301: Fifth Incarnation: Heavenly Physician (Ninety-Three)

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's voice trembled.

"Once this precedent is set, everyone will follow suit! Who would still be willing to tread the arduous, sacrificial, and uncertain path of 'Soul Transformation'? To occupy a territory, create one's own world, proclaim oneself a master and ancestor, enjoying endless Lifespan and authority—wouldn't that be far more delightful?!"

"Even knowing it's like quenching thirst with poison, who would choose immediate death if they could live another lifetime?"

"Plunder thus became the norm! The number of Dao Realms grew ever larger, while complete, free 'Dao Prefectures' vanished one after another, devoured and torn apart! The World's Maternal Body was continuously bled dry, its Origin dwindling day by day, and the cycle of spiritual energy was utterly shattered!"

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's tone was filled with bitterness:

"When this old man attained the Dao in my time, I had heard tales of the ancient golden age, but what I witnessed with my own eyes... this world had only twelve hundred domains left! The so-called 'domains' are the shattered remnants of 'Dao Prefectures' that haven't been fully devoured yet, but have already suffered greatly diminished spiritual energy and fragmented Dao principles!"

"And now..." His voice suddenly became incredibly heavy, even carrying a tremor of despair, "Little friend, you come from the present era. Tell this old man... how many domains remain in this world?"

Xu Yuan's mind was shaken to its core. An icy, extreme number surfaced in his thoughts, accompanied by the desolate scene he witnessed before entering Deep Dream Marsh.

Dryly, with unbelievable shock and horror, he slowly uttered two words:

"...Five domains."

"Hahahaha! Five domains! What a splendid five domains!"

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's remnant soul emitted a sound that was neither laughter nor weeping, filled with endless sorrow and mockery.

"Three thousand Dao Prefectures, a vast and magnificent world, have been gnawed away by those parasites until only a mere five domains remain! This world is already terminally ill, on the verge of death!"

"The so-called 'Myriad Heavens and Worlds' of today—the Dao Realm of Shang Qing, the Sumeru Buddha Lands, the Nine Nether Demon Realms... they are nothing but greedy behemoths, clinging to the dying maternal body of this world, frantically sucking out its last marrow! They partition the world, each ruling their own domain, twisting the Dao principles, severing the path of Ascension! Their so-called Dao Conflicts, their so-called Legacies—they are merely fighting over the few intact planks on a sinking, dilapidated ship!"

"To expect those 'Old Monsters,' who have long bound their own Dao Fruits, their lives and fortunes, to the stolen authority of heaven and earth, to voluntarily 'Return the Dao'? Little friend, do you think that's possible?"

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's voice was filled with icy sarcasm.

"That would be no different from asking them to commit suicide! To abandon their longevity, their authority, everything! That is a thousand, a million times harder than killing them!"

"Over endless eons, they have already fused their Dao Hearts, their Divine Souls, with these 'stolen' Dao Realms! 'Returning the Dao,' to them, means utter and complete annihilation! Therefore, they would rather drag this world down to death with them than ever let go! This is the deadlock! An unsolvable deadlock!"

Xu Yuan felt a chill surge from the depths of his Divine Soul, instantly freezing his entire body!

The truth was far more cruel than he had imagined!

The present world wasn't simply declining; it had already been 'carved up and devoured' by those ancient Dao Lords, leaving behind only a broken skeleton!

The so-called 'Myriad Heavens' of this world were nothing but tumors parasitizing the maternal body! And he and his 'Human Dao' were like trying to plant a healthy seed on this mutilated corpse riddled with tumors—a task as difficult as ascending to heaven!

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's voice rang out again, resolute and decisive, carrying the desperate determination of one burning their bridges:

"Therefore, the Righteous Path is severed! Persuasion is useless! The only path to survival, the only variable, is—"

"Seizure!"

"To forcibly strip away, transform, and return to heaven and earth the Dao Fruits and authority they have stolen and solidified, using extraordinary means!"

