Chapter 759: Delusional Cultivators
Chapter 759: Delusional Cultivators
"The Heaven Overturning Association..."
Liu Wenyu was filled with shock, murmuring the name under his breath.
His eyes, however, were glued to the Terminal Disc hovering overhead. He instinctively reached out, his hands trembling with the urge to touch it.
As a deep-cover spy for the Five Elders Council, driven nearly to desperation by the all-seeing Heavenly Profound Mirror, he knew better than anyone just how priceless such an artifact was.
"What is this?" Liu Wenyu couldn't help but ask.
"The Sky-Covering Disc," Xu Bai stated calmly. With a mere thought, the Terminal Disc turned intangible, and Liu Wenyu’s hands grasped at nothing but air.
Only then did Liu Wenyu abruptly come to his senses.
Reluctantly tearing his gaze from the Terminal Disc, his expression turned solemn. He clasped his hands in a formal gesture. "Fellow Daoist, for you to seek me out today, there must be a matter of great importance."
"What?" Liu Wenyu froze, taken aback.
"Not long ago," Xu Bai began, his tone sharp, "a Dao Integration cultivator under our control—one we secured using your Truth Inducing Fruit—began showing signs of breaking free. Fortunately, we caught it in time and used other measures to restrain him before he could turn on us. If we hadn't, our Heaven Overturning Association would have suffered a catastrophic loss."
"You claimed the Truth Inducing Fruit was a creation of a Heavenly Sovereign, guaranteed to be infallible. So how do you explain such a colossal failure?"
"All empty boasts! It's no wonder the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has you backed into a corner." Xu Bai threw him a sideways glance and spoke slowly, deliberately.
"The Truth Inducing Fruit... failed?" Horror washed over Liu Wenyu's face, but he quickly shook his head in denial.
"That's absolutely impossible," Liu Wenyu declared with conviction. "As long as the Heavenly Sovereign exists, no Dao Integration cultivator can defy their power."
Xu Bai’s voice grew grim. "And yet, it happened. That cultivator was breaking free. Explain that."
"Fellow Daoist, please, calm yourself. Tell me exactly what happened, in detail."
Xu Bai then recounted a fabricated version of events, omitting names and specific details, describing how a Dao Integration cultivator began to rebel after sensing he was being controlled.
Liu Wenyu pondered this for a moment before responding. "Perhaps... it's a matter of how you used the Truth Inducing Fruit."
Xu Bai feigned a surge of fury. "So now it’s our fault? We followed your instructions to the letter!"
Liu Wenyu quickly tried to placate him. "The Truth Inducing Fruit distorts a cultivator’s mind, making them believe even the most absurd propositions without question. But a cultivator is not a mere puppet; they still possess their own thoughts. If the fabricated reality is too simplistic, they may not doubt it directly when it conflicts with their own perceptions, but they will seek to resolve the contradiction. They might try to re-validate their new reality through various means."
"For example," he elaborated, "if you convinced a Dao Integration cultivator that he was just a mortal, too weak to even tie up a chicken, he would certainly try to live as one. But what if one day he accidentally killed a Nascent Soul cultivator with a careless gesture? The glaring conflict between fact and his perceived reality would compel him to find an explanation for the contradiction—a reason that could satisfy his own mind."
"Otherwise, the dissonance between his beliefs and reality could drive him to the brink of madness."
"Or consider another case. Say you use the Truth Inducing Fruit to instill eternal loyalty. If the subject somehow senses that this loyalty stems from an external influence, he will remain loyal... but the way he expresses that loyalty might become..."
"...extreme."
Liu Wenyu paused, glancing at Xu Bai before continuing. "He might decide that the Xuanhuang Realm is a dangerous place. To expose yourself without sufficient strength would be to court death. Therefore, he might conclude the only logical way to protect you is to lock you away in a dungeon and force you to cultivate until you reach the Dao Integration realm yourself. Only when you are powerful enough to travel the world safely would he consider letting you out."
"To an outsider, it would seem twisted, utterly irrational. But within his own mind, it would be the most logical, self-evident course of action."
"We in the Five Elders Council once had such a case. One of our most loyal cultivators defected to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. He remained utterly devoted to our cause, but he had concluded that the Dharma Propagator Heavenly Sovereign's power was unfathomable. He believed we stood no chance. That our only path led to destruction. And so, in his mind, the only way to save the Five Elders Council was to surrender and broker a merger with the Alliance, preserving a sliver of hope for our survival."
Liu Wenyu sighed, a hint of helplessness in his voice. "He argued his case with righteous conviction. He even tried to persuade other members of the Council to join him."
"There are quite a few like him, actually. We call them Delusional Cultivators. They are the result of the Heavenly Sovereign's power, which reverses logic, not being perfectly applied and clashing with the natural laws of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Of course, if a Heavenly Sovereign's divine power could permeate every corner of the Xuanhuang Realm, like that of the Carefree Heavenly Sovereign, this sort of thing wouldn't happen."
As Liu Wenyu explained, the tension in Xu Bai's expression gradually eased.
"We tried to make the fabricated reality as complete as possible," Xu Bai grumbled, letting out a cold snort. "Who could have predicted this would still happen..."
Liu Wenyu looked just as frustrated. "He is a Dao Integration cultivator, after all. Some complications are to be expected. If they were truly that easy to control, the Five Elders Council would have conquered the Xuanhuang Realm long ago. We certainly wouldn't be in our current situation."
"So what do we do now?" Xu Bai demanded. "You failed to mention such a critical detail when we made our deal. We can't let him go, but confining him for too long will raise suspicion. Are you suggesting we kill him and pin the blame on you?"
Liu Wenyu started, alarmed. "Fellow Daoist, please, don't be rash!" he pleaded. "I believe there's still a way to resolve this."
"The first option is to use another Truth Inducing Fruit on him to patch the flaw in his perception."
"The second..."
Liu Wenyu's expression grew strange. "...is to confront him with the truth. Reveal everything. And then persuade him to... correct his delusion."
"You'd better be more specific," Xu Bai said, his face darkening.
Liu Wenyu lowered his voice. "Let's take our defector again. He only left because he believed we couldn't win against the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. If we could present him with irrefutable proof that the Five Elders Council is actually stronger, or at least capable of holding its own, he would immediately return to our fold."
"After all," he added, "his core belief—his loyalty to the Five Elders Council—never actually changed."
Xu Bai understood immediately.
"Of course, if you supplement this 'persuasion' with another Truth Inducing Fruit," Liu Wenyu added, "the results will be even more effective."
"So, Fellow Daoist Xu," he asked, a knowing look in his eye, "does your Heaven Overturning Association happen to be in need of more Truth Inducing Fruits?"
(End of this chapter)
Comments