Everything He Had Dreamed Of

The ancient temple, with its faded red walls and dim golden tiles, exudes a sense of historical vicissitude. In the morning glow, one can almost hear the sounds of the evening drum and morning bell from thousands of years ago, drifting back across time and space.

The courtyard was overgrown with weeds and looked desolate. Most of the main gate had collapsed, but a small part of it still stood stubbornly, with broken and uneven red bricks.

Qin Ming stared intently; the main gate looked as if it had been punched through, leaving only the remaining parts.

Only a small section of the bronze plaque remained, covered with spiderweb-like cracks. Most of it had disappeared, leaving only the last character: Temple.

What temple it was is now lost to history.

Qin Ming approached and tried to resonate with the place, only to find that there was only emptiness and no trace of the past.

He touched the broken bricks and walls with his hands and tapped them gently. Even after thousands of years, they remained hard and showed no signs of decay.

Qin Ming flicked his finger, and the bronze plaque made a clear, resonant sound with a tremor; it neither fell off nor broke.

This surprised him, and he unconsciously increased his strength.

A moment later, Qin Ming's expression turned solemn. His Chaos Force could not break the bronze plaque, which was already full of fine cracks and was badly damaged.

Not only that, but even the broken brick red wall was difficult for him to break with his finger strength.

Somewhat disbelieving, he took a step back and then suddenly swung his right fist, like the rising Solar Yang, smashing it forward. However, the main gate, which was about to collapse, remained completely still.

Although Qin Ming traveled as "One Sword," he did not Spirit Travel but arrived in person. Now that he was in harmony with his body and spirit and was unleashing his power, he was unable to do anything to the broken plaque and the broken wall.

His pupils contracted, somewhat finding it hard to accept.

His current Chaos Force is incredibly domineering. Such a full-force attack would be unstoppable even for some Master, and would even pierce through ordinary Nascent Soul experts.

Qin Ming stepped back and re-examined the place. He looked at the dilapidated main gate, which was missing 70% of its area. The cracked bronze plaque had only one character left. The plaque was not hanging there, but embedded in the bricks and stones.

He observed silently and was able to reconstruct the scene from that year.

Someone once punched through this place; the jagged broken bricks and shattered bronze plaques are remnants from the explosion.

In comparison, Master is nothing special here.

"Am I here, just like an ordinary person?" Qin Ming stared at the spot, trying several times, but failed to pry the bronze plaque out.

He silently sensed that it wasn't the materials here that were special, but rather that they contained an inexplicable spirituality. This temple was once quite extraordinary, with Peerless Expert presiding over it. The temple was nourished by his aura, and even the bricks and tiles here seemed to have been imbued with that person's aura.

"When you're strong enough, you can turn the rotten into the miraculous."

The so-called morning glow here is something that naturally arises in the ancient temple, bathing it in its light year-round.

Qin Ming's expression turned solemn. Was this the undying aura left behind by Peerless Expert?

He no longer dared to underestimate this place. After circling the dilapidated temple and carefully investigating, he found no dangerous Restrictions before cautiously entering.

He waded through the tall grass and passed through several courtyards. Many of the buildings here had collapsed, and the remaining ones were dilapidated, as if they had been roughly pieced together. This was clearly the result of being impacted by a tremendous force.

In this core area, Qin Ming saw a pool of ashes, and vaguely seemed to see a faint Golden Haze flowing within it, which was the remaining spiritual energy consistent with the entire ancient temple.

"The unparalleled masters in the temple have turned to ashes. What happened here?" Qin Ming was full of doubts.

He stands here once again, attempting to resonate, tracing back to the truth of thousands of years ago.

This time, he sensed something, seeing some blurry and distant images, and vaguely even hearing a soft sigh, which struck him as if he had been struck by lightning.

Qin Ming was shocked; indeed, there had once been an incredibly terrifying being here.

He did everything in his power to capture those "past" moments that had almost completely vanished.

It was a sky full of red light, like Karmic Fire, like fresh blood, spreading down from the sky and covering the earth. Then, an old man in the temple, with Golden Haze surging into the sky, rushed up to meet him.

Qin Ming was shocked; in today's world, this would definitely be considered an unparalleled master.

The entire sky was filled with the old man's golden light, and he held up his hands as if he wanted to overturn the blood-red sky.

Behind him, a group of experts followed, rushing into the sky together and launching their attacks simultaneously.

However, the blood-red cloud surged, as if a piece of the sky had fallen. The old man in the ancient temple could not hold it up and continued to sink. In the end, he burned and crumbled into pieces.

As for his followers, they were instantly annihilated, leaving nothing behind.

The old man drifted down, leaving only a pile of ashes behind.

