Dreams are a mystery for mortals.
However, high-level mages know what dreams are: they are imaginations based on nothing; they have no magical essence.
However, just because they aren't magical doesn't mean they cannot cannot become magical later.
Dreams can manifest as long as people believe they hold meaning.
Many civilizations cultivate mortals for the sole purpose of creating dream creatures. It is easy to accomplish and economical. All it requires is making mortals believe that their dreams are real; once they do, the dreams become a reality; the cost is also lower than creating the creature from realization energy.
Of course, one mortal dreaming is not enough. A significant quantity is required to create a high-level dream item or creature.
A high-level mage's dream can create a dream creature by itself, but it's rare, as high-level people know dreams are fake.
Also, dream creatures are not coming out of nowhere. It consumes soul power, as all emotions do. It's not an issue for mortals, who die after a short time and their soul dissipates, but for high-level mages who want to continue to advance, spending soul power to create a dream creature is idiotic.
Yet, just because they don't inherently contain magic doesn't mean they cannot become real.
Even those below rank 10 can create those dream creatures or things; many know the method.
However, there is even more mysterious dream-related knowledge.
Dreamworlds.
Dreamworlds are entire worlds based on dreams. They are akin to illusion worlds but with very minor differences.
In contrast to illusions, which are known as universes of dreams, dream worlds are based on people's dreams. They are extremely chaotic; in a dream world, one step might lead you to the core of a planet and the next step to the surface of a star, with both being dreams.
Anything in a dream world is real as long as it stays in the world.
Their information is usually only known by strong rank 12 and rank 13 civilizations.
Illusion worlds usually depict scenes that have already occurred. On the other hand, dream worlds portray scenes that never actually happened.
...
Karl Hodges was a lawyer who defended criminal defendants. He worked for ten years and applied for a judge position.
After an interview, they chose him to be a lower court judge. He was thrilled and began his new job.
However, the system that appeared out of nowhere was not part of the new job's perks.
It was called the 'sentencing system,' and the longer he sent criminals to jail, the more years he gained. With these 'years,' he could buy items and even extend his lifespan.
As if the system wasn't enough, a strange pill container appeared just a few days later.
The pill container could talk and was very magical. It made precious pills out of nowhere!
Time passed.
Even though he could have earned more points by sentencing people to longer prison terms, he didn't because he believed in fairness.
Still, he didn't resign or make any hasty decisions. Instead, he planned to use the 'years' he earned to increase his lifespan, and with the help of the pill container, he began producing some rank 0 pills to maintain his health.
Rank 0 pills are sold in pharmacies; unless specially licensed doctors prescribe them, they are extremely expensive, something that ordinary people cannot buy in a lifetime.
...
Karl was sitting in his chair.
Today, he was responsible for setting bail for the new arrestees.
A police officer brought the next defendant.
She was tall, around 2 meters, with short hair and a spotless face; she had an orange suit and handcuffs.
She was Lee!
Karl looked at the files and nodded.
"Public intoxication – bail 1000 Small credits. Next!" With just this one sentence, the task was complete.
It was only setting bail, so unless it were something significant like murder, he wouldn't think much about it. He would just set the bail according to the instructions.
...
Lee asked Rachel, "Was that man one of your hosts?"
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Rachel answered, "Yes, he died a long time ago. But somehow, his dreams turned into an entire dream world. He wasn't a lawyer or a judge, but he liked being one, so he dreamt about it a lot." Rachel knew this from the database.
"Is he still your host?" Lee inquired.
Rachel replied, "I also exist in this dream world, but the 'me' here is a part of Karl's dreams. It's not really me. It's a strange situation. Now, your job is to live here, accompanying Karl until the end of the dream. Once you do that, you can gain his life's essential knowledge. You must understand that high-level civilizations treasure these dream worlds, so I'm being generous by allowing you to do it."
Dreamworlds are a shortcut to understanding universal laws, complete laws, and general knowledge about how the universe works. She only allows Lee to do it because the main body wants hosts skilled in Dream, illusion, Undead, and all rare elements.
...
Anti-Rachel continued its attacks.
Most of the time, they missed their targets, but occasionally, they managed to destroy her worlds.
Nevertheless, they were not satisfied. They hadn't been able to locate her headquarters after what happened last time, and even if they did, it didn't seem like everyone was willing to sacrifice their lives to attack.
As a result, the Anti-Rachel focused more on coding and fortifying worlds against her infiltrations.
They named it the Anti-Virus Project, and with the help of many rank 13 civilizations, they developed highly advanced code to resist infiltrations.
The code was kept secretive, but no matter how well-protected, it would eventually be leaked and countered. However, with the resources of many civilizations, the Anti-Rachel alliance had a large team ready to update the code periodically.
Initially, the results were positive, with the worlds that embedded the code successfully fending off infiltration attempts.
The Jump Rank method, like many of her other methods, was countered and completely closed.
