Chapter 393: Dual-Path Transcendent Su Mu

"Shut up!" Inside the coffin, Su Mu's expression suddenly twisted into a savage scowl.

He shot straight up from the coffin like a stiffened corpse, his eyes violently red and swimming with unimaginable malice.

"You—"

Thump!

A slender, pale hand clamped around his throat and slammed him right back down into the coffin.

Shocked and furious, the Dream Weaver stared at the mild-mannered man before him. He thrashed wildly, jagged fangs erupting from his mouth as his skin turned a sickly iron-gray. Twisted, pitch-black nails instantly lengthened from his fingers.

"Let's see what a real dream looks like," Su Mu said with a gentle smile.

Abruptly, he let go.

A vicious light flared in the Dream Weaver's eyes. He lunged, driving his pitch-black claws straight through Su Mu's heart.

"The injuries you suffer in a dream mirror reality. You're dead, Su Mu! To think you dared question a dream I wove—what!?"

The Dream Weaver froze. Before his eyes, the Su Mu whose heart he had just pierced shattered like seafoam and vanished without a trace.

"Hmph! Trying to run? In a dream, I am invincible!"

The Dream Weaver leaped out of the coffin, his crimson eyes frantically searching for his target. He realized this Silver-tier Transcendent was going to be troublesome; the man clearly understood how dreams worked.

But in the realm of dreams, he was the true king!

"Let's see where you're hiding." The Dream Weaver laughed darkly, spreading his senses to scan every inch of the dream.

A moment later, he froze.

Nothing! He was nowhere!

How was this possible? This was Su Mu's dream, and the dream was still ongoing. How could Su Mu have escaped?

I checked everywhere, so why can't I find him... No! Wait! There's one place I missed.

The Dream Weaver remembered the single spot he had overlooked: himself!

Could it be...

His expression shifted, and he hastily ripped open the front of his own clothes.

The moment the fabric tore away, the Dream Weaver felt like he had fallen into an ice cave. Embedded directly into his chest was a pale human face.

The face was smiling—a polite, gentle smile.

"Oh? You found me," Su Mu said warmly.

"Ah!" the Dream Weaver shrieked in terror, frantically clawing at the face on his chest. Accompanied by his own agonizing screams, he tore the human face off alive.

The torn face continued to smile, its lips parting to reveal ghastly white teeth. "It's useless."

The next moment, the face's features quickly faded until it was just a bloody scrap of skin and flesh. At the same time, the Dream Weaver suddenly felt a slight itch on his neck.

He barely had time to realize something was wrong before the flesh on his neck began to wriggle violently. A fleshy tumor sprouted, swelling at a visible rate until it grew to the size of a human head in the blink of an eye.

Pop!

The tumor burst open and a brand-new head pushed out from it, its clean, pale face still coated in thick, sticky blood.

"We meet again," Su Mu greeted with a smile.

"Ahhhh!" The Dream Weaver flailed his claws in a panic, slicing the new head clean off his own neck.

The head tumbled to the ground and lay still.

"I am the master of dreams! Did you think this kind of dream manipulation could... blegh..."

Before the Dream Weaver could finish his sentence, he started dry heaving, as if something was blocking his throat.

His expression morphed into utter horror. His throat swelled thicker and thicker until his mouth was forced uncontrollably wide, tearing at the corners as if something was trying to grow out from inside him.

"Don't... you dare!"

Bang!

Without warning, the Dream Weaver's body exploded, turning into a cloud of black smoke that scattered into the air.

The black smoke quickly gathered back together, reforming into a humanoid monster with a ghastly face and fangs. Only this time, the monster's face was etched with absolute terror.

Run! I have to run!

There is something wrong with this human. I'm actually being controlled by him in a dream!

The Dream Weaver fled frantically, desperate to escape this nightmare.

Yet, upon bursting out of the old mansion, he discovered that the dim alleyway outside was long gone. In its place was a boundless sea of clouds.

Deep within the sea of clouds, the Summit Immortal Palace stood majestically, wreathed in immortal mist. Inside the palace, sitting high atop the Immortal Emperor's Throne, was Su Mu. His legs were crossed, his chin resting on one hand as he watched the Dream Weaver with keen interest.

And towering imposingly beneath the Immortal Emperor's Throne were five unfathomable entities that defied direct gaze.

The Primal Angel radiating holy light, the Celestial Sovereign of Longevity as vast as the stars, the Sea God covered in tentacles and green scales, the Twisted God with warped facial features, and the Shadow God formed of absolute darkness!

As the five deities fixed their gazes on the Dream Weaver all at once, he felt like he had fallen into an ice cave. His body broke down into uncontrollable shivering.

"No! This is impossible... How could a dream like this exist..."

"Want to learn? I can teach you," Su Mu said with a smile from atop the Immortal Emperor's Throne.

The Dream Weaver had no mind to reply. Instinctual dread drove him to flee madly. He moved incredibly fast, almost exceeding the speed of light.

But when he looked back, he found himself getting closer and closer to the Summit Immortal Palace. It was as if the sea of clouds beneath his feet was rolling backward at a frantic pace; no matter how hard he ran, the distance continued to shrink.

"No!"

Thump!

Crushed by the pressure of the five gods, the Dream Weaver slammed heavily onto the ground. He struggled to raise his head. The five gods and Su Mu were now right in front of him. He trembled like a leaf.

Looking at the lonely, weak, and helpless Dream Weaver, Su Mu found it a bit dull. The entity hadn't brought him any real surprises in the dream.

Perhaps "Dream Weaver" was the wrong name. "Dream Suicide Squad" would be more fitting.

