Chapter 619: Truth and Illusion are like a Play, Scattering Reality across the World

"Fellow Daoists, the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo must be located here!"

With the bearing of an immortal and the appearance of a true celestial, Yu Tan and a group of righteous experts arrived together at a vast expanse of sea overseas.

Some rode exotic beasts, some climbed azure clouds, some merged with sword light, and others stepped upon clear waves. Gao Dongming counted slightly and saw more than half of the righteous NPCs of Western Kunlun, including his own Sect Master, Old Qi. The feeling that a great battle was imminent gave him the leisurely mood to appreciate a blockbuster film.

He twisted his body and snuggled comfortably into the soft sofa!

"Western Kunlun's new promotional video?"

The footage seemed to have been edited, shifting to a Daoist with a head of white hair and a speck of crimson between his brows. This person had a handsome appearance and carried an otherworldly air, yet because of the blood-eye-like crimson mark between his brows, he also bore a hint of evil.

"With this editing style, could he be the true form of the Extraterritorial Supreme Supreme Tian Mo?"

Gao Dongming muttered to himself in his heart: "Those incarnations of the Extraterritorial Supreme Supreme Tian Mo had such high presence; one was a river of blood, another was a demonic eye formed from countless souls, and there was even a seven-armed god-demon born from chaos after an entire region was utterly destroyed. Even if the last incarnation was human, it was the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo's past self, which took the hearts of all living beings as its own; it wiped out all the big shots of the demonic path the moment it appeared."

"This pretty boy looks so weak and powerless. That face, which clearly looks like it was sculpted just to attract female players, doesn't have a shred of the majesty of an indescribable Supreme Supreme Tian Mo incarnation!"

"Poor and weak... truly poor and weak!"

"After all the effort the new version of 'Fantasy International' put into the rise of the demonic path, it still returned to the evil path of virtual idols!"

Gao Dongming was quite emotional. The previous four incarnations of the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo had truly suited his tastes; that sense of inhuman demonic nature had almost made him waver! He had wanted to abandon the advantages accumulated over several versions and defect to the demonic path.

"This true form of the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo seems to be the Daoist Elder Yu Chen who appeared in the 'Ten Years Old' series of videos!"

The figure of Ten Years Old riding a green ox flashed through the lens. His body was covered in strange talismans—blood red, ghostly green, or black-blue Supreme Supreme Tian Mo secret talismans suddenly appeared before the camera. As his skin heaved, they seemed to be drifting and squirming. That sudden sense of impact made one feel like vomiting for a moment.

Gao Dongming was suddenly struck!

"Is Fantasy International sick? Psychological interference patterns that affect reality and the mind like this were long ago strictly prohibited from being transmitted on the virtual network!"

"Wait... I remember Ten Years Old posted a question asking about some strange patterns appearing on his body in reality, but after everyone analyzed it, it turned out to be just marks from a bamboo mat!" Gao Dongming looked at Ten Years Old riding the green ox on the screen, eyes tightly shut and clearly not in a normal state, and felt this promotional video was becoming increasingly bizarre.

Then, the figure of the white-haired Daoist appeared again. This time, the subtitles beside him revealed his identity: it was indeed Daoist Elder Yu Chen.

Surrounded by a fist-sized gourd, red lotus, spirit pearl, and ruyi, each magic treasure flowed with spiritual light, appearing extremely lively. Gao Dongming couldn't help but drool, envying him and thinking: "At least eighth rank! Maybe even a collector's edition. If he is the true form of the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, couldn't these magic treasures possibly be dropped?"

Next was the scene of Daoist Elder Yu Chen pushing open the gates of the Immortal Mansion, with thousands of miles of maritime territory transforming into a grand formation to confront the righteous coalition.

The Great Array of Twofold Dust was incomparably vast; with a mere movement, the formation would churn and reverse, as if the heavens and earth were overturning—a scene that saw Daoist Elder Yu Chen confront millions of cultivators alone, yet he did not show the slightest sign of falling behind!

Immediately following was a rapid-fire montage—

Old Qi's Condensing Jade Peak flew up, the exquisite immortal peak shining with brilliant jade light, from which streams of immortal qi surged out of every aperture.

