The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　Dark stepped onto the contestant's platform with a slightly cautious mindset, and then... stepped off the platform three minutes later.

　"Good luck."

　As he thought this, a look of relief appeared on his face.

　These two consecutive victories did not allow him to surpass Matthew Bealbom, who was ranked twelfth.

　It didn't widen the gap between him and Eluri Clarissa, who was in fourteenth place, but at least he maintained his position.

　He checked the schedule; Eluri Clarissa had four matches this week. If she won all four, she would surpass him again, becoming thirteenth.

　He himself would fall back to fourteenth place.

　The player ranked fifteenth below him applied for five matches in one go.

　However, that contestant lost both matches yesterday, temporarily dropping to sixteenth place and teetering on the brink of elimination.

　Clearly, he has been considered an easy target by many, so there are a lot of people challenging him.

　The contestant who thus entered fifteenth place is a force to be reckoned with and should not be underestimated.

　As for the sixteenth place and beyond...

　It must have been a fierce and intense competition, with everyone vying for dominance.

　Dark had calculated carefully and found that his ranking was relatively stable. Unless he suffered a series of crushing defeats, he should not fall out of the top sixteen.

　However, making it into the top sixteen is only the first goal.

　From the qualifying rounds to the main tournament, the "Golden Cup" will have a single-elimination format.

　In this round, a total of eight contestants will be eliminated, reducing the number of contestants in the main competition from sixteen to eight. The main double-elimination tournament will follow.

　If players don't want to be eliminated in the first round, they should try their best to finish in the top eight.

　The rules of the first round of the single-elimination tournament are that the top eight players take turns choosing opponents from the bottom eight players to duel!

　In order to avoid being eliminated in the first round, the top eight players will try their best to choose the weaker players from the bottom eight, or players whose tactical systems counter each other.

　Of course, occasionally, due to factors such as grudges, arrogance, or the desire to challenge the strong, choices may arise that are difficult to understand.

　In short, the higher the ranking, the better.

　This will cause the top eight players to prioritize your strength, thus avoiding matches against the top players.

　Darko Dimon should start thinking about how to advance to the second round in the main event.

　During the day, Dark was still in the laboratory in the hidden place, cooperating with the professors to conduct experiments on "Demon King No. 2".

　Professor Steven Harvey has completed the compilation of the "Book of Souls," which records all the knowledge of "Demon King No. 2," and has made several copies as backups.

　Ergani snatched a book from his hand immediately, and Dark scratched his head and asked for one as well.

　The contents of this "Book of Souls" are extremely diverse and lack a systematic structure. However, one can use mental power to "search" its contents.

　When Dak takes a break, he picks up the "Book of the Soul" and flips through it casually. Basically, all the knowledge recorded in the previous book, "Into the Abyss," can be found in this "Book of the Soul."

　If this book were to circulate, it would undoubtedly become a coveted treasure.

　But now that I think about it, the Holy Church must have possessed their own "Book of Souls" after imprisoning the Demon King for so many years.

　Moreover, they must have already extracted a large amount of vital blood from the Demon King's body as reserves.

　If the Holy Church wanted to, they could probably cultivate a large number of new demons. They might even be able to add some sacred substances to the bodies of those new demons, transforming them into special beings.

　"horrible."

　Dak shook his head, gathering his wandering thoughts.

　noon.

　Dak and the professors are having a meal in the laboratory.

　Ergane suddenly said she wanted to try "dieting" and only eat two meals a day. Dark looked at her bare chest and was sure she was just joking, so he ignored her.

　Professor Steven Harvey, sitting at the dinner table, said with a hint of pride, "Remember the dream machine?" Darke's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Is it developed?"

　Professor Harvey extended his index finger and waved his hand: "I gained a lot of experience using [Demon King No. 2] as a test subject some time ago, and I accidentally..."

　It became.

　"I just broke through the final barrier last night, and it was with my help..."

　Ergane muttered under her breath.

　Professor Harvey's expression stiffened for a moment, but he quickly recovered: "That's making the best use of resources!"

　Dark instantly realized that Ergani had used her [Brain of Wisdom].

　However, problems that require a "brain of genius" to solve must be extremely...

　It's difficult.

　The final result should be very gratifying.

　He couldn't help but ask, "How's the completion rate?"

　Professor Harvey said smugly, "Would you believe me if I said it's basically exactly the same as what the [Mud Nightmare] can do?"

　Dak laughed and said, "What's there to believe?"

　Professor Harvey laughed and said, "Besides that, I also opened a new chapter for 'Dreams'..."

　A window that can connect to reality. In this situation, the dream continues, but...

　Even the [Mud Nightmare] couldn't do that! And it's all thanks to Ergani.

　The "God of Wisdom" is really useful!

　"Is it really that amazing?" Dak said. "Let's talk about it after dinner."

Chapter 850 [Seven-fold Excerpt] Darkdemon's Whimsical Ideas (4k)

　After lunch.

　Dark followed Professor Harvey to a secluded laboratory. The soul and consciousness of "Demon King No. 2" were sealed within a palm-sized golem. When research was not needed, Professor Harvey would put its consciousness to sleep, then remove the "Mud Nightmare Crystal" from the external golem for testing the "Dream Machine."

　The entire "dream machine" is shaped like a skeleton chair, which may seem a bit creepy at first glance. But after looking at it for a while, it's actually not that strange.

　After all, it's Professor Harvey's work; a touch of the undead is to be expected. Dark asked curiously, "How do you use this 'dream machine'?" Professor Harvey pointed and grabbed the notebook from the table, then tossed it to Dark: "Turn to the very back."

　Dak took the notebook and quickly flipped through it, immediately realizing its value.

　Almost all the problems Professor Harvey encountered while developing the "dream machine" can be found in this book.

