God Weird Fairy

Chapter 444 The Renaissance
Dui Dynasty, High Heaven Territory, City of Glowing Clouds.

After leaving the capital with the Pulse Tower group, Dong Lingtian traveled by boat along the Grand Canal to the northwest. After making some careful arrangements, he secretly crossed the Dui Dynasty's Gaotian Territory from Fang County and headed straight for Xiahui City.

There were hardly any people along the way.

People gather only in towns and cities.

This is not because the western border is sparsely populated, but because the people of the western border do not engage in labor and rely on welfare and relief for survival, so they all live in towns and cities.

Of the four great dynasties, only the Li Dynasty separated immortals and mortals, allowing its people to live in peace and prosperity, and possessing the most dynastic grandeur.

The Northern Kan Dynasty governs the country through merit and virtue. Each state is like the Brahma Kingdom, and the entire population is enthusiastic about the circulation of merit and the rise and fall of Zen insights.

In the Western Dui Dynasty, the people are treated like shepherds, with Illusion Alliance cultivators handling production and providing comprehensive welfare and relief to directly support the people. This ensures that the people under its rule have almost no worries about the future and can simply enjoy the Illusion Realm.

The so-called Illusionary Realm is actually a illusory spiritual realm.

The various fantasy alliances weave together the ethereal realm, unfold stories, and form a virtual world, known as the Fantasy Realm.

Then, through specific magical artifacts, the consciousness of the people is guided into the illusory world, called "travelers," to play and roam freely.

Of course, from Nan Yi's perspective, this illusory world and the traveler can also be called a game and a player.

In short, the people of the Western Region do not engage in labor; they are supported by monks and roam freely in the Illusionary Realm to provide them with spiritual power.

Therefore, ordinary people are rarely seen walking around in the world.

All of the traveler's social interactions occur within the realm of illusion.

Various fantasy realms will also organize various activities to compete for the traveler's free time to explore.

However, a fantasy world that cannot continuously bring a sense of novelty will eventually bore and tire travelers over time, and organizing events cannot necessarily stop the decline.

Furthermore, if the Lord of the Illusionary Realm were to perish, it would also cause the collapse of his Illusionary Realm.

Therefore, every now and then, a batch of old fantasy worlds either close down or collapse. At the same time, new fantasy worlds are constantly emerging, for travelers to choose from and explore.

Originally, Yellow-rank cultivators could only apply to weave miniature illusionary realms, relying on one mini-game after another to slowly accumulate their cultivation.

Five years ago, however, the major Illusion Alliances jointly issued an order to optimize and shut down a large number of dilapidated Illusion Realms that were barely surviving, freeing up a large amount of Void Spirit Realm resources for lower cultivators to weave Illusion Realms, and allowing outstanding individuals to apply for the weaving of small or even medium-sized Illusion Realms, thereby rapidly improving their cultivation level.

This initiative, dubbed the "Renaissance," caused a complete uproar in the Western Regions' cultivation world. Countless cultivators racked their brains to weave illusionary realms, resulting in a flourishing of diverse ideas and a vibrant exchange of perspectives.

Dong Lingtian rushed to the Western Border precisely because he had his eye on the policy benefits brought by the "Renaissance" and wanted to take the opportunity to improve his own path.

The Red Chamber inheritance he received originally came from the Western Region, and was left by the former master of a small illusionary realm called "Red Chamber" who was affiliated with the Blissful Illusion Alliance.

With just a little disguise, one can impersonate a high-grade Yellow Rank Spirit Warrior from the Western Realm Illusion Alliance, and will not be easily recognized as a Transcendent cultivator from the Southern Continent Immortal Sect.

However, Dong Lingtian did not want to completely follow the old path of the Lord of the Red Chamber. He wanted to develop his own path and improve it, which is why he had been staying in the capital and had not set foot in the western region.

With Nan Yi's help, Dong Lingtian not only obtained the remaining half of the Dream of the Red Chamber inheritance, but also maintained his own identity, remaining untainted by the spiritual pollution left behind by the master of the Dream of the Red Chamber.

He came to the Western Regions seeking an opportunity to further advance his career.

The illusionary world that Dong Lingtian intentionally created is based on the battlefields of the three kingdoms of Kan, Li, and Zhen created by "The Legend of the Twin Dragons of Da Li", where the wanderer plays the role of a martial artist and conducts special operations behind enemy lines.

—This fantasy world's theme is quite different from the mainstream fantasy worlds in the Western Realm.

However, in the current climate of the "Renaissance," without unique and surprising elements, blindly following the mainstream and conventional fantasy world will only lead to mediocrity and an inability to stand out.

Therefore, Dong Lingtian ultimately sought authorization from Nan Yi to finalize this plan as an experiment. Incidentally, it was also an attempt to promote the True Qi Martial Arts for Nan Yi.

