Boom!
Those words struck Chen Tianhai—or rather, the disciples of the Taiyan Sect within the Dao Transformation Mother Stone—like a tremendous shock.
In an instant, every blue phantasm across the floating city stopped what they were doing and turned in unison toward Xu Bai.
It was as though the entire city had fallen into absolute stillness, save for that deep blue hue quietly flowing within.
A moment later.
Chen Tianhai tapped his foot lightly once more.
The walls of the chamber ceased to be transparent, cutting off the view inside and out.
Chen Tianhai also reverted to the appearance of an ordinary cultivator.
"Judging by our present circumstances, we indeed cannot rule out the possibility you mentioned."
Chen Tianhai's tone turned quite heavy. "In fact, as one of the few existences capable of threatening us...
"We have run multiple deductions regarding the possible conditions inside the Immortal Ruins.
"However, for one, our known intelligence is too scarce. And for another..."
"Every method we attempted to probe the Immortal Ruins proved futile. None who went ever returned. Thus, we had no way of verifying the reliability of our deduction results."
Chen Tianhai explained, looking toward Xu Bai at the same time.
Xu Bai smiled. "Yet you have no more Dao Transformation Stones. What will you trade with me?
"Do I look like the kind of charitable soul who hands out benefits to others for nothing?"
Chen Tianhai looked Xu Bai up and down quite earnestly, then nodded. "From your physiognomy, you indeed do.
"However, we never place our hopes on others.
"I believe there is something you will be interested in."
Chen Tianhai reached out his left hand and thrust it straight into his own head.
Fortunately, no brains or blood splattered; the instant his hand touched his brain, it dissolved into an illusion.
At the same time, Chen Tianhai's skull seemed to divide into countless tiny blue squares, flashing continuously.
It was a rather bizarre sight.
After rummaging for a moment, Chen Tianhai finally withdrew his hand.
He displayed what rested in his palm to Xu Bai and Fang Zaiji.
"What is this?" Xu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
A miniature version of the floating city drifted quietly in Chen Tianhai's hand.
Unlike the Dao Transformation Mother Stone, it did not possess a deep blue color.
Instead, it was crystal-clear and brittle like glass.
"A single-use replica of the Dao Transformation Mother Stone. Inspired by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror, it is a relatively independent entity, yet possesses a portion of the Mother Stone's abilities," Chen Tianhai explained, devoid of emotion.
"What use is it?" Fang Zaiji's eyes lit up, and he reached out to snatch the miniature floating city.
Yet his hand closed on empty air.
Chen Tianhai and the Mother Stone replica both instantly turned ethereal, completely intangible.
Fang Zaiji curled his lip.
"The Mother Stone replica contains all the information of the main body, as well as enough energy to power a single simulation.
"Through this simulation, you can experience a future deduced by the Dao Transformation Mother Stone." As if in response to Chen Tianhai's words, the replica in his hand suddenly burst with blinding light.
Within the white light, countless scenes seemed to flash past at high speed.
"A simulation? Is it reliable?" Fang Zaiji had clearly never heard of such a thing before and looked quite skeptical.
Xu Bai, on the other hand, stared intently at the Mother Stone replica, deep in thought.
The brilliance of the white light gradually diminished, and the rapidly shifting scenes inside slowed to a stop.
"Eh? Why are the Sect Master and I in there?" Fang Zaiji noticed something strange and asked in surprise.
"According to the results of this simulation, you will agree to our trade proposal." Chen Tianhai crushed the Mother Stone replica in his hand. A moment later, just as he had said, scene after scene of Xu Bai trading with them materialized in the room.
Although upon closer inspection one could notice certain details that differed from the real world, seeing one's own "future" with one's own eyes was still somewhat unsettling.
"Quite overconfident, aren't you? Sect Master, let's not be duped by him," Fang Zaiji said, sounding rather vexed.
Xu Bai cast a cool glance at Fang Zaiji. "Mr. Fang, did you aim that reverse psychology at the wrong person? It looks to me like you're practically drooling over this thing."
Having his little ploy exposed, Fang Zaiji let out a sheepish laugh.
"Still..." Xu Bai gazed at the segments of scenes shifting repeatedly before him.
After a brief silence, he suddenly asked, "When the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror enters a cultivator's body, all their secrets are laid bare before the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"Your Mother Stone replica wouldn't happen to do the same, would it?"
Chen Tianhai smiled. "That depends on you.
"The closer the data is to reality, the more accurate the simulation's results will be. We have secluded ourselves within this Taixuan Grotto-Heaven for several thousand years. Although we calibrate the Dao Transformation Mother Stone's deduction results at regular intervals, in truth we can only achieve surface-level consistency.
"The Xuanhuang Realm holds countless secrets; likely even the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable would not dare claim to be all-knowing.
"The Mother Stone replica does not possess the ability to perceive everything like the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror. Rather, it requires the user to fill in their own data. If you wish to deliberately conceal certain things, you may. It is just that the deduced results may deviate accordingly," Chen Tianhai said frankly.
"That's what the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals said back then, too. Claiming the Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror could be treated as an independent entity with no link to the Heavenly Profound Mirror, and telling everyone they could use it with total peace of mind.
"And look what happened later..." Fang Zaiji scoffed with contempt.
"Our Taiyan Sect is different." Chen Tianhai's expression suddenly turned grave. "Here, lies are strictly forbidden.
"The world within the Mother Stone is built upon truthful deduction. Any false information could cause the subsequent deduced worlds to collapse," Chen Tianhai offered by way of a brief explanation.
"You may not believe it, but that does not prevent it from being the truth."
Hearing this, Fang Zaiji looked suspicious, but Xu Bai nodded. "I believe you.
"Then let us trade."
Such decisiveness took both men present completely by surprise.
"Sect Master..." Fang Zaiji started, then hesitated.
After a brief moment of stunned surprise, Chen Tianhai quickly pulled another Mother Stone replica from his head.
Xu Bai seemed to have prepared long ago, retrieving a projection stone from his storage ring.
In an instant, the transaction was completed.
Chen Tianhai directly played the footage recorded in the projection stone—the scene of the Medicine King Cauldron soaring out of the Xuanhuang Realm and encountering the gravitational pull of the Immortal Ruins.
It was replayed three times.
The light and shadow faded, and Chen Tianhai's expression turned somber. "It seems you were right.
"If the data you provided is true...
"Then the Immortal Ruins' attraction has indeed been steadily growing stronger over the years."
Chapter 785