Under the purple moon's halo, two earth-yellow figures sped across the wilderness.
These earth-yellow figures were, remarkably, earth-yellow ground lizards. Upon their backs sat two figures, their bodies wrapped tightly, with only their exposed scarlet pupils occasionally flashing with a cold light.
"These ground lizards are quite excellent for traveling!"
Leilin gazed at the limbs of his mount, noting the translucent webbing on its hooked paws. Dense energy particles gathered there, allowing it to easily traverse complex terrains like jungles and swamps.
"After we cross the Dream Forest, we'll reach the White River Bank Valley. My family is there too!"
"The Dream Forest? That name?" Leilin was slightly puzzled. He immediately looked around. All he saw was barren wasteland; no forest was present.
"The Dream Forest! The Dream! Could it be..."
Leilin's pupils contracted slightly. Connecting this with the Devil White Phosphorus Snake's bloodline talent, a possibility struck him.
`[Ding! Detecting spatial fluctuations ahead. Assessment: Ritual contact process with the Dream Territory!]` At that moment, the Chip's mechanical voice rang out.
"Yes... my family, called the White Devils, love to stay in the crevices of the Dream World. They often lure directionless travelers inside to feed..."
Belinda's voice turned cold.
Leilin instantly recalled the Chip's information on the Devil White Phosphorus Snake: "They like to torment their prey within dreams before feeding?"
Wisps of dark red mist began to emerge, shrouding the surroundings in a haze.
After passing through this mist, an eerie forest materialized before Leilin's eyes.
Black branches and leaves intertwined in a chaotic mesh. Many giant trees were devoid of leaves, their bare forms resembling grotesque, ever-waving, skeletal arms.
`[Ding! Host has entered the Dream Territory!]` The Chip's alert came directly to his mind.
"The Dream Territory! It's neither the Dream World nor the Hale continent. It's an overlapping zone between the two, often filled with bizarre occurrences... And I've entered it with my actual body!"
A strange light gleamed in Leilin's eyes. Unlike previous dream incursions, this time, much like his earlier exploration of the Dream World, he was physically inside.
Although his physical body's protection reduced the influence of external dream power on his spirit, any trouble encountered would make extricating himself very difficult.
"The White Devil bloodline in our bodies will temporarily shield us from the Nightmare Creatures' assault. Stay close to me!"
Ahead, Belinda shouted to Leilin.
"The Devil White Phosphorus Snake bloodline!" Leilin immediately coated his body in a layer of white snake scales. Sure enough, upon entering the Dream Territory, these scales became smooth and orderly. They even seemed to breathe in the dark red dream power like living things returning home, without any sense of strangeness.
The oppressive feeling the Dream Forest had previously imposed on Leilin vanished completely.
"As expected, the Devil White Phosphorus Snake is truly the darling of dreams—a direct descendant inheriting part of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes' dream abilities!"
Admiration shone in Leilin's eyes. "Chip! Perform a full scan of the surrounding environment. Establish Task: Investigate the Devil White Phosphorus Snake's ability to traverse the Dream World!"
`[Ding! Task established. Commencing data collection!]` The Chip faithfully executed Leilin's command.
Pure-blooded Devil White Phosphorus Snakes could even physically traverse the Dream World, as evidenced by their initial intrusion and attack on Leilin. Belinda, as a hybrid, had only inherited limited abilities to connect with the Dream World and manipulate its power.
Though Leilin didn't possess Devil White Phosphorus Snake blood, he held fifth-grade Devil White Phosphorus Snake blood. Combined with this ideal environment, using the Chip to analyze a method for physical entry and exit from the Dream would be highly beneficial.
"If I could master this technique, freely entering and exiting the Dream World at will, perhaps..."
Flames seemed to burn fiercely in Leilin's eyes.
The ability to physically and freely traverse the Dream World not only meant access to vast dream power and a world's broad resources, but also that he could利用 the Dream's boundless space to journey between various worlds!
After all, within the Dream, the so-called limitations of distance and time were a joke.
"It seems Belinda's earlier mention of a teleportation array was a fabrication. The real teleportation uses the Dream Forest as a springboard to jump directly to the Plain of Ten Thousand Snakes..."
Leilin analyzed silently.
Of course, using the Dream World as a transit point wasn't so simple. Setting aside potential monsters and dangers, its inherent instability was a major headache for wizards.
