Dream Divination

A faint fish-belly white spread across the horizon. The warm dawn breeze, tinged with dew, brushed across Lin Chen's face.

As a precaution, Lin Chen had rushed back to Sunlit Cloud Peak of the Azure Cloud Sect overnight.

And now, he was finally safe.

But what Lin Chen did not know was that just as he let out a long breath and headed toward the Laboratory—

The place where he had fought last night was receiving a group of unwelcome visitors.

Around a massive, charred crater stood numerous cultivators clad in Spirit Armor or blue robes.

The nearby forest had been sealed off. Cultivators wearing Spirit Armor, broad-shouldered and powerfully built, their faces full of fierce resolve, vigilantly watched for the slightest stir in the wind and grass around them.

The blue-robed cultivators, meanwhile, continuously searched the scene for traces left behind.

At the center of the crowd stood a dignified young man, tall and proud. Beside him was an old man with white hair and a youthful face.

At that moment, the two were staring intently at a young girl lying on the ground before them.

The girl had long jet-black hair, phoenix-like brows curved like crescent moons, a delicate jade nose, cherry lips like orchids, and an oval face of breathtaking beauty.

Even more astonishingly, she held a strange plant in her arms.

Its leaves resembled cattails, crimson in color, and it gave off a faint halo of light.

This plant was known as the [Dream-Holding Grass]!

Ancient texts once recorded: "On the Mountain of Kindling Fire grows dream grass. It resembles cattails and is red in color. By day, it shrinks into the earth; by night, it emerges. It is also called dream-holding grass. Hold its leaves, and one will know whether a dream bodes fortune or misfortune—the result is immediate."

This plant had not arisen naturally. Rather, it was a peculiar spirit plant ultimately created through the influence of generations of cultivators from the Azure Cloud Sect.

Its use was also very simple: a person who entered a dream while holding it could, to a certain extent, dream of what they wished to know.

For example, news of spirit pills that could break through bottlenecks, the various methods carried by one's enemies, the locations of precious spirit treasures, and so on.

Simply Put, what one thinks of by day, one dreams of by night. Those who entered dreams holding it could learn, to a certain extent, of the past and future!

If coupled with a cultivator who specialized in the path of Heavenly Secrets—a [Heavenly Secret Master]—there was even a certain chance of forcibly foreseeing the secrets of cultivators in higher realms!

"Junior Sister Luo's talent in the path of Heavenly Secrets is the greatest our Azure Cloud Sect has seen in centuries. With the [Dream-Holding Grass], obtaining intelligence on an auction should be as easy as turning one's hand. Junior Brother Zhang has no need to worry so much."

Seeing Zhang Zhiming's face full of gravity, the old man at his side could not help but offer consolation.

In his view, Zhang Zhiming's concerns were entirely unnecessary.

Perhaps there truly was something fishy behind this auction, but it was absolutely impossible for the Rogue Cultivator Alliance and the Mysterious Yin Demonic Sect to join hands.

This was because the Azure Cloud Sect and the Mysterious Yin Gate both possessed Spirit Transformation inheritances. Their combat power and methods far surpassed those of the Same Rank. Within the Same Realm, in a one-on-one fight, members of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance were simply no match for disciples of the two sects.

The reason the Lingnan Great Land now maintained a three-legged balance was not because the three factions were evenly matched. Rather, it was because the Azure Cloud Sect and the Mysterious Yin Gate stood opposed to each other, giving the Rogue Cultivator Alliance a chance to survive.

If they joined forces against the Azure Cloud Sect, then once the Azure Cloud Sect was destroyed, would the Mysterious Yin Demonic Sect really pass up the Rogue Cultivator Alliance—the fat meat already at its mouth?

Surely not.

Could the Golden Core True Persons of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance fail to see such an outcome—one obvious to anyone with even a little intelligence and knowledge?

Thus, the old man felt that suspicion was a good thing, but there was no need for excessive concern.

At his words, Zhang Zhiming frowned slightly. Clearly, he did not agree with the old man's view.

He had also taken part in this pursuit.

They had originally seized the trail of the cultivator who had purchased the Foundation Establishment Secret Method, only to be stopped by two mysterious men in black.

