When Chen Qing opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.
He glanced around and realized he was in a cramped, damp stone cell. The walls were sealed tight, and aside from an iron door, there wasn't even a window.
Faint light seeped in through the crack beneath the door.
"This texture, this light, this water... It's just like the real thing."
Chen Qing immediately sensed that the consciousness occupying this body wasn't his own. This body was filled with an incredibly dense amount of unrefined spiritual energy.
"What's with all this spiritual energy? It's so crude and abundant. He just gulped it down without refining it, and didn't even worry about it constantly leaking away? What a waste!"
As he wondered about this, his head suddenly throbbed. Countless memories surged into him like a flood, crashing into his mind all at once. He let out a muffled groan, his thoughts thrown into chaos—
Central Spirit Continent... Primordial Immortal Dynasty... Dingbian City... Mysterious Prison... the last successor of the Star Pivot Sect...
All sorts of information swept through Chen Qing's mind like a gale.
But the flood came as quickly as it went. A few breaths later, Chen Qing let out a long breath. Feeling the memories that had been added to his mind, he wore a strange expression, uncertain whether he was dreaming.
"No, I really am dreaming. Based on the fabricated life story of the founding master, it generated a dream within a dream that feels as real as life. According to these memories, this body's original name was Chen Xu, and he was the last successor of the Star Pivot Sect. The Star Pivot Sect was a borderland sect in the Central Spirit Continent. Its mountain gate was breached and nearly all its disciples wiped out. Chen Xu escaped by sheer luck, only to be captured by sword cultivators of the Primordial Immortal Dynasty and thrown into the Mysterious Prison."
The Mysterious Prison was where the Primordial Immortal Dynasty imprisoned Qi refiners. No matter how profound one's cultivation, escape was all but impossible.
"The last inheritor of a sect? It all fits."
After sorting through the memories, Chen Qing suddenly understood.
"But I don't know whether this Primordial Immortal Dynasty is made up or actually existed. Unfortunately, the Hidden Star Gate is small and poor; just maintaining its inheritance takes everything we have. We have no resources to learn the history of the Central Spirit Continent, so there's nothing to compare this against. Come to think of it, why was the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record suddenly activated? Was it because I became sect master, or because I lied to my junior nephew? If it was the former, that's fine. As I manage the sect, I can gradually discover the book's uses. But if it was the latter..."
He thought it over for a moment, then saw the answer clearly.
"Master already cleared the way. As his disciple, what's there to hesitate about when it comes to shouldering humiliation for the sect and saying a few words? It's just making up a story. I read plenty in my previous life; I've got a whole bellyful of material!"
Now he was even more curious about how the story in this dream would unfold.
"It said it could feed back into my real life, but I have to complete the life story first, right? My identity and background are set. Next, I'm supposed to revive the sect. But I'm already a prisoner—how am I supposed to revive it?"
He focused on sensing this body.
"What a waste! This body is overflowing with spiritual energy, probably all gulped down with some crude breathing method. Spiritual energy fills every limb and bone, but isn't being controlled at all. It's like constantly springing a leak! If I used the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll's method of breathing, just absorbing all this spiritual energy would take two or three years of nonstop cultivation! How could I leave it lying around? What a waste of Heaven's gifts!"
With that thought, he immediately visualized the mountains and seas and began circulating the method of moving qi.
Bzz!
In the next instant, spiritual energy trembled inside Chen Qing. It was like a blaze dropped into boiling oil; spiritual energy surged everywhere and rushed along the meridians of the cultivation method toward the Yellow Court Palace, pouring forward like a flood!
The spiritual energy was so abundant he could guide it as easily as his own arm. In the seventeen years he had cultivated, he had never fought a battle with such a deep reserve!
Wherever the spiritual energy passed, it grew solid as a sword, breaking ground and forging ahead through his meridians—
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
In the blink of an eye, six meridians were opened!