In the Western Region, there are eleven Illusion Alliances: the Death Eater Alliance, the Ferryman Alliance, the Elf Alliance, the Bliss Alliance, the Pure Land Alliance, the Hengsha Alliance, the God Destroyer Alliance, the Angel Alliance, the Original Dao Alliance, the Absolute Heaven Alliance, and the Spirit Martial Alliance.

Different alliances have different tendencies in how they weave their own fantasy worlds.

For example, the God-Slaying Alliance is the "Seventh Month Martial Arts Master," which is a lineage under the Moon Lord of the Myriad Tribulations Immortal Battle Palace. The illusionary worlds woven by the cultivators within it are mostly related to war.

However, in other illusory realms, the focus is mostly on commanding battles, rather than allowing mortal travelers to personally participate in combat.

However, the illusionary realms woven by other illusionary alliances do not involve elements of war at all.

Having no other choice, Dong Lingtian finally decided to take Gaotian Territory, which was under the jurisdiction of the God-Slaying Alliance, and disguised himself as a spiritualist to apply to Ian, the lord of Xiahui City, to create an illusionary realm that incorporates elements of true qi martial arts and focuses on special operations behind enemy lines.

…………

Dongyuan was the burial place of Emperor Xuanzong of Yuan.

Outer Elder Xiao Bao, with a gloomy expression, used his divine sense to connect with the Nether Spider Web and initiate communication with Zhao Changsui.

This time, the Spiderweb finally stopped popping up requests asking whether to upgrade cross-border communication.

Clearly, Zhao Changsui has left the spiritual realm and returned to the real world.

The communication connection was successful. Xiao Bao spoke in a cold voice: "Junior Nephew Zhao, should I congratulate you on successfully conquering a spiritual realm and making progress in your cultivation?"

Zhao Changsui replied gently, "Elder, you flatter me. My meager cultivation is nothing compared to yours."

Xiao Bao snorted: "Indeed, it's nothing to mention. He just shirked his responsibilities and deliberately stayed in the Spirit Realm to avoid his duties, causing his fellow disciple to act alone and die a miserable death."

Zhao Changsui hurriedly said, "Elder, you are mistaken! This disciple cannot control the appearance of the spiritual realm and was accidentally trapped in it. How can you say it was intentional? Furthermore, this disciple was trapped in the spiritual realm without receiving any assignment. How can you say it was shirking responsibility?"

"It is indeed a pity that Junior Brother Cao Sheng suffered such a calamity. But victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, so why should the elder take his anger out on me?"

"Quick-witted, truly clever." Xiao Bao scoffed upon hearing this. "Cao Sheng's death is a minor matter, but not only did he fail to assassinate Cheng Nanyi, he also lost the Xuan-rank artifact he lent him, which is no small matter."

"Sigh..." Zhao Changsui sighed deliberately, trying to change the subject so that Xiao Bao wouldn't find a reason to force him to take on the task of assassinating Nan Yi.

But Xiao Bao kept talking and said to himself, "You have lived in the Southern Continent for a long time and have been corrupted by the atmosphere of the Li Dynasty. You have lost your sharpness and only know how to protect yourselves. I can understand that."

"However, the lost Xuan-rank artifact, called the 'Burial Treasure Blade,' was only temporarily borrowed by your master. If the mission is completed, even if the artifact is lost, it can be purchased with funds; but if the mission is not completed, funds cannot be used to fill this gap."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Changsui's eyes widened in anger: This Xiao fellow is a habitual embezzler; he is clearly deliberately trying to advance the "Burial Treasure Knife" to Cao Sheng! If it succeeds, everything will be fine; if it fails, he will find excuses to cut the funds, just like now.

The key issue is that the withheld funds came from Master Zhao Changsui, which he cannot ignore. He must find a way to clean up the mess and recover the funds.

At this moment, Xiao Bao was still speaking righteously: "Now, the Kan Dynasty in the north has started the steam revolution; the Dui Dynasty in the west is promoting the Renaissance; and the Li Dynasty in the south has launched the True Qi Movement." "Only in our Dazhen, there are no orders for reform above and no patriots to serve the country below. How sad and lamentable!"

Zhao Changsui took a deep breath, suppressing his indignation, and said in a deep voice, "Elder, there's no need to say more. Just tell me how this disciple can remedy the current situation and assign me a task."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Bao's cold face softened, and he said gently, "It's fine. If Nan Yi is not eliminated, he will become a great threat. Once he goes north to Kan Dynasty, as long as you can find a way to get rid of him and prevent this kid from being officially appointed as the Grand Preceptor of Dali, your mission will be accomplished."

Zhao Changsui reluctantly agreed: "This disciple obeys the order and will do his best to try."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(End of this chapter)