Their methods were bloody and their moves vicious, far beyond what ordinary rogue cultivators could compare to. Moreover, they had plainly come to stop him.

He did not believe it was a coincidence.

Zhang Zhiming pondered for a moment and was just about to say something when he was suddenly interrupted.

"Greetings, my lord!" A middle-aged cultivator came before the two and bowed respectfully.

"What is your analysis of the situation at the scene?" Zhang Zhiming asked.

"We Already collected the remaining bloodstains of the cultivator who escaped and used [Sound Wind Wood], which can sense another's aura, to track him. But we do not know what method the other party used to interfere with our perception, so we have been unable to determine his location. And also..."

"And also what?" the old man beside him asked.

"And also, we suspect there was another cultivator at the scene." Seeing this, the middle-aged cultivator hurriedly continued.

"What makes you say that?"

"Based on the traces at the scene, we can determine that the cultivator who was besieged suffered severe injuries. Yet after successfully killing his attackers in return, he did not flee immediately. Instead, he remained at the Original Place for some time. Coupled With the pool of corpse fluid left at the other battle site, we strongly suspect that another person was present. However..." The middle-aged cultivator hesitated.

"Speak plainly!" Zhang Zhiming's expression darkened. What he hated most were people who left their words unfinished.

"Yes, yes!" Feeling that terrifying Spirit Pressure, cold sweat seeped from the middle-aged cultivator's forehead. "However, there are no traces whatsoever at the scene related to this cultivator. You must understand—amid a chaotic battle involving dozens of people, this person not only suffered no injuries at all, but did not even leave behind so much as a single thread of clothing. That is truly rather unreasonable..."

"Is that so..." At his words, His Eyes Moved.

Every cultivator who had come was an expert tracker, and he had little doubt about their deductions.

But a cultivator who emerged completely unscathed from such a chaotic battle... Could it be that a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator made a move?

Zhang Zhiming thought carefully for a while, but with insufficient information, he simply could not infer any useful conclusions.

And Now, it seems I can only hope Ziyan's Dream Divination yields some useful intelligence...

At this thought, Zhang Zhiming turned to look at the sleeping girl on the ground.

In the dream.

A massive, scorched pit, with traces of destruction left behind by tricks scattered everywhere.

This scene was almost exactly identical to the outside world. The only difference was that there were not so many cultivators inside the room—only a girl holding a glowing spirit herb, her pretty face slightly solemn.

"This is the place," Luo Ziyan said softly.

Among the Hundred Arts of Cultivation, the most mysterious was neither the soul arts, which specialized in the path of the soul and possessed all manner of bizarre methods such as Name-Calling Soul-Seizing and Soul-Seizing Nether-Piercing, nor the witchcraft arts proficient in curses, substitutes for death, and nightmares. It was—Heavenly Secret Art.

For Heavenly Secret Art could not only influence the fortune that existed in the dark, but also predict the past and future. Its great masters could even glimpse a corner of the River of Time spoken of in legend!

Even if they could merely observe it and not interfere, that was enough to demonstrate its mystery and terror!

Yet becoming a Heavenly Secret Master was no easy matter. Such talent was one in ten thousand even among cultivators, as rare as a Heavenly Spirit Root.

And all matters came at a price, let alone something like peering into the past and future.

Loss of lifespan, waning fortune, madness, and more besides—the price naturally differed according to the inheritance method and what was being predicted.

The Heavenly Secret Art Luo Ziyan cultivated was called the [Qinghuazi Easy Dream Heart Sutra], a cultivation method summarized and developed generation after generation by the Heavenly Secret cultivators of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Unlike ordinary Heavenly Secret Arts, this method held that dreams were where the consciousness of the living beings of This Side World converged. Though illusory and intangible, they truly existed.

Not only that, dreams were a reflection of the Reality World. They not only recorded all information in the world, but were also suspected to be connected to the Immortal Realm, and even the River of Time. All that had happened in the past and all that would happen in the future might come to pass within dreams.

And because dreams were illusory and ever-changing, cultivators who entered them could twist the dreamscape, reverse events that would happen in the future into the present, or trace back events that had already happened, thereby observing the future and the past!

