207: Infinite Fantasy

Midnight Gao Sou left his secluded Spirit Peak, concealed his aura, and used evil Cultivator methods to transform into a blood mist, quietly burrowing underground. He left the Great Jiang territory without anyone knowing and arrived in the Chu Kingdom.

Star Fiend Daoist explained, "Everyone knows you are the Sect Master of the Great Love Sect, and your sphere of influence is in Great Jiang. So if someone were to scheme against you, they would naturally act in Great Jiang.

"But you chose to go to the Chu Kingdom to Breakthrough. Who would have thought of that?"

Midnight Gao Sou also felt that what he said made sense and nodded repeatedly.

Finally, they stopped in a mountain range in the Chu Kingdom. In a hollow part of the valley was the chosen place for Star Fiend Daoist's secluded Breakthrough.

Midnight Gao Sou once again consumed spiritual resources, used Lifespan, set up various large Formations, and rebuilt the Dharma Altar.

Several more days passed, and Midnight Gao Sou finally completed all preparations.

"It must succeed!"

Midnight Gao Sou sat cross-legged on the Dharma Altar, cheering himself on.

At this moment, Star Fiend Daoist said, "I must first leave your body and possess the prepared Puppet, so as not to interfere with your Breakthrough."

Midnight Gao Sou nodded. This had been agreed upon in advance; having a soul body inside would indeed interfere with Golden Core Breakthrough.

He had long prepared a wooden Puppet for Star Fiend Daoist, placing it to the side.

Accompanied by a gust of Cold Wind, the wooden Puppet slowly stood up. It had no eyes or mouth, but Star Fiend Daoist could transmit his voice directly:

"Don't worry, I will guard the Dao for you from the side."

Midnight Gao Sou nodded solemnly, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.

The surrounding Formation also began to rotate, and the laid-out Spirit Stones were gradually drawn in, transforming into Spiritual Qi, continuously pouring into Midnight Gao Sou's body.

That Great Medicinal Pill hung before Midnight Gao Sou's mouth, ready to be swallowed at the critical moment, then continuously refined to assist the Breakthrough.

According to Star Fiend Daoist's estimation, Midnight Gao Sou would likely need to put in decades of effort to Breakthrough to Golden Core. Even with accelerated Lifespan, it would still take several days.

Therefore, before this, Midnight Gao Sou had already handed over Sect affairs to Jiang Yezi and others, focusing solely on the Breakthrough.

At this moment, Star Fiend Daoist saw Midnight Gao Sou completely immersed in the Breakthrough, immediately manipulated the wooden Puppet, left the Dharma Altar in a few moves, and then, through a pre-left loophole, directly drilled out of the Formation, disappearing in a flash...

On the first day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

Midnight Gao Sou fully circulated his Cultivation Technique, lifting his Immortal Foundation upwards, continuously breaking through several checkpoints, from the Qi acupoint all the way through Juque, Zhongting, Yutang, Xuanji to Dangyang.

During this period, his Immortal Foundation lost control several times, almost causing his cultivation to dissipate. Fortunately, the Medicinal Pill's fragrance surged in, assisting him in completing the lift...

On the second day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

After the Immortal Foundation was lifted, he fell into an infinite illusion.

In this stage, some call it an infinite illusion, some call it an endless Huan Meng, some call it myriad confusions, and there is also a more classical saying that it is the Veil of Ignorance. There are many sayings and many names.

This trial tests the Heart.

Cultivators need to find the distinction between reality and illusion from various falsehoods, find their way out, and break free from it.

Midnight Gao Sou was stuck for ten years, unable to Breakthrough...

On the third day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

Midnight Gao Sou was still stuck in the Veil of Ignorance, unable to Breakthrough...

On the fourth day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

The Medicinal Pill had already integrated into his body, continuously refining. Its medicinal properties began to stimulate, supporting Midnight Gao Sou to continue his Breakthrough.

However, Midnight Gao Sou was still stuck in the Veil of Ignorance, unable to Breakthrough...

On the fifth day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

Midnight Gao Sou was still unable to Breakthrough...

