Exploring Immortality Cultivation-Chapter 1013 - 97: Luoyan City Instance
[Alliance Hierarch Extra Chapter 3/5]
After listening to the task, Xiao Jizong turned his head and asked, "What do you all think? Should we do this task or not?"
"Although we can’t rule out the possibility that we’re trapped in an illusion..." Fan Zhongxing looked around hesitantly and said, "However, when under a profound illusion, there’s always a feeling of ’thoughts being uncontrollable’ and ’being separated from spirit wisdom’. But now, I can still think about whether I’m in an illusion, which means my consciousness is still clear..."
Profound illusions are of two types: those where you ’absolutely wouldn’t notice it’s an illusion’ and those where ’even knowing it’s fake, you’d still fall for it’. The latter attacks the heart, requiring control over human minds, but mastering it requires more than just expertise in spells; one needs to be cunning. As for the former, its realm is purely determined by spell proficiency, and even a regular cultivator finds it hard to achieve. Suppressing the spirit wisdom of those under a spell and preventing them from thinking of breaking it can indeed be a good way to enhance the illusion’s effect.
Therefore, checking if your thoughts are obstructed is also one way to detect if you’ve fallen into an illusion.
However, those deeply trapped in an illusion are generally rendered incapable of rational thinking, making it difficult to recognize such a layer, and those who can think of this layer are generally not under an illusion, so this method is mostly useless; only after escaping an illusion does someone occasionally use this method to test if they’ve already evaded the enemy.
"Could it be that this is actually reality?" Wu Qi was still somewhat skeptical.
Fan Zhongxing shook his head: "This is definitely not Spirit Phoenix Island. If you don’t believe me, look..."
He kicked open a door. That door led to a window, and that room’s window was facing the mainland.
It was a scenery these Spirit Phoenix Island cultivators had never seen before—a dense forest.
"So, either we’re in an illusion, or we’ve been teleported to the Shenzhou Continent?" Xiao Jizong pondered. He still did not quite believe in the absurd concept of the "Reincarnation Realm Master".
However, Fan Zhongxing seriously said, "Hmm, I think it’s possible that what the Reincarnation Realm Master said is true. Because, for someone to create such a realistic illusion, encompassing so many people, that power alone is terrifying. And to teleport us to the Shenzhou Continent would also require supreme divine power. Either way, it shows that the Reincarnation Realm Master’s abilities are extraordinary. Would such a person really need to deceive us?"
The kind of illusion determined purely by one’s thoughts and heart demon, the absolute spell that makes it hardest to distinguish reality from an illusion, is indeed the easiest to achieve. Because those under the spell are essentially trapped in an illusion created by their own thoughts, deceiving themselves. This kind of ’deception’ is hardest to detect. However, such a spell cannot simultaneously draw two people into an illusion. There will inevitably be some discrepancies in the thoughts of two people, and if they identify each other’s heart demons, they can easily spot the inconsistencies and thus see through the illusion.
Xiao Jizong’s expression changed, admitting this point.
But at this moment, Wu Qi, who had always been overlooked, after thinking for a moment, brought up another possibility: "Do you think... you all might just be characters in my illusion? Perhaps only one person is under an illusion, and everyone else is merely part of that one person’s illusion background?"
The expressions of the others all froze, while Fan Zhongxing said, "That can indeed be verified. After we return to the real world, we can get together and cross-check our memories."
Everyone nodded. However, Wu Qi then asked, "Then how do I know I’ve returned to reality and not still trapped in the illusion?"
Everyone was taken aback.
Xiao Jizong smiled wryly, "If you can figure out this distinction between true and false, knowing reality is like a dream or illusion, then reaching the Divine Separation Stage would be a breeze..."
Fan Zhongxing shook his head, "Such a discussion is like grasping at air, ultimately unknowable. As long as everyone knows it in their heart, there’s no need to be swayed. Even if we know this is an illusion, we couldn’t do anything about it. We might as well just focus on the task."
At this moment, Lu Longcheng, the disciple of Wuji Sky Sect who had originally questioned "Reincarnation," strode out.
"No matter what you all think, I’ve decided to try the Reincarnation!"
Xiao Jizong was puzzled, not understanding why this guy’s attitude had changed so drastically. At this moment, Fan Zhongxing pondered, "Hmm, is it... the ’Skull-snatching Taotie Treasure Appearance· Swallowing World War Dog True Method’?"
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Amidst layer upon layer of black shroud, Wang Qi watched this scene with great interest, then nodded: "Hmm, this Fan Zhongxing does have some talent and can be a key observation target..."
He thought for a moment, then sent a Spirit Message to Ru Tianqi, asking him to keep an eye on Fan Zhongxing, this Golden Core Cultivator. If this person has no bad record, Wang Qi is inclined to spare his life.
This meticulous way of thinking is quite close to the Modern Cultivators, and he’s still only in the Mid-Stage Golden Core, so there’s a chance for him to change paths.
Also, this Luochen Sword Palace disciple named Wu Qi is quite interesting; he can think. Wang Qi thought he could become a character within the Heart Network System.
