Chapter 257: Chapter 256: Making Every Possible Effort

"In the future, is there a way to recover for those with brain damage?"

Chen Xuan contemplated that continuing like this was not a solution. The Living Dead only kept her body alive, but if she never woke up, it wasn’t much different from death. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Impossible." Lin Qing shook her head, "There’s no prosthesis that can replace the functions of the brain, even the most extremely modified Warriors need to retain their brains."

"And that memory backup you mentioned before doesn’t work?"

She shrugged, "Its function is to digitize memory. It’s said that the most advanced version can even override other people’s memories, akin to possession. But digitized memory isn’t the same as the actual person. If humans truly have a soul, it must be bound to the brain."

Since the technological route was unfeasible, the Immortal Pill from the Lotus Cloud Sect seemed to be the only solution at the moment.

Going to Kunlun Peak to beg for the pill?

That idea didn’t sound reliable.

Chen Xuan had been to Kunlun Peak—through Liu Zhidong’s memories. He "saw" this Sect disciple standing atop a snowy mountain, seemingly knocking on a mystical cyan door, but the door didn’t budge. Even their disciples couldn’t open the mountain gate, so bringing Liu Shuyue along probably wouldn’t make a difference.

Wait... Chen Xuan suddenly thought, what about that Lotus Cloud Sect established by the twins?

If Ji Yun and Ji Lian’s sect was destined to become the real Lotus Cloud Sect one day, then they should have everything the Lotus Cloud Sect possessed.

Of course, he had no idea how long that would take.

But there was another angle to consider: like having Ji Yun give him a token that the sect would surely trust, then use it to open the mountain gate and exchange for the Immortal Pill. If the Gemini were indeed the founders of the Lotus Cloud Sect, they would be regarded as ancestral figures, and their descendants would have no reason not to obey!

After hearing Chen Xuan’s idea, Lin Qing was taken aback.

"Um... It seems... maybe... it might work. If the two Lotus Cloud Sects are indeed related."

Whether they were related or not, this method could also be used to find out.

"I’ll go over there now."

"Wait," Lin Qing stopped him, "This isn’t something that can be accomplished in a short time. Besides, more than curing Elorie completely, I think it’s more important to communicate with her, telling her not to give up on the desire to survive. In the future, brain scientists have researched that if someone can’t sense the outside world for a long time, some functions of the brain will degrade, such as the area responsible for thinking completely shutting down, which is one reason why vegetative patients find it difficult to wake up."

"What do you mean? Can she hear my voice in her current state?"

"Of course not... So I was wondering if your ability might be effective."

Ability?

Chen Xuan was taken aback, suddenly realizing what the other was referring to.

"Dream Maker? Isn’t that just a simple dreamscape?"

"That’s true, but maybe it isn’t as insubstantial as it seems." Lin Qing pondered for a moment before continuing, "You might not feel it as the ability user, but from my perspective, it can influence reality to some extent."

"What do you mean?" It was the first time Chen Xuan heard her say this.

"Before inviting me into a dream, you used this ability a few times, right?"

He nodded, because Su Xingwan couldn’t provide him with any experience, he could only test it out himself bit by bit.

"Actually, I sensed it," Lin Qing said softly, "Those days when I slept, I vaguely dreamt of working in a store, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. It wasn’t until later, when I entered the dream, that I remembered the blurred visions in my dreams were almost the same as when I was inside the dream."

Uh... That was a bit convoluted.

It took Chen Xuan a moment to understand her point, dreaming of the Ability Store while dreaming, being in the Ability Store while dreaming, and working in the Ability Store—those days, the store surrounded her.

This was astounding.

Even without entering the dream, she would still be influenced by the ability?

"If I didn’t enter the dream, I wouldn’t notice," Lin Qing supplemented, "After all, most real dreams are forgotten upon waking, leaving only a hazy impression."

"So that’s the situation." Chen Xuan quickly realized, the characters in the dream likely weren’t purely fictionalized by the ability; when reconstructing Lin Qing, it might indeed have referenced Lin Qing’s own memories, which was why she felt a sort of Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly experience.

