Chapter 1130: Metamorphosis, Eternal Psyche

In the vast cosmic sea, a purple-robed figure glided through the endless void.

She easily traversed expanses of spacetime at speeds that even ordinary True Saints could not fathom. She moved faster than even those travelling via Saint Realm passages.

She was none other than Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu.

Wu Yuan. You came from the Primordium, naturally gifted in comprehending Spacetime and samsara. This is a fundamentally special quality of your soul, allowing you to grasp the Primordial Rules with greater ease.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu murmured to herself.

You have also nearly fully comprehended the Great Dao of Spacetime.

Previously, you received the Spacetime Dao Master's gift, the Samsara Sword... which has been a great boon to you.

The Samsara Sword represents one of the most fundamental forms of power.

The Flower of Sin allowed you to experience the workings of the Abyss's essence, an opportunity I had not foreseen.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu contemplated silently,

These form the foundation.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Ultimately, it comes down to the Dream River of Universes. This is one of Goddess Nüwa's ultimate treasures, representing one of her greatest achievements.

Though I comprehend samsara and have nearly mastered it, my attainments in the realm of 'A Dream of Heaven and Earth' cannot match Goddess Nüwa.

She had been quietly observing Wu Yuan from behind the scenes all along, guiding him without his knowledge.

Many times, it seemed Wu Yuan was venturing forth alone without her notice, but he was in fact always under her protection.

However, Wu Yuan had proven himself capable enough that she never truly needed to intervene.

When she sensed that Wu Yuan had reached the pinnacle of the sempiternal stage, especially after his body refiner self created the eternal ultimate technique 'Blade of the Abyss', she finally took action. Now, she started to offer true guidance.

The Great Dao of Spacetime forms the foundation, with many paths branching from it. But all paths ultimately converge, broadly following two directions.

With her vast perspective, Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu had witnessed countless powerhouses throughout the samsara cycles of heaven and earth. All of them lay bare before her eyes.

The myriad evolutions of heaven and earth adhered to fundamental principles. Though the self-created Daos of various True Saints and Dao Zenithels differed, they shared essential similarities. After all, they all originated from the eternal Great Daos.

One direction is that of reality, using spacetime as a foundation to create worlds, universes and more, evolving endlessly. The spacetime ring that Wu Yuan now controls follows this path, as do the series of spacetime treasures forged by the Origin Saint - all are 'reality'.

Wu Yuan's body refiner self has merged two eternal paths into one. He is destined to follow the path of reality in the future.

If his qi refiner self were to also pursue this route? Even if he eventually became the Spacetime Dao Master, it would merely be gilding the lily, without bringing about fundamental change.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu pondered.

The other direction is that of illusion. Spacetime is the source of the operation of all things, and the end of samsara. When one constructs spiritual dreamscapes, one can create a Dream Universe that evolves into a Dream Megaverse.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu mused.

This path is also one that leads to the pinnacle. Once mastered, becoming a Dao Zenithel is no empty boast.

Qi refining governs the false. Body refining embodies the real. If both paths can be walked to their ultimate end... with each supporting the other, there lies an even greater hope of reaching the pinnacle, attaining my level of achievement, or even surpassing me

. A glimmer of anticipation shone in Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu's eyes. She held high hopes for Wu Yuan.

The path of the Dream Megaverse was incredibly difficult. Among sempiternal lifeforms, those skilled in soul secret arts were already exceedingly rare. Among them, those truly capable of constructing a Dream Universe were rarer still.

However, the path Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu had walked bore some similarities to this one. She clearly understood its advantages and disadvantages. She firmly believed that the strengths of Wu Yuan's two true selves should not be wasted. They ought to have different focuses, only then would there be hope for them to converge at the pinnacle.

Goddess Nüwa's Dream River of Universes. It can only be activated once per samsara cycle of heaven and earth, allowing one to experience the lives of trillions of beings, almost indistinguishable from reality, like undergoing countless cycles of rebirth, using dreams in place of samsara.

In three billion years, I hope you can achieve something.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu sighed inwardly.

If Wu Yuan could not succeed even after three billion years, it would prove this path was unsuitable for him. Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu would not force the issue further.

...

As Wu Yuan continued perceiving the spirit world of the towering black-armored giant, his Dao Heart was tempered ever stronger, easily resisting the corrosion of his own thoughts. At the same time, he perceived the special nature of this place.

When I first obtained insights into the ultimate techniques of over a thousand eternal powerhouses, I empathized deeply but never lost myself. Wu Yuan marveled inwardly. But why is it that now, as I perceive these thoughts, even though I can resist the erosion, I still often find myself completely immersed, yet miraculously retain a sliver of awareness that allows me to regain clarity at the last moment?

This was an extraordinary ability. To perceive each thread of thought was as if Wu Yuan personally experienced cycle after cycle of rebirth, constantly suppressing memories and being reborn, until finally the experiences of myriad lives converged into one.

