Chapter 472: Dream World (Patreon)

Tianyi entered the high-rank realm that Dreamwalker ascended from and expanded his immortal sense to cover the entire realm. Since Dreamwalker just ascended, he should have left many footprints in the world, but to Tianyi’s surprise, he discovered that none of the denizens actually knew who ascended. In fact, they were all hypothesizing which reclusive senior overcame their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

However, Tianyi did discover one peculiarity.

Many of the denizens liked to sleep in this world, to the point that some would even sleep for sixteen hours a day. According to the mortals, they could experience a new life in their dreams, even if they couldn’t remember one. There were a few rumors that some mortals even embarked on the immortal path after receiving an immortal’s inheritance in their dreams.

The problem was that not only did mortals like to sleep, but also cultivators. Compared to mortals, who could only sleep less than a day at most, cultivators might sleep for years. The most preposterous thing about it is that their cultivation base actually increased instead of weakening or stagnating.

Normally, Tianyi wouldn’t have thought much of it, attributing it to this high-rank realm’s uniqueness. But he couldn’t help but be suspicious. After all, Dreamwalker’s daoist title had the word dream in its name. He couldn’t help but think Dreamwalker had something to do with this phenomenon.

So, he investigated a bit more. After a few days of investigation, Tianyi couldn’t help but have a strange expression on his face.

According to his investigation, when people, mortals and cultivators alike, fell asleep, they would have a chance to enter a dream world. Once a person entered a dream world, they would have a higher chance of entering again. Some grandmasters could immediately enter the dream world after closing their eyes.

That wasn’t the most important part. The most important part was that the dream world could aid in cultivation. It could simulate breakthroughs: for example, a qi gathering pupil could experience the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation and the power of a foundation establishment disciple.

However, that was small stuff compared to the true effect of the dream world. In the dream world, it was much easier to sense the worldly laws than in the real world. Because of this, most venerables and sages stayed asleep and only woke up if something important needed their attention.

Because of the lower realm’s inferior cultivation method and environment, cultivators needed a strong comprehension if they wanted to succeed in their Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

Tianyi’s first thought was that, ‘Why does it seem so similar to Cultivation Online in my Nine Heavens Universe?’

His second thought was that someone copied him, but he immediately refuted that thought. Tianyi didn’t believe that Dreamwalker could ascend to the Primordial Realm and descend again to undergo the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Even immortal monarchs would find it difficult to descend to lower realms, much less true immortals. Meaning that Dreamwalker had developed this dream world before going to the Primordial Realm.

So, Tianyi grew curious. Just what kind of inheritance did Dreamwalker get for him to create such a dream world? He didn’t think it was something unique to the high-rank realm because the phenomenon only appeared in the last few hundred years. So it couldn’t have popped up naturally.

Even Tianyi only created Cultivation Online thanks to the special nature of his inner universe and his absolute control over it. Dreamwalker’s strength definitely wasn’t as simple as a true immortal. Tianyi didn’t believe that Dreamwalker would have an inner universe like himself, but controlling a false realm might be possible.

As his investigation continued, Tianyi learned that Dreamwalker hadn’t ascended to the high-rank. Rather, he traveled to an adjacent high-rank realm. No wonder he couldn’t find any traces of Dreamwalker ascending. Compared to the changes in heaven and earth from a cultivator ascending from a lower realm, traveling to parallel realms did not cause much commotion.

Tianyi might have continued to reverse the spacetime of locations where ascension occurred for several more months had he not gotten lucky and discovered Dreamwalker’s acts. So, he traveled to the adjacent realm. Just like in the previous realm, the world was embroiled in the joy of dreaming, unable to extradite themselves.

Thanks to knowing what to look for, Tianyi only spent several weeks before discovering Dreamwalker’s traces. At this point, he had to salute those investigators that accompanied Ba Shifang. He was skilled in the Law of Spacetime, so he had an easier time. Tianyi didn’t want to imagine how he would find Dreamwalker’s traces without it. If he only had one conduit, Tianyi felt like he would have definitely given up.

It was only in the ninth high-rank realm did Tianyi see a scene of Dreamwalker ascending from a middle-rank realm. As he expected, the middle-rank realm also loved to sleep, too. Tianyi continued to follow Dreamwalker’s trail.

In the eleventh middle-rank realm, Tianyi actually discovered no traces of the dream world. He couldn’t help but think that he might have made a mistake. It was only later that he learned that Dreamwalker likely didn’t propagate his dream world. Maybe he didn’t have the strength, or maybe he wanted to hide his traces.

All in all, Tianyi discovered forty-nine middle-rank realms with dream worlds and four middle-rank realms Dreamwalker passed through before discovering the low-rank realm he ascended from.

Tianyi discovered a hundred and twenty-nine low-rank realms with dream worlds and thirty-seven low-rank realms Dreamwalker just passed through. ‘Did Dreamwalker decrease the amount of realms he traveled in the higher realms because it became more difficult, or did he become more confident in his strength?’

He didn’t know, but after years of investigation, Tianyi finally discovered Dreamwalker’s source realm. It was not even a low-rank realm, but an unranked realm. The spiritual qi density was so sparse that it was impossible to cultivate. The only way to ascend would be to possess a tyrannical body that could tear space. However, such a thing was almost impossible and it would take a miracle.

