Chapter 151: Can I Have the Cash Prize Instead?

On the straight highway, military-green trucks sped along one after another, racing rapidly toward the direction of the capital.

Inside the carriage, however, a heavy silence hung in the air.

Zhao Lingyin felt as though her foundational knowledge had been completely upended—knowledge that had been personally taught to her by her mentor. Comprehending a domain was vastly different from awakening one. The former was akin to penetrating the profound essence of enlightenment, capturing that single flash of inspiration to forge a domain entirely of one's own.

Meanwhile, awakening a domain was more akin to arousing a dormant domain rooted in one's innate talent.

The former existed from nothingness through creation, while the latter reawakened what was already there.

The significance of the two was entirely different.

Those capable of comprehending a domain were undoubtedly the elite of the Dream Weaver world; whether domestically or internationally, they were figures standing at the absolute peak!

Inside the carriage, Cang Yuan listened to Zhao Lingyin’s shocked words, his eyes rippling slightly.

He did not understand domains, but as a national-grade Dream Weaver, he had once crossed paths with geniuses who possessed domains. He knew very well what the emergence of a domain signified.

It was a qualitative leap!

In Cang Yuan’s eyes, Du Fang was already exceptional.

Yet, the concept of being exceptional probably no longer suited Du Fang; he should instead be called a monstrous anomaly!

How could anyone be such a monstrous freak?

Just as Zhao Lingyin had lamented, this kid must have been cheating!

He possessed a Fallen God, a suspected infinite dream spirit, psychokinetic abilities capable of manipulating the air, and now... he had even comprehended a domain!

What kind of freak of nature was this?

Even Cang Yuan felt a twinge of jealousy.

However, jealousy was useless. Originally, Cang Yuan had intended to recruit Du Fang into his Cyan Wolf Squad, but looking at it now...

He was not worthy!

"This kid... his future achievements will be limitless. Perhaps our Great Xia Nation will have another opportunity to spawn a ceiling-level Dream Weaver!"

Cang Yuan murmured with a smile.

Human ceilings—those were the figures standing at the absolute pinnacle of combat strength!

Great Xia possessed three human ceilings, standing like three pillars that propped up the nation, shielding it from the ravages of terrifying dream catastrophes and blocking countless horrifying crises!

Foreign nations watched like tigers eyeing their prey, and the Dream Fiend organization kept a close eye on Great Xia.

If not for these mighty figures standing tall, towering over the mountain peaks and firmly guarding the national borders, perhaps Great Xia would have long since been corrupted by foreign influences, infiltrated by the Dream Fiend organization, riddled with holes, and turned into a living hell.

"That goes without saying! My mentor said I also have a chance to become a human ceiling. Since Brother Du was able to defeat me, it’s an absolute certainty that Brother Du will become a ceiling!"

Zhao Lingyin said with a sense of reflected glory, as if being defeated by Du Fang was the highest honor.

Inside the carriage, Du Fang slowly opened his eyes, his gaze deep and profound, resembling a vast expanse of starry skies.

A majestic wave of dream spirit fluctuations instantly swept outward.

Du Fang opened his eyes with a look of satisfaction. On the spiritual plane, he had carved out a dream space, constructing a modest little wooden cottage for his family members to temporarily reside in.

This was currently the limit of what Du Fang could achieve.

Although the little wooden cottage was crude, Du Fang would strive to turn it into a grand mansion!

And striving to build that little wooden cottage required dream spirits...

"It seems I need to further elevate my dream spirits... and devour a few more fireworks."

"Making a trip to the headquarters of the Divine Core Organization... that plan... perhaps needs to be brought forward."

Just as he opened his eyes, Du Fang fell into deep contemplation, murmuring to himself.

"Du Fang."

"Brother Du."

Cang Yuan and Zhao Lingyin spoke at the same time.

Du Fang snapped out of his reverie and looked at the two of them in surprise.

Especially Cang Yuan—when had he sneaked into his carriage?

