Chapter 2453 Grand Dream Realm

In a small remote settlement,

There were a decent number of humans living there, no more than 1000.

Wooden walls were erected along the permitter of the settlement.

The walls were thick, and tall, allowing for a person or two to patrol along the wall.

There were 4 Guard towers that were strategically positioned, such that they might allow the 4-man stationed on each tower to see 500 meters ahead, without the aid of Gu!

"Incoming Variants!" shouting could be heard from the North Guard Tower.

From atop the high walls, numerous soldiers shuffled to and fro.

People were fleeing away from the city square, in a panic.

But one youth was standing still amidst the chaos, a confused look on his face.

"Strange," the youth muttered to himself: "One minute I was immersed in the Derivation Formation of Heavenly Court…and the next thing I'm here?"

Of course, the youth was Ma Hong Yun!

He quickly analyzed the surroundings, "There is nothing but normal Humans roaming around, those people on the wall are only Rank 1 Gu Masters,"

Ma Hong Yun looked at his own aperture and gasped: "How did I regress to Rank 2?"

Before Ma Hong Yun's brain spun in worry he heard, "Nie Li!" [1]

Ma Hong Yun turned in the direction of the voice; an elderly man was seemingly calling out to him.

"Nie Li! Get over here!"

Ma Hong Yun was confused but an unseen force suddenly pulled him towards the old man,

"What's the matter with you? You're usually so headstrong and fearless I worried you would rush in."

"Is he talking to me?" Ma Hong Yun asked: "Elder I think you have the wrong person."

The old man looked at him angrily: "This is no time for jokes young man! I knew you were up to something,"

The old man began to chastise 'Nie Li', "Let me tell you something young man, you are the greatest talent our Nie Clan has ever seen but you won't go far if you go into things before you mature, leave things to the grownups and focus on growing stronger so that one day you will protect the future generations as well."

"This…" Ma Hong Yun wanted to rebuke but for some strange reasons he seemed to have a revelation: "Isn't this the core philosophy of Humanity?"

Ma Hong Yun fell into contemplation, which the Elder mistook for Nie Li submitting to circumstance, "Hiazz, this boy is a genius rarely seen amongst Humans, he will bear the torch for the next generation…we must safeguard our future!"

The old man and Ma Hong Yun soon reached a group of people,

"Stay here," the Elder commanded.

"Where are you going," Ma Hong Yun asked.

The Elder smiled, "Promise me something."

From the tone of the Elder's voice, it sounded serious, Ma Hong Yun nodded his head.

"Don't be obsessed with taking revenge and don't recklessly throw away your life either, live on so that the clan may live on so that humanity can live on." With that, the Elder began to take his leave.

Ma Hong Yun was still confused but he suddenly felt his consciousness feel drowsy,

"Elder Tong!" Nie Li screamed out, tears streaming down his eyes.

Ma Hong Yun was perplexed, his consciousness was now gazing down at the body he was occupying: "That's not my body nor will and I can't seem to interact with anything here which can only mean that this is…a Dream Realm!"

Indeed, Ma Hong Yun, like many others, was living through one of the many Dream Realms that was within the Grand Dream Realm. [2]

Ma Hong Yun watched intently as Elder Tong gave Nie Li a few instructions before leaving. As he turned to fly, "I leave the future generation in your hands."

Nie Li tried to rush forth and join Elder Tong, but a group of older boys held him back.

"Let me go!" Nie Li struggled hard, but more and more boys came to hold him back.

A scholarly boy walked out from the crowd of women and children, he walked up to Nie Li and slapped him across the face!

The slap sent Nie Li to the ground.

"Nie Li!" the boy who had slapped Nie Li shouted: "This is not our battle, Uncle Tong and every man above the age of 18 is out there fighting to give us a chance for survival. Don't waste their sacrifice"

The boy tried to seem strong, but he could not fight back the tears in his eyes, "I'm not strong like you, nor am I as talented in cultivation, but the Elders recognized my Wisdom and together we managed to make a settlement in newly reclaimed land."

"We knew life on the frontier would be hard, it's been 500 years since the passing of Star Constellation Immortal Venerable, the Variant Humans have grown cocky! We remained here because we knew that in our lifetime we would never amount to much, so we chose to lay down our lives to stall for the next generation, for the next Venerable."

"Our ancestors fought so hard to have this land, and we have to fight so that the other humans can be free one day as well…"

Nie Li got up from the ground…and punched the youth in the face!

"Nie Long I don't care about all that! How can I still be called a man if I let my family and friends die! What kind of man abandons his clan!" Nie Lie shouted at Nie Long.

