Chapter 224: Dream

Chen Yi He woke with a start from his sleep.

He dreamed that a black-clad person was choking his neck, strangling him so he could not breathe; no matter how he struggled, he could not make the other loosen their grip. Bit by bit, he watched the darkness fade, and he gradually lost consciousness…

Although Chen Yi He was a Sixfold Heaven cultivator, he was actually choked to death, and couldn't resist at all!

"How can my body hide your soul?"

"How can my body hide your soul?"

"How can my body hide your soul?"

…

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yi He finally woke from his dream. Sunlight scattered sparsely outside the window onto the ground, with half of it also landing on the bedsheet.

Everyone's gaze fell upon Chen Yi He.

"You…" Chen Yi He looked at everyone in astonishment.

"You finally woke up!" Nun Shang Rong said to Chen Yi He; after all, she was a woman, she stepped forward and embraced him tightly, as if embracing hope itself.

Chen Yi He patted Nun Shang Rong's back and then said, "It's fine, it's fine…"

"It's good that you woke up; I was really afraid you'd never wake again, benefactor. Amitabha, good, good." Great Master Le Bei stood with one hand before his chest and said to Chen Yi He.

"What exactly happened?" Hong Liang asked Chen Yi He.

Chen Yi He released Nun Shang Rong, rubbed his head, the feeling of his head about to split still lingered; he felt his brain had shattered into tiny fragments, he shook his head and said, "I don't know either."

"Someone has been here." Hong Liang discovered footprints beside the bed.

Everyone looked over, and indeed there was a faint footprint.

The footprint was large, somewhat bigger than anyone else's present.

"We placed over a hundred talismans in the Scripture Pavilion; it's impossible for an outsider to get in." Zhou Ke told everyone, "Besides, we live on the floor below; if anyone came near Yi He, we would surely sense it."

"Unless that person's cultivation far surpasses ours." Chen Yi He added, then asked, "And the Elder Ancestor?"

"The old man has arrived." The Imperial Elder Ancestor's voice sounded from behind everyone.

"Imperial Elder Ancestor, what exactly is going on?" Hong Liang asked the Imperial Elder Ancestor.

"They are people of the Heavenly Dao." The Imperial Elder Ancestor's single sentence startled everyone.

"Heavenly Dao?!" Everyone exclaimed in shock.

"People of the Heavenly Dao have been here." The Imperial Elder Ancestor feigned calm, saying, "They came like ghosts, silently and without a trace."

"They walked past us, yet we slept like dead pigs, knowing nothing, noticing nothing?" Zhou Ke asked. He usually resided at the Prince's Manor, but after getting drunk with Shangguan Yunyi the day before yesterday, he hadn't rested, came to the Scripture Pavilion to report to the Imperial Elder Ancestor, and hadn't returned last night.

"Hmm." Shangguan Yunyi, who had somehow positioned himself behind everyone, said, "He has been here."

At the moment they saw Shangguan Yunyi, hope rose in everyone's hearts; looking at Shangguan Yunyi, they seemed to see light itself! Sword King Shangguan Yunyi! With him, everything holds hope.

The alcohol on Shangguan Yunyi's body had completely dissipated, and he once again took on an ethereal, daoist aura. He became aloof, as if he did not partake in mortal fireworks.

"He can even enter Yi He's dreams." The Imperial Elder Ancestor added.

"Enter dreams?" Chen Yi He covered his head and asked, "No wonder I felt like I was being choked to death. That suffocating sensation is unbearable, so real, so terrifying!"

"Then aren't they just killing people directly in their dreams?" Hong Liang pressed.

"That's theoretically the case." The Imperial Elder Ancestor told everyone, "They can gradually devour our souls, causing us to die in our dreams. Such power may be beyond what a Sevenfold Heaven cultivator can achieve."

"Words must be shocking or they're not worth uttering!"

"It seems we have not even a sliver of chance." Hong Liang said sadly, "If they kill us outright in the dark, we die in our dreams—how can we fight this battle?"

"No, didn't they say they'd give us three months? Only two months have passed." Chen Yi He questioned, "With one month left, they first used the Dragon King to provoke us, then came to kill us in dreams. What does this game mean? I can't quite grasp it."

"They want to give us a chance yet leave us with no hope—how are the Heavenly Dao people playing this?" Nun Shang Rong also asked.

"All of this is suspicious."

"Sword King, Ancestor, what do you think?" Zhou Ke asked Sword King Shangguan Yunyi and the Imperial Elder Ancestor.

"They have successively targeted Chen Yi He, indicating he is the key to this great war." Shangguan Yunyi pointed at Chen Yi He and said, "The Heavenly Dao people already hold absolute advantage in strength, but they seek total certainty, allowing no slightest slip. Evidently, Chen Yi He is the one who could cause them to slip."

"A slip?" Chen Yi He pointed at himself, incredulous, "I'm only at Sixfold Heaven, infinitely far from Sevenfold Heaven—how could I cause them to slip? If what you say is true, they may have already broken through the Sevenfold Heaven boundary; what certainty would they need then?"

"I, the old man, am also unclear on this point."

The Imperial Elder Ancestor immediately followed Shangguan Yunyi's words, saying, "I, the old man, agree with the Sword King's view; it is indeed so. Yi He, your fortunate escape this time may be due to that person inside you."

Only then did everyone realize that Chen Yi He still harbored a person within his body.

Shangguan Yunyi placed his hand on Chen Yi He's shoulder and slowly closed his eyes.

"How can my body hide your soul?"

"How can my body hide your soul?"

"How can my body hide your soul?"

Shangguan Yunyi warily withdrew his hand, looked at Chen Yi He, then at the Imperial Elder Ancestor, and said, "This is…"

"I, the old man, only recently discovered this; the person inside Yi He possesses strength that surpasses the heavens, but for some reason must rely on Yi He." The Imperial Elder Ancestor said, "I believe that if Yi He and he perfectly unite, they will surely unleash their greatest power and defeat the Heavenly Dao."

"Perfect union?!" Chen Yi He was so frightened he almost jumped out of bed, "Union?!" He couldn't imagine sharing his body with another person; it would be more unbearable than killing him, the thing he could least accept!

"That person's strength surpasses both yours and mine, old man." Shangguan Yunyi said to the Imperial Elder Ancestor.

"Hmm."

"So you had Chen Yi He cultivate the Classic of Longevity in order to help them unite better?" Shangguan Yunyi asked the Imperial Elder Ancestor.

"Exactly."