Arc 41Dreams and Black Markets

Dongguan investigated the Tamos Bloodline and the nature of dreams while developing a network of Black Markets and seeking knowledge from soul cultivators. The stretch ended with him disguised as One Thought and allied with Zaituo and Yinmeng after they negotiated with him instead of hunting him.

  • Dongguan opened his third bloodline seal, advanced to Late God Emperor, and later killed the Azure Sky Wood Envoy with his gray mist.
  • Dongguan traveled through the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, studied Hunyuan lifeforms, and joined Colorful Radiance in establishing a concealed Black Market.
  • Dongguan used an incense ritual to probe the Tamos Bloodline, but Tamos trapped him in a dream of fragmented memories before he awoke in Aumo City.
  • Dongguan met Original Ancestor and Wangmeng, learned about illusion, dreams, and soul paths, and developed plans for a Dream of All Living Beings.
  • Dongguan and Colorful Radiance planned a second Black Market, while Yinmeng and Zaituo began recruiting participants for their own trial market.
  • Ranling attacked Dongguan at a Black Market, but Dongguan broke through his techniques and demonstrated the strength of a Late God Emperor Dao Comprehender.
  • Dongguan ambushed a late God Emperor lifeform near the Autumn Ze River, while Zaituo and Yinmeng survived their own encounter with a powerful Virtual Form Being.
  • Zaituo, Yinmeng, and Dongguan negotiated an alliance, and Dongguan introduced himself to Yinmeng as One Thought.
Chapters 1001–1025 Vol. 11 Read

Ch. 1001The infinite bloodline

Lu Yin Walker shared his research on the Infinite Serpent bloodline with Dongguan, hoping they could improve their understanding together. As they compared their different paths, Dongguan considered how the bloodline’s infinite aspect related to the eternity Tamos had developed.

  • Dongguan sensed Tamos’s bloodline stirring against its seal, but resolved that greater strength would let him face the remnant.
  • Lu Yin Walker explained the Infinite Serpents’ power and their role as scouts and vanguard for the Innate Primal Chaos Lifeform Faction.
  • Lu Yin Walker recounted how an Infinite Serpent destroyed his Source World and how the ensuing battle led to the fall of the Beigu World Cluster.
  • Lu Yin Walker proposed exchanging research because Dongguan had fused with an Infinite Serpent bloodline while Lu Yin Walker had studied its effects without fusing.
  • Dongguan accepted the exchange with a warning that Tamos’s unusual bloodline might make his experience different.
  • Lu Yin Walker described the Infinite Serpent’s infinite bloodline as a cycle-bearing power with spatial properties, and Dongguan considered how eternity might relate to time.

Ch. 1002Bloodline Will

After discussing how the Infinite Serpent Bloodline stores and releases bloodline power, Dongguan unsealed his third bloodline seal and advanced to Late God Emperor. He experienced the bloodline will’s terrifying isolation and recognized it as a danger to his mind.

  • Lu Yin Walker and Dongguan discussed how bloodline power fused and stored different powers, and considered burning as one way to release them.
  • Dongguan opened his third bloodline seal and advanced from Mid God Emperor to Late God Emperor.
  • Inside the bloodline will’s darkness and nothingness, Dongguan manifested the Great Daos he had mastered but found he could not advance or explore further.
  • Luo Feng sensed Dongguan’s aura affecting the Life Secret Patterns in a dead Hunyuan Lifeform, then watched the changes disappear.
  • Lu Yin Walker reflected on Guantian’s Dao talent as a gleam flashed across the Dark Red Crystal in his Space Treasure.
  • Dongguan awoke from the bloodline will’s dream and recognized that its eternal isolation could contaminate his mind.

Ch. 1003Strength

Luo Feng and Di Qing failed to defeat a late God Emperor Azure Sky Wood Envoy, but Dongguan appeared and killed it with ease. Dongguan divided the spoils with them as a parting gift.

  • Luo Feng and Di Qing fought the Azure Sky Wood Envoy, but its strength and control over its temporary home ground overwhelmed them.
  • Luo Feng and Di Qing stopped fleeing because they expected support, and Dongguan arrived and locked down the Azure Sky Wood Envoy's domain with gray mist.
  • Dongguan located and destroyed the Azure Sky Wood Envoy's Life Core, killing it and reducing its body to spoils.
  • Luo Feng and Di Qing came over as Dongguan sorted the spoils and gave them half as a parting gift.

