The most widely circulated account may be that Old Chengzi, a grandee of the State of Song in the early Warring States period, studied the art of illusionary transformation under Mr. Yin Wen.
There were once detailed records of this in the historical materials.
It was said that after Old Chengzi mastered the art, he could make the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—change in endless ways; make thunder sound in winter and ice freeze in summer; make flying birds run and beasts that walked the earth take flight.
However, these events took place far too long ago, and their authenticity could no longer be investigated. What had truly happened had become a mystery.
Yet it could not be denied that they had indeed left behind a bold and magnificent stroke, revealing a marvelous world of illusion and leaving later generations a trail to follow.
Nature was wondrous, and everything between Heaven and Earth had its own laws of operation. All things were changing with every passing moment.
The reason the eyes could see things was that light reflected from objects entered the eyes through the corneas, passed through the refraction of the eye's refractive media, and formed an inverted image on the retina.
That image was transmitted through the nerves to the brain's central nervous system, after which the brain constructed the thing we "saw."
Yet there were many things invisible to the naked human eye, such as microorganisms, infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, and so on.
What humans could see was limited. Not only that, but vision could also deceive us. The more famous examples included mirages, the Ames illusion, and the Fraser spiral.
All of this showed that what the eyes saw was not necessarily real.
If that was the case, then what was real?
Human subjective agency could reshape and influence nature. Likewise, nature could subtly influence humanity and imperceptibly alter people's patterns of behavior.
True and false, empty and real—who could say for certain?
All things in the world had their fixed allotments, but they also had variables. What Ye Qin had to do was see through the essence of life and trace it back to its source.
When one reached an impasse, one changed; with change came adaptation; with adaptation came endurance.
All things were constantly changing. Nothing would remain eternally unchanged.
What was illusion?
Perhaps Ye Qin already had an answer.
When numbers reached their limit, they attained change; that which shifted and transformed according to form was called transformation, and was called illusion.
The artistry of the Creator was subtle, and its workmanship profound. It was therefore difficult to exhaust or bring to an end. When form followed its nature, its artistry was manifest but its workmanship shallow; thus it rose and vanished in turn. Know that illusionary transformation was no different from life and death.
The qi of life and the forms of existence were all illusions.
At this moment, Ye Qin suddenly saw the light. A radiance abruptly burst from his right eye. As the light vanished, a crescent-shaped mark appeared in his pupil.
He raised his head and gazed at the moon. The white mist around him grew denser and denser. Though it looked as if layer upon layer of fog obscured everything, his heart was incomparably clear.
At that moment, the bright moon in the sky also grew even more brilliant. Countless ripples like waves spread across it, as if something were being born in response to the moment.
A moon so enormous it seemed impossible actually emerged from within it, slowly at first, until its complete outline appeared before his eyes. It blotted out the sky and earth, even overshadowing the original moon.
No wonder the moonlight was so dazzling! There were two moons in the sky!
The two moons were exactly alike. There was simply no way to tell which was real and which was false.
That bright moon flew toward Ye Qin, growing larger and drawing nearer, until it finally enveloped the entire mountaintop, as if it intended to carry the mountain into the distant universe.
The stars in the heavens began to flicker. The river of stars flowed and gathered into a magnificent Milky Way, following in the moon's footsteps.
Amid the swirling white mist, the moon splashed across the river of stars. The sight was gorgeous and grand, and now and then the sound of tides could be heard, as if a summons were coming from the depths of the universe.
Before long, the canopy of heaven drooped low. The river of stars raised monstrous waves, as if it would drown the entire firmament. Within it, the waters of Heaven churned, and a section of a white finger bone faintly emerged.
The finger bone blotted out the sky and earth. It was only a single part, yet it had already caused such a tremendous disturbance. It was impossible to imagine what would happen if the entire form emerged.
As time passed, that enormous skeleton finally appeared between Heaven and Earth.
Mountains and rivers as rulers! The sun and moon as scales! The stars throughout the sky as counters!