The endless blood-red clouds fell into the mountains and forests outside the temple, instantly staining the mountains and rivers, turning this area blood-red.

"That old man was at least a powerful expert at the Great Perfection of the Seventh Realm, and might even have dabbled in the Heavenly God Domain, yet he couldn't stop the blood-red light falling from the sky at all."

Qin Ming was deeply shocked. What kind of natural disaster was that?

If the old man in the temple is Heavenly God, and if this place was once Grotto-Heaven on the ground, then it is even more terrifying.

Behind the old man's ashes, there is a lotus pond, which still retains a faint medicinal fragrance.

Qin Ming walked forward and found that there was still some water in the pool, slightly reddish. There were rotten lotus roots in the silt below, with a few lotus leaves growing out of them, purple with a hint of blood mist.

He took out Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella and asked, "Old Huang, what do you think?"

"It was once a Immortal Medicine, but now it has serious problems. I feel that something very bad has happened to it."

Although the Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella is a newly awakened consciousness and not the original spirit of the artifact, it has inherited some ancient fragments of memories. As its power increases, the "legacy" it inherits will become more and more abundant.

Qin Ming asked, "What happened to it?"

Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella said, "This is a Purple Lotus of extremely high grade. It turns from red to purple. After it matured, I felt that it had been parasitized, and through it, it underwent Nirvana, absorbing the essence of creation, leaving behind decay and ruin."

Qin Ming frowned. He had no expectation of directly picking a Earth Immortal Medicine, let alone hoping to encounter a Heavenly Immortal- level Great Medicine.

How could someone capable of cultivating Purple Lotus possibly leave the fortuitous opportunity to someone else?

Could it be that the Peerless Expert in the temple did not die and was reborn here?

Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella made a judgment, saying, "This Immortal Medicine has been used many times. The last time it was harvested and used for New Life should have happened within the last twenty years."

Qin Ming was startled. Even the Peerless Expert in the temple, who had reached the Heavenly God Realm, could not live for more than a few thousand years. There was probably someone else parasitizing him.

He calmed himself and stared at the lotus pond. Could these withered Purple Lotus still be used?

Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella said, "Don't count on it. It's entangled in decay, and its remaining medicinal power is insufficient to purify that decaying aura. This lotus itself can barely survive."

Qin Ming sighed inwardly, regretting that some people used such Immortal Medicine without a second thought, resorting to near-extinction-like parasitism.

He walked around the lotus pond, observing it carefully.

Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella, said, "This could be an ancient temple that remains on the ground from the lineage of the Great Thunderclap Temple."

It floated on the water, also examining the lotus pond, and said, "In those distant ancient times, this kind of lotus pond could also be used for communication, but only those directly under the Great Thunderclap Temple could use it."

Qin Ming's heart stirred; he had mastered one of the faction's secret manuals— the Divine Cicada Scripture.

Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella, recalling those fragmented memories, said, "Even if you master it, it will be useless. Only those who have entered the direct line of the Great Thunderclap Temple can use it."

Qin Ming said, "I've been inside the virtual landscape of that ancient temple."

Looking back, it was there that he first met Bai Meng and Tang Yushang.

Qin Ming sat quietly by the pool, circulating the Divine Cicada Scripture. His body emitted a faint golden light, and the remaining pale red water in the pool rippled, reflecting the distant scenery.

Then, dumbfounded, he saw another dilapidated ancient temple in the pond, a Black Lotus, and even two familiar faces trapped in the lotus pond.

"Huh? Ming Ge!"

"Qin Ming? This... have we fallen into another deep cycle?"

In the distance, the two figures in the lotus pond were filled with astonishment. They were Little Wu and Xiang Yiwu, both pale and exhausted, as if they could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion.

Qin Ming hadn't seen them for years. Seeing that the two were in very poor condition, he asked anxiously, "It's me, Qin Ming. What happened to you? Where have you been?"

Xiang Yiwu shook his head vigorously and said, "It's fake. We're in the Reincarnation Lotus Pool, fighting against the Black Lotus. How could we possibly see Brother Qin?"

Qin Ming had no way to use his strength. In this situation, separated by the void, he couldn't help much. He couldn't shake their resolve, but he should strengthen their beliefs.

"Even if it's fake, I still want to talk to Ming Ge," Little Wu murmured.

His gaze was unfocused as he said, "Ming Ge, we don't know if we can survive. This Black Lotus of Reincarnation too malevolent. It's as if we're experiencing life and death again and again, aging our hearts by hundreds of years. Non-Self strong will and our efforts to overcome these hardships and purify our spirits, we might already be dead and turned into dust."

Qin Ming's heart sank. He said, "Little Wu, Da Xiang, hold on. Tell me the location, I'll come find you."