It felt utterly real, profoundly mysterious.

With this, my chances of creating an ultimate technique that will allow me to defeat the first guardian have greatly increased.

Wu Yuan constantly analyzed and deduced.

Based on his experiences, he repeatedly reconstructed his dream world, continuously adjusting it.

...

"Oh? He's finally begun attempting to construct a dream world." White Emperor, who had been fishing all this time, glanced over with a faint smile. "After just over a million years, he's already on the right track.

"That's to be expected. In terms of potential on this path, though he can't compare to Hou Tu back in the day, he's certainly second only to her." White Emperor remained utterly carefree.

He cared not whether Wu Yuan succeeded or failed. For him, since Goddess Nüwa's departure and his nurturing of Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu, there was nothing left to nostalgize or worry over.

Throughout countless samsara cycles of heaven and earth, White Emperor had spent most of his time in slumber.

This time, had Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu not sought him out, he likely would not have lifted a finger to aid Wu Yuan.

"Three billion years truly drags on. How much more comfortable it would be to sleep," White Emperor grumbled to himself. "Sleep and sleep. Who knows? Maybe when I wake up, Goddess Nüwa will have returned?

"One cast of the line vanquishes a thousand troops, one nap solves a thousand worries." [1]

...

Read a thousand books, walk a thousand miles; only then can you understand the world.

Cultivating illusion arts and dreamscapes followed the same principle. Only by experiencing different lives, contemplating the human heart, and witnessing every person and event in the world could one construct a flawless dreamscape that others would willingly lose themselves in.

A lowly servant, dying amidst the abuse of his master...

A ruined farmer, whose fields were seized by a powerful family...

A brothel songstress, cast out into the winter cold after falling ill...

A world-renowned swordsman, poisoned by his beloved and stripped of his martial arts...

An august emperor usurped by his own uncle...

A great devil who cultivated peerless divine abilities and established a vast nation in his twilight years, only to discover during a period of secluded cultivation that none of his three sons were his own...

Life after life. In each life Wu Yuan immersed himself in, the experiences would transform into surging hatred, rage, and resentment.

The seven emotions were divided between good and evil. The myriad thoughts here were dominated by great evil. The more he perceived, the clearer Wu Yuan's insight into the human heart became. He had completely lost track of time, gradually mastering how to grasp the 'evil' among the seven emotions and how to guide it.

Over the first one million years, he accumulated experiences and sensations.

Over the next tens of millions of years, he gained a clearer understanding of anger, sorrow, evil, and desire among the seven emotions, gradually mastering them while beginning to guide and combine them. The World of Dreams he manifested grew ever more powerful.

The profundities of Spacetime can construct all illusions. Add to that the guidance of the desires within the hearts of sentient beings, and it becomes flawless.

Wu Yuan's inner spirit grew increasingly tranquil.

The spiritual dreamscapes I construct will become even stronger.

How similar are the myriad evils of the world to the workings of the Abyss's essence?

Wu Yuan had gained many insights before, but those insights had not been fully integrated. Now, he gradually unified them.

...

Time flowed on relentlessly - one million years, two million years... The periods during which the towering black-armored giant succumbed to Wu Yuan's illusion art grew longer and longer - one breath, two breaths, three breaths... ten breaths.

Such lengthy periods would have been more than enough for Wu Yuan to get past the black-armored giant.

But Wu Yuan was in no rush to get past him.

Getting past the guardian? The real opportunity is right here.

Wu Yuan's heart was serene.

I will not leave until I have fully comprehended and shattered the giant's spirit world.

To him, the first guardian was an ultimate treasure for cultivation support.

...

In the cosmic sea, within the Taiyuan Saint Realm's mainland.

Sixteen thousand years. Wu Yuan has been in this slumber for over ten thousand years now.

Clad in white robes, True Saint Taiyuan strode through the void, passing over the halls dotting the continent.

The many Overlords and eternal powerhouses living on the mainland remained utterly unaware. As ruler of the Saint Realm, if True Saint Taiyuan did not wish for them to know, none could perceive his presence.

True Saint Taiyuan's attention remained fixed on that majestic hall a million li wide.

Deep within that hall, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self sat motionless atop a jade platform, his aura faint and weak.

I've attempted to wake him, yet to no avail.

True Saint Taiyuan sighed inwardly.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu said Wu Yuan faces no great danger? That he would awaken in at most a hundred thousand years?

When Wu Yuan arrived in the Taiyuan Saint Realm, True Saint Taiyuan acted indifferently and did not receive him. Yet he was actually paying close attention.

Over sixteen thousand years ago, Wu Yuan's mana body and ether body had ventured into Ancient Dream Mountain, while his qi refiner self remained in the Saint Realm. True Saint Taiyuan was aware of this and had devoted a portion of his attention to monitoring the situation.