However, Rachel excelled when it came to coding. Very soon, she updated her codes and overcame the Aini virus.
After decades of effort, the Anti-Rachel worked hard and updated their anti-virus, but in just a few months, Rachel found a way around it again. Even the entire Anti-Rachel alliance couldn't match Rachel's coding skills.
One reason may be that the rank 13 civilizations were unwilling to expose their trump cards.
Of course, if they reveal their trump cards, Rachel also brings her own.
They soon realized that relying solely on anti-virus measures wouldn't work, so they initiated a new project called 'Project Euthanasia.'
It called for the destruction of the worlds infected by Rachel. This would cause harm to everyone, but if everyone participated, it would harm Rachel more. There had been such a treaty in the past, but nobody had enforced it. Now, with Anti-Rachel, they could enforce it.
The project faced immense pushback, but most top civilizations were in favor, and with their power, they forced it to be approved.
Lin Ming was especially supportive, contacting all cultivation worlds and convincing them.
Soon, many observers were appointed by Anti-Rachel, wandering in the endless space, detecting worlds infected by Rachel and ordering their controlled destruction.
After a few thousand years, a good percentage of the worlds infected by Rachel were destroyed.
It affected Rachel, but it also left Anti-Rachel very unsatisfied. Creating a new world needs a lot of investment.
Buying licenses for living creatures, investing a lot in coding, complete laws, etc, and in the end, just one Rachel incarnation could cause all of it to be destroyed.
However, it continued with most top-tier civilizations in favor, along with Lin Ming pushing for it and the four directors it.
It caused most Rank 13 and 12 civilizations to put a halt on their world creation plans.
As for Rank 11 and 10 civilizations, it was a disaster for them. Even their headquarters were unsafe from Rachel's attacks, making survival challenging for Rank 11 and 10 civilizations.
What if a rank 10 civilization with a single world gets infected?
It had already happened many times.
The result was that their worlds were euthanized. Every inhabitant was then placed in a Rank 12 isolation world explicitly created for this purpose. After investigation, ensuring no Rachel was among them, they were released.
As for where they go next, it wasn't Anti-Rache's problem.
At the same time, Rachel was not just sitting ideal.
She spread the news that any low-ranking civilization could become her ally and be protected from Anti-Rachel's euthanasia program.
In Anti-Rachel, only top-ranking civilizations took oaths, and lower ranks weren't required to swear the oath. The higher-ranking civilizations feared Rachel reaching Rank 14, but lower ranks were not that concerned about Rank 14; they disliked Rachel because of her infiltration.
But now, Anti-Rachel was even more disliked by them. Even though Rachel's infiltrations were the cause, the actual people who came and destroyed their worlds were Anti-Rachel.
Rachel offered an alliance, along with protection against Anti-Rachel and against her own infiltrations. The only cost was that their world would be transferred to a location chosen by her.
Recently, infiltrations increased exponentially, and to protect themselves, many accepted.
It disturbed Anti-Rachel, especially Lin Ming, who emerged as a leader.
Lin Ming spent most of his time in his own world, but his Rank 13 clone was always present at the Anti-Rachel headquarters, actively fighting against Rachel.
He proposed destroying any civilization even suspected of aligning with her. This proposal found favor among those who intensely disliked Rachel, but the majority were against it.
The euthanasia program was considered logical because it slowed down Rachel's expansion rate. While it did create division, those who opposed it were mostly below Rank 12, so it was not a serious problem for the higher-ranked civilizations.
But destroying those who are even suspected of colluding with her? What if the suspected civilization is Rank 12? Many felt uneasy because, even though they had no intentions of collaborating with her, they were afraid of false accusations.
As a result, this proposal was rejected.
Lin Ming was furious! After the last battle where Rachel killed many Rank 12s, he developed a strong hatred for her. He persuaded most top civilizations to create the Unification Program.
Despite its positive name, it was pretty aggressive. It required Anti-Rachel to destroy any civilization as long as there was hard evidence proving their alliance with Rachel. The evidence requirement was high, reducing the concern of false accusations.
Lin Ming also pushed for other programs, such as the Radar Program, where they created a vast database of data in one place to help detect Rachel's worlds. Only a few trusted individuals, like Lin Ming, had access to it.
Another program named "Hack" intensely researched her incarnations.
Another program was named "University," where they trained mages, cultivators, and various professions, specifically for Anti-Rachel. Before the University program, Anti-Rachel relied on member civilizations for personnel, but with the University, it began to have its own staff.
Lin Ming took on the role of the leader of the University.
He continued to advocate for more powers for the Anti-Rachel Alliance and demanded additional resources from its members. He argued that the Alliance needed more staff, perhaps even an army, to enforce all the treaties and oaths.
As a result of these initiatives, Lin Ming began to be regarded as the leader of the Anti-Rachel Alliance, and his voice carried the most weight within the alliance.
Everything was known to him, and his approval was required for all operations. As for the Rank 12 directors with a shared mind, they became puppets without real power.