Chapter 476: Dreaming is Also Illegal
The leaders of various major factions, feeling guilty in their hearts, didn’t dare to rush over to check the battle situation, and could only strain their eyes to observe the injuries of both combatants.
“Does anyone with good eyesight help check—is that a lot of blood on Human Sovereign Jiang? Did we succeed?”
“That seems to be Bai Hongtu’s blood. Jiang Li didn’t even lose a single strand of hair.”
Inside the Communication Talismans, everyone was heatedly discussing, eager to obtain firsthand information.
“Indeed, a single drop of the Human Sovereign’s blood contains infinite energy. This doesn’t seem like his blood.”
“…I say, isn’t anyone concerned about Fellow Bai being dragged back?”
“Lord Wuzhi truly has a compassionate heart. However, when fighting Human Sovereign Jiang, Sect Master Bai Hongtu must have long been mentally prepared to get beaten up.”
“Lord Wuzhi need not worry. During the final test for Human Sovereign candidates, when Jiang Li fought Bai Hongtu, the intensity far exceeded today’s. Compared to that time, Bai Hongtu’s current injuries are merely minor.”
“Since Empress Yu Yin says so, then there’s no need to worry about Bai Hongtu.”
“Ji Zhi, did you already foresee the outcome?”
“Of course.”
“Then why did you still put so much effort into providing energy?”
“Watching Bai Hongtu get beaten up one more time isn’t a loss.”
“True enough.”
“Makes sense.”
…
Bai Hongtu slowly woke up. He remembered fiercely battling the Outer Realm Demons, suffering a crushing defeat, and couldn’t help but shed tears, weeping uncontrollably.
“Everyone… I’ve failed you!”
Jiang Li’s voice sounded beside him: “Your sacrifice wasn’t in vain. To commemorate your contribution, everyone unanimously decided to rename the Dao Sect as the Mourning Sect.”
“Go to hell.”
Bai Hongtu was so angered by Jiang Li that he became lively and vigorous again.
“The effects of the Spirit Plant Formation truly exceeded my expectations—it actually forcibly elevated someone from the Tribulation Transcendence Stage to the Celestial Immortal level.”
“But it still didn’t break through your defense,” Bai Hongtu said dejectedly.
“There’s no helping that. Although I adjusted my power to your level, my physical strength remains unchanged and cannot be altered.”
Jiang Li’s combat talent ranked first throughout the Nine Provinces, only slightly above Bai Hongtu and Yu Yin—just by a narrow margin.
Back when they were all Human Sovereign candidates, Jiang Li had fought Yu Yin and Bai Hongtu several times in real battles, knowing them inside out. He understood that both possessed rare talent in combat.
Jiang Li and Bai Hongtu were the final two Human Sovereign candidates. To this day, Jiang Li could never forget their battle for the Human Sovereign position.
Yu Yin didn’t persist until the end, not because her abilities were inferior to Bai Hongtu’s, but because she had calculated all possible outcomes of fighting Jiang Li in advance. Discovering no path to victory, she chose to abandon the competition for the Human Sovereign title.
Bai Hongtu had also performed similar calculations, reaching the same conclusion. But Bai Hongtu refused to believe it, insisting on fighting Jiang Li anyway.
The result was exactly as calculated—he was no match for Jiang Li.
“This still isn’t the full power of the Spirit Plant Formation. Immortal artifacts can also be integrated into the spirit formation array. At that point, even against several Celestial Immortals, I would have some chance of victory.”
“Currently, half of the immortal artifacts are still exploring unknown worlds, so I can’t demonstrate for you now.”
“Next time. I just returned from exploring an unknown world with Li Er and the Wishful Gourd. With good luck, the Great Scholar’s Manuscript, the Other Mountain Stone, and the Four Seas Dragon Pearls should finish soon.”
“That reassures me,” Bai Hongtu nodded, then fell silent for a moment before asking, “When are you going to let me down?”
