Chapter 4

The fresh blood from the bitten tongue dripped down the corner of Ye Feng's mouth and onto his neck, landing on his chest. After the interrogation ended and he was carried to the temporary detention room, Ye Feng's mouth had gone numb, but he suddenly felt a burning pain in his chest, as if he were being scorched by a fierce fire.

Ye Feng looked down and, in the dim light, noticed a string of prayer beads that had somehow appeared on his chest. The beads were around his neck, glowing with a pale golden light, flickering and exceptionally bright. Ye Feng counted the beads and found there were only nine.

He truly had no idea how the prayer beads had ended up around his neck. He could only guess that Liu Yong and Liu Meimei had put them there, but what puzzled him was why he had not seen or felt them for such a long time.

Moreover, the police had taken the diamonds Liu Yong had placed on him, but why had they not taken the prayer beads? And during the long period of intense interrogation, had they not noticed them?

Then, something even more incredible happened. The intense burning pain suddenly disappeared, replaced by an indescribable sense of comfort and coolness. This coolness spread from his chest, soothing his body and rapidly healing the wounds from the beatings.

A few minutes later, the comfortable and cool sensation faded, and everything returned to normal. Ye Feng no longer felt any pain, as if he had never been beaten. The injuries to his tongue and lips had also healed on their own.

While this bizarre event made Ye Feng feel physically refreshed, it also left him with a sense of unease.

What exactly were these prayer beads? Why had he not seen or felt them for so long, and why had they suddenly appeared so clearly, bringing such significant improvement to his body?

In just a few hours, Ye Feng had experienced too many tragic, terrifying, and bizarre events. He did not know what his fate would be the next day, whether he would have the chance to defend himself in the police station, or how a so-called murder suspect like him would go through the legal process, or if he had the right to hire a lawyer.

What made him even more uneasy was the thought of how his parents would feel when they learned about this. Especially his mother, who had lived in the countryside all her life, would be devastated and terrified. If anything happened to him, it would mean the end of their entire family.

Ye Feng raised his hand to touch the prayer beads on his chest. As his hand touched the beads, his fate changed. He embarked on a unique path of cultivation in this world, a path that belonged only to him. Even if it was slow, as long as he continued, he could transcend his mortal body, understand the Dao of immortals, achieve eternal life, and laugh at the world.

When Ye Feng's hand touched the prayer beads, time seemed to freeze. This "freeze" was relative to his current sensory experience, as his consciousness entered a strange space. Ye Feng believed this space was a reflection of his brain's consciousness, essentially a special space he had imagined.

However, this imagined space felt incredibly real to Ye Feng. After staying in this space for a while, he could no longer distinguish whether it was a fantasy or a real existence.

The reason he felt time freeze was that his consciousness lived in this space, experiencing everything in it as real, yet he could still see the real world through this space. He saw himself curled up on the ground in the dimly lit temporary detention room, his clothes disheveled, motionless, as if asleep.

This feeling was like watching TV in a comfortable room. The room was the space where Ye Feng's consciousness was, and the TV program was the reality he was experiencing.

This bizarre and strange situation suddenly descended upon Ye Feng, leaving his mind in chaos. He tried to calm down and understand this strange event, but before he could make sense of it, something even more incredible happened.

The space, which was previously filled with flowers and exotic fruits, changed again. Dense white fog spread, quickly enveloping the entire space, allowing Ye Feng to see only about a meter ahead. After wandering for about ten minutes, he arrived at a tall tower.

Ye Feng could clearly see the tower because it was not surrounded by fog. He counted and found that the tower had nine levels, each level gradually increasing in height. The first level was about as tall as a regular house in the real world, but the second level was much taller, roughly equivalent to a three-story building. The third level was several times taller than the second, similar to a mid-rise building. The fourth level was several times taller than the third, and so on. By the ninth level, it could be described as a skyscraper. Ye Feng had to look up to see the outline of the ninth level.

When Ye Feng's consciousness stood at the entrance of the first level of the tower, a desire as hot as lava surged within him, a strong urge to enter the tower.

When Ye Feng entered the first level of the tower, he was surprised to find that he had a physical form, just like in the real world. He could feel the gentle breeze in the tower and smell the incense and candle scent from the central platform.

At this point, Ye Feng felt as if he had completely entered the space within the prayer beads, detached from reality.

The space within the prayer beads, which had only nine beads, also had a corresponding nine-level tower.

The first level of the tower, apart from a central platform about two meters high, was completely empty.

Ye Feng approached the platform and noticed grooves around its edge. His feet fit perfectly into these grooves, allowing him to climb to the top of the platform.

At the top of the platform, he saw an incense stick and a candle, placed side by side on an incense stand. The incense and candle burned, emitting a pleasant aroma. Apart from the incense stand, there was only a cushion on the top of the platform.

Ye Feng walked over and sat cross-legged on the cushion. Then, nothing happened.

When he sat on the cushion, his consciousness was no longer under his control. He felt as if he had fallen into a chaotic world, surrounded by emptiness. He could clearly feel his breathing, his heartbeat, and the flow of his blood.

