I stared blankly at the white silk in my hand. I wanted to have a proper conversation with Luna Quay, but judging by the current situation, the Corpse Realm has completely joined forces with the Immortality Society.
I keep thinking about changing something, but I still can't do it. Luna Quay probably won't listen to anything anymore.
A streak of greenish airflow brushed past me. I reached out and pressed against it; the greenish stream dispersed, almost tangible, spreading to both sides.
The situation is still dire. Xu Fu has already left, but what he left behind won't disappear. What feels strangest now is that, under this greenish aura, I'm just like that low-level Mindghost not far away, locked in combat with its own duplicate.
Our strengths are evenly matched. I sensed this the moment I exchanged blows with Xu Fu. Aside from the gap in experience, my power is equal to his.
And the most crucial thing is, I don't feel any exhaustion at all right now. My shadow, which is half my strength, was extremely weak in the instinct space just now, having used up the power I'd only recently recovered to let Lord Shenyan and Quentin Kue's powers coexist.
I was puzzled when I first came out, but now I fully understand. Something truly bizarre has happened: the power produced by everyone here has been evenly distributed to each of us. Even if some power is lost in the fighting, no matter what, the overall power here remains in a state of balance.
The only explanation is the instinct awakened from Lord Shenyan's body—the greenish entity whose name I still don't know.
Nothing has changed. Lord Shenyan, who has tangled with Quentin Kue's ghost soul for hundreds of years, is far weaker than before. Yet he still has to support such immense power. Time is running out. I floated up and drifted toward the now visibly purple zone in the center.
Like a dream, like a cloud—in this purple area, I feel nothing at all. This is the manifestation of a dream, and the cause is some aspect of Three-Eyed acting as a medium, triggering this power. It's the result of the dream's power mixing with Three-Eyed's power.
My mind is clear about the root cause. Suddenly, I raise my hand and look at the still-fighting original and duplicate nearby. The power has dropped significantly again. As the damage increases, the overall power decreases, and the average power shifts as well.
"Dreaming."
I muttered to myself. Now, the only way to change all this is to dream, but ghosts don't dream. I sat cross-legged on the ground, releasing ghost threads. For Lord Shenyan to use power so smoothly, my instinct would consume a massive amount of energy, which means the overall power would be depleted.
"Do you still remember what Mona Ouyang gave you?"
A voice suddenly echoed in my mind—it was Spirit Snake. My eyes widened, and I instantly remembered: during my trial given by instinct, Yin Chou used Mona Ouyang's power to enter my instinct space through a dream. He had Mona Ouyang give me an eye, something that belonged to Three-Eyed.
Three-Eyed handed it over personally. I immediately stood up and closed my eyes to search, but in my instinct space, that item was nowhere to be found. This surprised me.
"Could it exist in my core dream?"
That's the only place the eye could possibly exist. I lay flat on the ground and closed my eyes. Dreaming is impossible for me now—it's far harder than I imagined. Ghosts don't dream.
When I first became a ghost, there was still some yang energy left. That lingering yang energy allowed many ghosts to retain the ability to dream, but as time passed and the yang energy faded, ghosts could no longer dream.
I opened my eyes again and looked at the purple aura drifting around me. There was no sleepiness—I couldn't even remember what sleepiness felt like anymore.
"Imagine, Ethan. Imagine all the beautiful things you can think of."
My eyes widened. A serpent of killing aura appeared at my chest, its head flicking its tongue, golden-red eyes staring at me. I nodded, closed my eyes, and began to recall some long-ago moments of pure happiness. Whenever those memories surfaced, the happiest was when I brought Rachel Lan home. Those scenes replayed in my mind.
A strange fragrance made me feel comfortable, a warm sensation at my nose, a breath—it was Spirit Snake doing something.
"Don't stop, Ethan. Keep imagining, imagine whatever brings you happiness. Even if these things exist only in your mind, even if they're illusions, don't stop."
Gradually, everything I imagined in my mind started to feel real, and my body grew lighter and lighter.
In a daze, I opened my eyes wide. Under the cold moonlight, I found myself in a mass grave. I swallowed hard—the trees around me looked twisted and strange, making me uncomfortable.
