Chapter 255 A Dream

　　Above West Kunlun, the cloud patterns flowing around the Kunlun Mirror shone brightly. The divided soul of the Queen Mother of the West narrowed her eyes, roused her spirits slightly, and looked toward Wei Yuan, who was sitting cross-legged in the trial grounds. As expected, as the light on the cloud patterns converged, Wei Yuan slowly opened his eyes.

　　The second trial was over.

　　But the Queen Mother of the West's divided spirit was slightly surprised.

　　Too ordinary.

　　The second trial could be said to rely on the power of the Kunlun Mirror to enhance the mental state of those participating in the trial. In the past, those who participated in the trial often underwent some special changes after passing, making it obvious at a glance that they had been reborn.

　　Wei Yuan had clearly been in the trial for so long.

　　Yet he seemed to have emerged without the slightest ripple.

　　No change.

　　Wei Yuan sat there quietly.

　　A great dream.

　　Even after waking up, it was still as if he were in a dream.

　　The past, like smoke and mist, refused to dissipate.

　　Raising her head, the graceful woman on Kunlun Mountain said with interest, "It seems that you have indeed experienced some interesting things... This second trial, was it a great harvest?"

　　"How long was I in there?" Wei Yuan's voice was slightly hoarse.

　　"A hundred times longer than ordinary people."

　　The Queen Mother of the West said, "So, I am also very curious, what exactly did you experience?"

　　Wei Yuan did not answer, closed his eyes, and the past experiences emerged.

　　As a youth, he wielded a sword in the bustling city, played the zhu and drank fine wine, his sword song echoing with the coldness of the Yi River. Then, he followed the monk, walking through eight hundred miles of desert and three thousand miles of wilderness. He once ran across the grasslands and sang wildly in the Five Indias. Emperors, generals, monks, and mortals all passed before his eyes, and then dissipated one by one.

　　In the end, he only said quietly, "It was just a dream."

　　"A dream?"

　　The Queen Mother of the West was clearly not satisfied with this answer.

　　"Yes, just a dream."

　　Wei Yuan had originally intended to tell the prophecy of the Hetu Luoshu (River Diagram and Luo River Book), but as he was about to speak, his voice paused, and in the end, he did not say it—in the cruel prophecy during the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty, the Queen Mother of the West was not present in that great battle.

　　In other words, even if he could now believe that the Queen Mother of the West and the gods were trustworthy.

　　He could not deny the possibility that the Kunlun gods might stand against him.

　　Without concrete evidence, he would not doubt, but he could not fully believe either.

　　In that instant, Wei Yuan suddenly felt that he understood the sorrowful gaze that Xuanzang had given him when he passed away, and the monk's word of suffering—it was not because you remembered the past that you felt sad.

　　The monk's gaze was full of regret.

　　It was because you would eventually remember everything, and then bear it all alone, not knowing who was a friend and who was an enemy, like a traveler carrying a huge mountain on his back, walking alone in the darkness. Just thinking of that would make even someone like me feel an unstoppable sense of desolation.

　　And Wei Yuan, recalling those past experiences, felt no lessening of the heaviness in his heart. He had experienced many things and knew many things, but equally, more doubts and puzzles appeared before him—

　　What exactly happened during the thirty years of lost memories in Kunlun?

　　The means of losing those memories were too similar to the authority of the Queen Mother of the West of Kunlun.

　　Did he kill Gengchen back then?

　　And could Gengchen, as he hoped, be reincarnated in this era?

　　If reincarnated, who had he become, and where was he now?

　　Did Xuanzang's arrangement in the Big Wild Goose Pagoda still have any effect?

　　The Crouching Tiger Token was still unusable. Who had repaired it later?

　　Where was the original version of the Tui Bei Tu (Back Pushing Diagram) left behind by Yuan Tiangang and Li Chunfeng now?

　　Back then, Yinglong Gengchen had clearly said that the Hetu Luoshu were well-preserved inside Kunlun Mountain, but later he had learned of the traces of the Hetu Luoshu appearing in various places?

　　Wei Yuan only felt countless mists appearing before his eyes, making it impossible for him to see clearly. The Queen Mother of the West was evidently curious about Wei Yuan's experiences and had some objections to Wei Yuan being lost in thought, so she stretched out her finger and pressed it towards his brow.

　　The Queen Mother of the West's finger stopped three feet away from Wei Yuan's brow.

　　Even a divided spirit was still the Queen Mother of the West.

　　Her brow felt a sharpness that she had not felt in thousands of years.

　　It disappeared in an instant.

　　When he came back to his senses, the young man before her had a gentle and peaceful expression. He rubbed his brow as if he had just realized something, and then leaned back as if he had been startled by the Queen Mother of the West's actions, smiling wryly with lingering fear, "This... Queen Mother of the West, is this really necessary?"

