Yuan's Ascension
Chapter 1124: World Of Dreams (1)

Chapter 1124: World Of Dreams (1)

A dream? Is it a Mist Dream? Wu Yuan's body refiner self knew he had encountered trouble.

There were two major inherent dangers in Ancient Dream Mountain: Mist Spirits and Mist Dreams.

Mist Spirits targeted the physical body with physical attacks. Even if one couldn't defend against their attacks, at least they were tangible.

Mist Dreams, however, leaned towards soul attacks. Their attacks weren't a direct assault on the soul, but rather imperceptibly infiltrated the soul through dreams. They were more akin to illusion arts, yet more bizarre than most.

I was in that mysterious passage, thinking there was no danger yet, but it actually held Mist Dreams. I have no idea when its attack hit me. Wu Yuan's body refiner self gritted his teeth. My ether body isn't particularly adept at dealing with soul type attacks.

When it came to soul cultivation, the qi refining lineage was more proficient.

These numerous dreamscapes target my ether body, but their intangible fluctuations affect my mana body and qi refiner self as well. Wu Yuan's body refiner self shook his head slightly.

Though the two true selves had their own independent Yuan Soul imprints, their consciousness was unified, so both were naturally affected.

However, his body refiner self, situated within the Ling Jiang Universe, existed in an entirely different spatial dimension from the ether body, and thus was least affected.

Three of my combat bodies have been submerged into dreamscapes to varying degrees? Wu Yuan's body refiner self's expression grew solemn.

At this moment, his body refiner self's consciousness was clear, able to keenly sense that all three bodies had fallen into dreamscapes. Unable to interfere, it could only attempt to awaken them continuously.

What if they remain submerged? Wu Yuan felt a chill in his heart. I might truly die here.

This was the terrifying nature of soul secret arts. Once ensnared, no matter how heaven-shaking one’s divine abilities or how shocking one’s mana, one would unknowingly sink deeper until death.

...

This mysterious passage seems truly endless. Wu Yuan's ether body felt that nothing was amiss. In his subconscious, he hadn't encountered any attacks.

He continued advancing through the passage, with darkness stretching endlessly before him.

Suddenly, countless raindrops appeared in the mysterious passage. Though they seemed tiny, each was actually far more powerful than a star, directly altering the entire spatial environment. Under their influence, space itself became distorted.

Hiss~ A torrent of rain struck Wu Yuan's battle armor. The space was too stable, and with raindrops everywhere, Wu Yuan had no way to evade.

In the blink of an eye, the terrifying impact of the raindrops caused Wu Yuan's ether body's vital qi to churn violently.

However, relying on his ultra-strong physical defense, Wu Yuan still managed to withstand it.

What horrifying physical impact. Where did these raindrops come from, and how can they be so powerful? Wu Yuan's ether body was astounded. Though if my body refiner self were here, it would probably resist this more easily... body refiner self... wait, that's not right!

A gleam of realization flashed in Wu Yuan's ether body's eyes. Raindrops? This is all a dream.

It's false, ultimately false! Wu Yuan's ether body suddenly roared in fury, allowing the rain to fall on him. He made no move to resist.

Hum~ The surrounding scene shattered like a dream bubble, and Wu Yuan's ether body fully regained clarity.

Hmm? Wu Yuan's ether body swept his gaze across his surroundings. All was silent, and he found himself sitting on the uneven black ground of the rugged passage.

He hadn't been flying at all. Furthermore, nothing was attacking him. There weren’t any raindrops with earth-shaking destructive power.

That dreamscape just now? Wu Yuan calmed himself down.

As his ether body broke free of the dream, his entire being regained clarity. His mana body and qi refiner self also recovered in an instant. After all, his ether body had been most affected, followed by his mana body and qi refiner self.

To think it could simultaneously influence my ether body, mana body, and qi refiner self, causing them all to unknowingly fall into dreamscapes without the slightest awareness. Wu Yuan's heart trembled the more he pondered it.

If not for my body refiner self residing in the River of Universes dimension, where the River's essence could block most of the influence, all my combat bodies might have fallen victim in one fell swoop.

