The Fake Can Become Real

As Chen Qing opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar ceiling.

He looked around and found himself in a small, cramped, damp stone cell. It was sealed on all sides, with no windows except for a single iron door.

Faint light seeped through the cracks of the door.

"This dream has such real texture, this light, this moisture... it's like the real thing."

Chen Qing immediately realized that the body he was currently inhabiting was not his own. It was filled with an extremely dense, unrefined spiritual energy.

"What's going on with this spiritual energy? It's so coarse and rich. He just absorbed it without refining it, isn't he afraid it'll dissipate all the time? What a waste!"

As he was wondering, his head suddenly throbbed, and countless memories surged like a flood, striking him instantly. He let out a muffled groan, his mind a chaotic mess—

Central Spirit Continent... Primordial Immortal Dynasty... Dingbian City... Mysterious Prison... The last successor of the Star Pivot Sect...

Various pieces of information swept through Chen Qing's mind like a passing storm.

But the flood came and went as quickly as it arrived. A few breaths later, Chen Qing let out a long sigh, feeling the added memories, his expression strange, as if he were dreaming.

"No, I am indeed dreaming. Based on the fabricated life of the patriarch, a dream within a dream has been generated, as real as life. According to the memories, this body's original name was Chen Xu, the last successor of the Star Pivot Sect. The Star Pivot Sect was a border sect on the Central Spirit Continent. Its mountain gate was breached, and its disciples were nearly wiped out. Chen Xu narrowly escaped but was captured by the Primordial Immortal Dynasty's sword cultivators and imprisoned in the Mysterious Prison."

The Mysterious Prison was where the Primordial Immortal Dynasty suppressed cultivators; even those with heaven-defying cultivation could not escape.

"The last inheritor of the sect? It all adds up."

After sorting through the memories, Chen Qing felt a sense of enlightenment.

"However, I don't know if this Primordial Immortal Dynasty is fictional or real. Unfortunately, the Hidden Star Gate is small and weak, and maintaining its legacy has already taken all our effort. We have no spare capacity to learn about the history of the Central Spirit Continent, so there's no way to compare. Speaking of which, why was the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record suddenly activated? Was it because I became the sect leader, or did I lie to my junior nephew? If it's the former, it's fine. I can develop the book's wonders when managing the sect in the future. But if it's the latter..."

He pondered for a moment and suddenly had an epiphany.

"Since Master has paved the way, as a disciple, what is there to hesitate about enduring humiliation for the sect and just talking a little? It's just making up stories. I've read a lot of them in my previous life, I'm full of them!"

Now, he was even more curious about how this dream story would unfold.

"It said it could reflect on life, but I have to complete the life's performance first, right? My identity and background are set now. The next step should be to revitalize the sect, but I've already become a prisoner. How can I revitalize it?"

He concentrated and sensed this body.

"What a waste! This entire body is filled with spiritual energy, which must have been absorbed haphazardly through crude breathing techniques. The spiritual energy fills the limbs and bones without restraint, equivalent to constantly leaking! If I were to use the breathing method from the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, just absorbing this spiritual energy would take me two to three years of non-stop cultivation! And it's just sitting here? What a sacrilege!"

With this thought, he immediately visualized the scenery of mountains and seas and began circulating his qi.

Buzz!

The next moment, the spiritual energy within Chen Qing's body trembled, like fire entering boiling oil. The spiritual energy in various parts of his body surged, flowing along the meridians according to the cultivation technique towards the Yellow Court Palace! It poured in like a torrent!

This spiritual energy was extremely abundant, responding to his will like his own limbs. In his seventeen years of cultivation, he had never experienced such a wealthy battle!

Wherever the spiritual energy passed, it solidified like a sword, carving and opening paths in the meridians—

Puff puff puff!

In an instant, six meridians were opened!

"The main meridians have been opened?"

Chen Qing's face showed surprise. Opening meridians required not only the quantity of spiritual energy but also its quality!

The initial stage of the Yellow Court requires absorbing moonlight and morning qi, discarding the impure qi of flesh and blood, and condensing acquired qi into internal breath. However, this internal breath is loose and can only strengthen the body and meridians, not open them. Only by stepping into the second stage, 'Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment,' and mastering the Supreme Harmony Qi can one open the meridians! But... there is no Supreme Harmony Qi circulating in the body?

"All things carry yin and embrace yang, and qi harmonizes them, thus it is called Soothing Harmony."

This stage harmonizes yin and yang, the five elements, soul and spirit, emptiness and reality, mastering a trace of Supreme Harmony Qi to establish the foundation for eternal life and lay the Dao Foundation for questioning the profound. Therefore, the second stage is the stage of Soothing Harmony Foundation Establishment.

"But it's just opening the meridians, and there's no Supreme Harmony Qi circulating in the body. So it's still the cultivation of the first stage." Recalling the past and present, he suddenly realized: "Does this fabricated body of the patriarch already have the cultivation of the second stage? But its cultivation was crippled?"

Instantly, fragments of memory resonated as if they were alive, transmitting sporadic information—

After being captured and suppressed, his cultivation was crippled...