"The main meridians have opened?"
Chen Qing's face filled with astonishment. Opening meridians required not only an abundance of spiritual energy, but also spiritual energy of sufficient quality!
"To reach the Yellow Court Initial Opening stage, one must absorb moonlight and the morning essence, purge the impurities of the flesh, and condense acquired qi into inner breath. But inner breath is loose; it can only strengthen the body and toughen the meridians. It isn't enough to open them. Only by reaching the Second Realm, Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment, and mastering Supreme Harmony Qi can one open the meridians! But... there's no Supreme Harmony Qi circulating in this body?"
All things bore yin and embraced yang; when the opposing forces were blended, harmony emerged. This was Soothing Harmony.
This realm harmonized yin and yang, the five elements, and the illusory and the real. By mastering a thread of Supreme Harmony Qi, one laid the foundation for longevity and established the Dao foundation for seeking the profound. Thus, the Second Realm was called Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment.
"But he's only opened his meridians. There's no Supreme Harmony Qi circulating in his body, so his cultivation is still at the First Realm." Putting the pieces together, he suddenly realized, "Did this fictional founding master's body already have cultivation at the Second Realm? But had his cultivation been crippled?"
At once, fragments of memory seemed to resonate, sending back scattered bits of information—
After being captured and imprisoned, his cultivation had been cut down...
Just then!
"C-31! Why did you trigger a disturbance in the spiritual energy?"
A furious shout exploded from outside. The iron door burst open, and several burly jailers filed in, shackles in hand, charging straight at Chen Qing!
Chen Qing snapped his eyes open and tried to fight back, but a sudden stab of pain shot through his brow! An ancient seal character meaning "prisoner" appeared on his forehead, sealing his meridians and suppressing his blood and qi! A moment ago, he had been at the peak of the First Realm, perhaps even at Foundation Establishment, but in an instant he was reduced to an ordinary mortal!
Clang!
The specially made shackles were clamped onto him, immediately suppressing the spiritual energy in his body. Chen Qing could barely breathe and collapsed to the ground.
"This dream doesn't feel like something that was hastily improvised..."
A doubt crossed his mind, but according to the memory fragments, the Mysterious Prison specialized in locking up cultivators. It made sense that it would have methods like this.
"Chen Xu, I considered your noble birth, your many misfortunes, and your usual good behavior, so I lifted the Spirit-Suppressing Lock. Is this how you repay me?"
At the sound of the cool voice, a tall, gaunt man in black robes paced into the cell—
He was Li Benji, the warden of C-31.
He stopped before Chen Qing, the tip of his boot almost touching his cheek. He said coldly, "I know you're dissatisfied. The Chen family once followed the Sage in cleansing the Central Continent, and your great-grandfather ranked among the 108 Stars. You, Chen Xu, joined the army at twenty and fought in the Western Wastelands, only to have your command stripped away because of your sworn brother's slander. Your Spiritual Bone was crippled, your family dragged down, and you were cast out to the borderlands. You joined the Star Pivot Sect in hopes of rising again, only to arrive just as the Immortal Dynasty abolished the ten thousand sects..."
He suddenly crouched, bringing his cold, stern face close to Chen Qing's eyes. "But the laws of the Immortal Dynasty are strict. Once you're here, you follow the rules. Stop thinking about revenge. No matter how powerful your background, you won't escape a trip to the Spirit Severing Platform!"
With that, he left without waiting for a reply, taking his men with him. He didn't seem to care in the slightest what Chen Qing might say.
Clang!
The iron door shut.
Chen Qing tried to circulate his cultivation, but it felt as if he were carrying a boulder. His meridians were blocked. It took him quite a while to recover enough to struggle to his feet and lean against the wall.
"Born to a noble family, then stripped of command and crippled in his Spiritual Bone—is that an added detail? His cultivation really was crippled. Maybe he's cultivating so quickly because he used to be at a higher level? No, it's because there's so much spiritual energy in his body. Even the energy in this prison is unusually dense. I hadn't noticed earlier, but now that I'm paying close attention, spiritual energy is surging everywhere. It must be because of the era..."
