Chapter 1 Tapping

He tapped the table with his fingers, his Great Uncle still deliberating.

There were benefits, but there were also risks.

For Ye Chuxiao, a short promotion within Canaan Academy was more than enough.

But for his Great Uncle, it would definitely be a losing proposition.

What was put out there was the market; what was kept behind closed doors could only be called a self-produced, self-sold internal cycle.

Ye Chuxiao was not in a hurry. He had already played his card, and it was up to his Great Uncle to decide whether to take the bait.

He was very open-minded about it.

"In principle, I can help you with a pilot promotion within Canaan Academy first," his Great Uncle said slowly after about five minutes.

Ye Chuxiao nodded, not interjecting, knowing that his Great Uncle hadn't finished speaking.

"But you must show results!"

"This result, of course, does not refer to your personal cultivation, your cultivation level. That's not important."

"What I want to see is that your friend...Joker! He has the true charm to sweep the world. He must conquer the entire audience," his Great Uncle said.

"Also, after it's done, you must sign a contract, and you can't return to the Academy world for at least sixty years."

"Just as you said, let the idols be idols, and let the Academy be the Academy," his Great Uncle emphasized on the latter issue.

Ye Chuxiao said, "I'll only be staying in the Academy world for a month in total, and half of that time has already passed."

"So anxious?" His Great Uncle frowned, looking somewhat displeased.

"If you're worried about not having enough Destiny Points, you don't have to worry. With my help in promoting and winning you fame, your Destiny Points will only increase rapidly and continuously," his Great Uncle continued.

Ye Chuxiao demurred, "Thank you for your kindness, Senior, but I also bear heavy responsibilities in Daheng. Divine Constable Shi Huang has also entrusted me with many important tasks. A month is long enough. Any longer leave...will be difficult to approve."

His Great Uncle was thinking of using Ye Chuxiao and his Joker and then kicking them out of the Academy world, never allowing them to return.

The so-called sixty years was just a figure of speech.

Sixty years wasn't long, but it was enough for several reincarnations in the human world.

Some benefits, Ye Chuxiao could choose not to take.

But his Great Uncle couldn't afford not to give.

Unknowingly, it seemed like the positions had shifted.

It wasn't Ye Chuxiao begging his Great Uncle to help with promotion.

Rather, his Great Uncle needed Ye Chuxiao's cooperation to plan for the future.

"Then let's change the condition. When you return to the Academy world, you must abandon the identity of Song Jiamu," his Great Uncle said, retreating to a secondary position.

Ye Chuxiao smiled, patted his knees, and then got up to take his leave.

"In addition, I'll take it upon myself to pass on to you a True Illusion Spiritual Art. This art can combine illusion and reality, allowing illusions to possess substantial lethality, and can be called a treasure pointing directly to the grandmaster of illusion."

"Not only that, but I can also give you a Shenlong Pearl. This object, when combined with illusion, can potentially deceive the senses of cultivators below the Intent Realm, causing them to ignore reality," his Great Uncle offered his bargaining chips.

Ye Chuxiao immediately put on a smiling face, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation!"

"Of course! There's no room for negotiation on the time, but I can cooperate to the best of my ability."

"I hope you can move quickly, Senior."

His Great Uncle stared at Ye Chuxiao, his aura pressing down, as if frost was about to condense in the air.

"You dare refuse my kindness?" His Great Uncle looked at Ye Chuxiao. Although he was expressionless, Ye Chuxiao felt as if he was facing an erupting volcano.

That cultivation level, which he couldn't see through before, suddenly became 'clear.'

His Great Uncle was at least a great cultivator who had touched the threshold of the Intent Realm. His aura and movements already carried the majesty of Heaven's Will.

A large amount of cold sweat instantly appeared on Ye Chuxiao's back.

"Imperfection is perfect, regret is eternal, and a fleeting classic will be unforgettable."

"Actually, it's very simple to make Joker a god. A suitable stage, a group of cooperative audiences, and unreserved publicity and promotion...that's enough!" Ye Chuxiao said to his Great Uncle.

Everyone said that The Dark Knight was a classic, but how many people had only heard of it and never really watched it carefully?

Heath Ledger became a god with the Joker, but how many people really understood his performance?

A small number of people saw the regret after a fleeting moment, but most people were just joining in the fun.

The volcano-like aura slowly subsided.

In the end, all the aura collapsed back into the seemingly ordinary middle-aged man's body.

Like an awakened angry dragon, he closed his eyes again, choosing to lie on his dragon bed and sleep soundly.

"For the sake of Xiao Nannan, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself."

