Su Mei looked quite serious as she asked the question.

Her question wasn’t born of mere curiosity; it was related to the master she served.

The Fox Race was known for its intelligence and cunning, making them rare stewards and strategists among the Demon Race. However, among the countless demon clans, their strength was comparatively weak.

At the very least, the Fox Demon clan couldn’t compare to the likes of the White Tiger, Demon Ape, or Ox Demon races... nor could they match certain clans of innate royalty or primordial aberrant beasts.

The Demon Race believes in a simple creed: might makes right. Their sense of order is tenuous at best.

When fighting for territory, the Demon Race never considered administrative ability, only strength.

Given their circumstances, most Fox Race clans didn’t operate as independent powers. Instead, they attached themselves to stronger patrons.

Su Mei’s tribe, for instance, was allied with the White Tiger Royal Court.

Moreover, she knew that while she was the commander for this trip to Immortal Martial City, her court’s own young princess would be coming as well.

She was terrified of Zhong Ming’s ’Charm’ taking effect and luring their young princess away. If that happened, Su Mei knew that not only would she be doomed, but her entire tribe could be annihilated by the wrath of the White Tiger Royal Court’s lord.

Thus, when she dispatched her subordinates to support Prince Qinghe—a strategic move to maintain a balance of power—she had deliberately sent the two beauties, Wuya and Caiyan. Her goal was to observe Zhong Ming’s ’Charm’ and determine if it was truly as uncanny as the rumors suggested.

To her relief, the lively and delicate Lark, Caiyan, had not been bewitched by Zhong Ming.

"Zhong Ming... that big guy isn’t ugly, but he’s not particularly handsome either. I don’t understand why Sister Xiyue is so infatuated with him."

Caiyan, and indeed the Demon Race in general, knew of Xiyue.

The human race was the dominant power on the continent. After millennia of expansion, they occupied the most fertile lands in the world. As a result, the myriad other races had united, viewing humanity as their greatest common enemy.

Su Mei considered the Merfolk Tribe to be a part of the Demon Race. Consequently, when Xiyue arrived in Immortal Martial City, they had contacted her to discuss a potential alliance between the Merfolk Tribe and the White Tiger Royal Court.

Caiyan had been present during that meeting, and after their conversation, she had come to deeply admire Xiyue.

That was why she couldn’t understand why her dear "Sister Xiyue" was so in love with Zhong Ming.

"Uya, you also think Zhong Ming is nothing special, right? ...Uya?"

Caiyan turned to ask, but saw that Wuya’s eyes were glazed over. She didn’t answer right away.

On the other side of the light screen, Su Mei saw this, and her pupils contracted. Her heart sank.

’It can’t be. Wuya... she’s not planning to defect too, is she?!’

Just as Su Mei’s thoughts spiraled to the worst-case scenario, Wuya finally snapped out of it. She raised a hand, tucking a stray strand of dark hair behind her ear, and said in a placid tone, "Zhong Ming... That young master does have a certain Charm, and I find him rather agreeable. However, to make me abandon my people and defect? He’s not nearly worthy enough."

It was a lie. Because she had just had a breakthrough, she couldn’t perfectly conceal her own aura. And since the connection between snakes and dragons is so intimate, Wuya had sensed something unusual about Zhong Ming.

But the moment she sensed it, the dragon’s suppressive aura took effect as well.

Crucially, Zhong Ming also possessed the Sword Heart of "Heaven and Earth, Only I am Supreme."

The innate pressure a True Dragon exerts on scale insects is as crushing as a mountain. When layered with the power of a Sword Heart that looks down upon all creation, Wuya was horrified to discover something. The mere thought of exposing Zhong Ming or wishing him ill would trigger an uncontrollable, heart-stopping chill that washed over her. It made her Heart Spirit tremble and created the terrifying illusion that her Divine Soul was about to be ground into dust.

’Young Master Zhong Ming... there is definitely something wrong with him!’

The terrifying pressure, the ominous premonition, and the cold-blooded, selfish nature inherent in all snakes—all these factors made Wuya unwilling to reveal what she had sensed.

She wanted to keep this secret for herself.

’I can feel it. The key to my own transformation lies with Young Master Zhong Ming... Loyalty to the Royal Court? Heh. That’s the Tiger Race’s court, not ours. My transformation is far more important than throwing my life away for the Tiger Demon clan.’

...

Uya’s deception was flawless, so Su Mei didn’t notice anything was amiss.

Nevertheless, her innate caution led her to a firm decision: when their young princess arrived, she would do everything in her power to prevent her from meeting Zhong Ming.

’A private meeting is absolutely out of the question!’

...