He tried to piece together "Chen Xu's" memory fragments, but found that going through them was like turning pages in a book: it took effort and couldn't be done in a hurry.
"This doesn't feel like an ordinary dream. It's more like I really traveled to the Central Spirit Continent. But the Central Spirit Continent sank more than ten thousand years ago, and this is the life story of a fictional character..."
As he thought, Chen Qing shook his head and sighed.
"Forget it. I'll think about it after I wake up. The talisman will wake me in three hours. I just don't know whether I'll get a life essence feedback."
Who could have guessed that this wait would last a full seven days!
"Did I really sleep this long? My body must be starving! Luckily, the sect has rations stored away. Daxie and the others should be fine. I just hope they haven't started worrying because I've been gone for seven days. And the Spirit Marrow sustaining the formation must have been depleted quite a bit. If things get bad, I'll have to find a way to wake up. But this is my first time entering a dream, and I'm worried that waking from it might leave some kind of hidden problem."
During those seven days, "Chen Xu" remained imprisoned there and was given only two Bigu Pills to stave off hunger. They said a single pill could keep one from feeling hungry for three days.
"According to the setting, 'Chen Xu' is supposed to revive his sect. But with the Primordial Immortal Dynasty so powerful, even escaping prison is a distant hope. How is a half-crippled cultivator supposed to turn things around? Besides, I've spent the last few days studying the memory fragments and discovered that although cultivation methods in this world are divided into realms, they're crude and incomplete. Even the details aren't as good as the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll. They only reach the peak of the Third Realm, at most, and have no commentaries from earlier generations. With this to work with, there isn't much chance of turning things around..."
Clang!
The iron door burst open.
Li Benji entered with his hands behind his back and glanced coldly at the corner. "You're in luck! The Tenth Princess wants to choose a few prisoners with clean backgrounds, and she still remembered you." Then he changed his tone. "But don't imagine you'll win back her favor. As you are now, the most you can be is dregs for testing a cultivation method!"
So this fictional founding master had some history with the Tenth Princess?
Chen Qing knew this was the turning point in the dream within a dream, and silently rose to his feet.
Soon, he was taken into a spacious stone hall.
Several prisoners stood in the hall with their heads bowed, shackles on their bodies.
A stone seat floated above the floor at the far end, screened by a thin veil. A slender figure could just be seen behind it, her presence cool and distant. Cultivators with deep auras and officials from the Mysterious Prison stood on either side. Li Benji had retreated to one side, watching coldly.
As Chen Qing's gaze swept over the stone seat, his pupils suddenly contracted. Behind the thin veil, a flicker of dark spiritual light, like ink spreading through water, had appeared!
The light vanished in an instant, so quickly that one might have thought it an illusion.
"Chaotic spiritual light?" he wondered. "According to the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, this is a hidden problem left behind by breaking through before the Second Realm is perfected. It throws yin and yang out of balance and disrupts the five elements. One should enter seclusion and use earth-vein spiritual energy and Marrow Cleansing Grass to correct it. Why would she come in person to a place steeped in baleful intent?"
Seventeen years of hard cultivation with the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll had given him a theory. "Could it be that because the Primordial Immortal Dynasty is set in such an ancient era, cultivators haven't left behind any commentaries, so even the imperial family doesn't know these cultivation essentials?"
Just then.
"By order of the Princess!" A silver-patterned elder in black robes suddenly called out. "Three people will be selected to serve as attendants and test a new method! Answer truthfully. No falsehoods!"
"Only three?"
The hall erupted in a commotion.
A frenzied will to survive flared in the prisoners' eyes.
The odds were slim, and the competition was brutal!
Then the selection began.