Wang Qi moved his fingers a few times, quietly altering the unexplored parts of the Luoyan City Copy, using his authority as the big boss to directly change the rewards system and set up new hidden tasks.
In front of him, there were dozens of screens. These screens displayed various scenes, some of which were fortress battles, some large-scale battles involving tens of thousands of cultivators, and others were simply the Shura Path, Shura Killing Field, Abyss Hell—in this kind of "Hell Mode" instance, the cultivators involved mostly had records of following advanced cultivators to Shenzhou. Some of them even had records of slaughtering mortals. Wang Qi just needed a group of people to increase the credibility of the "Reincarnation Realm Master," so he used them as a sacrifice.
As for the small soldiers on the battlefield, they were mostly played by Immortal Institute Disciples, which meant all the creatures on the map were independent AI, absolutely advanced.
Of course, not every world is as bloody as this. For instance, in the near-future Immortal Illusion World "Silver-Winged Assassin," modeled clearly after the Divine Capital Special Zone, it’s just for the Ancient Method Practitioners to experience Wanfa Sect’s top Absolute Skill—however, in this instance, it’s actually absolutely high-welfare. Due to the game instance’s characteristics, no one would notice the Ancient Method Practitioners’ identities. A cultivator with the intention could easily access all the entry-level cultivation methods of the Immortal Alliance and the top-tier cutting-edge high-level cultivation method "Virtual and Real Two-Phase Other Chapter" in the experimental stage of Wanfa Sect—the former is completely free on the Shenzhou Continent, while the latter, being a simplified version of the first Dataized Cultivation Method "Two-Phase Transcendence Chapter," is yearning for some unsuspecting person to experience it.
Initially, Wang Qi was contemplating whether to use his alt account named "Xia Li" as a Soul Reincarnation Team member. However, since a big boss with a legitimate server joining an instance with a bunch of ordinary people is quite meaningless, Wang Qi eventually chose to be a GM.
"Should I bring in that guy named Fan Zhongxing and a few other promising people into the ’Silver-Winged Assassin’ instance next time and test it out?" Wang Qi pondered: "Additionally, there are a few others performing well, better to give them some True Intent Inheritance..."
While Wang Qi was contemplating, he ordered the Luochen Sword Palace Elders playing various roles diligently: "For the ’Luoyan City’ instance, find a way to force that guy named Wu Qi into the underground tunnel of Luoyan City alone. Meanwhile... in the ’Overwatch’ instance, force the disciple named Bai Senxiang to the city center, where I’ll have a bunch of public enemies waiting for him to score—what? Oh, I just want to see if this hot-blooded man can explode with energy. If possible, I’ll pay special attention to him..."
Wang Qi was like a director, subtly controlling everyone’s trajectories.
Then, that night, Luochen Sword Palace’s own Artifact Refiners and Alchemists collectively went bankrupt.
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When the first rays of sunlight fell upon Spirit Phoenix Island, a certain farce within Luochen Sword Palace temporarily came to an end.
Fan Zhongxing shuddered, opening his eyes. He looked at the incense stick in front of him that hadn’t burned out yet, slightly surprised.
"This incense stick is used for my practice, Ruyi Hundred Treasures Mixed Gold Incense, very precious, and each stick only burns for seven days. This stick was already half-burned, which I remember distinctly lighting it just before entering the Reincarnation Space... I’m sure of that. I can even recognize this as my own incense stick!"
"Judging by its appearance, it seems only... two or three hours have passed!"
"Yet, I distinctly remember spending a day and a half within Luoyan City... I can even feel the residual potency of the elixir I stole from Luoyan City’s lord still within me... Why has it only been a few hours?"
"Is this reality, or illusion?"
"Or has the Reincarnation Realm Master’s mana reached a level where it can warp time and space?"
"But if it’s that powerful, why would it need us to complete any tasks? Whatever it desires, it could just take for itself?"
Fan Zhongxing’s mind was in chaos.
He was truly scared.
"Even though I cannot entirely dismiss the possibility that I’m under an illusion, distorting my sense of time, how do I explain this residual potency?"
"Besides, there’s Lu Longcheng’s bizarre attitude... It’s too strange. He seemed to change his attitude after seeing the ’Skull-snatching Taotie Treasure Appearance· Swallowing World War Dog True Method’..."
"Could it be that the ’Swallowing World Battle Dog True Skill’ is truly not Wuji Sky Sect’s own method, but something Guan Wuji exchanged from the Reincarnation Realm Master?"
"Everyone on Spirit Phoenix Island has witnessed the power of the Skull-snatching Taotie Treasure Appearance. But before this, no one knew of this cultivation technique... Could it really be from the Reincarnation Realm? Or was I under an illusion back then, and the Skull-snatching Taotie Treasure Appearance or Swallowing World Dog Cultivation Method actually doesn’t exist at all?"
"If it exists... is Guan Wuji also a Reincarnator?"
"A Half-step Mahayana Reincarnator?"
