Chapter 275 Welcome to Reality (Five in One)
Above the ruins of Huangtian City, everything is silent.
Xie Qian's body and his "Tao" turned into nothingness, and the obsession that had supported his planning for 1,300 years also dissipated in the world that he once wanted to reshape.
Below, the surviving Confucian disciples were still standing there, looking dazed.
The saint in their hearts had completely died, and their lifelong faith and the Imperial City before them had turned into ruins. For a moment, they didn't know where to go.
Should I mourn the passing of my teacher, or be angry at being used and deceived? Or should I continue to be confused by the doubts that have just arisen?
No one knows the answer.
Xiao Yinghao stood in front of the White Dragon Army, looking at Gu Fangchen standing in front of the ruins.
In addition to her, Prajna Lianyue, Xu Fu, Shi Qingguang, the three members of the Ning family, as well as all the practitioners and military soldiers witnessed this scene.
Everyone was extremely excited at this moment and could not calm down for a long time.
Today's battle has completely exceeded their understanding of cultivation.
This was a battle between two first-grade masters, a true "struggle of the Dao", and the power displayed by Gu Fangchen not only defeated Xie Qian, the "Confucian Sage" who was once extremely authoritative in their eyes, but also crushed him!
Such a gap is terrible.
Because, it was not just the Confucian disciples of Yaoshan Academy who were confused; they were confused as well.
At this moment, except for Ning Caiyong, everyone else had a refreshed understanding of Gu Fangchen even though they had already had a deep understanding of him.
The figure of the young man, still wearing a white robe, seemed to become quite distant in an instant.
And in this strange silence, the sound coming from the direction of Tianmen Mountain suddenly echoed clearly in everyone's ears.
"Gu Fangchen, now, let's really talk—"
The sound was not loud, it could even be said to be calm, without any worldly air.
But it penetrated space and reached the soul, as if it contained some unquestionable supreme rules, causing everyone who heard it to tremble in their hearts.
Everyone's pupils constricted, and they were confused and shocked.
Who... is this? !
After the death of the "Confucian Sage" Xie Qian, who else could speak to Gu Fangchen in such a tone?
But what was even more terrifying was that they had no intention of disobeying this voice, as if everything he said was an irrefutable truth.
On top of Tianmen Mountain.
As Xiao Zhenwu finished speaking, astonishing changes took place on Ying Baishou's withered body.
Originally, this body had lost all its flesh and blood and became no different from a skeleton.
But at this moment, the shriveled skin became plump and smooth at a speed visible to the naked eye, like a dead tree coming back to life in spring.
The gray hair quickly turned black and fell on his shoulders.
The originally hunched body slowly straightened up, rising step by step, and regained its upright posture.
The dust and years covering him peeled off like sand blown by the wind.
Finally, a middle-aged man with a handsome and majestic face, wearing an ancient black imperial robe and with calm eyes, appeared on the top of the mountain.
He just stood there quietly. The entire Tianmen Mountain, the mountains and rivers within a hundred miles, and even the spiritual energy, all trembled, and every blade of grass and tree bowed to him.
He was not borrowing the power of heaven and earth, but heaven and earth were spontaneously worshipping him.
Towards the ancient human emperor, the master of the way of "Heng Chang".
"Buzz—"
The void trembled slightly, and the next moment, his figure disappeared from the top of Tianmen Mountain and appeared directly above Huangtian City, facing Gu Fangchen from a distance.
Gu Fangchen looked at him with an unchanged expression, not at all surprised by this man's appearance.
Ning Caiyong's "heavenly" way can only trap him temporarily. It is only a matter of time before he breaks free. It is enough to kill Xie Qian, the original reason for his "preaching", before he comes out!
Sealed by the way of "Heaven" is an entire period of history, in which time is stagnant.
However, outside of the "heavenly" way, time still flows.
All the people and things in it that did not escape the fate of being sealed have turned into dust after millions of years of erosion.