That miracle somehow happened to Dreamwalker. When Tianyi entered, he tried to reverse spacetime to see how Dreamwalker ascended, but to his surprise, he couldn’t reverse it very far. When he investigated the realm, he also discovered strange points.

Ever since he entered the unranked realm, Tianyi always felt like someone, or something, was staring at him. Even if he covered the entire realm in his immortal sense, he couldn’t find anything out of place. And that made the realm even stranger.

Tianyi recalled the experience he went through to reach his current height. Undoubtedly, the cultivation method and the early realms were the most crucial. Had he not created the nine cores or the cosmic martial body, he would not have reached his current height. He would still be outstanding, but his radiance would be far less.

Similarly, Tianyi also believed that Dreamwalker must have experienced something similar. He had already checked the other realms Dreamwalker passed. None of them held any extraordinary inheritances or chance encounters that would allow Dreamwalker to create the dream world.

Since that was the case, Tianyi believed that this seemingly unranked realm became the most suspicious. Without a heaven defying encounter, how could Dreamwalker ascend?

He spent the next few months exploring the entire unranked realm. The realm was a seemingly ordinary world occupied by mortals and animals. Humans had already dominated most of the world, aside from some rural and difficult locations such as the arctic north, the vast ocean, or the towering peaks. Not all of humanity was united, as several empires and kingdoms existed.

A state that once united all humans existed several times in history, but without fail, they would fracture because of infighting and conflicts of interest, returning to a warring states period until someone unified all the nations once more.

It was all so normal.

Tianyi searched around and still found no clues except one. He spent a few days wandering the human settlement and noticed that something was off about them. They lived like regular humans, but they felt soulless to Tianyi. ‘Should I ask Daoyi to check it out? No, that’s too dangerous.’

Earlier, he had attempted to ward off the spying by entering his inner universe for a while, but when he returned, he immediately felt the probing gaze again. It was as if the gaze was constantly staring at the last location he was in. Or maybe it could sense everything in the unranked realm?

‘Does this realm have a realmlord? That’s not impossible, but the chances of a refineable realm are incredibly low. Not to mention the benefits of becoming the realmlord of an unranked realm is negligible.’ An all-out attack from an unranked realm’s realmlord might not even threaten a newly ascended true immortal, much less an immortal lord.

But aside from that, Tianyi couldn’t think of any reason for why he could be detected so easily and that peeping gaze.

To be on the safe side, Tianyi didn’t plan to bring Daoyi. In essence, his conduits were just replaceable avatars or incarnations. Daoyi didn’t have such luck. She only had one clone. If Daoyi died, she would really be dead, clone or not. As one of those closest to him, and one who had lived on Earth, he didn’t want to lose her, no matter what.

A year later, Tianyi stood high in the sky of the unranked realm with his arms crossed and one hand holding his chin. “Do I really have to give up? Maybe Dreamwalker just happened to refine this unranked realm, and that’s why he could ascend? I mean, I’m not one of those greedy assholes that wants to steal other people’s opportunity…”

Tianyi thought about just giving up and returning, but he always felt something off in his heart. Like a warning that Dreamwalker was dangerous, not just in general, but to him or something related to him. That feeling only increased the more he followed Dreamwalker’s trail.

‘Forget it, it’s better to report this to the Immortal Court,’ Tianyi thought. With a wave of his hand, a dimensional tear appeared in the unranked realm, and he disappeared through it.

After ten days, the entire realm froze, as if someone had pressed the pause button. Then, a face formed out of light appeared. The gigantic face didn’t say anything and after a while, it disappeared, but the realm remained frozen. This situation remained the same until a year later.

A familiar tear opened in the sky and out stepped four figures. Tianyi was naturally one of them, but the other three were rarities. The Minister of Appointments Everpast came in person. In addition to him were two other immortal officials: Primewood and Vastlight. In total, there was one immortal sovereign and three immortal emperors. Such a force was enough to sweep the entire Primordial Realm, excluding the Immortal Court.

“Is it really true?” Tianyi asked.

“Most likely,” Minister Everpast said. His brows furrowed as he stared at the entire realm.

Minister Primewood and Vastlight also showed suspicious expressions.

“I thought all of them died after Pangu split the chaos. I didn’t expect one to still survive,” Tianyi said with a sigh.

“Strictly speaking, it isn’t a real one. Nothing more than a remnant, but it’s still powerful enough to form a false realm,” Minister Everpast said. “Of course, this is my conjecture. It might be a false alarm, but if it’s real, then…”

Tianyi’s lips twitched. Wouldn’t that mean he can also be considered one? Still, some part of him wished it was true. If it was, it might really be helpful to him.

“You can begin,” Minister Everpast said.

Tianyi nodded and raised his hand out. His immortal qi of primordial chaos condensed into his palm and formed nine spheres. The first sphere radiated the aura of spacetime, the second sphere radiated the aura of yin-yang, the third sphere radiated the aura of chaos, the fourth sphere radiated the aura of the five elements, the fifth sphere radiated the aura of life and death. Each sphere radiated a different aura, and encasing the miniature solar system was the aura of stars.

Then, he dropped the Constellation Cessation. The moment he did so, the unranked realm froze again. Like peeling a paint off, the scenery of the realm disappeared, revealing a desolate white land. Below the four immortals, the ground morphed into a face. It glared at the four immortals with hatred.

“Bugs of the Immortal Court, accept death!”

Tianyi’s eyes shrunk into needlepoints. “It’s really a chaos fiendgod?”