Joy entered Fang Yuan's heart.
It was not his joy.
That was the first thing he realized.
Seven Star Child stood before him, blue robes fluttering beneath the clear moon. Clouds stretched endlessly beneath their feet. His laughter echoed in the vast sky, full of satisfaction, pride, and relief.
"Heaven has taken pity on me. I, Seven Star Child, have finally combined the seven star spaces into one!"
The laughter entered Fang Yuan's ears.
Then it entered his heart.
Fang Yuan felt happiness rise within him. A warm, swelling emotion filled his chest, as if he himself had overcome countless obstacles and reached the threshold of a supreme achievement.
His expression changed.
Not good.
A dream realm did not only trap the body. It infected the mind. It used emotions, memories, desires, and regrets to pull a person deeper.
The moment Fang Yuan felt Seven Star Child's joy, he knew he was sinking.
He tried to move.
His body was heavy.
Compared to Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream, this pressure was far weaker. In that previous layer, he could not even twitch. Here, at least, his fingers still responded faintly.
But that did not mean he was safe.
Seven Star Child was rank eight.
Even if his dream was weaker than Star Constellation's, it was still not something Fang Yuan could endure casually.
Fang Yuan gritted his teeth.
Pain was the best method to wake from a dream realm, but he was an immortal zombie. His dead body had almost no sense of pain. Earlier, he had detonated true solid bat wings and used the intense pain in those transplanted wings to break free.
Now the wings were gone.
That method could not be used again.
Seven Star Child continued laughing.
"I am one step closer to rank nine! One step closer!"
The joy became stronger.
Fang Yuan's thoughts slowed for a breath.
His heart seemed to agree.
Yes, this was worth joy.
Yes, this was worth celebration.
Yes, after such hardship, one should laugh freely beneath the moon.
Fang Yuan's eyes became ruthless.
Wrong.
This was not his thought.
This was not his emotion.
His lips could not move, but his will roared inside.
Move.
Move!
His right arm trembled.
It felt as if a mountain pressed on it. Raising an arm, something ordinary mortals could do easily, now required all of Fang Yuan's strength.
One breath.
Ten breaths.
Dozens of breaths.
His arm rose inch by inch.
The joy in his heart continued to grow. The dream was trying to drown him with satisfaction. If he accepted this emotion, he would stop struggling. He would stand there and listen to Seven Star Child's laughter until he forgot himself completely.
Fang Yuan's five fingers slowly opened.
A small lump of blue starlight condensed in his palm.
Icy drill stardust.
The killer move formed with extreme difficulty. The stardust spun weakly, filled with countless tiny ice shards and soft explosions.
Seven Star Child still had his back toward Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan's eyes shone with desperate coldness.
Go.
The icy drill stardust moved forward.
It was slow.
Painfully slow.
But it moved.
The blue starlight crossed the short distance and struck Seven Star Child's back.
Seven Star Child's laughter stopped.
His body stiffened.
Then cracks spread across him like a broken mirror.
"Hahaha… guh?"
He turned halfway.
For a single instant, Fang Yuan saw his face.
Then Seven Star Child shattered.
The clouds shattered.
The moon shattered.
The sky shattered.
Fang Yuan's body suddenly lightened.
He regained movement.
The dream layer collapsed much faster than expected. Fang Yuan retreated immediately, unwilling to remain in place for even half a breath.
Then a furious roar came from the depths of the eighth star hall.
"Who?"
The voice was hoarse, ancient, and filled with rage.
"Who disturbed my sleep?!"
The dream fragments scattered.
The inner hall returned.
Darkness, broken starlight, the huge throne, and the ruined surroundings appeared again.
On the throne, two blue eyes opened.
A thin figure slowly stood.
It looked like a human Gu Immortal, but the aura around him was wrong. His body carried the stillness of death, yet also the pressure of a rank eight existence. His skin was dry and dark, his robes ancient, and star light leaked faintly from the cracks in his body.
Seven Star Child.
Immortal zombie.
Fang Yuan's heart sank.
So that was it.
Seven Star Child had not truly died. He had become an immortal zombie and had been trapped in the dream realm for countless years. No wonder the heavenly spirit had not appeared. No wonder the grotto-heaven's state was so strange.
Seven Star Child immortal zombie stepped down from the throne.
His gaze swept across the hall.
Star Lord Wan Xiang was still kneeling on the ground, trembling under the aftermath of the dream.
