If you cultivated, you would see me as a mayfly sees the vast blue heavens!

Ji Feng and Sangonomiya Kokomi walked on either side, with Nahida in the middle. A man and a woman flanking a little girl-however you looked at them, they seemed like a family of three on an outing.

Nahida looked around curiously, fascinated by this new world. Ji Feng also glanced from side to side, hoping to run into some lackey or bit player so he could show off his strength.

[Has your Dream collected any martial souls yet?]

Kokomi's lips did not move; her voice sounded directly in Ji Feng's mind. When it came to relatively confidential matters like these, she felt they could communicate through team voice chat. Nahida had provided the technical support.

[It hasn't been that long. Not many have cultivated far enough to condense a Mark, but the martial souls we've gotten so far are all top quality! The Seven Kill Sword, Clear Sky Hammer, Bone Dragon, Six-Winged Angel, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Nine Heart Begonia...]

Ji Feng felt quite pleased.

The Dream spanned the entire continent. Within a few hours, those top sects had already used their various means to locate Nahida's emissaries of inheritance. Qian Daoliu had thought of learning through observation, and those sects were no fools either. Several of them had chosen to join the Sanctuary of Surasthana directly, just to be safe.

With spiritual power at least at the Soul Douluo level, they naturally cultivated to the point of condensing a Mark very quickly.

One after another, they contributed their martial souls to the God of Wisdom.

To recruit talent far and wide, Nahida had claimed she would examine their souls before deciding whether to grant them the inheritance. In reality, that mechanism did not exist at all. A moment's thought made it obvious that she did not have enough divine consciousness to perform such an examination on everyone.

In fact, even a soul beast could pass, provided it could accept and understand the cultivation method being imparted.

[Are the people of the Douluo Continent really that... simple?]

Kokomi was slightly surprised. They actually dared to practice an unfamiliar cultivation method so casually? She did not know whether to call it the boldness of the highly skilled or-stupidity.

But on second thought, the Douluo Continent really did not have tactics this advanced. They were natives of Douluo, after all, limited by their horizons. Faced with a trick like this for the first time, they had no answer.

In truth, this was also an overt stratagem. The cultivation method was right there, and those who practiced it gained greater spiritual power. If you refused to learn, you were already a cut below the rest.

Even if some could restrain their greed, across the entire Douluo Continent, there was no shortage of people who could not, their hearts brimming with avarice.

Once the first group began cultivating, the rest would have no choice but to follow if they did not want to fall behind.

"Did you see that god? The one in the dream! There really are gods in this world!"

The dream world created by Nahida, the God of Wisdom, which had drawn the entire continent into it, immediately became the hottest topic on the Douluo Continent.

"That God of Wisdom is so adorable~ Hehehe! So tiny and soft, yet she looks so utterly serious. Keh keh keh."

"Holy shit! Stay away from me. I don't want your blood splashing on me! You dare lust after a god?!"

"I'm joining the Sanctuary of Surasthana! Once I join, I'll have a god watching my back!"

"Would the God of Wisdom think anything of ordinary people like us?"

"She specifically mentioned us ordinary people! As long as we complete the God of Wisdom's trial and join the Sanctuary of Surasthana, we can get a new life!"

"Exactly! If she looked down on ordinary people, why would she pull us into the dream? I saw it all! That enormous sea of people was full of ordinary folk! There were hardly any soul masters!"

"This God of Wisdom is a foreign deity. She doesn't understand what makes us soul masters so noble. Why insist on bringing ordinary people into it?"

"I'm joining the Sanctuary of Surasthana!"

"Long live the God of Wisdom!"

The streets seethed with voices, discussions surging like a tide.

The people's gratitude toward the God of Wisdom, who had extended goodwill to ordinary folk, was almost beyond words. In this land where soul masters stood high above everyone else and ordinary lives were worth no more than grass, a god had suddenly lowered her gaze and offered them a second life-how could they ever forget such kindness?