While the Demon Race’s schemes proceeded quietly in the shadows, Zhong Ming was in a hidden chamber within Prince Qinghe’s Mansion. He had just pulled Luo Zhiwei into the dream of the Great Dream of Thousand Years.

HUMMM!

As her consciousness faded, Luo Zhiwei found herself in a strange and wondrous new place.

High in the vast, distant sky, a great dragon formed of Star Cores and starlight coiled like an Ouroboros, endlessly circling the firmament.

With every subtle shift of the celestial dragon, the landscape below changed in a flash. Verdant spring grass and paths overflowing with blossoms gave way to the deep shade of summer woods, alive with the drone of cicadas. Then came the crisp autumn winds and branches heavy with fruit, followed by winter snows that blanketed the land in profound silence. The four seasons cycled, over and over, with the dragon’s eternal rotation.

As she watched this spectacular sight, Luo Zhiwei reached out, probing the empty space beside her. She found that her body in the dream felt no different from her real one, a fact that brought a spark of novelty to her eyes. "Interesting. So this is the dream of the Great Dream of Thousand Years?"

The dream world was a novel experience for Luo Zhiwei.

But that novelty faded in an instant. When she tried to channel her Power of the Divine Soul, she could easily sense the dream’s boundaries. With just a slight push, she felt she could shatter the illusion entirely. ’Zhong Ming’s cultivation is still too shallow to affect my Divine Soul. I’m afraid this dream holds little benefit for me...’

HUMMM!

Before Luo Zhiwei could finish her thought, her expression went slack. A warm, gentle stream of the Power of the Divine Soul flowed from the void and merged with her Soul Spirit. Zhong Ming had just granted her secondary access to the Great Dream of Thousand Years.

As the Master of Dreams, Zhong Ming naturally held all authority within this world. With a single thought, he could change heaven and earth; with a single thought, he could make the dream collapse.

Those who entered the Dream World were initially just "visitors." Their own abilities were no different from what they possessed in the outside world.

The systems of the human body are far too intricate for Zhong Ming to simulate another’s entire being. This was especially true for Luo Zhiwei, whose Divine Soul was far superior to his own. He couldn’t even begin to replicate it; any attempt would result in a mere empty shell.

The reason Luo Zhiwei’s dream body felt identical to her real one was that Zhong Ming hadn’t forcibly dragged her in. Instead, she had willingly submerged herself in the dream, and her subconscious had perfectly recreated her physical state.

At that point, however, there was little she could do. The dream was built upon Zhong Ming’s Power of the Divine Soul, his knowledge, and his insights. For someone like Luo Zhiwei, whose power far outstripped his, the world felt flimsy and artificial. That was why she had concluded it was of little use to her.

But once Zhong Ming granted Luo Zhiwei secondary access to the dream, everything changed.

This secondary access was akin to being an administrator. Luo Zhiwei discovered that with this permission, she could merge her consciousness with the dream’s heaven and earth. By expending her own Power of the Divine Soul and her own insights, she could—so long as Zhong Ming didn’t intervene—make this world bend to her will.

"So powerful!"

At this moment, the Dream World no longer had any restrictions on her.

’The Dream World isn’t real enough? Too fragile? I can simply expend my own Power of the Divine Soul to build a world of my own.’

When the world before her could transform with a single thought, when the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures required for setting up Arrays could manifest merely by imagining them, Luo Zhiwei’s breath hitched.

A brilliant light erupted from her eyes.

And soon, she discovered something else that filled her with boundless joy.

As a genius who had become an Array Master at a young age, Luo Zhiwei had of course had her share of fortuitous encounters. She had even experienced an epiphany, tasting the sublime wonder of the Unity of Heaven and Man.

Now, relying on her secondary access to merge with the dream’s heaven and earth, she subconsciously recalled that feeling.

The next moment, her body trembled, and an indescribable ecstasy surged through her eyes. The feeling of that epiphany, buried deep within her subconscious, was actually being drawn out!

True, the epiphany in the dream was somewhat hazy, like looking through frosted glass. It only possessed ten or twenty percent of the original’s effect.

Furthermore, this time there was no aid from the natural world. On the contrary, she had to expend great effort to drag the memory of that world and that feeling from the deep sea of her subconscious, reconstructing it with her Power of the Divine Soul. The cost was immense.

But despite all that, Luo Zhiwei could not contain the thrill and excitement flooding her heart.

No matter the cost, no matter how diminished the effect, it was still an epiphany. It was the Unity of Heaven and Man—a legendary opportunity that countless Cultivators only dreamed of.

"To think it can even simulate an epiphany! The Great Dream of Thousand Years... it’s just too powerful!"