Qiuqiu had started exploring the skill of Deep Sleep and Dream a long time ago, as this skill was related to its evolution. From the moment it learned to recognize words, it had been asking Lin Su for various materials on this subject to study on its own.
Therefore, at this moment, Qiuqiu was brimming with confidence.
"Mee!" (I can do it!)
Qiuqiu and the Weeble were ready, Lin Su nodded his head, his expression slightly tense as he turned to the Six-sided Rubik's Cube, "You can start now."
The skill of Deep Sleep and Dream was unprecedented on Blue Star, and although the Divine Martial World had detailed teaching methods, Lin Su had never seen any pet demonstrate it. Hence, all his understanding was confined to textual descriptions. This was his first attempt, and naturally, he was quite nervous.
"Okay," the Six-sided Rubik's Cube wobbled twice, "don't forget the mint-flavored Energy Cube."
"...don't worry, it's already being distributed," Lin Su said with a laugh and a cry, the Six-sided Rubik's Cube's joke somewhat eased his tense emotions.
The Six-sided Rubik's Cube spun around, showing its expressionless side to the Weeble and Qiuqiu.
"Look straight at me!"
Under the guidance of Telepathy, both pets raised their heads and looked at the Six-sided Rubik's Cube. In that moment, the eyes on that side of the cube became immensely deep, as if countless spiral patterns emerged within them. At the same time, a special energy fluctuation subtly spread through the void.
Even standing aside and not looking directly at that side of the Six-sided Rubik's Cube, Lin Su felt a wave of sleepiness due to this special energy fluctuation, and the two pets staring at the eyes of the Six-sided Rubik's Cube fell asleep immediately as the hypnosis skill was deployed.
The two pets slept in starkly different ways.
Qiuqiu's body slowly curled up, instinctively shrinking into a small furry ball in its sleep, while the Weeble stood still, merely lowering its head and closing its eyes, losing a bit of its silly demeanor and gaining a bit of swan-like elegance.
The third stage hypnosis skill has a certain degree of compulsion on the sleeping targets and can plant psychological suggestions in the pets' minds to a certain extent. This is why pets mastering the third stage hypnosis skill are essential for Deep Sleep and Dream.
With the psychological suggestion, the hypnotized pets could realize faster that they were in a dream, and the compulsory nature of the third stage hypnosis skill would prevent them from immediately breaking free from the dream.
This allowed pets to potentially master and control their own dreams.
Seeing both pets enter a deep sleep, Lin Su shook his head to dispel the drowsiness that had crept upon him and whispered, "How long will they sleep?"
"Five minutes," replied the Six-sided Rubik's Cube, "After five minutes, they'll wake up naturally. This is enough time for them to try to control their dreams."
"But why do you want them to control their dreams? As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be such a teaching skill?" the Six-sided Rubik's Cube asked, its voice tinged with confusion.
Lin Su smiled, "I just had a new idea, wanted to give it a try. I'll explain it to you after it succeeds."
This Six-sided Rubik's Cube wasn't his own pet, so Lin Su naturally had to be cautious. Although he had told it the detailed steps, he didn't explain what they actually meant.
"Alright." The Six-sided Rubik's Cube spun around, showing its resigned face towards Lin Su, "As long as there's the mint-flavored Energy Cube, it's fine."
The five minutes passed quickly, and under Lin Su's anxious gaze, both pets slowly awakened.
"Qiuqiu, how was it?" he turned to ask Qiuqiu, with whom he had Telepathy.
"Mee~" (It seems there's still a lot lacking~)
"It's okay, you did great," Lin Su smiled and patted Qiuqiu's head, "Let's try again later."
Meanwhile, the Weeble also relayed its condition through the Six-sided Rubik's Cube's Telepathy, which was translated to Lin Su.
True to being the most suitable species to learn Deep Sleep and Dream, the Weeble displayed extraordinary talent and managed preliminary control over its dream after only one hypnosis session, progressing much faster than Qiuqiu.
The learning of the Deep Sleep and Dream skill was divided into three steps: the first step was to gain complete control over one's dreams, allowing dreams to change according to one's wishes; the second step was to create dreams out of nothing during dreamless sleep; and the third step was to be able to fall asleep at any time.
Only after achieving these three steps would Deep Sleep and Dream be considered fully taught – suitable for use as an evolutionary skill.
After giving both pets some time to adjust, the second hypnosis session began quickly.
"Mee! (ᓀωᓂ)" (This time I will definitely surpass Ducky!)
A fierce competitive spirit shone on Qiuqiu's face.
Although Lin Su knew it would be very difficult for Qiuqiu to catch up with the talented Weeble in learning Deep Sleep and Dream, he did not dampen its spirit and instead smiled and patted Qiuqiu's head, "Go for it!"
The second hypnosis session began!
Both pets once again plunged into sleep.
...
Qiuqiu slowly opened his eyes and looked around at the bizarre dreamscape surrounding him.
This dream was different from the last one.
But with the experience from last time, Qiuqiu almost instantly realized he was in a dream.
He needed to transform the dream!
He had studied all the materials related to Deep Sleep and Dream in the Shenwu World with Lin Su's help many times, and he was very clear about most of the key points in this skill learning process.
The first step in controlling the dream was to use one's own consciousness to transform the dream in front of him into the desired appearance. Once everything could be transformed as desired, it meant preliminary control over the dream. When the dream's transformation became effortlessly whimsical, it signified complete control over the dream, completing the first step of Deep Sleep and Dream.
And this step had some tricks to it.
For instance, transforming the dream into a more familiar scene could reduce the difficulty of controlling the dream.
Last time, Qiuqiu chose the scene of the research institute's intelligent training room.
He had spent over a month in that training room, engaging in various skill trainings almost every day. To Qiuqiu, it should count as a very familiar scene.
However, the progress of the transformation was slow, and by the time the five-minute dream ended, he could only transform a small area near him.
So this time, Qiuqiu decided to try a different scene.
Just switch to the garden of the Shenwu World!
Having made up his mind, Qiuqiu concentrated his attention and began to fight against the dream with the power of his will.
The five minutes passed quickly.
When Qiuqiu opened his eyes, his facial expression instantly became frustrated.
"Meow... (*꒦ິω꒦ີ)" (Still not successful...)
"It's okay, Qiuqiu, let's take it slow," Lin Su said softly, soothing Qiuqiu's emotions.
On the other hand, the dream control level of the never-toppling duck had further progressed. Although it hadn't achieved complete control, it had made significant improvements compared to last time.
This made Qiuqiu even more frustrated.
Damn it!
Compared to the never-toppling duck, his learning progress was far too slow.
This made Qiuqiu feel increasingly urgent.
Next time he entered the dream, he would switch to another scene.
He determinedly decided in his heart.
After a brief rest, the two pet creatures once again entered the dream with the aid of hypnosis.
Qiuqiu stood in the entirely new dreamscape and slowly closed his eyes.
What kind of dream scene was most familiar to him?
It wasn't the intelligent training room, nor was it the garden of the Shenwu World. What, then, could it be?
Could it be… the snowfield?
Snow slowly began to appear beneath his feet, the pure white expanse staunchly spreading outward, consuming the bizarre dreamscape around it.
Bit by bit.
Suddenly, Qiuqiu felt something and looked up not far away.
In the dream, an upright pupil stood out in the void, its center interwoven with numerous frost patterns, giving Qiuqiu a particularly familiar feeling.
"Meow?" (Who are you?)
The upright pupil did not respond and gradually faded into the void.
Qiuqiu stood there dazed; by the time he snapped out of it, the snow beneath his feet had completely taken over everything, becoming the only thing in the dream.