　　The Queen Mother of the West withdrew her finger and said with a nonchalant smile:

　　"In these thousands of years, no one has dared to refuse my request."

　　"I originally wanted to give you little fellow a lesson, but you actually noticed it."

　　"The second level has been broken, although the results may not be very good."

　　"Nü Jiao has been waiting outside for a while, you should go out."

　　Without any visible movement, the Queen Mother of the West and Wei Yuan had already appeared in the outside world. At this moment, the witch Nü Jiao's brows were slightly furrowed, looking at the Kunlun Jade Wall. The waiting time was too long, so long that even she was muttering in her heart. Fortunately, in the end, the patterns of passage appeared on the Kunlun Jade Wall.

　　"This..."

　　The Kunlun gods were dumbfounded.

　　These results seemed to be a bit too... ordinary?

　　They exchanged strange glances with each other, and when they saw the white-haired fox girl over there, they still honestly lowered their heads, focusing their eyes and minds, and didn't dare to say half a word, otherwise they were afraid that the Shennong Whip in the witch Nü Jiao's hand would directly whip them into spinning tops.

　　"Good, you little brat, why were you so slow?"

　　The witch Nü Jiao raised her eyebrows slightly.

　　She stretched out her hand and directly rubbed the top of Wei Yuan's head, her bright eyes widened, and she spoke rather impolitely, but her concern overflowed. After confirming that Wei Yuan had no damage to his divine soul, she breathed a sigh of relief, and then slapped him on the back.

　　Wei Yuan, who had been absent-minded because he saw Nü Jiao and subconsciously recalled the scene of the prophecy, was almost choked to death by the slap and coughed violently. Nü Jiao immediately pressed down on the top of his head, gnashing her teeth: "You actually spent so much time, I, Tushan, have lost all face."

　　"Let me tell you, if you can't pass the third level, we're not done."

　　"Also, after passing the second level, you need to rest your divine soul, you can't immediately participate in the third level."

　　The Queen Mother of the West rarely defended Wei Yuan, and said lightly, "Come back later."

　　Nü Jiao raised her eyebrows, "Going back means going back."

　　"You just wait and see, this territory of Kunlun will become like my Tushan clan."

　　She glanced at the Queen Mother of the West provocatively, but the Queen Mother of the West seemed to be in deep thought and didn't say much, which made Nü Jiao feel very bored. She took Wei Yuan away from West Kunlun, intending to go back and rest for the time being, while Wei Yuan exhaled a breath of stale air and looked at the layers of clouds below the mountain, saying:

　　"Witch Nü Jiao, let's not go back to the Zhenyao Museum first."

　　"Let's go to a place first."

　　"Oh? Where?"

　　Wei Yuan's thoughts paused, and he said, "...Yuan Tiangang's tomb."

　　On Kunlun Mountain, after Nü Jiao and Wei Yuan had gone far away, the Kunlun gods exhaled a breath of stale air. They all raised their hands to wipe their sweat. Wei Yuan's trial time had far exceeded the average level of normal people. To be honest, even the Kunlun Mountain trial was aimed at the divine soul after all. If there was an accident, no one could say for sure.

　　So the witch Nü Jiao's face became more and more ugly.

　　None of the gods dared to stay by the side of that beautiful woman.

　　And when Wei Yuan came out, this white-haired goddess instantly transformed into a calm and indifferent appearance, as if she had everything under control. She had the demeanor of Xie An back then, when his nephews and nieces defeated the enemy with one against ten in the Battle of Feishui. On the surface, he said that the younger generation had defeated the enemy, but in reality, as soon as the people left, he started twisting his waist and dancing, and ran to the bedroom, even breaking the heel of his shoe.

　　Of course, no one dared to say it.

　　If anyone dared to say it, they would probably be buried on the spot.

　　Now that Nü Jiao had left, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

　　Then, they suddenly noticed that the Queen Mother of the West was still standing here. The graceful woman looked at the rolling clouds, and after a long time, she withdrew her gaze and suddenly muttered to herself:

　　"What is the pinnacle of mortal skills like?"

　　The Kunlun gods looked at each other, not daring not to answer, and bowed close and said:

　　"We do not know."

　　"Talented people emerge in large numbers in the Divine Land. If we were to say, the sword of the Great Tang Sword Saint Pei Min and the poetry of the Azure Lotus Recluse Li Bai should be said to have reached the pinnacle, with no one to come after them."

　　The Queen Mother of the West did not comment and had already left.

　　Only then did the gods dare to whisper to each other and talk in low voices.

　　"What a pity, what a pity."

　　"Yes."