Some karmic killing moves allowed one to slay an enemy's true self via their mana body or ether body. The Mist Dreams of Ancient Dream Mountain possessed similar capabilities, and were perhaps even more lethal.

No wonder it's said that even True Saints have perished here in the past. And no wonder those Que Luo Perennials didn't dare to charge in earlier. Wu Yuan muttered to himself.

It was indeed perilous. If he were an ordinary Overlord, he might well have died from that Mist Dream’s attack just now.

If even I fared so, is Sovereign Lan Yan still alive? Wu Yuan's heart sank further.

Whoosh! Whoosh! After brief consideration, Wu Yuan's ether body returned to the grotto-heaven world, choosing to leave his mana body in the external world.

His ether body's physical defense was stronger. Even if ambushed by a Saint, it wouldn't perish instantly. But when facing Mist Dream attacks, his mana body would find it easier to manage.

This passage was clearly opened by some powerful being. If they wanted to kill me, they could simply take direct action. There's no need for such a roundabout method. Wu Yuan gained some insight.

This implies that as long as I keep following the passage, there's likely a chance for survival. Wu Yuan reasoned.

Of course, that was provided he could survive long enough to reach the end. There were other possibilities, but Wu Yuan had no other choice now. He could only take the risk.

Whoosh! Wu Yuan's mana body rose, with nine Heavenrending Swords circling to protect him as best they could.

Meanwhile, Wu Yuan's ether body hid within the grotto-heaven, also prepared to emerge and unleash its power at any moment.

Time passed.

Soon, he had advanced over a billion li deeper into the passage.

Hum~ Another formless ripple appeared, infiltrating his soul. But Wu Yuan's mana body detected it and immediately prepared himself.

Here it comes. Wu Yuan's gaze grew serious.

Facing a soul attack when prepared versus being caught completely off guard were two entirely different scenarios.

This time, though Wu Yuan's mana body and ether body were both ensnared, his qi refiner self managed to maintain clarity. Thus, after just a brief moment, Wu Yuan's mana body and ether body fully regained clarity.

Yet a trace of fear lingered on Wu Yuan's mana body’s face. This dreamscape was even more realistic than the last.

It was as subtle as the spring rain nourishing all things in silence. [1]

If my ether body were taking the lead, there was a 30% chance of failing to awaken from this attack. Wu Yuan thought inwardly.

However, this dreamscape is truly marvelous. Just how was it constructed? Wu Yuan frowned slightly.

It was far too realistic, unbelievably so.

Wu Yuan's perspective was high enough. He had obtained vast inheritances and insights from Overlords and Eternals, many of which recorded soul attack methods and illusion art secret techniques.

But even the soul attack methods of True Saints, while perhaps more terrifying in raw power, able to instantly annihilate Perennial powerhouses, seemed less profound than the Mist Dream’s attack he faced.

This Mist Dream’s technique doesn’t seem to utilize very deep Dao profundities. Wu Yuan mused inwardly. When reviewing it after awakening, one can find many crude aspects. But while immersed in the dream, it's utterly impossible to notice.

It was just like how ordinary people could notice various inconsistencies in their dreams after waking, yet remain completely unaware they were dreaming while in the dream. Clearly, this was an extremely advanced soul attack method.

If only I could truly glimpse the core principles of this Mist Dream technique. Wu Yuan instinctively thought. It might even greatly aid my qi refiner self in creating an eternal ultimate technique.

Since creating a limitbreak Overlord ultimate technique, his qi refiner self had been attempting to create an eternal ultimate technique. But compared to his body refiner self, his qi refiner self's accumulation of insights was indeed shallower.

When comprehending the Flower of Sin previously, the opportunity to gain insights into the operation of the Abyss's essence had greatly benefited both true selves.

Back then, it was also thanks to those insights that Wu Yuan's qi refiner self had created two limitbreak Overlord ultimate techniques so quickly.

The Abyss’s operation, Mist Dream... Wu Yuan pondered.

His body refiner self created an eternal ultimate technique based on the two Greater Laws of Life and Death, with the Great Dao of Creation at its core.

