Dreaming for 10,000 years

Chapter 389 Becoming Stronger
The night was cool and still, and moonlight streamed through the window, casting a blanket of silver frost on the floor.

Yu Tian walked barefoot across the sandy ground and stopped in front of Shi Fei's door.

"Come in." Shi Fei's cool voice came from inside the room, as if he had already expected his arrival.

Yu Tian gently pushed open the door, the wooden hinges creaking softly. A night breeze slipped in, stirring the candlelight in the room. Shi Fei remained in his moon-gazing posture, the moonlight flowing over his plain white robes, making him look like a jade sculpture.

He looked at Shi Fei, wondering what Shi Fei was looking at.

"what's up?"

"Boss Shi" Yu Tian gripped his thin clothes tightly and mustered his courage to ask, "How can I become stronger?"

He knew that Boss Shi took good care of him, but making a request to Boss Shi alone still made him hesitate and muster up his courage.

Shi Fei finally turned around, and the moonlight shattered into a galaxy in his deep eyes.

He casually pointed to the towering bookshelves around him, the yellowed ancient books gleaming mysteriously in the candlelight: "Have you learned enough to read? Any of these martial arts manuals will be enough to benefit you for a lifetime."

"I want to become as strong as Sun Wukong." Yu Tian's voice was exceptionally clear in the darkness.

Shi Fei raised an eyebrow slightly, the moonlight casting dappled shadows on his face: "It's difficult. Sun Wukong is a Saiyan, born for battle. The more severely injured he is, the stronger his power becomes."

He paused, then said, "Just like some people who are born to stand at a height that you could never reach in your entire life."

"Why?" Yu Tian bit his lower lip hard until he tasted the rust. He thought of the pampered young masters and ladies in town, and the disgusted looks they gave him.

Why are people born unequal?

"Why are people born different? I've seen too many people who are born with things I can never have."

He raised his head, a stubborn flame burning in his eyes: "I will become stronger than Sun Wukong! Stronger than all those born strong!"

"Then why do you want to become stronger?" Shi Fei suddenly asked.

"Becoming stronger is all for the sake of becoming stronger!" Yu Tian hadn't expected Shi Fei to ask this question. He said, "Is wanting to become stronger a reason?"

"It's a reason, and it's not a reason!" Shi Fei said inexplicably, taking a yellowed ancient book from the bookshelf and handing it to him. "Take a look at this first."

Yu Tian took the book; the two large characters on the cover, "Take It," were powerful and vigorous.

"This will make me stronger?"

"No, it helps you find the path to becoming stronger." Shi Fei's voice seemed to come from a great distance. "It allows you to simulate others and gain seventy or eighty percent of their strength."

"But this power is only seven or eight tenths of the original owner's; it will never surpass the original owner. You need to constantly imitate others, learn from others, and then forge your own path to power in order to become stronger!"

"Those who imitate me will die; those who resemble me will live."

"I understand, this is how I can become stronger!" Yu Tian suddenly realized.

"No, you must persevere!"

"Persistence?" "Persistence is also a kind of strength."

Yu Tian didn't quite understand, but he believed every word Boss Shi said.

After that night, Yu Tian began a frenzied training regimen. He imitated Sun Wukong's every move, from his eating posture to the rhythm of his training, and even deliberately injured himself, just to experience the thrill of a near-death burst of power.

Once, he practiced until he vomited blood, but he still refused to stop until he collapsed on the sand.

He also learned Nie Feng's lightness skill, practicing the Wind God Leg technique on the edge of a cliff, nearly falling into the abyss several times. At night, his legs would twitch involuntarily, as if he were still running.

Time flies like sand, slipping away silently. When Sun Wukong suddenly disappeared, and when the monster calling himself "Little Drill Wind" appeared in the desert, Yu Tian knew that the moment of parting was near.

He frantically searched through Shi Fei's collection of books, looking for a way to remain in the dream, but to no avail. More and more guests kept arriving in the desert, letting everyone know that their time there was running out.

Finally, one morning, he felt a sudden dizziness.
The biting mountain wind jolted Yu Tian awake. He sat up abruptly and found himself lying in the tall grass, his thin clothes already soaked with dew. Unlike the scorching heat of the desert, the mountain wind here was as sharp as a knife, cutting his skin painfully.

The memories in his dream were fading away rapidly, like water held in his palm—the harder he tried, the faster it slipped away. But the memories of reality were becoming clearer; he had fled into these deep mountains to escape the "River God Sacrifice."

Every year around the spring equinox, the River God Temple would offer ten pairs of young boys and girls. Meanwhile, the arrest teams, dressed in black uniforms, searched the city like jackals smelling blood.

They specifically targeted destitute beggars, selling them to wealthy families who won the lottery to become their "adopted sons and daughters."

Yu Tian has lived in Hebo City for several years. Except for the first year when he was almost caught, he has fled in advance every year. He has gotten used to hiding in the mountains every spring.

Life in the mountains was harder than I had imagined.

Before the morning dew had dried, Yu Tian had to get up to find wild fruits to eat. The sour hawthorns and shriveled wild dates tasted bitter when chewed, but he had to force himself to swallow them. Sometimes, he would even get diarrhea after eating them.

The mountain stream water was crystal clear and icy cold; every time he drank from it, his teeth chattered from the chill. Even more terrifying was the howling of wolves that came from afar after nightfall, which always made him curl up in a tree hollow, hugging his knees and shivering until dawn.

But if he could just survive the sacrificial day on the fifteenth of the third month, he could return to the City of the River God. The wealthy families would then "give alms" to beggars like him on the streets. After all, no one knew if they would draw that deadly divination slip next year.

The prosperity of Hebo City stemmed from the blessing of this mysterious water god; merchant ships thronged the streets, and the market never closed. In return, the most "precious" offering was ten pairs of young boys and girls sacrificed each year.

The beggars in this city live in a ridiculous cycle, fleeing like startled birds at this time of year, only to reappear like weeds after the festival ends.

The cold wind grew increasingly biting, and Yu Tian rubbed his fingers, which were red from the cold, as he stumbled and searched for shelter from the wind.

The memories from his dream suddenly became his lifeline. His knowledge of plants allowed him to barely recognize a few edible wild berries. Although they were so sour that his face scrunched up, he managed to fool his rumbling stomach.

In a sheltered mountain hollow, Yu Tian discovered a shallow cave. He curled up inside and blocked the entrance with weeds.

He calculated the time; it would be another four or five days before the day for the River God's sacrifice. He would need to stay on the mountain for another four or five days.

At that moment, he suddenly noticed a peculiar "qi" flowing through his body. No, it wasn't "qi," but rather the sensation of his blood surging.

He could actually feel the blood flowing through his body!
He suddenly realized that if the knowledge in his dream was real, then the martial arts he learned in his dream, could it also be real?

He couldn't wait to start trying it out.

(End of this chapter)