"To stop war with war, to counter plunder with plunder!"

"To use their Dao to mend the heavens' deficiencies!"

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's voice, like a raging wildfire, filled with desperate fanaticism and resolve, echoed ceaselessly within Xu Yuan's mind, painting a mad blueprint of using the myriad Dao Lords as nourishment to rebuild heaven and earth!

The sheer audacity of this plan, the Heaven-Defying will it contained, was enough to shake the mind and spirit of any who heard it!

However, Xu Yuan's Dao Heart, tempered through Reincarnation and newly founded upon the 'Human Dao,' had 'Order' and 'calm' at its core.

After the initial shock and chill, he forcefully suppressed the tempest raging in his heart. His eyes swiftly regained clarity, becoming even sharper and more profound than before!

Beneath fanaticism, there must be a scheme!

The more enticing the plan, the more deadly the hidden risks often were!

He was not immediately bewitched by the grand vision of 'seizing the creation of heaven and earth' and 'reforging the cosmos.' Instead, he keenly grasped the most crucial and dangerous core—how to execute it?

And, what was Illusory Dream Dao Lord's true role and purpose in this plan?

"Senior!"

Xu Yuan spoke in a deep voice. His words were not loud, but they carried an undeniable calm, like ice water thrown into boiling oil, instantly suppressing the fanatical atmosphere in Illusory Dream Dao Lord's speech.

"The plan is good, but how is it to be implemented? Where are the details?"

Faced with Xu Yuan's cool, almost harsh questioning, Illusory Dream Dao Lord's fanatical mental fluctuations paused slightly, but he was not angered. As the green light swirled, his intent became exceptionally clear and calm, even carrying a kind of wisdom and patience sedimented over countless ages. He began to elaborate in detail on his world-shaking, audacious plan:

"Your concerns, little friend, are all key points. This old man will explain everything clearly to you, so that you may... enter the game with peace of mind, fully aware of the stakes."

"First, there is the 'Dream Grafting.'" Illusory Dream Dao Lord's intent condensed, transforming into streams of profound, shimmering light that traced complex trajectories of Dao principles within Xu Yuan's mind. "The core of this technique lies in the fleeting opportunity of 'the interplay of reality and illusion, the alternation of dream and awakening'!"

"Although a Dao Lord's Dao Fruit is deeply fused with their Dao Realm and the authority of heaven and earth, almost becoming one, it is not without flaw. In the moment when their mind is agitated—especially at the peak of their pride and confidence, when they believe victory is assured and their mental defenses are at their most relaxed—the connection between their Dao Fruit and heaven and earth, and their Dao Realm, will experience an extremely brief, extremely subtle 'fluctuation' and 'separation'!"

"And this old man's 'Illusory Dream' Dao is most adept at capturing, amplifying, and even distorting this sliver of 'mental fluctuation'! At that instant where reality and illusion alternate, where truth and falsehood are indistinguishable, using supreme Dream Dao power to construct a pseudo-Dao Realm like a 'Flower in a Mirror, Moon in the Water,' causing their Dao Fruit to momentarily 'misjudge,' as if touching a 'new world' more compatible and closer to the Origin. Thus, it spontaneously, briefly, 'loosens' its deep binding with the original Dao Realm!"

"This is the beginning of 'stealing the beams and pillars, replacing them with rotten timber'! It is like plucking a flower from a mirror or scooping the moon from water—seemingly within reach, yet separated by a layer of illusory barrier!"

Illusory Dream Dao Lord's intent carried a trace of pride.

"The danger of this technique lies in the timing, which must be grasped with exquisite precision! Too early, and you alert their true heart; too late, and the opportunity is lost. Furthermore, the caster must withstand the dual impact of the Dao Fruit's backlash and the shattering of the dream. If one's Divine Soul is even slightly weak, they will collapse first!"

"But if successful, within that fleeting moment, a small portion of their Dao Fruit's Origin can be stripped away!"