　When he flipped to the back, he indeed saw the function introduction and usage instructions of the "Dream Machine".

　In general, the main function of this "dream machine" is to allow people to recreate the life and objects in their dreams using clay sculpture.

　And that "clay sculpture" was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

　The only problem is that the original "dream machine" was actually uncontrollable.

　Although it is said that what you think about during the day will appear in your dreams at night, human dreams are mostly unpredictable.

　Once the "dream machine" is activated, the user will uncontrollably enter a random dream and remain trapped in it, unable to wake up.

　This essentially replicates the abilities and characteristics of the "Mud Nightmare." However, Professor Harvey, with Ergan's help, solved the problem. The current "dream machine" allows people to remain relatively conscious while entering a dream state.

　This phenomenon is similar to "lucid dreaming".

　Dreamers can have relatively clear thinking and memory in their dreams. While immersed in the dream, they are also paradoxically aware that they are in a dream.

　However, the dreams entered using the "dream machine" are different from these "lucid dreams".

　Dreamers can control the changes in their dreams to a certain extent and guide them toward the dreams they desire.

　You can also exit the dream simply by relying on your own will! You can even open a small window to observe reality.

　In this situation, the value of this "dream-making machine" will reach an incredibly high level.

　"The clay sculptures created by this 'dream-making machine' can generally maintain their external realism. However, the degree of internal realism depends on the dreamer's knowledge, magic, cognition, and understanding of the relevant matters."

　"In other words, it cannot create out of thin air something that the dreamer is unaware of."

　After handing the notebook to Dark, Professor Harvey turned around and sat back in the skeleton chair, looking up and saying, "Let me give you a demonstration first, and you can see."

　As he spoke, he placed his hands on the armrests on either side and infused them with magic. The bone hands that were originally pressed against the armrests suddenly rose up and pressed against the back of his hands, almost touching his arms.

　At the top of the chair back, a skull in the shape of a helmet floats in mid-air, slowly descending from above and almost completely covering the head.

　Between the skull's brows, the "Mud Nightmare Crystal" was glowing. Dark put down his notebook and looked up to observe.

　Professor Harvey closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

　Immediately following, the black light emanating from the "Mud Nightmare Crystal" spread outwards from the skull, gradually turning the pale skull black, and then continued to spread towards the skeletal chair, until the entire skeletal chair was completely black.

　A black, muddy fluid began to flow from beneath the feet of the skeleton chair, slowly accumulating into a dark swamp and gradually spreading outwards.

　“Step back.” Ergani tugged at Radak’s sleeve.

　Dak then subconsciously took a few steps back.

　He only stopped when the black mud ceased spreading. From the mud, however, bones emerged and formed armored skeletons wielding weapons in the air.

　Clearly, this is what Professor Harvey has been dreaming of!

　After the dozen or so skeleton soldiers took shape, they all opened their mouths wide and let out a silent roar, then suddenly charged forward, swords clashing, and a chaotic battle ensued.

　There are no factions, no enemies or friends, only slaughter.

　The bone fragments of the dead skeleton soldier were absorbed by the skeleton soldier who killed it.

　From the holes in their faces, one could see the soul fire belonging to the skeleton soldiers. As skeleton soldiers fell one by one in the battle, the remaining skeleton soldiers grew taller and taller, and the soul fire within their skulls burned even more fiercely.

　"boom!"

　The broad bone sword swung down with force, shattering the skull covered in bone armor. The last remaining skeleton soldier, having consumed all the soul fire, was engulfed in cold green flames.

　Within that eerie green flame, it gradually evolved, breaking free from the shackles of species, and evolved into—

　Professor Harvey suddenly opened his eyes, and the skeleton soldier that was about to evolve suddenly turned into a puddle of mud, mixed into the dark mud pool, and quickly converged towards the skeleton chair.

　When Professor Harvey took off his skull helmet and stood up, all the black mud had already burrowed back into the "Mud Nightmare Crystal".

　"How about that?" Professor Harvey smiled smugly.

　Dark's eyes flickered as he pondered, "This looks great, but how can we apply it to maximize its value?"

　Professor Harvey chuckled, “It can be used for teaching and training. I can even simulate an entire deck and duel with someone. However, recreating such high-level magic cards is not easy.”

　Dark put away his notebook and said, "I'll give it a try." "Okay," Professor Harvey stepped aside.

　Dark walked up to the skeleton chair and touched the bone hand on the armrest; it was ice-cold to the touch.

　He pondered for a moment, then turned and sat down. He placed his hands on the armrests and, following the instructions in his notebook, channeled magic to activate the (dream machine).

　As the skull helmet inlaid with "Mud Nightmare Crystals" slowly descended from above, the vision gradually darkened.

　Dak closed his eyes and, with a feeling he had never experienced before, instantly fell asleep!

　People without the corresponding abilities cannot control their dreams at the beginning of their dream journey.

　At first, it was just like a simple dream, a dream that appeared for no apparent reason.

　Being in this dream state does indeed feel extremely similar to that "lucid dream" I had in the Temple of the Sun and Moon.

　However, unlike the previous dream, in this dream he had a certain degree of control.

　Dak opened his eyes and looked around.

　What appeared in my dream was a desolate and broken scene; in the distance, there were ruins shrouded in dark clouds.

　He was certain he had never experienced such a scene firsthand, so it could only be a figment of his imagination.

　Is it a dream set in a wasteland world?

　Thinking about this, some things that are most common in the wasteland world naturally popped into his mind.

　—It's a zombie!

　The ground beneath his feet suddenly cracked, and a sharp claw reached out and grabbed his ankle.

　But he just squinted and ignored him.

　The zombie crawled halfway out of the ground and bit his thigh hard. He was finally moved.