Life Is but a Dream

The moment the Sun origin tore free from the stars, the golden light purified the Goddess of Beauty's charm, freeing the evil demigods from its thrall. They stared at the unfolding scene in shock and fury. Meanwhile, Uncle scrambled frantically away from his chosen successor, fleeing like a stray dog with all his dignity stripped bare. Divine powers belonging to the domains of Space, Lightning, and Gale evaporated and dissolved amid the golden brilliance. Asura was sprinting as well, but rather than fleeing the sun, he braved its scorching heat and charged straight toward Yuanshi Tianzun. This was the one and only opportunity to slay Yuanshi Tianzun. At this moment, his divine power was rapidly evaporating, and all his skills were entirely disabled. Relying solely on his monstrous physical body, he raced against the sun, charging to kill Yuanshi Tianzun. With his left hand, the Lord of the Stars raised a black full moon, unleashing wisps of pure black moonlight that draped over Asura like a cloak of black velvet. Sizzle, hiss... The black cloak continuously evaporated and was purified, only to be replenished without pause. Asura's speed surged explosively. At the same time, a geyser of starlight erupted from the crown of the Lord of the Stars' head, forming a high wall that stretched for a hundred kilometers to shield the slumbering demigods from the sunlight, faithfully safeguarding their slumber. The Xie family ancestor let out a cold snort, bit his fingertip, and drew an incantation in golden blood across the Demon Refining Pot before hurling it into the air. The Demon Refining Pot streaked across the sky, its lid snapping open. Resisting the immense pressure of the Sun origin, it traced a beam of cyan-gold radiance through the air until it hung over Asura's head, turning upside down. Boom! Expanding dozens to a hundred times in size, the Demon Refining Pot slammed heavily onto the ground, trapping Asura underneath. Clang! Clang! Clang! A deafening din like the striking of an anvil echoed from within the pot. Lasting barely two seconds, the Demon Refining Pot was violently blasted away by sheer, staggering brute force. Wielding his bronze scimitar, Asura reappeared in a towering fury, yet he could only watch helplessly as the Sun origin plunged directly into Yuanshi Tianzun's chest. The golden radiance illuminating the instance vanished. Yuanshi Tianzun's entire body shuddered. He jerked his head upward, his eyes shooting two beams of golden light straight into the heavens. Wisps of golden flame spilled from his body, drifting around him to form a spherical domain ten meters across. One Golden Crow after another burrowed out of his chest, abdomen, mouth, and ear canals, wheeling around him before diving back inside, repeating the cycle in endless recursion. Suspended within the domain, Zhang Yuanqing kept his head raised and his arms outstretched, remaining completely motionless for a long time. He was accommodating the Sun origin, assimilating with it. As a Day Wanderer specializing in the Sun, he did not require the power of the stars to neutralize the sun. Cultivating solar divine power had inherently been a process of elevating his endurance toward the sun. Of course, the risk was far higher than what the Lord of the Stars would have faced. Asura rushed forward at full speed, raising the Chiyou Blade high to strike the spherical domain. Boom! The instant the blade struck the domain, searing golden flames erupted, shredding the black robe draped over him and engulfing his form. Asura stumbled backward. The flesh and blood on his face, chest, abdomen, and thighs were vaporized to ash, leaving behind half a skeleton glowing incandescent red, while the flesh on his back and buttocks remained completely intact. This was entirely different from when the Lord of the Stars had accommodated the Sun origin earlier; back then, the Lord of the Stars had neutralized it, making the Sun origin far less domineering. Yuanshi Tianzun, on the other hand, was accommodating the sun without any neutralizing power whatsoever. Asura's strike had been the equivalent of hacking directly at the Sun origin itself; surviving at all was already sufficient proof of his formidable might. Asura retreated to the Lord of the Stars' side as his flesh rapidly regenerated. In the blink of an eye, he regained his three-headed, eight-armed form and said in a heavy voice, "The Sun origin suppresses everything; external forces cannot interfere. From here on, we can only watch and pray that he fails to accommodate it." The Lord of the Stars turned his head to examine him for a moment. Seeing that he was unharmed, he withdrew his gaze and looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun inside the domain. He fell silent for a