The immense sky looked high and far away. Sunlight struggled to reach the depths of the valley, and the trees twisted and clawed upward in their hunger to touch it, their grasping branches leaving the ground below even colder and damper.

A young Azure Dragon had lost a contest and, true to her word, imprisoned herself in the valley for several hundred years. She spent most of that time asleep. On the rare occasion she woke and rolled over, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.

The villagers nearby were ignorant and believed a mountain god lived deep within the valley. Every so often, they took it upon themselves to throw down a man or woman as a sacrifice.

Jing Pei lay sprawled on the ground, savoring the memory in her mind, that long, crushing boredom of having as though she had truly spent centuries alone. She found the experience rather interesting.

Lolita of the Trident Mercenary Corps was one of the most troublesome Atavists in the world, for she was a demon of sleep, a Nightmare Atavist.

Nightmares were magical creatures whose primary means of attack was mental assault, the hardest kind of attack to defend against or heal, though they were also capable of physical attacks. While someone slept, she could slip into their subconscious, create dreams, pry into secrets, alter their thoughts, torment them, and even kill them.

She could control the passage of time within a dream as well. A person might sleep for only an hour, yet endure an entire lifetime of very real torment in the dream. When they woke an hour later, their body might still be young, but their soul would have grown old, with no vitality left stirring up even the faintest spark of vitality.

Every intelligent creature was governed by its thoughts, and a Nightmare could alter those thoughts. In a single night, she could turn a hero who saved lives into a murderous monster, an optimistic angel into a miserable pessimist, or redirect one person’s love toward another. She could make a mother who adored her child hate them like a mortal enemy, or make a scientist stop believing in physics.

Though it was not an ability suited to meeting an opponent head-on, even the most powerful species dreaded Nightmares. Unless one could remain awake forever, there was almost impossible to defend against.

Jing Pei knew exactly what kind of person she was. A Nightmare could not turn someone into a completely different person from the outset someone into a completely different personality, nor could she turn a wise person into an idiot. Therefore, Jing Pei was not worried that losing her memories after being dragged into a dream would leave her helpless.

Besides, ever since Lou Ting had failed to pass judgment on her, she had suspected that attacks targeting the soul might have no effect on her. Now, it appeared that she had been right.

Even the six-winged angel’s almost invincible power to judge souls had failed against her. A Nightmare’s attack was naturally even less worth mentioning.

She lay on the ground, savoring the sensation of having transformed from a human into a dragon as she waited for the plot to continue. In theory, she could transform fully into a dragon in reality as well, but she had never tried it.

One day, another man was thrown into the valley. He looked like a scholar.

A heap of bones from men and women who had fallen to their deaths had accumulated beneath the place where the sacrifices were cast down. The trees broke the man’s initial fall, and the pile of bones cushioned him a second time. By sheer luck, he survived.

The dragon lay on the ground, her golden-green eyes resting on the man with bored indifference.

The man did not react like the previous survivors, he did not drop dead from fright or scream and beg for mercy when he saw her. He looked at her in silence.

“Are you the mountain god? Are you going to eat me?” he asked.

“You don’t look very appetizing,” the dragon replied.

The man gave a bitter smile. “I see. So the great mountain god does not eat people after all.”

“You humans have always been timid and spineless, and full of yourselves.”

With that, the dragon closed her eyes, having lost all desire to speak with a human.

The man, who was none other than Tang Woxue, studied the dragon. Coiled up, she resembled an elegant little mountain, imposing yet with a touch of delicate beauty. She was already enormous by human standards, but compared with an adult of the Dragon Clan, she was most likely still an immature young dragon.

The best proof was the pair of pale pink horns on her head. They seemed to glow with a soft, radiant light, giving them a tender, immature look.

He did not want her life, nor did he want her personality altered. He only wanted to cut off those dragon horns and present them to his goddess.

But that would be very difficult. Dragon horns were not as vital as a reverse scale, yet cutting them off would still leave her permanently disfigured. In reality, he could never hope to sever the horns from the head of the Long family’s young heir.

