The transition from the palace to the city streets was jarring.

One moment I was surrounded by impossible luxury, the next I was walking on ordinary cobblestones between ordinary buildings. Well, ordinary if you ignored the fact that every single thing I passed radiated absolute certainty in its own importance.

Li Qiang hurried beside me, occasionally glancing around nervously. "Young Master, are you feeling... different? After the lightning strike, I mean."

I was about to answer when I noticed something fascinating. A street vendor was selling what looked like ordinary apples, but as I watched, he held one up and declared, "This apple contains the essence of immortality! Grown in soil blessed by my unwavering faith!"

The apple actually began to glow faintly, and a customer who bit into it stood up straighter, her minor cultivation injuries visibly healing.

"That's... actually working," I muttered.

"Master," Azure observed, "the fruit's properties are being temporarily enhanced by the vendor's belief. It's not permanent, probably will fade within an hour, but the effect is real."

This was definitely not how things worked in the cultivation world. There, you might enhance an apple with spiritual energy or use alchemy to create pills, but you couldn't just believe an apple into having magical properties.

I started paying closer attention to the cultivation stages in this world, which I'd been getting glimpses of through Du Yanze's memories. Unlike the other worlds I've visited, where they had clear equivalents to the ranks of the Cultivation World, this world's system was entirely different.

The Path of the Chosen Seed was basically the equivalent of a mortal awakening to cultivation, when someone first developed their belief in their own specialness. Most people never moved beyond this stage, content to whisper about their grand destinies without ever actually pursuing them.

The Bloom of Manifest Will was when belief started affecting the world in small ways. Coincidences would favor the cultivator, their luck would improve, and destiny would seem to bend slightly in their direction.

The Proclamation Realm was where things got interesting. Cultivators could shape minor events by declaring them aloud, their words carrying subtle divine authority. This was also when they typically started attracting followers.

Du Yanze had reached the Crowned Heart Realm, which was when the Domain began to solidify. The phantom crown that was floating above my head when I entered this realm was proof of this stage.

But what really caught my attention was the concept of Witnesses of Fate.

These were people who believed so strongly in a cultivator's destiny that their faith actually strengthened the cultivator's power. It was like having a personal cheering section that provided actual mechanical benefits.

I could see the obvious problems with this cultivation system.

The first was how incredibly fragile it was. It relied on the cultivator's belief in themselves, which could be shattered by the right kind of failure or humiliation.

But the second problem was even worse: it also relied on the beliefs of others. Lose your Witnesses of Fate, whether through death or abandonment, and your cultivation would actually decrease.

This was definitely not a cultivation system I'd want to implement in my own inner world. Too many external dependencies, too many ways for things to go wrong.

My thoughts were interrupted when three cultivators approached us, their expressions ranging from smug to openly hostile.

"Well, well," one of them called out, his voice carrying the particular brand of arrogance that made me want to punch him in the face. "If it isn't the fallen prodigy Du Yanze! How does it feel to suffer your ninth defeat at the hands of our great Young Master Lu?"

I frowned, not just at the insult, but at the way they were talking. The dialogue in the cultivation world could be dramatic, sure, but it was at least bearable. These guys sounded like they were reading lines from the worst xianxia drama ever written. It made me physically cringe.

"I heard you were so devastated by your latest humiliation that you ran back to your useless grandfather," another one added, his spiritual pressure flaring. "Has the great Du clan finally accepted their place as a stepping stone for their betters?"

I stayed silent, just observing them. They were all at the Proclamation Realm, one stage below my vessel's current cultivation level. But since I was keeping my spiritual pressure restrained, they couldn't tell that Du Yanze had broken through to the Crowned Heart Realm.

In their eyes, they were just bullying two Proclamation Realm cultivators - a former prodigy who'd lost his way and his elderly servant.

A dangerous assumption.

"Perhaps we should test whether your recent lesson has improved your pathetic abilities," the third one sneered, stepping forward. "Don't worry, we'll try not to cripple you permanently. Our Young Master prefers his defeated opponents to retain enough strength to appreciate their inferiority."

