While Fang Xiu cultivated the Dream Ingress Art, using the power of the Necro Tree and the entire Nether Tree Realm to pull Chen Jin and Black Fiend into the Spirit Realm, Wei Port City was undergoing some kind of change in the night.
The power of the Necro Tree and Fang Xiu seemed to have reached out from the Sea of Spirit and extended into the real world, affecting certain special people.
Central Hospital, Special Care Ward—
Most of the patients hospitalized here were victims of the Yellow Goat Mountain incident ten days earlier, people who had gone missing after becoming lost in the bizarre fog of Yellow Goat Mountain.
Although most of them had gone home after completing their health examinations seven or eight days ago, quite a few still suffered from mental disorientation and nervous breakdowns. Some with weaker wills had even developed symptoms of mental illness, and remained in the hospital for treatment and recovery.
They all kept recounting the various strange sights they had witnessed after entering the fog. Every time they recalled them, expressions of terror from the depths of their souls could be seen on their faces.
It was deep into the night. Every one of them had entered the land of dreams, and in their hazy, groggy state, they once again entered a wondrous place.
Unlike the terrifying, horrifying Red Moon World from last time—a dark place filled with black ash—this time, they found themselves somewhere that made them all feel as if they were drifting through the air, filled with warmth and sunlight.
There stood a gigantic gate. Massive pillars soared straight into the heavens, radiating an oppressive presence. The pillars were entirely golden, as though blooming with brilliance, and all kinds of divine beasts—dragons, phoenixes, qilin, and more—could be seen upon them.
Standing beneath it, a person was no bigger than an ant. This did not look like a gate built for humans, nor did it resemble the entrance to any structure. Instead, it looked more like—the gate to an entire world.
The ground was paved with stones as white as jade, stretching into the distance. All around them was the vast, boundless Sea of Light. In the silence came a melodious sound—or perhaps it was not a sound at all. It was like a mother's lullaby murmuring by their ears, and yet also like a soul song soaking into their very spirits.
Under the illumination of that sound and radiance, many whose minds and souls had suffered trauma gradually grew calm and peaceful.
Even merely standing there, they could feel tranquility and relaxation rising from their souls.
The gate had no doors. At its towering summit, high in the heavens, was a line of bizarre seal-script characters that no one could recognize.
"How could there be such a huge gate? What is this gate used for?" It was the voice of an old man, lifeless and heavy with the twilight of age.
"Hee-hee! This place is so much fun!" It was a child's innocent, carefree voice.
"Am I dreaming?"
"How could a dream be this real?"
"Here! Could this be the Immortal Realm? Founding Ancestor, are you summoning me?" This person was clearly a Taoist from Three Goat Temple.
Those who dreamed of this scene were not limited to the people in the hospital. Many men, women, old people, and children from the Yellow Goat Mountain incident who had already returned home were all dreaming of this place as well.
More than a hundred voices echoed through the space. They belonged to the hundred-plus people who had previously become lost in the Nether Tree Realm at Yellow Goat Mountain. Doubts arose in every person's heart, but each of them was dreaming of this scene alone and could not communicate with the others.
Some were lying in beds at home, some were in hotels, some had collapsed over office desks, and some, after working through the night, were making do with a night in their office chairs.
Zhou Yang was the leader of the newly established Abnormal Affairs Investigation Team. Having been one of those who had ventured deep into the mountains, he naturally dreamed of this scene as well.
"Is this bizarre situation happening again? Is it not over yet?"
Compared with the others, Zhou Yang's face was filled with caution, along with a trace of fear. He once again remembered the helplessness he had felt when he had fallen into the fog.
At that moment, a golden vortex suddenly appeared within the enormous gate. It spun and rapidly expanded, occupying the center of the giant gate.
Within the vortex, the scene of another world was revealed.
It was an endless expanse of blue seas beneath azure skies. A silver full moon hung in the heavens, radiating a faint Clear Radiance. In the midst of the ocean, Sword Peak stood proudly and unmoving beneath the crashing waves.
