Chapter 12: The Third Super-Grade Skill

Since you can only evolve one skill below the super-grade level, at most, evolve one high-grade skill into a super-grade.

So first of all, two super-grade skills are ruled out.

The “Rending Demon Eyes” won’t work either. If it were to evolve to super-grade, while its power would increase, the side effects would get worse too. With the current number of Blood-Erosion Bugs, it’s uncertain whether they would be able to withstand the vital energy consumption, unable to convert into immediate combat power.

The “Heart Eye Royal Soul Sword” and other space-related skills are sufficient for now.

To face the impending nightmare beasts, only dream attribute-related abilities could be improved. Dismissing the mid-grade “Dream Protection”, that leaves only the Dreamweaving Spider’s racial skill “Weave Dream”!

The skill is to weave a protective net for dreams, but it’s too single-faceted, being only passively defensive, and not nearly as effective as the “Dream Eating” skill by comparison.

Unknown what effects it would have after evolving?

Lu Yu chose to evolve the skill directly. The icon of Weave Dream blurred for a moment before turning into a brand-new skill.

“Dream Prison: Super-Grade, evolved from Weave Dream skill. It can spit out dreamy threads containing space and dream energies, creating a prison of dreams. The outer wall can protect the soul and dreams, the inner wall is firm, capable of imprisoning dream life. It can also pull real beings’ consciousness into captivity.”

“PS: The woven Dream Prison can be strengthened by absorbing dreams of intelligent life.”

After the promotion to super-grade, it transformed from an insignificant passive defense skill into an active control skill, and it also gained the ability to protect the soul.

Most crucially, it’s a growth skill!

It can be strengthened through a plethora of dreams!

Take a shot, a bicycle can turn into a motorcycle!

If the previous Dreamweaving Spider had this ability, it would have been taken away by those above; it wouldn’t be Lu Yu’s turn.

“Ying?”

Confusion appeared on the little spider’s face too, as knowledge about the use of “Dream Prison” suddenly surged in its mind.

It figured it must have something to do with its master, as for why…

No reason.

The master is the best!

Thinking this, the little spider started to clap:

“Ying Ying!”

The master is so awesome!

Sincerely, without any exaggeration.

Praise the holy maiden of compliments!

Even Lu Yu, watching the little spider lay it on thick, couldn’t help but feel a little buoyant. This little one was truly a ball of joy.

However, he did not forget the matter at hand and commanded: “Little spider, enter my dream and weave the Dream Prison!”

Having said that, Lu Yu realized he hadn’t yet lain down on the bed. Just as he was about to correct himself, he felt a strong sense of drowsiness surge over him like a tide, inwardly cursing trouble, his body tipping forward.

However, before he could hit the ground, nearly transparent strands of silk intercepted him mid-fall. With a wave of the little spider’s hand, Lu Yu was gently placed on the bed and tucked in with care.

“Ying!”

After doing all this, the little spider flickered into the void, appeared beside its master, and gradually dematerialized, ready to enter into the dream.

As this was Lu Yu’s first time, his dream pathway was rather narrow, so the little spider carefully expanded it while quietly cooing “Ying Ying,” suggesting it was a bit big for its master to endure.

Then it widened the pathway and slowly crawled in.

In fact, as a dream creature, it wasn’t that difficult for the little spider to enter dreams. It was only because it had just been born, wasn’t familiar with its abilities, had just begun mastering its skills, and also feared hurting its master that it hesitated.

Later on, as it became more proficient, it could freely enter and exit even the most resilient of dreams.

On the other hand, Lu Yu’s consciousness also entered the dream, finding himself in the depths of the sea. Once again, his body began to sink, feeling suffocation and powerlessness anew.

However, this time he maintained clarity of mind. With a thought, the scene before his eyes changed, and he arrived at a small island.

This was his dream realm, which he could control with a mere thought.

In his previous life, there were some powerful figures who could also control their dreams, but they did so through continuous training to awaken lucid dreams, whereas Lu Yu relied on the little spider.

He looked up at the nine suns in the sky. Although they were still stacking and distorting, they seemed less strange, and there were no beasts being born from the glare.

To put it, they had only the form but lacked the essence.

Because these were not the true taboo suns but merely reflections of the nightmare beast imposing its influence through the brand, constantly recalling the most fearful things in his mind.

However, memories are processed over time, gaining new meanings.

For example, something you liked to eat as a child might not taste as good when you grow up, simply because memory embellishes itself.

