Chapter 494: The Web of Freedom

When Tang Zhao pushed the door and entered Zizai Tower, he felt as if he had suddenly plunged into a giant cloud.

The room he entered was extremely narrow and spherical, without any furniture or decorations, only four walls so tight that it was difficult to even turn around. Everything around was soft; the walls and floor were squishy and fluffy, and they were pulsing rhythmically, rising and falling like a heartbeat.

It is said that the interior of this tower was designed to imitate the appearance of a heart.

A Sword Heart, a heart in the literal sense.

Perhaps because of the knowledge he learned from Chen Zong, Tang Zhao felt that all thoughts, consciousness, and emotions originated from the brain, and the heart only served to supply blood; feelings and intentions were merely specialized terms. But the world did not think so; instead, they believed the heart was the center of a person, and even the place where the Soul was anchored.

Sword Heart, Sword Heart—naturally, it originates from the heart and spirit.

Then, this layout of Zizai Tower naturally had some special sense of ritual.

Of course, no matter how it was arranged, it was just the personal taste of the Ruyi Sword and did not hinder the content. The operating principle certainly had nothing to do with a heart.

Tang Zhao saw at a glance the only thing different in the center of the small room: a small round pedestal about a foot high, just enough for one person to stand on.

According to the previous guidance from Tan Jianxia, after entering Zizai Tower, there was no need to do anything extra; one only needed to stand on it, and then leave everything to the Ruyi Zizai.

Tang Zhao was quite expectant and stepped up in one stride.

The moment he stood on it, it was as if a switch had been pressed, and the cloud surrounding him, which was already pulsing, suddenly contracted. The four walls and the ceiling simultaneously shot out countless Ruyi Silk, wrapping toward Tang Zhao like tentacles.

Even though Tang Zhao was prepared, he still felt a bit daunted—this scene was too impactful, like a scene from a ghost story.

He resisted the urge to draw his sword and slash all the tentacles to pieces, letting these Ruyi Silk wrap around him.

According to Tan Jianxia's explanation, after the whole body was wrapped by the Ruyi Silk, the body would fall into a dormant state, completely nourished by the Ruyi Silk, while the consciousness would enter another world along the Ruyi Silk. That world was called the "Zizai Realm."

In the Zizai Realm, all existence is free and without restraint. There, Mental Power is greatly amplified, and consciousness becomes visible and tangible, capable of manifesting the ethereal Sword Heart; not only is it more intuitive and clearer, but one can also cast aside all concerns and disguises, inducing the deepest consciousness in one's heart and allowing one to recognize one's own inner self. It can even achieve the legendary "Law follows the word," and the Zizai Realm itself provides magical items to help temper the Sword Heart...

Hmm...

It's a bit like the virtual reality Chen Zong talked about. What was that game called again?

The naming and design of this Zizai Realm always reminded him of the "World of Ultimate Bliss and Freedom," and then he thought of the colloquialism "going to the West Heaven," which was somewhat ominous. This was just his wild imagination; they probably meant "freedom and ease."

Seeing countless Ruyi Silk rolling in, he simply closed his eyes and relaxed his body and mind, waiting to go to the Zizai Realm. After a long while, however, there was nothing unusual. He wondered to himself: Has it already transferred? Without any feeling at all?

He was somewhat expectant, but when he opened his eyes, he found he was still in the same place. The surrounding Ruyi Silk were not as aggressive as when they rushed over before; instead, they hung down like willow branches, draped around him like curtains.

It was as if there was an invisible shield around him, isolating the Ruyi Silk from him.

Hmm? Something went wrong?

Tang Zhao felt this was different from what was agreed upon. Could it be that after a hundred years, the mechanism of Zizai Tower had developed some problem?

This was troublesome. Who should he find to repair it?

As he thought this, he felt a faint heat in his bosom. He reached out and touched an object; it was actually a Token.

The Congjun Order.

It was the Token given to him by Ling Baoyu, symbolizing the highest authority in Baiyujing.

When this Token was brought out, the surrounding Ruyi Silk became even more docile. It was not just obeying orders; there was even a faint, proactive attitude of striving to please, as if every strand of Ruyi Silk could dance according to Tang Zhao's will.

This was a bit like the feeling of having everything under control at the Zhugong after he obtained the Sword Intent. At that time, he was one of the successors of Dongjun, holding the authority of that underground palace, and could easily make the Zhugong disappear from the world as a beam of light.

So, he now also held the authority of Zizai Tower?

Right, the Congjun Order was originally an extension of the Ruyi Sword's will. Now that the Ruyi Sword was gone, it was no exaggeration to say that the Congjun Order was the acting City Lord of Baiyujing. Could it be that when he entered with the Congjun Order, it was recognized by those Ruyi Silk, and as a result, it switched him to "Administrator Mode"?

It made sense. The Ruyi Sword would never have imagined that the Congjun Order, which even its trusted aides could not easily hold, would be given to an outsider so casually. It was just unnecessary; he only came to experience the effects of Zizai Tower, temper his Sword Heart, and then bid farewell. This Zizai Tower should still belong to Baiyujing. Not to mention he didn't want to make any adjustments, even if he wanted to, he wouldn't know where to start.

He was just about to give the order, "Everything as usual," when he suddenly had a thought.

Since he was already here, why not take a look around?

Looking from the outside, although Zizai Tower was not as massive as Qianqian Tower, it was still a tall building. It couldn't really just have a room the size of a heart, could it? What was the rest of the space filled with? Perhaps even Tan Jianxia or Ling Baoyu didn't know?

Go take a look?

It shouldn't take long to visit, and he could just come back to temper his Sword Heart after he was done.

