matter. Tyler curled his fist, steadying his breathing. "Whatever this world throws at me, I’ll just have to survive" he muttered.

The next day, Tyler walked along the forest trail, the morning sun casting golden spears of light through the leaves. Birds chirped above, but he felt no peace. A strange tension hung in the air, and a bitter taste lingered in his mouth.

Then he saw them.

Iris was nestled in the arms of another High Elf—a tall, arrogant youth who had been one of Tyler’s tormentors the day before. The pair giggled softly, utterly unaware of Tyler watching from behind a tree. They kissed, hands entwined, eyes closed in bliss.

Tyler felt nothing. No sting of betrayal, no sadness. Instead, a numb calm swept over him. He turned silently and walked away without revealing himself, not a twig snapping underfoot.

But the dream wouldn’t let him leave peacefully.

Suddenly, memories surged into his mind—but they weren’t his. They belonged to Kael Driftsbane. He saw Kael confronting Iris in a moonlit grove, rage and confusion in his young voice. She had spat cruel words at him, laughing at his feelings. Then, the High Elf bully had stepped in, mocking Kael. The fight turned bloody. Kael, driven by fury, had slain the boy.

And then Iris.

She had screamed. He had silenced her.

Tyler’s eyes flew open.

Before him stood a procession of High Elves, clothed in ceremonial armor, glowing with wrathful aura. Two of them held something in their hands—two heads. His parents. Their lifeless eyes stared back at him.

Tyler staggered back, horror flashing through him.

"So this is what it means to survive in your dream, Kael?" he muttered, fists clenched. "Even though I chose not to confront her... this dream dragged me here anyway."

The Feather of Dreamwalker didn’t care about mercy. It sought only the deepest pains, the sharpest regrets, and twisted them.

"Something’s wrong," Tyler growled. "Kael Driftsbane didn’t die here. He escaped. But how?"

Tyler was right. After the murders, Kael fled, using a rare treasure—a medallion that tore open space itself. He vanished from the Elven Forest, never to be caught.

But now, in this dream, Tyler had no such medallion. The simulation had removed the very thing that allowed Kael to survive. This wasn’t just a reenactment. It was a trap.

The Duel.

The same cruelty was being repeated elsewhere...

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In another corner of the dreamscape, Kael Driftsbane wandered through a strange and unfamiliar world. Yet everything around him pulsed with clarity. Information flowed freely into his mind some modified memories of Tyler.

"I didn’t expect this guy to be so rich," Kael murmured, glancing at the wealth stored inside Tyler’s dreamscape. "Phantom Blackwood... real name Tyler White, huh? I’ll definitely win this. Seems like it’s another world entirely. And this guy... he’s an Ascender?"

Kael grinned. He felt so confident. The dream had granted him insight into Tyler’s past. And he believed he could exploit it.

"This Cultivation CC competition... this was the most dangerous moment in Tyler’s life, right?" Kael chuckled. "All I have to do is survive longer than he did. Easy. I’ll outlast him. I’ll win this challenge for sure. Hahaha"

He was laughing with confidence.

A few hours later....

Kael stood frozen in terror.

An overwhelming presence loomed before him — the silhouette of a towering Immortal. Immortal Feng.

The pressure warped the sky, cracked the earth beneath Kael’s feet.

"This... this isn’t fair..." Kael gasped, stumbling backward. Everyone in the Arena Died. There is no Cultivation CC spirit that helped Tyler that day. There was no puppet that helped Tyler that day.

He stood in the heart of a secret realm of the Zi World, a memory Tyler held. It was the day when Tyler confronted an Immortal. Tyler was able to win because he had abnormal luck, Immortal Feng’s puppets, Cultivation CC. But the dream erased everything. Even Tyler’s Copper Pot.

Kael had nothing.

He wasn’t Tyler. He didn’t have Tyler’s courage or the sheer will to stand firm when the world collapsed around him.

"No!"

The Immortal raised his hand. Kael’s body seized up. A burning light struck him, and he screamed.

His cultivation was destroyed in a flash.

Kael collapsed to his knees, trembling.

"How the heck... how the heck am I supposed to win against an Immortal!?" he shrieked. "I’m crippled now! I can’t even run!"

He crawled backward as the Immortal advanced, each step shaking the air. The dream offered no escape. No miracles. No salvation.

Kael’s scream echoed through the dreamscape, unheard by anyone.

"S-Save me... Someone.... Sav–" He cried.