"What's wrong?"

Du Fang asked, perplexed.

"Did you just comprehend a domain?" Zhao Lingyin asked excitedly.

"A domain?"

Du Fang frowned slightly.

He had merely built a small wooden cottage on the spiritual plane for his family to rest in.

What did that have to do with a domain?

"Isn't that it? The form of your dream spirit fluctuations just now was the exact process of comprehending a domain... I've seen it described by my mentor."

"It's fine, domains are a private matter. It doesn't matter if you don't tell me; it was presumptuous of me to ask."

Zhao Lingyin said with a cheeky smile.

She had just remembered that domain abilities were intensely private and constituted high-level intelligence.

If suddenly unleashed during combat, they could yield unexpected results.

Du Fang was still planning to participate in the national top scholar competition, so concealing the power of his domain was completely understandable.

Cang Yuan also smiled, giving Du Fang a deep look. "I felt a peculiar wave of fluctuations just now, so I rushed over to check. Seeing as everything is fine now..."

"Congratulations."

Comprehending a domain was equivalent to taking a crucial step forward. Du Fang's future would be boundless, allowing him to ascend to the highest heavens.

How enviable.

In this world, the Dream Weavers who could acquire a domain could be counted on one's fingers.

Even as a national-grade Dream Weaver, Cang Yuan... still felt envious.

Du Fang was a bit bewildered, but he quickly sorted out the situation.

A domain?

They had mistaken the process of him creating a dream space and building a big house for his family on the spiritual plane for the comprehension of a domain.

However...

To be fair, it really did look quite a bit like building a domain.

Except that Du Fang's domain was a place for his family to live, a sanctuary for them to inhabit.

Now, the small wooden cottage was complete.

With a thought, Du Fang could return to the wooden cottage as if returning home.

Inside the cabin, Luoluo, his wife's hand, little piggy Qiqi, and his sister-in-law were all staying within, living harmoniously and each going about their own business.

"Yeah, let's consider it a domain."

Du Fang said with a smile.

Upon receiving Du Fang's confirmation, both Cang Yuan and Zhao Lingyin let out a breath.

"Right, I'll be reporting this incident to headquarters. Furthermore, the rewards for your previous elimination of a city-annihilation-tier fiend and your obstruction of the nation-destroying-tier powerhouse are planned by headquarters to be issued together with this incident."

"Stacking these rewards together, you might even earn a Sequence taboo artifact as a prize, though it will most likely be one at the very bottom of the rankings."

Cang Yuan said with a smile.

Even a taboo artifact at the bottom of the sequence was an extremely precious treasure.

Du Fang's battle achievements over this period were astonishing, and the Dream Weaver Association naturally wouldn't turn a blind eye. Tang Nai had also reported to headquarters, applying to prepare a high-grade taboo artifact reward for Du Fang.

Coupled with today's battle, where Du Fang utilized the power of the Fallen God to suppress two nation-destroying-tier beings and avert a massive disaster,

stacking so many rewards together meant that awarding a Sequence taboo artifact was not actually excessive.

Great Xia's reserves of Sequence taboo artifacts were quite substantial.

The most precious was a ranked fifth Sequence taboo artifact; as for the top three Sequence taboo artifacts, they were not kept within Great Xia.

"There's a reward?"

Du Fang was momentarily stunned.

Then his eyes lit up slightly: "Is there prize money?"

Cang Yuan burst into loud laughter. "Don't be so vulgar. Prize money is like dirt to us Dream Weavers. A Sequence taboo artifact is something that can't be bought with any amount of money."

"Keep it up, young man. I have high hopes for you."

"The future ceiling!"

Cang Yuan shook his head with a smile, thinking prize money... was practically a joke.

After offering Du Fang another round of congratulations, Cang Yuan left the carriage.

Zhao Lingyin seemed to have been stimulated by Du Fang.

She closed her eyes, puffed out her cheeks, and exerted herself as if trying to force out a bowel movement, desperately trying to develop and awaken her own domain inside the vehicle.