Ch. 1004Parting

Dongguan parted from Luo Feng and Di Qing, then began exploring the Origin Continent’s Hunyuan Power and studying the deeper nature of his Infinite Serpent bloodline. He left with a plan to investigate other Hunyuan Lifeforms and to overcome the mysterious state of mind he had encountered during his breakthrough.

  • Dongguan told Luo Feng he would travel through the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm instead of returning to Yulan City or going to the Dark Sacred Realm.
  • Luo Feng and Di Qing said farewell to Dongguan and left for Yulan City aboard Di Qing’s Flying Boat.
  • Dongguan recalled Lu Yin Walker’s advice and resolved to study Hunyuan Lifeforms through their living behavior and ecologies, while avoiding direct observation of the Infinite Serpent’s source.
  • Dongguan considered whether overcoming the eternal state of mind from his breakthrough could strengthen his will enough to escape the prison cage.
  • In the space beyond the Chaos Layer, Dongguan absorbed Hunyuan Power and realized that his bloodline abilities let him imitate some traits of Hunyuan Lifeforms, though the process eroded his body and consumed far more energy than it returned.

Ch. 1005Black Market

Dongguan studied the paths to God Emperor Perfection and ultimate awakening, clarified his own route toward becoming a Hunyuan Lord, and advanced his Material Origin Great Dao to Mid God Emperor. He then visited a concealed black market near Autumn Ze River and judged that it might soon be exposed and dissolved.

  • Dongguan reflected on absorbing Hunyuan power, the stages of God Emperor Perfection, and how bloodline cultivators and Dao Comprehenders could escape the prison cage.
  • Dongguan recalled his exchange with Lu Yin Walker and decided that becoming a Lord of the Source World, escaping the prison cage, and advancing toward becoming a Lord was his clearest path.
  • Dongguan's Material Origin Great Dao advanced to Mid God Emperor, while he considered how breakthroughs in five other Origin Great Daos could help him refine a Source World.
  • Dongguan traveled to Autumn Ze River in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, where cultivators and Hunyuan lifeforms traded in concealed black markets.
  • Dongguan observed that the market had over a thousand participants and concluded that its size and discoverability made its imminent demise likely.

Ch. 1006Complexity

Dongguan explored a black market nearing collapse, arranged several trades, and considered expanding his cloning techniques while traveling the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm. He also reflected on his bloodline’s hidden dangers and studied the Supreme Rule and the Technology Society on the Origin Continent.

  • Dongguan selected dream-inclined soul treasures from a stall and agreed with the shopkeeper to trade Hunyuan crystals at a separate time and place.
  • Dongguan visited another shop, then left the black market and wondered whether it would survive until his next visit.
  • Dongguan planned to split off more clones and considered fusing a third cloning technique as his Space Origin Great Dao and Life Origin Great Dao advanced.
  • Dongguan worried that the Tamos Bloodline might conceal dangers and set out to make contact with low-tier Hunyuan lifeforms through his arranged trades.
  • Dongguan studied the Supreme Rule through the Origin Ranking and reviewed the Technology Society’s work collecting and cataloging specialized inheritances.

Ch. 1007A new market

Dongguan completed a trade with Colorful Radiance and helped establish a new black market in the Red Splendor Mountains. After leaving an avatar there, he went to Aumo City and began a ritual with the materials he had gathered to counter his bloodline’s negative effects.

  • Dongguan met Colorful Radiance in the Red Splendor Mountains and exchanged Hunyuan crystals for rare treasures.
  • Colorful Radiance proposed establishing a new black market, and Dongguan agreed to build it at their meeting place.
  • Dongguan bought instructions for the black-market array formation and learned that it exploited a loophole in the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm’s formations.
  • Dongguan and Colorful Radiance used the aliases Gray Mist and Colorful Radiance, then left avatars to run shops in the new market.
  • Dongguan traveled to Aumo City, entered a rented cave abode, and began a ritual using the materials he had gathered to address his bloodline’s negative effects.

