Chapter 456: Heaven or Human World? (First Update)

Yuwen Tianye stood before the Daoist Temple gate and waited for a moment, the look of shock on his face fading away.

"Interesting."

He had originally been somewhat skeptical of Ren Yidao's level, but now it seemed he had underestimated the heroes of the world.

He touched his own cheek, confirming that he was still in reality and not an Illusion Technique.

Yuwen Tianye poured Dharma Power into his eyes, his four pupils lighting up and emitting a divine light over a foot long, quickly scanning his surroundings.

"Break Delusion!"

Whoosh—

Whoosh—

But no matter how much power he exerted, he could not see through it; what met his eyes remained the simple, ancient Daoist Temple, and he was still surrounded by the unknown dense forest.

Yuwen Tianye's body trembled slightly, the divine light in his eyes dimming; he squinted his eyes and slowly nodded.

"Even my Double Pupil cannot see through it; how exactly does this Illusion Technique operate?"

After the shock, he had calmed down.

Very good.

This was the development he had hoped to see.

The more unknown the means, the more astonishing the powerhouse, the greater the improvement he could gain once he saw through it all.

Yuwen Tianye no longer hesitated, strode up the steps before him, and pushed the door open to walk into the Daoist Temple.

Creak...

Accompanied by the heavy sound of the ancient wooden door turning, the scene inside the Daoist Temple was reflected in his four pupils.

"This is..."

The scene inside this mysterious Daoist Temple was far from what he had imagined.

The gate of the Daoist Temple had blocked out the sounds from inside and outside, leading him to make a wrong judgment, thinking he was the only one here.

But he was wrong.

This was not a deserted, fallen Daoist Temple; the Incense here was extremely prosperous, and Believers as far as the eye could see filled the space!

Hundreds? No, far more than that; thousands, tens of thousands of people were squeezed shoulder to shoulder within.

Dong—

A heavy bell toll rang out from the depths of the Daoist Temple, cleansing the hearts of all the Believers and making the expressions on their faces become serene.

They seemed to be dreaming, a beautiful dream of paradise.

As his gaze swept over the faces of those Believers, Yuwen Tianye's expression became increasingly grave.

This scene was not unfamiliar to Yuwen.

In the Southern Border Divine Continent, in the square of God Emperor City, people coming from all over the Southern Border to worship and make pilgrimages never ceased; they knelt and bowed toward the Divine Statue of the successive Divine Emperors.

Compared to that grand scene which could accommodate millions, what was before him could only be considered a small scene.

But the problem was not here!

Because, among these Believers right before him, Yuwen Tianye actually recognized some of them.

Among these people were disciples from various sects of Beiming, the three hundred Divine Guard under Zang Zhenyu, and even those geniuses from the Southern Border were included.

At this moment, regardless of friend or foe, regardless of status, they were all kneeling respectfully in the open space in the center of the Daoist Temple, bowing toward the Divine Statue in the middle.

!!!

With the Divine Guard's loyalty to the Divine Emperor, it was impossible for them to commit such a blasphemous act as worshipping another god.

Only one possibility could explain the scene before him.

They had been bewitched and controlled!

"This is not an Illusion Technique!? But an illusion for all of us?"

"Impossible, how could I not see through it!"

Yuwen Tianye had confirmed that he was only under an Illusion Technique, not that his spirit had entered an illusion!

But when he looked at the others again, his expression stiffened once more.

He did not know when, but the robes of these ten thousand Believers had all changed; no matter if they were originally black robes or mysterious armor, at this moment they had all turned into uniform white robes.

And when Yuwen Tianye lowered his head, he was completely speechless.

"This is impossible..."

Even he himself had changed into the same pure white robe; reaching out to touch it, the material was completely different from his original clothing.

!!!

He pulled hard on his cuffs, wanting to tear them apart.

"This is impossible! How could I not distinguish it!"

He did not understand, did not believe, did not admit it.

Yuwen Tianye had foreseen that there might be a small gap between the two of them, but he had not expected the gap to be this large.

"Ahem, can everyone hear me?"

Ren Yidao's voice came from the center of the venue, causing Yuwen Tianye's movements to stop as he turned his head to look.

The youth was right in the center of the Daoist Temple, sitting leisurely on the altar where the Divine Statue should have been placed.

"Hmm, it seems everyone's state is still quite good, all entered... oh!"

Their gazes met, and Ren Yidao smiled without surprise, nodding with satisfaction.

"Sure enough, you are still able to remain clear-headed; you didn't let me down."

Yuwen Tianye listened to that condescending tone, his brows locked tightly.

"What is this place?"

"You ask what place this is? I haven't specifically thought of a name."

Ren Yidao tilted his head, pondered for a moment, and muttered to himself: "Sea-Sky Feast? Home of Sea-Lan? Heavenly Human Realm?"

?

What kind of names are these?

What does this place of yours have to do with the "sea"?

The last one, "Heavenly Human Realm," has some connection, though it's quite a boastful name.

"Heavenly Human Realm, is this your Dao?"

"Hm? What did you say?"

Yuwen Tianye looked at the youth pretending not to understand and said coldly:

"Fellow Daoist Ren wants to establish the Divine Path in the Earthly Realm; your ambition is great, but do you not know what this path implies?"

"What are you talking about? Go ahead, what does it imply?"