She had only awakened a half-domain and had yet to fully develop it.

Thus, she still had room for developmental potential.

As for Du Fang, he leaned back against the carriage wall, slowly closed his eyes, and continued to refine his small wooden cottage.

...

...

Inside the prison wagon.

The Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King finally regained their wits.

Their complexions were sallow, and their spirits were sluggish.

After all, having their dream fiend wills devoured had dealt a heavy blow to their vitality.

As two nation-destroying-tier dream fiends, their strength was severely compromised, to the point where there was even a trend of them dropping back down to the city-annihilation tier...

And this trend was probably unstoppable.

Shackled in chains, their faces pale and filled with despair, the Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King held back tears, unable to fathom how they had fallen to such a state.

"How could it come to this..."

The Golden Dragon King murmured.

He was originally a mid-level nation-destroying-tier powerhouse, supposed to be unrestrained and completely free.

Yet now, in the blink of an eye, he had become a prisoner.

Once locked away inside Great Xia's capital—

A place where powerhouses were as numerous as clouds, high-level national-grades were not few in number, and where a ceiling-level human powerhouse sat in command—

Did he still have a way out?

His future would likely be spent entirely behind iron bars.

"Black Dragon King... you've ruined us!"

The Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King grieved to the point of suffocation.

"I warned you not to come, not to come over, but you refused to listen. And now you're blaming me?"

The Black Dragon King rolled his eyes with elegance.

He was actually quite comfortable where he was.

Even if he had to rot in the Great Xia Dream Fiend Prison for the rest of his life, he'd rather do that than be dragged out to face Du Fang—that terrifying master of his!

What if he did something wrong, or displeased his master in any way? A single thought from his master could snuff him out!

At this thought, the Black Dragon King glanced at the Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King.

"You two should just be content."

"You felt that great terror yourselves, didn't you? Escaping with your lives is already a supreme blessing."

Said the Black Dragon King.

"Bah, I'd rather be dead. Spending a lifetime in the Great Xia Dream Fiend Prison—what's the difference between that and being dead, other than also being a captive?"

The Red Dragon King muttered darkly.

The Golden Dragon King fell silent. Dragged into the dream space by Du Fang, what they had experienced was nothing short of a nightmare.

"That boy... what on earth is he?"

The Golden Dragon King looked toward the Black Dragon King and asked.

He felt that the Black Dragon King definitely knew something.

The Black Dragon King glanced at the Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King, letting out an ominous, sinister laugh.

"Do you two still want to regain your freedom?"

"Then learn from me."

Said the Black Dragon King.

The Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King frowned, staring at him. "How?"

The Black Dragon King sat in his chair, casually crossing his legs with elegance, and smiled.

"Be a dog."

"Be a slave."

Hearing this, the pupils of the Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King shrank violently, as if their dragon pride had been utterly defiled!

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"We are the great Heavenly Fiend Dragon Kings, upper echelons of the Heavenly Fiend Organization! How could we ever stoop to becoming slaves and dogs!"

"Black Dragon King, you have no dignity of your own, so go be a dog if you want, but don't try to bewitch us! You beast!"

"We will never, ever agree to be dogs or slaves!"

"Not in this lifetime!"

...

...

Service area.

A military-green transport truck slowly rolled to a halt.

Du Fang stepped out of the vehicle, stretched his arms, and breathed in the fresh air, feeling completely refreshed and invigorated.

Sitting in a car for so long was genuinely stifling.

The existence of a service area was meant to let people relax.

Du Fang didn't plan to keep cooping himself up inside.

He stepped out to move his limbs.

Walking past the prison wagon,

Du Fang suddenly paused his steps, turned his head to look over,

and saw inside the cage constructed from thick steel bars,

the Golden Dragon King and the Red Dragon King kneeling on the ground in front of him with expressions of desperate submission and fawning flattery.

"Master!"

"Please take us in as your slaves!"

Du Fang: "..."