Once you leave the range of "Heaven", you will disappear immediately.
The same goes for Xiao Zhenwu's body and soul.
Therefore, he chose to rely on a new body, forcibly covering his own cause and effect on it, replacing Ying Baishou's existence.
"[Master Hengchang, the First Ancient Human Emperor]... Xiao Zhenwu."
Gu Fangchen slowly uttered the name of the final boss of "Mirror in the Dust" and met the man's gaze with a cold look.
"Are you used to using Ying Baishou's body?"
"A pretty good vessel."
As Xiao Zhenwu spoke, he raised his hand and made a sword flower.
This sword was once the only sword of the highest rank, and its name was [Sick Spring].
Now, the person holding this sword has truly come back to life, and all the trees will bloom again after the dead tree... Unfortunately, the person is no longer the same person.
He looked at the sword in his hand, and at the reflection of Gu Fangchen on the opposite side of the sword, as if observing an interesting mistake, and shook his head:
"Unfortunately, his swordsmanship is inspired by the principle of 'flowing water'. Water has no fixed shape, and soldiers have no fixed positions. He once nearly reached the state of 'impermanence', filled with 'change', and contradicting the principle of 'constancy'. I have now completely corrected this."
He raised his hand. The palm that should have belonged to a peerless sword master was free of calluses from years of holding a sword. It was as perfect as a work of art.
Gu Fangchen felt a little depressed.
Ying Baishou's swordsmanship is one of the best in the world, but he wiped it out so lightly.
There's very little information about Ying Baishou in the game, but as a cultivator who once reached the First Rank, on par with Xie Qian, he left behind important clues after sealing the "Heavenly Gate," and then sealed it with his own body, effectively committing suicide...
Gu Fangchen also wondered if Ying Baishou died too easily. With his abilities, was it really impossible for him to seal the "Tianmen" and escape unscathed?
Especially after knowing that Ning Caiyong is the "Heaven", the goals of both sides should actually be the same, so why would he need to sacrifice himself?
It turns out that he was practicing the way of "impermanence".
"Constant" and "Impermanence" are two completely opposite principles.
I'm afraid that the moment he was promoted, he was secretly plotted against by Xiao Zhenwu, so he could only leave a message before his death to warn those who came after him.
"You have cut off the cause of 'preaching' and all the paths for the 'Tao' to continue spreading. This is good."
Xiao Zhenwu's tone actually had a hint of praise. He smiled and sighed:
"But 'preaching' is also a form of change. Now, the world only needs to remain as it is and continue to function. The way of 'constancy' will completely fill every corner."
"Gu Fangchen, you have eliminated the interference of other Daos for me. Your contribution is very great."
He changed the subject again:
"But it's still a little short of the mark...it's only treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"The deepest ill of this world lies in change itself. Because human hearts are fickle, there is conflict; because the seasons change, there is birth and death—all suffering stems from impermanence."
"So, you want to establish your own way of 'balance' and return the world to eternal stillness?"
Gu Fangchen said coldly.
"It's 'correction'."
Xiao Zhenwu slowly corrected:
"Correct all mistakes and return this world to its original, most perfect and stable form. And you, Gu Fangchen, are the biggest 'mistake' left in this world."
Before he finished speaking, Gu Fangchen had already taken action.
Xiao Zhenwu had already gone mad, and it was still unknown what he was like at this moment. Words were redundant when dealing with this paranoid "Tao".
He stretched out a finger and pointed it at Xiao Zhenwu, just like he did to Xie Qian just now, in the air.
【Turning truth into falsehood】.
Gu Fangchen directly tried to deny Xiao Zhenwu himself. He said coldly:
"Your existence is fake."
An invisible will instantly enveloped Xiao Zhenwu.
In an instant, Xiao Zhenwu's body, which had condensed the "Heng Chang" Dao for millions of years, began to become transparent and illusory at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The "real" attributes that constitute his existence are being forcibly stripped away and replaced with "false" concepts.