Inside a Nightmare’s dream, however, matters were different.

Under the effects of a Nightmare’s power, if her horns were cut off in the dream, they would also be severed from her head in reality.

“I can pull her into a dream, but I can’t change how powerful she is. Whether you achieve your goal is up to you,” the Nightmare had told him with her arms crossed before he descended the cliff.

Otherwise, she could have just conjured chains to restrain Jing Pei and cut off her horns herself.

That was not really impossible, provided the target was not much stronger than she was. Unfortunately, the Long family’s young heir was clearly far more powerful, and Lolita was not confident she could suppress her.

“Leave the rest to me. All you need to do is cooperate,” Tang Woxue had said.

From that point onward, he would have to employ a few underhanded tricks to obtain the dragon horns.

Lolita nodded and said with obvious pride, her arms still crossed, “We have all the time in the world, so take it slow. I control the passage of time in dreams. I can make one hour in reality last a hundred years here.”

“Oh, right, employer. Since we’re using ‘Dream Slaughter’ mode, any injuries you suffer in the dream will carry over to reality. I won’t be held responsible for that,” Lolita added.

Lolita had two types of dream attacks: “Personality Surgery” and “Dream Slaughter.”

“Personality Surgery” required the victim to not realize that they were dreaming. Any physical injuries sustained within the dream would not be reflected on their real body.

With “Dream Slaughter,” it did not matter whether the victim realized they were dreaming. They could not escape the dream through their own power, and every injury they suffered would appear on their real body. The same applied to death.

The drawback was that if the victim was far stronger than Lolita, she might be the one killed inside the dream while “Dream Slaughter” was active.

At present, both Jing Pei and Tang Woxue were inside Lolita’s dream, with “Dream Slaughter” mode in effect. Any harm suffered by any of the three would be transferred to their bodies in reality.

Holding a white lace parasol in one hand and resting the other against her slender waist, Lolita said, “I built this dream and its entire scenario exactly according to your demands, employer. Even if you fail, you still have to pay us the remaining balance.”

After meeting them, their employer had apparently decided that Lolita was not up to the job. He had looked at her as if he suspected she would ruin the mission and waste his only chance, so he had insisted on entering the dream himself. That was why the mission had been delayed until now.

Still, Hualan’s cuisine had soothed her irritation, so she no longer cared. Just as Isaac had said, if the employer insisted on doing it himself, then any failure would have nothing to do with them. He would still have to pay the balance!

“I’ll be careful.”

And so, the man and the dragon became neighbors in the valley.

The valley was enormous. Though it was a deep basin with no exit, it contained pools of collected rainwater, underground streams flowing from cracks in the rock walls, dense vegetation, and even signs that many rodents lived there.

The man set about building a crude shelter, searched for edible wild vegetables and mushrooms, and raised wild rabbits and pheasants. Through sheer tenacity, he managed to survive and appeared intent on making the valley his home.

In all her centuries in the valley, the dragon seemed never to have encountered a human like him.

“Human, are you not leaving?”

Tang Woxue shook his head. “My family has abandoned me. There is nothing outside that I care about anymore. I might as well spend the rest of my life here, cut off from the world.”

“So you’ve given up on yourself? Useless.”

“Being granted the chance to behold the mountain god’s true form has already made my life worthwhile.”

“That is true.”

“Indeed.” The man seemed to laugh helplessly.

“Then I shall allow you to become my servant.”

The dragon made her decision. Her beautiful, majestic eyes narrowed, and she suddenly looked rather wicked.

“Give me the rabbit,” she ordered.

Tang Woxue paused, then accepted the arrangement with pleasure. In fact, it was exactly what he wanted.

This was a young dragon who had spent several centuries alone. She knew nothing of human cunning, and because of her immense power, she would never think to guard herself against a weak human. It should be easy for him to find an opportunity to act.