Then, there was only one word: pain. Intense, unbearable pain. Compared to the pain from the beatings in the police station, this pain was on a whole different level. The pain from the beatings seemed trivial, almost enjoyable in comparison.

Ye Feng felt that such pain was beyond the endurance of an ordinary person, who would likely faint from the pain. However, he remained fully conscious, and the more pain he felt, the more alert he became.

After the initial intense pain, Ye Feng could open his eyes. In the chaos, he saw his real self, but his real self was no longer curled up and sleeping. Instead, his body was violently shaking, and black, thick liquid was oozing from his head, face, and neck, wherever his skin was exposed. It looked disgusting, and although he could not smell it, it probably stank.

After about two to three hours, the pain finally subsided. Ye Feng felt incredibly refreshed, full of energy, and as light as a feather, as if he could fly. His mind was exceptionally clear, as if he had suddenly understood something, though he could not yet grasp the key to this understanding.

When Ye Feng tried to stand up, many of his previously blocked insights suddenly became clear. He suddenly understood many things, such as the origin of the prayer beads, the nature of this space, the purpose of the tower, why it had nine levels, and why he could see his real self in this space. Was the self in this space real, or was the real self in the real world real?

Firstly, this space existed within the prayer beads, a small world that could be considered both imaginary and real. No other living being on Earth could enter this space except for him, unless he actively signed a master-servant contract with another being, allowing it to enter. However, once inside, it would have to follow his consciousness and could never leave.

The prayer beads, specifically called the Nine Star Beads, were not from Earth. They came from a cultivation world called the Heavenly Dragon Planet in the vast universe. The owner of the Nine Star Beads was a True Immortal who had just successfully transcended the tribulation. Unfortunately, this immortal was ambushed by an enemy from the lower cultivation world shortly after entering the upper realm. Surrounded by dozens of upper realm immortals, his physical body was destroyed. In a final act of desperation, he infused the Nine Star Beads with the Nine Star Decree, a cultivation method he had perfected over his lifetime, and set strict cultivation rules. Using all his immortal power and the explosive force of his self-destructing spirit, he tore through space and sent the Nine Star Beads to another distant world, which was Earth. He did this to ensure that his cultivation method, which he had spent tens of thousands of years perfecting, would not be lost with his death.

The Nine Star Beads drifted through space for an unknown number of years before landing in Mingzhu City, China. By chance, they were discovered by the true owner of the villa where Liu Meimei lived, a collector of antiques who was somewhat superstitious. He considered the beads a priceless treasure and hid them, along with some diamonds and jewels, under the tiles in the villa's bathroom.

Liu Meimei, who was once the villa owner's mistress, learned of the hidden treasure from the owner's drunken ramblings but could not find out where it was hidden. In desperation, she convinced the owner to let her stay in the villa temporarily. The owner, who had a business trip abroad, left without a second thought. However, he did not expect his mistress to not only discover his secret but also to have a new lover, a police officer.

When the villa owner returned unexpectedly, he caught Liu Meimei and Liu Yong in the act. Enraged, he slapped Liu Meimei, and a fight ensued. In a fit of rage, Liu Meimei and Liu Yong killed the villa owner.

Liu Meimei and Liu Yong wanted to frame Ye Feng but remembered that the villa owner had a daughter, who was the sole heir to his estate and might know about the hidden treasure. So, they decided to make the secret public, hiding most of the diamonds and placing what they considered to be the worthless prayer beads and a small portion of the diamonds on Ye Feng. If the villa owner's daughter tried to investigate, she would have to do so through Ye Feng. Even if Ye Feng denied it and accused them, without evidence, the daughter would have no way to hold them accountable.

Moreover, they were confident that Ye Feng would be executed before the villa owner's daughter received the will and learned the secret.

After suddenly understanding the origin of the Nine Star Beads, Ye Feng naturally understood the entire sequence of events. He did not know why, but the entire story played out in his mind like a movie, seemingly long and yet short. He understood every detail of the entire process.

Ye Feng was able to enter the Nine Star Beads because his blood had fused with them, forming a contract with a certain law.

In fact, before Ye Feng, the first owner of the Nine Star Beads, the villa owner, had his blood fuse with the beads after being stabbed several times. However, he died before the contract could take effect.

Because of the blood fusion, the Nine Star Beads underwent a sudden change. When Liu Yong placed the beads around Ye Feng's neck, after the change, neither Liu Yong, Ye Feng, nor the police could see the beads with their naked eyes. Liu Yong's memory of the beads was erased by the immortal law within the beads, meaning he no longer knew about the Nine Star Beads.

After Ye Feng was beaten in the police station, the blood from his bitten tongue and lips fused with the Nine Star Beads, triggering the law again. Since Ye Feng did not die, the contract was successfully formed.

Now, Ye Feng understood that entering the first level of the tower was a reward from the law for him, the only contract holder, and a great gift from the True Immortal of the Heavenly Dragon cultivation world, who had perished.