"Not only does this method make it easier to observe how events unfold than ordinary Heavenly Secret divination, it can also reduce the backlash of heaven and earth. But it is not without risk..."

As she said this, Luo Ziyan looked toward the area beyond the glow of the Dream-Holding Grass, a trace of wariness flashing through her eyes.

Beyond the area enveloped by the Dream-Holding Grass's light was not the forest of reality, but a twisted region.

Upside-down mountain peaks, rivers flowing upstream, half-human, half-demon monsters... These Scenes were not fixed, but changed from time to time, forming Bizarre and Fantastic Scenes.

Beyond the Dream-Holding Grass's radiance lay the depths of the dream. With her Cultivation Level and strength, once she fell into it, she was Highly Likely to lose herself, never to Wake Up again!

"I only need to be careful." Luo Ziyan quickly withdrew her gaze and lightly grabbed at the empty air before her with her jade-like hand. At once, a white jade slip appeared in her hand.

This was the jade slip recording the Spirit Blood Foundation Establishment Secret Method. Yet it was not real, but a medium she had formed in the dream by gathering all sorts of information.

"Dreamers are the wanderings of the spirit, mirrors that know what is to come..." As lines of incomparably Xuanmiao true incantations were chanted, the surrounding scene suddenly began to change.

The sun rising in the east began to set, while the scorched stench that had already dispersed slowly grew stronger. Faint Figures even appeared On the Field.

Time was actually flowing backward at This Moment!

Then, All Changes suddenly stopped, and two blurry figures appeared On the Field.

They were Zhang Hao and Lin Chen!

"Hmm?" Luo Ziyan frowned slightly.

Logically speaking, the higher one's Cultivation Level, the harder it was to predict. These two before her were merely Qi Refining Stage Cultivators, so why were they so blurry in her dream divination?

"Never mind. This is not the key." Luo Ziyan fixed her gaze on Zhang Hao's figure, then walked towards him step by step.

Whoosh!

Luo Ziyan's figure actually merged directly with Zhang Hao's!

All of a sudden, the entire world went dark.

When Luo Ziyan's Line of Sight gradually returned, a burst of noisy clamor reached her ears.

"Hmph, nine thousand five hundred!"

"Ten thousand!"

"Ten thousand two hundred!"

"This is... the scene of that underground auction?!"

Looking at the underground hall shrouded in the Spirit Pearl's glow, Luo Ziyan could not help feeling astonished.

She had clearly been tracking Zhang Hao's whereabouts. Why had she arrived at the underground auction instead?!

"Could it be something went wrong?" Luo Ziyan pondered for a moment, but ultimately turned her attention to Inside the Room.

"...This auction concludes here..." After a large number of cultivators left, Zhao Ming also headed toward the backstage.

Luo Ziyan, behind him, flickered her gaze and followed.

Though she did not know why this had happened, the source of the Foundation Establishment secret method was also one of her investigation targets. Since she now had a chance to obtain information, she naturally could not let it slip away.

"Greetings, Elder!" Zhao Ming bowed to a completely blurry figure.

"Hmm, everything is prepared..."

After the two exchanged words, and after the old man muttered to himself, Luo Ziyan's face Inside the Room became grave.

"The Situ Family, seeking the tiger's skin, the Mysterious Yin Gate?" After hearing their conversation and the old man's muttering, Luo Ziyan's gaze darkened.

"Could it be that the Situ Family, a Golden Core family within the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, has thrown in its lot with the Mysterious Yin Gate?"

Thinking of this, Luo Ziyan's gaze shifted. Without Hesitation, she walked towards the Old Man. Performing Dream Divination across realms would greatly increase the danger and backlash, but she still decided to take the risk.

Only by obtaining enough intelligence could the sect make ample preparations to face the treacherous and ever-shifting situation ahead!

Darkness descended once more, yet Luo Ziyan inexplicably felt a chill that seeped deep into her Bone Marrow.

"What's going on?" Had Not Yet Had Time To figure it out, she heard a drip-drip sound Beside the Ear.

