Chapter 56: The Mysterious Mirage Sea

  "What?" The crowd around them burst into an uproar. If Xiao Chen's previous words had driven them crazy, then his current words were like a thunderbolt that left them stunned and bewildered. This bastard, did he know what he was saying?

  Is there actually someone who doesn't yearn for immense power? Is this kid an idiot or a fool?

  Fortunately, in the face of Xiao Chen's words, there was only one person who could remain calm. Guoshi Huang Fu Yan looked at Xiao Chen calmly, having lived for so long and seen countless people. But such a strange little guy, he had never met before. "Don't want to gain powerful strength? Xiao Chen, I know you don't like fighting with others, you like living a peaceful life. But the problem is, just because you think this way, it doesn't mean others will too. What if someone who likes to fight comes looking for you?"

  "Then I'll just take a step back!" Xiao Chen shrugged indifferently. As the saying goes, endure for a moment and the wind and waves will calm down, take a step back and the sea and sky will be vast.

  "If there's no room for retreat, what about yielding?" Having gone through countless storms, Huangfu Yan didn't give Xiao Chen a chance to catch his breath. He had long expected this response. But do you know that your answer is too naive, too childish?

  "This... shouldn't be, right?" Xiao Chen's smile faded away, his eyes wide open.

  "It's impossible, you're not a tapeworm in someone else's belly, how would you know it's impossible?" Huang Fu Yan sneered coldly. "Xiao Chen, I'm asking you, if your loved ones, your friends were to get into trouble, into danger, what would you do?"

  "Of course I will use my own strength to help him." Xiao Chen said without hesitation.

  "Help him? Without great power, what can you use to help him?"

  "This..."

  "Xiao Chen, don't you think your understanding of power has deviated? Great power can be used to bully people and do bad things. But it can also be used to help people and do good deeds. As the saying goes, 'good and evil are just a thought apart', power itself is neutral, the key lies in what you use this power for!"

  "I..."

  "Xiao Chen, let me tell you something more." Huang Fu Yan sighed and said with a heavy heart, "You should also know that there are too many injustices in this world, too many unfair things. Don't you want to change them?"

  "I can advise them, tell them, and make them realize their mistakes and correct them." Xiao Chen's voice became barely audible because he himself felt that his own confidence was insufficient.

  "Do you think anyone will listen to you?" Huang Fu Yan sneered, "Xiao Chen, you still don't understand. In this world, the weak have no right to speak and not even dignity. Those who are inferior in status will always be ignored, while those with great power will only inspire awe!"

  Xiao Chen was completely speechless. The national teacher of the Great Yan Kingdom, Huangfu Yan's vision was indeed not comparable to that of a young whippersnapper like Xiao Chen.

  "Xiao Chen brothers, stop being stubborn and accept the kindness of Guoshi now." On the side, Ding Heng couldn't bear to watch anymore and advised. The Xiao Chen brothers were kind, humble and courteous, with no flaws to be found. But how could they be so muddle-headed in their dealings? Don't you understand that once you accept Guoshi's kindness, it means you'll have a master-disciple relationship with him too. In the future, if people from Huayang Sect want to harm you, they'll have to consider this relationship and weigh their actions carefully.

  "Xiao Chen, just agree already!" At this time, Liu Lan was even more anxious than Ding Heng. Xiao Chen, why are you so muddled!

  The three siblings of the Huangpu family didn't say a word. But the expression in their eyes was extremely strange. The information revealed in Huangpu Yanran's eyes was hilarious, extremely hilarious. And in the eyes of Huangpu Jun and Huangpu Jie, it fully expressed what it means to mock someone.

  "National Master, I'm being presumptuous to ask you a question. If one's strength increases, can they recover some forgotten memories?" Xiao Chen suddenly asked this question.

  "Reclaiming forgotten memories? Xiao Chen, could it be that you've lost your memory?"

  "Hmm." Xiao Chen nodded heavily. He really wanted to figure out who he was, why he had come to this place, and what he had come here to do.

  "Xiao Chen, whether the improvement of your strength can help you regain your lost memories, to be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But one thing is certain, if your strength doesn't improve, then recovering your lost memories is absolutely impossible." Huang Yu Yan said calmly.

  "I understand, then I'll have to trouble you, Imperial Teacher." Xiao Chen nodded, no matter what, even a one in ten thousand chance was better than having no hope at all. Seeing Xiao Chen's reaction, Huang Fu Yan smiled with satisfaction, and a faint, milky white light suddenly burst out from between his eyebrows, shooting straight into Xiao Chen's brain.

  "What's going on here?" Xiao Chen was shocked by the strange occurrence. After a careful examination, Xiao Chen finally let out a sigh of relief, fortunately, nothing had happened to him.

  But what happened next made Xiao Chen's relaxed heart tighten again. "Xiao Chen, I'll help you awaken the Fantasy Sea right now." Xiao Chen heard Huangfu Yan's extremely gentle voice in his mind.

  Although the voice was as calm as ever, Xiao Chen had a chilling feeling. The voice wasn't scary, but its location couldn't help but make people feel frightened - it was actually in... his own mind.

  It was clear that Huang Fu Yan also sensed Xiao Chen's fear, he smiled, "Xiao Chen, why I appeared here, one sentence, two sentences can't be explained clearly. What I want to say is, I have no malice towards you at all, please believe me."