The space around him began to distort, light and shadow intertwined, his robes, hair, even his indifferent eyes, his figure swayed violently like a reflection in the water.
It was as if he would completely disappear in the next second, as if he and this history were just a dream that no one remembered, and would be completely erased from "reality" in the next moment.
However, the shaking only lasted for half a breath.
Faced with this attack that was enough to make Xie Qian lose his mind in an instant, Xiao Zhenwu's face revealed a hint of...almost mocking expression.
"madness."
He sneered.
"Don't you understand yet, Gu Fangchen?"
In an instant, the power from the entire world stabilized Xiao Zhenwu's illusory figure, which had been almost distorted, and quickly returned to reality.
"Within this world, my existence has long been equated with the world's existence. I am the very reality of this world. If you deny me, you are denying this world."
Xiao Zhenwu's figure suddenly froze, becoming more real than before. Even the corners of his clothes didn't move at all, as if he had turned into a pillar supporting the world.
Gu Fangchen's pupils shrank slightly, his heart sank, and he thought to himself, as expected.
It's not that he didn't think about directly denying Xiao Zhenwu, but Xiao Zhenwu's "Heng Chang" was the fourth Tao born after "Truth", "Falsehood" and "Heaven".
It is one of the foundations for constructing the entire world, that is, all the "inherent rules" today, as long as they exist, are affected by "constancy".
Without "constancy", trees will not be trees, flowers will not be flowers, and people will no longer be people.
Even Gu Fangchen's own existence is based on "Heng Chang".
When Gu Fangchen used the two skills [Turning Truth into Falsehood] and [Turning Falsehood into Truth] before, he had vaguely felt the resistance from the entire world.
At this time, when facing Xiao Zhenwu himself, this resistance finally took shape.
"The art of 'true and false' is actually quite interesting."
Xiao Zhenwu said calmly:
"It can define what is 'real' and what is 'false' according to your will."
"Unfortunately, it defines truth based on 'perception' rather than 'fact'."
He raised his eyes and said:
"Have you heard about the three realms of Zen practice?"
“When you look at a mountain, it’s a mountain. When you look at a mountain, it’s not a mountain. When you look at a mountain, it’s still a mountain.”
"At this moment, for you, 'mountain' means 'reality'."
"You can say the mountain is fake, but in reality, the mountain will not disappear. And I am the 'mountain' of this world, the 'principle' that constitutes this world."
"What you deny is merely the world's 'perception' of me, not my 'existence'."
"As long as this world exists, the Way of 'Everlasting' will never perish."
After saying that, he slowly raised his hand and gently waved it towards the brilliant galaxy in the sky that was manifested by Gu Fangchen's power.
"This day, we should return to this day."
At a command, the vast and deep wonders of the universe with moving stars were instantly wiped out as if by an invisible hand.
The flowing galaxy rolled back, and all the strange images that were stained on the grass and dust faded away.
The sky returned to its original appearance.
It was as if the astonishing spectacle of reshaping the world had never happened!
Everyone below was horrified and terrified!
If Gu Fangchen's power is "my pen writes my heart", it is to use his own will as a pen to redraw the world.
Then Xiao Zhenwu's power lies in the scroll itself!
In any case, the brush can only reshape the scene painted on the scroll, but cannot change the existence of the scroll itself.
[Turning truth into falsehood] is like trying to use a drop of ink to dye the entire ocean black.
The final result seems to be that it will only be diluted and assimilated by the sea, leaving no trace.
"Now, I want to 'fix' everything."
Xiao Zhenwu said lightly.
Everyone in this world raised their heads, staring at the sky in either a daze or panic.
The sky was clear, but not azure blue. Instead, it was a pale, almost transparent color, as if it had been repeatedly wiped by an invisible force.
The entire sky that was almost covered in gold had been wiped out by an even more ancient and incomparably stable force.
This power is invisible and intangible, yet it is everywhere.
It determines the direction of the wind, frames the trajectory of light, and even determines the speed at which each particle of dust settles.