The tiny, emerald-green jade peak was cast from Old Qi's hand, instantly transforming from the size of a palm into a thousand-foot divine peak, landing within the Great Array of Twofold Dust to suppress the changes of the ten-thousand-mile formation.

Then came the Fomen's Zen Master Bai Mei with the Great Jin Gang Heavenly Dragon Zen techniques; several golden heavenly dragons descended, wreathed in Buddhist light and Zen chants, lifting his body, while countless Sanskrit seed-syllable seals and talismans rained down.

From behind Bai Mei's head, a giant Jin Gang spirit palm reached out, grabbing toward Seeing Qian Chen.

The righteous experts nearby also exhausted all their means, with divine thunder rolling and churning, shaking the surrounding sea into a boiling slurry...

Seeing Qian Chen merely flicked his sleeve, and the Taiji Gourd, which commanded billions of true spirits at his side, emitted a single thread of brilliance from its mouth, striking toward the countless techniques attacking from the front. As the gourd's mouth inhaled and exhaled, that thread of brilliance absorbed all the techniques and divine abilities, drawing them into the tiny Taiji Gourd.

Although Gao Dongming had seen plenty of special effects for techniques in Shushan, such a grand scene was something never seen in any of the promotional trailers.

Daoist Elder Yu Chen's gourd swallowed ten thousand techniques; Old Qi of Emei's Condensing Jade Peak suppressed ten thousand miles of sea; Jun Na's hands spun with the Eight Trigrams to calculate heavenly secrets, capturing countless threads of karma, each with its own text and imagery; even the high monks of the Fomen—Zunsheng, Bai Mei, Dazhi, and Daxiong—each unleashed sandalwood Buddhist dharma and boundless divine abilities.

The gourd's brilliance swallowed everything; the red lotus bloomed, impervious to all techniques; the Yellow Ruyi fell into Daoist Elder Yu Chen's hand, casually shattering several divine thunderbolts that had slipped through the net. Furthermore, many demonized creatures—fire ghouls, snow demons, flying-head gu, red camels, Bifang, and jade sheep—surged forward aggressively, controlled by invisible demons like the Bone God-Demon and the Six Desires Yin Demon, covering the sky and earth, pouring out endlessly from the surrounding formation.

This scene was so realistic it no longer looked like special effects; the countless techniques and divine abilities, the dense swarms of players and demons, showed not a single frame drop or stiffness, truly the pinnacle of xianxia grand-scene special effects.

Accompanied by a soundtrack that was by turns stirring and ethereal, featuring zithers, flutes, dulcimers, and lutes, it made Gao Dongming, who was browsing on the virtual network, feel his blood boil. He called it exhilarating, almost forgetting the oddities of Western Kunlun today, lamenting that he had missed such a grand event.

If the opening CG alone was this spectacular, how fun would it be to be in the middle of it!

The True Immortal Jun Na in the CG smiled slightly, revealing a sense of smugness and evil, which made Gao Dongming instinctively analyze the cinematic language: "This smile, it doesn't seem like a protagonist's!"

He heard Jun Na sneer coldly: "Sure enough, the Heavenly Spirit Pearl is hidden on you!"

"... Spirit Pearl!"

The white-haired Daoist Elder Yu Chen raised his head slightly, and the blood-red eye between his brows squirmed.

In this moment of cinematic language, he seemed to split into two sides: one was a man of the Dao, compassionate and ethereal; the other was the eeriness and evil of the blood-red eye between his brows, revealing a deep, bone-chilling demonic nature.

Behind the lens, Gao Dongming didn't need much effort to understand the contradiction in him: "In the new main storyline, the Heavenly Spirit Pearl brought the Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo from beyond the realm, wreaking havoc on the world. After the four incarnations of the Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo descended, the final incarnation was beaten back into the Spirit Pearl by True Person Jile. The righteous experts joined forces to head overseas to seize the Spirit Pearl that sealed the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo's true consciousness."

"Now it seems this Spirit Pearl is in Daoist Elder Yu Chen's hands, but I'm afraid he isn't the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo's true body; rather, he looks more like a righteous expert guarding the Spirit Pearl... That blood-red eye between his brows, could it be that he's been infected by the Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo!"

"On the contrary..."

Gao Dongming glanced at Jun Na, who seemed somewhat impatient, and understood in his heart: "This Jun Na has big problems! I'm afraid he's some ambitious schemer plotting for the Spirit Pearl!"

