Chapter 286: Perceiving Truth, Incense God Dao

The silvery radiant Western King, resembling a divine being, returned to Lin Liu's dream—but this time He was no longer kind-eyed and benevolent, nor was He broadcasting mass videos.

He truly poured His will……

At that moment, Lin Liu's knees truly went weak, and he very much wanted to kneel and beg for mercy!

This wasn't because he was weak and boneless; it was the innate fear mortals feel toward the unknown and mysterious.

But upon recalling the heinous crimes He had committed in the previous side story, Lin Liu's anger welled up, and he regained his courage!

What of it, being a god? Our enmity runs deep as the sea—does His divinity mean I must fear Him? 'Beast! Die!'

Lin Liu roared and charged forward heedlessly, but the Western King merely gave a sinister grin and casually swatted him away.

"Do you think I, in my Dharma form, am still a mere mortal flesh?"

The Western King made a grasping motion, and Lin Liu could only float upward—clearly the gap between them could not be measured by reason, leaving no suspense in battle.

He chuckled sinisterly, yet with a hint of curiosity, and said:

"Do we have any deep grudge between us?"

He did not remember having offended this person.

Lin Liu did not answer, merely glaring at Him hatefully……

After thinking, the Western King decided to ascertain causality in the simplest way, placing a palm on Lin Liu's forehead and carefully perusing his memories.

Huh?!

Without looking, one wouldn't know; but upon looking, He was startled—the ferocity on His face froze, then turned into bewilderment, then into astonishment……

"You……restart……"

The Western King was shocked beyond measure; if this person wasn't mentally ill, then this secret was enormous—so great that even the clay-and-wood statue of the Profound Heaven Emperor would have to rush down from Heaven!

"What exactly are you?"

The Western King, who had come for revenge, couldn't help but continue perusing this person's memories:

Childhood, monkey, restart…… 'Another Self'.

"What is an 'Another Self'?"

The more He looked, the more confused He became, the more confused, the greater His interest grew……

What He did not realize was that, as He gained a bit of insight into the truth, a sense of illusory void gradually appeared on His Dharma form.

Until, He could no longer move at all……

Lin Liu stared at Him, bewildered—this guy who had just wanted to beat and kill him…… why wasn't He moving? 'Who cares!'

After thinking, Lin Liu slammed a fierce punch into the Western King's face! As the punch landed, the Western King's Dharma form, which seemed as hard as silvery radiance, suddenly shattered into scattered silver flakes.

The shattered silver flakes then attached themselves to Lin Liu of their own accord, causing a flood of inexplicable memories, and the dream likewise shattered……

……

【Ding! Detected a weak void will intending to perceive truth; that will has self‑disintegrated……】

"What?"

While watching the plot, a strange prompt suddenly popped up; Zhao Si stared blankly and simply couldn't understand:

"What is a weak void will? What is perceiving truth?"

This term never appeared in previous chapters! 【This chapter differs from the first three……All practitioners in this chapter can be collectively called "void will," and "perceiving truth" means perceiving reality; when a void existence encounters reality, it naturally annihilates.】

Zhao Si raised an eyebrow:

"What truth did he perceive?"

Lin Liu is merely a newcomer who just started his journey; he couldn't possibly know any secret of the world's truth. Even if his soul were searched, at most one would retrieve his memories from childhood onward—this…… what truth could that be? 【He perceived the existence of you, the player.】

"Ah?"

Zhao Si became even more bewildered:

"You mean he learned of my existence from Lin Liu's memories… and then died?"

【That's correct.】

Zhao Si rubbed his forehead; this outrageous news left him quite at a loss:

"How am I made to seem like Cthulhu…… indescribable, right?"

【To them, you are more terrifying than Cthulhu; merely knowing a bit will cause their minds to shatter.】

"Then why hasn't this happened before?"

Zhao Si couldn't understand; in the previous chapters, Jiao Ming had repeatedly told Hongjun about the "Another Self," and Xiao Heizi Xue Xuan had also repeatedly revealed the existence of the "Another Self" to the pirated Gold Bing and the All Saints.

Yet we never saw Lao Jun and his companions drop dead on the spot! Why did the problem arise only in this fourth chapter? 【The specific principle is inconvenient for the system to disclose……You only need to know that this chapter is completely different from the previous ones; anyone in this world who hears of your existence will have their will annihilated……】

【Therefore, please pay attention to the method you use when clearing the game.】

"This……"

Having heard this news, Zhao Si pondered for a long time but still couldn't grasp the principle. Why, though all are game chapters, does this fourth chapter feature a special setting completely unlike the previous ones?

