After making its declaration.

The Seventh Sun did not hesitate.

With a soft flare, it shrank into a concentrated spark and descended silently into Yu Xuan’s sleeping body.

Then turned into a streak of blazing radiance and.

Whoosh.

It merged seamlessly into the sleeping Yu Xuan.

No tremor.

No visible fluctuation.

Only Jian Chen’s silver eyes narrowing slightly as he sensed the Sun dive into Yu Xuan’s dreamscape.

Within the Dream

Yu Xuan was currently in a delicate situation.

He was floating inside a vast, cloudy expanse.

And he was trying very hard not to accidentally activate the technique his master had given him.

The [Ten Thousand Dream Condensation Battle Technique]

Because last thing he needed was to unconsciously drag some ancient Demon Queen into a sparring session inside his own head.

Again.

The last time he had lost control of his dream, the consequences were... complicated.

His dreamscape at the moment was cloudy and unstable, like half-formed mist drifting across an endless horizon.

Then.

The mist vanished.

And Yu Xuan found himself standing in a familiar darkness.

It looked like an eternal night.

Before him floated a blazing fireball.

It radiated authority.

It radiated heat.

It radiated irritation and ...displeasure?

"...Now even fireballs appear in my dreams. How great," Yu Xuan commented.

The fireball flared violently.

"I am not a fireball! I am the SUN!"

Light burst outward as it illuminated the surroundings.

And yet, nothing was revealed.

Still the boundless darkness.

The Seventh Sun paused.

’...What a black-minded kid.’

This was Yu Xuan’s mindscape.

And the darkness here was not evil.

Nor sinister.

It was simply... empty.

Like a blank canvas waiting to be painted.

The Sun felt something peculiar.

’...How interesting,’ the Sun muttered internally.

"Haha! If you are the Sun, then I am Elon Butter!" Yu Xuan burst out laughing, completely ignoring the fireball and once again trying not to summon a demon queen by accident.

"Hump!" The Seventh Sun gave a bright snort.

"If not for your feeble mortal mind, I would show you my true glory! And you—! How dare you praise my wife and ignore me?!"

Yu Xuan blinked.

"When did I praise your wife?"

He genuinely looked confused.

First a talking fireball invades his dream.

Now it’s accusing him of flirting with its spouse.

What kind of trial was this?

"You gazed at the Moon and declared her beautiful!" the Sun accused dramatically.

"Oh."

Yu Xuan thought back scratching his head.

"I just said the moon looked nice."

Yu Xuan then stared at the seeming small sun.

"...You’re jealous?"

After all the dream experiences he’d had, a talking fireball ranked relatively low on the scale of absurdity.

The fireball pulsed ominously.

"ANYWAYS!" the Seventh Sun quickly redirected the topic, light intensifying.

"Be grateful that I am magnanimous! Super cool or rather, super hot and a benevolent senior!"

With a brilliant flash.

Books appeared in midair.

Hundreds of them.

Floating in a radiant arc before Yu Xuan.

They varied wildly.

Some radiated ancient, supreme auras that screamed Heavenly Scripture.

Some pulsed ominously.

Some looked suspiciously plain.

Some felt overwhelmingly powerful.

Some felt utterly useless.

"Choose one," the Seventh Sun declared grandly.

Yu Xuan squinted.

"...Why does your voice sound evil?"

He stepped closer to the floating collection.

He had one particular fear now.

’Please don’t let my Heavenly Flames gain consciousness and turn into devastatingly beautiful women.’

That would be catastrophic, wouldn’t it?

After observing the books carefully, Yu Xuan did something utterly unexpected.

He ignored the radiant, divine-looking tomes.

The supreme golden ones.

The ominous black one.

The book glowing like it contained an entire cosmos.

And instead he picked the most ordinary looking one.

A plain, slightly worn book.

Meanwhile, the Seventh Sun was laughing.

Not openly.

Not aloud.

But internally, it was laughing in the most vicious, mean-spirited way imaginable.

If Yu Xuan had been able to see the covers of the books, something impossible from where he stood, he would have done everything in his power to snuff out that smug little flame floating before him.

Because on the back of every single book... was the same name.

Which meant that no matter which book Yu Xuan chose, the result would have been identical.

They were all the same book.

The Seventh Sun had prepared this long in advance.

Still, even it had been slightly surprised that Yu Xuan had chosen the most unassuming one.

And yet.

’Kyahahahah...’ The laughter echoed within its fiery core.

It didn’t matter in the end.

And it was definitely not trying to get revenge on Yu Xuan for praising his wife earlier.

Definitely not.

"...You chose that?" the Seventh Sun asked, feigning casual curiosity.

There was something unmistakably mischievous in its tone.

Yu Xuan nodded calmly.

"Of course."

His voice was steady, eyes clear.

The remaining books dissolved into motes of light, vanishing one by one until only the single volume in his hands remained.

Yu Xuan turned the book over and examined its title.

He blinked once.

Then again.

"Sun in my Balls...?" he muttered.

His expression didn’t change, but there was faint suspicion in his eye.

The technique name was... not bad!

The Seventh Sun immediately cleared its nonexistent throat and launched into an explanation.

"This is an unparalleled technique unseen since before the creation of the Heavens. In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, one ball came into existence, and that ball burst, creating two balls! Within this duality rested creation! This is the origin of all things!"

Yu Xuan’s brow twitched.

The Seventh Sun spoke with increasing enthusiasm, clearly improvising as it went.

Yu Xuan stared at the cover again.

’This means eyeballs... right?’ he thought.

The pages were filled with dense script – complex meridian diagrams, strange energy rotations, detailed descriptions of compressing solar essence there.

Yu Xuan read silently.

Even the Seventh Sun stopped speaking, watching him with anticipation.

For once, it did not interrupt.

Time passed.

He read every word.

Then read it again.

When he finally closed the book, the sound echoed softly through the chamber.

His face was completely stoic.

"This is not about eyeballs..."