Cloud City, Li Yan's Statue?!

He still had not escaped the dream, nor returned to reality...

Li Yan pondered for a moment, then looked at Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable beside him.

Come to think of it, this dream's owner was him. He was the true protagonist this time.

But what regrets did this old rascal need to make up for? What needed changing?

Li Yan considered briefly. "Longyue, Jin Mie, I have something to discuss alone with Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable."

"Yes!"

The two female disciples did not ask further and left on their own.

Upon hearing this, Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable frantically waved his hands. "Immortal! How would this junior dare call himself Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable before you?"

"This junior is Zhang Jiu. Just call me Little Zhang."

When Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable introduced himself as Zhang Jiu, Li Yan froze slightly.

Zhang Jiu?

Wasn't that True Master Zhang Jiu, the sole inheritor of Dragon Tiger Mountain thirty thousand years later?

A coincidence? The same name? Or...

Li Yan fell silent for a while before asking, "Daoist Zhang, do you still have any concerns weighing on your heart?"

For Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable, a Mahayana Stage Immortal, to receive a question from Li Yan left him both flattered and overwhelmed.

He had not expected the Immortal to show concern for him. Startled and delighted, Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable hurriedly clasped his hands.

"The Immortal truly foresees all things. This junior indeed has a matter on his mind."

"This junior's lifespan is nearing its end, yet I have been unable to sense the heavenly tribulation and ascend to the upper realm."

"I fear my life will soon be over. I can only choose to pass away in meditation and enter reincarnation."

After hearing Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable's words, Li Yan frowned slightly. Could Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable truly be True Master Zhang of the later generations?

True Master Zhang was Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable's reincarnation thirty thousand years later?

There must have been dozens, perhaps hundreds, of lives of reincarnation in between...

Seeing the old rascal's worried look, Li Yan guessed what was troubling him.

"Daoist Zhang."

"When morning dew gathers, one learns of meetings and partings; where autumn leaves fall, one awakens to reincarnation. Look upon the mountain stream: it babbles as it goes, then babbles on again, until it enters rivers and seas and becomes new waves. When, in some future year, the bright moon shines upon fresh moss, you and I shall surely brew cloud-bud tea by the River of Reincarnation and discuss the mysteries of heaven."

Li Yan's few brief words made Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable's eyes light up.

He heard the deeper meaning in them. The Immortal was hinting that they could meet again in the future.

Even if he entered reincarnation, he would still have a chance to reunite with the Immortal.

Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable stroked his pale beard, savoring Li Yan's words.

"When morning dew gathers, one learns of meetings and partings; where autumn leaves fall, one awakens to reincarnation..."

"Immortal, this junior has been enlightened."

"If I can see you again after several lives of reincarnation, I beg the Immortal to accept me as your disciple!"

Li Yan smiled without speaking, which counted as tacit agreement.

Besides, he knew very well that more than thirty thousand years later, he would meet Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable's reincarnation, True Master Zhang.

Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable lifted his long robe and dropped to both knees. "Immortal, please accept this junior's bow!"

[You have fulfilled Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable Zhang Jiu's final wish. He will peacefully pass away in meditation and enter reincarnation.]

[The dream is dissipating.]

[Side effect: Falsehood.]

[Side effect corrected: Change history.]

Li Yan simply stood where he was, only to discover that his body could not move.

Everything around him began to change as well.

Mount Mishan, which had once stood there, became a plain surrounded by mountain ranges. The spiritual mist from the Hundred Thousand Mountains gathered here, bringing abundant spiritual energy.

Someone erected a sign here and named the place Cloud City.

Like a witness to history, Li Yan watched the scenery before him change without end.

Time seemed to accelerate ten thousandfold. He could only remain a transparent spectator, watching the shifts of history over these tens of thousands of years.

Cloud City rose from the flatlands, while Longyue and Ember Extinguishing Immortal each established one of two great sects.