Four people stepped forward beside the elder, splitting up to question the prisoners. Some demanded to know their backgrounds and pasts, while others examined their Root Bones and meridians.
Every prisoner who was questioned trembled with fear and tried their hardest to make a good impression. Some wept as they swore their loyalty; others forced out what little spiritual energy they had left, and some even crawled forward to beg for mercy.
Soon, two prisoners were selected.
One was a burly man with a sturdy Root Bone. Though his cultivation had been crippled, he still had a strong foundation. The other was eloquent and quoted the classics in his answers, so he must have come from an Aristocratic Clan.
A few breaths later, it was Chen Qing's turn.
"C-31, Chen Xu. A remnant of the Star Pivot Sect and an outcast of the Chen family."
As soon as his name was announced, the black-robed elder turned his gaze on him. "You're the Chen Xu who dragged the Chen family down? You once served as a border army commander. You must have some insights."
Before Chen Qing could reply, someone called out from the distance, "The third person has been chosen!"
The black-robed elder immediately withdrew his gaze and waved his hand. "Never mind. No need to answer. Three should be enough. After all, this is the Mysterious Prison; any more would bend the rules."
"My lord! Give me one more chance!"
The prisoners who had not been selected went ashen.
Just then, a voice rang out—
"Your Highness, Princess."
Since he was in a dream, Chen Qing held nothing back. He passed right by the black-robed elder and the others and addressed the figure seated on the stone seat.
The cultivators present all stared in surprise.
Li Benji narrowed his eyes and watched him coldly.
Chen Qing paid him no heed and continued, "Before you tried to reach the Third Realm, your foundation hadn't been stable, had it? Have you recently been suffering from a yin-yang disorder? Do you feel a stabbing sensation inside whenever you come into contact with one of the five elements?"
The black-robed elder's pupils contracted. His formidable aura crashed down on Chen Qing. "How did you know?"
"Lord Dingbo."
The silent figure behind the veil finally spoke.
At those three words, the black-robed elder immediately fell silent.
Then the woman's voice came again, leaving no room for argument. "Bring him too."
There was no explanation. Just five short words, yet they were law.
The black-robed elder bowed in acknowledgment. When he turned to Chen Qing, his expression was complicated. "Chen Xu, step forward!"
Under everyone's gaze, Chen Qing joined the selected prisoners, becoming the "fourth person."
He glanced at the three beside him, pondering what would happen next, when the edge of his vision suddenly blurred and twisted. White mist began to rise.
"Time... is up?"
His heart tightened. Chen Qing felt his consciousness slowly being pulled out of this body called "Chen Xu," and immediately understood.
He was about to wake up.
As soon as he opened his eyes, Chen Qing felt hollow inside.
"Have I gotten used to the dream's abundant spiritual energy? What a pity it was all fake... Hm?"
Strands of true qi suddenly surged from within him. It was as if a steady stream of spiritual energy had poured in through the crown of his head. It wasn't a torrent, but it kept flowing without interruption, gradually filling his whole body and melding with his flesh as if it had been tempered for years.
"How pure! It's similar to the true qi I refined in the dream, but there's much less of it—about one-tenth of what I had in the dream..."
He suddenly understood. Recalling what had happened and sorting through what he now knew about the rules of the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record, he drew his conclusions—
"Teaching others grants Dao Marks;"
"Spending Dao Marks to create a character lets me enter a dream and experience their life story;"
"The spiritual energy tempered in the dream feeds back into my real body at a ratio of ten to one."
As he pondered, a noise outside the window caught Chen Qing's attention.
Chen Qing rolled out of bed and opened the window. He saw the yellow paper talisman, drained of spiritual energy, lying on the ground, still giving off a weak, intermittent call to wake him. He froze for a moment, then understood.
"So the talisman woke me up. Seven days passed in the dream, but only three hours passed outside!"
This poor newbie would be grateful for recommendations, bookmarks, and follows...
Before you continue