Chapter 362: Cultivation, the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

You eventually still saw the Monkey, and easily gained its trust.

Although the process was very complicated, and even made the Monkey restart once, causing all your previous efforts to come to naught…… but…… it doesn't matter!

As long as the Monkey, this dream's protagonist, remains in your hands, then everything will go smoothly.

With its help, even if you still cannot achieve a perfect clearance, you can at least maintain the stable pattern of the dream world……

……

Setting out from East Victory Divine Continent, passing through South Jambu Continent, you once again witnessed the process of the Heavenly Court's dissolution: those heavenly gods were utterly unaware that they had been reset once more, and just as before they made their own choices.

Thousands of true gods left the heavenly realm, and in the mortal world a massive 'Restoration War' erupted, throwing the world into great chaos!

Faced with this desperate situation, the Shun Dynasty, after failed negotiations, could only grit its teeth and begin suppression.

There's no way; Great Shun cannot simply surrender, for the hard-won world must certainly be defended with all its might.

But everyone knows that such a war is absolutely unwinnable; all of Great Shun's efforts merely delay the time of its demise, and the outcome of the war was already decided the moment the enemy had true god support……

You see it with your eyes, and feel anxious in your heart.

You are certainly not anxious about the rise and fall of Great Shun, but about the populace about to be plunged into war; once fighting breaks out, casualties are inevitable!

Faced with such circumstances, you could only silently quicken your pace, bringing the Monkey, this 'Heaven's Mandate person', straight to Xiniu Hezhou, leaving everything to rely on it……

Having crossed South Jambu Continent, you all pressed onward, sailing across the vast ocean.

Finally, guided by your memory, you and the Monkey reached Xiniu Hezhou and discovered the 'Lingtai Fangcun Shan' hidden on a certain cliff……

Go in.

Lin Liu pointed with feeling at the 'Lingtai Fangcun Shan' that only the Monkey could see.

After many days together, the Monkey had long learned from him the full story, and so without too much hesitation, it nodded and headed toward the cliff.

Lin Liu just watched it vanish between heaven and earth……

Next, it was just a matter of waiting.

After the Monkey comes out, the world can return to peace, whether continuing Great Shun or establishing a prosperous new era like the previous life; in any case, it will be better than the present turmoil.

But…… what about afterward?

The lonely old cripple sat on the ground, silently pondering the future……

Others don't need to think too much; they just need to live their own lives well, and that's enough.

But I am different; as the protagonist, I cannot be satisfied with merely the peace of the dream world, I must also consider tranquility beyond the dream.

No matter how he thinks, contradictions remain contradictions, bugs remain bugs; this protagonist who unexpectedly descended here is truly stuck at the crux, and single-handedly caused the crisis of the Eternal Primordial Wasteland's collapse.

The problem is his doing, so he naturally bears the responsibility to resolve it.

"But how is the problem to be solved?"

"You racked your brains, but still couldn't come up with a usable plan……"

"You originally thought of simply abandoning the dream world, delivering all beings to the Eternal Primordial Wasteland, but while you could save others, you ultimately could not save yourself."

"So you could only settle for second best, planning to enter the dream Primordial Wasteland alone after delivering others; if successful, that would work!"

"But Jin Bing's reminder shattered your lovely idea; you cannot rely on others' borrowed aid to last a lifetime, for Pangu's possession will eventually be reclaimed, and you must rely on yourself……"

"This way, a near‑impossible demand arises: you must surpass the dream with your own strength!"

"And you have absolutely no clue how to fulfill this demand……"

"Benefactor……"

"Just as you were sunk in painful thought, a hesitant voice suddenly sounded; you stared, looked up, and saw the Monkey, who had just entered a moment ago, inexplicably come out again."

"What's wrong?"

"Seeing this, your heart leapt: could it be that the apprenticeship failed?"

"Yet the Monkey shook its head: 'The Patriarch is willing to accept me as a disciple……but refuses to teach me how to become stronger……'"

"Ah?"

"For a moment you couldn't grasp the logic, and thus stared for a long time: what does that mean?"

"'He refuses to teach you how to become stronger—then what does He want to teach you?'"

"'The Patriarch says, He wants to teach me the Cultivation Immortal Method……'"

"Cultivation Immortal Method?"

"In an instant, the dazed you seemed to recall something……"

"You recalled your first encounter with it in your first life; back then the Monkey had no idea what the 'Incense Fire Divine Way' was, and what it ultimately learned from Patriarch Puti here was a 'Bodhi Longevity Cultivation Marvelous Method'!"

"So the question arises: why doesn't Patriarch Puti teach it the 'Incense Fire Divine Way', but instead wants to teach what the 'Cultivation Marvelous Method'?"