When her Line of Sight returned, The Scene Before Him was a sloping tunnel Leading To the underground.

"I was clearly divining information about the Situ Family. Why have I appeared here? Or is the Situ Family's Ancestor down below?" What happened during this Dream Divination had completely Exceeded Luo Ziyan's expectations!

"If one does not enter the tiger's den, how can one catch the tiger cub? I followed the trail here—I have to go down and see what's there."

She hesitated for a moment, then gritted her teeth and went down.

As she continued deeper, the surroundings grew increasingly dim. From afar, she seemed to hear a strand of unceasing weeping, leaving her with a woozy, drunken sensation.

Everything around her seemed to become somewhat hazy, and somewhat eerie.

The walls of the cave seemed alive as they took on A Trace of dark red, as though blood were continuously seeping out...

The Dream-Holding Grass in her hand reacted ever more violently, as if it were burning. Yet the area it covered grew smaller and smaller, while the light it emitted became increasingly dim.

Faced with such a bizarre sight, Luo Ziyan seemed to turn a blind eye, walking downward step by step.

Finally...

Her Line of Sight abruptly opened up as she entered an underground Karst Cave.

At the very center of the underground Karst Cave lay an enormous Blood Pool, radiating an eerie glow!

Bang!

At This Moment, as if it had reached its limit, the Dream-Holding Grass in Luo Ziyan's hand suddenly split apart, releasing a dazzling light that shot directly into her eyes!

"This!" Luo Ziyan seemed to awaken from a dream, immediately coming to her senses as her expression changed.

Her mind had been bewitched just now, causing her to overlook everything that was wrong.

Now that the Dream-Holding Grass's final power had awakened her, she naturally sensed the danger!

"One failed divination might be called a coincidence, but two are far more than mere coincidence."

"Some unknown, terrifying existence has misled my Dream Divination!"

Gurgle, gurgle!

Just as she regained consciousness, the Blood Pool before her suddenly began to boil. Within moments, an illusory Blood Lotus emerged.

"Leave!" Seeing This Scene, Luo Ziyan made a snap decision and stopped the divination Without Hesitation.

The bizarre scene before her had already Exceeded her control. She could not remain in This Place any longer, or she would surely encounter unknown danger!

Everything around her blurred, and her entire figure began to flicker as she prepared to leave the dreamscape at This Moment.

Screech~

But accompanied by a piercing sound of flesh scraping against flesh, the dream world—which should have blurred and faded away—actually froze at This Moment. The Blood Lotus before her was becoming clearer Speck by Speck!

"How is that possible?!" Unable to suppress the shock In Heart, Luo Ziyan's face changed drastically.

It was only a single divination. The distance between them was unknown, perhaps unimaginably vast, and the dream world itself posed layer upon layer of interference—yet the other party could use only the scene before them as a medium to invade her dream in reverse?!

Even If it were a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, they should not be capable of such a thing!

Woo~

Beside her Ears, the mournful cries grew louder and louder, as if Ten Thousand Ghosts were Wailing. The Blood Lotus before her began to bloom Speck by Speck, and the dreamscape turned blood-red at This Moment. In that instant, Luo Ziyan even sensed the threat of death!

Yet her entire body was frozen in her Original Place, unable to move. She could only watch helplessly as This Scene unfolded!

At the Crucial Moment, a crisp sound suddenly rang out within the dark-red dreamscape.

Boom!

Golden flames then ignited out of thin air, enveloping her entire body. Amid the surging fire, the phantom of an immortal tree emerged.

Its spreading, twisting branches, its posture soaring upward, and those flames that would never go out.

"On the mountain of immortals stands an immortal tree. Fire burns upon it day and night; gales cannot make it rage, torrential rains cannot extinguish it. It burns without being consumed—this is the Unquenchable Wood!"

The surging flames instantly engulfed the entire dreamscape. The Blood Lotus, which had gradually become real, blurred under their interference. Then the whole dreamscape shattered like a reflection in a mirror!

And at the moment she sank completely into darkness, Luo Ziyan seemed to glimpse through the gaps between the Blood Lotus's petals a terrifying Blood Shadow seated within the lotus!