Not only did he give the rabbit to the dragon, he removed its fur and organs, then roasted the meat until it smelled delicious using ingredients he found within the valley.

In truth, the rabbit had been coated with a drug that would plunge the dragon into a deep sleep. Once Lolita understood its ingredients and principles, she could reproduce it perfectly, along with its effects.

There was only one condition: the target could not know that she was dreaming. Otherwise, the magic would cease to work.

Once the dragon fell asleep, Tang Woxue crept toward her with a knife. He called to her softly twice. When she gave no response, he climbed onto her body and attempted to cut off one of her horns.

At that moment, the enormous dragon seemed bothered by the ticklish sensation of an insect crawling across her body. Still asleep, she rolled over.

Tang Woxue lost his balance and fell to the ground. Before he could move, both his legs were crushed beneath the dragon’s body.

“Crack!”

It felt as if lightning had split his brain. Tang Woxue clenched his fists and gritted his teeth with all his strength.

In the real world, Tang Woxue lay asleep in the hospital room beside Jing Pei’s. His legs suddenly twisted out of shape, the bones shattered into fragments.

Hidden within the dream, the Nightmare Lolita stared in silence.

“…”

Tang Woxue remained trapped beneath the dragon’s mountain-like weight for several hours. Cold sweat poured from his body, and he passed out from the pain several times, only to wake again.

It was almost dawn when the dragon finally rolled over once more. Tang Woxue quickly dragged himself away with his arms in a wretched state.

Lolita repaired his legs afterward, but the repair existed only inside the dream. His real injuries remained. In other words, the legs of the Tang Woxue sleeping in reality were still shattered.

When the dragon woke, she seemed to know nothing about it of what had happened. She gave an enormous yawn.

“That was a good sleep. Was it because of something I ate?”

“It is my honor to be of help to the great Dragon God. What would you like to eat today, Dragon God? Rabbit or fish?” Tang Woxue asked with a beaming smile.

Tang Woxue convinced himself that the previous incident had merely been an accident. Once the dragon fell asleep again, he resumed his covert operation.

This time, he avoided the danger posed by her massive body and approached her head from the front. Her presence was deeply intimidating, and he could not shake the frightening feeling that those golden-green eyes might open at any moment.

Just as he raised his foot to climb onto her head, the sleeping dragon appeared to feel an itch at the tip of her nose.

She suddenly released an enormous sneeze.

Tang Woxue felt as though a torrential downpour had struck him in the face. The force of the sneeze sent him flying like a ball, and he slammed into a tree.

“Crack!”

Lightning tore through his brain once more.

In reality, several of Tang Woxue’s ribs suddenly broke.

Inside the dream, Tang Woxue sat against the tree, his face and body drenched in saliva. His expression was blank with devastation.

Lolita repaired his dream body again, then warned him not to act rashly. After all, he had not paid the remaining balance yet.

For the time being, Tang Woxue really did not dare make another careless attempt. His heart was different from an ordinary person’s, granting him greater vitality, but he was not an Atavist. If he took another couple of violent blows like those, even he would not survive.

Tang Woxue adjusted his strategy.

Since he needed to wait for a one-in-ten-thousand opportunity to cut off the dragon’s horns, he might as well prepare an alternative plan as insurance.

If he could win the dragon over and make Jing Pei fall in love with him, just as the Long family ancestor had once earned the true love of an Azure Dragon during the Great Cosmic Convergence, then she might offer him her horns of her own accord.

Such was the power of love. She might even be willing to give him her reverse scale, let alone a pair of dragon horns.

From then on, Tang Woxue indulged the dragon’s every whim and treated her with boundless tenderness. He did not think it would be difficult. Women had always found him very attractive, and this dragon was innocent and naive.

He soon changed his mind.

The dragon’s talent for tormenting people far exceeded his expectations.

“There are too many trees in this valley. It’s cold and damp, and I’m about to grow moss. Clear the area around me,” she ordered.