"But...don't disappoint me!" his Great Uncle said.

Then he said, "In the next few days, cooperate with the publicity to make the Joker even more outstanding. When the month is almost over, I will give you a grand enough stage!"

"I also hope you won't let this stage down!"

After signing the contract and walking out of his Great Uncle's office, Ye Chuxiao let out a long breath.

He seemed to be in control of the rhythm the whole time.

But in fact, he had been worried all along.

His confidence was that he had the 'benefits' that his Great Uncle needed.

But he was also worried about meeting a madman who didn't care about benefits and just wanted to slap him to death for his own peace of mind.

That would be very bad.

Of course, with Ye Chuxiao's trump cards, he wouldn't die.

It's just that he would be running away in a very embarrassing state.

His Great Uncle moved very quickly.

Before the next day, not long after Ye Chuxiao walked out of the office, various soft articles promoting the 'Joker' had already begun to quietly spread throughout Canaan Academy.

Of course, at this time, the word 'Joker' was not being praised too highly yet.

It was only when analyzing his special and unique charm that they quietly inserted some subjective guidance.

In a subtle way, they aroused the interest of the people in Canaan Academy in this 'Joker'.

From the moment the publicity began, Ye Chuxiao felt the continuous strengthening of the 'Joker'.

The strengthening of the Joker was the strengthening of the second layer of his Mind Armor.

Under the effect of the Demonic Heart Art, this was mutually reinforcing.

If Ye Chuxiao's first layer of Mind Armor was a leather armor, then the second layer of Mind Armor, built around the Joker, was a heavy cavalry armor. The defensive power of the two could not be compared.

And this was just the beginning.

The Joker's promotion had already started, but the new type of 'armor' movement, combining the Demonic Heart Art with idols, mutual guarantees, and mutual confidentiality, had not shown any signs yet.

This was to be expected.

Perhaps it would be a long time after Ye Chuxiao left this world before this transformative movement would truly unfold.

After all, his Great Uncle, or rather the higher-ups of Canaan Academy behind him, had to first use the 'harmless' Joker as a virtual idol, promote it to the world, and then reveal their fangs.

Driving the two carriages side by side from the beginning, seemingly uniform, actually blocked the road ahead and aroused the vigilance of other academies.

The day after making a contract with his Great Uncle, Ye Chuxiao received the 'reward' that his Great Uncle had promised.

A True Illusion Spiritual Art, a unique skill that every illusionist sought.

As everyone knew, the shortcoming of illusionists was that even if they created thousands of images and infinitely grand scenes, they were all fake.

If the opponent didn't believe it and maintained their original heart unchanged, then it would be useless.

Therefore, even the most powerful illusionists could only play support roles and rarely went to the battlefield as the main force.

Even a powerful illusion grandmaster like Feng Yu could only hide in the Ministry of Justice's prison to avoid disaster.

If he were a martial artist, swordsman, or talismanist of the same realm who could truly fight head-on, would he need to be so vigilant and careful?

With just his skills, he could go anywhere in the world.

Of course, as an eunuch, Feng Yu would not be allowed to come into contact with such main combat cultivation methods.

Once the spiritual root was planted, the foundation was set, and even if he wanted to change his path, it would be impossible.

The power of the True Illusion Spiritual Art lay in the fact that it used special techniques to hide real killing intent within the illusion. Even if it was only one truth among a hundred illusions, this one truth was extremely precious. If the cultivator also had methods other than illusion, they could use this method to perfectly integrate other methods into the illusion. The truth and falsehood were linked together, ensuring that the opponent would have a headache.

For example, Ye Chuxiao could conjure up the illusion of ten thousand swords firing at once, and then wrap a few real flying swords in the illusion.

When a sword curtain flew over, the opponent would not be able to defend against it.

Without the True Illusion Spiritual Art, using the methods of a swordsman and an illusionist at the same time, Ye Chuxiao's few real flying swords would seem particularly abrupt among the illusion swords, and the enemy would be able to see through the truth at a glance.

Unless it was in a special environment or geographical condition, with the cooperation of the right timing and location, it might be possible to achieve something.

In this way, the illusion was not an illusion, and the flying swords were not used with sincerity, and neither was successful.

With the True Illusion Spiritual Art, the two combined, and the enemy would not know when Ye Chuxiao's ten thousand swords were real or fake, and could only defend against them all, running around in exhaustion.

"This True Illusion Spiritual Art, combined with my super strong absorption of the energy of heaven and earth, and my ability to shape it, can completely play out more tricks."

"Just getting this one unique skill is worth the trip."

