Chapter 375: The Past is Like a Dream, Bygone Events are Like Smoke

And since it is not legitimate, there is a great deal of room for maneuvering and many ways to deal with it.

For example, take reporting!

Reporting!

And fucking reporting!

If one person cannot deal with the Butian Alliance, then what about the entire world?

Does the Butian Alliance have the guts to stand in opposition to the entire cultivation world?

Of course they do not dare.

If they dared, the Butian Alliance would have long since been the world's number one organization, or perhaps even the only organization in this world.

The exclusionary nature of a large organization would lead it to strangle all dangers that could threaten its status early on.

And now, since the Butian Alliance does not dare to step into the light, it means they still have their reservations after all.

Perhaps their strength is not yet enough to conquer the world, or perhaps it is for other reasons.

But regardless, since they still have reservations, the situation is not yet too bad.

What is a truly invincible person?

Someone who has lost everything and has no attachments is.

Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes, because they do not worry about losing more.

It is just like "As long as I have no morals, I cannot be morally kidnapped!"

As long as there are no weaknesses, one cannot be targeted by their weaknesses.

The Butian Alliance might be a behemoth that is impossible to get a handle on, but the members of the Butian Alliance are not.

As long as they are still human, as long as they still have weaknesses, and as long as they still have constraints, they will definitely be targeted, and they will definitely be dragged down by them.

It is impossible to make people truly fear them from the bottom of their hearts.

"So, as long as I pay more attention, this Butian Alliance should not be too big of a problem."

At least, at this moment, Ren Yidao did not treat the Butian Alliance as a fatal problem that must be solved.

Ren Yidao finished browsing Di Si's memories and mercifully waved his hand to expel him from his own dream, letting him stop kowtowing to passersby.

And Ren Yidao himself remained immersed in the dream, quietly watching the sky.

This was a dream built on the foundation of Di Si; once the master of the dream left, the dream had only one outcome: collapse.

It only took an instant for everything to return to chaos.

"..."

In the coffee shop, Ren Yidao stirred the coffee in his cup with a long-handled spoon, his gaze somewhat dazed as he watched Di Si's dream slowly collapse.

An instant is very short; in a moment, it will dissipate into nothingness.

An instant is very long; it is long enough to drive one mad.

The fragments of the dream fell from the sky in Ren Yidao's eyes at an extremely slow speed.

He picked up the coffee, walked out of the shop door, and looked at the bustling traffic playing in slow motion.

He had an impression of those pedestrians; most were passersby he had seen a few times in his past life, or even just brushed shoulders with.

Ren Yidao thought he had forgotten them all, but he was wrong.

He had recorded these people.

Even if they had never spoken, these people had left faint imprints in his soul.

Even if very weak, it could not cover up its own nature.

"Imprint..."

After a long while, the indifferent-looking Ren Yidao suddenly laughed.

"Heh, this is truly interesting."

He casually dropped the coffee in his hand, letting it shatter into dream debris and dissipate into the void.

He rubbed his chin, feeling somewhat emotional, and also with some relief, he muttered to himself:

"Does that mean I have also left imprints in their souls as well?"

A glance back, a brush of shoulders, a single meeting...

He remembered thousands upon thousands of strangers, which means.

There were just as many people who had remembered him.

"So, I have existed."

"I have also left my own imprint."

"This..."

"Is enough."

As soon as this thought emerged, Ren Yidao felt a change; the bottleneck in his realm had loosened.

Even though he had just broken through, his realm had already stepped onto a higher level.

At the same time, his true body felt a heat between his brows, and the Heavenly Eye between his brows also had a further improvement.

On the two points of "Seeing All Living Things" and "Seeing Heaven and Earth," he had gained a deeper understanding.

Ren Yidao took a deep breath, feeling the weight on his body lighten once more, and he had an epiphany in his heart.

His past life was his wealth, and it should not be his attachment.

Nostalgia?

No.

There is no need to continue being nostalgic anymore.

The past is like a dream, and bygone events are like smoke.

"I will not forget, but I will no longer continue to indulge in it."

With one thought, everything is connected; the shackles are all gone.

"Hahaha!"

Ren Yidao looked up and laughed loudly; he turned around and left without a shred of attachment, leaving only a dashing silhouette to this world.

"Stride forward."

His figure moved steadily forward, toward the light, toward the darkness.

Finally...

His figure also dissipated and shattered along with the collapsing dream.