Or rather, given that everything in the dream world and the Monkey is a product set by Patriarch Puti, what logic lies behind the Monkey's apprenticeship? Why does Patriarch Puti want it to become a disciple? What does the apprenticeship signify? These problems and details you had never considered before suddenly became filled with crucial mysteries……

"Thinking of these, a flash of insight crossed your eyes, and you hurriedly had the Monkey ask again!"

"The Monkey scratched its head, not really understanding what you said, but still obediently acted as your mouthpiece for a moment."

"'The Patriarch says, the essence of the Cultivation Marvelous Method is to borrow false cultivation, refining one's essence from falsehood to truth, in order to become an anchor point……'"

"After going back and forth many times, through the Monkey's errand‑running relay, another key fragment of the dream's mystery was gradually filled in……"

"Speaking from the significance of the dream world's existence, why exactly did the Nine Sages join forces to create this dream world?"

"You understood this in your previous life: the purpose of the Sages' dreaming is to create an 'anchor point'!"

"As Sages, they neither wanted to be forever controlled by the unseen game system, nor to keep waiting for a 'heaven‑sent protagonist' to save the world; thus they chose to artificially create an 'anchor point'."

"If an 'anchor point' can be artificially created, then the future Primordial Wasteland could break free of the game's control and henceforth master its own destiny……"

"And the Monkey is exactly the 'test‑subject protagonist' they produced!"

"In the script, the Monkey will, after birth, come to realize the horror of birth, aging, sickness, and death; then it will roam the four great continents, seeking the elixir of immortality, ultimately obtaining the 'Cultivation Marvelous Method' on Lingtai Fangcun Shan and cultivating into the protagonist's anchor point……"

"Of course, this seemingly perfect script was in fact impossible from the start, because 'borrowing false cultivation' amounts to 'creating something from nothing', and since the Sages cannot truly achieve 'creating something from nothing', how could they talk about 'borrowing false cultivation'?"

"Thus the Sages cannot produce 'being', nor cultivate 'truth'; all their efforts were bound to come to naught……"

"Why does He still want you to cultivate?"

You furrowed your brows: the situation had already reached such a critical point, all efforts had completely come to nothing; logically speaking, shouldn't Bodhi Old Ancestor face reality?

What's the point of this effort? Directly give Houzi the "Wind Spirit Moon Shadow" cheat, first resolve the chaos of the dream world, that's the truth!

"Because He said, since things are already irreparable, it might as well go down a dark road to the end…"

Houzi truthfully relayed.

This…

You hesitated: Is it really necessary?

Clearly the gods of the dream world are stirring up war, causing turmoil across the world, countless people are about to suffer the ravages of war… Is there still a need to stubbornly persist on a doomed path?

Actually, it's not necessary.

But you could guess Bodhi Old Ancestor's mind: since things have come to this, you've bugged the dream world; rather than quietly waiting for an impossible turn of events, it's better to go all out aggressively!

The sages originally launched the "Artificial Anchor Point Plan" because they refused to accept fate; now fate is once again before them, so they will naturally choose to give it another go.

Anyway, things can't get any worse than they already are…

"Benefactor…"

Houzi said cautiously: "Maybe we should leave… this Bodhi Old Ancestor simply doesn't care about the lives of all beings…"

What it said is correct; judging by Bodhi Old Ancestor's current choice, He doesn't even regard the dream world's beings as anything, and despite knowing they will suffer calamity, He still pins hope on a failed plan—this itself is contempt and disregard for the dream world's beings!

But… having said that, the dream world is merely His dream; the existence or nonexistence of dream‑world things is none of His concern—the dream itself is fake, so do you really want to make a dreamer worry about life and death for dream‑people?

Reason turned in your heart, you gradually clenched your fist…

"Listen to Him, learn!"

Finally, you made the choice for Houzi in a deep voice.

Bodhi Old Ancestor is ultimately the master of the dream world; since He wants to try His own method, let Him try.

As for all the beings under heaven…

"You don't care, I do!"

Because you are not a lofty dreamer; you are merely an ordinary member of the dream.

He may not care, but you do.

And you caring is enough…

…

In the 135th year of Great Shun, the heavenly realm underwent drastic change, the Heavenly Court collapsed!

That year, the gods descended to the lower realm to restore their nations, sparking boundless chaotic war!

In the 150th year of Great Shun, an old cripple rose from Xiniu Hezhou, using Blood God Son to reunite incense divine power, and ascended to the position of true god.

That year, the old cripple subdued seven wild gods, collectively known as the "Eight Immortals", established a regime, and unified the perennially divided Xiniu Hezhou!

That year, the Eight Immortals traveled east across the sea, launching eastern campaigns against the flame‑ridden Southern Continent!

You no longer ponder the "Eternal Primordial"; you only wish to bring an era of peace and prosperity to the dream world's beings, even if imperfect, that's fine!

…

(End of chapter)