Chapter 314: Misty Dream and Reality

Ah? Zhao Si, who had originally been prepared to reminisce with Xue Xuan of this chapter, seeing such a divine turn of events, was left without reaction for a while:

Not bro…… how did you become like this?! "What the hell……"

Zhao Si scratched his head:

"Hearing my name, I regained my memory…… this is normal, but why did I die right after regaining my memory?"

This situation gave him an inexplicable sense of déjà vu, as if the previous West King had died in the same way.

"Last time, when the West King searched Lin Six's soul, he accidentally discovered my existence, ultimately leading to the collapse of consciousness……"

Zhao Si frowned, thought, and remembered the system's previous explanation: because all beings of this chapter, including the West King, belong to the "Will of the Void," while he, as a player, is a "True Existence" far above these chapter beings.

Because the Void meets the Real, the Void side dies! But if we really talk about it, all four chapters experienced so far are "simulated games"; relative to the player, they're all fake, so it makes no sense that only chapter four is special.

Back then Zhao Si couldn't figure it out, but now the answer has come:

Because this world is a dream!

"Will of the Void…… and Xue Xuan's just‑said line 'This world is a dream'……

Zhao Si keenly grasped the key: according to Xue Xuan, the world of chapter four is fundamentally a dream world, not the primordial heaven and earth of the first three chapters.

This answer isn't actually that surprising, because Lin Six had already uncovered some related clues in earlier plot exploration, though he himself didn't realize it; rather, Zhao Si, from a god's‑eye view, picked up a bit of information.

"In a past life, the monkey deliberately told the dying Lin Six a line from the Bodhi Immortal Method: 'Heaven and earth are one dream; awakening brings truth'…… I had guessed a bit back then, and now it's merely been confirmed by Xue Xuan himself."

Having obtained this key information, Zhao Si immediately outlined the true background of the chapter four world:

Without doubt, this strange world is a dream made by someone in the Eternal Primordial Wasteland, so the world is fake, and the beings living in it are also products of the dream! The people in the dream are naturally the so‑called "Will of the Void," because they are fake, so they cannot perceive Zhao Si's existence as a true player; once they become aware of him, it's equivalent to being "awoken"……

"And if a person awakens from a dream, they will realize they are "false," thereby denying themselves and then dying."

"This principle…… seems a bit similar to Bi Gan in Fengshen Yanyi, right?"

Zhao Si couldn't help but think of Bi Gan, whose heart was dug out; originally Bi Gan had Jiang Ziya's divine talisman on him, and as long as the talisman remained unbroken, even having his heart removed wouldn't kill him.

As a result, when he went out he bumped into a vegetable seller hawking "heartless greens," and, possessed by some impulse, he asked: "Greens without a heart can live; what happens to a person without a heart?"

The vegetable seller blurted out: "A person without a heart will die."

One sentence woke Bi Gan, simultaneously breaking the talisman, and the person died instantly……

A similar example is Tom the Cat: as long as it doesn't notice it's stepped on empty air, it can float across; but if it notices, it will immediately fall……

"So the West King and Xue Xuan are essentially dead because I broke their method, awakening them."

Logic, sound! "Then the question arises: who is the dreamer?"

Zhao Si fell into thought: since this is a dream, the dream must have an owner, but who is that owner?

He subconsciously thought of Xue Xuan! "Xiao Heizi can recover memories of the previous chapter in the dream, which shows he is the real person, not a figment of imagination…… in this world he is more like a higher‑dimensional projection

"So he is very likely the master of the dream……"

This guess makes a lot of sense.

"But……

"But that's not right…… if Xiao Heizi were the dream's master, then he'd be the dream's core, the dream would exist because of him, and since he's dead, why would the dream still exist?"

Zhao Si couldn't figure it out; if Xue Xuan had been killed by "Penetrating Truth," then his true form in the Eternal Primordial Wasteland should have awakened, and at that moment the dream should have vanished.

"So Xue Xuan is not the dream's master……"

Zhao Si guessed again: "Then…… could it be the monkey?"

The monkey in this world is a pure bug: upon meeting it recognizes the protagonist that even sages fail to recognize, it embraces Lin Six wanting to become his disciple, and it can even find Lingtai Fangcun Shan, which Lin Six himself couldn't find; after learning the immortal methods there, it transcends the mundane, imperceptible to others, not even true gods possess this ability! Moreover, the immortal arts it cultivates even mention that "the world is a dream"……

All these signs indicate the monkey is not an ordinary dream creature, so it is very likely the master of the dream.

But another problem arises: if the monkey is the master, why would Xue Xuan appear in its dream? What status would it have to deserve that Xue Xuan, the beloved son of a sage, projects his consciousness into its dream? And what is the purpose of this dream? For fun? To drag Xue Xuan into the dream as a playmate?

Even his father, the Underworld River, doesn't get this treatment……

"Then…… could it be Lin Six himself?"