This is the way of Hengchang.
At this moment, Xiao Zhenwu seemed to be connected to the pulse of the entire world, and every breath he took seemed as if the heaven and earth were breathing in and out.
He is the foundation of this world's existence and the outline of all rules.
In those open eyes, there was not a trace of emotion belonging to a living being, only absolute indifference and maintenance of the "should be" state of all things.
He looked at Gu Fangchen like a superior chess player examining a chess piece that had jumped out of the board and disrupted the game.
And now, the chess player has decided not to tolerate the existence of this chess piece anymore and wants to remove it from the chessboard with his own hands...completely.
"Gu Fangchen, don't forget where you came from—you shouldn't have existed in the first place."
This time, Xiao Zhenwu's voice was no longer just words, but turned into the highest laws and rules between heaven and earth.
With every word he uttered, the underlying rules of the entire world resonated with it.
“Reality, we should return to reality.”
"Falsehood should also return to falsehood."
Just as he said, Gu Fangchen cut off the way of "preaching", but was unable to make the existing "Tao" go away.
On the contrary, because the way of "preaching" is always changing, it is the biggest obstacle to "maintaining balance".
Today, the "Heng Chang" way, which has existed for millions of years, has become unprecedentedly powerful.
Before, Xiao Zhenwu still needed to deal with Gu Fangchen from the cause and effect level.
And now, he is going to use the "rules" directly.
Because Gu Fangchen is the existence beyond "Heng Chang", and now, this world constructed by "Heng Chang" naturally cannot accommodate his existence.
Buzz——!
The moment Xiao Zhenwu finished speaking.
Gu Fangchen only felt his soul shaken violently, an unprecedented sense of detachment from the foundation of his existence instantly swept over him!
This is not an attack, not a harm, but a "deletion".
This entire world, just like the huge and sophisticated system in the game, began to execute the "clear abnormal data" procedure under the instructions of Xiao Zhenwu, the "highest authority administrator"!
We must completely eliminate the bug of Gu Fangchen.
Gu Fangchen's pupils constricted, and the scene in front of him began to shake violently and distort.
The ruins of Huangtian City beneath his feet, the surrounding mountains and rivers, and even Xiao Yinghao, Ning Caiyong and others in the distance, their figures were becoming blurred, as if separated by a layer of shaking water ripples.
It’s not that they have become unreal, but that Gu Fangchen himself is being excluded and expelled from this world dominated by “Heng Chang”!
He felt like a drop of oil that was forcibly dropped into a glass of clear water. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not blend in and would eventually be ruthlessly skimmed away.
"Well……"
Gu Fangchen let out a painful groan.
His body began to twist in a strange way, and the world beneath his feet collapsed, as if he was thrown into a vortex from which he could not escape.
Everyone looked at this scene in horror. At that moment, it seemed as if even the wind and time had stopped.
Whether it was Xiao Yinghao, Prajna Lianyue, or Xu Fu, who were the closest, they had no time to take action at this moment.
In other words, they were originally born in a world bound by the rules of "Heng Chang". At this moment, they are naturally trapped by "Heng Chang" and cannot take any action at all.
"Chen'er!"
Ning Caiyong subconsciously screamed in shock when she saw this scene, but most of her strength was used to resolve the cause and effect.
At this moment, her "Heaven" Dao carries the cause and effect of the entire world, and she cannot act rashly, otherwise it will affect Gu Fangchen's plan.
Therefore, even though she was extremely distressed at this moment, she could only choose to believe Gu Fangchen.
In their eyes, Gu Fangchen was like a phantom with poor contact, constantly flickering in the air, and could disappear completely at any time.
This is the stranglehold of world rules.
In the home turf of the Way of Balance, any existence that goes against order will be hostile and rejected by the entire world.
However, facing this enormous power of rules, there was no fear on Gu Fangchen's face.
His face turned slightly pale, but the light in his eyes became calmer and sharper.
"The sea..."
