Chapter 686 – Dreamweaver World 24

After completing her initial demonstration in Crystal orchid form, Instructor Gniewen continued her lesson without pause: “Now, let us observe the beauty of wilting across different orchid varieties.”

Before Mo Lan’s astonished gaze, Gniewen began a series of fluid transformations.

First she became an elegant, graceful Moonlight Orchid, its silvery-white petals waning like the phases of the moon from full to crescent. Then she transformed into a passionate, vibrant Flame Orchid, its crimson petals not withering but elegantly scattering like dying embers. Finally, she actually transformed into the very same Trailing Silk Orchid as Mo Lan’s.

Seeing Instructor Gniewen’s Trailing Silk Orchid transformation, Mo Lan finally understood that the transformation Sula had performed earlier — the one that had so amazed her — was still far from perfect, with many flaws remaining.

“Transfiguration knows no end,” Gniewen’s voice emanated from within the Trailing Silk Orchid. “There is no most perfect transformation — only an ever more perfect one!”

These words imprinted themselves deeply in Mo Lan’s mind.

After demonstrating the wilting process for every student’s orchid variety present in the class, Instructor Gniewen finally said: “Alright, now try it yourselves!”

She casually released her transformation, returned to human form, and began making rounds among the students to observe and guide them.

Mo Lan calmed her mind and focused intently, recalling every subtle detail of Gniewen’s demonstration.

She first adjusted the flow of Mana through her root system, mimicking the rhythm with which a real Trailing Silk Orchid slowly reclaims its nutrients — not a simple withdrawal of energy, but a tidal, rhythmic retreat.

Next, she controlled the outermost petal, letting its tip curl with just the right degree of arc — neither too rigid nor too slack.

The color change was an art form in itself. Mo Lan abandoned the monotonous withered yellow and instead attempted the orange-red gradient Gniewen had demonstrated.

She carefully controlled her power of animal transformation, letting the color begin at the petal edges and spread slowly inward like sunset staining the clouds, while maintaining a touch of verdant green at the base of each petal.

“Pay attention to the order in which the veins lose color,” Gniewen’s reminder suddenly came. “In a real Trailing Silk Orchid, the main vein should begin changing first, and the secondary veins should follow roughly half a day later.”

Only then did Mo Lan notice that the Instructor had somehow appeared beside Sula without her realizing.

Like Sula, she had overlooked this detail. She immediately made adjustments, rearranging the timing of vein discoloration according to the uniformly accelerated time scale.

The main vein first took on a silvery-gray hue, and only after a moment did the fine secondary veins gradually begin to lose their luster.

This staggered fading process instantly made the entire transformation appear far more authentic and lifelike.

When Gniewen made her way to Mo Lan, a flash of approval crossed her eyes: “Well done! Sula, you should look at Moira’s vein discoloration sequence and timing!”

But she immediately pointed out Mo Lan’s other shortcomings as well. “Moira, don’t actively sever the withered filaments. Let them fall naturally according to their degree of decay.”

Mo Lan understood at once and stopped manually controlling the few filaments that were about to detach.

These delicate filaments now hung from the calyx entirely under their own weight, swaying gently in the breeze drifting through the classroom window.

When the two filaments that had drooped the most finally drifted away on the wind, Gniewen noticed her flawless execution: “Yes! Exactly like that!”

She discovered that this adventurer student possessed an extraordinary capacity for comprehension — often needing only a single hint to grasp the essence and execute it perfectly.

This talent made her want to teach without reservation: “Next, you can try slowing down the entire wilting process. Imagine that you truly are a Trailing Silk Orchid experiencing the changing of seasons, channeling all your strength into the root system, waiting for that moment of breaking through the soil to be reborn next spring…”

Mo Lan seized this rare opportunity, concentrating fully on improving her transformation skills.

As the practice deepened, Mo Lan came to understand more and more what Gniewen meant by “knows no end.”

Every time she mastered one detail of transformation, she immediately discovered even more areas that needed refinement — the varying density of textures on the underside of petals, the rhythmic contraction of stomata on the stem’s surface, even the growth direction of root tips as they probed through the soil. These details, never mentioned in any skill book, were the true keys to bringing a transformation ever closer to perfection.

She had been so deeply absorbed in class that when it ended, Mo Lan still felt she hadn’t had enough.

“Same time next week,” Gniewen said with a slight nod to her before departing. “Remember to try growing a Trailing Silk Orchid from seed — nature is the best teacher!”

This seemingly simple request was actually the preparatory assignment for the next class.

Mo Lan nodded in understanding, already looking forward to the next lesson.

Though she hadn’t received any quests or quest rewards from this class, the knowledge she had gained far surpassed any quest reward.

The moment Instructor Gniewen’s figure disappeared through the doorway of the tree-hollow classroom, the dream citizen students who had been quietly rooted in their seats immediately released their transformations and swarmed around Mo Lan in a rush.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes glittering with curiosity locked onto her all at once, voices overlapping in an excited clamor:

“Oh my! You’re really an adventurer?”

“How did you do that fading technique just now?”

“How long did you practice your root extension to make it look so natural?”

Sula squeezed to the front and excitedly tugged at Mo Lan’s sleeve: “In just one class, your transformation level has already surpassed mine! That’s incredible!”

“Instructor Gniewen teaches well,” Mo Lan replied with a modest smile.

In truth, her Earth memories had helped enormously. The memories of terrestrial plant growth stored in her mental sea, though different from the plants of the dream realm, shared common ground when it came to the fundamental patterns of life.

Her ability to so quickly grasp the essence of Gniewen’s teachings was largely thanks to this reservoir of knowledge.

“We all have the same teacher — how can the gap be this big!” sighed a dream citizen girl who looked a bit older than Sula, her frustration evident. Her Trailing Silk Orchid transformation still couldn’t get the energy reflow rhythm right during wilting.

A thought suddenly struck Mo Lan, and her eyes lit up: “Are there more classes like Instructor Gniewen’s? Could I attend those too?”

It was hard to go back to austerity after tasting luxury!

After experiencing instruction from a true master of transformation, those skill books felt about as sophisticated as children’s alphabet cards — useful only as the most rudimentary introductory materials.

“Of course there are!” Sula counted on her fingers. “The tree hollow next door has an aquatic plant transformation class taught by Instructor Dael — it should still be in session right now. This afternoon there’s a fungi transformation class taught by Grandpa Brandon, held in his tree cellar. And I remember you’ve also learned the Shadow Cat Transformation — tomorrow there’s a feline transformation class at Grandma Lied’s, up on her rooftop…”

The other dream citizens chimed in with additional courses they knew about.

“Perhaps you could go see the village chief,” Vixi suggested. “If you bring along a bit of dream currency as a gift, I think he’d be kind enough to tell you what apprenticeship gifts to prepare for each Instructor, and provide you with a class schedule!”