Zhao Si again placed his suspicion on the protagonist Lin Six:

"Is the dream's master Lin Six?"

"But that's still not right…… if Lin Six were the master, he'd have died several times before, yet the dream never broke because of it? The dream world continued after his death, and historical records show the world merely lost its authenticity due to losing its anchor, rather than shattering outright."

Moreover, given the system's nature, it would never assign itself such an overpowered protagonist; protagonists should be ordinary people…… "……Who on earth is it?"

After pondering for a while, Zhao Si still couldn't come up with a convincing answer; the identity of the dream's master still needs more information to be determined.

"Moreover, the most important issue right now isn't finding the dream's master, but the 'disaster' Xue Xuan spoke of!"

What is the disaster? Zhao Si frowned, flipped through the historical information, trying to extract something useful from Xue Xuan's few brief sentences.

Soon he had an epiphany: "Xue Xuan says Lin Six's appearance here is a disaster, even a world‑ending disaster……"

"We know this is a dream world, not the Eternal Primordial Wasteland, and we also know that chapter three's Eternal Primordial Wasteland can exist only because Xue Xuan serves as an anchor point."

"And now we're in chapter four, Xue Xuan is no longer the protagonist, so he has lost his anchor‑point ability; and what happens to an Eternal Primordial Wasteland without an anchor point was already explained in the previous chapter……"

How would it be? Answer: it turns into a quantum state, existing between being and not being!

"When the Eternal Primordial Wasteland becomes a quantum state, it naturally turns into a world‑ending disaster…… but solving this is actually simple: just send the new protagonist over."

Zhao Si's train of thought suddenly cleared up: "So the overall plot strategy is now clear; to achieve a perfect ending, we must first find the dream's master and awaken him, so that Lin Six can reach the Eternal Primordial Wasteland as the anchor point."

"But the problem is, we can't find out who the master is……"

That's the crux of the difficulty.

Having a full strategy is useless if the first step can't be carried out—without finding the dream's master, everything is moot! "Well, might as well wait for Lin Six to die before thinking about this……"

Watching Lin Six being beaten up by the Heavenly Court's circle of gods, Zhao Si sighed: Lin Six, who had assassinated the Heavenly Emperor, was obviously about to die……

……

【That's right, you can't run this time.】

【At the very moment the Heavenly Emperor was assassinated, the Venus Star Lord rushed out of the palace, still shaken!】

Oh no! The Heavenly Emperor has been assassinated!

You, still dazed, failed to react, watching helplessly as he flew out, and then heard him shouting angrily and anxiously… A thud went through your heart: 'I'm screwed!'

Soon, under the indignant urging of the Great White Star Lord, the startled celestial gods rushed in; upon seeing that the Heavenly Emperor was gone, they fell silent at once.

Everyone's gaze snapped toward you, filled with shock, anger, fear, and excitement…

You: ……

【whatcanisay？】

The process went off without a hitch, and there wasn't much to make a fuss about—anyway, a large crowd swarmed over you and pinned you to the ground in minutes; fortunately, as a god you don't need to breathe, otherwise you'd really have to say 'I can't breathe'…

The gods first interrogated and judged you, clarified the whole matter, and all thought you had cast some evil spell on the Heavenly Emperor, causing his downfall.

Since it turned out to be just a matter of your words, everyone shuddered and dared not ask further…

After a brief deliberation, led by the Great White Star Lord, the gods unanimously decided: immediate execution!

Heavenly statutes? Heavenly law?

You've already done away with the Heavenly Emperor, so there's no need to put you through any formalities—just send you off happily; that's the right thing to do!

Assassin! Be honest! Send them one by one to the God‑Execution Platform!

Soon you were escorted to the execution grounds, and under the varied gazes of the gods, you let out a helpless sigh.

Screwed!

Although you had imagined this journey might end in an untimely death, you certainly didn't expect it to happen so quickly: you had just ascended to meet the Heavenly Emperor, hadn't even snagged a single official title, hadn't enjoyed a single day of the carefree life of a true god, when you inexplicably sent the Heavenly Emperor off—and then yourself.

How exactly did the Heavenly Emperor die?

You're bewildered—did I just mention Zhao Sizhi's name? Does this name carry such evil? It's indescribable…

Moreover, what did the Heavenly Emperor's last words mean? What is 'eternal primordial chaos'? What does it mean that this world is merely a dream? Why does being in this world equate to a cataclysm that could destroy everything?

So many questions swirled in your mind, and you suddenly realized you don't just not understand the Heavenly Emperor and the world—you don't even understand 'another self'…

Your life feels like living in a mist‑filled room; you strive to see everything clearly, but you only ever manage to see this small room, while the vast world beyond remains unknown to you.

Carrying one bewilderment after another about life, you lifted your head and saw boundless thunder and fire…

……

……

(End of chapter)