Ch. 1008Dream

Dongguan watched a world develop from matter and energy into a civilization of cultivators, reflecting on the laws that sustained worlds and waiting for a miracle to break their cycle. After enduring the first trial of the bloodline will, he heard a voice behind him and found a young man who looked exactly like him.

  • Dongguan observed a world form from matter and energy, where fungi became the foundation of life and humanoid beings developed cultivation.
  • The world’s cultivators advanced toward immortality, while Dongguan considered how civilizations depended on the balance between energy and matter.
  • Dongguan reflected on Yuan’s ability to create Source Worlds and waited for a miracle, using the eternal dream to temper his will.
  • Dongguan felt that he had passed the bloodline will’s first trial but remained short of a breakthrough.
  • A young man in black-and-white robes appeared behind Dongguan, looking exactly like him.

Ch. 1009The power of thought

Dongguan confronted Tamos inside the Eternity Dream, where Tamos tried to unsettle him with threats and revelations. Tamos mentioned the Infinity Domain, drawing Dongguan’s attention and exposing a vulnerability in the dream.

  • Tamos appeared in Dongguan’s likeness, and Dongguan realized that undoing three of Yuan’s five seals may have forced him to act.
  • Tamos claimed the dream’s inhabitants were fragments of Dongguan’s mind, but Dongguan recognized that some fragments also came from Tamos and could wear him down.
  • Dongguan treated the dream as an opportunity to refine his understanding and ignored Tamos’s threats about the Progenitors and the destruction of Source Worlds.
  • Tamos kept talking, and Dongguan suspected the dream was absorbing new information and that Tamos might have sent out fluctuations before.
  • Tamos asked whether Dongguan wanted to know about the Infinity Domain, and Dongguan opened his eyes, allowing Tamos to taunt him for taking the bait.

Ch. 1010The Trap of Choice

Dongguan resisted Tamos’s attempts to exploit his interest in the Infinity Domain, but Tamos used that interest to gain authority over him and cast him into a new dream. The dream cut Dongguan off from his unfinished trial.

  • Dongguan asked Tamos about the Infinity Domain, but Tamos initially denied knowing anything about it.
  • As Dongguan continued evolving worlds in the eternal dream, Tamos realized that expelling him would only strengthen his resolve and decided to act.
  • Tamos offered Dongguan a choice between entering his complete memories and becoming him, or entering fragmented memories and embracing chaos.
  • Dongguan refused both options and recognized that staying focused on his world evolution threatened Tamos most.
  • Tamos revealed that Dongguan’s initial interest had given him authority, then mixed the memory-orbs and hurled them at Dongguan.
  • Dongguan sank into a haze as Tamos’s new dream replaced the eternal dream and severed him from his unfinished trial.

Ch. 1011Dream

Dongguan awoke from a dream recounting Tamos’s rise from an abandoned egg to an uncrowned king among Hunyuan lifeforms. The dream ended with Tamos and his allies encountering a high-level Hunyuan lifeform, and the story returned to Dongguan in Aumo City.

  • Tamos hatched as a black creature, devoured other beings, and learned that he was a low-tier innate primal chaos lifeform with an Infinite Serpent bloodline.
  • Tamos challenged a powerful being known as a king, then built a faction and experimented with bloodline powers to improve his strength.
  • After three battles, Tamos and the king became friends, and Tamos learned about kings, uncrowned kings, and the struggle to become a high-level Hunyuan lifeform.
  • Tamos and his allies encountered a high-level Hunyuan lifeform.
  • Dongguan awoke from the dream in a secluded chamber in Aumo City.

Ch. 1012The mental plane

Dongguan tested a ritual to recover his dreams and realized Tamos had overlaid them with his memories, creating a dangerous barrier tied to the Tamos Bloodline. He decided to avoid releasing the fourth seal and was left considering how to strengthen his mental plane.

  • Dongguan used an incense ritual six times to investigate the effects of the Tamos Bloodline on his dreams, but could not uncover its mysteries.
  • Dongguan recognized that Tamos had blocked his dreams with memories that could expose him to increasingly dangerous Hunyuan beings.
  • Dongguan decided to be cautious about releasing the fourth seal, since doing so could let Tamos gain control.
  • Dongguan concluded that Tamos's actions had reinforced his resistance to mental and soul attacks, while further ruling out the Bloodline Path.
  • Dongguan sensed that his Dongguan Dao could no longer perceive or control his dreams through the barrier, leaving his mental plane incomplete.

