Chapter 787: The Growing Power of the Immortal Ruins
Boom!
The words landed with immense impact on Chen Tianhai—or perhaps more accurately, on all the members of the Taiyan Sect within the Transformation Dao Stone Mother.
In an instant, every blue phantom in the floating city froze, halting their tasks to turn in unison toward Xu Bai.
It was as if the entire city had fallen into absolute stillness, the only movement being the subtle swirling of that deep, profound blue.
A moment later.
Chen Tianhai stomped his foot lightly once more.
The walls of the space turned opaque, cutting off the view from the outside.
Chen Tianhai himself reverted to the appearance of an ordinary cultivator.
Chen Tianhai's tone grew heavy. "In fact, as one of the few existences capable of threatening us..."
"We have run multiple deductions regarding the potential situation inside the Immortal Ruins."
"But for one, we have too little information. And for another..."
"Every attempt to probe the Immortal Ruins has failed. Nothing ever returns. Consequently, we've been unable to verify the reliability of our deductions."
Chen Tianhai explained, his gaze fixed on Xu Bai.
Xu Bai smiled. "But you have no more Transformation Dao Stones. What do you possibly have to trade with me?"
"Do I look like the kind of person who would benevolently hand over benefits for free?"
Chen Tianhai studied Xu Bai up and down with a serious expression before nodding. "Judging by your appearance, you are correct."
"However, we do not pin our hopes on others."
"I believe I have something that will interest you."
Chen Tianhai raised his left hand and thrust it straight into his own head.
Fortunately, there was no gruesome scene of brains and blood. The moment his hand touched his head, it dissolved into a phantom-like image.
Simultaneously, Chen Tianhai's head seemed to fracture into countless tiny, flashing blue squares.
The sight was utterly bizarre.
After fumbling for a moment, Chen Tianhai finally withdrew his hand.
He opened his palm, presenting its contents to Xu Bai and Fang Zaiji.
"What is this?" Xu Bai narrowed his eyes slightly.
A miniature version of the floating city hovered silently in his hand.
Unlike the Transformation Dao Stone Mother, it was not a deep blue.
Instead, it was like glass—brilliant, crystalline, and fragile.
"A one-time copy of the Transformation Dao Stone Mother," Chen Tianhai explained, his voice devoid of emotion. "It was inspired by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's Heavenly Profound Mirror—a relatively independent entity, yet it possesses some of the Stone Mother's abilities."
"What does it do?" Fang Zaiji's eyes lit up, and he immediately reached out to grab the miniature floating city.
But his hand closed on empty air.
Both Chen Tianhai and the Stone Mother copy had instantly become intangible, impossible to touch.
Fang Zaiji pursed his lips in annoyance.
"The Stone Mother copy contains all the information of the original, as well as enough energy to power a single [Simulation]."
"Through this simulation, you can experience the future as deduced by the Transformation Dao Stone Mother." As if to punctuate his words, the Stone Mother copy in his hand suddenly erupted in a blinding flash of light.
Within the white light, countless scenes seemed to flash by in rapid succession.
"Simulation? Is it reliable?" Fang Zaiji, clearly hearing of such a thing for the first time, looked skeptical.
Xu Bai, however, stared intently at the Stone Mother copy, lost in thought.
The brightness of the white light gradually faded, and the rapidly shifting scenes within it slowly came to a halt.
"Huh? Why are the Sect Master and I in there?" Fang Zaiji asked, surprised by the anomaly he had just noticed.
"According to the results of this simulation, you will agree to our trade." Chen Tianhai crushed the Stone Mother copy in his hand, and a moment later, just as he had said...
...scenes of Xu Bai making the trade with them materialized in the air.
Although a closer look revealed that some of the details were still different from reality...
...witnessing one's own "future" with one's own eyes was still a rather unsettling experience.
"That's a bit overconfident. Sect Master, let's not be fooled by him," Fang Zaiji said, sounding rather annoyed.
Xu Bai glanced coolly at Fang Zaiji. "Mr. Fang, are you trying to use reverse psychology on the wrong person? I think you're the one who's dying to get your hands on this thing."
His hidden intentions exposed, Fang Zaiji gave an awkward laugh.
"However..." Xu Bai stared at the looping scenes before him.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "When the Heavenly Profound sub-mirror enters a cultivator's body, the main Heavenly Profound Mirror sees every one of their secrets."
"This Stone Mother copy of yours... it doesn't do the same thing, does it?"
Chen Tianhai smiled. "That depends on you."
"The closer the data is to reality, the more accurate the simulation's results. We have lived in seclusion here in the Taixuan Grotto-Heaven for thousands of years. Although we periodically correct the Transformation Dao Stone Mother's deductions, we can only achieve superficial consistency."
"The Xuanhuang Realm holds countless secrets. I doubt even the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate would dare claim to be [omniscient]."
"The Stone Mother copy doesn't have the same all-seeing ability as the Heavenly Profound sub-mirror. Instead, it requires the user to supplement it with their own data. If you wish to intentionally hide something, you may. However, the resulting deduction may deviate accordingly," Chen Tianhai stated with a candid expression.
"That's what the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance said back then, too. That the Heavenly Profound sub-mirror could be treated as a separate entity, not linked to the main Heavenly Profound Mirror, and that all cultivators could use it without worry."
"And what happened later...?" Fang Zaiji scoffed.
"The Taiyan Sect is different." Chen Tianhai's expression suddenly turned grave. "Here, falsehoods are absolutely forbidden."
"The world within the Stone Mother is built upon truthful deductions. Any false information could cause the collapse of subsequent simulated worlds," Chen Tianhai explained briefly.
"You may not believe it, but that doesn't change the fact that it is the truth."
Hearing this, Fang Zaiji looked suspicious, but Xu Bai simply nodded and said, "I believe you."
"Then let's make the trade."
Such decisiveness was far beyond what the other two had expected.
"Sect Master..." Fang Zaiji started to speak but trailed off.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Chen Tianhai quickly pulled another Stone Mother copy from his head.
Xu Bai, as if he had been ready all along, took a projection stone from his storage ring.
In an instant, the trade was complete.
Chen Tianhai immediately played the image recorded in the projection stone: the Medicine King Cauldron flying out of the Xuanhuang Realm and being drawn toward the Immortal Ruins.
He played it three times.
The light and shadow then vanished, and a solemn expression fell over Chen Tianhai's face. "It seems you were right."
"Assuming the data you provided is real."
"Then the pull of the Immortal Ruins has indeed been growing stronger over the years."
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