Chapter 11

From that day on, Li Yao began his tragic life as a low-ranking杂役 of the Hundred Refinements Sect under the identity of "Ouye Ming."

This bizarre dream was vastly different from ordinary dreams, even more real than the strange dreams Li Yao had since childhood. The passage of time was abnormally slow, and no matter how Li Yao tried, there was not the slightest sign of "awakening."

It was as if he truly became "Ouye Ming," starting a new life.

Being a low-ranking杂役 of the Hundred Refinements Sect was no easy task. As time passed, the burdens on their shoulders grew heavier each day. At first, it was carrying three thousand pounds of water and chopping fifty ordinary trees, but later it turned into carrying ten thousand pounds of scorching iron water, chopping a hundred trees as hard as steel, and swinging a "Heaven-Forging Hammer" weighing one thousand and twenty pounds thirty thousand times!

And the "Head of Low-Ranking杂役" Jiling Shen seemed to have firmly remembered Li Yao, treating him as a thorn in his side. He would come to find trouble with Li Yao three times a day. Any slight mistake from Li Yao would result in a "108-Hand Cloak Chaos Hammer Technique," leaving him battered and in excruciating pain.

Day after day, year after year, in the dream, the scenes flickered, as if ten years had passed.

The tedious and heavy labor, along with the inhuman torment day and night, gradually eroded Li Yao's sense of self. "Li Yao" had become a distant memory, and even his past memories turned into grains of sand at the bottom of his mind, sinking into the deep sea, no longer causing any ripples.

He completely became "Ouye Ming," the most outstanding of the 18,725 low-ranking杂役 of the Hundred Refinements Sect!

Thirty years of hard training forged his steel-like physique. Jiling Shen's cruel training also made him fully master the essence of the "108-Hand Cloak Chaos Hammer Technique," even more proficient than many "inner disciples" of the Hundred Refinements Sect.

Apart from Jiling Shen, no one called him "Ouye Ming" anymore. All the low-ranking杂役 called him "Brother Ouye"!

In the eleventh year, he finally became a "blacksmith杂役," the second-lowest rank in the Hundred Refinements Sect, and gained the right to enter the "blacksmith workshop"!

After that, time passed quickly.

In the fourteenth year, he became an outer disciple of the Hundred Refinements Sect, earning the title of "blacksmith" and gaining the right to participate in the forging of low-grade flying swords for outer disciples.

In the twenty-first year, he became a "craftsman," owning an independent forging furnace and capable of independently forging low-grade flying swords.

In the twenty-ninth year, he became a "master craftsman," the top forger among all outer disciples.

In the thirty-first year, during the invasion of the demonic path, Ouye Ming led the charge, hammering to death twenty-four foundation-building cultivators of the demonic path. Only then did the entire Hundred Refinements Sect realize that he had evolved the basic "108-Hand Cloak Chaos Hammer Technique" into 189 hands!

In the thirty-third year, Ouye Ming became an inner disciple under the elder 'Yuchang Daoist' of the Hundred Refinements Sect. Three years later, he was promoted to core disciple and deputy overseer of the blacksmith workshop.

In the thirty-eighth year, Ouye Ming stood out among the thousands of young disciples of the Hundred Refinements Sect, reaching the peak of the foundation-building stage. People began to call him "Senior Brother Ouye" instead of "Brother Ouye"!

In the same year, he married the only daughter of the Thirty-fifth Generation Sect Master "Tai'e Shangren" of the Hundred Refinements Sect.

On their wedding night, with his beautiful wife by his side, Ouye Ming felt like the rising sun, with an unlimited future. He recalled the joke he once made as a low-ranking杂役: "One day, I will become the master of the Hundred Refinements Sect!"

It seemed not impossible.

At present, he held great power, possessed boundless resources, and his cultivation advanced rapidly. He had the support of many senior sect members and the assistance of countless comrades-in-arms. His life was at its peak!

However, when he recalled the joke from decades ago, he vaguely remembered something. A ripple in his mind made him feel uneasy.

"Husband, you will surely make the 'Hundred Refinements Sect' the strongest forging sect in the 3,000 worlds..." his wife gazed at him from the bed, her eyes misty and filled with tenderness.

Ouye Ming shivered deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply, deeply.

Suddenly, strange ripples appeared before his eyes, as if something had distorted space and time, tearing a hole in the world. His wife's face on the bed became blurry, transforming into another pure and simple face.

"Promise me, no more reckless driving. Be a car repair technician honestly. No one will look down on you. One day, we will have our own 4S store!"

"Promise me, Ah Yao!"

He nodded subconsciously, blinked, and suddenly woke up.

It was a very strange feeling, as if his soul had been extracted from his body, turning into a transparent shadow floating in the air, calmly watching Ouye Ming and his wife in the bridal chamber, transforming from a participant to a mere observer.

"I am not Ouye Ming, I am not Ouye Ming, who am I? I am, I am—Li Yao!"