"Do you not know that this is to contend for the Dao with my Imperial Father?"

This is a Dao Struggle.

The Southern Border Divine Dynasty integrates politics and religion; the Lord of Shenzhou is also the deity of the Divine Dynasty, and his Dao is to collect the faith of the Earthly Realm and transform it into his own power.

And upon hearing this, Ren Yidao was completely bewildered.

Huh?

"You say, I am contending for the Dao with your Imperial Father?"

"Yes, that's right. This behavior of yours is declaring war on the entire Southern Border Divine Dynasty."

What?

Seeing that he had the urge to continue speaking, Ren Yidao waved his hand and directly sealed his mouth.

"No! Wait a moment, can you first tell me, who... is your Imperial Father?"

Yuwen Tianye:?

His cold expression changed, and his entire aura dropped, but he quickly composed his expression and sneered again.

"Why pretend not to know? Didn't I already tell you my name earlier?"

Ren Yidao, on the divine platform, scratched his head, his expression even more bewildered.

"Oh, you are called Yuwen Tianye, and then what? Who exactly is your Imperial Father?"

Huh?

"You... say you don't know?"

"Know what?"

Yuwen Tianye's expression changed repeatedly, and finally, gritting his teeth, he spoke in disbelief.

"I am the Nine Princes of the Southern Border Divine Dynasty! My Imperial Father is the Lord of the Southern Border Divine Dynasty, the contemporary Divine Emperor! Do you not know?"

Hearing this, Ren Yidao finally understood what Yuwen Tianye had been rambling about for so long.

"Oh! You mean this!"

He rolled his eyes and said irritably: "You should have said so earlier! If you had said so earlier, wouldn't I have known?"

Phew, is that all!

I thought there was some shocking secret!

So it's just a little prince!

Who hasn't had some connection with royalty or relatives of the nobility?

I am the sworn younger brother of the Lord of Beigan, the uncle of princes and princesses, and the Senior Brother of an imperial daughter!

I am also the younger brother of the Demon Emperor, the Crown Prince of the Demon Race, and the Divine Son of the Demon Race!

Look, Huhu, I bear so many titles, have I ever been proud? Have I ever been arrogant!?

No!

Huhu, I have always maintained a humble style of conduct, never actively flaunting it, and have always kept a low profile.

Young man, one shouldn't be too hot-headed when doing things!

Thus, with the mindset of someone who has been through it all, Ren Yidao earnestly offered a word of advice:

"This, Tianye, when you are out and about, you should keep a low profile; you can't always bring up your family background! Others will look down on you and treat you like a mama's boy... er, a papa's boy."

???

Yuwen Tianye did not understand; he completely failed to grasp Ren Yidao's train of thought.

I am talking to you about serious matters!

Who asked you to lecture me in the tone of an elder!!?

"... You are still going to keep playing dumb? No, I understand, you are doing this on purpose."

This Ren Yidao is deliberately trying to anger me in this way!

He wants me to lose my composure and sink deeper into the illusion!

"I will not let you succeed."

Suddenly realizing this, Yuwen Tianye immediately closed his eyes, guarded his Heart Star, and cast aside distracting thoughts, not letting the outside world disturb his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, the scene in his eyes had indeed changed.

The robes on the Believers returned to their original state, and their expressions were no longer all uniform; some looked in extreme pain, as if struggling hard.

On the divine platform, there was no longer a youth, but it had returned to a Divine Statue whose face could not be seen clearly.

"Oh my, we have only just met, how can you think of me like that? How could I do such a thing?"

The youth sitting on top of the Divine Statue swayed his body back and forth, his smile sincere and earnest, looking down from above at the youth with the Double Pupil.

"Besides, even if that really were the truth, so what?"

"I am bullying you, so what?"

"A guy who is trapped deep in someone else's illusion and unable to extricate himself is still afraid of being deceived? Are you trying to make me laugh?"

Ren Yidao sneered and stood up, leaped down from the Divine Statue, and landed lightly on the heads of the Believers.

He tapped lightly on the heads of the Believers, stepping on them, and leaped step by step toward the depths of the Daoist Temple.

Yuwen Tianye was silent; he was not provoked, but instead stared at Ren Yidao with an indifferent face, attempting to find a flaw in him.

But what made his Heart Star sink was that even though he had already summoned twelve points of focus, he still could not discover the method to break this illusion.

Ren Yidao, who was walking far into the depths of the Daoist Temple, stopped, looked back at Yuwen Tianye who remained in place, and asked with a smile:

"Are you not coming along?"

"Oh, so you still haven't seen it clearly! Then keep working hard~"

Ren Yidao shook his head, withdrew his gaze with regret, and turned to leave, but then he remembered something.

Seeming pitying, yet also seeming delighted, he added a sentence.

"Let me give you a hint: there is no need to worry about their safety; you can be bold and let go to do it."

"Fellow Daoist Tianye, you must, you must not be polite with me."

"Hehe."

His figure disappeared into the Daoist Temple, leaving only the expression-shifting Yuwen Tianye standing in place.

"Bold and let go?"

And as Yuwen Tianye pondered the meaning of that hint, a change occurred.

Those kneeling Believers suddenly moved.

They slowly straightened their bodies and, expressionless, turned their heads to look at the only anomaly in the field.

!!!