　　"I thought that he would be able to get a top grade in the first level, and the second level is even simpler, so it should also be a top grade."

　　"Who would have thought that he would actually be the last one in all of history."

　　"Alas, people always say that those who are clever when young are not necessarily good when they grow up. Today, I have seen it."

　　"The second level, actually so不堪(不堪-unbearable;disgraceful)."

　　不堪(bukan-unbearable;disgraceful)?

　　In the secret realm, the Queen Mother of the West stretched out her finger.

　　On that white finger, strands of blood seeped out.

　　She couldn't control it at all.

　　What is the pinnacle of mortal skills like?

　　She thought in her heart.

　　If he had a sword in his hand...

　　………………

　　Dang.

　　The wine pot was gently put down.

　　At this time, it was the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty. Under the leadership of the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the empire was returning to its glory. According to legend, when the emperor besieged and captured Princess Taiping, and then beheaded her, Princess Taiping once said bitterly:

　　'I only hate that the Sword Immortal did not teach me his sword techniques back then.'

　　'Otherwise, beheading the Third Son's head would be as easy as killing a dog.'

　　At this moment, a heroic man in armor looked at the wooden house in front of him, recalling his sword-learning experiences. The teacher had already left, but he still refused to believe that the teacher had died.

　　According to legend, when the teacher passed away, a cyan dragon chanted in the heavens and the earth, and then came to greet him.

　　People within a hundred miles had seen it, and it was said that he and his junior sister were valued by the current Holy One because of their swordsmanship, and also because of this legendary auspicious omen. Pei Min came here every year to worship his teacher, and when he was drunk, he suddenly sensed a familiar sword aura.

　　"Teacher?"

　　"Teacher, is that you?!"

　　The drunken Sword Saint chased out and saw a dashing and forthright young man in a green shirt.

　　For some reason, his body was imbued with the teacher's sword aura.

　　"Who are you?!"

　　The young man was stunned, and then gave a free and easy salute, "A person from Suiye (Suyab) in the Great Tang."

　　"I have heard of the Sword Saint's extraordinary swordsmanship, so I have come to seek apprenticeship."

　　"So that's how it is..."

　　The Sword Saint lazily withdrew his original hopeful gaze, but he also knew that this young man probably had some relationship with the teacher, and then said, "If you write a poem for me, then I don't mind accepting you."

　　The young man said confidently, "Please speak!"

　　The Sword Saint was silent for a long time, murmuring, "He was a swordsman, a chivalrous man."

　　He whispered the teacher's story.

　　Although this name no longer existed in history, the story was still thrilling enough, and this young swordsman instantly found an extremely appropriate and romantic explanation for this strange place that did not exist in history.

　　Under the moonlight, the young man from Suiye of the Great Tang only walked five steps, raised his neck and drank wine, and chanted aloud:

　　"Zhao guest wears a Hu tassel, Wu hook is as bright as frost and snow."

　　"Silver saddle shines on white horse, swift as shooting stars.

　　"Kill one man in ten steps, leave no trace for a thousand miles.

　　"When the deed is done, brush off your clothes and hide your body and name!"

　　"…………"

　　"Two heroic men of a thousand autumns, gloriously famous in Daliang City."

　　"Even in death, the bones of a chivalrous man are fragrant, not ashamed to be a hero in the world.

　　"Who can write in the pavilion, the White-Haired Tai Xuan Jing."

　　This long poem was full of grandeur, and the Sword Saint couldn't help but become fascinated, murmuring and repeating the last few sentences: "Two heroic men of a thousand autumns, gloriously famous in Daliang City."

　　"Even in death, the bones of a chivalrous man are fragrant, not ashamed to be a hero in the world..."

　　"Even in death, the bones of a chivalrous man are fragrant, not ashamed to be a hero in the world."

　　He unknowingly burst into tears, and finally looked at the young man and said, "What is your name?"

　　The young man, whose courtyard had a lotus flower and whose door had a sword aura that never ceased, answered:

　　"Great Tang Chang'an."

　　"Li Taibai!"

　　ps: Today's first update... 3,800 words, thank you Mist Over the South of the Yangtze River for 30,000 starting coins.

　　When Wei Yuan left Suiye, he left behind a sword aura.

　　According to legend, Li Taibai was the disciple of the Sword Saint Pei Min, excelling in both poetry and swordsmanship, so this is considered a reincarnation and fit.

　　Chapter Commentary Event—As long as the chapter commentary is published from October 25th to October 31st, and the number of likes reaches 50, take a screenshot and send it to the chapter commentary event post pinned to the top of the book friend circle. The highest prize is 10,000 starting coins, as well as a large number of participation prizes. Don't miss it if you pass by.

　　Don't be like me and be a salted fish anymore, hurry up and get excited, dammit.