After waking up, Bai Hongtu realized he wasn’t lying in bed but was instead hanging from a tree with a rope tied by Jiang Li, surrounded by disciples and elders pointing and laughing.
Bai Hongtu desperately wanted to ignore them, but even with his thick skin, he couldn’t manage it.
“You were having delusions during the fight earlier, claiming you defeated both me and Yu Yin to become the 72nd generation Human Sovereign. I thought you might be suffering from insufficient blood flow to the brain, causing hallucinations, so I hung you from the tree to help blood rush to your head.”
“Don’t thank me for my thoughtfulness.”
Bai Hongtu gritted his teeth: “Thank you so much.”
“I’m clear-headed now. Can you let me down?” Bai Hongtu didn’t want to keep hanging from the tree like a dead pig.
“Of course,” Jiang Li cut the rope.
“Everyone disperse, nothing more to see here,” Jiang Li gave Bai Hongtu some face by scattering the crowd, which moved Bai Hongtu quite a bit.
Even though it was Jiang Li who had gathered everyone in the first place.
“Hall Master, there’s something that may require your decision,” Commander Liu contacted Jiang Li as if nothing had happened.
“What is it?”
“Zhou Emperor just contacted me, saying many female cultivators in Great Zhou have been having dreams recently. Great Zhou wants to regulate this and asked if our Human Sovereign Hall will handle it.”
Both Jiang Li and Bai Hongtu were curious: “Why should dreaming fall under the Human Sovereign Hall’s jurisdiction?”
Commander Liu looked around cautiously. Seeing only himself in the vast main hall of the Human Sovereign Hall with no guards reporting, he felt relieved.
Lowering his voice, he said: “They’re having erotic dreams with you as the male lead.”
“???”
Jiang Li felt this was even more eye-opening than witnessing the Spirit Plant Formation.
Bai Hongtu also felt he had lost this round.
“You should know that some cultivators practice the Dao of Dreams—partly for combat, partly to make money.”
“Indeed, I know about this, though I haven’t had much contact with the latter,” Jiang Li said. During his time as a Human Sovereign candidate, he had encountered several cultivators who practiced the Dao of Dreams. They fought in dreams, and Jiang Li cleverly used various techniques to defeat them multiple times.
Injuries sustained in dream combat could reflect on the physical body. For example, when the First Emperor suffered several lightning techniques from Jiang Li in a dream, the real him was injured as well.
More seriously, there were cases of death in dreams directly causing death in reality.
Cultivators unfamiliar with the Dao of Dreams found it somewhat eerie.
To support their cultivation, practitioners often used their specialized skills to earn spirit stones and other cultivation resources. Alchemists made money selling pills, artifact smiths sold spiritual treasures, and dream cultivators sold dreams.
Dream cultivators could customize dreams according to customer requirements.
The freedom within dreams had always belonged to a gray industry, making it inconvenient for Great Zhou to regulate.
This led to increasingly liberal custom dreams, until recently when a certain case exposed several dream cultivators. According to their testimonies, many female cultivators had been seeking out dream practitioners to customize intimate dreams involving Jiang Li.
The intimacy had reached levels unsuitable for children.
In his previous life, no one would regulate what dreams people had, but this was a cultivation world where dreams could be customized.
Dreams were like writing novels—divided into wholesome and unwholesome categories.
Dreams involving Jiang Li naturally fell into the unwholesome category requiring management.
After learning about this, Ji Zhi pondered for a while and found the matter somewhat troublesome. He decided it would be better to hand it over to the Human Sovereign Hall for handling.
He refused to believe this phenomenon only occurred in Great Zhou—other countries must have similar situations.
Jiang Li had always felt that while his strength was sufficient, his experience was too limited. He constantly encountered unexpected situations.
If the imagination of Nine Provinces cultivators had levels, he would definitely rate them at Mahayana Stage imagination.