Later on, True Saint Taiyuan received a series of startling news in quick succession. Saint Zhu Mu of the Nine Saints Alliance had suddenly perished, reportedly trapped within Ancient Dream Mountain. Then, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self had unexpectedly fallen into a deep slumber.

At that moment, True Saint Taiyuan grew anxious. He manifested directly within Wu Yuan's hall, attempting to rouse him. Yet, his efforts ended in failure.

However, a message from Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu finally set True Saint Taiyuan's mind at ease.

Ancient Dream Mountain is said to have some connection to Goddess Nüwa.

True Saint Taiyuan mused silently.

Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu is rumored to have received Goddess Nüwa's inheritance. Could it be that...

He could only make wild speculations.

True Saint Taiyuan was a member of the Blood Dream Alliance, seemingly unrelated to the Eldritch Court. But in the cosmic sea, where numerous Saints ruled over their respective Saint Realms with great autonomy, even Dao Zenithels often struggled to exert control over them. The alliances between super powerhouses were fragile at best. Only the Immortal Court and Eldritch Court wielded slightly more influence.

The reason was simple: ordinary Dao Zenithels lacked the strength to subdue all the True Saints under their command.

Thus, True Saint Taiyuan, who belonged to the human race, had been overjoyed when Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu approached him. He had agreed to her proposal, keeping it secret from the upper echelons of the Blood Dream Alliance.

Wu Yuan, I hope nothing has happened to you.

True Saint Taiyuan thought to himself.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed. Within his perception, the aura of Wu Yuan’s slumbering qi refiner self was undergoing a profound metamorphosis.

Dreamscape? Illusion art? What a formidable illusion art.

A flicker of astonishment passed through True Saint Taiyuan's eyes as he sensed it.

I fear an Overlord powerhouse would be affected just by standing beside Wu Yuan.

True Saint Taiyuan could scarcely believe it.

If he hadn’t perceived it wrong, Wu Yuan's qi refiner self remained asleep, having never awakened. Yet these mere unconscious fluctuations of his Yuan Soul possessed such potency. What if he were to fully awaken and actively employ this power?

Remarkable. Wu Yuan, what exactly did you experience?

True Saint Taiyuan marveled inwardly.

As expected of Eldritch Progenitor Hou Tu.

To undergo such a metamorphosis after merely ten thousand years of slumber?

Hmm? No, it's not just an advancement in illusion arts.

True Saint Taiyuan's pupils constricted.

Eternal Psyche? This is...!

...

Wu Yuan remained utterly unaware that he was, in fact, trapped within a dreamscape. To him, everything felt unquestionably real.

Most crucially, in his subconscious understanding, how could one possibly cultivate within a dream?

He simply devoted himself wholeheartedly to cultivation, striving desperately to escape his current predicament.

One lifetime after another, one consciousness after another. Over the span of 160 million years, Wu Yuan entered the spirit world of the towering black-armored giant countless times, finally perceiving all of its consciousnesses.

This is the face of evil. When confronted with it, the answer lies not in endurance, but in struggle and resistance.

In this final lifetime, Wu Yuan seemed to transcend the original experiences of those thoughts, embarking on his own path of redemption.

In this world, there are no saviors. Only we can save ourselves.

Countless rays of light seemed to converge within Wu Yuan's mind. His spirit became pure and flawless.

The accumulation of insights gained over hundreds of millions of years finally culminated in this moment.

Rumble~

Wu Yuan's mind was evolving.

The towering black-armored giant still stood upon the Path of Light, alternating between moments of clarity and furious roars. Yet his spirit world, vast as the Abyss, could no longer taint Wu Yuan in the slightest.

Deep within Wu Yuan's spirit, a wondrous change was taking place.

It was a mysterious and boundless void, seemingly endless and illusory, yet also permeated with reality.

This was the power of will! The power of spirit and will, ethereal and elusive. Mortal lifeforms and sempiternal lifeforms spoke of the Dao Heart, emphasizing its importance. But the Dao Heart was anchored in reality; once the physical body and soul were destroyed, the spirit and will would also be annihilated without exception.

But why was it that when eternal powerhouses perished, they had the possibility of revival? Because their spirits were strong enough, their wills already etched into the boundless void, transcending samsara.

When the spirit was sufficiently powerful and the will sufficiently strong, they too could achieve eternity within heaven and earth, breaking free from the constraints of heaven and earth.

Transcending heaven and earth, only then could the spirit manifest in reality, becoming eternal within the infinite void.

Today, Wu Yuan had reached this level.

1. In Chinese culture, fishing is often associated with a peaceful, contemplative state of mind, while sleep is seen as a natural healer. This saying encapsulates the idea that sometimes, the most effective solutions to life's challenges are the simplest ones. ☜