Through the lingering clouds and mist, a pavilion and towers filled with immortal aura appeared before their eyes atop Sword Peak. Behind the Immortal Mountain Palace, beneath a spirit tree with white leaves and translucent fruits that radiated white light, a Taoist in a moon-white robe sat cross-legged on a stone.
"It's him!" Zhou Yang immediately recognized who it was.
"A god! This is the Immortal Realm! This is where the gods live!"
"Did we trespass into the place where a god lives?"
"Could this be the legendary Blessed Land?"
The Taoist sat beneath the tree, meditating and cultivating. At that moment, he suddenly seemed to sense something. He raised his head and looked toward the sky.
Everyone saw the silver-haired Taoist's face, as well as his luminous pupils. Then they saw him flick his broad sleeve, and a beam of light cleaved through the world from within, bursting out into the Immortal Realm Gate.
The silver vortex shattered in an instant. Everyone felt an unmatched force pushing them away from that sacred immortal land.
At that moment, everyone awoke simultaneously and opened their eyes.
Zhou Yang also jolted awake from his office chair. Even when his uniform jacket fell to the floor, he did not spare it a glance.
"A dream? Just a dream? Or does it carry some other meaning? What was that person trying to convey to us?" Zhou Yang felt that what he had seen this time was not so simple.
Meanwhile, Three Goat Temple on Yellow Goat Mountain was in an uproar. The layers of blockade had been partially lifted the day before yesterday. Although people were still forbidden from casually going up the mountain, the Taoists of Three Goat Temple had once again received permission to return to the temple. Unlike the original dozen or so people, however, the number of Taoists there had now doubled, with many transferred from other temples.
The dozen or so Taoists who had returned to Three Goat Temple rushed out of their rooms at the same time, dancing with excitement as they recounted what had just happened to their senior and junior fellow disciples.
"Founding Ancestor! That god really was our Founding Ancestor! I dreamed of the legendary Immortal Realm and even saw our Founding Ancestor!"
"That's right, I saw him too. The Founding Ancestor was in an Immortal Mountain Palace in the immortal realm, sitting cross-legged beneath an immortal tree."
"Next time—next time, we might really get to meet the Founding Ancestor. As long as our hearts are sincere, we'll definitely receive the Founding Ancestor's teachings."
At that moment, the old Abbot, draped in a dark Taoist robe, walked out from the corridor beside the side hall. He had just heard his disciples' words. As he made his way over, his initially uncontrollable excitement gradually settled.
"Stop sleeping, everyone. Wake the others and go to the main hall together to burn incense and pray!"
"I've decided. We'll cast a golden statue of the Founding Ancestor, then build an Ascension Platform on that immortal land at the mountaintop!"
Fang Xiu rose from beneath the Necro Tree and looked up at the sky. He immediately saw more than a hundred points of light that had formed some kind of special connection with the Nether Tree Realm. That was why, when Fang Xiu had previously used the Dream Ingress Art, they had sensed the Nether Tree Realm as well.
Fang Xiu had reshaped the entrance and gate of the Nether Tree Realm. The Gate of Hell, originally as black as ink and permeated with ghostly aura, had been transformed by Fang Xiu into a magnificent Immortal Realm Gate filled with ancient-style immortal elegance. It made his little Spirit Realm look even more like the heavens.
"Because they entered the Nether Tree Realm before, were they marked at that time?"
Fang Xiu ended his meditation and returned to the basement of his home in the real world. He sank into deep thought.
"What would happen if I gradually opened the Spirit Realm to everyone, to animals, to plants—to every living thing on Earth?"
"I would only build the framework and let the people of Earth use their wisdom and strength to help me perfect this Spirit Realm and make me stronger. The Necro Tree is my incarnation to begin with, so this Spirit Realm is a part of my power. I can borrow their strength to help me perfect this world to its absolute limit."
"And all I need to do is hide behind the scenes and make everyone believe that this is an ownerless, open world."
"Once this Spirit Realm is completely connected with humanity, once every living thing on Earth bears the mark of the Necro Tree, Earth's civilization will be completely bound to me."
Fang Xiu thought about it, then shook his head. His current Spirit Realm was only the size of a palm; it would explode if he stuffed a few people into it. For now, he could forget about such grand ideas.
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