Ling Hua's body slowly descended.
His feet touched the wooden floor.
Then—
his back came to rest gently against the polished wood.
There wasn't the slightest sound.
The tiny white-scaled lizard drifted downward.
Tap.
He landed lightly upon Ling Hua's chest.
His weight was almost nonexistent.
For a brief moment—
nothing happened.
Then—
his body gradually began to fade.
His invisibility spread outward like flowing mist.
It enveloped Ling Hua completely.
Within moments—
both of them had vanished.
The room became empty once more.
Only the five dissolving corpses remained scattered across the floor.
Silence.
---
Within the concealment—
Lizarius slowly closed his golden eyes.
His soul quietly expanded.
Not forcefully.
Not violently.
It spread outward like calm water rippling across a tranquil lake.
His consciousness gently brushed against the unstable fluctuations radiating from Ling Hua's mind.
One fluctuation.
Then another.
Their rhythm was chaotic.
Broken.
Filled with terror.
Lizarius simply observed.
Then—
he gradually synchronized his own soul with those fluctuations.
Not replacing them.
Not suppressing them.
Only matching their rhythm.
The connection steadily grew clearer.
Stronger.
Until—
a faint ripple appeared before him.
Like the surface of perfectly still water.
Without hesitation—
Lizarius drifted forward.
His tiny body passed effortlessly through the ripple.
---
Darkness.
Absolute darkness.
It lasted only a heartbeat.
Then—
the nightmare unfolded around him.
BOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion shattered the heavens.
The sky burned crimson.
Buildings throughout Lotus City collapsed one after another.
The streets overflowed with blood.
Screams echoed from every direction.
Countless dried corpses littered the ground.
Above the ruined city—
enormous crimson eyes watched everything without blinking.
Ling Hua ran desperately through the devastated streets.
"No!"
"No!"
"Stay away!"
His face had become completely twisted with panic.
Gone was the calm, calculating expression he usually wore.
Only raw, unrestrained terror remained.
Behind him—
the dried corpses surged forward.
Their movements were stiff.
Unnatural.
Every pair of crimson eyes remained fixed upon him.
One seized his arm.
CRACK!!
Another tore into his shoulder.
A third plunged its blackened fingers into his abdomen.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
Ling Hua screamed as they tore him apart alive.
Blood splattered across the ruined streets.
His flesh was ripped away.
His bones shattered.
His body was torn into pieces—
Then—
everything vanished.
The entire world reset.
His body was whole once again.
He found himself standing in the middle of Lotus City.
He barely had time to breathe.
BOOOOM!!
The heavens split apart once more.
The corpses appeared.
They looked at him.
He screamed.
The hunt began again.
---
High above the endless cycle—
Lizarius floated silently.
His golden eyes overlooked the nightmare like a detached observer studying an experiment.
Not a single corpse acknowledged his existence.
Not a single fluctuation reacted to his presence.
He existed completely outside the dream's script.
His gaze slowly swept across the collapsing city.
The screaming Ling Hua.
The endless cycle of death.
The constant reconstruction.
The nightmare itself had begun to tremble.
Fragments of ruined streets flickered in and out of existence.
The crimson sky cracked repeatedly.
The countless corpses froze where they stood before continuing again.
The entire dream had become increasingly unstable.
Lizarius silently observed every detail.
*If this continues...*
*His subconscious will become unstable.*
*That would make extracting information considerably more troublesome.*
Without another thought—
he acted.
The nightmare collapsed.
The ruined city.
The rivers of blood.
The dried corpses.
The endless screams.
Everything dissolved into countless particles of light.
They drifted away like falling snow.
Until—
only an endless white expanse remained.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ling Hua suddenly found himself standing within the empty white world.
"...Huh?"
He turned sharply.
Left.
Right.
Above.
Below.
Nothing.
His breathing became uneven.
"...Where..."
His gaze suddenly stopped.
Hovering several meters away—
the tiny white-scaled lizard watched him calmly.
Golden eyes without the slightest ripple.
Ling Hua's pupils contracted.
"...You..."
He instinctively took a step backward.