He murmured softly, and then a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Gu Fangchen grinned:
"Since one drop of ink isn't enough, that can only mean one thing—you haven't poured enough ink."
"Xiao Zhenwu, your greatest reliance is your deep connection with this world. So, if..."
Gu Fangchen suddenly opened his arms, his expression was not crazy at all, but one of absolute, reckless rationality.
"——What if this world itself is fake?"
Boom!
The whole world shook.
This time, he no longer limited the power of [Turning Truth into Falsehood] to Xiao Zhenwu alone, but directly expanded it to the entire world!
Just now, he used this skill on Xiao Zhenwu to test whether he could shake the underlying rules of this world.
And the answer is yes.
Gu Fangchen has always known that although the level of "Tao" he has mastered is higher than Xiao Zhenwu, Xiao Zhenwu's grasp of "Tao" is higher than his.
Simply put, his skills are of high quality, but Xiao Zhenwu's skills are of high level.
Relying on the experience points accumulated over millions of years, Xiao Zhenwu forced his skill level to the highest level. Even though Gu Fangchen's skill limit was much higher than his, at this moment, Xiao Zhenwu's value was higher than his.
It's really worth counting...
However, Gu Fangchen still lacks an opportunity to truly merge with the "true" and "false".
He needs to create this opportunity for himself.
Before that, he had to make sure that even though his skill level was currently low, he could still cause damage to Xiao Zhenwu because his skill level was higher than Xiao Zhenwu's in terms of mechanism.
Even if there is only a moment of hesitation, it can be expanded through the cause and effect karma that Ning Caiyong has gathered!
In an instant.
With Gu Fangchen as the center, a circle of golden ripples spread outward again, sweeping in all directions!
Wherever the golden ripples pass, all concepts of "normality" disappear.
The concepts that supported everything were extracted and began to collapse like quicksand, revealing the vast emptiness beneath.
The whole world, under his will, is rapidly falling towards the abyss of "fakeness".
At this moment, Xiao Zhenwu's expression finally changed.
For the first time, true solemnity appeared in those indifferent eyes.
He underestimated Gu Fangchen's determination and means, who was dismantling the foundation of his existence!
But at the same time, he didn't believe that Gu Fangchen would really do this. He had almost seen the trajectory of Gu Fangchen along the way.
He had gone to great lengths to wait until now to make his move, was it just to make Gu Fangchen stronger step by step? Of course not.
He is creating a connection between Gu Fangchen and the world constructed by "Heng Chang".
Only in this way will he be willing to let go of himself, release the two paths of "truth" and "falsehood", and become Xiao Zhenwu.
"You're crazy!"
There was a hint of anger in Xiao Zhenwu's voice:
"The people you cherish are also in this world! If you do this, you will destroy them all!"
Gu Fangchen's voice was eerily calm, echoing between the collapsing world:
"Xiao Zhenwu, don't use this to threaten me. At the end of the game, any piece can be discarded, right?"
Xiao Zhenwu's heart sank.
Did he miscalculate?
No, it's impossible!
Judging from Gu Fangchen's performance, he would never treat everyone who came along the way as a discarded pawn!
Xiao Zhenwu shouted angrily, clasped his hands together suddenly, and then slowly opened them.
A field that is invisible to the naked eye but contains the power of order, with him as the center, instantly spreads to the entire world, forcibly maintaining the "balance" of the world!
Two completely opposite "Tao"s, like two invisible giant hands, are frantically tearing apart the foundation of this world's existence.
This battle fell into a delicate balance.
Xiao Zhenwu's expression became increasingly gloomy. If this continued, the world would surely collapse. This was not the outcome he wanted, and he would have to be the first to retreat.
His mind raced, and he had made up his mind.
The strategy must be changed. Gu Fangchen would definitely not make up his mind, and I have to make him admit this.
The truth and falsehood are the most difficult to distinguish when you are in this situation.
Then let him know that his so-called indifference is a lie that will collapse at the first blow.