I noticed that the crowd gathering around us wasn't trying to stop the confrontation. Neither were the city guards who'd wandered over to watch.

This didn't surprise me, from Du Yanze's memories, I knew that public fights were not just common but actually encouraged, as long as there was no killing involved. They were considered a way to build self-belief and advance cultivation.

The first cultivator raised his hand, his Xuan Yi gathering into a visible aura of conviction. "Blazing Phoenix Descent!" he declared, and flames erupted from his palm, taking the shape of a magnificent firebird with wings that seemed to burn the very air around them.

I watched the technique approach and felt my lips curve into a slight smile.

Fire needed fuel and oxygen to sustain itself. Without a continuous energy source, those flames were just hot air rapidly cooling in the open atmosphere. I focused on that absolute certainty, channeling my own Xuan Yi against his.

The phoenix wavered mid-flight, its brilliant flames flickering as my unwavering belief in thermodynamics clashed with his fantasy of elemental mastery. The firebird's wings began to sputter, then collapse entirely as the technique dissolved into harmless wisps of smoke.

The cultivator staggered backward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as the backlash hit him. His eyes were wide with shock and confusion.

"Impossible!" the second one snarled, stepping forward. "Torrential Flood Dominion!"

Water erupted from beneath his feet, forming massive waves that surged toward me with crushing force. The technique was impressive visually; I could feel the spiritual pressure behind it, the belief that water was the most adaptable and persistent of all elements.

But I knew something he didn't.

Water always flowed to the lowest point due to gravity. It followed predictable patterns based on pressure differentials and surface tension. These magical water constructs were ignoring basic fluid dynamics, which meant they were fundamentally unstable.

I channeled my Xuan Yi, focusing on my certainty in physics and chemistry. The massive waves shuddered, their perfect crests breaking apart as they fought against the natural laws I was imposing through sheer force of belief.

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The water collapsed, splashing harmlessly across the cobblestones.

The second cultivator dropped to one knee, clutching his chest as spiritual backlash tore through his meridians.

The third cultivator was backing away now, his face pale with terror, but his pride wouldn't let him retreat without trying. "Stone Prison of Eternal Binding!" he roared, slamming his hands against the ground. "Let the earth itself rise to crush this blasphemer!"

Cobblestones cracked and shifted as rock formations began erupting from the street around me, forming what looked like the beginning of a stone cage. The technique had real weight behind it; I could feel the spiritual pressure as tons of rock moved in defiance of gravity.

But stone doesn't just rearrange itself.

The cultivator was essentially claiming he could manipulate matter at the molecular level through pure willpower, restructuring crystalline matrices without any understanding of the forces involved.

I focused on my knowledge of geology, of how rock formations actually worked, of the incredible pressures and time scales required to shape stone naturally.

The rising rocks slowed, then stopped, then began crumbling back into their original positions. The cultivator's belief couldn't maintain the technique against my absolute certainty that matter didn't work that way.

This cultivator got the worst backlash of all. He collapsed to his knees, blood streaming from his nose and ears as his failed technique tore through his cultivation base like a spiritual shredder. His Xuan Yi aura guttered and nearly went out entirely.

The crowd had fallen silent, staring at me with expressions ranging from awe to terror. I could hear whispers starting to spread through the gathered people.

"He destroyed three techniques without even moving..."

"Is he really Du Yanze? The same Du Yanze who lost to Lu Wenjun nine times?"

"Look at the crown... he's definitely Crowned Heart Realm now..."

I wasn't particularly surprised this approach had worked. From what I could gather, success in imposing your belief onto reality in this realm depended on two main factors: the strength of your conviction and the quality of Xuán Yì you could channel.

While the physics principles I'd cited might not even apply in this realm, I knew with absolute certainty that they were true on Earth. That unshakeable knowledge, combined with Du Yanze's superior cultivation base, had been enough to overpower their techniques.