The God of Wisdom's popularity among the people was soaring at an unprecedented pace!

She had already become the hottest new trend: powerful enough to draw everyone into a dream, gentle and kind enough to help ordinary people, and a delicate, innocent, endearing little girl to boot. One look at her was enough to make people feel she was a benevolent god.

[Wait, that's not right!]

Ji Feng quickly turned toward Nahida beside him, the God of Wisdom herself, who was walking openly down the street.

Yet the people shouting about the God of Wisdom treated the real God of Wisdom as though she were invisible.

He even began to wonder whether he had used Nahida's face in the dream at all.

[A simple alteration of perception.]

Nahida's clear voice sounded directly in Ji Feng's mind, carrying a measure of divine composure. [They'll subconsciously overlook my presence. Did you think I, the illustrious Lesser Lord Kusanali, couldn't even anticipate a situation like this?]

The three soon arrived at Ah Yin's medicinal shop. In just one day, she had already put the place in respectable order. Various medicinal herbs and simple herbal remedies sat on the counter. The shop was clean and tidy, and a faint fragrance of plants greeted them.

Ah Yin, both the shopkeeper and a soul master, wore a plain dress and possessed a fresh, graceful beauty. At the moment, however, a handsome young man with sword-like brows and star-bright eyes was pestering her, leaving helplessness written all over her face. His words were solicitous; clearly, he had been at this for more than a little while. Several steps behind him stood an elderly man with graying hair and beard, his hands behind his back. His presence was deep and steady as he silently kept watch.

Ji Feng's expression shifted slightly. He immediately stepped forward and gave the young man's shoulder a firm slap, smiling as he said, "Buddy, can't you see you're bothering her?"

Seeing someone come to her rescue, Ah Yin felt a slight stir in her heart. But she soon recognized him and inwardly rolled her eyes. Weren't you pestering me just as relentlessly yesterday?!

And today you're suddenly the picture of righteousness, she grumbled inwardly.

The worry between her brows only deepened. After all, one lecher had multiplied into two.

"Oh? Are you telling this young master what to do?"

The man gave an arrogant grin and looked Ji Feng up and down with disdain, clicking his tongue in wonder. "These days, anyone dares to play the hero, no matter how weak they are!"

He could plainly see that Ji Feng's meager soul power made him a Soul Scholar at best. He, on the other hand, had reached the Soul King level at the tender age of twenty-nine. He was a future pillar of his family, and within his lifetime, even the rank of Titled Douluo was worth a shot.

"Boy, I'm in a good mood today, so I can spare your life. What a pity. Your cultivation is so low that you can't even discern my strength. I'm kindhearted, so I won't blame you. If you'd worked a little harder at cultivating, you wouldn't have to suffer this humiliation today. You'd have scurried away long before I needed to say a word!"

"If you do not cultivate, you see me as a frog in a well sees the moon above; if you cultivated, you would see me as a mayfly sees the vast blue heavens!"

The man stood proudly, the corners of his mouth lifted, as five soul rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black-rose from beneath his feet.

"Today, I'll at least let you understand why you're dying. This young lady, a Soul Emperor at such a tender age, and I are a perfect match of talent and beauty. How could we allow a lowly rustic like you to squawk here? If you know what's good for you, get lost!"

The oppressive aura of a Soul King surged toward him. Just then, a graceful figure stepped in front of Ji Feng in time to block the pressure. Ah Yin's willow-like brows furrowed slightly, and her words carried undisguised impatience and coldness.

"Young master! Ji Feng has done me a kindness, and he is my friend. This is my shop. You have no right to tell my friend to get out! Please stop pestering me. I have no interest in you whatsoever!"

The man's brows drew together slightly. Suppressing his anger, he said each word distinctly. "You would reject me for this worthless country bumpkin?"

"Ah Yin is only a country soul master herself, unworthy of climbing onto your lofty branch, sir. You are not welcome here!"

Ah Yin refused to yield an inch.