Everyone in the first three chapters heard of his existence, but here the people are as fragile as thin skin—just hearing it makes them die!

"Is this really the Primordial Wasteland?"

This question surged again into Zhao Si's mind, and an inexplicable doubt began to accumulate……

……

【Although you don't know what happened, the Western King's death means it's a good thing!】

【And after you smashed the Western King's Dharma form with a punch, His memory fragments naturally attached to you……you had a dream.】

【In the dream, you became a little Daoist surnamed Zhang.】

【From childhood onward, you lived in a temple, and that temple is called the Five Emperors Temple!】

【In the Five Emperors Temple are enshrined the Five Heavenly Emperors, corresponding to the five elements and five directions……and you belong to the White Emperor lineage, having since childhood practiced the Western King Contemplation Method.】

【Although your lineage is populous, ever since the previous lineage head was slaughtered by the wicked court, no one has managed to cultivate a Dharma form.】

And your talent is extraordinary; barely in your early twenties, you had already accomplished the sole 'West King Dharma Appearance'; the future of the divine path looks promising… To gather more incense, the Five Emperors Temple launched an uprising, deciding to expand incense faith through war, so you joined in, leading a line of people to begin conquering cities and seizing territory…

……

This is the life of that West King; he himself is not called West King, nor is he any immortal, but rather a cultivator who has accomplished a Dharma Appearance in the divine path.

And the 'Incense Divine Path Dharma Appearance' is the sole cultivation system in this world!

After waking from the dream, you finally understood why you could not master the immortal method…

And the 'West King Contemplation Method' originally belonging to that Zhang-surnamed Daoist naturally came into your hands.

Thus, a non-problem of a problem lay before you: whether or not to practice this 'West King Contemplation Method'?

You quickly made your decision: practice!

The long-sought-after immortal technique automatically came to your door—how could there be any reason not to practice it!

Thus you began your cultivation…

……

Time passed day after day.

The deceased county magistrate was given a grand burial by the imperial court, praising his fearless, mighty defeat of the monster rebel army's immortal achievement!

Eager for promotion, he did not live to see the day when his merit for defeating rebels would be transformed into capital for advancement; his merit ultimately became only the imperial court's commendation at his funeral…

The dead cannot stop the living; after the old county magistrate died a violent death, the imperial court quickly sent a new county magistrate, and otherwise everything remained as before, as if the rebel army had never attacked the city.

After careful consideration, you thought that since there was already a rebel army attacking cities and seizing territory, the county's being besieged would certainly happen again… the county was no longer safe.

So you simply did not bring your wife and children back to the county, but instead sold off your property and house in the city, taking your last bit of money and returning to the seaside village where your ancestors had lived…

You could be described as returning home in glory; in the village you were also a prominent figure, everyone knew your story of building a family and starting a business, young and old alike loved to talk about you in private.

You felt nothing about this, and single-mindedly painstakingly practiced the 'West King Contemplation Method'.

But like those fellow disciples of the West King, your perseverance had no effect; you were still far from condensing a Dharma Appearance, the distance unknown.

Only then did you realize how heaven-defying the West King's talent truly was…

But you had no other choice, so you could only keep grinding away slowly, believing that you would eventually succeed.

Besides practicing, you often revisited your childhood experiences: fishing, casting nets, gathering shells… anyway, you had money, the estate you had accumulated over the first twenty years and the 'strategy reward' given by the old county magistrate were enough for you to live happily for the rest of your life without extravagant spending, even your descendants could not exhaust it…

Thus, before the age of forty, you had already begun a life of retirement.

One day, one year, three years…

Your days passed so slowly…

Your daughter gradually grew into adulthood; according to her wishes, she married a handsome young man from the county, and only during festivals would she return to the village to visit you.

You became an empty-nest elder…

After a few more years, your parents also passed away one after another; under your support, they lived happily in the second half of their lives, with no regrets.

They felt relieved to have you as their son…

After handling your parents' funeral, you always looked gloomy; your wife's comfort was useless, for you were not only grieving their passing but also feeling sorrow over your own lifespan.

Your cultivation still had no effect, your lifespan would not increase; if this continued, you would eventually die of old age…

Thus you always sat blankly by the sea, recalling the dreams of your youth…

You missed that golden giant monkey that had borne your childhood fantasies…

Will it ever return?

……

(End of Chapter)