“…That’s enough.”
Xiao Zhenwu's voice suddenly sounded, and the solemnity and anger receded like the tide, replaced by a faint sigh as if he knew everything, like an old father seeing his useless child.
He looked at Gu Fangchen, and his gaze was gradually replaced by the pity of a Creator looking at a lost lamb.
"I didn't want you to wake up. After all, in my eyes, you are the offspring I raised with my own hands."
Gu Fangchen paused:
"Xiao Zhenwu, is there any meaning in struggling to death?"
Xiao Zhenwu said calmly:
"Have you ever truly seen the truth? What if... from the beginning to the end, there has only been one place where you stand?"
Gu Fangchen frowned:
"What do you want to say?"
Xiao Zhenwu smiled silently.
"Don't you want to know where you came from?"
Then, he took the initiative to give up maintaining the "balance" and allowed the spreading golden ripples to completely swallow him up.
It will also swallow up the whole world.
But at the same time, the collapsing nothingness stopped, and the whole world began to flow backwards at an incredible speed. A long river of time flowed under the feet of the two people.
Gu Fangchen only felt the scene in front of him blur, and the whole world began to change rapidly like the black hole in Interstellar.
Even though he did not move, the long river of time carried him upstream. This was Xiao Zhenwu concentrating all his "Heng Chang" methods and going back in time.
"What are you doing?!"
"I'm taking you to see the truth."
Xiao Zhenwu's voice was like the whisper of a devil, echoing directly in the deepest part of his consciousness:
"I know you've been lost and obsessed with finding 'truth'."
"Then I will let you see with your own eyes where you and everything you care about come from."
Time goes back to the origin that can no longer be traced back.
Here is an endless, pure "white".
An absolute, heart-wrenching nothingness.
A huge white cocoon emitting soft light quietly floats in the center of this void.
Gu Fangchen's consciousness was within this cocoon of light, and he could "see" his "body" curled up inside like a fetus.
It is called a "body", but in fact, it seems to be just a human-shaped ball of light.
"This is... 'Infinite Space'."
Xiao Zhenwu's figure slowly formed outside the light cocoon, looking down at him condescendingly:
"See? Gu Fangchen, there are no two worlds. You are a special 'vessel' I created with the Dao of [Heng Chang] as the bones and the two aspects of [True and False] as the flesh."
“It hasn’t even started yet.”
"Everything you've experienced so far is nothing more than a dream born from this empty container."
"Just a... baseless, randomly generated dream."
"Everything you experience in this world, the people you meet, and the emotions you express are all complex and enormous dreams you have woven with your own hands."
"Your world, your family, your lover, your enemies... everything is a fusion of 'Tao', an 'idea' born within this container."
"Gu Fangchen, their existence is simply because you 'want'."
Xiao Zhenwu's words made Gu Fangchen silent. There was a moment of confusion on his face, which was caught by Xiao Zhenwu.
He waved his hand lightly, and faces that were extremely familiar to Gu Fangchen emerged from the white void outside the cocoon of light.
Xiao Yinghao, Ning Caiyong, Xu Fu, Prajna Lianyue, Shi Qingguang... Gu Yuye, Gu Yuandao, Yu Baigong, even Meng Po Po and Hongdou, as well as passers-by like Wen San and De Yuanzi.
Countless people of all kinds stood densely in that blank space, looking at Gu Fangchen expressionlessly.
"Their 'reality' comes from the 'ideas' you give them. Maintaining the stability of these 'ideas', making them appear flesh and blood, with love and hate, is precisely my 'balance'."
"Do you know what will happen once the 'Equivalent' Way is completely overturned by you?"
Xiao Zhenwu said in a deep voice:
"You think you've transformed everything existentially from true to false, but cognitive truth cannot be transformed into falsehood, because they exist within your cognition, right? Yet, they are false to begin with, merely relying on the construction of 'constancy.' Outside of this rule, they are nothing."
