Chapter 315: Learning the Dao of Dreams

“Your Majesty, do you have any foundation in the Dao of Dreams?”

Since Jiang Li wanted to learn, Meng Chun naturally intended to teach him everything she knew. But before starting, she needed to understand his situation.

“I can guarantee that as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out until morning… alright, fine, I’ve never studied the Dao of Dreams.”

Jiang Li couldn’t keep bluffing.

Very few people in the Nine Provinces were versed in the Dao of Dreams, and he had never specifically trained in it.

Before becoming Human Sovereign, he had encountered enemies using dream attacks a few times—but he was already unrivaled at the same stage by then. Even within dreams, he was powerful, and his enemies could only die.

Jiang Li had never been threatened by dream-based techniques, so he never felt the need to learn dream-based counters.

“I’ve heard Immortal Elder speak about the Dao of Dreams.”

“Immortal Elder said dreams are the brain’s unconscious reconstruction of reality—they are neither real nor false. At advanced levels, the Dao of Dreams allows one to dream of three thousand worlds, turning dreams into reality or reality into dreams.”

“Once, the Buddha slept for hundreds of thousands of years, and dragged a portion of the Immortal Realm into his dream. That corner of the Immortal Realm—people and land alike—gradually vanished, reappearing within the Buddha’s dream. All the immortals exhausted their methods but couldn’t find that missing corner.”

“Only when the Buddha awakened did that piece return to the Immortal Realm. By then, hundreds of thousands of years had passed. Who knows how many generations of cultivators had come and gone in that dream? Even Earth Immortals had died off in batches, and eventually, no one ascended to immortality anymore. They reproduced in the dream world and slowly forgot they were originally from the Immortal Realm. When they returned, they thought they had achieved mass ascension.”

“The Buddha’s dream—turning dream into reality, reality into dream—was the pinnacle of the Dao of Dreams. I’ve heard of it and longed for it ever since.”

Meng Chun nodded gently. Her comprehension of the Dao of Dreams was nowhere near that of such legendary figures.

“To cultivate the Dao of Dreams, the first step is simple: sleep more.”

Meng Chun lazily lay down on the ground, her graceful figure clearly outlined.

“Your Majesty should sleep as well. I will teach you the Dao of Dreams in your dreams.”

Jiang Li took out a pink pillow—and true to his word, as soon as his head touched it, he was asleep.

In the dream, Meng Chun transformed into a giant kun fish several thousand miles long, swimming freely through the North Sea.

She dove suddenly into the deep ocean, then soared back up to the surface. Each motion parted the sea, raising monstrous waves.

Here, Meng Chun seemed truly free—as if she belonged more in dreams than in reality.

In the Profound Secret Realm, she could only conjure a few people to act out plays.

But within dreams, she could imagine the boundless Northern Abyss Sea and a kun fish whose end couldn’t even be seen.

Jiang Li sat atop the kun fish’s head, listening as she explained the Dao of Dreams.

“One challenge in the Dao of Dreams is that people asleep often can’t tell they’re dreaming. It takes strong willpower and sharp judgment.”

“Either you recall what happened before you fell asleep and realize you’re dreaming—or you identify illogical parts of the dream and deduce it’s not real. After all, dreams are ultimately false.”

“If dreams were just like reality, what would be the point of dreaming at all?”

Meng Chun didn’t teach by rote or recite cliché theories—she had her own insights into the Dao of Dreams.

Jiang Li could tell. Some of what she said was quite innovative.

“Your Majesty can try it now.”

Meng Chun felt she had explained enough and loosened her control over the dream, letting Jiang Li explore freely.

With a single thought from Jiang Li, the Northern Sea began to freeze—starting from him and spreading rapidly.

In just a few blinks, the entire sea turned into a solid mass of ice.

“Now the North Sea can be called the Arctic Ocean.” Jiang Li said proudly.

Meng Chun didn’t know what the Arctic Ocean was, but she figured Jiang Li had just told a very cold joke.

To save him from embarrassment, she forced out a polite laugh.

“Your Majesty learns quickly—only half a month and you’ve already reached this level.”

Meng Chun was amazed.

When she first studied the Dao of Dreams, it had taken her five days to reach this point.

She hadn’t expected the Human Sovereign to have one-third her talent in this Dao.

The ice surface rose up, turning into one ice-armored warrior after another.

Each wore transparent armor and stood tall like giants—capable of brawling with the kun fish.

The entire North Sea’s ice transformed into an army of armored giants.

They split into two factions and began fighting under Jiang Li’s command.

As commander of both sides, Jiang Li gave orders confidently and energetically. Whichever side he wanted to win, would win.

But Meng Chun couldn’t shake the feeling that this looked like a child playing with two action figures, making them fight.

“Your Majesty has mostly mastered dream transformations. It’s time to enter the next stage.”

Meng Chun dissolved the dream. The North Sea vanished, the ice warriors disappeared, the kun fish faded.

They returned to the Profound Secret Realm.

“Your Majesty can now attempt to enter someone else’s dream. I already taught you the method.”

Jiang Li shook his head and chuckled. “Senior Meng Chun, don’t joke—I’m still inside your dream. How could I enter anyone else’s?”

“I don’t understand, Your Majesty. Would you explain more clearly?” Meng Chun looked puzzled.

Jiang Li picked up his pillow and showed it to her. “Senior, this pillow didn’t originally have a peach blossom on it.”

Jiang Li’s pillow was a solid pink when he fell asleep.

Now there was a delicate pink peach blossom on it—easily overlooked unless you looked closely.

Meng Chun’s confusion faded, and she smiled. “Your Majesty is quite sharp. You realized this is still a dream.”

The scenery around them became muddled again, and the two returned to the North Sea.

Meng Chun recited an incantation. “This time, I entered your dream. Now you truly can enter someone else’s dream.”

“Alright.”

Jiang Li brought two fingers together, pointed skyward, and drew a small circle—then entered another’s dream.

…

“Konghu, our meeting is fate. This is the inheritance of the celestial beast Taotie—the more you eat, the stronger you become.”

An old man with the aura of an immortal, dressed in Daoist robes and holding a horsetail whisk, touched Zhang Konghu’s forehead.

According to him, this was the inheritance of the Taotie.

“Your Witch Clan bloodline and the ancient Taotie both come from the distant primordial era. There’s a deep connection. You’ll find cultivating this Taotie inheritance twice as effective with half the effort.”

The old immortal tapped Zhang Konghu’s forehead again. “And this—this is the inheritance of the Dao of Dreams. You can cultivate even while asleep. You must comprehend it well.”

After finishing, the old man ascended and vanished into light.

Zhang Konghu burst into grateful tears, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing in the old immortal’s direction.

“I won’t let you down, Immortal! From now on, I’ll eat and sleep non-stop—train hard and ascend to the Immortal Realm as soon as possible!”

Jiang Li and Meng Chun stood off to the side, speechless.

“Who is… this?” Meng Chun hesitated. Her true body had perished eight hundred years ago, and she had never met Zhang Konghu.

She didn’t understand why this was the first dream the Human Sovereign entered.

Jiang Li awkwardly introduced, “He’s our hall’s commander. His name is Zhang Konghu. His strengths are that he can fight—and his specialties are eating and sleeping.”

“I can tell.”