1034: Chapter 1033 Dark Dream Crisis, Siblings Turning Against Each Other?

Meanwhile, in another area of the wasteland covered with giant weathered rock pillars.

Black Dream leaned against a thick, dark-red rock pillar, breathing heavily. Her dark-purple combat attire was torn in several places, stained with dark red blood—some her own, some the enemy's.

She gripped a short blade that flowed with dark energy tightly in her hand. The light on the blade flickered unsteadily, clearly a sign of immense consumption.

Her delicate face was etched with exhaustion and resolve. Her once-clear eyes were now sharp as blades, fixed intently on the seven figures surrounding her.

These seven individuals wore mismatched attire, but their auras were fierce, carrying the Evil Qi of those who had long plundered the starry seas, living by the blade.

Their leader was a one-eyed brute, his face crisscrossed with scars. He carried an alloy greatsword as broad as a door panel. His gaping mouth revealed teeth inlaid with energy gems, and his single eye leered with lust and greed as he appraised Black Dream, especially the armor and accessories on her person that still shimmered with spiritual light despite the damage.

"Little bitch, you're quite tough! A proud daughter of the Black Cloud Empire's Royal Academy?

Heh heh, we rob arrogant young masters and young misses like you!"

The one-eyed brute licked his lips. "Hand over all the valuables on you, along with that nice movement and combat technique of yours. Then, have some fun with us brothers. If you're obedient, we might spare your life. You could still fetch a decent price sold off to certain places."

The surrounding pirates let out lewd, mocking laughter, sealing off all of Black Dream's escape routes.

Black Dream gritted her silver teeth, her heart filled with both fury and desperation.

Not long after being randomly teleported to this area of rock pillars, she had encountered this group of Universe pirates, who had also just entered the Secret Realm and were searching for 'fat sheep'.

They outnumbered her and worked together seamlessly. More importantly, the aura of that one-eyed brute had unmistakably reached the Early Stage of the Fourth Realm!

Though he had only just entered the Fourth Realm and his foundation might be unstable, for her, at the Peak of the Third Realm, it was already an immense, nearly insurmountable gap.

If not for her status as an important member of the Black Cloud Empire's royal family, and the numerous life-preserving and offensive treasures she carried—having already used several consumable secret treasures and powerful one-time-use Talismans to temporarily repel their assaults—she would have likely been captured or killed long ago.

But now, most of the secret treasures she carried were depleted, and the energy within her body was nearing exhaustion. Facing one Fourth Realm pirate and six ferocious Third Realm pirates, her situation was extremely precarious.

"In your dreams!"

Black Dream squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth. She forced herself to gather the last of her energy. The dark energy on her short blade coalesced once more as she prepared for a final, desperate struggle.

"You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Brothers, take her down! Be careful not to kill her. I want to have some fun with her first!"

The one-eyed brute let out a sinister laugh. The pressure of the Fourth Realm erupted from him, crashing down on Black Dream like a mountain. Simultaneously, he swung his greatsword, which tore through the air with a sharp shriek, aiming to cleave her head.

The other six pirates also brandished their weapons, attacking from the sides and rear. Their coordination was seamless, sealing off all her possible avenues of evasion.

A flash of despair crossed Black Dream's eyes. Her shadowy short blade barely rose to meet the greatsword, while her other hand reached into her bosom for her last life-saving Space Teleportation Talisman.

This was her final trump card. But in the exceptionally stable spatial environment of this Secret Realm, how far it could teleport her, or whether it would land her in an even more dangerous situation, were complete unknowns.

Just as the greatsword was about to fall, and the pirates' attacks were on the verge of landing—in that critical, life-or-death moment—

*Whoosh—!*

A mournful cry of wind, as if from the farthest northern abyss, sounded without any warning.

Centered on the rock pillar Black Dream leaned against, the temperature plummeted below freezing!

Countless fine, dense ice crystals, shimmering with an eerie blue cold light, instantly condensed in the air, drifting down like snow.

Time seemed to slow at that moment.

The one-eyed brute's powerful greatsword, less than three feet from Black Dream's head, suddenly froze solid!

A layer of crystal-clear ice, harder than refined metal, rapidly spread along the blade, instantly freezing his entire arm along with the greatsword.

The ferocious expression on his face stiffened. His single eye widened with unbelievable shock. He tried to channel energy to shatter the ice, only to find that the cold Qi not only froze his flesh but directly invaded his Divine Soul, making his energy circulation sluggish and his very thoughts feel as if they were freezing.

The other six pirates fared even worse.

Before their attacks could fully manifest, they were rapidly covered from the feet up by eerily blue ice that surged from nowhere. They transformed into six ice sculptures in various postures, the greed and ferocity still clearly visible on their faces, their life force extinguished in an instant.

A figure, pure white as snow, had appeared soundlessly atop the rock pillar at some unknown moment.

The woman in the white dress stood quietly on the high point, her skirt hem and long hair gently swaying in the icy air currents, untouched by dust.

Her stunningly beautiful face remained as cold as a frozen lake. Her eyes gazed down indifferently at the frozen pirates below, as if merely looking at a few inconsequential still objects.

Her appearance carried no grand display, no spatial fluctuations—only this all-encompassing, absolute-zero-level cold.

Having narrowly escaped death, Black Dream gasped for breath, looking up at the figure atop the rock pillar. Her eyes filled with pleasant surprise.

"It's you!"

The woman in white did not respond to Black Dream, nor did she spare her another glance.

Her slender, pale jade-like finger pointed gently downward at the frozen one-eyed brute.

*Crack!*

The solid ice encasing the one-eyed brute did not shatter. Instead, a strand of ice-blue Divine Thought, refined to an extreme, pierced like the sharpest ice spike, ignoring all physical and energy defenses, directly into the frozen center of the brute's brow, invading the deepest part of his Divine Soul!

Soul Search!

The frozen face of the one-eyed brute instantly contorted, revealing extreme agony and terror. Though his body couldn't move, his Soul endured the torture of being forcibly Browse and torn apart.

In the eyes of the woman in white, an ice-blue light swirled faintly, reflecting the fragmented memories she was forcibly extracting and filtering from the one-eyed brute's Divine Soul.

Chaotic starry sea routes, scenes of plunder, filthy hideouts, some crude rumors about the Canglan Secret Realm and how they obtained its entrance coordinates, as well as their brief experiences and plans since entering the Secret Realm...

The Soul Search process lasted less than three breaths.

The ice-blue Divine Thought at the woman's fingertip retracted.

*Plop.*

The last glimmer of life in the one-eyed brute's eye was utterly extinguished. Along with his frozen body and the six pirate ice sculptures beside him, they simultaneously disintegrated.

They turned into countless fine, fragmented ice crystal powder, rustling down to spread a small patch of eerie blue ice dust on the scorched black wasteland ground, then slowly dissipated, leaving not a trace of blood or remains behind.

Only a few weapons of decent quality and some miscellaneous items clattered to the ground.

Only Black Dream, who had narrowly survived, and that aloof, transcendent white figure atop the rock pillar remained on the scene.

Only then did the woman in white slowly turn her gaze downward to Black Dream. Her eyes remained indifferent, as if she had merely swatted away a few bothersome insects.

"They were sent by your second brother, Prince Hei Hun. It's likely there are others besides these people coming to kill you."

Her cold voice was like the clinking of ice and jade. After speaking, her figure drifted down from the top of the rock pillar to tend to Black Dream's injuries.

"If you wish to contend for that position, I can help you!"