Chapter 59.1: Daydream Art - Part 1

Endless mountain ranges stretched before Qi Yuan. He carefully stepped into the core grounds, stopping to stand on a patch of flat ground.

Up ahead lay a bottomless abyss, shrouded in mist and cloud, with no sign of animals or plants. Five colors shimmered faintly within—the traces of five souls.

They seemed like boiling, surging paint. If a person were to fall in, not even their bones would remain. Before he started cultivating, his legs would've trembled at the sight of the abyss. His fear of heights could've driven him to jump. Now, he felt nothing of the sort.

"By normal game logic, I'd have to kill all the five souls here before I can reach the final reward area. I didn't expect the souls to be gone, and I can get in without grinding monsters." Qi Yuan tightened his hold around Little Bride's waist. "Hold on tight."

Then, he leaped into the abyss. He felt like he'd struck a thin membrane, but he pushed through. Qi Yuan looked around and saw even more of the five colors. He found what seemed to be a pool, boiling with those five hues.

A tingling numbness crept across him. Glancing at Little Bride, he noticed her red color had grown more vivid, as if she were trapped in a sauna. She clearly didn't adapt well to this place.

Qi Yuan chose to merge with Little Bride. "Sharing One Robe!"

Her true body wasn't very strong, and she could get hurt if she stayed here. It was better to transform her into armor, etched onto his chest.

Then, he waded forward through the pool, slowly as if moving through glue. "This place looks pretty plain. Is there nothing useful here?"

The colors in the pool were pure. Put simply, each was a pure element; so despite the vastness, there wasn't much actual substance.

As his gaze swept across, a series of prompts appeared.

[This is Golden Sand, formed by solar scorching of Metal Essence. Bathing in Golden Sand increases the chance of comprehending Metal Essence.]

[This is Wood Sand, formed by solar scorching of Wood Essence. Bathing in...]

[This is Water Sand...]

They were products created by the so-called scorching of the great sun, condensed from the Five Essences of Qi. These would be incredibly useful for those three he'd met earlier. It was nearly useless for him, though.

"My drop rate's a guaranteed 100%, so these elemental sands are useless. Can they make it more than 100%?" Qi Yuan scooped up a big handful of the Five Elements Sand. "Still, those three NPCs I ran into might need it. Their drop rate probably isn't even 1%. Pathetic."

If it was useless to him but useful to others, then it had value. Grabbing a handful was never a loss. Besides, coming here and leaving empty-handed would be boring.

Suddenly, he froze, spotting something other than the Five Elements Sand.

[Great Sun Flame. Touch to hear remnants of the sun's will. Chance to obtain a useful technique.]

A wisp of light glowed, no bigger than a firefly. He reached out and clasped it.

Faint, broken whispers fell into his ears.

"Moonwatch Continent is my foundation. How dare you!"

"Alien demon... Aaah!"

"The Great Sun Baptism!"

...

"I refuse!"

Fragmented memories poured into him, making him stagger unsteadily.

Standing in the Five Elements Sands is so draining... Have I been in-game too long today? Better log out soon.

Before that, he analyzed what he had just heard.

"Sounds like one powerhouse fought another and lost...? Alien demon? As in, the game's final boss? As for this Great Sun, could that be the Celestial God? He fought the alien demon and managed to burn only one of its legs before being crushed... So, this alien demon is strong. The Celestial God is probably level 99. Well, level 104, with the Wedding Garment Empress's support. And even then, he still lost...!

"Looks like if I want to solo this final boss, I'll need to reach level 100. Also, who knows, maybe the boss has leveled up after all these years. A shame that there aren't enough monsters in the Four Forbidden Zones. Otherwise, I'd grind to 999 before taking him on."

The wisp of light suddenly flared, like the old man's dying spark. Then, it dimmed instantly, vanishing for good.

A fragmentary cultivation technique imprinted itself in Qi Yuan's mind.

He blinked at the name. "The Daydream Art?"

"Daydreaming? Might as well call it Afternoon Nap. No wonder the Celestial God lost to the alien demon." He snorted. "That guy's even less reliable than me!"

Still, he absorbed the incomplete information. Most of the technique was missing, but the art lived up to its name. Presumably, it was created by the Great Sun while meditating on the starry sky.

Its doctrine was to devour all things. The early parts were relatively normal, but later it became wild and boundless, devouring the star themselves to expand one's body.

"The universe is so vast, yet you want to eat it in one bite? Such a shame... This art was destined to fail."

Qi Yuan lifted his gaze through the abyss, toward the dome of heaven filled with stars.

[This is a projection of the Moon.]

[This is a projection of the Soul-Cutting Star.]

The sky glittered with countless false stars, reflections cast upon the heavens. The moon and stars weren't real. How could anyone eat them?

"Though, had the guy lived on Blue Planet, it could work. With so many stars, he could eat one a day from the dawn of mankind until doomsday and still never run out." Qi Yuan chuckled at his own whimsy. "Time to leave. This place drains me too much."