Master of Kaidan
Chapter 456: Preaching

Chapter 456: Chapter 456: Preaching

"How has he not returned yet? It’s been almost three hours!"

Constantly checking the clock on the table used to calibrate his sense of time, the Dream Guardian rarely showed an eager expression. It wasn’t his fault for losing composure; the events of the day were indeed too abnormal.

In the Dream World, abnormalities were never a good sign. In the recorded history of the Dream Guardians, there had even been four major corruption events. Each one began with abnormalities in a small area, and all of them ended with a large-scale reset.

As for what had happened before the reset, including the executors, all had lost their memories, while those outside the affected area had no understanding of it. Or to say, a mere few words from the reset area would mean inclusion in the reset.

However, one thing was certain: in the areas that had been reset, the average lifespan had dropped by at least twenty-five percent compared to other regions of the era.

They couldn’t be sure if this was simply fated death, a punishment from the higher-ups, or simply the inevitable result of corruption. But it was a concrete fact that human life expectancy in the reset areas had dropped by ten to twenty years.

"Normally, even if the detective wakes up in the middle of the night, he’d only wander about for half an hour before going back to sleep. There’s definitely a problem now, damn it, it’s really troublesome that the Dream World can’t directly communicate with the Real World!"

She Tong muttered somewhat irritably. Though partly affected by the negative effects of the Obsession Object, she, being the closest to the detective, also felt intense unease about the situation at hand.

"Even so, we can’t go to reality; it’s far too dangerous. Headquarters has already started subconscious hypnosis to allow ample time for Dream Guardians to arrive."

Qing Jin spoke more rationally, but he knew it would take considerable time. After all, the effects of subconscious hypnosis in the dream were not very strong, amounting only to leaving a lasting impression as much as suddenly thinking, "I should take a trip to xx" upon waking. But in reality, most people would forget such sudden thoughts immediately.

However, as they were growing increasingly anxious, the detective suddenly sat up abruptly on the bed. The scene was like a zombie rising from the dead, startling all three people in the room; the Dream Guardian even instinctively reached for his waist.

Then, the next moment, his face turned deathly pale.

But this pallor only lasted for a moment before he breathed a sigh of relief again, looking at his ungloved hands and belt without the Arrow Quiver, unsure of what to say.

Compared to the Dream Guardian, who had a lot going on inside, Qing Jin and She Tong weren’t too troubled, pulling the detective up immediately, looking at him with a serious gaze as if waiting for what would come next.

The detective, who was initially a bit confused, immediately sobered up under such circumstances, and touched his Blue Gemstone brooch, saying,

"Talking is too troublesome, I’ll just transmit it directly to you guys."

Saying so, three streams of Consciousness interconnected, and soon, a series of images and sounds began to emerge in their consciousness.

They were not unfamiliar with the images; even if they hadn’t seen them with their own eyes, they had heard from Qing Jin and the detective about the scene of an Immortal flying with Sword Control, cutting through thunder.

What really caught their attention was the following "voice-over" —

"I have overcome the tribulation and am about to ascend today, passing down the ’Six Complete Paths.’ Anyone who has succeeded in Qi Refinement can gain the chance to become an Immortal."

...

"Is that it?" the Dream Guardian frowned, puzzled, but noticing the solemn expressions on She Tong and Qing Jin’s faces, he realized there might be some details he had missed and was about to ask when She Tong responded,

"I’ve never heard this sentence."

"Neither have I. It’s one thing for She Tong not to see the tribulation, but I saw that person undergo the tribulation with my own eyes and didn’t hear these words," Qing Jin immediately added, and the detective nodded, saying,

"I didn’t hear it either. This was told to me by my dad. Actually, the reason why all those people aren’t sleeping today is because they’ve received the Cultivation Technique and are all sitting in Meditation and Refining Qi in the Real World."

"Do you mean only Dream Guardians can’t hear it?" the Dream Guardian finally understood the gravity of the issue, but the detective shook his head,

"No, according to my dad, only a portion of people heard it, but those who didn’t hear it also have relatives and friends. And people, generally, don’t like to admit they’re not fated, so whether they heard it or not, they all try practicing it anyway. Speaking of which, to prevent forgetting, my dad even copied it down. Not much content, just the General Introduction to Cultivation Techniques and the part about Refining Essence and Qi, along with that sentence, probably indicating that only those who achieve Perfection in Qi Refining are qualified for the following techniques. Of course, it might also mean that one needs to understand the next techniques from the General Introduction after Refining Qi."

"Did you memorize the techniques?" She Tong asked, a bit eager to experience what the technique was like. The detective responded with a wry smile,

"I’m just a sophomore in the Real World; even if the technique is short, it’s still about a thousand or eight hundredwords. You expect me to memorize that in two hours?"

She Tong’s expression darkened, considering whether to wake up immediately and ask in the Real World but then thinking about her own workaholic persona, probably she would just turn over and continue sleeping.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming a bit awkward, the cellphones of the Dream Guardian and Qing Jin almost rang simultaneously.

The two picked up their phones, glanced at the caller ID, then each found a relatively quiet spot to start the communication. Not long after, they returned to the living room, exchanged glances, and said directly,

"Check your phones, it’s all over the social platforms."

"Oh, this..." Following their instruction, She Tong did as told and then saw the local websites, including gossip news, microblogs, video sites, all discussing the matters about the ascended true Immortal, various "big shots’" interpretations of the technique, explanations of the General Introduction, and some speculations about which sect the Immortal might belong to.

"It must be those who stayed up practicing the techniques who couldn’t hold up," the detective commented after the fact, as he himself belonged to the group who fell asleep during practice sessions.

However, no one cared about that; their attention was focused on the techniques posted across major platforms.

Concerns about the Qi Movement Skill or the General Introduction came second to what was undoubtedly the most notice-grabbing, a recklessly daring but exceptionally suitable quick success method for this world—

Stealing Heavenly Mechanism.