"In the stone, the moon; in the dream, the immortal; reincarnation reveals the true path."

"In illusions, the mirror; in reality, the realm; do not sink into oblivion."

The handwriting was powerful, with strokes as sharp as swords, and one could almost feel the overwhelming momentum of the person who penned these words.

Su Mu silently recited the phrase, gaining some insight yet unsure about the source of his realization. It was then he noticed a corner of the page was folded at the bottom right.

Upon unfolding it with his fingers, he found a line of delicate writing hidden beneath—"May you remember this."

Seeing this, Su Mu felt as if it was directed at him.

The upper lines seemed like a mantra, but the bottom line appeared intentionally written for him.

The term "阁下" was familiar to him.

At that moment, a vision of the old man fishing came to Su Mu's mind; the phrase resembled his manner of speaking.

But... this ring was given by the boy, and from his words, he was not familiar or even acquainted with the old man, ruling out any encounter between them.

Moreover, the ring was the boy's golden item, which he surely protected well, unlikely to show others easily. Thus, the possibility of the old man leaving a note in the ring was dismissed...

Then, if these sentences were indeed written by the old man to him, how could he be certain the boy would gift him the stone ring, and he would see this note?

The more he thought, the less sense it made, but Su Mu couldn't pinpoint the problem.

Perhaps it would be better to wait until the next time fate brings them together to ask face to face.

...

Yet, Su Mu had roughly understood the function of this stone ring.

Wearing the ring to dream induces a supremely realistic dream, importantly, with insights gained in the dream reflecting back onto his body.

Just like this time in his dream, he became a champion, excelled in study to the point of enlightenment in Confucianism, ultimately achieving a transformation and elevation of his mindset. When he remembered it, he awoke from the dream.

The insight gained in the dream felt as genuine as real life, reinforcing Su Mu's being.

However, Su Mu also found a flaw, which was being unable to recall his corporeal memories in the dream. When he remembered everything, the dream ended.

Because reaching Su Mu's level, dreams were trivial for him. He could abandon them with a single thought, preventing any dream from occurring, and even in a dream, he could retain his corporeal memories, ending it anytime to awaken.

At this point, a realization hit Su Mu.

If in the dream he could never recall his corporeal memories, then... how would the dream ever end?

Could it continue endlessly?

Although his body only slept for one night, in the dream, he endured over a decade's time.

Those ten-plus years felt remarkably real, akin to experiencing them personally.

....

Thus, the greatest drawback might be the inability to retain his bodily memories in the dream, forgetting even the name "Su Mu."

Once everything was recalled, the dream would end.

If he could maintain his corporeal memory, he could end the dream whenever necessary.

If he could cultivate within the dream, it would truly be miraculous, achieving in one night what others might in decades or more of arduous practice.

The kid, having obtained such an extraordinary treasure, gifted him one and kept another.

In such a case, that boy's future would be limitless!

.....

Meanwhile, in a distant future, in some dark timespace.

This realm had utterly vanished, engulfed in darkness and cold, with only law fragments wafting in the void, emitting faint glimmers of light.

At the void's center sat an elder in a plain robe, eyes tightly shut, utterly lifeless, resembling a decayed skeleton devoid of any vitality, as if fallen countless ages ago.

This realm had become chaotic; the sun, moon, and every law of heaven and earth shattered into primordial nothingness.

And all of this was orchestrated to kill the elder in plain robes.

From the present view, the elder appeared completely lifeless, seemingly achieved success...

At this moment, above the Chaotic World outside the Realm Sea, five figures stood, their faces indistinguishable, merely silhouettes hidden in the void.

Their gazes penetrated the endless Realm Sea beneath, continuously focusing on that chaotic void world.

These five figures had stood above the Realm Sea for a full hundred thousand years, never leaving, nor daring to depart.

Despite his long lifeless state, and though it seemed he had perished, they still didn't dare to leave, waiting until he was utterly annihilated, leaving no trace of will before feeling truly at ease.

Then, a deep, ethereal voice rose from the Realm Sea.

"A hundred thousand years, he should have no more cards left..."

As those words sounded, another voice immediately followed: "Let's wait a bit longer, another hundred thousand years..."

A hundred thousand years, to other creatures, or even other worlds, is an incomparably long time, long enough for countless reincarnations and annihilations, for countless small worlds to perish and rebirth.

But for them, it was just a relatively extended duration, hardly deemed "eternal."

To utterly annihilate him.

The five had been strategizing for over a million years, now infinitely close to success; spending another hundred thousand years was entirely worthwhile.

The nearer success comes, the more cautious one must be.

To force him onto the final path, their five clans poured all their might, obliterated countless worlds, finally managing to eternally trap him here.

To avoid detection, they secretly dispatched merely two juniors to kill his past self.

For the moment any of the five left the battlefield, he would notice, likely causing unforeseen changes.

A hundred thousand years ago, he suddenly lost vitality, sitting in chaos.

Presumably, it had succeeded, his past self should have been killed.

But with his past self slain, logically speaking, he should have been annihilated, utterly nonexistent, yet his body never dispersed, causing them to wait a whole hundred thousand years more.

At this moment, a voice spoke: "Look..."

"When did the Reincarnation Zero Ring from his hand vanish?!"

As those words fell, the eyes of the other four turned collectively to the elder.

...

ps: Another chapter in about twenty minutes.

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