Moonlight Sword Sect and Heavenly Pivot Hall.

Centered around those two sects, Cloud City continued expanding over the next thirty thousand years, until this place became a sacred land of cultivation.

Cloud City used Vermilion Bird Great Dao as its central dividing line, separating the eastern and western districts.

The eastern district was governed by Misty Moon Immortal's Moonlight Sword Sect, while the western district was controlled by Ember Extinguishing Immortal's Heavenly Pivot Hall.

Li Yan watched towering buildings rise from level ground as this wilderness developed into a holy land of cultivation—Cloud City.

As the scene before him began to twist and distort, clarity gradually returned to Li Yan's vacant eyes, signaling that he had awakened from the dream.

When he drew his first breath of fresh air, rich spiritual energy poured into his abdomen.

That sharp rush, that sheer satisfaction! This was the feeling!

Li Yan focused his gaze and saw that Mount Mishan before him had vanished.

Mishan Sacred Hall no longer existed either.

In the dream, the Watcher Great Serpent had carried away the entire Mount Mishan. Back in reality, there was no longer a mountain here, only an enormous plain.

And it seemed the Dharma-Ending Era had not occurred?

Li Yan looked closely and saw that a new city had been built upon the plain ahead.

He could see ordinary people walking through its streets, while countless cultivators flew through the sky on swords.

Seeing this, Li Yan sighed inwardly. "At last, history has been turned around. Blood Cultivators no longer cover the land."

"This Mishan City... no, it has now been renamed Cloud City."

"The two great sects here were both founded single-handedly by my two female disciples. I wonder if they have already ascended to the upper realm."

Muttering to himself, Li Yan began walking down the street.

The spiritual energy here was abundant, unlike before, when it had been depleted.

The cultivators were relatively normal as well, no longer as vicious as they had been in the past.

Li Yan had transformed the once smoke-choked, miasma-filled Mishan City into a sacred land of cultivation, and he could not help feeling accomplished.

Breathing in the abundant spiritual energy, his mood brightened with it.

But after history had changed, would there be any new effects on him?

Just as Li Yan emerged from an alley and arrived at Vermilion Bird Street, he noticed that the people on the street kept staring at him.

"Hmm?"

Li Yan was puzzled. Why were the townspeople and cultivators along the way all pointing at him and whispering?

Could there be something on him?

Looking closely, he was dressed in a plain Daoist robe, with nothing unusual about him.

It was not as if he wore some bizarre outfit. There were several Daoists on the street dressed exactly like him.

But why had so many people stared at him all along the way?

No matter their age or gender, whenever they passed Li Yan, they would always turn back for another look.

It was as though... he had become some household-name superstar, drawing attention wherever he went.

Just as Li Yan was feeling confused, a familiar voice rang out.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I finally found you!"

That voice!

It was Zhang Jiu, True Master Zhang! Dragon Tiger Immortal Venerable's reincarnation!

When Li Yan turned around, Zhang Jiu had not changed much. He was still wearing a Daoist robe.

Seeing that Zhang Jiu had not changed, Li Yan relaxed.

But Zhang Jiu suddenly froze. "Fellow Daoist Li, your outfit today... could get you beheaded."

"Beheaded?"

Li Yan grew even more confused. What was wrong with his attire?

Were there not people on the street wearing plain cloth Daoist robes too?

Why was it fine for others to wear plain cloth Daoist robes, but when he wore one, it became a capital crime worthy of beheading?

What kind of twisted logic was that?

Seeing Li Yan's bewildered expression, Zhang Jiu said with a bitter smile, "You've only just arrived in Cloud City, so it's normal that you don't understand."

"Come, look over there. What is that?"

Following the direction of Zhang Jiu's finger, Li Yan looked toward the center of Cloud City, where a hundred-zhang-tall statue stood.

The moment he saw the statue, Li Yan understood.

Wasn't that statue me?!