Speculation, Wanren City

"We're back."

Chen Ye exhaled a long breath, breaking free from his cultivation state.

He reflected on this experience and noted that it was different from the last one.

He entered the "real world" inside the sarcophagus, where there was a female corpse, and the two clearly had a corresponding intentional relationship.

But not this time.

This illustrates that the real world and the real world are not in one-to-one correspondence.

Recalling the delirious ramblings he had heard before, Chen Ye suspected that this world was somehow synchronized with the 'real world'.

After a brief assessment, Chen Ye discovered he still had some energy left, so he activated the "True Dragon Seed Dao Technique" once more to enter the "real world."

He stood on the beach again, and the scene was no different from the first time he saw it.

Chen Ye exited the real world and returned to reality, then took five steps and re-entered the 'real world'.

As a result, he found himself unexpectedly standing in the center of the island, having moved fifty or sixty feet, and his position had changed.

Chen Ye tested it several times until he was completely exhausted.

He discovered that the environment was different in each place he entered the "real world".

Based on the changes in distance, Chen Ye roughly estimated that the size of the real world was at least thirty times that of this world.

Beyond that, no other information can be deduced.

To unravel the mystery, we must continue to explore.

Ideally, one could encounter real people in the 'real world' and ask them directly, which would be much better than letting one's imagination run wild.

For some reason, every time he entered the 'real world,' it was a desolate place with no sign of human habitation.

Seeing that he couldn't come up with any clues, Chen Ye stopped thinking about it.

He got up and pushed the door open to leave.

This quiet room is located in the back of the mountain, a secluded place where few people usually come to disturb it.

There was no one else outside.

Chen Ye continued forward and entered the inner courtyard.

He didn't have many wives or concubines, so the inner courtyard seemed rather empty, with only a few scattered maids.

They were quite surprised to see Chen Ye emerge from the pass and bowed repeatedly.

Chen Ye ignored them and went back to the guest hall for a rest.

Upon hearing that he had already left the pass, Su Guang hurried over to pay his respects.

Upon seeing Su Guang, Chen Ye casually asked, "How many days have I been in seclusion?"

Su Guang said, "About three days."

three days?

Chen Ye secretly estimated that this was about the same amount of time he had spent in the 'real world'.

In other words, the flow of time in the real world is now one-to-one with that in the present world.

Chen Ye continued to inquire about the affairs of the manor in the past few days.

Su Guang replied, "My lord, everything is normal in the manor. Zhuang Chaoyang has reorganized the newly formed camp and has been leading his men in drills these past few days. There are no major problems."

The items confiscated from the Gao family have been almost completely inventoried, and a list will be prepared and submitted in a couple of days.

"What about the people down there? Has anyone caused trouble?"

"No," Su Guang shook his head and said, "The magistrate is fair in his rewards and punishments, and he distributes plenty of pills and money. The people below are convinced and have no complaints."

"That's good."

Su Guang remembered something and said, "By the way, sir, speaking of which, San Gouzi's cultivation has improved rapidly these past few days, which seems quite unusual. Would you like to go and take a look?"

Chen Ye seemed slightly surprised.

San Gouzi, like him, belongs to the category of "talented individuals".

Although San Gouzi had been diligent in his cultivation, his progress had been steady and not particularly fast.

Now that Su Guang specifically mentioned it, saying "rapid progress," it must mean that he has truly made a significant breakthrough.

He took note and asked, "When did the changes begin?"

Su Guang recalled for a moment and said, "It was probably not long after the Duke went into seclusion. I tested him yesterday and found that he had completed his fourth transformation and was beginning to attempt the fifth."

"Not long after going into seclusion..."

If Chen Ye calculated carefully, San Gouzi's changes started roughly after he entered the real world.

Chen Ye couldn't help but feel alarmed.

He suspected that San Gouzi's changes were directly related to his entry into the real world.

A certain "synchronization" trend has emerged between the two.

Chen Ye pondered for a moment, then said to Su Guang, "Go and bring San Gouzi here. I want to ask him a few questions myself."

"Yes." Seeing Chen Ye's solemn expression, Su Guang dared not delay and turned to leave.

Before long, Su Guang came in with San Gouzi.

San Gouzi still looked dull and unresponsive.

