34 Dream
Lin Zumo and other elders have a hard time believing the events which took place right in front of them. As far as they know, no one has formed spiritual veins in an hour but now someone has formed spiritual veins in less than a minute.
Their very idea of the reality was shaken. It has to be known a cultivator is considered a genius if he/she can form his spiritual veins in 5-7 hours.
If they are considered geniuses then what about Zhen Han? Even geniuses suffer through unbearable pain but for Zhen Han there was no pain! He formed spiritual veins outside his body!
The members of the younger generation were even more shaken. They were proud and arrogant in their talent but now they realized they were just mud in front of Zhen Han.
Few members of the younger generation tried to call Awakening ceremony as unfair and scam but how can the great elders be bothered?
"Something is wrong!"
"That kid is still in meditation!"
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Zhen Han was still in deep meditation even after forming the spiritual veins. His body was in the pagoda but his consciousness was transferred to his inner world.
No matter whether it is a cultivator or a mortal, everyone has an inner world. It is just that mortals can never open the seal to their inner world. Some people believe inner world exist in a parallel dimension while others believe it exists inside the soul.
The inner world can be in many forms: lake, forest, desert, Iceland, giant landmass, city, etc. Some supreme cultivators have their inner world in the form of a planet.
Zhen Han found himself in outer space. He could see various celestial bodies in the space even galaxies.
"Where am I?" Zhen Han said it loud but in space there was no concept of sound. Not to mention he was alone in this cold and dark universe.
Zhen Han was frightened when he saw himself in space, but then stopped worrying after realizing he could float. He could fly through the space even faster than the speed of light.
"Is this dream?"
Zhen Han floated towards a planet, but he couldn't enter it. It was as if there was a barrier stopping him. He tried to enter other planets and it was same there. He felt as if the planets had a deep secret within.
"How can I know this is called as planet? Or has my dreams invented the details?"
Zhen Han also saw gigantic landmass floating in the space. He could feel this landmass were on same level as the planets. He tried to enter them but failed.
Zhen Han tried to move towards sun but even there he failed. He could feel the heat from sun but there was no sign of injuries on his body. In this space, he was an Immortal.
"A confined Immortal," Zhen Han corrected himself.
He went to other galaxies but everywhere it was same. He could never enter any planet or get close to a moon or an asteroid.
"Come here..." An archaic voice suddenly ringed out in the entire space. Zhen Han was frightened. Earlier when he tried to make a sound he failed, but now a loud voice ringing throughout the space.
"Come here..." The voice sounded again.
Zhen Han felt the words spoken were in a different language, but he could understand the meaning as if he has known this language throughout his life.
"Come here..."
These words were repeated nine times in total.
"How strange. The words are same but the voice is different each time," Zhen Han thought. He could feel the voices carrying a sense of vicissitude.
Zhen Han controlled his fears and moved towards the direction from where the sound originated. He could feel the speakers had no malicious intent towards him. This feeling originated from his heart as if knew the speakers from his very soul.
There was no more sound but Zhen Han could feel the location of the place from where the sound originated. After a long time, he finally reached his destination.
It was a dark space with no starry sky or any celestial bodies. It was still a space but totally different from the places he has visited before.
In this dark space, there were nine gigantic bronze coffins floating. Zhen Han felt each coffin size was more vast than the galaxies he has seen.
The coffins were far away from each other but yet very close to each other. It seemed as if it was a paradox.
"What are those moving inscriptions?" Zhen Han was surprised.
On each coffin surface, there were moving inscriptions. It would be more appropriate to call them as moving paintings.
The first coffin has an image of some formless energy traveling through the universe. On the second coffin, there was an image of a seed growing into a large tree. The third coffin has an image of an unknown type of insect fighting countless experts.
The fourth coffin has an inscription focusing on a Celestial Fiend destroying worlds in his desire to meet a rival who can give him a good fight.
The fifth coffin focused on the life of a beautiful empress betrayed by her family and friends for power. In her anger, she killed everyone including her unfilial children.
The sixth coffin focused on a butterfly floating around the universe as if in a dream of future. The seventh coffin has similarities with the sixth one as in the images, a philosopher was in meditation lost thinking whether his life is a dream.
Zhen Han couldn't see the inscriptions on the eighth and ninth coffin as if there was a fog surrounding the images. He was sure they too had inscriptions but no matter how he tried he couldn't see them.
Zhen Han felt a strange attraction from the inscriptions. He didn't know why, but he felt he has experienced the stories carved on the coffin by himself.
"Why do they look so familiar but yet not familiar at all?"
"Formless Energy, Tree, Insect, Celestial Fiend, Divine Empress, Butterfly, Philosopher and two others."
"Why couldn't I see the inscriptions of the last two and know their identity?"
"The coffins of butterfly and philosopher are different but yet they feel they are sharing the story of a same life. That doesn't make sense. Other coffins don't share such similarities."
Zhen Han was lost in thoughts. He didn't care whether the current happenings were the imaginations in his dreams.
"Dreams... both butterfly and philosopher are dreaming. I am also dreaming. Everything seemed to be connected by a dream."
Suddenly, the philosopher on the seventh coffin started speaking. It was the first time Zhen Han was able to hear a sound from the inscriptions.
The philosopher was sitting under the shadow of a tree. He has a confused expression on his face as he said:
"Once upon a time, I, Zhuang Zhou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Zhuang. Soon I awoke, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man."
The images on the seventh coffin changed. Now the philosopher was old and waiting for his death. He turned his face towards two man sitting next to him before speaking.
"How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home?"
"Lady Li was the child of a border guard in Ai. When first captured by the state of Jin, she wept so much her clothes were soaked. But after she entered the palace, shared the king's bed, and dined on the finest meats, she regretted her tears."
" How do I know that the dead do not regret their previous longing for life? One who dreams of drinking wine may in the morning weep; one who dreams weeping may in the morning go out to hunt."
" During our dreams, we do not know we are dreaming. We may even dream of interpreting a dream. Only on waking do we know it was a dream. Only after the great awakening will we realize that this is a great dream. And yet fools think they are awake, presuming to know that they are rulers or herdsmen. How dense! You and Confucius are both dreaming, and I who say you are a dream am also a dream. Such is my tale. It will probably be called preposterous, but after ten thousand generations there may be a great sage who will be able to explain it, a trivial interval equivalent to the passage from morning to night."
Zhen Han felt as if the philosopher was looking at him when he finished his words.