Tang Zhao could not resist his curiosity and finally ordered, "Open the door, I want to go out."

As his will was transmitted from the Congjun Order into Zizai Tower, the clouds parted in the middle, revealing a doorway.

It really opened?

Tang Zhao was full of curiosity, walked out of the room through the doorway, and came to the outside.

Outside was a huge, spacious room, so spacious that Tang Zhao almost thought this was the only room in the entire Zizai Tower. But there wasn't much room to stand in the room; there was only a narrow path—it couldn't even be called a path, just a thick rope of Ruyi Silk, crossing the room for one to stand on.

Although the room was spacious, it was not empty.

At a glance, the entire room was densely wrapped with threads, just like a giant spider web. Looking closer, these threads were not really crisscrossing like a spider web, but were radial, connecting to a center from all directions.

The center was the room he had just come out of.

After coming out of the room, he could see the external shape of the room completely. If he felt like he had entered a heart inside, then looking from the outside—it was even more like a heart.

The huge room of Zizai Tower was like a person's body cavity, while the small room in the middle was like the heart inside the body, and the densely wrapped threads were like the blood vessels and nerves connected to the heart.

The heart was even contracting and expanding, showing that this body still possessed a healthy life.

It was a pity that what Tang Zhao got from Chen Zong was all second-hand knowledge; otherwise, he might have associated it with the core and wires of a mechanical body.

This was undoubtedly a spectacle, but Tang Zhao's heart suddenly stirred, and he thought to himself: There are still people in the rooms within rooms being tied up like this, bound tighter than prisoners in a jail; how could this be called "Zizai" (freedom)?

Following the only small path upward, Tang Zhao got closer and closer to the top of Zizai Tower, but he never saw any other rooms. He guessed that these two rooms, one inside and one outside, were the entirety of Zizai Tower. The "Zizai Realm" that one reached through the transmission of the Ruyi Silk was clearly not in this real world, but an illusory place constructed by mental consciousness.

Just like the sun world of the Six Dragons Touring the Sky in the "Great Sun Divine Carriage Scripture" where he went to train his Spirit.

Thinking about it this way, this kind of using threads to guide the Spirit to construct a world was not a rare existence. The Jinwu Sword, with only a piece of Broken Sword, still allowed him to "see" the fusion of two Sword Intent worlds; it was not strange for Zizai Tower to use various threads to construct a stable illusory world. And it was precisely because this construction method was unexpectedly complex, not like the effortless style a Sword Immortal should have, that it made one suspect that the Zizai Realm should have more wonderful aspects besides stability.

I wonder what amazing settings are inside?

Let's go back.

Seeing that he had reached the very top, there was nothing more to see of Zizai Tower from the outside. Tang Zhao decided to go downstairs and experience the gift of the Zizai Realm in the normal way.

Just as he was about to go downstairs, he suddenly felt something and looked up sharply.

Above is... Shadow, right?

The design of Zizai Tower was not meant for people to walk around in, so naturally, there were no lights, and not even windows, so there was no talk of lighting. There was only the faint Micro Light of the Ruyi Silk itself. Tang Zhao covered his whole body with Sword Essence, which also emitted a little light, and relying on the fact that his nearsightedness had been cured after his Bone marrow cleansing, he could walk normally after his eyes got used to the darkness.

But in any case, the visibility was poor.

Because it was dim inside the tower, Tang Zhao hadn't noticed at first that the space above was shrouded in faint shadows; these shadows were not as thick as those in the Wangliang World, appearing only like thin mist, but they were undoubtedly remnants of Wangliang.

"Get lost."

Tang Zhao waved his hand, and a dazzlingly brilliant radiance instantly illuminated the entire Zizai Tower.

That was pure and bright Sunlight, not a Sword Art, but Tang Zhao's Sword Image; he even lowered the temperature of the Sunlight so that the power carried by the light would not destroy those seemingly fragile Cloud Silk. But Sunlight is Sunlight, the nemesis of Wangliang, let alone the Sunlight of Tang Zhao, which surpassed the level of a Sword Guest. Under the illumination of the Sunlight, the Wangliang had nowhere to hide and vanished instantly.

In the hands of the current Tang Zhao, these Wangliang were not worth mentioning.

After confirming that the Wangliang had been eliminated, Tang Zhao extinguished the Sunlight.

However, Zizai Tower did not return to its original dimness.

As the Wangliang dispersed, the exposed ceiling revealed flickering fluorescent light.

Tang Zhao looked up and saw countless silk threads hanging down from the ceiling.

Those silk threads were not long, nor did they blend into the network connecting to the "heart," but hung down naturally, like stalactites hanging from the top of a karst cave.

Each silk thread was wrapped in a layer of crystalline fluid, appearing as if solidified yet flowing, or like mist that was half-transformed, emitting a very lustrous, faint light.

Tang Zhao's heart stirred; as a Talisman Sword Master who had handled thousands of materials, he recognized at a glance that it should be a material where the "water" quality was entirely subordinate to the "wind" quality, and it was very likely biased toward the "Spirit" category.

These precious items were hidden here; could they be the base materials for constructing the Zizai Realm?

Just a moment ago, he had felt that the Zizai Realm was purely illusory, but now it seemed he might have underestimated the Ruyi Sword.

This was the thing he should have seen by coming on this trip while holding the Congjun Order.

Holding the Congjun Order in his hand, Tang Zhao pointed casually at a "stalactite" and said, "Come down, let me take a look."

Sure enough, his command was effective; that silk thread instantly extended, falling all the way to before his eyes.

Tang Zhao's mind stirred, his Spirit slightly leaving his body, probing toward that silk thread—

Whoosh—

A bout of dizziness!