Just then!

"C-31! Why did you trigger a spiritual energy anomaly?"

A furious roar exploded from outside the door. The iron door was blasted open, and several burly jailers filed in, charging towards Chen Qing with shackles in hand!

Chen Qing's eyes snapped open, intending to resist, but his brow suddenly stung! An ancient seal script character for "Prison" appeared on his forehead, instantly sealing his meridians and suppressing his qi and blood! One moment he was at the peak of the first stage, possibly in Foundation Establishment, and the next he was reduced to an ordinary mortal!

Clang!

Specially made shackles were placed on him, immediately suppressing the spiritual energy within his body. Chen Qing's breathing hitched, and he collapsed to the ground.

"This dream really doesn't feel like it was generated on the fly..."

Doubts flickered through his mind, but according to the memory fragments, the Mysterious Prison specialized in imprisoning cultivators, so having such suppression methods was reasonable.

"Chen Xu, I originally thought that given your noble family background and your unfortunate fate, and your usual quiet nature, I would release the spirit-suppressing lock. Is this how you repay me?"

A clear, cold voice spoke as a tall, thin man in black robes strode into the cell—

It was Jailer Li Benji, the head of the C-block.

He stopped in front of Chen Qing, the tip of his boot almost touching Chen Qing's face, and said coldly, "I know you are unwilling. Your Chen family once swept through the Central Continent with the Sage, and your great-grandfather was among the 108 Stars. You, Chen Xu, joined the army at twenty, fought in the Western Wilderness, but were stripped of your military power and had your spirit bones crippled due to slander from your sworn brother, implicating your family and leaving you to wander the frontier. To seek a comeback, you joined the Star Pivot Sect, only to encounter the Immortal Dynasty's decree to abolish all sects..."

He suddenly crouched down, his stern face close to Chen Qing's eyes, "But the Immortal Dynasty's laws are strict. Once you enter here, you must abide by the rules. Don't think about revenge anymore, otherwise, no matter how great your background, you won't escape a trip to the Spirit Severing Platform!"

After speaking, he left with his men without waiting for a response, showing no concern for how Chen Qing would react.

Clang!

The iron door closed.

Chen Qing tried to circulate his energy, but it felt like carrying a massive boulder. His meridians were blocked. After a long while, he managed to get up and sat leaning against the wall.

"To be from a great clan, only to have my military power stripped and my spiritual bones crippled – is this an added plot point? So, my cultivation was indeed crippled before. Is that why I can cultivate so quickly now because my past realm was high? No, it's because my spiritual energy is too abundant. Even the spiritual energy in this prison is unusually dense. I didn't notice it before, but now, sensing carefully, spiritual energy is surging everywhere. This should be due to the era…"

He tried to sort through the fragmented memories of "Chen Xu," but found it as taxing as flipping through a book, making it difficult to master quickly.

"This isn't like a normal dream. It's more like I've truly transmigrated to the Central Spirit Continent. But the Central Spirit Continent sank over ten thousand years ago. And this is the life of a fictional character…"

Thinking this, Chen Qing shook his head and sighed.

"Whatever, I'll think about it when I wake up. The talisman will wake me in three hours. I just don't know if I'll get a life feedback."

Who knew that waiting would take a full seven days!

"I've been asleep for so long? My body must be starving! Fortunately, the sect prepared rations. Da Ao and the others should be fine. I'm just afraid they'll worry when they don't see me for seven days. Moreover, the spirit marrow maintaining the formation must have been consumed quite a bit. If it's really necessary, I have to find a way to wake up. But this is my first time entering a dream. I'm afraid that if I wake up from this dream, there will be some hidden consequences."

During these seven days, "Chen Xu" was imprisoned here, subsisting on only two Bigu Pills. According to legend, one pill could sustain a person for three days without hunger.

"According to the setting, 'Chen Xu' is supposed to revitalize the sect. But under the grand momentum of the Primordial Immortal Dynasty, even escaping is a distant prospect. How can a half-crippled cultivator make a comeback? Moreover, after studying the memory fragments these past few days, I found that although the cultivation methods in this world are divided into realms, they are crude and unbearable. In terms of detail, they are not even as good as the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll. At most, they only reach the perfection of the third realm, and there are no annotations from predecessors. With these, there's no capital for a comeback…"

Clang!

The iron door suddenly opened.

Li Benji entered with his hands behind his back, casting a cold glance at the corner. "You're lucky! The Tenth Princess wants to choose a few prisoners with clean backgrounds, and she still remembers you." Then, his tone shifted. "But don't dream of regaining her favor. As you are now, you're at best a test subject for new techniques!"

So, this fictional ancestor also had a past with some Tenth Princess?

Chen Qing knew this was a turning point in the dream within a dream and silently got up.

Soon, he was led into a spacious stone hall.

Inside the hall, several prisoners in shackles stood with their heads bowed.

A stone seat hovered at the head of the hall, obscured by a thin veil. A slender figure could be vaguely seen behind the veil, emanating a cold aura. Cultivators with deep auras and Mysterious Prison officials stood on either side. Li Benji retreated to the side, watching with a cold gaze.