A clear spring seemed to surge in his heart, and his soul gained a profound clarity. In an instant, he regained his self, and the memories of the past 72 years turned into colorful fragments, a dream of a moment.

"Phew, phew, if I had remained immersed in it, even if I woke up one day, it would only be 'Ouye Ming' and not the true self!" Recalling the past, Li Yao was drenched in sweat, feeling lucky.

From that day on, he continued to participate in the evolution of the dream as an observer. Although he had not completely escaped, he clearly knew it was a dream, and nothing in the dream could trouble him anymore.

From a psychological perspective, this is called a "lucid dream."

The speed of the dream's evolution also became faster, like a speeding crystal track train, only slowing down at important moments to allow Li Yao to see the details clearly.

In the forty-first year, Li Yao saw Ouye Ming become the youngest elder in the history of the Hundred Refinements Sect. In the same year, he forged the secret sword "Deep Flash" and killed the demonic path's major villain, the Golden Core cultivator 'Poison Dragon True Lord.'

In the forty-third year, Li Yao saw Ouye Ming represent the Hundred Refinements Sect at the "Ten Realms Sword Conference," using the mighty giant sword "Hundred Li Dragon Swallower" to overpower the crowd, severing ninety-two divine weapons of his opponents, and winning the title of "Sword Saint of the Ten Realms," becoming a renowned swordsmith in over a dozen worlds.

In the fifty-second year, Li Yao saw the demonic path invade again, targeting the Hundred Refinements Sect. The sect master Tai'e Shangren and elder Yuchang Daoist, among dozens of elders, fell.

In a critical moment, Ouye Ming was elected as the Thirty-sixth Generation Sect Master of the Hundred Refinements Sect. In the sect's holy land, the "Ancient Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords," he swore revenge to the heavens and the gods, then spent three years forging the "Ten Divine Weapons," shocking the worlds!

Under his leadership, the Hundred Refinements Sect became a massive weapon factory, continuously supplying divine weapons to the righteous sects!

In the sixty-eighth year, the last disciple of the nine demonic sects was completely exterminated by the divine weapons forged by Ouye Ming!

At this point, no one called him "Senior Brother Ouye" or "Sect Master Ouye" anymore.

Everyone revered him with great respect—Ouye Zi!

In the 109th year, Ouye Zi's name had spread to hundreds of neighboring worlds, and even unknown worlds beyond the star sea, where people traveled billions of miles, risking being swallowed by chaotic vortices, to cross ancient transmission arrays to the "Vast World," just to obtain a divine weapon forged by Ouye Zi.

In the 130th year... 250th year... 320th year...

Finally—

"Supreme Sect Master! Ancestor! Please think it over, think it over! Time travel is impossible. You are the pillar of our Hundred Refinements Sect. You cannot take such a risk!"

Li Yao saw, in a grand and misty hall, tens of thousands of cultivators kneeling on the ground, bowing their heads repeatedly, making the hall "clang" and blood flowing everywhere.

The white-haired Ouye Zi stood in the center of a grand and mysterious transmission array, flicking his sleeves and saying indifferently, "The universe is vast, and the generations are endless. The true meaning of cultivation is to explore the infinite mysteries of the universe. Since I have accidentally created this 'Great Time Array' that might allow time travel, no matter how slim the chance, I must try to see if I can reach the end of time."

Pausing for a moment, he slowly scanned the disciples in the hall. Ouye Zi's face was filled with desolation, and he murmured, "Disciples, there is no need to say more. I have studied all the magical treasures in this world and have no regrets. I only hope that in the distant future, in the new world tens of thousands of years from now, there will be some new magical treasures that will bring joy..."

Before he finished speaking, Ouye Zi activated the Great Time Array. A blinding light beam surged from the bottom of the strange transmission array, enveloping him.

The light beam was filled with incredibly violent spiritual energy, like a flood spreading in all directions. The entire hall trembled under the pressure of the spiritual energy, and all the cultivators instinctively raised their spiritual shields. Some cultivators closest to Ouye Zi were directly knocked over by the fluctuations of the spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy seemed endless, continuously gathering, intensifying, and expanding, like a monstrous spiritual energy beast.

"No, no, the transmission array is absorbing spiritual energy from all directions, converting it into chaotic spiritual energy currents, and it will explode at any moment!"

"The transmission array is malfunctioning. Everyone, leave quickly, escape!"

"No, it's too late. Quickly, raise your spiritual shields and use your strongest magical treasures to resist!"

"Ahh—"

The last scene Li Yao saw was a milky white light, surging like waves, completely engulfing the entire hall, the hundreds of floating mountains outside the hall, and the vast ocean below.

And at the moment the milky white light expanded to its limit, Li Yao thoroughly woke up, sitting up from his bed in the New Dawn City, on the outskirts of Fuguo City, in the Starlight Federation, in the Tianyuan World, in the 40,000th cultivation era.

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