They still could not measure the dimensions of those white bones!
How tall was it? How enormous? It was impossible to describe with words, as if an ancient creature had awakened.
The white skeleton sat cross-legged, one hand pointing to the sky and the other pointing to the earth. Its imposing presence shook the ages.
The eye sockets should have been pitch-black, yet within them the bright moon revolved, layer upon layer of silver radiance washing over them without end. The lunar disk turned ceaselessly, shining in harmony with the white bones.
White bones and bright moon, unchanged throughout the ages.
It should have been a strange sight, yet now it looked so harmonious.
The enormous moon originally in the sky descended onto the white skeleton like a halo, causing every bone to shimmer with a lustrous, jade-white radiance.
By comparison, Ye Qin's body was far too tiny, like a speck of dust, almost negligible. Yet the white skeleton and bright moon were centered on him.
Ye Qin blinked, and the crescent mark in his pupil gradually faded.
At the same time, the figures of both the white skeleton and the moon began to grow transparent. In the end, they vanished into the air and drifted away with the wind.
Above the firmament, there was still only one moon.
The moonlight shone faintly over the mountains, while Ye Qin felt as if he had merely dreamed a great dream.
"That fantasy just now was too real."
Ye Qin's thoughts drifted beyond the heavens. He did not know whether he could truly bring such a scene to pass in the future, standing shoulder to shoulder with the sun and moon.
But that fantasy had greatly depleted his spirit. At this moment, he felt a heavy fatigue.
After a while, Ye Qin finally managed to recover somewhat. His gaze fell on a spot not far away. His thoughts stirred, and soon a faint outline of a white skeleton appeared.
Before long, it condensed into form.
The white skeleton sat cross-legged atop the mountain, a bright moon above its head. It had its back to the world and looked down upon the roiling mortal realm.
A cool breeze blew gently across his face. The faint sounds of insects and birds could be heard. Everything looked so tranquil and peaceful, yet it was incomparably real.
Yet this scene was, in fact, an illusionary domain!
Ye Qin could sense that it did not consume particularly much spiritual power.
His tail unconsciously slapped against the ground, and a pensive glimmer passed through his snake pupils.
Now he was no longer as helpless as before, unable to control the illusionary domain. He could be said to wield it with perfect ease.
Ye Qin's physical strength had now reached an extremely sturdy level. Coupled with this Illusionary Divine Power, dealing with those large beasts was no longer a problem.
With two means of self-preservation working together, he could cross this mountain forest with impunity.
Fortunately, few people had come up the mountain recently. Otherwise, seeing this scene, they would probably have truly confirmed those rumors.
The illusionary domain gradually dispersed, and everything returned to normal. On the enormous rock, only Ye Qin's figure remained.
This time, there were no small animals behind him.
Though these animals had not gained intelligence, after following Ye Qin for so long, they had vaguely sensed something. The instant the illusionary domain first appeared, they had run away without leaving a trace.
Because the fantasy just now had been too vast, the spiritual power it consumed still had not fully recovered. Ye Qin appeared somewhat fatigued.
His entire serpentine body lay limply on the ground, letting the moonlight pour down over him.
Ye Qin guessed that the larger the scale of the illusionary domain, the greater the spiritual power it consumed. It was also related to the willpower of the target it was released upon.
For example, if a person possessed a firm will, then the degree to which they were affected by the illusionary domain would be reduced.
Moreover, the illusionary domain had a time limit of only a few minutes. Even if Ye Qin did not withdraw the divine power, it would disappear on its own once the time was up.
"Although the Illusionary Divine Power is lifelike and makes it impossible to distinguish illusion from reality, my current ability can probably only sustain it for a few minutes. There are also many restrictions on its use, and the degree of influence is related to the target's willpower."
These were all Ye Qin's guesses. The specific circumstances would have to be further verified through practice.
But he believed that as his strength continued to increase, the duration and range of the Illusionary Divine Power would also expand. Even the scenes within the illusionary domain would continue to evolve!
(End of Chapter)