CHAPTER 61: GOOD THING IT WAS JUST A DREAM.

Through the viewing portal, Nantian Wan'er looked at the large village plaque under the ancient parasol tree, engraved with "Greenheaven Village." She asked in confusion, "Is this... Greenheaven Village? I think I've heard of that name before."

Metal General glanced at her surprised expression and explained softly, "Yes, this is Greenheaven Village. It's where Lord Green Emperor once came from. The village has changed a lot over the years, but this old parasol tree hasn't changed at all."

His gaze lingered on the familiar scenery, and as he grew more relaxed, his tongue loosened. "So that kid came from Greenheaven Village... and his surname is Lu. No wonder the Lo—"

Sensing that Metal General was about to say something he shouldn't, Flame Demon's expression turned ice-cold. He quickly formed a seal with both hands, casting a barrier that instantly isolated Nantian Wan'er, preventing her from hearing more.

With the barrier set, he turned and launched a punch straight into Metal General's chest, sending him flying. His voice thundered with anger, "Think before you speak!"

Metal General reformed his human form with an awkward look on his face. "Crap... I've been asleep for too long in the secret realm and forgot that it was a secret."

Flame Demon snorted coldly, "You talk too much. Good thing I reacted quickly. Be more careful next time."

He waved his hand and lifted the barrier around Nantian Wan'er.

Confused by the sudden disappearance and return of her senses, Nantian Wan'er looked at Flame Demon's clenched fists and asked, "Lord Flame Demon, what happened just now? I couldn't sense anything."

When Flame Demon turned to her again, all the coldness had vanished from his face. "Nothing. The barrier was a bit unstable, so I reinforced it. Let's keep watching. It's about to begin."

"Ah... alright."

Nantian Wan'er nodded and turned her eyes back to the mirrored scene.

The trial in the illusion realm had already begun. Nantian Wan'er asked, "So when can I go in?"

"When the time comes, I'll let you in."

Flame Demon kept his eyes on Lu Chen, who was already deep in the trial zone. Slowly, he turned his head, careful not to let her see the subtle shift in his expression, one that would give away the lie he had just told.

This trial was a test of the heart, carefully tailored for Lu Chen. Truthfully, Flame Demon had no idea what was going to happen inside. All he knew was that Blindman Lu had strictly instructed him not to let Nantian Wan'er go in with Lu Chen.

***

High on a cliff at the center of the Fire Region.

Blindman Lu let out a quiet sigh of relief.

The earlier battles had been brutal. He had gone through countless rounds of snacking on peanuts just to ease his nerves. It wasn't until Lu Chen successfully cleared the challenge that he finally relaxed.

As Lu Chen stepped into another trial, Nantian Xiu suddenly sat up and looked at Blindman Lu. "Senior, is this... A Dream of Nanke? That top-tier illusion technique from ten thousand years ago, the one that turned a battlefield soaked in blood into a fleeting dream?"[1]

Blindman Lu chuckled. "Hehe. You'll see for yourself whether it's an illusion or not... "

He offered no more explanation.

Nantian Xiu turned back toward the center of the formation, where Little Pup now stood as the formation's core. Remembering the emotional fluctuations he had experienced earlier, he muttered to himself, "Could this be his secret art?"

***

Ten minutes later.

The formation inside the trial gradually stabilized, and the surrounding scenes began to take shape.

Everything looked astonishingly vivid and lifelike. As Nantian Xiu carefully studied the formation, a frown appeared between his brows. He looked toward Blindman Lu in confusion. "Senior, now that I looked at it a bit more, I can tell for sure that this isn't A Dream of Nanke. That illusion technique might be clever, but it's still just an illusion. As for this one... it feels like a real world. Only... something's off."

Blindman Lu formed a wisp of law energy in his palm and said calmly, "Then what do you think is missing?"

Nantian Xiu's eyes locked onto the law energy swirling in Blindman Lu's hand. A sudden realization flashed through his mind. "Could it be... laws themselves? With laws, the world is alive. Without them, it's just dead matter?"

"Hehe. If it still doesn't feel real enough, then let me give it a little boost."

With a light movement of his hands, Blindman Lu silently merged the yellow and blue trial zones. Then, he began channeling several strands of law into the merged domain.

As four streams of colored light poured into the trial formation, a self-sustaining, independently functioning world slowly took shape.

Nantian Xiu watched Blindman Lu's movements with rapt attention. His lips trembled slightly.

Simultaneously manipulating multiple laws and using them to construct an independent, miniature world was already beyond his understanding.

He had once believed Blindman Lu's strength lay in some high-tier spatial law. But judging from this display alone, it was clear Blindman Lu possessed control over at least four distinct laws.

Blindman Lu stopped moving his hands. By now, the trial space had transformed, gradually being overlaid with threads of karmic ties.

Blindman Lu noticed the way Nantian Xiu's lips trembled and smiled faintly. "This technique is just a special way of using laws. It's fairly common... in the Outside."

He then manipulated several different laws in his hand, demonstrating various methods of application before Nantian Xiu's eyes. "As long as one has the talent and a body strong enough to contain the power, it's entirely possible to possess multiple laws."

"Creating a miniature world is much like crafting a storage bag. When a cultivator opens a new space, it's not just about embedding spatial laws or spatial energy."