"What's more, there's this Shenlong Pearl!" Ye Chuxiao played with the Shenlong Pearl in his hand, feeling its amplification and strengthening of illusions. He couldn't suppress the joy in his heart.

"It's a pity! I can only shear so much wool for now."

"His Great Uncle is also a reasonable person, otherwise, I might not have been able to get such great benefits." Ye Chuxiao put away the Shenlong Pearl and focused more on the upcoming performances.

With his Great Uncle and other higher-ups of Canaan Academy secretly pushing things forward.

The contestants Ye Chuxiao came into contact with in the decryption competition were naturally also some star contestants.

Under the table operations, they naturally all became stepping stones for Ye Chuxiao and the Joker to become famous.

With Ye Chuxiao's current thickness of Mind Armor, even those so-called star contestants could only 'shake' the Joker out at most, and it was completely impossible to break through this armor.

One victory after another, accompanied by the Joker's eccentric and strange words.

Song Jiamu and the Joker had become the current hot topic in Canaan Academy.

More and more people began to think that Ye Chuxiao's Mind Defense was so powerful because of the 'Joker', this extremely special Mind Armor spirit.

Some people began to imitate Ye Chuxiao, learning his operation of using memories as a barrier and another personality as a shield.

However, without Ye Chuxiao's unique 'hobby', and without the Demonic Heart Art as a power enhancement, it was just a clumsy imitation.

However, the more this was the case, the more people were filled with a desire to investigate and explore the strength of Ye Chuxiao's Mind Armor.

They eagerly wanted to know what kind of secrets were hidden within.

Some bad voices were brewing in the crowd. They seemed restless, wanting to use the pressure of the group, using morality as a spear, to pierce Ye Chuxiao's secrets and force him to hand over the 'truth'.

However, these tricks and skills of the underworld were quietly suppressed by the big hand that controlled public opinion.

Now was not the time!

Such voices were not allowed to appear on a large scale in the mainstream field of vision.

Those who wanted to quietly do tricks and secretly use some privileged means were all erased by even greater privileges.

With someone escorting him, Ye Chuxiao and his 'friend' the Joker only needed to spread their wings and fly high.

When the time approached the end of Ye Chuxiao's arrival in this world, the word Joker had completely overwhelmed the name 'Song Jiamu'.

At this time, people were already using the Joker and his ordinary pendant to describe Ye Chuxiao.

The Joker's dress, clothing, words, movements, and expressions were widely imitated.

Many spies from other academies who had originally been lurking in Canaan Academy were also confused by the 'Joker' craze that had suddenly swept through Canaan Academy.

They couldn't understand why a fabricated character would receive such great recognition.

It even seemed like he was about to become Canaan's national idol.

"A crazy, paranoid, and even antisocial madman actually has so many admirers."

"Does this mean that Canaan Academy is about to collapse?"

"No, I have to send a message to inform the leaders of the academy so that they can prepare in advance." Some spies judged this way and then sent their thoughts back to their respective academies.

Unknowingly, Canaan Academy had attracted too much attention.

Some people from other academies were also interested in the Joker and his useless ordinary pendant.

They planned to study it.

Canaan Academy's No. 1 arena!

Today was Ye Chuxiao's last day in this world.

It was also the final day of a decryption competition 'regular season'.

Of course, in order to accommodate Ye Chuxiao's time, this regular season, which should have ended long ago, was delayed for a few days due to equipment failure.

As the first place in the competition积分, Ye Chuxiao was now lying in a fully immersive deep diving pod. On the Mind Manifestation battle stage, he was standing on a high, solitary peak, closing his eyes and resting.

Below the solitary peak, ten thousand mountain ranges stood tall.

At the top of each mountain range stood a cultivator.

They either looked at Ye Chuxiao with fanaticism, or glared at him with jealousy or a desire to challenge him, all eager to try.

This was the final battle of this 'regular season'.

It was also a particularly special Mind Decryption battle.

One side of the battle was Ye Chuxiao, the first place in the积分, and the other side was a total of ninety-nine competitors from second place to one hundredth place.

This asymmetrical battle no longer distinguished between attack and defense.

Instead, it was one against ninety-nine.

If Ye Chuxiao wanted to make the Joker a god, he had to have such a scene and aura.

One-on-one duels were too petty and too time-consuming.

"Song Jiamu! Today, I must break your tortoise shell and make you socially dead in public!" Si Dada crossed her arms, stood on a mountain top, looked at Ye Chuxiao, and shouted loudly.

Ye Chuxiao did not answer her, nor did he even move his gaze towards her.

This made Si Dada angry, and she revealed her Mind Armor, and waves of ripples rippled on the armor.