One hundred miles outside Demon Emperor City, inside a hidden Cave Abode on the seabed.

Four guards stood watch at the four corners, surrounding Ren Yidao, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, each busy with their own affairs.

Cang Lan wiped her spear with a serious expression; most warriors cherish their weapons, some even treating their weapons with more care than they would their own lovers.

Mo Qi repaired the Armor that had been shattered in the previous battle; although they were only one step away from Demon Emperor City, he was still doing his best to restore his state to its peak to handle unknown changes.

Luzhi sat in meditation with his eyes closed, his hands changing gestures, as if practicing some kind of Daoist Art.

Among the four, only Qingteng was the most restless.

She appeared to be mixing Medicine Powder, but in reality, there were hidden motives.

Although the beautiful snake woman's upper body was located in one corner, her long snake tail was not fully coiled; the lower half was stretched out, landing not far from Ren Yidao's side.

Moreover, whether intentional or not, that snake tail was sliding weakly toward Ren Yidao's side as it swayed.

By now, the tip of the tail was less than three feet away from Ren Yidao; if she wished, she could easily wrap her snake tail around the Crown Prince's waist in an instant.

Very bold.

At the same time, very dangerous.

"Cough, cough."

Just as Qingteng's snake tail was about to wrap around him, a low, light cough, neither heavy nor soft, came from another corner of the Cave Abode.

"Qingteng, I'll give you a piece of advice: do not easily test His Highness's bottom line."

Luzhi slowly opened his eyes, shook his head at Qingteng, and transmitted his voice: "Otherwise, I fear it will... displease His Highness."

Not knowing what he recalled, the honest and simple-minded sturdy man fell silent; it took him a good while to recover before continuing: "Although the Crown Prince seems kind on the surface, he is actually not a person with a good temper."

As a lucky person who had personally experienced the Crown Prince's methods, his advice was indeed very persuasive.

Just like that punishment he suffered last time.

It is no exaggeration to say that although Luzhi looked as if he had let it go, he had not yet fully emerged from the shadow of being controlled by the Daoist Art last time.

That feeling was truly too terrifying; just thinking about it made one feel suffocated.

That Daoist Art controlled his body but deliberately did not seal his soul, as if intentionally leaving him a gap to watch the outside world.

Luzhi could clearly perceive the outside, but he simply could not wake up on his own, forced to lie on the bed in agony, his soul as if bound within his body.

It was precisely that experience that made Luzhi develop a great interest in Daoist Arts; after waking up, he visited True Person He and was accepted as a Registered Disciple.

Luzhi had mentioned this to True Person He before, but he had been politely refused; he had not expected to succeed this time.

Luzhi understood that this was not because He Shou had suddenly changed his mind; a large part of the reason he agreed to take him as a disciple was because of the Crown Prince.

Looking at it this way, this could perhaps be considered a blessing in disguise.

But looking back, was this disaster not a bit too unjust?

Had Luzhi done anything?

It was merely a single probe.

It was truly just a simple, plain probe, with absolutely no deeper meaning!

Yet, the Crown Prince had struck without mercy.

"If you provoke him, he will strike without hesitation."

There was one thing Luzhi did not say out loud:

"The most critical point is that Crown Prince is truly temperamental; you never know where his bottom line is!?"

If the Crown Prince were always like this, Luzhi would not have any dissatisfaction and could even console himself.

The Crown Prince has always been this way, not tolerating provocation or testing from others.

However, the Crown Prince's methods of dealing with different people vary greatly.

He displayed almost undisguised double standards!

"Cang Lan often makes disrespectful gestures toward him, and Qingteng is constantly trying to seduce him; why does His Highness never punish them?"

"They have already acted so outrageously! Why not let them experience what I felt back then!?"

Why am I the only one who got hurt?

Why is this?

Could it be that he is deliberately targeting me, Luzhi?

Luzhi was very angry about this!

Most people in the world are like this: they do not worry about scarcity, but rather about inequality.

Qingteng: Hm?

What is the situation?

Why do I feel such a great resentment?

And it's also sour?

Seeing Luzhi's dejected appearance, Qingteng did not intend to fight with him, silently retracting her snake tail and instead saying:

"Speaking of which, what exactly are His Highness's plans?"

Luzhi's expression became even uglier, somewhat sorrowful, and he transmitted his voice with a hint of sadness:

"Qingteng, I will give you one more piece of advice... do not easily speculate on His Highness's thoughts."