All she would have needed to do was shift her body and sweep her tail to knock down every nearby tree.

“Of course,” Tang Woxue answered with a smile.

There were no hatchets or axes at the bottom of the valley. He had no choice but to grind stones by hand and make an very primitive stone axe. It was heavy, difficult to secure to its handle, and heavy and difficult to use.

By the time he finally felled a single tree, both his hands were covered in blisters. He could not ask the Nightmare to heal them, either, or Jing Pei might become suspicious.

When Tang Woxue finally cleared all the trees surrounding the dragon and created a clean, open stretch of land, even his unusually strong body was plagued by aching muscles and a sore back. He was in considerable pain.

The heartless dragon continued ordering him about.

“Now make a large brush and scrub the scales on my back clean.”

“As you command.”

“But you are not allowed to step on me.”

“…Of course, my lady.”

He labored to weave a brush from branches and vines. When it began to rain, he climbed a homemade ladder while raindrops pelted his eyes so hard that he could barely open them.

He stretched his neck and extended his arms, holding himself in such an awkward position that his muscles felt ready to cramp. After enormous effort, he managed two strokes of the brush.

“What sort of brush is this? It isn’t comfortable at all. It’s too stiff. What if you damage my scales?”

“Dragon God, your scales are likely harder than any stone in the world. There is absolutely no chance that a few branches could damage them.”

“Of course they are.”

Tang Woxue was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.

“But I don’t like the way this brush feels against my scales. Make another one.”

“…Of course, Dragon God.”

He smiled.

He did as ordered and selected new materials for the brush and, after another exhausting struggle, finally finished it.

Then came the dragon’s verdict.

“No. It’s too soft and flimsy. I can’t feel anything.”

“…Of course.”

He smiled. His fists were beginning to clench.

“This one is quite good, but I don’t feel like being brushed anymore.”

“…Very well.”

He smiled. His fists clenched hard.

“Find a stone and file my claws. Surely even a human can do something that simple?”

“Of course I can.”

A throbbing vein shaped like a cross appeared on Tang Woxue’s forehead. Holding a stone like a roadside shoeshiner polishing a customer’s shoes, he grunted and labored as he filed the dragon’s claws. He even had to polish them until they were smooth, rounded, and gleaming.

The entire time, the dragon hovered beside him, criticizing every little detail.

When spring arrived, countless flowers bloomed throughout the valley. Tang Woxue gathered a bouquet while searching for food and brought it back as a gift for her.

The dragon turned her head, opened her blood-filled maw, and ate every flower. She left him holding nothing but a bundle of bare stems, then seemed to let out a mocking snort.

Tang Woxue stood motionless for several seconds, still holding the empty stems and maintaining his bright, sunny smile.

Inside his heart, a miniature version of himself was throwing wild punches at the air.

Lolita watched her employer in silence. She wanted very much to complain to Isaac.

What in the world was this employer doing? Was he really plotting against the dragon? It looked as though the dragon was already tormenting him to death.

No, at this rate, she would not even need to torment him to death. He would die of rage first.

A person’s personality within a dream reflected their true nature. Did that mean the Long family’s young heir really had such a terrible temperament?

She certainly knew exactly how to make someone miserable.

Tang Woxue could no longer remember the last time his emotions had fluctuated so violently. For the past several years, his heart had remained as still as a dead sea.

It was as though his soul had separated from his body and risen high above it, watching everything below as a detached observer. Nothing had anything to do with him. Even if someone insulted him to his face, they might fail to provoke the slightest trace of anger.

He had always been the calm one who drove other people half mad with frustration.

This time, however, the dragon had infuriated him instead.

Was it because the pain in his body had worn away his patience? Or was it because the dragon seemed so innocent and easy to win over, only for every supposed sign of progress to prove as deceptive as a distant mountain that exhausted a horse long before it could reach it?

Whatever the reason, these emotions felt almost novel. He had not experienced anything like them in a very long time.

He had not noticed that yet.