Chapter 2843: Star Dream Journey

He Lingchuan strained to block the blow, then waved at the Sea King and gave a faint smile: "Until we meet again."

The Divine Bone Necklace countdown ended!

Only a soft swoosh was heard as countless ice arrows pierced He Lingchuan's body, then struck the ground. Unfortunately, not a single ice arrow was stained with blood—

At the instant they would have hit their target, He Lingchuan vanished, leaving only a phantom in place that drifted and dissipated.

He transformed into a red light and rushed into that dream rift.

The Sea Emperor Xuan Du's face turned ironclad, his fists clenched so tightly they crackled.

This was the second time—this was the second time Jiu You had slipped away right under his eyes.

He took one step to the edge of the rift, looked down, and saw within the vast Milky Way a red light like a comet, speeding toward the distance.

That was Jiu You!

Unlike the first time he had escaped from the Liuli Sea in an instant, Jiu You had not yet left the Dream Star River of the Goddess of Illusory Joy!

Not yet.

Xuan Du turned and asked the Goddess of Illusory Joy: "Can we still catch up?"

The spacetime rift torn open by Jiu You was vanishing rapidly.

"Yes."

The Goddess of Illusory Joy raised her hand, and the vast purple wings behind her unfurled, turning into purple mist that enveloped Xuan Du and all the demons.

Then she too passed through that spacetime rift.

Thus, in this endless star river, a red comet and a purple comet streaked across the void in succession, chasing each other. The red comet's speed was extreme, and its direction unwavering. The purple comet followed closely, the distance between them slowly narrowing.

Dream travel was not the forte of the Sea Emperor Xuan Du; he could only ask the expert beside him: "Can we not catch up?"

The Goddess of Illusory Joy: "Jiu You has a profound understanding of dreams."

The Sea King Xuan Du displeased: "Can't you go a bit faster?"

The Goddess of Illusory Joy gave a wry smile: "Even in dreams, I am not omnipotent."

"Since you are the master of dreams, then set some obstacles for him, find a way to make him lose his way—don't let him pass unobstructed, okay?"

"We have been setting them all along, but we cannot stop him." Has she not tried to stop He Lingchuan? On his journey to find the Earth Mother, the Goddess of Illusory Joy had set up numerous obstacles for him, and now she was still using other dreams to block his path, but was it effective? This red light ahead could always avoid them with perfect precision, as if he knew exactly which was the shortcut and which were mere distractions.

"That Wind Dew Golden Lotus in his hand is the beacon connecting dream and reality." The Goddess of Illusory Joy also felt vexed: "With this beacon in hand, and those few nightmare guides pointing the way, my dream traps cannot stop them."

But the Goddess of Illusory Joy also felt something was strange: "This escape feels a bit off."

Xuan Du immediately asked her: "How so?"

"He returns much faster than he came. Just now, the star maze I set for him actually failed to stop him." As the master of dreams, the Goddess of Illusory Joy can make the entire star river move according to her will, just like a real-world general deploying troops, arranging the stars directly into formations.

This is a killing formation hidden within the endless gorgeous dreamscape; if Jiu You accidentally enters one, he will be overtaken by the demons. This was once her proudest creation, having trapped many strong foes in the past, most of whom died without escaping.

Logically, He Lingchuan should have found no easy exit from the star formation, but in fact he effortlessly found the sole gate of life among the myriad stars, never erring, never detouring, without the slightest hesitation.

Even if the Goddess of Illusory Joy herself, the originator of the star maze, were to attempt it, she could achieve no more than this.

How did Jiu You, upon first entering the star river world, manage to do this?

Xuan Du dissatisfied: "This isn't your dream, your home turf—how can you not even stop an outsider?"

These demons are truly unreliable.

Just as after the Liuli Sea battle ended, he once again secretly doubted the correctness of his alliance with the demons.

Faced with Xuan Du's questioning, the Goddess of Illusory Joy had no reply.

Fortunately, at this moment Xuan Du changed his question: "Where are they going?"

The two comets flew at great speed; before long they had left the entire star river behind. Ahead—or rather, below—shadowy shapes appeared, and as they flew lower, the outlines of the scenery grew clearer.

And grew more familiar.

"They want to return to the dream of the Earth Mother Plains, from which returning to reality will be easier."

"So they still need to enter a dream?"

"Yes. That is the dream of the common folk on the Earth Mother Plains." The Goddess of Illusory Joy said, "But first, we must leave the Purple Dream Star River."

That is, leave her dream.

She added: "There may be danger."

Xuan Du rolled his eyes. Staying in the Goddess of Illusory Joy's dream was safe, but also useless for catching Jiu You:

"But is there a chance to intercept them?"

"Yes."

"Then hurry down." What is danger? He has lived several thousand years, become a true immortal, still afraid of this little risk?

Xuan Du calculated and calculated, yet still could not figure out how, with their side's overwhelming numbers, they could possibly lose.

What aid does Jiu You have beside him? A few nightmare guides?

Indeed, as they flew lower, the landscape of Shanhe and Dahu became more three-dimensional. That was the Kunlong Moat, also called the Liaotian Plain, and the great lake at its center.

The magnificent plain beside the lake was the Earth Mother Plains.

The red comet flying ahead plunged straight into the plains' dream without needing Xuan Du's urging; the Goddess of Illusory Joy followed closely.

After merely a few breaths, they passed through an intangible barrier, like a soap bubble.

The demons felt their bodies grow slightly cool, all realizing they had left the dream of the Illusory Joy Sovereign and entered the dreams of the plains' inhabitants.

This action carried some risk. But they could no longer afford to hesitate.

From here on, the great lake below and the lakeside plain became extraordinarily clear. Descending several hundred zhang further, even the shapes of the trees became clearly visible.

Here was the dream constructed by the collective consciousness of the plains' inhabitants.

Although the Earth Mother Plains in reality had suffered an invasion by the demons led by Jia Lou Tian, the main battles occurred in the Panlong Secret Realm, a conflict between the demons and the secret realm's guardians; the civilians were scattered across the plains, rarely affected; moreover, the Panlong Secret Realm was originally a place where idlers were forbidden, so civilians did not go there, and thus many people were still sound asleep now.

Hence the plains' dream also existed.

However, the red comet ahead did not descend onto the plains, but instead headed straight for the red great lake beyond the plains, its speed increasing slightly.

"What is he doing?" the Sea Emperor Xuandu asked the Goddess Huanle, "Why is he going into the lake?"

"That is a shortcut into and out of the dream realm," the Goddess Huanle answered, "Water is the best medium and transition between the virtual and the real."

"Then can we still catch up to them?" the Sea Emperor Xuandu asked with deep worry. If the Nine Nether escaped back to reality, this trip of his would be a complete defeat again!