"One against ninety-nine...I have to say! You are very bold."

"Although we have all been defeated by you, you are so arrogant that you seem to be crazy," said the star contestant Zhuang Feiyu.

Ye Chuxiao still did not speak, maintaining his posture.

"Heh! Everyone, since he is so arrogant, then let's teach him how to be a human!"

"Everyone is working together for the first time and there is no tacit understanding, so let's give him a little sweetness first!" Zhuang Feiyu shouted loudly.

Everyone faced Ye Chuxiao and then shot almost at the same time.

At that moment, flowers fell from the sky and golden lotuses gushed from the earth.

Countless immortals flew down from the clouds.

Flying celestial maidens with peerless appearances but simple clothes landed beside Ye Chuxiao, as if to support him, get him on the cloud chariot, fly into the heavenly palace, enjoy extreme happiness, and receive the blessing of longevity.

The desire for longevity, the desire for immortality, and the desire to become an immortal...these were the oldest and most fundamental desires rooted in the hearts of cultivators.

Survival, fame, wealth, and magical powers...these desires were all secondary desires derived from the above three desires.

Faced with the ultimate pursuit of cultivators, even if they knew it was fake, few people were willing to wake up.

Ninety-nine outstanding illusion cultivators acted in unison, using such methods.

Naturally, the details were carved out to be 100% real.

The charming smiles on the faces of those celestial maidens, the fluttering clothes of the heavenly monarch in the clouds, the majestic aura of the heavenly generals who were drumming...all were revealed undoubtedly.

Just as Li Bai wrote in his poem: The rainbow is my garment and the wind is my horse, the lords of the clouds come down in droves. Tigers beat drums and phoenixes return to the chariot, the celestial beings are lined up like hemp.

Patches of golden light fell from the cracks in the clouds, like a ladder to heaven.

Following this ladder, riding on the cloud chariot, one could obtain everything one dreamed of.

Ye Chuxiao stood still.

Then, Ye Chuxiao struck.

With a wave of his sleeve, all the fairies around him disappeared.

In their place were towering mountains that pierced through the clouds, as if to pierce the sky and tear it in two, knocking the immortals in the clouds down to the mortal world.

A divine stone exploded from the top of the mountain, and a golden monkey flew out from it.

The golden monkey was clad in golden armor, holding a thousand-pound rod, roaring in the clouds and howling in the thunder and lightning.

Demonic sounds shook the world, and the demon saint was crazy.

That fairyland in the clouds was instantly torn to pieces.

The ninety-nine contestants attacked again, joining forces for a single blow.

A huge palm flew from outside the sky to suppress the golden monkey.

If enticement didn't work, then coercion would be used.

These were always two timeless tricks in illusion.

They were old-fashioned, but they worked.

This attack was not completely fake, it was mixed with real thoughts.

Obviously, some cultivators had incorporated the scenes of powerful people they had seen into it.

This made the aura of this palm mixed, but still strong and domineering, as if it was already unparalleled.

Ye Chuxiao stood in place, the long wind hunting, blowing his clothes and blowing his heartstrings.

He closed his eyes, and the next moment the sky was dark!

Outside the pitch-black sky, an indescribable god looked down on everything, causing the immortals in the clouds and the heavenly soldiers in the divine palace to be polluted and corroded.

Among the ninety-nine cultivators, those with weaker inner cultivation all let out a muffled groan.

Then they were shaken out of their Mind Armor.

The indescribable god, with its weird, strange, unique, and unseeable magic, emitted unbearable sounds.

All the beauty was withered under His pollution.

The Joker!

Was standing on top of the indescribable god's head.

He dominated the god, as if the god... was just his pet.

This was an illusion, it was fake!

Like a movie, no matter how real it was advertised, it was essentially just a record.

A void depiction from a certain angle.

But this shock was so real.

The audience watching this final duel couldn't help but feel their hearts sway.

They loved this feeling too much.

The Joker stood on top of God's head, spread his arms, as if he was embracing this rotten, decaying, and foul world.

Then he laughed!

Laughing maniacally.

Everyone's ears echoed with the Joker's unbridled laughter.

"Welcome to my world, delicate young masters and ladies!" The Joker clasped his hands on his chest, bowed slightly, and saluted.

He was such a gentleman, but the indescribable god's destruction of the sky and the earth continued.

"It can't go on like this!"

"Use a stronger effect to knock him down!" Zhuang Feiyu woke up from the shock and then shouted loudly.

He integrated the team's momentum with great difficulty.

The ninety-nine people joined forces and launched the illusion again.

