Chapter 58: Plan

In the end, Team Bright chose to remain.

Life was always filled with challenges. If they were to run with their tail tucked between their legs just because someone spoke a few harsh sentences to them, that would be too weak.

Youths were very impetuous. Even if they knew that they were not strong enough, they still tackled their opposition head-on.

After exchanging for all the items they needed on the Reflection Rock, they all returned to the forest.

Nightfall was arriving. They began to light a campfire to cook food.

After finishing their meal, they each went to their own places to rest, talk, or engage in their own hobbies.

Wang Doushan enjoyed catching fish in his spare time. The fatty would sit next to the water, angling for a fish; however, by the time the fish bit his line, most of the time he had already fallen asleep.

Yan Fuxing and Sun Jizu liked to play chess against each other. Yan Fuxing was terrible at chess, and his chess etiquette was even worse. Most people usually played by the rule that a move was considered complete once the piece was set, but he would usually request to undo not just that move but also a few moves before, to the point that his chess pieces were basically able to travel through time. Sun Jizu enjoyed watching Yan Fuxing undo his moves. Every time, he would comment, “You can turn back time as many times as you want; I’ll beat you every time.”

Iron Cliff’s hoby was quite strange. He enjoyed rubbing his back against the bark of trees. Usually within half a day, the bark on the tree would be scraped clean. Apparently, this was to raise the defensive ability of his back. From afar, his hobby looked just like a bear scratching an itch.

Du Qing liked to read in her spare time, but she mostly read romance novels. The young maiden’s tears flowed easily, and she would often break into tears for seemingly no reason.

Cloud Leopard enjoyed sitting on a tree and staring into the distance, just like as if he was standing guard. No one knew what he was thinking about; all they knew was that he could sit there for an entire hour without moving at all.

Zheng Xia practiced his palm techniques in his spare time. His palms of flesh whistled through the air, and he often let out loud yells as he practiced. Those who didn’t know what was happening might have thought that mines were exploding.

Su Chen would mess around with his medicines. He had brought his workbench with him in his Origin Ring so that he could concoct his medicine even in the middle of the woods. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had as many medicines to sell. However, because he was always analyzing the medicines that he didn’t have complete control over, everyone had already seen him fail more times than he had succeeded. The air was filled with the sound of shattering vials as his medicines exploded.

After so many days together, everyone was already familiar with Su Chen’s hair being blasted into messy disarray.

But today, things were very different.

In an unprecedented turn of events, Su Chen wasn’t concocting his medicines. He held the Flame Crystal in his hand, turning it around as he made careful, small cuts on its surface.

He was carving something.

The small blade made cut after cut on the crystal’s surface, leaving behind deep scars in the crystal’s surface. Oftentimes, the crystal spurted out flames - this was the Flame Crystal releasing its energy upon being damaged.

However, it could only release a bit of its energy before it was stopped. The hand holding the Flame Crystal constantly sent Origin Energy into it, stopping the Flame Crystal’s energy from leaking out. Simultaneously, he continued to use Origin Energy to restore the Flame Crystal’s wounds.

The scarred, uneven surface very quickly became smooth, as if it was completely naturally-occurring.

It was almost as if Su Chen was carving out a performance. Every time he cut down, the surface of the Flame Crystal would shine and flash with the brilliance of flames, sparks flying through the air like shooting stars.

Du Qing’s gaze was attracted by the mesmerizing display of light. Upon seeing what Su Chen was doing, she said in surprise, “What are you doing?”

Su Chen replied, “I’m carving something.”

“You’re carving something using a Flame Crystal?” Du Qing was left somewhat dazed by Su Chen’s treatment of such a valuable object.

Although Su Chen was using his Origin Energy to restore the wounds to the Flame Crystal whenever he cut down, the large number of cuts he was making would definitely cause the energy within the Flame Crystal to decrease over time.

If he was just using it to make some kind of art, Su Chen really was being quite extravagant.

“You can think of it that way,” Su Chen didn’t raise his head as he replied.

“What are you carving?” Du Qing asked.