For his qi refiner self to forge its own path, it would need to use Spacetime as its foundation. The construction of dreamscapes was essentially the creation of an illusory world. The creation of a world naturally involved Spacetime.

The Spacetime Ring is an independent spacetime. If a dreamscape was constructed within the Spacetime Ring... In an instant, numerous ideas arose in Wu Yuan's qi refiner self.

This was the instinct of a powerful cultivator. The path of cultivation was to comprehend heaven and earth, and the profundities of the various spatial dimensions held the potential to spark ideas and insights.

Whoosh! While Wu Yuan pondered, he dared not relax in the slightest, and continued flying forward.

Time flowed on.

As Wu Yuan delved deeper into this mysterious passage, he encountered more and more Mist Dream attacks. His mind was submerged into dreamscape after dreamscape.

Each dreamscape was utterly different, submerging Wu Yuan's mana body into them from various angles.

However, Wu Yuan's will and spiritual cultivation were ultimately extraordinary. Furthermore, the mid-grade Xiantian artifact for soul defense that he had previously acquired for his mana body now proved immensely valuable. Time and again at the most critical moments, it helped Wu Yuan's mana body and ether body regain clarity.

However, as the number of occurrences increased, the time Wu Yuan spent trapped and sinking into the dreamscapes grew longer and longer.

At first, it was only a few breaths, a few dozen breaths, but soon it became a day, two days, dozens of days... Wu Yuan's qi refiner self gradually sank along with it, struggling to awaken immediately. Yet ultimately, Wu Yuan endured time and time again.

Before long, beyond worry and fear, a new expression appeared on Wu Yuan's face—joy!

Mist Dreams? Mere attacks on the soul? No! These dreams seem terrifying, subtly luring me in, but they don't seem to have much offensive power. They're not trying to annihilate my soul. Wu Yuan gradually realized.

If these Mist Dreams simply wanted to kill him, they likely could have done so long ago. There was no need to wait until now.

Then what is the purpose of this mysterious passage? What are these Mist Dreams for? Wu Yuan pondered, unable to fathom the reason. There were too many unknowns.

However, once Wu Yuan realized there was no great danger, both his mana body and qi refiner self began to contemplate and experiment as he had originally intended.

Construct a world. Dreams! If I study similar techniques deeply enough, I could use them too. Even if I can't make enemies sink into delusion or perish directly, as long as I can interfere with their souls and affect them for a moment, my ether body could gravely wound or even kill them. Wu Yuan mused, gradually attempting to construct and deduce.

The Great Dao of Spacetime naturally aligned with the path of illusions, and over the past tens of thousands of years, Wu Yuan's deductions into opening an independent world that was the River Ring similarly aligned perfectly with the foundation of creating a dreamscape.

Most importantly, he possessed insights into the operation of the Abyss's essence.

Dreams imagined from nothing are still just dreams... Reality surpasses all illusions, yet the Abyss is the realest facet of the world under the River of Universes' fundamental workings—cruel and bloody.

Comprehending the profundities of the Abyss's essence is an opportunity most True Saints and Dao Zenithels have never had.

Wu Yuan gradually combined his insights into the Abyss with Spacetime profundities, while being guided by the repeated attacks from Mist Dreams.

Countless realizations flooded his mind, allowing him to gain greater mastery over this aspect.

Gradually, Wu Yuan also began to cast some illusion arts. The power of these illusions grew increasingly astonishing, steadily climbing from the early-stage Sovereign level.

As his understanding of illusion arts, dreams, and soul attacks deepened, Wu Yuan could perceive the fundamental nature of the Mist Dreams more clearly.

As time flowed on, Wu Yuan was attacked by Mist Dreams again and again as he traversed this endless, mysterious passage.

1. 润物细无声 This idiom originates from a line in the classical Chinese poem "Happy Rain on a Spring Night" by Du Fu. It describes how spring rain nourishes all things quietly and imperceptibly, often used metaphorically to describe subtle but profound influences or gradual, positive changes that occur without fanfare. ☜