But this effect was obviously limited.

Otherwise, it would be terrifying if the entire city had the same dream.

The Jiang City conjured by the Dream Maker seemed empty, with few people on the streets, clearly limited by this effect.

So what were the limitations?

Chen Xuan immediately thought of one point—Lin Qing was also very familiar with him. By the same token, the presence of Liu Shuyue in the store was because they both knew each other.

"According to this logic, didn’t Liu Shuyue also dream of the store during those days?"

"I’m not sure about that. She’s in another world, and even the sleeping schedule is different, so not dreaming of it is normal," Lin Qing replied.

"Makes sense," Chen Xuan suddenly thought of Su Xingwan’s dream, "Why did so many people appear in Su Xingwan’s dream? I remember she mentioned that at first, the city had a large number of citizens fleeing."

"Did you forget what she used to do?" Lin Qing had clearly pondered this issue as well.

He suddenly understood; as a band singer, she was equivalent to an idol. The people she knew, and those who knew her, must be several times his own. "Could those people possibly be her fans?"

"Very likely," the other confirmed.

"Alright, I understand your thought process," Chen Xuan nodded, "If I dream of Elorie, I can get a version of her close to reality. Meanwhile, this ability will also affect her, granting her a dream where she sees me?"

"Exactly, if my assumption is correct, even if she doesn’t wake up, you can still indirectly communicate."

"Then why don’t I directly invite her into the dream?" Chen Xuan asked.

As the initiator of the ability, he indeed knew little about the dreamers’ experiences.

"Let’s not even discuss whether she can respond to your invitation in a comatose state; even if she can, it could just replace the dream’s Elorie with a brain-wave-disordered Elorie, which wouldn’t be beneficial if you think about it."

Lin Qing’s reasoning was simple—Chen Xuan hadn’t encountered a foolish or crazy version of Elorie, so the template for the dream would most likely be the Little Angel he’s most familiar with from everyday life. If the template were replaced by her fragmentary consciousness, turning into a mad image for Chen Xuan to see, it would inevitably leave a deep impression in his memory. If replicated later, it might be hard to revert.

So the safest approach was to dream just around her, without inviting her into the dream.

The two discussed the details and decided to try it immediately.

Of course, asking Ji Yun for a token couldn’t be overlooked; Chen Xuan first went to Hot Pepper Village to entrust this matter to Liu Shuyue.

Anyway, to the Gemini, Liu Shuyue’s face was more effective than his.

Arriving at Beitian Academy, Sun Suigong was quite surprised by Chen Xuan’s request, "Young friend, you want to sleep in the medical room?"

"Yes, this is a unique treatment method I’ve thought of," Chen Xuan explained, "The equipment can stay on, but all the doctors need to leave, only Miss Lin and I should remain."

"Hmm..." He stroked his beard, "Alright, I agree, after all, it’s your patient, you’re in charge of treatment."

"Thank you," Chen Xuan expressed his gratitude.

Convincing the doctors to leave and bringing in a bed—this seemingly outrageous approach clearly required the dean’s prestige. Alas, he couldn’t explain the reason or make it clear.

These requests were quickly met with Dean Sun’s support.

Even the lights in the medical room were turned off; the dim room was more conducive to sleep.

Lin Qing did not enter the dream, but stood guard by him in case of any accidents. After all, this wasn’t the Ability Store, and basic safety precautions had to be observed.

Chen Xuan gazed at the still-slumbering Elorie inside the glass container, slowly closing his eyes.

He needed to construct the most suitable environment for Elorie to appear. Just as he couldn’t replicate the Cyan Dragon Vortex in Jiang City, a reasonable and familiar environment, coupled with matching memories, was necessary to achieve the correct outcome.

He didn’t know how long it took before he finally fell into a deep sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, Chen Xuan found himself slumped over an old desk, with a photo frame on the table, holding a picture of Elorie as a child.