Chapter 207 Recruiting Ling San

Chapter 207 Recruiting Ling San

<nullb>Recruiting Ling San

Ling San's mind froze at the sight of Xue Bai's phantasm. Instantly, dozens of questions popped into his head as he tried to rationalize the situation.

'Why does Xue Bai have this power, too? I can sense that his strength is stronger than mine. Maybe he can sense weaker ones? But even if he could, how could he know about the dream I had? It was the ghostly emperor who bestowed that opportunity on me. Why does Xue Bai know about it? Unless...'

Dozens of questions flew through his mind, but after what seemed like an eternity of inner ramblings, Ling San reached a plausible conclusion that sent shivers down his spine.

"Was it the Young Duke who let me into that dream world?" Ling San cautiously asked as he tried to probe Xue Bai's intention.

However, Xue Bai's smile stayed the same in response to his question. It was just wide enough to be polite but not wide enough to be happy. It was a weird equilibrium, but Xue Bai played it well enough that Ling San wasn't too scared but just tense.

Eventually, though, Xue Bai spoke up and quenched the man's fears.

"While I wasn't the one who let you into the dream world, I was the one who ordered it. However, my partner, who did create the secret realm, is rather elusive, so you might not be able to see him anytime soon. Therefore, if you'd like to think that I'm your benefactor, you can." Xue Bai explained, half-mentioning Mirage in his words.

Mirage was a weird enigma that even Xue Bai couldn't wrap his head around sometimes. If not for Xue Bai, it wasn't likely that Mirage would have even given Ling San a second look, let alone given him a push into the Dao of Illusion.

Sure, it didn't cost anything for Mirage to help Ling San, but it didn't cost Mirage anything to do nothing. Why should he, a being that was worshiped by entire universes, help a small, shy boy in a mortal world?

However, even then, Mirage only helped Ling San make Xue Bai's path a bit more interesting. There was no goodwill in his actions yet, nor were there any malicious thoughts. It was just something he casually did for fun.

He thought of it as a simple act of charity—nothing more, nothing less.

Because of this, Mirage probably wouldn't go out and see Ling San, at least not on purpose. The only likely reason that Ling San would be able to see Mirage was when Mirage took a casual physical form.

The treasure spirit liked to take various forms and view the world every once in a while.

"Ling San, thanks the Young Duke!" Ling San suddenly stood up and, surprisingly, directly kowtowed toward Xue Bai, stunning the boy out of his socks.

Not expecting this course of action but also without a means to stop it, Xue Bai was soon left dumbfounded as he watched Ling San slam his forehead into the ground at a speed that left his forehead bloodied.

"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? There is no need for all of this ceremonial nonsense, is there?" Xue Bai was brought back to reality and quickly moved to help Ling San. But to his further surprise, the young man didn't move an inch, even with Xue Bai trying to help him up.

Xue Bai still needed a dragon-type natural treasure before he could start cultivating the Celestial Dragon Transformation Scripture, which meant that his physical body wasn't that much stronger than a normal cultivator.

He did gain a lot of benefits from cultivating the Purification Stages, but those were more to set a firm and stable foundation than to increase his strength explosively.

Also, Ling San was in the Qi Sea realm, the realm above the 5 physical realms, which meant that he had long completed his body-strengthening training and had moved on to the Spiritual Qi portion of the Houtian Great Realm.

Even if Ling San was just an average talent, his physical body was still stronger than Xue Bai's. So, coupled with his resistance, Xue Bai wasn't able to move the man and could only wait for Ling San to stand up himself.

"No! Young Duke, you don't understand how strongly I desire strength! Even if this meant nothing to you, it means everything to me!" Ling San shouted as he slammed his forehead into the ground once more. This time, it was even harder, to the point where even some of the Kun Empire students nearby couldn't help but look over in confusion.

He didn't fear them per se, but Xue Bai was relatively thin-skinned to begin with, so he couldn't help but feel awkward when faced Xue Bai now felt two conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he felt admiration for Ling San because of his words, but he also felt some embarrassment coming along on the other. The gazes he was receiving from the rest of the students inside the secret realm were still sharp and carried pounds of underlying meaning.

He didn't fear them per se, but Xue Bai was relatively thin-skinned to begin with, so he couldn't help but feel awkward when faced with so many gazes.

"Ling San, I understand how you feel, but you're killing me here. Look at all the gazes I'm getting now. You can thank me at a different time. Just stand up for now." Xue Bai cried.

Ling San, thankfully, also sensed the inquisitive looks and relented. Standing up from his position, he quickly started to rub away the blood that was now on his forehead.

"Ling San, if you don't mind me asking, why were you so thankful? You don't seem to be the type to want strength that badly. While it isn't the peak of the Baishen Plane, your life is pretty good." Xue Bai asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You have a roof over your head, a peaceful place to cultivate, and even a loving family to come home to. Most cultivators can't say the same."

