The Dream Maker

A hundred years ago, a giant meteorite split apart and fell across the globe, triggering the "Great Cataclysm" of landslides and tsunamis. After the disaster, people discovered that the meteorite contained a mysterious energy that could stimulate the nerve endings of the human brain and record the images within it; these stones were called "Dreamstones." Polished and engraved, they are made into "Dream Cards," which, activated by instruments, let people enter dreams as if they were really there. Experiences in dreams alter the neural fluctuations of the brain region, activate body cells, and even extend lifespan. Thus the profession of "Dream Maker" was born, along with a strict hierarchy of Dream Card grades and Dream Maker ranks. The protagonist, Su Fu, is from Jiangnan City and a freshman in the Dream Theory Department of Jiangnan University. For ten years he has been plagued by nightly nightmares and mental exhaustion; because of this he has never been able to become a qualified Dream Maker, and can only spend the money he earns from part-time work on Dreamstones. By chance, he activates a black-edged gold card left by his mother and gains a unique ability to shape and transform dreams. With a brain-region activity far beyond ordinary people and an endless stream of wild ideas, he specializes in heart-pounding "nightmare" themes, rising step by step from a down-and-out student who is constantly mocked. He meets or clashes with Jun Yichen, Xu Yuan, Xin Lei, and others, defeats various powerful enemies on Earth, glimpses the secrets behind the Dreamstones, and finally pushes his vision to the stars, ascending to the pinnacle of Dream Makers. The early part of the book is a light, satisfying blend of urban supernatural powers and campus competition; the later part shifts to a grand starry-sky fantasy. Dreams, cards, apocalyptic disaster, and technological cultivation intertwine, with a brisk pace and wildly inventive ideas. It is one of author Li Hongtian's representative works.