Chapter 645

Chapter 645: Power of Nightmares

After the Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign left, Xu Fan’s expression turned a bit melancholic.

As the saying goes, when one is well-fed, they think of other desires. Now that he felt secure, his mind began to wander to other matters.

"Grand Elder, are you missing your cultivation partner?" Spirit Cut asked with a smile.

"My partner, I don’t understand what’s so great about running around with her master all the time."

"Today she’s here, and tomorrow she’s there," Xu Fan replied.

Every now and then, he had a habit of divining to check on his long-distance relationship.

The results showed that she was safe, but she kept moving to different places.

Sometimes he couldn’t even divine her location, which usually meant she was in a larger secret realm.

"Grand Elder, next time your partner comes back, don’t let her wander off again."

"With the current strength of the Hidden Spirit Sect, there’s nothing you can’t handle," Spirit Cut said with a laugh.

"Just thinking about my partner reminds me of the staff that sham dragon stole from me," Xu Fan sighed.

"There’s a saying in the mundane world: A gentleman’s revenge is never too late, even after ten years."

"With your talent, Grand Elder, you’re bound to become a legendary figure in the future. It won’t be too late to seek revenge then," Spirit Cut reassured him.

"In the future, I’ll definitely have the strength for revenge, but…"

Xu Fan was worried that the sham dragon might not live long enough for that.

"Dragons that covet celestial tools in the cultivation world probably aren’t very strong. Grand Elder, keep pushing forward; you might even get your revenge within ten thousand years," Spirit Cut said.

"That would then be a matter for the Immortal Realm," Xu Fan replied.

Just then, a light curtain suddenly appeared before Xu Fan without warning.

Xu Fan looked at the light curtain, his expression growing increasingly serious.

"Have you sent someone to pick up Grape?" Xu Fan asked sternly.

"Already on the way, expected back at the sect in five days."

"The highest-level life-prolonging spirit pills from the treasury have already been taken."

Spirit Cut also stared at the light curtain, a hint of anger in his eyes.

"I’ll allocate ten percent of your computing power to aid in the rescue. Hurry and bring that disciple back."

"Since the founding of the Hidden Spirit Sect, not a single disciple has fallen."

"That hasn’t happened before, and it won’t happen in the future," Xu Fan said firmly.

Cang Mu was a Second-Generation Disciple, known for his honesty and reliability.

He usually kept a low profile, with his strength at a relatively above-average level.

The fact that he didn’t stand out in anything was precisely why Xu Fan had high hopes for him.

Five days later, a Great Ascension stage puppet returned to the Hidden Spirit Sect with Cang Mu.

At Alchemy Peak, in the recovery hall.

Xu Fan appeared before the disciple, his eyes reflecting a trace of helplessness as he gazed at the unconscious figure.

He was at a loss for a solution.

When the puppet brought Cang Mu back, Xu Fan was the first to see him.

Immediately, he sensed the strange energy emanating from Cang Mu.

It felt like a twisted version of the power of reincarnation, almost like some eerie illusion.

Despite trying every method at his disposal, Xu Fan couldn’t rouse the sleeping disciple.

Xu Gang, Xu Yuexian, and others also came to visit the disciple.

“Master, this seems to be the legendary power of nightmares,” Li Xingci said.

“Power of nightmares?” Xu Fan looked at Li Xingci, puzzled; he had never encountered this in any records.

“I saw it in the reincarnation dream.”

“In the dream, the power of nightmares acts like a spiritual beast; it devours a person’s dreams and spirit, consuming everything except the body.”

“Once it latches onto you, there’s almost no escape.”

“After the nightmare consumes everything, only an empty shell remains,” Li Xingci said, his voice growing heavier as he glanced at the unconscious Cang Mu.

“Is there no standard solution?” Xu Fan asked.

Li Xingci shook his head.

“There might be, but I don’t know it.”

At that moment, Cang Mu’s eyelids fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Returning to the sect and dying in a dream isn’t so bad, is it?”

Cang Mu could no longer distinguish between reality and the dream, but his expression seemed oddly content.

“Grand Elder, I’ve failed. I’ve been cursed by this.”

“The sect’s kindness in raising me—I can only repay it by serving like an ox or horse in my next life.”

Just as Xu Fan was about to speak, Cang Mu closed his eyes again, his brow furrowing as if he had seen something he wished to avoid.

Xu Fan gently placed his hand on Cang Mu’s forehead and closed his eyes, carefully probing the strange power of nightmares within him.

“Devouring everything but the body,” Xu Fan murmured.

“Everyone, leave me. Let me think of a way to save Cang Mu,” Xu Fan said.

All the disciples of the Hidden Spirit Sect had passed through his assessments.

Xu Fan had watched them grow, from naive youngsters to accomplished individuals.

Though the Hidden Spirit Sect had many disciples, Xu Fan cherished each one.

Now, the healing room was empty except for Cang Mu and Xu Fan.

A Fortune Treasure Canopy appeared behind Xu Fan, and a faint aura of fortune began to envelop him.

He channeled this energy toward Cang Mu.

“It seems I’ll have to resort to some unconventional methods.”

Xu Fan gave some instructions to the grapevine, his palm glowing with a purple light as he gently reached towards Cang Mu’s Heavenly Spirit crown.

“Let me see how powerful this power of nightmares really is.”

The moment Xu Fan’s hand touched Cang Mu’s crown, the strange energy within Cang Mu quickly transferred to him.

In that instant, Xu Fan felt as if his soul and spirit were being pulled into an endless black hole.

In a bustling city, inside a café,

Xu Fan sat there in a daze, feeling as though that moment lasted for a thousand years, yet nothing had happened.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

Sitting across from Xu Fan was a girl who, in his eyes, barely scored a 75.

“Sorry, I zoned out. What did you say?”

Xu Fan remembered that he had been forced by his mom to come here for a blind date.

“I asked, how much do you make a month?” The girl looked at Xu Fan with a hint of dissatisfaction.

“Oh, I just graduated, so my salary isn’t high. With the year-end bonus, it’s less than 6,000 a month,” Xu Fan replied, a bit embarrassed.

After he mentioned 6,000, he clearly noticed disappointment in the girl’s eyes.

As the conversation continued, the girl seemed to lose interest.

After just a few more words, she left without giving her phone number and even paid for the coffee on her way out.

On his way back, Xu Fan muttered to himself, “Is 6,000 really that little for a fresh graduate?”

“Just because my family doesn’t own a house doesn’t mean I can’t buy one, even if it’s just for the down payment.”

Both were pragmatic; the girl didn’t show excessive disdain, and Xu Fan didn’t push the matter.

People are good; it’s just that sometimes they’re not the right fit for each other.

Outside a modest courtyard, Xu Fan stood at the gate for a long time, feeling as if he hadn’t been home in centuries.

“Why does it feel like I haven’t been home in hundreds of years?”

Xu Fan said as he gently pushed open the door.

“Little Fan, how did it go with the girl?” a middle-aged woman, who looked quite ordinary, asked with concern.

“Mom, the girl was pretty, but she wasn’t into someone like me.”

For some reason, before Xu Fan could finish, tears started streaming down his face.

“If it didn’t work out, you can always find someone else. Why are you crying? You never seemed so sentimental before,” the middle-aged woman joked, though there was a hint of pain in her eyes.

“It’s also because your father and I couldn’t come up with that 300,000 back then,” the middle-aged woman sighed after speaking.

Xu Fan gently hugged the middle-aged woman.

“Mom, that doesn’t matter anymore.”