On the sixth day of Breakthrough, ten years of Lifespan were consumed.

Midnight Gao Sou gained nothing...

The seventh day.

Midnight Gao Sou exited the VR cabin and stood up in reality.

His face was full of helplessness.

He touched his face, then reached out to find the nearby table and chair. After slowly sitting down, he took out his phone, wanting to send a message, but he couldn't type a single word.

These past few days, he had been tormented almost to madness.

For a better Breakthrough, Midnight Gao Sou used a method from hardcore players on the forum: consuming Lifespan day by day, not exhausting it all at once, trying to use each Lifespan acceleration at the best possible moment.

This meant that Midnight Gao Sou needed to stay in the game for a long time, continuously making Breakthroughs, almost similar to native Cultivators, just with time compressed.

It was fine when lifting the Immortal Foundation, but once he fell into the infinite illusion, the torment began.

He successfully completed the Breakthrough, emerging as a Golden Core, returning to the Great Love Sect, shocking all players.

The Sect Masters, Elders, and even the reclusive Grand Elders of the Three Great Sects all came to congratulate him, presenting him with grand gifts.

Feeling triumphant, with no one daring to defy him, Midnight Gao Sou, in an invincible posture, led the Great Love Sect into the Great Jiang Imperial City, found the Empress's secluded Immortal Cave, and directly broke through, taking the Empress's head.

Just as he was laughing heartily, ordering the Great Love Sect to relocate to the Imperial City and prepare for great deeds.

He suddenly thought, he knew to leave a decoy when Breakthrough to Golden Core, hiding in a secluded place to quietly Breakthrough.

How could the Empress possibly stay openly in the Imperial City?

With that thought, all the surrounding scenes plunged into darkness.

Subsequently, he successfully Breakthrough again... an infinite loop, an infinite Reincarnation, until he noticed the anomaly, realized something was wrong, and then could wake up from the Huan Meng.

The most terrifying time, Midnight Gao Sou even left the VR cabin in his dream, accepting the adoration of the crowd in the real world, buying a big house, the latest luxury car, having a beautiful wife, and even hiring many servants.

That time he really couldn't wake up, because it was no longer "find what's wrong and you can wake up" but "voluntarily disengage, recognizing it as an illusion to wake up."

The difficulty instantly increased by more than an order of magnitude.

Finally, when the VR cabin's maintenance time arrived, Midnight Gao Sou finally escaped from the Huan Meng and returned to reality.

He gazed at the VR cabin, his hands trembling slightly, he didn't even know if this was reality.

"Although the VR cabin can be used 24/7, it requires maintenance, and during maintenance, it will force me to exit the game, and this... is our players' biggest Golden Finger for Breakthrough to Golden Core.

"This must be reality... it must be..."

Midnight Gao Sou murmured...

In the Xuanhuan World.

Sect Leader Xiang Qing of Void Severing Cave sat cross-legged in a mountain range, quietly meditating.

Behind him was a layered Formation, with a Dharma Altar inside. A gaunt evil Cultivator was undergoing Breakthrough, the Medicinal Pill's medicinal properties blooming, blood mist permeating, and the Spirit Stones paving the ground were individually transforming into Spiritual Qi, pouring into the evil Cultivator's body.

However, both the medicinal power and the Spiritual Qi were becoming increasingly faint, clearly unable to sustain for too long.

Once all these preparations were exhausted, only the Cultivator's own foundation and the meager Spiritual Qi provided by the Spirit Gathering Array would remain. That was too faint, making it impossible for the Cultivator to complete the Breakthrough.

"Old Ancestor, you miscalculated."

Xiang Qing looked at the empty space in front of him, saying coldly, "This Sect Master of the Great Love Sect simply cannot break through the Veil of Ignorance, cannot break through the confusion. If I haven't guessed wrong, he doesn't even know what he truly desires, his Dao Heart is in complete disarray, and even the confusion is chaotic, leaving only disordered Reincarnation, even making him misunderstand the infinite illusion, thinking that the hardest part of this stage is distinguishing between reality and illusion.

"He is bound to fail."