Ch. 1013Soul

Dongguan traveled on through the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm while considering how to improve his ritual, then met Original Ancestor in Illusory World City. After discussing Original Ancestor’s effort to unite illusion and reality, Dongguan proposed that he build a Virtual Universe Network across the Origin Continent or the entire Source World.

  • Dongguan put away his ritual materials and continued his journey through the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, considering that he needed Hunyuan-level materials to overcome Tamos’s obstruction.
  • Dongguan met Original Ancestor, who had recently become a God King, while Original Ancestor walked through Illusory World City in disguise.
  • Dongguan and Original Ancestor were transported to the city lord’s guest pavilion, where Dongguan asked about Original Ancestor’s path of merging illusion and reality.
  • Original Ancestor explained how his world great dao and Void Realm Great Dao let him shift things between illusion and reality within an array covering Illusory World City.
  • After discussing soul paths and Original Ancestor’s cultivation, Dongguan asked whether he would build a Virtual Universe Network across the Origin Continent or the entire Source World.

Ch. 1014Dream of All Living Beings

Dongguan discussed using the Origin Continent’s existing dream realm to build a network, and Original Ancestor explained why directly creating a Virtual Network through the Supreme Rule was beyond his current ability. Dongguan then considered how faith and the collective dreams of living beings might influence the Supreme Rule, leaving him contemplating the Origin Continent’s changing rules.

  • Original Ancestor told Dongguan that he could not build a Virtual Network on the Origin Continent until he reached God King Two and advanced further in the Void Realm Dao, and that establishing one might require God Emperor-level strength.
  • Dongguan suggested using the Origin Continent’s existing Dream of All Living Beings as a foundation, and Original Ancestor identified its path as the Illusory Dream Dao rather than the Void Realm Dao.
  • Original Ancestor urged Dongguan to seek Hong’s help because Hong had reached the Chaos Realm and followed a path related to illusory dreams.
  • Dongguan agreed to ask Hong for help and considered how faith, rules, and all living beings might connect through the Origin Ranking.
  • In Liuyin City, Dongguan observed that the Supreme Rule had already changed slightly under the influence of faith.

Ch. 1015Progress

Dongguan advanced his immeasurable Great Dao to the Late God Emperor stage and planned a Dream of All Living Beings, focusing on soul research and the risks of mind pollution. In the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, his Black Market remained a lonely trading channel as his main combat clone resumed its travels toward a possible trip to the Dark Sacred Realm.

  • Dongguan broke through to the Late God Emperor stage in his immeasurable Great Dao and decided to deepen his understanding of the soul before releasing the fourth Tamos Bloodline seal.
  • Dongguan studied how strong and weak beings’ dreams could form stable centers and peripheral regions in the Dream of All Living Beings, and he planned to recruit soul cultivators from the Origin Continent.
  • Dongguan considered how to filter or channel mind pollution from cultivators with fused Hunyuan bloodlines, while the Life Origin Great Dao reached God King Two and the Dream’s links suggested progress in cause and effect.
  • In the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm’s Red Splendor Mountains, Dongguan found his Black Market deserted and recognized that it amounted to a trading channel between his shop and Colorful Radiance’s.
  • Dongguan considered revealing more of himself to Colorful Radiance as his main combat clone left Aumo City and resumed traveling through the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm.

Ch. 1016An attempt

Dongguan proposed expanding his Black Market partnership with Colorful Radiance by creating another market for cultivators and low-tier Hunyuan lifeforms, offering to cover the cost. He then entered Tan Soul City, where his late God Emperor aura drew the attention of the major factions.

  • Dongguan decided to propose a second Black Market while keeping his identity concealed from Colorful Radiance.
  • Dongguan suggested that he and Colorful Radiance each recruit trusted participants for a new market, and Colorful Radiance agreed.
  • Dongguan offered to pay the Hunyuan crystal costs for the new Black Market and considered how to test larger markets without revealing himself.
  • Dongguan entered Tan Soul City, a death- and darkness-aligned city near the Autumn Ze River, and the major factions learned of his arrival.

