A Difficult Beginning

"Uncle Jian, please guard me."

Ning Fengzhi said to Chen Xin.

Chen Xin seemed to realize something and nodded. "Be careful, Sect Master."

Soon, that drowsiness washed over him again. This time, he did not resist it and instead gave in to the urge to sleep.

His head tilted to one side. Though he remained sitting upright, he began to snore.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange place. Looking up, he saw three enormous celestial bodies in the sky. He had never seen anything like this in his life.

"These are... the sun and the moon. Then what is that other one?!"

The sight truly stirred him. Looking down, he saw soft clouds beneath his feet, stretching endlessly for thousands of miles. Only a single city stood alone in the distance.

Ning Fengzhi knew this was merely a Dream, yet he was still awestruck by the scenery.

The bricks used to construct the city were all translucent, gleaming jade, making the entire place appear extraordinary.

"Purple Heaven... City!"

Ning Fengzhi saw the name on the plaque above the gates and murmured it aloud before walking toward them.

"Though I have heard of Soul Skills that create Dreams, I never imagined someone could shape such scenery within one. That alone proves the caster of this Soul Skill possesses exceptional talent!"

Ning Fengzhi secretly praised the creator as he continued forward. He was certain that the person behind this was somewhere within. Yet after entering the city gates, he discovered that there was not a soul in sight. He immediately followed the smooth cloud road beneath his feet.

Meanwhile, Li Ming continued pulling people in.

The map before him zoomed in and locked onto the imperial palace of Heaven Dou City.

This time, his target was the most powerful man in the Heaven Dou Empire: Emperor Xue Ye.

With his previous experience, however, he directly had Satellite AI lock onto Emperor Xue Ye and repeatedly send access requests at intervals, harassing him once every minute until he accepted.

The ground shifted again, and several words appeared on the map: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan Territory.

Li Ming had marked it himself.

Naturally, he could not have learned the location of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's territory through ordinary means, but finding it was not difficult.

Their buildings bore numerous symbols of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Once Satellite AI identified them, it could determine the clan's location.

He then locked onto another red dot on the map and had Satellite AI continuously harass the target with Dreams until he accepted.

The Closed Beta members he had invited now included two of the Upper Three Sects and the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family. The final person would naturally be the sect master of the Clear Sky Sect.

The Clear Sky Sect had lived in seclusion for many years, but Li Ming still found its location with ease.

There was no helping it. When Satellite AI scanned the entire Heaven Dou Empire and its surrounding regions, this place was directly flagged as a key area.

There were simply too many Soul Masters above level ninety here. It immediately triggered Satellite AI's alarm and placed the area on its priority surveillance list.

As for the Clear Sky Sect's sect master, Satellite AI identified him after observing his behavior for some time.

It eventually locked onto a level ninety-seven Soul Master.

Compared to Ning Fengzhi, Emperor Xue Ye, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's level ninety-five patriarch, whom he had invited before, this man from the Clear Sky Sect was the strongest.

If Li Ming remembered correctly, this man was Tang San's father's elder brother, Tang Xiao.

For such an important figure, Li Ming decided to personally send the invitation.

He immediately controlled the satellite and activated the Soul Skill Dream on him!

Yet after only a short while, Li Ming was slightly surprised. It had succeeded immediately.

Was this the confidence and composure of a level ninety-seven Title Douluo?

Without dwelling on it, he turned his attention to the other two.

Satellite AI was still continuously sending access attacks.

When he saw that both men kept rejecting his access invitations, he could not help shaking his head. He decided to leave them alone for the moment and let Satellite AI continue sending invitations.

Li Ming then entered Dream Space. His body went limp, and he fell straight onto the bed, asleep.

Within Purple Heaven City, Ning Fengzhi was growing suspicious. Why had the person behind all this still not appeared? What did this mean?

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. He sharply turned around, his face full of vigilance. But when he saw that face, he frowned slightly. It looked familiar.

"Tang Xiao!"

He suddenly remembered. This was Tang Xiao, whom he had not seen for many years. However, Tang Xiao looked far older and more mature than before, so he had not recognized him at once.

"Ning Fengzhi."

Tang Xiao, standing opposite him, recognized him as well.

Yet the two merely faced each other. Neither had any intention of stepping forward to reminisce.

This was only a Dream. Naturally, whoever appeared here had been fabricated by the master behind the Dream.

The man before him was obviously fake.

Ning Fengzhi frowned, finding it strange. Why had the other party created Tang Xiao?

Naturally, he would not believe Tang Xiao had cast a Dream Soul Skill on him. For one thing, Tang Xiao was not that weak. For another, Tang Xiao had long sealed off his sect and isolated himself from the world.

Little did he know that Tang Xiao across from him was equally puzzled.

"Welcome, both of you, to my Purple Heaven City."

A voice suddenly rang out. Both men whipped around and saw an elderly, white-bearded man with the bearing of an immortal smiling at them.

Since it was his own Dream, Li Ming could naturally create a false appearance for himself.

As for them, they could not.

Satellite AI could prevent their fabricated bodies from entering.

"Who are you?"

"Who might you be, sir?"

Ning Fengzhi and Tang Xiao asked at the same time.

After speaking, however, they each gave the other a strange look.

They had no idea why the other party had created this fake body, then pretended to be a real person with a personality of his own. It was truly bizarre.

It was like one person playing two roles. The white-bearded old man before them had to be the one behind this, and the other person likewise could only be the same person. Yet he was now asking who this white-bearded old man was, just as Ning Fengzhi was. It was utterly absurd.

"Do you find this amusing?"

Tang Xiao immediately asked, his tone unfriendly. He only felt that the other party was toying with him.

Ning Fengzhi, standing opposite him, furrowed his brows tightly. Those should have been his words, yet the other man had said them first. It felt as though someone were putting on a performance for him, and his expression darkened as well.

Seeing that the two had misunderstood, Li Ming feared they might immediately break free of the Dream and leave, perhaps never accepting another access request. He hurriedly explained.

"You may have misunderstood.

This is Dream Space. Both of you truly exist and have descended upon my Purple Heaven City in Dream bodies. You are not fabrications.

For example, this man truly is the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, while this one truly is the sect master of the Clear Sky Sect."

At those words, both men looked at each other, though disbelief remained in their eyes.

Had this Dream been jointly created by several people?

It was not impossible, but they would at least need to be together in person.

"Please, have a seat."

Seeing that they remained suspicious but had no intention of immediately breaking free, Li Ming could not help letting out a sigh of relief. As expected, all beginnings were difficult.

With a wave of his hand, a tea table, a tea set, and five chairs suddenly appeared on the avenue.

He sat down in the seat of honor and smiled at the two men.

Though both still frowned, they considered it for a moment before taking their seats.