"...You're that creature..."
"...You're the one from before!"
Realization struck him all at once.
His voice immediately rose.
"Was it you?!"
"Were you the one doing all of this?!"
"Where is this?!"
"What are y—"
Shhk!
His words came to an abrupt end.
His head separated cleanly from his neck.
There had been no warning.
No visible attack.
One moment—
he had been speaking.
The next—
his vision spun violently.
His severed head struck the pristine white ground before rolling several times and finally coming to a stop.
His body remained standing for a brief moment.
Then—
it collapsed.
Silence.
Ling Hua's eyes widened in absolute disbelief.
*...What?*
*I...*
*Just...*
*Died?*
He had felt everything.
The blade.
The separation.
The brief loss of consciousness.
Every sensation had been real.
Then—
his body rapidly reconstructed itself.
His severed head reattached seamlessly, as though nothing had ever happened.
Within moments—
he was standing once again.
Ling Hua staggered backward.
His trembling hands instinctively reached for his own neck.
"...No..."
"...No..."
"...That's impossible..."
His breathing became increasingly ragged.
*I felt it...*
*I actually died...*
*How...?*
*What is this place...?*
Fear unlike anything he had ever experienced flooded every corner of his heart.
The tiny white-scaled lizard simply looked at him.
Then—
his calm voice echoed throughout the endless white world.
"...Quiet."
Ling Hua instinctively froze.
"...Don't interrupt me."
There was no anger.
No hostility.
No threat.
Only a calm, indifferent command.
Yet—
the instant those words reached his ears—
an indescribable chill spread through his entire soul.
His legs weakened.
His face turned deathly pale.
He stared at the tiny creature hovering before him.
The horror within his eyes deepened.
For the first time in his life...
He understood with absolute certainty.
The being standing before him...
Could kill him as many times as it wished.
The endless white world remained perfectly still.
Ling Hua didn't dare utter another word.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
The tiny white-scaled lizard no longer paid him any attention.
His golden eyes slowly shifted.
"..."
The world changed.
Ripples spread across the endless white expanse.
Scenes gradually emerged.
One after another.
Like countless mirrors suspended throughout the empty world.
Lizarius drifted silently among them.
Ling Hua's eyes widened.
"...My..."
"...Memories?"
He stared in utter disbelief.
Every scene belonged to him.
His childhood.
The Ling Clan.
His first meeting with the mysterious robed man whom he had come to call *Master.*
The memories continued.
The robed figure spoke calmly, teaching him an unfamiliar cultivation art.
A cultivation method that required no spiritual roots.
Only blood.
Only life.
Only death.
The scenes shifted once again.
Villagers disappeared.
Travelers vanished.
Entire families quietly ceased to exist.
Each death nourished Ling Hua's cultivation.
Each stolen life strengthened him.
Another memory.
Another victim.
Another corpse.
Years passed in only a few fleeting moments.
The endless stream of memories continued flowing before Lizarius.
He observed everything.
Without emotion.
Without judgment.
Only analysis.
Finally—
the memories reached their end.
The countless mirrors dissolved.
The endless white world returned.
Silence once again filled the empty space.
Ling Hua remained rooted where he stood.
His face had long since lost every trace of color.
He slowly lifted his gaze toward the tiny white-scaled lizard.
Lizarius' golden eyes remained thoughtful.
*A cultivation art...*
*One that absorbs the life force and blood essence of the living...*
*Allowing someone without spiritual roots...*
*To cultivate.*
A brief silence followed.
*And within only two years...*
*He reached the Sixth Stage of Spirit Refining.*
*...Interesting.*
The tiny lizard slowly raised his gaze toward Ling Hua.
"...I've seen enough."
Ling Hua's heart nearly stopped.
"...W-Wait..."
He instinctively reached forward.
"I..."
Before another word could leave his mouth—
the white world began to dissolve.
His surroundings blurred.
The endless light gradually faded.
Ling Hua's expression filled with panic.
"...No!"
"...Wait!"
"...Don't leave me here!"
The entire world collapsed into darkness.
Everything disappeared.