Of all the many factors that a cultivator needed to ascend to the peak, in Xue Bai's opinion, behind talent, will was the most important. Even if you had a heavenly talent in the Immortal World, if you had no will to cultivate it, your talent wouldn't even be worth a fart.

The Children of the Plane in the Baishen Plane were all heavenly talents, yes, but they all had an ever-dying will to reach the peak of the cultivation world. From Xiao Mo's eternal hedonism to Huo Long's desire to avenge his master, all of them wanted to reach the peak for some reason or another.

Xue Bai also had one. When he first 'transmigrated' to the Baishen Plane, Xue Bai wanted to find his birth parents and do his filial piety to them, but after finding out what kind of existence he was, it switched. Now, he wanted to find out the secret surrounding his existence and avenge his previous lives.

However, Ling San didn't have anything like that—no blood feud, no broken engagement, nothing. He just had a missing father. Moreover, with how detailed Ling San's dream was, Xue Bai knew that this missing father wasn't the type of missing parent often seen in cultivation novels.

His father was just a deadbeat and abandoned his wife after impregnating her.

Yet, now, for some reason, Ling San looked to have an even stronger drive to get stronger than even he did. It was weird, and Xue Bai was curious.

Sadly, once Xue Bai asked the question, Ling San put on a struggling expression. As if he wanted to tell Xue Bai the answer but knew deep down he couldn't.

Seeing that, Xue Bai didn't push further but instead backtracked to the phantasm.

"Ling San, what do you know about laws?"

"Um, laws? They are the rules of heaven and earth, the binding truths that build and hold our world together. However, as long as a cultivator has a strong enough connection to the heavens and earth and talent, they can comprehend these laws and, by using them as a medium, manipulate reality." Ling San replied, giving a robotic answer that he had most likely read in a book somewhere.

Xue Bai didn't point this out, though. Ling San had yet to even reach the Dharma Idol realm. For the boy to have his own opinion of the laws of the universe was just cruel.

"Then what do you know about the realm of comprehension above laws?" Xue Bai said, following up on his first question.

It was here that Ling San was stumped.

Even his previous answer was something he had only read in a textbook a few months ago, not his own words. It was obvious he didn't know what he was talking about. He only said the first answer to not look dumb. Now that he was hit with an even harder question, he froze.

But his confusion was only normal. Daos were something that even some Xiantian Great Realm experts knew nothing about. How could a Qi Sea realm pup like Ling San know about it?

Hence, when Xue Bai saw that Ling San knew nothing, his expression didn't change, and he instead started to lecture the man about it.

"Above laws are something called 'The Dao' or 'The Way.' The daos are boundless and encompass every facet of our reality. From the blades of grass, we step on in our everyday lives to the stars above our Baishen Plane, they are all creations of the dao." Xue Bai said reverently. But once he finished these words, he paused.

Ling San was enraptured as well by Xue Bai's words and thought that his words stopped for dramatic effect, but he soon realized otherwise.

"I don't wish to say anything more. I'm rather ignorant about it and don't wish to be smitten down by some heavenly god above." Xue Bai said awkwardly, making a black line appear on Ling San's forehead.

"However, while I am ignorant of the daos as a whole, there are two that I am more than proficient in and one that you are proficient in as well."

"The Dao of Illusion!"

—

As Xue Bai gave Ling San a crash course on daos and the Dao of Illusion, Lin Fu and Feng Hui's plan was slowly coming to fruition.

Just a few minutes after Ling San awakened, the first person after Xue Bai, Ji Ruxi, and Lin Fu completed the Illusory Garden Formation's rune.

This person, no surprise, was the lead noble who led the group of Kun Empire students in making fun of Ji Ruxi earlier. Despite being an arrogant brat worthy of a beatdown, he had some talent.

Of course, it was nothing compared to the two monsters and Lin Fu, but it was enough for now. Coupled with Lin Fu's further assistance, it was no wonder he was the first to finish the Illusory Garden Formation's rune.

Following the lead noble, four more nobles of the Kun Empire quickly finished their runes, bringing the total number of trial completers to 8. Now, only two more people were able to complete the rune before the ghostly emperor would end this trial.

Xue Bai also saw the Kun Empire group's rapid rate of completion and finally decided to stop his mini-lecture.

"Ling San, you should complete the Illusory Garden Formation's rune now. We can talk about your phantasm at a different time." Xue Bai said as he stepped back from Ling San, giving the man some room.

"Young Duke, even if you say that, how can I complete that rune? Just looking at it previously gave me migraines." Ling San said with a wry smile.

However, Xue Bai didn't say much this time but simply shook his head.

"Just try it one more time. I, Xue Bai, am not someone who would lie to his own men."

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