Blindman Lu glanced at Nantian Xiu. The various strands of law in his hands began to intertwine and fuse. "Just like this, by embedding deeper, more profound laws into the secret realm and linking them together, you can build a world that feels truly real."

Puff.

A small pocket of space formed in front of Blindman Lu, then gradually dissipated. "Once you've grasped the laws, you can study this yourself."

Blindman Lu manipulated the laws once more, linking them together. Slowly, a stone and a blade of grass began to take shape in his hand. "Each method of application gives the laws a unique function. And the way laws combine also changes depending on which ones you're using. You can experiment with that."

Nantian Xiu quietly took it all in and gave a slight nod. In that moment, he had gained a much deeper understanding of laws. His thoughts cleared, and he could sense that he was now only a breath away from fully comprehending the laws and stepping into the Human Core Realm.

Still watching Blindman Lu's movements, he asked, "Senior, what is that combination method called?"

Blindman Lu glanced at him. "This method is called the First Quadrant Power Function. When constructing these laws, they must be grounded in the foundation of the real world."

It was clear he was guiding Nantian Xiu toward understanding the laws.

He continued to explain, "The more stable the external laws become, the more pressure they exert on anything constructed through a cultivator's personal laws. Right now, these newly created small worlds would fall apart instantly if brought into the Outside."

Nantian Xiu cupped his fists and bowed in gratitude.

A new understanding of the laws had firmly taken root in his heart, and within the Heavenly Pool, a faint sign of breakthrough was already stirring.

Seeing the clarity and realization emanating from him, Blindman Lu lifted Nantian Xiu gently with a stream of spirit qi.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he said, "It's good that you've understood. Now, the heart-tempering trial is about to begin."

***

Within the illusion realm, Lu Chen was lying beneath the towering parasol tree of Greenheaven Village.

Little Pup conjured a split body and sealed a portion of his memory in a special space. Then, he slowly walked over to Lu Chen. "Little Lu, wake up. Come on, wake up. Why are you lying here? You'll catch a cold if you stay like this."

The repeated calls stirred Lu Chen. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar figure before him.

In that instant, Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively threw his arms around Little Pup.

However, he calmed down soon after. He'd been through this far too many times already.

Lu Chen rubbed his eyes lightly and sighed. "Another dream... It's happened so many times now. I really should find time to go back."

He stood up and glanced around. Ever since the incident in the village, he had dreamed this same dream at least a thousand times. Each one was a little different, but the setting always started at the village entrance.

Just then, he noticed something odd. "Huh? My clothes didn't change this time? That's strange... this dream feels different. Whatever, I'll go back and check on Grandpa first."

To Lu Chen, dreams of the village were the ones he least wanted to wake up from.

Little Pup suddenly shouted, "Dream? Right! The Butterfly Dream of Nanke! Didn't you say you wanted to be the main character of The Butterfly Dream of Nanke? The storyteller agreed, and so did your grandpa!"

"Grandpa agreed?"

The Butterfly Dream of Nanke was a story Lu Chen had begged the storyteller to write when he was a child, using him as the protagonist. Back then, the storyteller had only given a half-hearted nod.

For a moment, Lu Chen was drawn back into the scene.

He was just about to head off, but when he looked down at the familiar ground around him, he hesitated. He remembered how many times he had failed the baptism, and his confidence wavered.

Lu Chen lowered his head and sighed. "Forget it. Without the ability to cultivate, I can't be a protagonist. I've already accepted it. Once this year's baptism ends, I'll buy land and become a farmer."

Then he caught another glimpse of his clothes and shook his head hard to snap himself awake. "No... something's not right. I'm mixing things up again. The village... they were already killed."

Little Pup pulled out a small notebook from behind and handed it to Lu Chen. "That's right. The entire village was slaughtered. The script from the storyteller mentioned it. Unable to cultivate, the protagonist ventures into a secret realm. When he returns, the entire village has been slaughtered by a group of cultivators."

Lu Chen took the notebook almost reflexively and flipped open the first page. His eyes widened. The first page described his tenth attempt at the Heavenly Pool baptism, which resulted in another failure.

He began to doubt his memory. Everything recorded in this notebook was something he had personally experienced over the past six months.

The ants' cultivation... the Twin-Fish Medallion... Feng Tiancheng... the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, Nantian Yijian... Jun Laoye, Wind Dragon... the Hunyuan Greatsword... Nantian Wan'er, and the secret realm...

Lu Chen flipped through the notebook quickly, all the way to the last page.

He fell to the ground in shock. "How... how can this be? This can't be possible. There's no way all of this was fake!"

The notebook slipped from his hand and landed on the ground. A passing breeze rustled the final page, revealing the scene where the protagonist, Nanke, defeated a small centipede.

"No... that can't be. I have the Twin-Fish Medallion inside me, the Hunyuan Greatsword, and the Green Sovereign Divine Tree. I have so many things that prove they're real!"

He quickly circulated his spirit qi, trying to release a stream of it from his body. He let out a long breath. "Thank goodness... it looks like it really was just a dream."

1. A Dream of Nanke is a real-life reference to the Tang Dynasty tale 《南柯太守传》 (The Governor of Nanke), written by Li Gongzuo. The story follows a man who dreams of becoming a powerful official in a kingdom beneath a tree called Nanke, living a full and prosperous life, only to wake and realize it was all just a fleeting dream. ☜