rin looks around and finds himself standing in a jungle.
A wave of weakness sweeps over him—so sharp it feels as if he has returned to being an ordinary man.
The rustle of leaves, the chirping of birds, and the distant calls of beasts echo all around.
“It feels real,” he murmurs, surprised.
He had expected the Dream World to be strange and twisted, like his Dream Space. That place was filled only with the dreams of his believers, chaotic and bizarre, where even he sotis risked losing himself. If it weren’t his divine kingdom, he might have drowned in those dreams and forgotten who he was.
Dream World houses dreams of innurable creatures from millions of worlds.
To be cautious, he had only sent a sliver of his consciousness into the Dream World. That explained why his strength was reduced to that of an ordinary man—his link to his true self was severed. If this fragnt of him died here, the main body would remain unhard, though it would never recover the lost mories.
Hours later, he spots a man walking through the jungle with hunting gear and a rabbit slung over his shoulder.
rin follows behind, calling out to him.
The man doesn’t respond.
rin quickens his pace, shouting again as he closes in.
Still no reaction.
Frowning, rin reaches out to tap the man’s shoulder, thinking he might be deaf.
His hand passes straight through.
He freezes, staring in shock at his fingers—and then at his entire form. His body is faint, translucent, like mist.
Only then does he realise.
“I’m… in spiritual form.”
A strange awe stirs in him. “So the laws of the Dream World really mirror the real one.”
He senses that if he wills it, he could make himself visible and audible to the hunter—but the act would consu what little energy this fragnt has.
Choosing caution, rin stays unseen and follows the man silently through the trees.
The path winds down into a small village, its style resembling the ancient settlents of the eastern lands.
rin observes carefully, gathering information that might guide his future moves.
He halts when he reaches a particular house, marked with unusual signs.
White cloth strips hang over the doorfra, and charms painted on rune-paper dangle from the eaves.
A small group of villagers stands outside, their faces drawn with worry.
“Noon is approaching, yet the celestial master hasn’t opened the door—could sothing have gone wrong?” one whispers.
“There’s still an hour left,” another replies nervously. “The master said, if he doesn’t co out, we must wait until noon to open it.”
A third bows their head. “I pray to heaven he can banish the ghost.”
rin touches one of the rune papers with curiosity.
Energy trickles faintly under his fingers.
“They’re real… but weak. Only about Rank One,” he notes inwardly.
With ease, he passes through the door as though it were nothing but mist.
The house opens into a square layout, with rooms arranged along the walls and a central courtyard.
At the centre, ritual markings glow faintly around an unconscious boy lying on the ground.
At first glance, the boy seems only to be asleep.
But when rin lowers his hand into the body, he senses the truth—the soul within is torn, broken, on the edge of death.
rin’s eyes sharpen. “Good luck for ,” he murmurs.
His spiritual form flows into the boy’s body and engulfs the fading soul like smoke devouring a fla.
A minute later, the boy’s eyes open.
No—it is rin’s eyes that open, looking out through the boy’s body.
Fragnts of mory rush into him: the boy was a young exorcist sent to banish a ghost from the old jujube tree at the centre of the house.
But he was defeated, his soul struck down.
rin clenches the boy’s small fists.
This content has been misappropriated from ; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I’ve taken your body,” he whispers inwardly, “so let’s take revenge for you.”
The boy is a Celestial Master, but there is no extraordinary energy within him.
The body is thin, malnourished, and can only sustain two abilities, one of which barely functions.
So there is only one choice.
rin lifts his gaze to the jujube tree where the ghost resides.
“Dreamisation,” he says calmly.
His pupils shift, and the clearing in his eyes turns into a lattice of square grids.
The world breaks apart under his vision, every object unravelling to its smallest particle form.
He can willfully transform an entire object into dream essence—or reduce only a single particle into nothing.
His goal is the ghost.
It appears as the translucent figure of an old man clinging to the tree.
The mont the old ghost ets rin’s gaze, fear flickers across its face.
rin selects it with his will, and without resistance, the ghost shatters into white light.
The light streams into rin’s dream space, vanishing into that small, hidden world.
Satisfied, rin turns and walks toward the main door of the house.
When the door opens, the gathered family exhales in unison, relief flooding their faces.
“Celestial Master, you succeeded,” they say with reverence.
rin simply nods and steps aside.
“You can check the tree with the ghost stone.”
The family rushes in behind him, led by the cautious son.
The grandfather bows respectfully, though his son presses the glowing green gem against the jujube tree.
The ghost stone remains dull, its light unlit.
The whole family sighs in relief as tension drains away.
A broad smile spreads across the grandfather’s face.
“Master, here is your paynt—and the token of the Four Gate.”
rin accepts the pouch of coins and the carved token without expression.
“I pray you will never need to call on again,” he tells them evenly.
After that, he departs the courtyard in silence.
Outside, his donkey waits patiently on the dirt road.
rin mounts the donkey and begins the slow ride back to Mulin City, an hour away.
He enters the city without obstacle, the guards at the gate stepping aside at the sight of his Four Gate badge.
