The halfling statue that had suddenly surfaced, along with the fine cracks only visible through the Astral vision, sent a chill down Leylin's spine.
The things within the Dream World were far too mysterious and unpredictable, yet their allure to Leylin was unparalleled.
It was precisely because of this that Leylin, who had been so deeply immersed in his experiments, had somewhat neglected the immense dangers lurking within the Dream World.
Within the Dream World, anything was possible.
"Seal it!" Leylin said in a low voice, watching the ever-widening cracks spread across the statue.
A blood-red glow surged up from the ground, instantly forming a semi-transparent cage, while the runes that had been placed around the halfling statue immediately began to flash.
Suppressed waves of energy gathered, tightly locking the halfling statue within.
Crack! The fractures on the halfling statue inside the seal spread even further, all the cracks merging together to form a horrifying maw.
A layer of dense black oozed out from the gaping mouth — countless ant-sized insects crawling from within the statue in layer upon layer, instantly blanketing the ground in a thick carpet.
The dark red Dream Force suddenly intensified several times over, even forming tiny vortexes that rippled back and forth through the air.
"How could the flow pattern of Dream Force shift so suddenly and so drastically?"
This discovery immediately crushed more than half of the elation he had felt from his earlier experimental success. Leylin reflected on himself — in his research of dreams, he had only taken a negligible step forward, and his understanding of the Dream World had barely lifted a corner of its veil. Before the unknown, one still had to maintain reverence. The sliver of pride that had begun to swell within him was instantly suppressed.
Squeak! Accompanied by spine-chilling screeches and the sound of meticulous gnawing, Leylin watched in horror as the binding runes shattered one by one. Even the magic circle on the ground was suffering terrifying erosion.
The dark red Dream Force was continuously transforming into black, and the bizarre power it carried was enough to make even Leylin's expression change.
"Damn it! If only I could wait until tomorrow and use all the insulating materials I discovered today..."
Leylin seethed with frustration, but there was nothing he could do about it.
"Perish!" He struck out without hesitation. A bizarre black flame swept through with violent force, completely engulfing the area where the halfling statue had been.
The temperature within the entire laboratory skyrocketed to its limit in an instant, then quickly dropped back down.
The original floor had melted under the extreme heat, leaving behind a massive depression. At its bottom, various melted materials had mixed together and slowly solidified, forming crystals that resembled multicolored gemstones.
Squeak! On the surface of these crystals, black spots began to appear one after another.
Though the halfling statue had vanished, those black insects had actually survived Leylin's Evil Phoenix Fire attack.
"Their foundation is the power of dreams — if I don't deal with this at the root!"
Leylin's eyes darkened. With a wave of his hands, the material slab that had been undergoing experiments in the Lightning Pool flew out instantly, exploding in midair into countless fine particles. Held together by some unknown force, they formed a thin, delicate film that spread over the area blanketed by the black insects.
"Isolate!"
A torrent of lightning cascaded over the membrane, forming an isolation layer similar to the one in his earlier experiments. The dark-red dreamforce was sealed out on the other side.
"Crack! Crack!" As vast quantities of dreamforce condensed, the membrane began to bulge inward in numerous dents, emitting strained creaking sounds.
"Dreamforce can be blocked, but it can also break through. My previous isolation tests only involved an ordinary dreamlife form. Now that I'm up against something far more advanced, this is what happens…"
Leylin's pupils contracted.
In other words, if he encountered something even more powerful, this thin membrane he had set up would likely be torn apart on the spot.
Come to think of it, a fishing net might catch small fish, but what chance would it have against a tiger shark roaming the open sea?
"The top priority is to eliminate every last one of these hazards before the other side can draw on dreamforce reinforcement again!" A look of iron resolve flashed through Leylin's eyes as the Wicked Phoenix Fire reignited.
This time, the black ants—cut off from their supply of dreamforce—melted quickly, dissolving into motes of black light that scattered into nothing.
As if provoked by this, the dreamforce outside the membrane grew even denser, pressing so hard that hairline fractures began to appear across the membrane's surface, as though it might rupture at any moment.
"Faster! Come on, be faster!"
Leylin murmured urgently, and a surge of cool soulforce materialized out of nowhere, pouring into the flames.
The black fire blazed tenfold in intensity, incinerating every last black ant. At the precise instant the final ant vanished, the isolation membrane let out a pitiful wail of strain and shattered with a thunderous crash. The dreamforce, now bereft of its target, swirled about for a moment before dissipating of its own accord. Leylin could not help but let out a long breath of relief.
Suddenly! The instant he turned his head, the half-man statue was pressed right up against his face, its mouth—formed from the crack in its surface—seeming to mock him.
A terrifying aura of darkness billowed ceaselessly from that gaping maw.