Faced with such a boring enemy, Su Mu couldn't even be bothered to waste his breath. With a light snap of his fingers, the Dream Weaver's body began to disintegrate inch by inch until he was thoroughly erased.

He had originally wanted to give it a chance. If the dream it wove had been interesting enough, Su Mu wouldn't have minded keeping another pet. Unfortunately, it failed to grasp the opportunity, leaving death as its only option—and providing a bit of baleful aura along the way.

With the Dream Weaver's death, Su Mu reaped a massive sum of baleful aura, immediately rocketing the Baleful Soul's progress bar up by ten percent!

Currently, his Baleful Soul was half-developed. As long as he killed a few more Gold Nightmares, the Demonic Heart Baleful Soul would fully take shape. When that time came, he could consume the Silver 3 Transcendent Potion and smoothly advance.

The next day.

Su Mu let Yuchi Hong out and announced to all the soldiers that the Gold Nightmare had been eradicated. He explained that Yuchi Hong had previously been possessed by the Gold Nightmare, which was why he had committed those treasonous acts.

Since Yuchi Hong was now his subordinate, Su Mu naturally had to clear his name.

Su Mu also relayed this news back to the Chiyan Imperial Capital, informing the Royal Family that he would be leading his team to support other cities.

Standing atop the high walls, Su Mu gazed into the distance.

Not far away was the boundless ocean, and out on those waters, Yuchi Hong was going on a massacre.

Free from the Dream Weaver's threat, and rendered fearless by Su Mu's hypnosis, the Gold powerhouse finally unleashed his true strength.

The Gold Law, Naga, was truly invincible out on the sea. Every strike and movement triggered earth-shattering tsunamis. In just a brief moment, the number of Nightmare Creatures slain by Yuchi Hong soared past a thousand.

Watching this slaughter, Su Mu marveled. Perhaps if he just hypnotized all these Gold Nobles, humanity might actually turn the tide of this war.

Of course, it was just a passing thought. Hypnotizing a Gold powerhouse took far too much time, and running into a Gold Transcendent with a conveniently damaged soul like Yuchi Hong was incredibly rare.

He leaped off the high wall. Looking at Lin Nanxing and the others waiting to receive him below, he waved his hand. "Let's move out."

The large assembly of Nightmare Apostles marched out of Haibin City in a grand procession, heading for the next city in need of support.

Three days later.

Chiyan Imperial Capital.

King Chi felt a massive headache coming on as she read the reports sent from the Coastal Border.

"Three cities lost. One Gold noble killed in battle, and two abandoning their posts to flee! The border walls aren't even fully built yet. Are these people pigs!?"

"Your Majesty, these are the domestic intelligence reports." Gongsun Quan expressionlessly handed over another stack of documents.

King Chi took them, only to feel her vision go dark with rage. She was absolutely furious!

"Trash! All of them are trash! Those nobles who don't even have the guts to go to the frontlines are getting harassed in their own territories by Nightmare Creatures released by the Seven Deadly Sins, and they actually have the nerve to ask the Royal Family for help?

"What dogshit nobles! In my eyes, these useless scums should all be abolished! It was only my father, that old fool, who was willing to establish a noble class, claiming it would make ruling easier. Rule my ass! The Empire's entire annual tax revenue gets eaten by these pigs, and they don't even do any work!"

"Your Majesty, mind your image," Gongsun Quan reminded her from the side.

However, his words clearly didn't carry as much weight as Dongfang Yuan's.

King Chi snapped, "Image, image! The Chiyan Empire is about to be wiped out, what image do I have left!?"

She stomped her feet in anger on the throne, threading her long, slender fingers through her hair until it was an absolute mess.

Gongsun Quan suddenly found himself missing Dongfang Yuan, who was away at the frontlines. Without him around, King Chi had become increasingly wild and unrestrained lately.

"Ahem... Your Majesty, there is some good news too."

"What good news?" King Chi asked without lifting her head.

"It's about Su Mu."

Whoosh!

King Chi snapped her head up. "What about him?"

Sigh... Gongsun Quan let out a deep sigh in his heart.

"Marquis Su led the special ops squad to provide support on multiple fronts. Not only did he rescue Yuchi Hong from nightmare control, but he also slew the Gold Nightmare. Afterward, Marquis Su went to assist other cities. According to the intelligence officers there, he has helped the border troops kill a total of three Gold Nightmares, nearly a hundred Silver Nightmares, and over ten thousand Bronze Nightmares."

"Hahaha..." King Chi immediately beamed with joy. "As expected of the man... the meritorious official I hold in high regard! We really should make those useless pieces of trash look at him to see what true efficiency and capability are!

"Wait... how many Gold Nightmares did you just say?"

"Three."

King Chi was slightly taken aback. "There's no mistake in the intelligence, right? Three? He's only a Silver 2. Even with Bubai's help..."

Gongsun Quan sighed again. So she had only heard Su Mu's name and completely tuned out everything after that, hadn't she?

"The intelligence is accurate. I have already verified it, and many people witnessed it. Furthermore, Marquis Su is already a Silver 3."

King Chi's mouth fell open slightly as she blinked. "Since when was he this powerful?"

"Your Majesty, according to the battlefield analysis by our intelligence officers, it is highly likely that Marquis Su is a legendary Dual-Path Transcendent. He has displayed two distinctly different Transcendent Paths: one being his usual Illusion Technique path, and the other being the Giant Demon path.

"Which is to say, he is a dual Silver 3 who simultaneously wields six Silver Laws. Add to that his Gold-grade Shadow Race companion and the divine blessing of the Nightmare World, and his comprehensive strength is likely no weaker than those veteran Gold powerhouses."