Mirror Dream Tree

After that, Azil, the town lord, surrendered without further resistance.

Yanli and Cui Li decided not to kill him, but they ensured he would never cause them trouble again.

They administered a poison that would remain in his body forever, forcing him to take a yearly antidote they alone could provide.

With Azil subdued, they returned to the inn, rejoining Kanoru's men.

A day later, the storm cleared, and Kanoru had fully healed from the backlash of suppressing the world.

By sunset, they boarded the ship once more and set sail for Sky Island.

Two days passed as they travelled across the ocean.

That night, Merin was seated cross-legged in his cabin, carefully studying the body structure of an Ascendant Realm swordfish he had caught earlier that afternoon.

He was still on the ocean, so he took the opportunity to research its body to help him create a Fish-Dragon transformation technique.

Without a proper laboratory, Merin relied solely on his mental energy to probe the fish's cells.

He even constructed a spell to magnify what his senses could detect, making it easier to understand the structure without specialised tools.

Despite the difficulty, he made good progress.

Suddenly, Merin paused, sensing something through his mental domain.

A fierce battle was underway outside the ship.

A school of Blue Iron-Scale sharks had surrounded them.

There were only three Ascendant Realm sharks among them, while the rest were in the Spirit Realm.

Merin stayed in his cabin, unhurried.

Yanli, Cui Li, and Zhen Qi could easily handle the three Ascendant Realm sharks, and the others were more than capable of dealing with the Spirit Realm beasts.

There was no need for him to intervene.

Still, he paused his study of the swordfish and expanded his mental domain to observe the battle closely.

His attention was mostly on his younger brother and sister.

His brother had reached the Spiritual Core Realm a year ago after creating the Fireiron Ant transformation technique.

He had first developed the Iron Ant technique based on the 1st-Level Iron Ant.

When choosing his next form, he set his sights on the 2nd-Level Fire Ant.

But at the time, his cultivation was only at the Spiritual Apprentice level, making it impossible for him to fully transform into a Spirit Realm beast.

So instead, he used the Fire Ant's life structure as a blueprint to gradually evolve the Iron Ant technique.

By slowly integrating the Fire Ant's traits into the Iron Ant transformation, he advanced the technique bit by bit until it became the Fireiron Ant transformation.

This gradual process raised his spirituality, allowing him to condense a spiritual machine in his mental space and eventually form his spiritual core.

Now his brother stood on the deck, hurling fireball attacks at any shark that leapt up from the ocean toward the ship.

His sister soared in the air with eagle wings on her back, striking sharks in the water with lightning bolts.

Her goal was to eventually transform into a gryphon.

But gryphons were all 2nd-level beasts, so to fully transform into one, she'd need to reach the Spiritual Core Realm first.

That's why she was preparing a transitional technique by combining two 1st-level beasts that resembled a gryphon.

No single 1st-level beast looked like a gryphon, so she split its traits between a lion and an eagle.

For the lion's part, she chose the Rock Lion, known for its solid defence, crushing claws, and ability to summon rocks as weapons.

She had already perfected the full-body Rock Lion transformation and mastered it up to the fourth stage before they even left Saisei City.

For the eagle part, she chose the Lightning-Winged Eagle, a 1st-level beast famed for its speed and lightning attacks.

She had already created the full-body Lightning-Winged Eagle transformation and trained it to the second stage.

When she completed the fourth stage, she could then merge the Lightning-Winged Eagle technique with the Rock Lion technique to create a form that looked like a gryphon.

After that, the next step would be to obtain the life structure of a true 2nd-level Gryphon.

By gradually incorporating the gryphon's life structure into her combined transformation — the same way Kuro had evolved the Iron Ant into a Fireiron Ant — she could finally complete her Gryphon transformation and advance to the Spiritual Core Realm.

He then observes his men at the Spiritual Core Realm, some fully transforming into flying lizards as they fight the sharks above the ocean.

Others only grow wings from their backs, using wind blades and wind spells to strike at the sharks below.

He notices that some of the lizard scales on his men have begun turning a light turquoise colour, a clear sign they've fully mastered the 2nd-level Flying Lizard transformation and have started practising the 3rd-level Aetherwing Drake transformation technique.

That technique can only take them as far as the initial True Core Realm.

To progress beyond that, they'll need to either obtain a new transformation technique or advance the Aetherwing Drake technique on their own.

Merin had given them the foundational version of the technique, but pushing it further would be up to them.

And since helping them advance wouldn't contribute to his understanding of the Rule of Vitality, he won't interfere.

Once they master the Aetherwing Drake transformation, they will have to walk their own paths, just like Zhen Qi.

Merin watches as Zhen Qi, fully transformed into an Aetherwing Drake, battles an Ascendant Realm shark in the ocean.

Although Zhen Qi hasn't perfected the Aetherwing Drake transformation — only reaching the third stage — he's already at the Major Success level.

With a few more days of practice, he'll achieve the fourth stage and reach perfection.

He advanced this quickly because the Aetherwing Drake is an evolved version of the Flying Lizard, a transformation technique he had already mastered completely.

And Zhen Qi knows that once he perfects the Aetherwing Drake, Merin will no longer guide him.

So, during this ocean journey, he has already chosen a new beast to study: the eel.

He's fascinated by the eel's natural ability to generate lightning without drawing on ambient energy.

He plans to create a third-level Eel transformation technique — and once it's complete, he'll decide whether to merge the Eel with the Aetherwing Drake or discard the drake entirely to follow the Eel path to higher realms.

Merin then turns his attention to Cui Li, who is partially transformed into a winged werewolf and battling an Ascendant Realm shark.

Cui Li chose to work within the lineage of the flying wolf in her blood.

But instead of replacing it with another beast, she decided to incorporate favourable life structures from other types of wolves.

Her goal is to gradually add new traits to the flying wolf bloodline until she breaks free from its limitation.

The final image of her transformation looks like an upright wolf, which Merin calls a werewolf, though such a species doesn't exist in this world.

Merin can sense that this path is working, and Cui Li is close to advancing into the middle stage of the True Core Realm.

And among all those fighting, only Yanli stands her ground in human form, wielding a shining silver blade that glows under the moonlight to enhance its power.

Her weapon is a spell — Moon Blade — which draws on the artistic conception of the moon to condense moonlight into natural energy.

At night, with the moon overhead, she can channel its power directly, greatly strengthening her strikes.

Of all the fighters, only Yanli is pushing back a third Ascendant Realm shark on her own.

Meanwhile, the ocean surface grows red with the blood of dying sharks.

Merin's crew and followers fight bravely despite sustaining injuries, and none have suffered fatal wounds yet.

Zhen Qi, Cui Li, and even Yanli — despite her advantage — bear deep cuts and bleeding gashes.

Merin continues to observe and decides it's time to end this before the blood draws even more dangerous predators.

The fight began with only blue iron-scale sharks, but as time passed, more species were lured into the frenzy.

None of the new arrivals have yet reached the Ascendant Realm, but Merin knows it's only a matter of time.

If this goes on, an even greater threat will surface.

And the scent of blood has driven the sharks mad, making them attack one another and keeping Merin's people from becoming overwhelmed too quickly.

He starts to weave a large spell to end the battle in one decisive strike, then suddenly stops halfway.

He senses something powerful surging up from the ocean depths.

Its aura is unmistakable: a Dharma Realm beast, approaching fast.

Merin leaps straight from his room window and plunges into the ocean.

He doesn't want this monster anywhere near the ship — a fight this close would destroy the vessel and risk the lives of everyone aboard.

He swims toward the oncoming beast, determined to intercept it before it reaches his people.