few seconds, seemingly accepting this outcome. Then, turning his gaze toward the Void demigod, he uttered words that caused the evil demigods' expressions to change drastically: "Yuanshi Tianzun is the Demon Lord?" The Heavenly King of Fear snapped his gaze toward Yuanshi Tianzun, utterly stunned. The two Illusion Gods of the Nihility Sect, Gu Long of the Psionic Society, and the Xie family ancestor all wore expressions that asked, "Has the Lord of the Stars lost his mind, or are our ears playing tricks on us?" Even with the status and experience of demigods, they could not immediately digest the Lord of the Stars' words. The Void demigod merely shrugged. Shedding his earlier helpless fury, he slipped back into his nonchalant demeanor, looking as if he might break into a rap, and said with a broad grin, "Everyone says you, Lord of the Stars, can calculate every matter under heaven. Did you really only figure it out just now?" He looked the very picture of a petty scoundrel basking in his triumph. The Lord of the Stars remained silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly: "No wonder you and the Goddess of Beauty were dead set on backing Yuanshi Tianzun, going so far as to disregard the situation in reality and fall out with the orthodox faction. You knew from the very beginning that the Demon Lord—no, that Yuanshi Tianzun was already half a Lord of the Sun. As long as he entered the instance and merged with the soul fragment embedded within the Sun origin, he could restore his status." The Void demigod smiled faintly. "After the Demon Lord's account was ruined, the Goddess of Beauty and I were in a state of constant anxiety. When Yuanshi chose to exchange for the Fragment of Taiyin Origin to drag Cai Qinhe down with him last October, we grew even more anxious—in fact, I always suspected Yuanshi's death was tied to you, though I never found proof. "Once the stars and Taiyin returned to their rightful places, the countdown to opening the Sun instance began. Yet at the time, he was still nothing more than a Saint. "Afterward, you and Ling Tuo secretly stoked conflicts between the two factions, obscuring the Merit Roster, engineering the infighting between the Wind and Thunder Twin Gods, and surrounding and killing the Sea Emperor... all just to force the orthodox faction to use the Bright Compass fragments to unlock the Sun instance. "The time left for us was simply too scarce. "Speaking of which, we really ought to thank Ling Tuo. If he hadn't offered up the formula for the Three Powers Pill, Yuanshi couldn't possibly have reached Level 9 by now, let alone gained the qualification to accommodate the sun. "Still, a formula is just a formula; the difficulty of acquiring the primary ingredients still troubled me. So when you convened the demigod council to pressure me and the Goddess of Beauty, I sharply seized the opportunity—namely, banishing Ling Tuo into the Sun instance. "Without his protection, the Dark Night Rose Protectors in reality weren't difficult to track down. Ha, the kid truly lives up to being my true successor; without needing any instruction from me, he knew how to exploit the power of the Knight class." The Goddess of Beauty chimed in with a sweet smile, "And then, Void and I merely waited for him to reach Level 9, waiting for him to descend into the instance." The Lord of the Stars gazed toward Yuanshi Tianzun, who was focused entirely on accommodating the Sun origin, his voice echoing with layered majesty: "If I am not mistaken, he is Zhang Zizhen's son." The Void demigod clapped his hands repeatedly. "As expected of the Lord of the Stars! Truly prescient, utterly prescient!" "You gave the Fragment of Taiyin Origin to the Demon Lord, and you gave the core fragment of the Compass of Light to him as well. If he weren't of your own bloodline, how could you have placed such absolute trust in him? All along, I believed the core fragment of the Compass of Light was in your hands, serving as your greatest reliance in backing Yuanshi Tianzun. I never imagined it had long since merged into the Sun origin." The Lord of the Stars' face showed neither joy nor sorrow, his starlit eye sockets staring intently. "I considered my art of deduction peerless under heaven, the past and the future laid bare before my eyes. Yet I failed to see through your scheme of stealing across the river in secret. That day, the Demon Lord was indeed obliterated in both body and soul. Void, just how did you conceal it from me?" While waiting for Yuanshi Tianzun to accommodate the Sun origin, the Void demigod replied: "Well, that is a long story. The plan to groom the Lord of the Sun did not actually begin with me; Zhang Zizhen devised it. "Back then, upon learning the secrets of the Spirit Realm, he realized that Ling Tuo's