Luzhi had a very strong intuition that if anyone touched upon this point, they might die even more miserably than before.

"But..."

Qingteng still wanted to continue asking, but suddenly she turned her head to look at Ren Yidao, who was sitting cross-legged.

Ren Yidao's fingers twitched slightly, and then he lifted his head; although his eyes remained tightly shut, a tremendous change had already occurred in him.

From the restraint of hiding his edge within, he suddenly shifted to a sharpness that pierced outward!

Suddenly, faint fluctuations rose from Ren Yidao's body, instantly sweeping through this space.

Boom—

At the same time, the expressions of the four people present changed drastically, and they stared fixedly at Ren Yidao in the center.

!!!

Among the four, Qingteng, who was the weakest, reacted most intensely; she was clearly startled and hurriedly retracted her tail, the tip of which had gone rigid.

"This... has His Highness had another epiphany?"

Feeling the surge of aura from Ren Yidao, Qingteng shrank her body in some fear, curling herself into a ball and carefully retreating into the corner of the Cave Abode.

Although it only lasted for an instant before vanishing, she could be certain that the aura that terrified her was definitely more than just Spirit Transformation!

Void Refinement strength!

Has His Highness the Crown Prince advanced?

He has become even more powerful...

This sudden fact was like a great mountain, pressing heavily upon the hearts of the four.

The pressure was immense.

The master's strength far exceeding that of the guards, this...

After a few breaths, Ren Yidao, whose aura had fallen to be no different from a mortal's, slowly opened his eyes.

Although he had already restrained all his aura, even so, his bright eyes still exerted great pressure on the few of them.

The Crown Prince has changed again.

His eyes had become even deeper, and one could vaguely see constantly changing phantoms within them.

Ren Yidao said nothing, walked slowly to in front of Cang Lan, and reached out his hand toward her.

Watching the palm slowly approaching her, Cang Lan frowned, but she did not dodge, instead watching Ren Yidao quietly.

She wanted to see what he intended to do.

What could he dare to do!?

Then...

Cang Lan felt her ear being pinched by someone.

?

A satisfied smile appeared on the corner of Ren Yidao's mouth; he moved his fingers back and forth, nodded with satisfaction, and remarked aloud:

"Mm, just as I thought, the texture is quite good."

???

"You!"

"Let go of me!"

Having successfully teased Cang Lan into a fury, Ren Yidao was full of smiles and blew a light breath toward the face inches away.

Whoosh—

The breath exhaled from his mouth had no foul odor; instead, it carried a cloying sweetness that made Cang Lan's whole body shiver.

"Mm???"

Suddenly attacked, the completely unprepared Cang Lan swallowed all the words she wanted to say, staring at him blankly.

... This is?

"Heh."

Just a little bit of a sedative.

After stepping into Void Refinement, Ren Yidao's basic abilities as a demon fox had strengthened once more, allowing him to control the vast majority of low-level Demon Beasts by scent alone...

If the conditions were right, he could even briefly control a Spirit Transformation!

Ren Yidao couldn't help but laugh as he looked at Cang Lan's somewhat dazed and adorable expression, then turned his head toward the others with pleasure.

He saw two tense faces, and one pair of bright eyes that were somewhat expectant and somewhat shy.

Ren Yidao looked at the three of them, a somewhat unsettling smile on his lips, and said out of the blue:

"Since we're idle anyway, why don't we find some fun!"

Mo Qi and Luzhi widened their eyes and took a sharp step back; these two were very panicked, fearing that Ren Yidao would do the same thing to them.

Qingteng... was eager to try, yet still felt a faint unease in her heart—a classic case of being weak but wanting to play.

Ren Yidao seemed not to understand their expressions, loosened his shoulders a few times, and approached them with a beaming smile:

"Come, while there is still time, let's get active together!"

"Don't worry, nothing will happen."

"I will be very gentle."

……

With the arrival of the sixteenth day, Demon Emperor City fell completely into a heavy atmosphere.

Today, Demon Emperor City was supposed to move to the next location, yet there was still no sign of the Crown Prince's party returning.

Everyone fell silent; not a single person dared to show their head at this time.

All gazes were cast silently toward Demon Emperor Palace.

Some wanted her to come forward and explain, others wanted to see how she would handle this crisis, and still others were looking forward to seeing her fall from her high position.

And just as the mountain rain was about to arrive, when everyone believed a major event was about to erupt, a shocking turn of events appeared.

It was very simple.

The Crown Prince's party...

Had returned.