Su Chen laughed. “You’ll know if you keep watching.”

His movements with the knife were incredibly quick. Evidently, he had practiced before. As little spurts of flame flew out again and again, eventually a flaming red hawk appeared on Su Chen’s palm.

“A hawk?” Du Qing murmured.

“It’s more accurate to call it a Scarletflame Hawk,” Su Chen laughed. “I practiced for two months before I was finally able to carve it out. My knife-carving skills aren’t great, but as long as it gets the job done that’s good enough.”

“Why are you carving this thing?”

“As a memento,” Su Chen laughed.

“Hmph!” Du Qing rolled her eyes at him.

Although they had not known each other for very long, she was already very clear about what kind of person Su Chen was. Based on his personality, there was no way he would do something so pointless.

However, since he wouldn’t say anything, she was too lazy to ask him more closely. Every person had their own secrets, and not prying too much into those secrets was a basic code of conduct amongst Origin Qi Scholars.

Deep into the night.

Su Chen finally completed his carving.

He stowed the Scarletflame Hawk away before he drifted off to sleep.

The Dreamrealm symbol on the back of his hand began to swim, bringing Su Chen once again into the Dreamrealm.

He was still in the Dreamrealm Castle. Su Chen leisurely walked through the castle’s streets, as if he was gazing at the surrounding scenery.

“Cloud Bat!”

Dream Spirit Lulu once again suddenly appeared in front of Su Chen.

Su Chen glanced at her before continuing to walk forwards. “What is it?”

“What else could it be? Of course it’s about raising your privilege tier!” The Dream Spirit crossed her arms and said to Su Chen, “I say, have you really not made your decision yet after thinking about it for so long?”

“The problem is that I don’t have enough Dream Droplets to raise my privilege tier,” Su Chen shrugged his shoulders as he said.

There were three tiers of Dream Privilege, and each tier had nine levels. Large amounts of Dream Droplets were needed to go up just one level, and every level was more expensive than the last.

Su Chen had no intention of spending so much money here.

“It’s fine if you don’t have enough Dream Droplets. You can buy them with Origin Stones, or you can complete some of the commissions in the halls of the Dreamrealm. There are many places and ways to get Dream Droplets.” The Dream Spirit was just like a seductive little devil, trying to entice Su Chen.

“I don’t have the time,” Su Chen brushed her off.

“Hey, don’t forget about the high-tier Dream Monarch who is trying to figure out your identity. If you don’t hurry up and raise your privilege tier, you will be discovered by him!” The Dream Spirit wasn’t very happy anymore, and she tried to adopt a threatening tone.

“I know, so I want to cancel the notice that I previously sent out,” Su Chen replied.

“What did you say? Cancel?” The Dream Spirit almost fell out of the air in surprise.

“Yes, cancel.” As Su Chen spoke, he walked towards the Hall of Knowledge. “After I cancel the notice, everything will end; that high-tier Dream Monarch will lose any trail he had of my identity, and there will no longer be a need for him to try to figure out who I am.”

“But there’s no need for you to do something like this,” Dream Spirit Lulu began to yell. “As long as you raise your privilege tier, he won’t be able to discover you anyways, but if you cancel your notice, then he won’t have to……”

The Dream Spirit suddenly stopped speaking.

Su Chen finished her sentence. “Then that person won’t need to continue spending Dream Droplets to conceal my notice, and you will earn less money because of it, right?”

“Hey, this……” The Dream Spirit let out an awkward laugh.

Clearly, Su Chen had hit the Dream Spirit’s weak spot.

Su Chen continued. “That’s quite a good plan. First, you took the notice that I sent out and informed a few high-tier Dream Monarchs about it, enticing them to use Dream Droplets to conceal my notice. Then, you urged them to try and discover my identity without giving it to them directly. Then, you urge me to raise my privilege, setting us against each other. From this opposition, you can accumulate lots of benefits…… Is this how the Lord of the Dreamrealm does business?”

Suddenly, a laugh that sounded like the tinkling of bells sounded out. “I told you that this youth is not someone to be taken lightly.”