But the Lu Clan cultivators had failed not just because they were weaker, it was maninly because their understanding of reality was fundamentally flawed. Their techniques were based on fantasy rather than any kind of consistent worldview. When confronted with principles grounded in actual scientific understanding, their belief-based abilities simply couldn't compete.

Of course, I doubted the same method would work as effectively against Yuan Zhen.

Unlike these locals, he wasn't mentally weak or delusional. His certainty would be grounded in the proven principles of our cultivation world, where impossible techniques actually were possible and reality wasn't as flimsy as it was in this realm.

Also, I was fairly certain Yuan Zhen wouldn't choose a vessel below the Crowned Heart Realm. He was too strategic for that.

My musings were interrupted by the sound by a whisper that made my blood run cold.

"Disbeliever."

The accusation spread through the crowd like wildfire.

In this realm, being labeled a Disbeliever was tantamount to being declared a walking plague.

I saw one of the city guards starting to move closer, his expressions shifting from casual interest to genuine alarm. He actually launched himself into the air to get a better aerial view of the situation.

That's when I had an idea that was probably too petty for my own good, but I couldn't resist.

I focused on my absolute certainty in the laws of physics - specifically, that sustained flight required continuous energy expenditure to counteract gravitational force. Without wings, jet propulsion, or some other form of active lift generation, anything heavier than air would inevitably fall.

My belief along with my Xuan Yi imposed itself on my surroundings.

The guard's eyes widened as his flight technique, which had seemed so natural and effortless moments before, suddenly felt unstable. He wavered in the air for a moment, then came crashing down to the street with a very undignified thud that sent several bystanders scrambling out of the way.

"Disbeliever!" one of the defeated cultivators shouted, loud enough for half the district to hear. "There's a Disbeliever here! He destroyed our techniques with heretical doubt!"

That got everyone's attention. I could see more guards converging on our position.

I could have revealed my identity as a higher being, which would have stopped this whole situation immediately. But that would alert Yuan Zhen to which vessel I'd chosen, and I wasn't eager for a repeat of Guo Xinyi's early ambush.

While Yuan Zhen seemed honorable enough, I'd learned not to take chances when it came to tournament opponents.

"Young Master," Li Qiang whispered urgently, "we should leave. Now."

He was right. Time to make our exit.

I grabbed his arm and focused on a specific piece of knowledge I was absolutely certain about: the orbital mechanics of the red and blue suns in my inner world.

Even though I couldn't access my inner world directly through this spiritual projection, I knew beyond any doubt that their gravitational interaction created specific energy fields that allowed for controlled flight.

That certainty was enough.

We rose smoothly into the air, Li Qiang's startled yelp echoing off the surrounding buildings as we gained altitude. Below us, the guards were shouting and pointing, but after watching their colleague face-plant on the cobblestones, none of them seemed eager to attempt pursuing me in the air.

"Master," Azure observed as we soared over the city rooftops, "that was remarkably effective. Though I suspect using scientific principles to counter belief-based techniques won't work on everyone."

"Probably not," I agreed internally. "But it should work long enough for me to develop some proper strategies."

I glanced down at Li Qiang, who was gripping my arm with white-knuckled intensity, his eyes squeezed shut as we flew over the bustling streets below. The poor man looked like he was expecting to plummet to his death at any moment.

"Li Qiang," I called down to him, raising my voice slightly over the wind. "We need to find somewhere quiet where I can finish my preparation."

His eyes snapped open, and he looked up at me with a mixture of terror and devotion. "Of course, Young Master!" he said eagerly, though he was still clinging to my arm like his life depended on it. "There's an abandoned shrine in the eastern district. No one goes there anymore because..."

He trailed off, looking embarrassed.

"Because why?"

"Because the last priest there became a Disbeliever and was taken away by the authorities. People think the place is cursed."

I couldn't help but smile at the irony. "Perfect. That sounds exactly like what we need."

As we flew toward the eastern district, I found myself thinking about the familiar feeling I get when using or even observing Xuan Yi. There was something about this energy that reminded me of something else, but I couldn't quite place what it was.

But whatever it was, it made me really uncomfortable.

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