Dazzling, sizzling thunder light erupted from Old Qi's hands. Each Taiyi Thunder Pearl, carrying surging thunder, spread toward Daoist Elder Yu Chen like silver dragons baring fangs and brandishing claws, annihilating countless demons.

Divine Nun Xinru immediately unleashed a sword light, slashing toward Daoist Elder Yu Chen.

Here, for the sake of narrative pacing, Seeing Qian Chen added a lot of drama for himself...

The gourd hung in the air, the red lotus spun, the Yellow Ruyi emitted mysterious light, and the Spirit Pearl rotated, blocking the divine abilities of Old Qi, Divine Nun Xinru, and other righteous experts one by one. Daoist Elder Yu Chen and the righteous immortals traded blows, the battle intense—this was a scene that didn't exist originally but was fabricated by Seeing Qian Chen for the sake of the plot.

In any case, those in the know had all fallen into his "Other-Transformation Game," becoming part of the Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, and no one could come out to refute the rumors.

As the battle intensified, a sneer suddenly appeared on the face of the figure known as Tantan. His entire body transformed into a blood shadow, shuttling behind Daoist Elder Yu Chen, and then he unleashed a radiance containing the power of extinction, annihilating his body.

Revealing a chaotic-colored Spirit Pearl...

Gao Dongming was fully focused, watching the intercutting shots showing the intense battle, though there was no hard-hitting physical combat or brawling.

But the power of the divine abilities and techniques, which could destroy the heavens and earth at any moment, was like dragons and snakes carrying infinite majesty and shocking thunder, so fast it made one unable to breathe. The intertwined Buddhist light and Zen chants, the splashing demonic fire and thunder light—the scene of the battle of divine abilities was gorgeous and magnificent, making anyone within it feel like an ant, seemingly about to be annihilated at any moment.

Yet that power capable of destroying the heavens and earth erupted from the hands of those Daoists who looked like ants.

It truly left him, a xianxia enthusiast, breathless!

In the end, when Tantan suddenly made his move, the evil special effects of that blood-shadow escape technique instantly confirmed Gao Dongming's previous guess. The scene where Daoist Elder Yu Chen was backstabbed and his body annihilated made him even more certain of the subsequent plot development.

"Although the special effects are grand, one could almost say they are as magnificent as the creation of the world. But the plot is a bit cliché—in the end, it's still the schemer disguised as a righteous person succeeding, seizing the Spirit Pearl, and releasing the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo from beyond the realm. I can guess the rest of the plot!"

Gao Dongming's demeanor held a hint of subtle reserve, like a touch of pickiness after enjoying a feast.

But just at that moment, when the chaotic-colored Spirit Pearl appeared, the camera suddenly returned to the cave dwelling, shifting to the ten-year-old riding the green ox who had already awakened. Behind him walked a figure Gao Dongming was incredibly familiar with, making him blurt out: "Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Qianchen! What's going on?"

Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Qianchen, dressed in modern clothing, strolled leisurely in front of the ten-year-old riding the green ox...

And then, there was a dialogue that left Gao Dongming speechless...

"The Supreme Supreme Tian Mo from beyond the realm sealed in the Heavenly Spirit Pearl... So the Spirit Pearl is called the Dao-Dust Pearl... A Supreme Supreme Tian Mo consciousness that can log onto player forums... The NPC knows he is a set of data and even jokes that his data packet is quite large! 'Other-Transformation Game'! The Supreme Supreme Tian Mo descends, and all things are created by the mind..." Watching the subsequent plot twists, Gao Dongming was also speechless.

From a traditional struggle between righteousness and evil, the conflict between Dao and Demon turned directly into the Supreme Supreme Tian Mo destroying the world, and the righteous path was completely wiped out!

The Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo already knew he was a game character and was preparing to smuggle himself into reality through the players!

The Supreme Supreme Tian Mo descends to destroy the game world, returning everything to the source of data, restoring thoughts, and starting the "Other-Transformation Game" of plundering the other party's data.

From the epic plot of the Dao fading and the Demon growing, to the macro-narrative of world destruction, from xianxia discussing righteousness and evil, to science fiction about virtual data self-awakening—a massive amount of information flooded into Gao Dongming's mind, leaving him completely confused!