Belinda's ancestors must have spent countless time and effort discovering this pathway.
A minuscule difference in the Dream's landing point could send you in the completely opposite direction. Without their Devil White Phosphorus Snake dream talent, they wouldn't dare attempt such a thing.
"Belinda! Can this Dream Forest be opened at any time?"
Leilin urged his ground lizard to accelerate, pulling up beside Belinda.
"Of course not! Although this Dream Forest is always in the wilderness, only blood descendants of the Devil White Phosphorus Snake, combined with a specific opening ritual, can make the forest appear. Otherwise, even if you traverse the entire wilderness, you'd only see endless grasslands and sand..."
Without turning her head, Belinda said, "The ritual's content is..."
Immediately, a stream of spiritual information entered Leilin's mind, containing numerous incantations, hand gestures, and symbols, even detailing the crafting of specific items.
Seeing this, Leilin understood the immense cost Belinda's family had付出 to establish this safe route.
Yet she was now telling him this great secret directly?
"Aren't you afraid I'll sell this information to other Devil White Phosphorus Snake families?" Leilin was silent for a moment before asking.
There was naturally more than just Belinda's family among the Devil White Phosphorus Snake families on the Hale continent.
In fact, dozens of White Devil noble families of varying sizes were distributed across the Hale continent. These families had their own branches, collateral lines, and even hybrid offspring, forming a vast network.
Moreover, due to the open customs, the number of mixed-bloods and illegitimate children had surged, causing significant bloodline leakage. It was precisely because of this that Leilin dared to impersonate a White Devil hybrid.
According to Belinda, her family was merely a branch of a pure-blood family. Only her father, the family head, was a pure-blood White Devil; the rest were hybrids or younglings.
"Do as you please! Since I've already given it to you, it's yours now!" Belinda said nonchalantly. This attitude made Leilin's heart sink further.
"It seems Belinda's break with her family is no simple matter!"
"But what does that have to do with me?" A faint, strange curve appeared at the corner of Leilin's mouth.
"In fact, this might even be my opportunity—not just for the bloodline, but also for exploration data on the Dream World, even beast souls, sacrificial rites..."
"Hehe..."
Just then, a yellow figure flashed past the corner of Leilin's eye.
Though their ground lizard's speed within the forest was already fast, the figure easily surpassed them, leaving behind trails of afterimages.
"What is that thing?" Leilin asked, somewhat alarmed.
With a brief glimpse, he had seen the yellow figure's full appearance: comically baggy pants, clothes covered in colorful strips, and a face painted like a clown in a slapstick comedy. Despite wearing clumsy wooden boots, it moved with incredible speed.
No—not running, but rather in a state of slight levitation, creating afterimages in the air.
"A Nightmare Creature! A specialty of the Dream Forest, and a patroller. It normally doesn't appear..." Belinda looked very grave. "If it drags us into the true Dream World, even as White Devil hybrids, it'll be hard to return! We're not pure-bloods and lack the ability to traverse the Dream freely..."
"Nightmare Creature?! Could it be targeting me?" Leilin was startled, his thoughts racing.
After all, he wasn't of true White Devil blood. His ability to connect with dream power was achieved by expending Devil White Phosphorus Snake bloodline essence.
Therefore, it was understandable that the Nightmare Creature had detected an anomaly.
"Hehe... heehee..." As Leilin and the others pressed forward, these yellow clowns appeared with increasing frequency.
"Get lost!" Belinda's expression grew impatient. She let out a roar, and a crimson shockwave blasted forward, shattering trees and grass.
When the blast subsided, Belinda had cleared a bare path through the jungle ahead, but the yellow clown that had been in that area had long since vanished without a trace.
"Coo... coo..."
The sound of bird wings flapping arose. Immediately, a giant black tree next to Belinda came alive. Countless black vines spread down from it, two skeletal arms extended, and a vertical eye, shot through with blood vessels, appeared on its trunk.
"Awoooo!"
The ground lizard beneath Belinda was quickly entangled by the vines and let out a shrill cry of distress.
"Eternal Light!"
A sphere of crimson light suddenly blazed in Leilin's hand. The other vines recoiled as if facing a natural enemy. The ground lizard in the center had already vanished.
"Let's move, quickly!"
Belinda flew directly behind Leilin, and he urged their mount to flee at top speed.