Lin Jie looked up and realized there were some shimmering golden lights within the massive tree’s canopy.

Being well hidden within the dense branches and leaves made it hard for Lin Jie to notice the fruits on this tree till now. Furthermore, his attention had been captured by the falling snow and beautiful iris flowers.

Silver had given a choice between four options—Tree, fruit, flower, and nectar.

Lin Jie thought about it and ruled out the tree first. He couldn’t bring this tree away and this tree seemed to be rather useless to him.

Next, he eliminated the flowers for the same reason. Besides ornamental purposes, the flowers didn’t seem to have any other use. Moreover, Lin Jie had plucked a flower and placed it on Silver’s ear not too long ago. Now, having her give him a flower back seemed weird somehow.

Thus, he was only left with fruit and nectar.

Lin Jie pondered for a moment before gazing up at the glimmering, golden fruits hidden in the tree. “Can it be eaten directly?”

Lin Jie wasn’t really interested in nectar, so why not try out how a fruit growing within a dream tasted like? This could also be considered a very unique experiment.

“Of course,” replied Silver with a smile.

Snap.

A golden fruit shaped like an apple fell on its own the moment Silver spoke. Lin Jie reached out and caught it easily.

As Lin Jie twirled it in his hand, he noticed that this golden apple was an exquisite specimen. Every single curve seemed to be perfect, as if it had been drawn.

Here it is again, only something that can appear in a dream.

However, Lin Jie didn’t care too much because it was now about to enter his stomach.

“Crunch, crunch.”

Lin Jie completely devoured this little golden fruit in three bites. It was sweet, juicy, and wasn’t that different from an ordinary apple, with the exception that it didn’t have a core.

It seemed like the sense of taste in a dream was still based on reality. Hoping for an out-of-the world gustatory experience was simply wishful thinking.

At this moment, Lin Jie suddenly felt his mind becoming slightly fuzzy and sensed that he might be about to wake up.

“That fast…”

Lin Jie reckoned that time here was different from the time back in reality. Sometimes one might feel as if he had experienced many things in a dream, yet realized he had dozed off for merely five minutes after waking up.

And there were also times where one’s dream might feel short but an entire night had already passed upon waking up.

Even though Lin Jie felt very regrettable, he couldn’t control when he woke up from his sleep.

“I should go,” Lin Jie said before standing up and extending a hand to Silver.

Silver smiled as she held his hand and pulled herself up before embracing Lin Jie lightly as her gentle yet magnetic voice sounded beside his ear. “I hope that we can still meet in a dream when the next night arrives.”

——

Pandemonium-rank black magician and the disciple of ‘Faceless Black-scaled Man’ Wilde, Uri.

The entire black magician community knew that the Destructive-rank Wilde once had two disciples.

As for why this was stated in the past tense was because of Wilde’s two disciples, one had already passed away while the other had chosen to betray Wilde.

The one that died had the name Charles, while the one still alive was Uri.

As of now, ‘Blaze Envoy’ Uri was Heris’ cooperative partner as well as a core member of the black magician organization ‘Scarlet Cult’.

“Perhaps choosing Heris this time was a wrong move, but choosing others would have been irrevocable,” said Uri as he lit a cigarette but didn’t puff on it. He was holding an umbrella and the suit he wore was all dirty and tattered.

He looked very young and could even pass off as a twenty-year-old. He had flaxen hair and a sharp skinny face fully littered with freckles and a black tattoo on the side. One of his arms was bandaged very tightly up to his palms.

This was the aftermath of being on the receiving end of Ji Zhixiu’s surprise attack.

Being a hunter, Heris had the power of sordid blood that provided speedy regeneration and he could even regrow an arm without batting an eye. On the other hand, a black magician like Uri basically had a constitution no different from an ordinary person.

His body wasn’t suited to sustain strong attacks nor did he possess regenerating capabilities. Moreover, this kind of injury wouldn’t heal quickly enough only by relying on incantations and the best way to deal with such an injury was requesting for help from the Church of the Dome.

However, for the past three years, the Church of the Dome in Norzin had declared that they wouldn’t provide black magicians with treatment.

The reason wasn’t a standpoint issue. The Church of the Dome was only responsible for providing treatment and wasn’t responsible for teaching people on how to conduct themselves. It was just that black magicians, especially the many low-level ones were generally… broke.

“Ji Zhixiu, and teac…Wilde both seem to have some relations with this bookstore owner on 23rd Avenue. It’s like… their fates were rewritten in that place,” muttered Uri.

He was well aware of the many serious injuries Wilde suffered back then. Furthermore, even if his teacher didn’t die eventually, he probably wouldn’t have reappeared given his pride. But who could have known that Wilde would actually appear and seemed to have gotten even stronger.

“Let’s just hope it is an error with the intelligence report.”

Uri turned his head to look at the middle-aged black magician Johann beside him. “Still remember your mission objectives?”

“Yes.” The black magician lowered his head and continued, “Investigate the situation of the bookstore and its owner. Ascertain that person’s level, appearance, and the layout of the bookstore.”

“Go on then, bring back some good news,” Uri ordered.

In the blink of an eye, Johann’s body vanished as he turned into a shadow that blended into the darkness.

Shadow Transformation Technique!

This was a technique Johann was most well-versed in and it was the best method for discreet scouting. Nightfall was the best camouflage as he rapidly traversed through the crisscrossed shadows of tall buildings and arrived very quickly at the bookstore on 23rd Avenue, unit 412.

Johann slowed down and did a meticulous sweep of the bookstore’s surroundings. He was being cautious but at the same time, slightly skeptical.

…There’s no aetheric disturbance in this place at all. Based on pure perception, this is just but a simple and ordinary bookstore. However, a mission the superiors view with great importance surely wouldn’t be easy.

Johann then entered and surveyed the bookstore’s first floor but wasn’t able to discover anything abnormal. All he found was neatly arranged rows of bookshelves and books and thus, he proceeded to the second floor.

The layout upstairs was simpler, just like an ordinary residence. Johann quickly checked all the places he ought to and eventually the last place left to investigate was the bookstore owner’s bedroom.

The only indication of life came from that room, though the aura was seemingly ordinary as if the one inside wasn’t an extraordinary being. That meant the bookstore owner was sleeping soundly within the room.

As Johann inched towards the bedroom door, he thought to himself. Perhaps, I can just get rid of this fellow at the same time and report back that the person everyone was so worried about was merely an ordinary person and had already been easily disposed of.

He couldn’t help snickering as he reverted to his original form and reached out to twist the doorknob.

Johann peeked through the crack as it gradually widened and his mind instantly went blank.

Inside, the entire room was covered with pulsating veins and squirming flesh that spread out from the headboard, extending to the walls and floor. At the feet of the bed were a cluster of white iris flowers glowing faintly, illuminating the smiling face of the young man on the bed who seemed as if he was having a sweet dream.

Johann hadn’t even been able to react when those densely-packed blood veins appeared to be startled and started rushing towards him.