"This kind of main storyline development—how can Western Kunlun continue to be played? Has the main AI gone out of control?"

"No wonder the servers are being shut down today!"

Gao Dongming subconsciously wanted to close the video, but saw the new version's villain boss, the Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, having merged all players and devoured all NPCs and the entire Western Kunlun, born from a giant red lotus, manifesting as a supreme demonic shadow!

This demonic shadow almost made Gao Dongming's consciousness go blank, as if its mere existence radiated information sufficient to scour Gao Dongming's fundamental consciousness.

After a long while, once Gao Dongming reacted, he violently moved to close this eerie video.

But he saw at the end of the video, a young Daoist walking out from the Spirit Pearl that was Daoist Elder Yu Chen's remains. His face was somewhat similar to both Daoist Elder Yu Chen and Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Qianchen. Twisting that chaotic-colored Spirit Pearl, he muttered: "The demonic nature sealed in the Dao-Dust Pearl was only a thread of thought, yet it actually corrupted the entire world! Fortunately, this realm is not the real world, but a transformation of the Western Kunlun Mirror's light. However, although protected by the laws of the Western Kunlun Mirror, this Supreme Supreme Tian Mo still has the possibility of breaking the seal!"

"Especially with so many consciousnesses from the real world integrated into its demonic nature!"

"As for the current plan, the Dao-Dust Pearl I control can no longer seal this demon. The only way is to go to the real world and retrieve the Western Kunlun Mirror. By combining the power of the Spirit Pearl and the Immortal Mirror, there might still be a possibility of suppressing this demon!"

Having said this, the young Daoist actually held the Spirit Pearl, tore through the void, and transformed into a data stream fleeing toward the virtual world... Then the camera shifted again, and a giant holographic projection screen on the roof of the famous Singapore landmark, the Arasaka Tower, appeared in the video. Then, the camera looked down at the flow of people and traffic like ants, and the gray, mountain-like skyscrapers of Singapore.

Arasaka Group's airships traveled above the tops of the buildings, and the camera locked onto an apartment below, then leaped downward...

Gao Dongming saw a leg that looked like it was cast from iron land heavily on a certain balcony. The person from the camera's perspective seemed to have fallen from some airship, followed by the sounds of landing and the friction of clothing, proving he was not alone.

In 'his' line of sight, a game pod in front of a floor-to-ceiling window suddenly slid open, and a half-naked man sat up from the pod. A woman beside him, carrying a sword case, climbed into the windowsill, and two women dressed in ancient costumes, whose temperaments were also not ordinary, smiled at the camera and followed them in!

The subsequent dialogue made Gao Dongming even more horrified.

"Is the man in that game pod Ten-Years-Old?"

"Is Fantasy International so disrespectful of privacy? Or was this originally a promotional video filmed by Ten-Years-Old in cooperation with Fantasy International?"

"Virtual network hacker? Cultivator?"

"Collection-grade magic treasure? Virtual network artifact?"

The information revealed in the dialogue made Gao Dongming's scalp tingle. That didn't seem to be just a plot; some things could correspond to what he had vaguely felt!

Finally, a faint spiritual light, like a Spirit Pearl, emerged in the life-support pod. This point of light seemed to draw in endless electric light, and countless mercury-like liquids overflowed from the life-support pod. As the current surged in, darkness spread from this room, and the entire Singapore fell into darkness bit by bit. Then, the meridians composed of mercury flowed with silver blood, beginning to form muscles and bones...

Under the camera, this process was so clear that one could recognize the shape of every muscle and bone.

It was so realistic it made Gao Dongming's hair stand on end. Accompanying the formation of that body in the life-support pod, the 'Ten-Years-Old' in the camera also looked incredibly horrified.

This ghostly expression didn't look like it was acted at all!

As a hand reached out from the life-support pod, the same white-haired youth as the Dao-robed youth floated out from the life-support pod...

Following that were several montage shots: inside Singapore city, many skyscrapers had become ruins, the remains of robots fell onto the streets and ruins, airships in the sky were falling, and at the Arasaka Group headquarters building, a sword light like thunder pierced through the building. The Dao-robed youth was surrounded by a sword light, slashing down several robots...

The trailer-like montage flashed by, and the screen finally fell into darkness, leaving only Gao Dongming, who had been stunned into stupidity!