Chapter 402: Dream Realm and Lightning Tribulation

Even when Mu Wanxuan was sulking, she still looked rather adorable.

Wang Sheng chuckled softly. Seeing that she had already reached the middle stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, the weight in his heart finally settled.

After all, that was the main reason they had come to the Moon Palace.

Wang Sheng walked down the stairs. Yaoyun asked him what he had experienced in the Dream Realm, and Wang Sheng recounted in detail the thousand years of cultivation he had undergone there. He also voiced the doubts that still lingered in his heart.

Did the Platform of Immortal Dreams truly create a Dream Realm, or is it similar to the Void Wandering Technique, which allows cultivator's Primordial Soul to leave their body and cultivate for centuries among the endless stars?

"A senior did forge the platform after the Small Immortal Realm opened," said Yaoyun thoughtfully.

Wang Sheng asked, "Where did the platform send you, Yaoyun? What did you experience?"

"Me?" Yaoyun pondered for a while. "I entered it in the three hundred and sixty-second year of the Small Immortal Realm. I stayed in there for about three months.

"In the Dream Realm, I was only at the Ascension Realm. I cultivated in a world of ice and snow for over two hundred years, experiencing my Primordial Spirit transform. I gained many insights from that. The passage of time in the Dream Realm is exactly a thousand times that of the Platform of Immortal Dreams."

Wang Sheng turned to the square stone platform. "Perhaps it really did send our souls to some distant corner of the stars. The thousandfold passage of time could just be a mere coincidence as well, though. How did the Heavenly Court senior accomplish such a feat? He has such an unfathomable divine ability."

Yaoyun shook her head gently. "I'm not sure either, but regardless of how it works, it has proven effective. It helped you advance an entire realm. Although it was partly because you're not an immortal yet and your breakthrough was relatively easier, it's still a great blessing."

"

Mm.

" Wang Sheng smiled broadly. Matters that required too much thought were better left alone. Understanding them brought no gain, while failing to understand them did no harm.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

His recent breakthrough was only a small portion of the fortune that he had gained from his thousand years in the Dream Realm. Even so, getting to temper his Dao Heart was still the greatest reward.

Over his millennium of cultivation, Wang Sheng had steadily advanced until he reached the Ascended Immortal Realm. His cultivation path then switched to simply reviewing the Rebirth, Tribulation, and Grand Ascension Passage chapters of the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra once more. He already had the roadmap laid out before him; all he had to do now was act on it.

While he and Yaoyun were still discussing the Platform of Immortal Dream, his senior sister stared intently at the platform. Her eyes shone with eagerness, and her jade-like feet could not help but inch slowly toward it.

Wang Sheng laughed. "Can she enter the platform as well?"

"Of course," Yaoyun replied. She guided Spiritless into Wang Sheng's hand. Afterward, she leaped and sat on his shoulder. "Let her try passing the three trials first. Here, no matter the realm, one may enter to cultivate. At its peak, hundreds of immortals ascended the platform together."

Reluctant to look away from Wang Sheng, Mu Wanxuan murmured, "

Mm...

"

Wang Sheng smiled. "Go. I'll be out here waiting until you wake up."

Mu Wanxuan nodded gently. With a light leap, she landed on the platform's stairs and began walking upward.

Having lived through a thousand years in the dream, Wang Sheng still felt a little hazy. He only realized now that he had forgotten to explain to his senior sister how to face the trials.

He quickly raised his hand and called out, "Senior Sister!"

Mu Wanxuan turned her head to him.

Wang Sheng hesitated. Considering the tests were different for every person, he couldn't just tell her how he had passed his trials. His guidance could end up hindering her instead. Hence, he simply clenched his fist in encouragement.

"Do your best."

Mu Wanxuan smiled faintly, momentarily dazing Wang Sheng. Her steps grew even lighter. By the time he recovered, she was already standing on the third step from the top, beginning her three trials.

"Yaoyun, when you faced the trial, did you also meet that old senior who was neither Daoist nor Buddhist?" Wang Sheng asked.

"

Mm.

That was the platform's spirit."

Wang Sheng felt reassured. The tests should at least be of a similar nature since there was only one examiner, t. Considering how clever his senior sister was, he already expected her to pass easily.

Even so, she still managed to stun Wang Sheng.

On the third step from the top, Mu Wanxuan nodded lightly and took a step forward. On the second, she shook her head slightly before moving on. On the last one, her trial became even more uncanny. She stood still for half a minute, chuckled out of nowhere, then climbed onto the stone platform.

Immortal light swirled, and the platform trembled. Mu Wanxuan then vanished into the light. Under the platform, a large lotus slowly rose and enclosed it. A wisp of flame appeared above it as well.

She entered just like that?

Wang Sheng's mouth hung open in disbelief. Remembering her playful expressions just moments earlier, he felt utterly defeated. "Can it really be this easy, Yaoyun? Yaoyun?"

The little fairy on his shoulder lowered her head and hammered her tiny fist onto Wang Sheng's neck. It just felt like a mosquito biting him, though.

"

Hmph!

Let's go to the Palace of Heavenly Punishment."

Yaoyun vanished, and Spiritless seemingly pointed vaguely in a certain direction.

Wang Sheng was utterly speechless and bewildered.