corruption was inevitable and impossible to prevent. Thus, he began formulating the plan to groom the Lord of the Sun. The very first step was tearing a Fragment of Taiyin Origin from Ling Tuo upon his resurrected return. "Taiyin's secrecy was the core of the plan. Without the concealment of secrecy, every scheme would have been nothing more than an open clown show on a screen before you and Ling Tuo. "Having been contaminated by the invaders and cursed by Ling Tuo using the Taiyin origin, he knew he was doomed to die. So he went into hiding for several years and fathered a child. Deciding to cultivate his child into the Lord of the Sun, he left the Fragment of Taiyin Origin and the core fragment of the Compass of Light to his descendant—the Demon Lord." Pausing briefly, the Void demigod looked toward Yuanshi Tianzun, who was ringed by Golden Crows and whose body was undergoing massive carbonization, and suddenly let out a sigh: "You might not believe it, but the birth of the Demon Lord was an accident. I knew that with the core fragment of the Compass of Light sealed inside him, he was certain to obtain a character card. But the Spirit Realm's distribution of character cards is random and can happen at any time. "He obtained his character card four years ago, but a slight mishap occurred: he fell into the clutches of a corrupt agent planted by the Deceitful Eye Judge inside the Public Security Bureau. He drank the liquid from the Fallen Holy Grail and became the Deceitful Eye Judge's thrall. "From then on, it was practically impossible for him to develop quietly in secret. To prevent you from deducing the Demon Lord's background and identity and thereby pinpointing me and Zhang Zizhen, I had no choice but to give him the Taiyin fragment ahead of schedule and sever his ties with his real-world identity. "Afterward, I approached him in the guise of a mysterious investor, guiding him step-by-step through his leveling, teaching him how to purify the contamination of the Fallen Holy Grail, and introducing him to the Goddess of Beauty." The Goddess of Beauty took over the conversation: "That battle a year ago appeared on the surface to be Ling Tuo eliminating the Demon Lord as a threat to reclaim the Taiyin fragment. In reality, it was our hunt targeting Ling Tuo—drawing him out and killing him to help the Demon Lord become the Lord of Taiyin, then using the core fragment of the Compass of Light to open the Sun instance, using the core fragment as a medium to accommodate the sun and purify the Fallen Holy Grail's contamination. "Unfortunately, your sudden intervention caused the Demon Lord's death, forcing us to alter our plans. The Demon Lord severed his soul into three portions. One remnant soul contained all the memories from his time as a Spirit Realm walker, attaching itself to the core fragment of the compass and using the fragment's properties to enter the Sun instance and hide within the Sun origin. "Another remnant soul was entrusted to President Void, concealed by the Taiyin fragment's secrecy. The final portion of the soul was the Demon Lord who was obliterated in body and soul before your eyes. "Apart from the portion that died, between the two remnant souls, one hid in the sun and the other was shielded by the Fragment of Taiyin Origin. Your deduction arts could perceive neither of them. Naturally, in your eyes, the Demon Lord had perished completely." The Goddess of Beauty's voice was gentle, alluring, and enchanting: "Looking back, that initial plan was bound to fail. We had only accounted for Ling Tuo, not for you. Yet it was precisely because of that incident that Void and I began to suspect you." The Lord of the Stars fell silent for a few moments before speaking: "Riddled with flaws. It is plausible that the Demon Lord's remnant soul survived within the Sun origin by relying on the compass's core fragment. However, the core fragment alone cannot open the Sun instance; otherwise, Zhang Zizhen would have thrown Ling Tuo directly into the Sun instance back then to purify his corruption with the Sun origin. "In that battle last year, even if I had not intervened, Ling Tuo still had Asura to assist him. Relying solely on the two of you and the Heavenly King of Fear to kill Ling Tuo was nothing short of a pipedream." President Void sneered without explaining. Reaching into the void, he pulled out a black, pocket-sized speaker. He tapped the top of the speaker. "Explain it to our Lord of the Stars." The eyes of all the demigods focused upon the Elvis Presley speaker. As though it had crashed, the Elvis Presley speaker remained completely silent for a long time. President Void smacked it with his palm. "Don't be a coward!" The Elvis Presley speaker still gave no response, playing entirely dead. President Void shrugged. "Looks