Wu Yaozu shook his head violently to stay awake, and said, "Ming Ge, it's no use you coming. The ancient temple is closed. If we can't escape reincarnation, our spirits will dissipate and become part of the Black Lotus, and our bodies will also decay."

Xiang Yiwu also spoke up, "This time, it feels even more real to me. Brother Qin, have you also fallen into an ancient temple? The Red Lotus Karmic Fire, the Purple Lotus is Immortal Medicine, and the Black Lotus represents reincarnation. You must be very careful."

He was worried, so regardless of whether it was true or false, he gave them a heads-up first.

Little Wu suddenly cried out, "The cycle of reincarnation has begun again! The Black Lotus wants to devour us, and we must try our best to eat it too, to see who can survive in the end..."

Then, Qin Ming saw the Black Lotus expand, engulfing them in its petals, while inside, Little Wu and Xiang Yiwu struggled violently.

A dazzling Golden Haze emanated from Little Wu's body, swirling with mysterious Daoist charm. Behind Xiang Yiwu, a tall figure appeared, his peerless majesty shining through the petals of the Black Lotus, his silhouette appearing hazy.

Otherwise, the two of them would probably have already been digested and absorbed by the Black Lotus.

They were tearing at the Black Lotus and stuffing it into their mouths; they were truly eating each other. Golden Haze wrapped Little Wu in her arms, and that peerless Xiang Yiwu, with a part of her arm emerging from the Black Lotus.

Little Wu, tears streaming down his face, said, "Why is it so difficult to become stronger? It requires sacrificing one's life. We've mistakenly entered this place, and it seems we can never get out, trapped in an endless cycle. I still want to see my grandmother one last time, I still want to avenge my people. She was a ruthless woman who carved through the Kunling Forbidden Ground, so powerful it was suffocating. I see no hope now, I can't escape..."

He was somewhat out of control of his emotions. He was usually cheerful and carefree, but he actually carried a lot of burdens in his heart. He was the only son of the entire clan, yet he could not escape the cycle of reincarnation and could not leave this place.

"I have to live!" he roared.

Xiang Yiwu also roared. At this moment, he had only broken free of part of his body from the Black Lotus of Reincarnation. His flesh and blood were a mess, and his Mental Will seemed to be crushed by an invisible force.

"Is there a way?" Qin Ming asked Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella.

The alluring figure on the umbrella shook her head and said, "They have to rely on themselves. This is a path only those at the end of their lifespan at the Great Thunderclap Temple take—to brave the cycle of reincarnation, endure it, extend their lifespan, prolong their existence, and Nirvana from ashes. They will be even stronger."

However, very few succeed.

Otherwise, if it were that easy, all the masters would simply use this to regenerate.

Qin Ming shouted loudly, "Little Wu, Da Xiang, once you've survived this cycle of reincarnation, the sky's the limit! Hold on, and when you escape, you'll soar to the Chongxiao!"

For the dying with their lifespan exhausted, the Black Lotus of Reincarnation is a coveted sacred object. But for two young people in the prime of their lives, experiencing this is too cruel, and they will most likely die young.

Qin Ming felt heavy-hearted and incredibly depressed. These were his two closest friends, with whom he could stand back-to-back during a life-or-death battle, yet both of them had met with certain death.

He recited a few life-saving techniques and passed them on; that was all he could do.

Qin Ming stood up, the scenery in the lotus pond blurred, and he couldn't calm down for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh.

He walked through the entire ancient temple and found it deserted. Apart from some leftover medicines that smelled of decay, he could not find any items of value.

He tried to empathize, because those lost histories are difficult to trace.

Qin Ming guessed that the "past" here had either been smoothed over by time or erased by some supreme rule.

He tried to see ancient things and the truth through those remnants of medicine, but he failed.

Much later, Qin Ming put aside his heavy heart and temporarily stopped thinking about Little Wu and Xiang Yiwu, exploring the ancient temple and the surrounding area.

"I dare not use the herbs here." He frowned deeply.

Even though he heard others discussing that the herbs growing in the "mature fields" of certain buildings were edible and unlike those growing in the wild outside, Qin Ming remained wary.

Moreover, he saw that while people were saying that Earth Medicine was harmless, they themselves hadn't taken the medicine. Everyone was just saying it and was being very cautious.

Qin Ming muttered to himself, "This area has the momentum of a soaring dragon and the signs of cultivating the Dao. No matter how you look at it, it seems extraordinary... and perhaps unfathomable."

Earlier, he had blurted out that this was the place where he attained enlightenment, which was entirely instinctive and a divine first impression.

Now, after exploring and pondering, Qin Ming increasingly felt that this land seemed to contain endless wonders and extraordinary things.