As Chen Qing's gaze swept across the stone seat, his pupils suddenly contracted. He saw a flash of ink-like dark spiritual light behind the thin veil!

The light flashed and disappeared, so quickly that one almost thought it was an illusion.

"Erratic spiritual light?" he wondered. "According to the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll, this is a hidden danger left from forcefully breaking through before reaching the perfection of the second realm. It will cause yin and yang imbalance and the five elements to go awry. One should go into seclusion to regulate it with earth vein spiritual energy and marrow-cleansing grass. Why would she personally come to a place of yin and sha?"

Seventeen years of arduous cultivation experience with the Sea and Mountain Remnant Scroll led him to a guess: "Perhaps because the Primordial Immortal Dynasty, which serves as the backdrop, is so ancient that there are no cultivator annotations yet, and even the royal family doesn't know these cultivation essentials?"

Just then.

"By order of the Princess!" a silver-patterned black-robed elder suddenly announced loudly, "Select three people to serve as close attendants and test the new methods! You must answer truthfully and not speak carelessly!"

"Only three?"

The hall immediately stirred.

The prisoners' eyes blazed with a desperate will to survive.

The chance was slim, the competition brutal!

Then, the selection began.

Four people beside the elder stepped forward and began questioning separately, some sternly inquiring about their background and experiences, others probing their bone structure and meridians.

The prisoners questioned trembled and did their best to impress. Some wept and pledged loyalty, others circulated their remaining spiritual energy, and some even prostrated themselves in supplication.

Soon, two prisoners were chosen.

One was burly with a robust bone structure. Although his cultivation was crippled, his foundation remained. The other was eloquent and quoted classics when answering, suggesting he was from a noble family.

A few breaths later, it was Chen Qing's turn.

"C-31, Chen Xu. Remnant of the Star Pivot Sect, abandoned son of the Chen family."

Upon hearing the name, the black-robed elder's gaze shifted. "You are that Chen Xu who dragged down the Chen family? Since you were once a border general, you should have some insights."

Before Chen Qing could answer, someone shouted from afar, "The third person is decided!"

The black-robed elder immediately withdrew his gaze and waved his hand. "Forget it, no need to answer. Three people are enough. After all, this is the Mysterious Prison, any more would be against the rules."

"Sir! Give me another chance!"

The unselected prisoners turned ashen.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang out—

"Your Highness."

Since he was in a dream, Chen Qing had no reservations. He walked past the black-robed elder and others, speaking directly to the figure on the stone seat.

This action stunned all the cultivators present.

Li Benji narrowed his eyes and stared at him coldly.

Chen Qing ignored them and continued, "Your Highness, before you broke through to the third realm, your foundation was not yet solid, was it? Have you been experiencing yin and yang imbalance recently, and when touching things of the five elements, do you feel a stinging sensation within your body?"

The black-robed elder's pupils constricted, and his powerful aura suddenly pressed down. "Where did you learn this?"

"Lord Dingbo."

Behind the thin veil, the figure who had been silent all along finally spoke.

With just these three words, the old man in the black robe immediately fell silent.

Then, the woman's voice came again, leaving no room for doubt: "Bring him along too."

No explanation was given, but these five short words were like an unbreakable decree.

The old man in the black robe bowed and accepted the order. Turning to Chen Qing, his eyes held a complex emotion: "Chen Xu, step forward!"

Under everyone's gaze, Chen Qing stood among the chosen prisoners, becoming the "fourth person."

He glanced at the three people beside him, contemplating what to do next, when he suddenly felt the edges of his vision blur and distort, and a white mist began to rise.

"Time... is up?"

A jolt went through him. Chen Qing felt his consciousness slowly withdrawing from this "Chen Xu" body, and he immediately understood.

He was about to wake up.

As soon as he opened his eyes, Chen Qing felt an emptiness within him.

"Is this because I'm used to the abundant spiritual energy in my dreams? A pity it's all fake... Hmm?"

Suddenly, wisps of true qi surged from within him, as if streams of spiritual energy were pouring in from the crown of his head. Though not a torrent, it was continuous, gradually filling his entire body and merging perfectly with his physical form, as if he had been refining it for years.

"How pure! It's similar to the true qi I refined in my dreams, but the quantity is much less, only about a tenth of what was in the dream..."

He suddenly realized, recalling his experiences, and began to organize the rules of the Grand Void Dao Evolution Record that he currently understood, gaining some insights—

"Teaching others grants Dao marks;"

"Consuming Dao marks to fabricate characters allows one to enter dreams and experience their lives;"

"Spiritual energy refined in dreams can be fed back to the physical body in reality at a ten-to-one ratio."

While he was contemplating, a commotion outside the window caught Chen Qing's attention.

Chen Qing rolled out of bed and pushed open the window. He saw the yellow paper talisman, having exhausted its spiritual energy, fall to the ground. It was still emitting faint, intermittent sounds of awakening. He was stunned at first, then suddenly understood.

"So I was awakened by the talisman. Seven days passed in the dream, but outside the dream, only three hours have passed!"

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