But gradually, I felt a faint sense of familiarity with this place. Someone was behind me—I sensed it and immediately turned around.
Amid a cluster of grave mounds, Three-Eyed sat on one, looking completely at ease. One leg stretched out, arms hugging the other knee, he stared blankly at me.
"Three-Eyed."
I muttered.
"You came, Ethan Zhang."
I nodded and walked over, staring at the third eye opened on his forehead.
"Is this your core dream?"
I asked, but Three-Eyed didn't answer—he stood up instead.
"You've awakened another remarkable thing, Ethan Zhang."
"Do you mean Lord Shenyan's instinct?"
Three-Eyed nodded.
"Each of the Sevenfold Ghost Sovereigns has its own instinct, and Lord Shenyan's instinct is the one that should never be awakened. It's very dangerous."
I swallowed hard and asked.
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"Why?"
"The purer something is, the more dangerous and powerful it becomes. Precisely because it's too much to bear, it was sealed away. John Chou foresaw this early on—this instinct is always growing, carrying what people most long for, becoming ever more immense. That's why John Chou tried to make sure this instinct would stay in a deep sleep."
I didn't want to hear any more of this and asked directly.
"Is there a way to end all of this?"
"Ghosts are always inclined toward evil, Ethan Zhang. Don't you think so?"
I shook my head.
"You're right. Here, take this—it can neutralize the power of my third eye. You only get one chance."
Three-Eyed stretched out a hand, revealing an eyeball that was moving. I took it, nodded.
"Is it truly helplessness that keeps us from returning, or is it a deliberate choice not to go back?"
I asked, wanting to control Three-Eyed. With the Immortality Society's skills, they could do it, but to make someone like Three-Eyed work for them? Impossible.
"Perhaps both. Tell Dream to reclaim its body—it's time to wake up."
Three-Eyed sighed, showing a sorrowful smile. My consciousness began to blur, and suddenly I jolted awake, staring at the eyeball in my hand.
"What is that?"
I stared in shock as a swarm of copies of ghosts rushed at me, trying to stop me.
With a whoosh, I dodged one of the copies. Belle in my hand sliced it in two, and with a burst of purple light, the copy vanished instantly.
More and more copies came. They weren't interested in fighting instinct anymore—instead, their eyes were fixed on the eyeball in my hand.
Three-Eyed said in the dream that there was only one chance to end it. What did that mean?
A cracking sound echoed. All around me, one ghost domain after another split open, and Blue Wraiths drifted out from their domains.
"Thank you."
I said, immediately releasing ghost threads and pressing the eyeball to my chest. With a gulp, the eyeball sank into my body. I felt something—dream power, a force I knew well.
The copies surged toward me in waves.
"Lord Shenyan, you can stop now!"
I shouted, but Lord Shenyan in the sky above showed no sign of stopping.
"Once this instinct is triggered, stopping now would kill him."
Yvette Chao said, swinging her sword to cut down some of the copies. The Blue Wraiths didn't look good either—their power was dropping fast, their strength evenly divided.
Where is it—the core of this dream?
I searched carefully, using ghost threads to scan everything around me. With a bang, a Blue Wraith flew toward me, breaking through the defenses. The Blue Wraiths' power was much weaker now, and the copies were even stronger than them.
Yet this power saved most of the lower-level ghosts in the city.
More and more copies broke through—Yvette Chao stood by my side, cutting down every copy that approached. None could get close to me.
Countless copies gathered, surrounding us completely.
"Up there."
Suddenly, I snapped awake and looked up at the sky. It seemed like nothing was there, but I felt a current, like the flow of water.
I pulled the eyeball from my chest and sent it soaring into the sky. Instantly, thousands of copies surged toward me, purple like a swirling storm, wrapping around me in an instant.
I flew upward with all my strength. The sky was gradually covered in purple, and ten beams of blue light appeared at my side. The Ten Swordmasters swung their swords, opening a path.
"Go."
Yvette Chao said. I raised the third eye in my hand—ding! I reached the top. A cracking sound echoed, and a giant eye appeared in the sky, already showing cracks.