A giant figure, taller, more powerful, and more sacred than the indescribable god, emerged in the starry sky.

He seemed to be a collection of nebulae, the creator of the stars.

But He was also empty, without any more specific image, only outlining traces.

Humans cannot create or imagine things beyond their own knowledge.

The limit of illusionists is their imagination.

The ninety-nine cultivators worked together to create this nebula god, but they could not give Him more specific powers.

They could only lean Him towards greatness and omnipotence.

But such a broad setting was destined to have no focus.

The Joker looked up, looked at the star god jokingly, and then beckoned.

The star god looked down at him... but it was as if he was saluting.

"Now is... happy time!"

"Let's get lively, my friend!" The Joker said to the star god.

In an instant, the Mind Armor's rebound effect took effect.

The Star God evolved from the illusion lost control.

He began to breathe, and then froze everything, completely freezing the fairyland in the clouds, which was originally built by ninety-nine illusionists, in the last second.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

One after another, the cultivators' Mind Armor shattered, exposing their fragile thoughts.

In reality, thirty deep diving pods opened.

They jumped out of the deep diving pods and then ran away with their heads in their hands.

In a short period of time, these people who had been socially dead one after another would probably no longer have the courage to appear in front of people.

"Set up the formation!" Zhuang Feiyu's face was bitter, and his Mind Armor was also shaking violently.

The remaining sixty or so people directly set up an illusion formation.

A vast world, under their illusion, was roughly formed.

This was a blank world.

It was also a world full of infinite possibilities.

In this world, it seemed that they could freely vent all their emotions and let go of all moral and legal restraints!

It targeted another, non-negligible 'weakness' in human nature.

The yearning for absolute freedom!

But this was a trap.

Those seemingly ignorant wild animals actually had another identity.

In the illusion, they were given intelligent attitudes.

When freedom recklessly ran wild here, leaving unlimited pain and traces.

The truth would be revealed, and those wanton behaviors would turn into strong inner condemnation and return.

This trick seemed to only target morality in human nature.

If there was no morality, there would be no self-blame.

But in fact, people who truly have no morality and bottom line are extremely, extremely rare. Most people are just talking big.

Those who shout about killing the whole family may have nightmares in reality even if they accidentally hit a stray dog.

The Joker sat on the hillside of freedom.

Without the prosperity and splendor being destroyed and polluted by him, he seemed to fall into chaotic meditation.

To everyone's surprise.

This time, the Joker was no longer playing the role of destroyer.

But as a creator and disseminator.

He took the initiative to create civilization and sow the seeds of fire.

With his back to the crowd, the Joker murmured, "Without order, chaos is meaningless."

"It's just because the world is full of sadness, that's why I laugh out loud."

As the order belonging to this barbaric world was quickly established under the Joker's guidance.

Another twenty or so cultivators were broken.

They withdrew from this duel, leaving the stage to Ye Chuxiao and the Joker.

Now, all the attention was focused on the Joker.

Even Ye Chuxiao, the 'great demon' that everyone wanted to defeat, was reduced to a supporting role on the sidelines.

All the cameras were given to the Joker.

Ye Chuxiao also felt that the Mind Armor constructed by the Joker was accelerating its transformation, changing from armor... to another indescribable form.

It was crystal clear, strong, and powerful, brewing seemingly endless Mind Power.

The Mind is void!

But if the Mind can interfere with reality!

Then it is unparalleled!

Ye Chuxiao's heartbeat accelerated slightly, and he was also looking forward to it!

The light in the sky was cut by brightness and dimness.

Standing in the light on the horizon, the Joker freely danced a funny dance.

Lonely music sounded, and he began to tell a low story about a clown.

"Doctor, why am I not happy?" In the last scene, the Joker sat on the sofa, and opposite him, there seemed to be a doctor, only half of his head was exposed.

"There is a clown in the east of the city. He can make everyone laugh. I think he will definitely be able to help you!" the doctor said to the Joker.

"But, I am that Joker!" The Joker squeezed out a smile, but his eyes were full of exhaustion.

Before this, people had seen wantonness, madness, wisdom, and sarcasm from the Joker.

And at this moment, they seemed to see the weakness in the Joker.

This was like a ray of humanity injected into the originally crazy and ethereal soul.

When humanity and this crazy, beast-like soul merged, divinity was born!

The last group of opponents also withdrew.

Ye Chuxiao won this shocking one-on-ninety-nine duel.

At the same time, the Mind Armor transformed by the Joker completely completed its transformation.

In an instant, Ye Chuxiao left the Academy world and returned to the Ship of Fortune.