Chapter 689 – Dreamweaver World 27

The terrifying mouthparts kept stretching toward the sky where the fragrance was thickest, elongating to twice their original length, leaping ceaselessly in an attempt to get closer to the scent.

Mo Lan circled slowly above the residential complex, deliberately controlling her flight altitude to ensure the Dream-Eating Tapir could clearly track the “source of the fragrance” in Zhizhi’s hands.

Only after confirming that this Dream-Eating Tapir was completely hooked and that no more had appeared in the complex did she change direction, luring it toward the neighboring Starlight Community.

“One isn’t nearly enough…” Mo Lan narrowed her eyes, scanning the city of Canaan beneath the night sky.

Though Dream-Eating Tapirs were solitary creatures, a city would never have just one!

She had more Dreamwood than she could ever use, and any offensive magic powered by magical forces other than dream energy could easily harm Dream-Eating Tapirs. She could perfectly well gather all her prey first, then eliminate them all at once with Elemental Magic.

The broom carved through the night sky as Wind Elemental Magic dispersed the Dreamwood’s fragrance across one residential district after another. The Dream-Eating Tapirs that had been crouched at human bedsides, siphoning dream energy, slowly withdrew their mouthparts from the sleepers’ minds. Like a colony of ants drawn to honey, they crawled onto the rooftops one after another, forming an eerie procession.

Mo Lan glanced back. Over twenty Dream-Eating Tapirs of various shapes were leaping and chasing across the rooftops. Some wriggled forward like enormous leeches, while others extended tendrils like spiders to cling to walls. Regardless of their form, every last one had its mouthparts swaying frantically, pointing toward the burning Dreamwood in Zhizhi’s hands.

“Looks like there are even more than expected!”

Mo Lan had only circled a few blocks and already drawn out this many Dream-Eating Tapirs. She had originally planned to carry out the final hunt before dawn, but now she’d have to move it up.

If she let too many gather, she worried her magic wouldn’t cover them all and some would escape.

Mo Lan turned the broom and flew toward the city outskirts, glancing back from time to time to make sure the Dream-Eating Tapirs were keeping up.

Occasionally, when passing through a residential district where someone of considerable strength was exploring the dream realm, the dream energy they emanated would attract a Dream-Eating Tapir’s attention, and one would accidentally wander off.

Whenever that happened, she would remind Zhizhi to turn up the intensity, using an even richer fragrance to draw the stragglers back into the procession.

She picked up several more new Dream-Eating Tapirs along the way. By the time she reached the sky above the abandoned quarry on the city outskirts, there were a full thirty-one.

Mo Lan hovered the broom in midair. “Zhizhi, throw the Dreamwood into the pit below!”

The instant the Dreamwood fell, the swarm of Dream-Eating Tapirs went completely berserk.

They scrambled over each other to dive into the stone pit, their semi-transparent bodies squeezing and tangling together. Several even tore into each other fighting for the best position.

Mo Lan observed the scene calmly. Once they had all entered her casting range, she unleashed the dragon-tongue magic Blazing Storm.

A crimson pillar of fire erupted skyward. The Dream-Eating Tapirs’ semi-transparent bodies twisted and curled in the explosive elemental force, dissolving as rapidly as wax thrown into boiling oil.

They tried to flee, but the all-encompassing Blazing Storm pinned them mercilessly to the bottom of the pit.

It was Mo Lan’s first time casting adult dragon-level magic, and the effect was far more powerful than she had anticipated. In fewer than three breaths, every last Dream-Eating Tapir had disintegrated in the flames. The dream energy they had devoured scattered in all directions, vanishing beneath the moonlight.

The spectacle was immense. The firelight stained the night sky a dark crimson for miles around, and even the distant silhouette of Canaan City warped and rippled in the heat haze. Something this conspicuous would undoubtedly attract the patrol teams.

The raging elemental force summoned by the Blazing Storm hadn’t fully subsided when Mo Lan quickly cast a water magic spell. A frigid water tornado descended from the sky, colliding with the Blazing Storm’s remnants with a sustained hissing sound.

Massive clouds of steam erupted instantly, shrouding the entire quarry in dense white fog.

Under the cover of the mist, Mo Lan rode her broom away from the scene. Almost the very moment she departed, the roar of flying vehicle engines echoed from the distance.

Ten minutes later, three patrol vehicles bearing the Dreamweaver Federation’s insignia landed at the quarry’s edge.

The lead investigator jumped from his vehicle, and his boots had barely touched the ground before he flinched from the heat. He stared in disbelief at the quarry before him — a scene that could rival a volcanic eruption site.

“The stone has been burned to charite!” A young agent crouched down, and the moment his glove touched the ground, it burned through. “What level of energy could do this?”

The investigator’s expression was grim as he switched on his energy detector. The needle swung wildly before settling on a staggering reading. “Check whether any adventurers above level 80 have entered Canaan City recently!”

…

Mo Lan had full confidence in her broomstick’s invisibility shield. After leaving the quarry, she had Zhizhi light another piece of Dreamwood and headed to other districts of the city to lure out more Dream-Eating Tapirs.

Once the number trailing behind her was sufficient, she led them toward the old district, all the way to the river-crossing bridge in the old district, where she had Zhizhi toss the Dreamwood into the river.

The Dream-Eating Tapirs leaped into the water after the Dreamwood without a moment’s hesitation.

Mo Lan had already prepared the Water Prison Spell. A massive water prison rapidly crystallized within the river, trapping every last Dream-Eating Tapir inside.

Then the water prison collapsed inward at speed, and the Dream-Eating Tapirs were crushed and torn apart bit by bit by the high-pressure currents.

This one took slightly longer, but was far quieter. Everything happened underwater, drawing no attention from the patrol teams.

When the river’s surface settled once more, Mo Lan cast a wistful glance toward the horizon. “It’s getting light already?”

She had only just found her rhythm for hunting Dream-Eating Tapirs!

Unfortunately, Dream-Eating Tapirs didn’t appear during the day. They could only be hunted at night — she would have to come back tonight.

Mo Lan returned to Dream Fulfillment Community and slipped inside, closing the door behind her in one fluid motion.

Now it was time to sort through her spoils.

Over the course of the night, she had killed a total of sixty-five Dream-Eating Tapirs, and the rewards had been received on the spot.

The haul: 6,500 ordinary mana crystals, 65 origin mana crystals, 13 Fruits of Materialization, and 6 Dream Chronodisks.

Mo Lan stored the mana crystals in her storage ring and took out only the Fruits of Materialization and the Dream Chronodisks.

The Fruit of Materialization was a pink fruit, shaped somewhat like an Earth sugar apple, identical to the pictures on the forums.

Adventurers obtained their Fruits of Materialization inside the dream realm, while Explorers received theirs in the real world, but the method of use was the same.

Upon eating a Fruit of Materialization, a materialization point value would appear on the adventurer’s panel. By spending the corresponding materialization points, one could convert their race, class, skills, mana values, or items in their inventory into reality.