"From false to false...you will erase them from your own cognition, and from then on, they will no longer exist."
To prove this, his eyes fell on the little girl named Hongdou.
"For example, her."
Anko's presence began to flicker violently.
Gu Fangchen's heart and soul suddenly shrank.
This did not cause him any physical pain, but it was more excruciating than any heart-wrenching pain he had ever experienced.
He watched Hongdou's body, starting from her feet, gradually and irreversibly transformed into scattered points of light.
At the moment when she was about to completely disappear, a trace of spirit seemed to be restored in her empty eyes, longing for a ray of hope in the desert. She glanced at Gu Fangchen in the light cocoon, and her lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, it did not reach Gu Fangchen's ears.
Then, it completely dissipated.
At that moment, it seemed as if a piece of Gu Fangchen's consciousness was dug out, and there was a sense of emptiness and loss that could not be filled.
There was a time when he thought that he treated everything in this world as if he were playing an extremely realistic game, and everyone was an NPC made up of data.
He can plan for their fate and feel sympathy for their experiences, but ultimately, there is a screen between them and he cannot truly empathize with them.
Until now.
It was not until the simple little girl "disappeared" in front of him that he realized that he was actually unable to treat these people who were actually facing him as "mission props" and "plot characters."
Her disappearance was not simply the exit of a game character. Gu Fangchen had felt the warmth of her skin and seen her innocent smile.
Next, it was Ning Caiyong. She looked at Gu Fangchen with infinite affection and extremely gentle eyes.
Then it was Xu Fu's turn. She just looked at Gu Fangchen quietly. That look seemed to contain thousands of secrets and an unspoken "take care", which eventually returned to nothingness.
Prajna Lotus Moon, Shi Qingguang...
One after another.
Their disappearance was like a silent torture.
Gu Fangchen never moved or made any sound, just watched quietly.
"Now, do you understand?"
Xiao Zhenwu's voice slowed down, with a hint of helplessness and gentleness:
"What you pursue will only bring destruction. I am only giving you a preview of what your actions will lead to."
"As long as you accept 'constancy', everything will return to its original state. Everyone will come back and continue to exist in your world. Their voices, smiles, loves, hates, anger, and foolishness will all return to you intact."
"You just need to stay here, be quiet, and finish your beautiful dream, forever..."
"how?"
He asked in a gentle and persuasive tone, waiting for Gu Fangchen to completely collapse and surrender.
However.
A very light chuckle, as if talking to oneself, suddenly sounded from the dead silence.
"Oh……"
This time, Xiao Zhenwu's smile really froze.
Because the laughter did not come from the light cocoon, but from behind him.
Xiao Zhenwu turned around abruptly and met Gu Fangchen's half-smiling eyes.
The young man in white robe stood behind him at some point, with his hands behind his back, strolling leisurely in the garden, without any sign of collapse.
Xiao Zhenwu's pupils constricted, and he turned his head again to look at the human figure inside the cocoon of light.
Gu Fangchen then laughed and said:
"Don't look at it, it's fake. Do you think you're the only one who can create illusions? After discovering that this skill of making the fake things around you real is a passive skill, do you think I wouldn't be on guard?"
"It will only take effect directly if it's for my illusion, but if it's someone else's illusion, I need to operate it manually."
"And now, unfortunately, it's actually your fantasy moment."
Gu Fangchen walked slowly to the front of the light cocoon and spread out his hands.
Then, he looked at Xiao Zhenwu and a smile slowly spread across his face, a smile that was cynical and cruel to the extreme.
"Xiao Zhenwu...you didn't really believe it just now, did you?"
After using Ning Caiyong's "Heavenly" Dao to resolve the cause and effect, what Gu Fangchen needs to do is to use this world as the scope and set up an unprecedented illusion array.
Just before Xiao Zhenwu restored the sky, the illusion array had already taken effect.
Xiao Zhenwu's pupils trembled and his face looked extremely ugly.