"The herbs can't be ingested. What else is here, and how can I use it?" he pondered.

Suddenly, he realized why he had such a great first impression of this place and thought it was the place where he could break through his current limitations.

He was pursuing multiple paths simultaneously, and he himself was considered God Seed of the Esoteric Sect. However, he had been passively improving on this path and hadn't paid much attention to it. He was astonished to find that everything here seemed to be quite in line with the teachings of Tantric Esoteric Sect!

Qin Ming discovered the problem.

He opened the Inner Landscape of the Third Realm of the Esoteric Sect System and embarked on the Netherpass Path in the Fourth Realm, but mainly relied on the transformation of the New Life Path system to propel him forward on other paths.

Now, with a broader perspective, he sees himself as God Seed and views this place through the lens of the Esoteric Sect. He is immediately overwhelmed with emotion and feels it is incredible.

"For those who follow the Secret Sect Path, this place seems to be the ultimate Godhood Grounds, so perfect it's almost dreamlike, almost unreal!"

Qin Ming was completely stunned. He explored the land using the method of Netherpass, and every inch of the land seemed to be interwoven with sacred patterns. Purple qi and red clouds surged underground, as magnificent as Jiang Hai.

"This..." The more he investigated, the more outrageous it seemed, to the point that he began to doubt the meaning of life. How could such a place exist in this world? It was too perfect.

For those who follow the Secret Sect Path, this is practically the highest level of Godhood Grounds.

Esoteric Sect System has developed to this day, there are many ancient methods as well as many new methods. There are Path to Godhood that confine one place to one place, and there are holy paths that require Severed Mountain and rivers and allowing one to travel to many places. Chu Canglan is an example of the latter.

Some even suggested that any place, whether it be a desolate Mortal World, or Beyond Heaven wonder, can be used to establish oneself and should not be restricted at all.

If Qin Ming were to choose, he would naturally not confine himself to a limited area, but would instead travel to various places and roam the world, as this is the righteous path of the Esoteric Sect that he approves of.

However, his belief wavered today. This place was the dream destination of the Esoteric Sect System, and he felt it would be difficult to surpass it.

From the perspective of the Esoteric Sect System, he very much wants to establish himself there.

Qin Ming reflected, "Perhaps it's because I'm inexperienced; seeing a dreamlike place, I assumed it was a flawless Dao Land."

After sharing some of his thoughts with Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella, Little Yellow pondered for a while and then said, "Although I have lost most of my ancient memories, this place does indeed seem unusual to me; it is truly remarkable."

Qin Ming investigated for a long time, but instead of taking the medicine, he planned to use the land to cultivate and employ the methods of the Esoteric Sect System.

He possesses True Scripture Sect-Suppressing Level, otherwise his Secret Sect Path would not have reached its current height. In the past, he obtained a golden scale from Giant Centipede that aspired to become a god. The scale was covered with scriptures and resonated with the corresponding subsequent interpretations.

This True Scripture has been confirmed by Meng Xinghai and Li Qingyun, and its origins are probably far greater than imagined, no less significant than the existing Fundamental Scripture of the Esoteric Sect.

Finally, Qin Ming returned to the ancient temple and sat down cross-legged.

"I can't truly settle down here, so I have no choice but to resort to extreme measures, to be 'shortsighted,' and to frantically seize whatever opportunities I can reach."

He believed that such a perfect place must contain terrifying Daoist energy and various extraordinary substances.

Qin Ming circulated his True Scripture, his spirit probing into the ground, his physical body slowly sinking into a realm where purple qi surged like a turbulent Jiang Hai and red clouds fell like stars from the sky.

Elsewhere, the sight of azure mists and wisps of purple qi vapor is considered a treasure land, but here, everything is overturned.

At this moment, Qin Ming was surrounded by red clouds and purple qi, completely engulfed by extraordinary energy. This place was an endless "ocean", vast and boundless!

His physical body, driven by instinct, continued to sink, searching for that ultimate place, the place where the Dao was born.

Qin Ming even suspected that this was the Origin of Ten Thousand Arts, the tangible nest of the Dao.

As he ventured deeper underground, he sensed that his Inner Landscape Domain was being nourished and expanding. His path to the Netherpass was a smooth road, leading him to a supreme Dao Land, the ultimate place he was seeking.

With a thud, he was suddenly thrown into a place where Ten-Colored Light Mist surged.

The Yellow Gauze Canopy Umbrella that had been by his side, protecting him, completely lost her composure and nearly cried out in alarm.

Qin Ming's body jolted, and he suddenly woke up. Then, he opened his eyes wide in shock, his heartstrings trembling, and stared ahead in disbelief.