like it doesn't dare speak." The Lord of the Stars lapsed into silence once more. After several seconds, he asked: "In that battle back then, how did the Demon Lord summon a fragment of the Sun origin?" President Void shrugged. "I don't know either. Why don't you ask him yourself?" He turned his gaze toward Yuanshi Tianzun, who remained encircled by Golden Crows. ... Zhang Yuanqing's soul felt as though it had plunged into a sea of fire; the agony of being scorched by blazing flames tortured him without a single moment's respite. Yet it also allowed him to retain his sanity amid the surging mental onslaught, enduring the battering waves of past memories. He remembered. He remembered everything. After Brother Bing was admitted to Hang City University, they had taken a trip to Hang City during summer vacation to celebrate his admission and experience the city where he would spend the next four years. At the Hidden Buddha Temple, both of them received character cards and entered their respective instances. Upon emerging, the terrified pair had gone to the nearest Public Security Bureau to report the incident. The bureau forwarded the case to the Hang City branch, whose person in charge was a thrall of the Deceitful Eye Judge... As newly awakened Spirit Realm walkers, they were tricked by the Deceitful Eye Judge's thrall into drinking the liquid from the Fallen Holy Grail, suffering the dread contamination that struck terror into the entire Spirit Realm world from then on. Over the following three years, he and Brother Bing had wandered in the shadows, struggling in agony, wanted by the authorities and looked down upon by evil classes. Naturally stubborn and extreme, his temperament grew increasingly radical and unhinged. He dared not return home. He labored incessantly, endlessly completing missions for the Deceitful Eye Judge, for failure meant the Deceitful Eye Judge would use the Fallen Holy Grail to show them the meaning of absolute agony. He remembered even more. After finishing his trial mission, the second instance he had entered was the Sheling Tunnel. That had been a lethal instance with no way out, yet a spatial rift had suddenly torn open, allowing him to escape. A bug he had failed to comprehend for so long... only much later did he realize it was Uncle who had secretly helped him escape the instance, at the cost of having his experience points wiped clean. Of course, having just become a Spirit Realm walker at the time, he possessed negligible experience to begin with. Back in the Sheling Tunnel instance, the dialogue box from the Red Dancing Shoes that read: [Your dancing skills are as terrible as ever]. It had not recognized the Demon Lord character card within him; it had recognized him! Scene after scene of the past flickered by, from 2019 to 2023. At the end of the fragmented memories lay absolute darkness, from which the sound of footsteps echoed. Those footsteps sounded airy and light, seeming to emerge from the deepest longings and reluctances of his heart. He heard the footsteps halt at the door, the turning of the doorknob, and then they came to a stop beside his ear. A gentle, familiar voice sounded beside his ear: "Yuanzi, in fifteen minutes, at seven-thirty in the morning, you will awaken. When you wake up, you will be a freshman who has attended Songhai University for a year. You suffered from severe headaches ever since high school. To treat you, your mother, Chen Shu, took you to major hospitals across the country, finally finding medicine abroad to treat your condition. The medicine is placed in the drawer of your bedside table... "After three repetitions, you must remember my words and believe them without doubt..." Soon after, he had awakened amid a throbbing headache and received the character card mailed by Brother Bing! Character card restart complete, restart complete... The memories finally connected into a seamless whole. There had never been any illness of the head. The so-called headaches were caused by his soul being far too powerful for his physical body to contain; they were the friction of his remnant soul being stitched into an ill-fitting puppet body along with a pure soul. As his status rose, his physical body gradually became capable of containing such a mighty soul, and the headaches never recurred. No wonder his Memory Recall could never reach back to his high school days, stopping abruptly on the day Brother Bing mailed him the character card. Because that had been the first day of his resurrection. Life was truly but a grand dream! A grand dream! Zhang Yuanqing murmured, "The Demon Lord is me, and I am the Demon Lord..." All nine Golden Crows fully converged into his body. A magnificent sun slowly rose, shattering all illusions into dust! The Lord of the Sun was born!