Nie Long wiped the blood from his cheek, "Do you think your meagre Rank 2 Cultivation is any use? Huh?! Do you really think you can turn the tides of war right now? Do you think just because you possess the Great Strength True Martial Physique you can…"

Nie Li clenched his fists tight and punched the wall, causing the whole cave to shake, he knew Nie Long was right.

Nie Long did not stop:

"You want to be a man? Do you want to be the hero? Then bring the future of our Nie Tribe to safety, grow up to become the hero that can turn the tides of war." Nie Long spoke passionately and fiery.

"ARGH," Nie Li roared a passionate cry, it was filled with bitterness, sorrow, hatred and sadness.

Nie Li let everything out, he continuously punched the wall: "I know I know I KNOW!!"

*Boom* *Rumble*

"I know that it's my responsibility to lead our people to safety," a thunderous punch caused the entire cave to rumble.

He drew his fists back…

*Boom* *Rumble*

"I know that I'm our clan's only hope!" following his punch sediments began to fall from the roof of the cave.

And with one last punch…

*BOOM* *Krrk* *Crumble*

The entrance of the cave began collapsing, everyone ran towards the interior of the cave, except Nie Li.

He stared at the entrance as the rocks began to fall, closing the entrance bit by bit…

"I know all this…but why can't my heart know it?" Nie Li knelt at the entrance, his voice barely a whimper, the sound of water dripping onto the ground, echoed across the cave.

The Dream ended.

A warm feeling rolled down from Ma Hong Yun's cheeks.

Only once his tears dropped did he realise that he had cried and that the Dream was over.

But before Ma Hong Yun could wipe his tears, his vision blurred.

A bright white light filled his eyes, blinding him.

"Argh," Ma Hong Yun held his hand up to block the light, he recognized the familiar warmth: "Where did the sunlight come from?"

Soon his eyes adjusted and, he found himself standing outside a mountain cave, with a forest below.

"This…" Ma Hong Yun looked at his hands and feet, "I'm still in the dream? But I have Grandmaster Human Path attainment now!"

Indeed, Ma Hong Yun had cleared the first stage of the Dream, he was now in its second stage.

"What do I do now?" Ma Hong Yun scratched his head. He had never explored Dream Realms before, he had only been given some advice from the Venerables.

"Master Red Lotus said that all Dream Realms are a mix between reality and imagination, that even though the actions we take aren't exactly what happens in Reality, as long as it's close enough to the script, we can advance the plot. However, if we go off script, we will end the Dream Realm and be injured at best and trapped or killed at worst."

Just as Ma Hong Yun was deciding on what to do next.

"Nie Li!" a voice shouted from behind: "How is it?"

Ma Hong Yun recognized the voice, it was Nie Long.

Ma Hong Yun responded: "There seems to be a forest down here, and there appear to be no Beasts nor Variant Humans."

Ma Hong Yun turned to see Nie Long standing right behind him!

Nie Long was mid punch when Ma Hong Yun caught it and pushed him back!

"What is he trying to do?" Ma Hong Yun thought: "Wasn't he a nice guy?"

"Oh? You've gotten sharp," Nie Long replied: "It seems you finally listened to my advice and have taken better note of your surroundings."

Nie Long brushed his robes: "Come let's go get the others and head to Emperor City."

Ma Hong Yun sighed, in relief, "Phew, it was just a test, there was no malice in his attack,"

But Ma Hong Yun began thinking of his next steps in the Dream: "Emperor city huh, that should be Primordial Origin's setup, which will later be used by Genesis Lotus. Right now I guess it serves as a beacon to Mortals."

Indeed, Emperor City was the birthplace of Human Geniuses as it sat on top of the greatest Human Vein in the Central Continent.

Ma Hong Yun took the time to organize all the clues of this Dream, "I'm somewhere in the latter end of the Remote Antiquity Era as Star Constellation had passed no longer than 500 years ago. This means that Limitless is still a distance away in the future."

Ma Hong Yun did not know much about Gu World History, after all, he was only a Rank 5 in his past life, and under the tutelage of the Venerables, he did not dabble in history as they were focused on educating him in Killer Moves and Combat Systems.

"I wish Zhao Lian Yun was here," Ma Hong Yun sighed to himself.

[1] If u get the reference, you're a Goat, my personal first cultivation manhua was Tales of Demons and Gods, btw no I'm not saying Nie Li transmigrated to RI I just borrowed the name.

[2] That's what I'm calling the Dream Realm that covers the entire 5 Regions, just thought of it lol should have thought of it earlier.