He stood obediently at the door with his head down, wearing a coarse brown short-sleeved shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, revealing his two strong forearms.

Chen Ye looked him up and down and found that after a year of running around and practicing martial arts, San Gouzi's spirit and energy were indeed very different from a year ago.

Now, he exudes a faint, yet unmistakable, aura of a martial artist.

"Sit down and talk."

San Gouzi sat down as instructed, placing his hands properly on his knees, waiting for Chen Ye to ask a question.

Chen Ye didn't rush to speak, but first glanced at Su Guang.

Su Guang understood, turned around and walked to the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

He stood guard outside the door, not allowing anyone else to approach.

Once only the two of them were left in the room, Chen Ye looked at San Gouzi and calmly asked, "San Gouzi, have you noticed anything... different while you've been cultivating lately?"

San Gouzi had no suspicion of Chen Ye and honestly replied, "Master... it is somewhat different."

"Tell me, what's the difference?"

He paused for a moment, seemingly organizing his thoughts, before continuing, "It's during my cultivation that I've heard those delirious voices again. Many people are talking, a buzzing sound, I can't make out what they're saying, but it's not as scary as before."

Chen Ye's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't interrupt him, signaling him to continue.

"Then……"

San Gouzi scratched his head and said in confusion, "Then I felt a cool sensation all over my body, like I had suddenly soaked in a mountain spring in the middle of summer, which felt really comfortable."

And with each breath, I feel like something is going into my body through my nose, making me feel incredibly refreshed.

Chen Ye was slightly taken aback; this was the feeling of spiritual matter surging into his body.

When he practiced the Zhou Tian Circulation Technique in the real world, a large amount of spiritual matter would flow into his body with each breath. The refreshing and intoxicating feeling was almost exactly the same as what San Gouzi was describing at this moment.

"really……"

Chen Ye was almost certain that the changes that had occurred in San Gouzi were directly related to his entry into the real world.

The connection between the real world and this world was deeper than he had imagined.

The relationship between them is not like two independent spaces, but more like they originally belonged to the same complete world, which was forcibly cut off by some unimaginably powerful force and became their own separate world.

He didn't press further and said to San Gouzi, "Continue your cultivation. If you sense anything amiss later, report to me immediately."

"Yes, sir."

San Gouzi responded, got up, and left.

After San Gouzi left, Chen Ye sat alone in the room for a while, going over the clues from the past few days in his mind.

He always felt that something was changing in the unseen world.

He himself was at the heart of all these changes.

He took a deep breath and banished these useless thoughts from his mind.

Over the next half hour, Chen Ye summoned Zhuang Chaoyang, Jiang Yi, and others to handle several urgent matters that had accumulated in the mansion.

After everything was arranged, Chen Ye decided to go into seclusion again for cultivation.

This time, he didn't choose the quiet room in the back mountain, but instead chose a side room.

That side room was located on the east side of the government office, and it was usually undisturbed.

Chen Ye pushed open the door, closed it, sat cross-legged in the side room, and slowly closed his eyes.

He regulated his breathing and slowly calmed his restless emotions.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Ye felt that the golden sea in his dantian had completely calmed down. He nodded in satisfaction and began to circulate the True Dragon Seed Dao Technique.

The true dragon energy within the body circulates, pushing each of the five senses to its extreme.

Touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste.

Each layer of perception, once it reaches its peak, is like opening a tightly closed door for Chen Ye, progressing layer by layer.

The scenery around me began to blur.

The walls of the side room seemed to be separated by a shimmering curtain of water, their outlines gradually distorting and fading.

A cool breeze swept in from all directions, enveloping him completely.

Chen Ye felt a sudden blurring and dimming before his eyes, followed by a bright flash.

He opened his eyes and was slightly taken aback by what he saw.

Unlike the gray, sandy beach he had seen before, he was now standing amidst green hills and clear waters.

Beneath my feet was a winding stone path, with unknown lush green plants growing on both sides, their verdant color vibrant and fresh.

The air was filled with a moist and refreshing scent, mixed with the fragrance of grass, trees and soil.

Chen Ye walked a few steps forward along the stone path, passed through a patch of low bushes, and suddenly the view opened up before him.