In other words, the nightmare had no power to manipulate the forbidden curse, so what Lu Yu recalled was just the fear in his memory. While it may look the same, it was just a high-grade imitation.

Looking at what was once his greatest nightmare, Lu Yu remarked, “Have to say, nine suns indeed make it quite warm!”

“Ying?”

The little spider appeared on his shoulder, and though it wore a blindfold, the six eyes of the void behind it squinted—not finding it warm but rather feeling that too many suns were a bit dazzling.

Lu Yu laughed and with a clench of his hand, the nine suns in the sky disappeared, and instead, a massive black hole emerged, as if the heavens had been pierced, emitting a deep malice.

That was the mark sown by the nightmare beast and the root source of his nightmares.

As the fear dissipated, the true form revealed itself.

“Ying.”

The little spider frowned, not liking this aura. As a dream creature, it was naturally opposed to nightmares.

It stretched out its delicate, pale hands; numerous rainbow threads shot out from its fingertips, and it deftly tapped in the air as if performing a sophisticated piano concerto.

The many rainbow strands danced like celestial ribbons, perfectly interweaving together, taking several hours to craft a large-scale spider web enveloping the entire dream.

The web’s mesh was dense, and the strands wrapping around the web made it capable of intercepting flying creatures while also strengthening the overall durability of the web.

From then on, Lu Yu’s dream became a vast prison, and they deliberately left the area around the black hole unrestored.

Solving the nightmare beast issue and removing the mark without repairing it prematurely would only raise its alertness. Better to wait for the opponent to fall into the trap.

Once the nightmare steps into the dream, it would fall into the spider’s web; the more it struggled, the more entangled it would become, ultimately becoming prey.

Now Lu Yu wanted to play the hunter, curious to see the effect of a skill borne from nightmares.

According to the little spider’s perception, the nightmare beast’s assault should happen within the next month or perhaps sooner. Therefore, uncertain of the opponent’s strength, he had to prepare multiple contingencies.

Not having a few dozen aces up his sleeve felt truly worrisome.

Gurgling—

Lu Yu turned his gaze to the little spider, which looked pale and entered a state of weakness.

After all, it had been born just a few hours ago, had not eaten during that time, and had woven a complete Dream Prison net. Not collapsing from the effort was already admirable.

In fact, Lu Yu was unaware that a typical Dreamweaving Spider would need to spend months to weave a protective net for its master, requiring substantial food intake during the process.

Originally, Lu Yu had planned to spend several days weaving, but the little spider managed to do it all at once, catching him off guard.

In the end, it was because he wasn’t sufficiently prepared.

The little spider, being of space and dream attributes, should also feed according to these attributes, and normal human food had minimal effect on it.

Space materials were exorbitantly expensive and not necessarily available; a freshly born creature like that wouldn’t dare enter the chaos of space to consume space shards directly.

Dream attribute creatures, due to their weak strength and scarcity, made related feed rarely sold in brick-and-mortar shops, available mostly through online orders, which certainly wouldn’t arrive in time now.

Of course, it could absorb the energy emitted by dreams, but doing so in excess could cause its target to become mentally drained and experience memory loss, among other issues.

Having the “Dream Eating” skill would be convenient, as it could directly consume dreams, but it would damage the soul. It’s illegal, and if discovered, one could face fines or even imprisonment from the alliance.

As a sovereign-level infant, eating too little would lead to malnutrition—in addition to needing to strengthen the Dream Prison.

“Ying Ying!”

The little spider also felt its master’s concern and casually conjured up a dream bubble filled with delicious food, swallowed it in one gulp, and then brightly indicated with a wave that it was no longer hungry.

In ancient times, Cao Cao quenched his thirst by visualizing plums; today, the little spider staves off hunger by pinching a dream.

But its complexion remained pale.

This considerate behavior made Lu Yu feel even more guilty. He took to ordering online while comforting the spider, “It’s okay, I’ll cook a big meal for you!”

He thought to himself that he possessed the “Master of the Door” talent. As long as he made food above average quality that could induce special effects like mana recovery, it should be enough to feed the little spider, right?

Then, two hours later…

Lu Yu looked at the pile of “Common” quality dishes on the table, feeling they were silently mocking him.

He had overestimated his cooking skills. Getting by daily was fine, but to aim for “Good” quality and special effects was still far off.

But where to find a large amount of dreams? Humans were out of the question, other intelligent beings…

Wait a moment. Intelligent beings!

Lu Yu’s eyes suddenly narrowed.

He had a plan…