Hei Lou Lan was motionless, still trapped.
Fang Ming stood not far away, his head lowered slightly, his body rigid.
But his eyes were opening.
Fang Yuan's gaze sharpened.
Fang Ming had woken?
No, not fully.
His expression was pale, and faint dream light still flickered around his body. It was as if something had dragged him toward the depths of the dream, but the collapse of Seven Star Child's dream layer created a crack. Fang Ming's hidden defensive method caught that crack and pulled him partly awake.
Fang Yuan's thoughts moved rapidly.
Dream path defense?
Will path defense?
Soul protection?
He had already noticed Fang Ming resisting the Star Constellation dream longer than Hei Lou Lan. Now Fang Ming was waking without being directly attacked by icy drill stardust.
This confirmed it.
Fang Ming had some defensive measure against dream realms.
But there was no time to ask.
Seven Star Child immortal zombie moved.
His first target was Star Lord Wan Xiang.
"Worm."
Seven Star Child's voice was cold and distorted.
He raised his foot and stomped.
Bam!
Star Lord Wan Xiang's body was smashed into the ground. The floor cracked open beneath him. His chest caved in, blood sprayed, and his body was sent flying through a broken section of the hall like a falling star.
The force tore through stone and starlight.
Fang Yuan did not wait.
He immediately fired icy drill stardust at Hei Lou Lan.
The blue stardust struck her body.
Cold and pain spread through her.
Hei Lou Lan's eyes opened abruptly.
For a moment, she was still disoriented. Star Constellation's pressure, the dream, the darkness of the hall — everything tangled in her mind.
Then Seven Star Child immortal zombie turned toward her.
His left hand rose.
Starlight gathered silently.
Fang Yuan's expression changed. "Dodge!"
Hei Lou Lan's instincts erupted. She raised her arms and activated her defensive methods.
A pillar of starlight shot out.
Immortal killer move — Star Billow Pillar.
It was a straight line attack, but its speed was terrifying. Hei Lou Lan's defenses shattered almost instantly. The starlight swallowed the space before her, grinding through her protection like a river of stars crushing rotten wood.
Hei Lou Lan tried to move aside.
Too slow.
She had just awakened from the dream. Her body had not fully recovered. Her mind was still sluggish.
Fang Ming's eyes cleared at that moment.
Dream Feather's protection retreated into silence, and Unfathomable Will steadied his mind. He saw the starlight pillar, Hei Lou Lan's failing defense, and Seven Star Child's raised arm.
He did not attack Seven Star Child.
He did not even send a probing move toward him.
That would be courting death.
Seven Star Child's cognition was slow from being trapped in the dream, but he was still a rank eight immortal zombie. If Fang Ming struck him directly and drew his attention, the situation could become unrecoverable.
Saving Hei Lou Lan did not require touching the monster.
Fang Ming stretched out his hand toward Hei Lou Lan.
Immortal killer move — Tyrannical Pull.
Invisible strength wrapped around Hei Lou Lan's body and yanked her sideways.
Hei Lou Lan's body shot backward like a stone dragged by a giant hand. The edge of Star Billow Pillar brushed past her, tearing through her remaining defense and burning a line of star path damage across her shoulder and side.
But she escaped the main attack.
The pillar blasted through the hall wall and vanished into the distance.
Hei Lou Lan crashed near Fang Ming and rolled across the broken floor. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth, but she was alive.
Fang Ming did not look at her.
He was already retreating.
"Go."
Fang Yuan also moved.
The three rushed out of the inner hall.
Behind them, Seven Star Child immortal zombie paused for a breath, as if his sluggish thoughts were processing what had happened. Then his blue eyes turned toward the direction where Star Lord Wan Xiang had fallen.
His mind was abnormal.
His cognition was slow.
That was the only reason they were not dead.
Fang Yuan knew this clearly.
If Seven Star Child had the clarity of a normal rank eight Gu Immortal, none of them would have escaped the inner hall.
They fled through the ruined eighth star hall.
Broken pillars, twitching pieces of walking meat tree, lingering zombie fire, and star path residue blurred past them. Fang Yuan's speed was much slower without true solid bat wings, but he still moved decisively.
Hei Lou Lan steadied herself while running. Her face was ugly.
"Fang Yuan, you attacked me!"