Ch. 1017Death Dream Hall Master

Dongguan visited Death Dream Hall Master in Tan Soul City to seek insight into dreams and the Soul Path. Death Dream Hall Master could not give a universal answer, but his explanation of how Soul Paths differ from Origin Great Daos clarified a barrier in Dongguan’s cultivation.

  • Death Dream Hall Master tested Dongguan with an illusion realm, but Dongguan remained unaffected.
  • Death Dream Hall Master recognized Dongguan’s strength and asked what he wanted to discuss.
  • Dongguan asked what dreams signify, and Death Dream Hall Master said he could not provide a universal answer.
  • Death Dream Hall Master explained that Soul Paths concern the individual and the self, while Origin Great Daos concern worlds and have universal standards.
  • Dongguan realized the distinction could help him understand his own Dongguan Dao, and Death Dream Hall Master invited him to ask specific questions.

Ch. 1018Origins

Dongguan asked the Death Dream Hall Master about the Dream of All Living Beings, and learned that a similar dream dimension might already exist as a rule in another Source World. The Hall Master withheld his world’s coordinates but offered to discuss the dimension, then considered whether dreams and faith could support a new plan tied to the coming reincarnation.

  • Dongguan explained his plans for a Dream of All Living Beings and asked whether the Death Dream Hall Master knew of anything similar.
  • The Death Dream Hall Master said a Dream Dimension might exist under the Supreme Rule in another Source World, but refused to provide its coordinates.
  • The Death Dream Hall Master agreed to discuss the Dream Dimension’s circumstances with Dongguan.
  • Back in his Source World, the Death Dream Hall Master considered combining dreams and faith as Death Demons were born ahead of reincarnation.
  • The Death Dream Hall Master wondered whether to ask Lord 'Gold' about his idea and revealed that he came from a past Reincarnation Era.

Ch. 1019Generosity

Wangmeng reflected on how Dongguan’s Dream of All Living Beings could help him advance toward becoming a Lord of the Source World, while worrying that the war might destroy his world before he had enough time. He shared knowledge with Dongguan but refused to let him visit his Source World, then gave him a communication token and offered further help.

  • Wangmeng recalled how incomplete faith during his Source World’s Great Destruction had briefly advanced his Death Dao and considered changing the world’s rules to increase that faith over many cycles.
  • Wangmeng worried that the Cultivator Faction’s losing war could destroy his Source World and end his chance to keep progressing.
  • Wangmeng told Dongguan he would share his knowledge about the Dream of All Living Beings but would not let him enter his Source World.
  • Wangmeng gave Dongguan a communication token and said he would leave an avatar in Tan Soul City to answer future questions.
  • Dongguan asked why Wangmeng was so generous, and Wangmeng accepted his thanks after Dongguan addressed him as Fellow Daoist Wangmeng.

Ch. 1020Impressions

Dongguan discussed the Black Markets between cultivators and low-tier Hunyuan lifeforms with Death Dream Hall Master, who explained that powerful cultivators tolerated limited trade and understanding but opposed deeper integration. Dongguan invited him to a secret Black Market, while Yinmeng and Zaituo prepared to attend the same gathering.

  • Death Dream Hall Master invited Dongguan to become an Elder of Tan Soul City, but Dongguan asked about the authorities’ stance on Black Markets instead.
  • Death Dream Hall Master said powerful cultivators welcomed limited contact with low-tier Hunyuan lifeforms but suppressed markets that grew too large or deeply integrated their communities.
  • Dongguan gave Death Dream Hall Master a Test-the-Waters Invitation, and Death Dream Hall Master agreed to attend.
  • Yinmeng offered Zaituo a Test-the-Waters Invitation, and Zaituo accepted while planning to invite more Hunyuan lifeforms.

Ch. 1021Peering

Dongguan used the Black Markets to observe Innate Primal Chaos Lifeforms, while Yinmeng and Zaituo realized that someone had peered through their disguises. The market continued, and an azure-robed man arrived outside the poisonous swamp.