What happened to the princess?

Soon, his focus shifted to the Palace of Heavenly Punishment. His long-silent Dao Body began to "awaken" once more.

He hadn't used heavenly tribulation to temper his Dao Body for two years now. Though he hadn't grown careless or complacent about his defenses, the early tribulations he could summon were no longer powerful enough to temper him.

Sword cultivators who mainly cultivated in the Dao of the Primordial Spirit had an awkward weakness. Since they often fought in close combat, the residual force of their own techniques could harm them if their Dao Body wasn't sturdy enough.

The stronger one's Dao Body, the more resilient they would become, the faster they could recover enchanted power, and the greater their resistance against spells.

Wang Sheng naturally wouldn't miss this rare chance to use higher-level tribulations to temper himself.

The closer he was to the Palace of Heavenly Punishment, the more he felt a familiar heavenly might. Wang Sheng grew more and more excited.

***

On a grassy slope, a refined monk in an utterly plain yellow monk's robe lay on his back and rested his smooth bald head on his arm. With a stalk of dry grass between his teeth, he casually asked, "How long has Qianzhang been in seclusion?"

Three to four meters away from Huai Jing, the brute monk of the Heavenly Dragon Temple, sat a handsome Daoist in a blue robe. Liu Yunzhi, the famed disciple of Mount Mao and heartthrob of the cultivation world, stood out like a scene from a painting.

The two waited on a low mountain near Wang Sheng's lakeside villa for Shi Qianzhang.

Unable to contact Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan for quite some time, the three had grown worried. Since Shi Qianzhang had just emerged from seclusion the day before, they had agreed to gather, drink, and see what had happened to Wang Sheng and Mu Wanxuan.

Cultivation required periods of seclusion, but with the world now brimming with primal qi, progress came faster. It was rare for one to stay in seclusion for more than a year or two.

For the martial siblings to vanish at the same time was puzzling.

"It's already been more than two years," Liu Yunzhi replied softly. "The last time we contacted Fei Yu and Fairy Bu Yu was about sixteen months ago. They're making me seriously worried."

"Yunzhi..." Huai Jing shot Liu Yunzhi a sidelong glance, as if about to say something, but he laughed wryly instead. "You've been making remarkable progress lately. You've already reached the late stage of the Golden Core Realm, haven't you?"

Liu Yunzhi nodded with a smile. "

Mm.

My sect's seniors gave me some of the pills they refined, which made it a little easier for me to break through.

"Qianzhang followed the Celestial Master in cultivation, though. He may already have reached the Heavenly Abode Realm."

"No way. That guy doesn't have a solid foundation. The Celestial Master is likely helping him strengthen it. If I were to guess, I'd say he's still only at the middle stage of the Golden Core Realm. He does have extraordinary aptitude, though. If he manages to strengthen his unstable foundation, he'll break through in the future as easily as drinking water."

Liu Yunzhi nodded in agreement. "His temper also needs a lot of improvement."

Huai Jing laughed slyly. Liu Yunzhi smirked, continuing to play the role of a cultured gentleman.

Finding the wait dull, Huai Jing sighed and brought up another topic. "Life hasn't been easy for the Special Investigation Unit lately, has it? After the incident in the south, they were exposed for leaking intelligence, and their poor coordination and chaotic command turned the southern battle into a costly victory.

"I feel like they've been deliberately set up. That kind of costly win should have been blamed on the Special Warfare Unit, so why was it pushed onto them instead?"

Liu Yunzhi frowned. "

Mm.

I also believe someone is deliberately targeting them. Honestly, part of why I wanted to meet Fei Yu was to ask if he could lend them a hand. I heard that higher authorities have been reviewing their resource allocations in recent years since several Daoist lineages have accused them of unfair resource distribution. Since their purpose is to mediate between cultivators and the secular world, they'd be facing severe consequences if they are found guilty of mishandling resources."

"I'm sure of it now," Huai Jing said impatiently. "Someone has set them up. They're targeting the unit's leadership, not the unit itself."

Liu Yunzhi nodded lightly and sighed.

Since the resurgence of primal qi, the Special Investigation Unit had grown alongside the cultivation world. Now, it was facing heavy crises. Many cultivators who had benefitted from it, like Huai Jing and Liu Yunzhi, wished to help.

Still, Daoist lineages had their own scruples; they could not openly interfere with the three special departments. All they could do was discuss with the backbone of their unit on how to proceed.

A long howl suddenly rang from the distance. "

Haaauuuuu—!

"

Huai Jing and Liu Yunzhi turned their heads and almost immediately broke into smiles.

From the horizon, a young man in tight black clothing, his hair tied in a ponytail, came flying swiftly on a crane spirit.

He howled unendingly, and torrents of primal qi surged around him as if proclaiming to all that he was a late-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator. He seemed like a sword that had been drawn from its sheath.

However, as soon as he landed on the mountain and opened his mouth, all the heroic air he had built up instantly crumbled.

"Come on, baby!

Hahahaha!

Missed me, Little Liu, Big Monk? I, Third Brother Shi, have returned!

Hahaha! Hahahaha—burp!

"

Huai Jing's expression darkened. He picked up his devil-subduing staff, which weighed more than a hundred catties, and hurled it straight at him.