  "I believe." Xiao Chen nodded heavily. He didn't know why he said that, but just felt that Huang Fu Yan's extremely gentle words gave him an extremely verbal sense of trust and security.

  Huang Pu Yan smiled, he knew it would be like this. "Xiao Chen, from now on just do as I say, don't think about anything, don't do anything, abandon everything, give up everything, and let your mind no longer be hindered by anything!"

  "Don't think about anything, don't do anything, abandon everything, give up everything, and let your thoughts no longer be hindered by anything?" Although Xiao Chen didn't know why the other person would say this, but somehow he had a feeling that if he did as the other person said, it would absolutely be right.

  Xiao Chen closed his eyes slowly, relaxed his nerves, and tried to let go of everything, forgetting everything. Countless fragments of memories flashed through Xiao Chen's mind and finally turned into nothingness. Xiao Chen did not feel any panic about this, his consciousness became clearer and clearer, and his body also became lighter and lighter.

  Xiao Chen felt as if he was flying, that kind of unbridled flight in the endless universe, carefree and unrestrained. He couldn't feel any fatigue, nor could he feel the passage of time. Xiao Chen had this feeling, perhaps a thousand years had passed in his flight, or perhaps it all happened in just one night. Which one was real? Xiao Chen really didn't know. But what did that matter? As long as he knew he loved this incredibly free and unbridled flying feeling, that was enough.

  But happy times are always interrupted. "Xiao Chen, wake up, the mysterious door has opened for you, a brand new world is beckoning to you!" Huang Yu's exceptionally gentle voice sounded in Xiao Chen's ears.

  Xiao Chen opened his eyes leisurely, and the calm smile at the corner of his mouth still lingered. But... Xiao Chen's smile froze in the next moment. Where was this? What on earth was going on here?

  Xiao Chen suddenly found himself in a strange and unfamiliar world, everything around him was white and hazy, giving people a sense of reality and illusion. Wait, why is the body of Gu Shi also so blurry? It doesn't give people a real sense of existence at all?

  "Xiao Chen, don't be puzzled, take a good look at yourself, and then look at your own feet." Huang Fu Yan still had a smile on his face. He understood that the first time someone entered this place, eight or nine out of ten would have the same surprise as Xiao Chen.

  Xiao Chen slowly withdrew his gaze. How could this be? Why was his own body so blurry, so lacking in presence? And why wasn't he collapsing onto the thick earth below, but instead suspended alone in mid-air? Wait, what's underfoot?

  Surging waves crash against the shore, thunderous sounds shaking the sky. Huge waves surge towards the heavens, a magnificent sight to behold. Isn't this clearly an enormous sea? A genuine ocean. But what are those countless sparkling beautiful dots in the azure blue ocean that resemble stars?

  "Xiao Chen, this is the Illusory Sea, to be precise, it's your Illusory Sea, a mysterious Illusory Sea hidden within you. These incredibly beautiful and radiant stars are the source of human power, the Star Souls. And these mist-like substances swirling around you are the seals on the Illusory Sea. Only by dispersing the mist can one break the seal, truly awaken the Illusory Sea,"

  "As soon as the Sea of Illusions awakens, you can extract these star souls and obtain great power."

  "But, old master, why is our body like this?"

  "Xiao Chen, to correct you a bit, this isn't actually our real bodies. This is your spiritual realm, and it's impossible for our physical bodies to enter here. To be precise, we're both currently appearing in the form of spiritual entities."

  "Spirit body?"

  "Yes, spiritual body, put simply, is a form of consciousness, and we can also call this form conscious body."

  "So that's how it is!" Although Xiao Chen still didn't quite understand at this point, at least the surprise in his heart was slowly dissipating.

  "Alright, Xiao Chen, now I'll help you dispel the mist in your Sea of Consciousness and thoroughly awaken it." Even though he appeared in Xiao Chen's Sea of Consciousness as a consciousness entity, Xiao Chen still sensed the enormous power hidden within him.

  A chill-inducing aura emanated from Huangfu Yan's body. Dispelling the misty illusion of the Forbidden Sea was a trivial matter for him, the human pinnacle strongman, Yao Shi Wu Sheng.

  But... but... just as Huang Fu Yan was about to take action, he suddenly stopped in his tracks for no reason. "Xiao Chen, do you recognize it?" Huang Fu Yan suddenly pointed at a white mist in front of him and said.

  "National Master, you also know that I am coming to this place for the first time. What on earth is that thing, how would I know?" Xiao Chen smiled wryly, without noticing at all the extremely solemn expression of Huang Fu Yan at this moment.

  "That's also true!" Huang Pu Yan sighed, "Alright, Xiao Chen, we should return to the real world too."

  "National Master, didn't you say you'd help me awaken the Illusory Sea?" Xiao Chen was stunned.

  "It's not needed, Xiao Chen. You actually don't need my help at all. As for the reason, I'm sorry, I can't say. But I dare to guarantee that you will understand sooner or later." Huang Fu Yan sighed, but his gaze still occasionally swept towards that strange white mist.

  "Oh. National Master, how do we return to the real world?" Xiao Chen nodded. Although he didn't know why the other person said that, he had one advantage - when others didn't want to talk about something, he wouldn't keep pestering them.

  "Abandon everything, put down everything, and truly achieve a heart as still as water, with no desires or demands!"