  • A White-Robed Youth entered a Black Market, bought goods from Yinmeng, and left spatial traces that Yinmeng and Zaituo could not identify.
  • Yinmeng and Zaituo sensed someone seeing through them, while Dongguan recognized them as a Phantom Sound Demon and a Heavenly Crystal Origin Stone and chose not to capture them.
  • Yinmeng reflected that the trial Black Market was risky but necessary as she and Zaituo prepared to advance to high-tier Hunyuan Lifeforms.
  • Dongguan wandered through a second Black Market and used the Dongguan Dao to observe nearly forty Innate Primal Chaos Lifeforms, seeing through most of their disguises.
  • A man in azure robes appeared outside the poisonous swamp and asked whether he had found the place.

Ch. 1022Clash

God Emperor Ranling of Qingcheng dragged the Black Market into reality and confronted Dongguan, who chose to test his strength rather than flee. Dongguan broke through Ranling’s attack and revealed power that forced Ranling to consider using his bloodline.

  • Ranling found the Black Market’s distorted space and dragged it into reality, causing most of its occupants to dissipate.
  • Dongguan recognized Ranling and decided to test his skills against the God Emperor rather than leave.
  • A tall, thin figure admitted he was a spy and warned Ranling that Dongguan might be unusual.
  • Ranling trapped Dongguan in a space-and-fluctuation attack, but Dongguan broke through and struck him.
  • Ranling created nine figures to surround Dongguan, who countered with rainbow light and showed power Ranling judged to be that of a Late God Emperor Dao Comprehender.
  • Ranling’s silver eyes appeared as he prepared to unleash his bloodline power, while the spy urged him not to fail.

Ch. 1023False Possession

Ranling fought Dongguan’s silver-corroding bloodline power and survived after the Hall Master’s safeguard stopped him from charging into a dangerous final clash. Dongguan then captured an innate primal chaos lifeform and began a false possession to gain an identity among them.

  • Dongguan attacked Ranling as Ranling’s high-tier Hunyuan bloodline spread silver pollution across the battlefield.
  • A voice in Ranling’s mind ordered him to defend, and he used silver rivers as shields until Dongguan’s final strike dissipated.
  • A tall, thin figure explained that Ranling’s bloodline will had nearly driven him into a head-on clash, and Ranling admitted the Hall Master had helped him tame it.
  • In Qingkong City, an armored figure realized the safeguard he had left on Ranling had triggered and hoped to meet the new powerful figure in the Dark Sacred Realm.
  • Dongguan restrained a late God Emperor innate primal chaos lifeform by the Autumn Ze River and pierced its life core to begin a false possession.

Ch. 1024Ambush

Yinmeng and Zaituo ambushed a lone cultivator, but the counterattack left Yinmeng shaken and revealed that their target was a virtual form being with a possibly noble bloodline. Zaituo continued defending them as Yinmeng realized the being might descend from a world-level hunyuan lifeform.

  • Yinmeng asked Zaituo when they should hold another black market, and Zaituo advised her to wait rather than let the cultivator who paid for the first one turn her into his tool.
  • Zaituo sensed a late God Emperor bloodline cultivator nearby and proposed that he distract the target while Yinmeng attacked.
  • Zaituo and Yinmeng ambushed the target, but Yinmeng's dream attack failed and the target struck her with a terrifying soul defense.
  • Zaituo sheltered Yinmeng inside his body and endured the target's space-time attacks while refusing to retreat.
  • Yinmeng regained consciousness and told Zaituo that their target was a virtual form being with an exceptionally powerful soul defense and possibly a noble bloodline.

Ch. 1025Infiltration

Dongguan used the identity of a Virtual Form Being to negotiate a truce with Zaituo and Yinmeng, then joined them as a companion. He called himself One Thought and successfully infiltrated the Innate Primal Chaos Lifeforms.

  • Zaituo and Yinmeng proposed an alliance with the ambushed Virtual Form Being, and the three reached an agreement after negotiating.
  • Dongguan reflected on Life Cores and his limited understanding of Innate Primal Chaos Lifeforms while maintaining his disguise.
  • Zaituo advised Dongguan to use the Virtual Form Being's racial advantages and asked him to help with future hunts.
  • Yinmeng recovered from her injuries and joined Zaituo and Dongguan, prompting Dongguan to consider the resilience of Innate Primal Chaos Lifeforms.
  • Yinmeng asked Dongguan's name, and he introduced himself as One Thought.
Arc 41 of 45