Not far away, a majestic city was built against the mountain, stretching from the foot of the mountain all the way to the mountainside, with layers of city walls and pavilions blending into the verdant peaks.

Those city walls were built of huge bluish-gray stones and soared into the clouds.

Chen Ye estimated that the city on the mountain could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

It's a typical small town.

Standing at the foot of the mountain, gazing up at the majestic city, he felt incredibly small and a sense of awe welled up within him.

Chen Ye spread his divine sense and saw three ancient characters faintly engraved above the city gate: "Wanren City".

The city shows no signs of decay, so there is a high probability that people are still active inside.

Chen Ye didn't rush in to find out what was going on.

Whether this towering city is deserted or harbors some unknown danger is hard to say at this moment.

He dared not be careless in the slightest.

It would be safer to wait until we've grown stronger before venturing in.

Chen Ye withdrew his gaze, surveyed the surrounding area for a while, and finally found a natural hiding place in a crevice in the mountain wall, hidden by vines.

The gap was small, just enough for one person to squeeze in sideways. Inside was a small, flat rock, completely hidden by the mountain walls on both sides.

It is clearly a good place for cultivation.

Chen Ye squeezed in sideways and sat cross-legged on the rock.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his energy through the body.

The true qi in the dantian began to circulate along the route recorded in the inscription.

It was a bit awkward at first, but after a few cycles, it gradually became smoother.

The next moment, all the pores on Chen Ye's body suddenly opened up as if some kind of switch had been turned on.

The surrounding spiritual energy seemed to be strongly attracted, rushing towards him and penetrating his body through his pores.

That familiar feeling came over me again.

Chen Ye felt as if he were soaking in cool spring water, immersed in an indescribable comfort.

He clearly felt that with each cycle of the true qi along the circulatory route, the golden bridge in his dantian would extend forward slightly.

Although the length of each extension was minuscule, the real sense of progress was something he had never experienced in his previous cultivation.

In the Great Jing Kingdom, the gains he made in half a month of cultivation were not even comparable to the progress he made in just half a day of cultivation here.

"This is true spiritual practice..."

A surge of emotion welled up in Chen Ye's heart.

He no longer became distracted and devoted all his attention to his practice.

The Zhou Tian Transportation Method is operating at full capacity.

Spiritual substances surged into the body like a whale sucking in water.

After an unknown amount of time, golden light continuously burst forth from the acupoints on Chen Ye's body.

Those rays of light, about an inch away from the body, hovered above the skin, radiating a dazzling golden glow.

Soon, the golden wave phenomenon that had appeared behind him also emerged.

The sound of the waves echoed between the mountain walls, wave after wave, with a strange rhythm that intertwined with Chen Ye's breathing.

From afar, Chen Ye was completely enveloped in a holy golden light, exuding an indescribable mystique.

Almost at the same time.

The capital city in the real world.

In the Xie family's secluded courtyard.

The Xie family patriarch, who had been sitting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.

A glint of light flashed in his aged eyes, and then disappeared, followed by an expression of disbelief and astonishment on his face.

"How come the passage to the small grotto-heaven has been partially opened?"

He murmured softly, his tone filled with deep surprise and doubt.

He could clearly sense that a faint but real spiritual substance was seeping into this world from the void.

Although that trace of spiritual matter was extremely thin, such a change made him extremely vigilant.

This small grotto-heaven has already been severed from the True Spirit Realm, and it is impossible for it to make contact with the True Spirit Realm on its own initiative.

The only explanation is that someone else is doing the same thing as him.

The Xie family patriarch's cloudy eyes darted around, and suddenly a person came to mind.

"Is it that person from the Yang family doing it?"

"The Taoist techniques they have mastered, left behind by the true dragon, have not yet reached a perfect state after hundreds of years. Perhaps they have made new breakthroughs in recent times."

"Time waits for no one, we need to hurry up and get it done."

The Xie family patriarch stood up and walked out.

He summoned a younger member of the Xie family and sent a message to Xie Chongyi: "Return to the capital as soon as possible after completing this task, in order to plan for something important!"

"Yes, sir!"

Seeing that their ancestor was taking this matter so seriously, the younger generation of the Xie family hurriedly went to deliver the message without delay.