Normally, according to the boy’s mory, they would demand a bribe despite his residence inside the walls.
But this is the first ti their greed is restrained.
rin pulls the donkey through the busy streets and heads directly toward the Four Gate building.
Four Gate is a semi-official force under the Wei Dynasty, tasked with eliminating supernatural threats to humanity.
Its na cos from the four types of enemies considered the greatest dangers: Dead, Demon, Spirit, and Devil.
The building is quiet, its lobby nearly empty except for a young girl sitting at the counter, a book in her hands.
rin steps forward and places the token he received from the victim’s grandfather on the desk.
The girl raises her head, eyes narrowing as she recognises the carved mark.
“My mission is complete,” rin says flatly.
She takes the token, checks the number against a task list, and suddenly her eyes widen.
“You’re still alive,” she blurts.
rin’s brows knit together, suspicion rising—was there a sche hidden behind this mission?
The boy had already died once on this task, after all.
Noticing his expression, the girl quickly waved her hands in denial.
“I didn’t an it like that,” she says hastily, “it’s just… this was your first mission outside the city, and ninety per cent of recruits die.”
" If the mission is outside the city."
rin allows a faint smile to curl his lips.
“Then I’m the lucky ten per cent.”
Her tension eases, and she smiles back.
“I’m Li i.”
rin nods and answers in the boy’s na.
“Lin Yu.”
Li i records it down, then slides three green chips across the desk.
“Thirty credits for completing your mission.”
rin takes the chips and pockets them silently.
“I want to take another mission,” he says.
Li i studies him carefully, her eyes catching his pale complexion and the sickly thinness of his fra.
“You don’t need to rest?” she asks softly.
The boy’s body had been dying when rin occupied it, and the weakness still lingers in every breath.
“No,” rin answers calmly, “I will be better by tomorrow.”
Li i hesitates, then sets her doubts aside and hands him a file containing the current tasks.
rin flips through the six options, his gaze steady as he reads each line.
Finally, he points to one and places it before her.
Li i glances at it, her brows tightening.
“Are you sure? It’s outside the city again.”
The pay for such missions is lower, but the credits are higher—because once beyond the walls, if the monster is stronger than described, no one will be there to save you.
rin nods without hesitation.
Li i records it in the register and hands him the task paper.
rin accepts it, gives her a small nod, and turns to leave the building.
The green chips in his pocket can be exchanged for cultivation resources from Four Gate—tools for the Celestial Master path.
But first, survival cos before cultivation.
He walks toward the city market, blending into the flow of rchants and buyers.
According to the boy’s mory, he heads straight for the stalls selling cheap grain and dried vegetables, the food the boy had always eaten.
He pays for the usual supplies, then pauses before leaving.
Turning back, he buys at, fish, and eggs as well.
The boy’s body is frail, and his siblings at ho are just as malnourished.
Now that rin occupies this body, their lives are his responsibility.
And more importantly, he has the ability to provide for them.
He doesn’t mind.
With food packed and task paper tucked away, he leads his donkey down the road toward ho.
The street is lined with broken wooden cottages, their walls tilting with age and neglect.
In front of one cottage—his cottage—three boys are making a ruckus.
rin quickens his steps and calls out, “Bu Nan, what are you shouting for?”
Bu Nan, a burly young man a head taller than rin, turns with a smirk.
“Lin Yu, did you forget? Today is the day for protection fees.”
rin ets his gaze calmly, then pulls his robe aside, revealing the Four Gate badge.
Shock flickers across their faces, quickly followed by fear.
“You… you succeeded,” Bu Nan stamrs.
Everyone in the street had known Lin Yu wanted to beco a Celestial Master, but no one had ever believed he would.
“Yes,” rin answers evenly, “and I am returning from my first mission.”
A flattering smile twists Bu Nan’s face.
“Sorry, Lin Yu. I didn’t know you would beco a Celestial Master. Your family doesn’t need to pay protection fees anymore.”
“Get lost,” rin says with a smirk.
They scatter at once, not out of fear of rin himself—any Celestial Master his age would lose against them in a straight fight.
What they fear is the weight of Four Gate behind him.
To kill evil monsters, the dynasty grants Celestial Masters many privileges.
A minor cri against one becos a major cri.
And a cri punishable by death becos the death of nine clans.
rin ties his donkey outside, then knocks on the door in a steady rhythm.
He pauses, waits, then knocks twice again.
The door opens to reveal a thin girl.
Even reduced to skin and bones, her features hold a fragile cuteness.
She steps aside silently and returns to sit on the lone bed in the room.
Their house is only one room with a small bathroom attached—the kitchen and bedroom cramd together.
Tomorrow, they can finally move into the new house assigned to him as a reward for becoming a Four Gate Celestial Master.
rin changes into fresh clothes and steps out of the bathroom.
“Where is Lin Zhu?” he asks.
Lin Mi looks up from the bed.
“He went to work at the dock to buy so food.”
rin nods, then begins preparing the al.
User Comments
0 comments from readers