Prime Originator

What does it mean to have a pleasant dream?

For others, it would mean an experience in the dreamland that satisfies their hidden desires and brings them joy and happiness.

But for Leon, it was different.

There was a time when he used to dream, but he dreams no more. Now, only nightmares haunt him in his sleep when he shuts his mind from any notion of reality.

As such, any deep sleep that doesn't give him a nightmare can be considered a pleasant dream for him.

Alas, others would just see it as good sleep.

Nevertheless, he felt all his burdens disappeared, like he was a slave that just got released from his shackles.

The feeling of freedom and release brought his body unprecedented comfort, which in turn elevated his exhausted mind, making it feel weightless and unbound by the world.

Leon felt like his mind could drift off into the sea of stars and explore the vastness of Primal Chaos.

But the moment Leon gained consciousness in his deep sleep, he realized he was back in the stone room with Aria and Darlene.

However, he wasn't lying on the grass bed with Aria and Darlene. Instead, he was standing at the bedside, staring at another body of himself in bed with Aria and Darlene.

The bizarre experience immediately baffled him.

Leon furrowed his brows.

He didn't doubt that he was supposed to be the one lying in bed with Aria and Darlene. Just by looking at his body sleeping in bed, he recalled every detail before he fell asleep.

However, if his body was sleeping in bed, then who was the current him standing by the bedside?

'Hm? This isn't a dream… And I seem to have no voice,' Leon glanced around the stone room and observed every detail.

He realized he couldn't speak, but he could hear his thoughts clearly.

At the same time, the detail of the room was too vivid to be a dream; dreams would have some slight discrepancies from reality.

'Am I in my spiritual avatar?' Leon wondered.

However, he couldn't make sense of that thought. There was no reason for him to be in his spiritual avatar when he had no recollection of performing the skill.

The lights were out, and the room was dark.

Leon didn't notice the slight detail due to the room's darkness at first, but the entire world around him had seemingly lost its colors; everything was in monochrome.

Upon further observation, he didn't sense any life from his body nor Aria and Darlene's body either. All three of their bodies showed no sign of breathing.

Rather, everything was in stasis as if time itself was frozen.

'I'm the only one who can move in this frozen world… But what exactly is happening right now? Why is the world like this? I need more information,' Leon frowned.

Shortly after, he decided to leave the stone room.

However, when he tried pushing the stone door open, Leon realized it wasn't as easy as he would expect it to be.

It took all his strength to push open the stone door…

It was as if he had lost all his strength and become a regular mortal without any cultivation again; he felt incredibly weak and vulnerable.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop him from exploring the frozen world.

After Leon struggled to get out of the stone room, he left the stone palace and glanced outside at the rest of the Dark Fae Clan and beyond.

As expected, everything else was also in monochrome.

The dark faes, the stone buildings, the ground, the sky, and even the stars beyond; everything was in various shades of black and white.

Leon knew he wasn't in a dream, but it didn't feel like reality either.

It was simply impossible for the current him to remember the positions of all the dark faes on the mountain peak. Furthermore, he saw unfamiliar faces of dark faes he had yet to meet in the clan.

'What is this world? Is this another dimension that runs parallel to the real world? But what brought me here? How did I come here?' Leon wondered.

He strolled through the Dark Fae Clan, casually glancing around.

However, he suddenly recalled something and raised his head to look at the sky again. After realizing the sky had no clouds covering it, his eyes widened in surprise.

He could see the floating ring of debris and stars beyond. Even the cataclysmic sun could be seen clearly.

It was bright like a white dot in the sky, but it wasn't the biggest star to be seen. No, it was something much, much bigger than the Vandelheim Star.

It looked like a star due to its bright and circular form, but it was far, far too big to be one.

Just by comparing it to the Vandelheim Star, which is the closest star to Planet Gaia, it was at least tenfold bigger.

'What is that?' Leon wondered.

After he recalled the star map, his eyes flickered with an answer.

'That grey spot is the core region lying at the center of this world's starfield? I didn't expect it to be observable in this frozen world…'

Leon was surprised to see it.

Even on a night with a clear sky in the Human Domain, he wouldn't be able to see the enormous grey region depicted on the center of the star map.

However, in this frozen world, it was clear as day.

'Hm?' Leon narrowed his eyes.

He thought he was the only person or thing that could move in the frozen world, but he spotted tiny grey orbs of light flying toward the giant grey spot among the stars.

Upon further scrutiny, he realized the grey orbs of light numbered in the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands…

There were too many grey orbs of light.

Suddenly, a single grey orb of light diverted its interstellar path and descended upon Planet Gaia, landing in the Dark Fae Clan some distance away from Leon.

The grey orb of light took the form of a man, but Leon could not see the person's face with the person's back facing him.

However, the familiar back immediately shook his heart with turbulent emotions like a rock thrown in calm water.