Gu Fangchen's smile deepened:
"You don't really think that using this poor illusion to kill a few 'data' will make me collapse, do you?"
"Xiao Zhenwu, ah Xiao Zhenwu, should I say you are naive or arrogant?"
"Yes, when they disappeared, I felt pain, a real pain that I had never experienced before."
He admitted it frankly, even reaching out his hand and gently covering the light cocoon, as if touching the remaining pain, and whispered:
"This just proves one thing - they are 'real' to me."
"That's enough."
"Your performance actually allowed me to feel their presence so clearly for the first time."
"For that, I should even…thank you."
He said the last three words lightly, but they were like three invisible slaps in Xiao Zhenwu's face.
Because at this moment, he suddenly realized something, and his pupils constricted:
"You! Impossible..."
Gu Fangchen put down his hand, turned around and looked at Xiao Zhenwu, and said lightly:
"What's impossible?"
"I want to thank you for helping me truly break through the inner demon tribulation, forge an indestructible heart of Tao, and advance to the Infinite Realm."
Gu Fangchen’s inner tribulation is precisely the inner demon about “truth” and “falsehood”.
But that inner demon has actually never disappeared.
Until just now, he confirmed his true thoughts with the help of Xiao Zhenwu.
Only by feeling that pain did he truly understand what was true and what was false!
From this moment on, his skill level was equal to Xiao Zhenwu's.
"As for you..."
Gu Fangchen's gaze penetrated the cocoon of light and the void, as if he was looking at a pitiful prisoner who was only seeing the world from the bottom of his heart.
"Your biggest mistake was using your impoverished, self-righteous imagination to speculate about my past and define my 'truth'."
"You're using every trick you can to prove that my world is fake, to keep me trapped forever in this 'real' dream you've woven."
"You probably don't understand what this world, and you, mean to me."
Gu Fangchen snapped his fingers, and the light cocoon in front of him burst instantly, and dazzling white light burst out!
"Then I'll let you take a look."
The moment he finished speaking, he didn't even make any extra movements, it was just a thought.
A thought of going home to visit.
Boom——!!!!
The white light cocoon and the entire "infinite space" were submerged and disappeared along with the exploding white light.
The entire pure white void space, including Xiao Zhenwu outside the light cocoon, was instantly refreshed at this moment.
When the light fades.
What replaced the pure white was not the ruins of Huangtian City, nor the dark yellow of heaven and earth, nor the vastness of the universe.
But...
The harsh, continuous sound of speeding cars and honking horns.
It is the blinding sunlight reflected from the glass curtain walls of skyscrapers.
It is the noisy voices on the streets, the pop music playing in the shops, and the hawkers' cries.
It was the cement road, that pungent yet incredibly familiar smell of dust, exhaust, and the aroma of food, unique to modern industrial civilization...
“!!!”
All the expressions on Xiao Zhenwu's face froze, replaced by an unprecedented shock and confusion that came from the depths of his soul.
He was startled to find himself standing on a crowded sidewalk, surrounded by a constant stream of men and women dressed in strange clothes that he could not understand.
His way of [keeping constant] seemed to be completely ineffective here...
He could not feel the rules of heaven and earth, nor could he sense the flow of spiritual energy.
His great power that was enough to determine the fate of the world and make his words come true was like being thrown into a black hole here, without causing the slightest ripple.
The "rules" of this world were so rigid, so strange, so... incompatible with him.
In an instant, he went from being the controller of the world, a high and mighty god, to an ordinary person who was powerless.
And Gu Fangchen was standing opposite him, on the other side of the road.
The white robe on his body had turned into an ordinary T-shirt and jeans. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned casually and lazily against a lamppost covered with small advertisements. There was a hint of nostalgia for returning to his hometown on his face, as well as a hint of... a cold smile.
"Welcome," Gu Fangchen mouthed silently to him.
"--Reality."
————
P.S. I am so dizzy from writing this, I should post one chapter when I have 10,000 words, and then two chapters will be the end.
(End of this chapter)
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