"I saved you," Fang Yuan replied coldly without turning back. "Without icy drill stardust, you would still be kneeling in Star Constellation Immortal Venerable's dream. Without Fang Ming pulling you away, Star Billow Pillar would have killed you."
Hei Lou Lan's expression changed.
She looked at Fang Ming.
Fang Ming did not explain.
He was focused on escaping.
Hei Lou Lan gritted her teeth but did not argue further.
The Snowy Mountain Alliance still bound them. Fang Yuan could not intentionally harm her. Fang Ming also had no reason to save her only to scheme in such an obvious way. The pain from icy drill stardust had indeed woken her.
Her anger cooled, replaced by lingering fear.
"What was that?" she asked. "The Star Constellation Immortal Venerable earlier… what was that?"
"A dream realm," Fang Yuan said.
Hei Lou Lan's eyes narrowed. "A dream realm?"
"No time to explain fully." Fang Yuan's voice was low. "Dream realms can trap the mind and soul. The Star Constellation figure was not something we could resist directly. If we sank deeper, we would die without understanding how."
Hei Lou Lan's face became even heavier.
She was a strength path extreme immortal. Her body was powerful, her will was firm, and her combat strength far exceeded ordinary newly ascended Gu Immortals.
But before that dream realm, she had nearly knelt without resistance.
This feeling was terrible.
Fang Ming remained silent.
Dream Feather had helped him, but the experience was far from easy. Against the Star Constellation dream, Dream Feather and Unfathomable Will had only delayed the inevitable. Against Seven Star Child's collapsing dream layer, Dream Feather had used the crack Fang Yuan created to help him wake.
It was useful.
But not invincible.
Dream path was still too mysterious.
Fang Ming's expression was calm, but inwardly, he was even more cautious than before.
This trip had already given him several warnings.
Fang Yuan's methods could decide life and death before battle.
Shi Lei's rank seven strength could not be underestimated.
Seven Star Child's dream trap nearly swallowed them all.
And Star Billow Pillar was not something he wanted to test with his own body.
Behind them, Seven Star Child immortal zombie's furious voice echoed.
"Worms that invade my territory deserve death!"
The three had already rushed out of the eighth star hall and descended toward the forest below.
Fang Yuan said quickly, "Seven Star Child has been trapped in the dream realm for too long. His mind is abnormal, and his reactions are slow. Otherwise, we would already be dead."
Hei Lou Lan's breathing was slightly rough. "So the heavenly spirit never appeared because…"
"Because Seven Star Child did not truly die," Fang Ming said quietly.
Fang Yuan glanced at him.
Fang Ming's timing was calm, but his face was still pale. Clearly, waking from the dream had cost him something.
Fang Yuan stored the observation away.
There was still no time to ask.
Above them, Seven Star Child immortal zombie flew out from the eighth star hall.
His gaze swept across the surroundings.
The three immediately suppressed their auras further and entered the dense forest.
Seven Star Child did not look at them first.
His attention was drawn upward.
In the sky, the huge grey domain of Rolling Rock Battlefield still hung there like a poisonous tumor attached to the grotto-heaven. Shi Lei and the zombie dragon were trapped inside, their battle concealed from outside view.
Seven Star Child immortal zombie stared at it.
His sluggish mind seemed to consider something.
Then he raised his left arm.
Starlight gathered.
Another Star Billow Pillar shot into the sky.
The pillar struck Rolling Rock Battlefield.
The grey rock domain shook violently. Ripples spread across its surface, and cracks almost appeared, but the battlefield did not break.
Fang Ming looked up from the cover of the trees.
Even Seven Star Child's immortal killer move could not shatter it in one blow.
Shi Lei's battlefield killer move was truly not simple.
Hei Lou Lan also saw this, her expression grave.
Fang Yuan's eyes flickered.
"Keep moving."
The three continued deeper into the forest, using the terrain to hide themselves.
Behind them, Seven Star Child immortal zombie roared again. Star Billow Pillar struck the sky once more, causing Rolling Rock Battlefield to tremble.
The eighth star hall was behind them.
The walking meat tree fragment was behind them.
The central throne and the dream trap were behind them.
But none of the three felt relaxed.
They had gained much from this trip.
But now, Starry Sky grotto-heaven had fully awakened its danger.
Fang Ming ran silently, his thoughts cold.
He had not attacked Seven Star Child.
He had only pulled Hei Lou Lan away.
That was the correct choice.
Against some enemies, touching them was already too much.