Chapter 367: The Law of Deduction

So this is what Panlong City looks like from a third-person perspective?

A vaguely visible ancient city on a high plateau?

But when he focused his gaze again, he realized the ancient city would materialize and dissipate intermittently. It was occasionally clear, but mostly very blurry, with only a rough outline.

He asked the mirror what was happening.

The mirror offered only one explanation: "It's too vast, and its size presents challenges. It requires an astonishing amount of energy to manifest, making it difficult to fully materialize. Furthermore, while this City of the Dead is magnificent, it's certainly not yet complete."

"Complete?"

"Every soul realm has its own laws to abide by. The more complete the laws, the more successful the soul realm, naturally."

Laws? He Lingchuan repeated the word silently in his mind, then asked, "How can a soul realm be made complete?"

"Either it evolves slowly on its own, or it relies on external forces," the mirror replied. "Like me, I wish to draw upon and learn from this City of the Dead; so it must also have its own methods of evolution."

The mention of external forces immediately reminded He Lingchuan of the objects his divine bone necklace had devoured several times.

These were either the cornerstone of an ancient immortal's cave, divine elixirs, or even the remains of ancient great demons like Zhu Erniang.

So, was the illusion of Panlong City within the Great Square Pot also trying to perfect its laws and evolve itself?

The mirror then asked him, "Do you frequently enter the City of the Dead?"

He Lingchuan nodded. "When I sleep at night, I enter the City of the Dead's dream realm every few days."

"Dream realm? Wahahahahaha—I told you, it's a soul realm, a soul realm!" The mirror burst into uncontrollable laughter. If it had hands, it would have been pounding the table. "What kind of imbecile would mistake a soul realm for a dream realm! Oh my, are you trying to make me die laughing?"

He Lingchuan bared his teeth in a smile at it and cracked his knuckles with two sharp sounds.

A few breaths later.

"Normally, your dreams should revolve around you as the primary subject," the mirror said sullenly. "You've been in the City of the Dead for so long; do you feel it revolves around you?"

He Lingchuan thought for a moment, then shook his head.

He was merely a part of it.

"But I can only enter when I'm asleep, why is that?"

"That's a law set by the soul realm itself. Normally, it's designed to prevent others from entering or prying."

Indeed, there were many who coveted the Great Square Pot.

He Lingchuan had wanted to ask for a long time: "What exactly is a soul realm?"

"You can tell from the name, can't you? A soul realm is a dwelling place for deceased souls unwilling to vanish, and most are naturally formed. Most departed souls residing in a soul realm don't even realize they're dead; they continue to live and work as they did in life."

It paused. "A soul realm doesn't exist in reality, nor does it belong to the Netherworld; it's a self-contained entity, a sanctuary for the departed. But regardless, it is not a dream! It has absolutely nothing to do with your absurd, foolish dreams!"

He Lingchuan recalled a strange anecdotal record he had read in Wenzhen Pavilion, which contained a story:

A traveler, encountering ferocious wolves in the wilderness, followed a distant light and fled into a small town in a valley. Life there was peaceful and tranquil, with smiles on everyone's faces. The warm townspeople not only helped him fend off the wolf pack but also provided him with food and lodging, and even a beautiful girl to confide in.

The man fell asleep in this wonderful dream. The next day, he woke to find himself lying on a large rock, a mere two turns of a mountain away from falling into a chasm. All around him were weeds and wild trees; there was no sign of human habitation.

He quickly left the valley.

Later, he learned that a volcanic eruption ten years prior had consumed the town at the foot of the mountain, along with over a thousand lives.

He didn't know what he had truly encountered, and no one would believe him if he told them.

Some who heard his story also went to search the valley, but found nothing.

The "Ghost Town" never appeared again.

Now, hearing the mirror's words, this person might have entered a naturally formed soul realm.

"So soul realms are categorized as natural and artificial?"

"Soul realms occasionally form between heaven and earth, mostly when too many people die in a short period, their resentment reaching to the heavens; but such soul realms are very unstable and might silently vanish any day," the mirror explained. "Artificially formed soul realms, however, are different. They are more stable but require a carrier."

The carrier of the mirror world was undoubtedly the mirror itself; so what was the carrier for Panlong City?

It should be the Great Square Pot, right?

"Precisely because of this, once the normal state there is broken, the resentment of the departed souls will suddenly erupt."

The mirror then asked him, "Hey, wait a minute, did you also alter the karma there?"

He Lingchuan, of course, nodded again. He had already diverged the paths of reality and the dream realm; how could the karma not have changed?

The mirror exclaimed, "Then what kind of mess have the laws of the City of the Dead become? Why hasn't it collapsed yet?"

"Everything's in perfect order in there, it's fine," He Lingchuan retorted grumpily. "It's almost indistinguishable from the real world. Unlike your mirror world, which is incredibly awkward."

The mirror grumbled twice. "For it to endure your meddling without collapsing, it must have a powerful energy source. Sigh, I'm so envious. But at the same time, it requires even stronger karmic power. Otherwise, if it ever collapses, even your divine soul will be buried inside, unable to escape. Don't say I didn't warn you."

He Lingchuan took its warning seriously. "So, the greater my influence on the City of the Dead, the more powerful karmic power I'll need to find for it?"

"Not entirely accurate, but it'll do."

He Lingchuan nodded.

No wonder.

No wonder his initial two entries into the dream realm were cut short, leading to a long period without dreams, until the divine bone necklace devoured the cornerstone of the immortal's cave, only then did the true Panlong City open itself to him.

Ah, although he now understood the concept of a soul realm, he still preferred the term "Panlong Dream Realm."

It turned out that the Great Square Pot had acquired karmic power from the outside world, which helped the Panlong Dream Realm perfect more of its laws, allowing it to withstand the changes He Lingchuan brought to the entire dream world.

The deeper he delved into the dream and the more active he became, the greater his influence on the dream realm, naturally. According to the mirror, a soul realm should be immutable, yet the Panlong Dream Realm had, because of him, diverged onto another path, starting to run contrary to actual history.

This would require increasingly powerful evolutionary force; otherwise, the consequence of failing to run would range from getting stuck to outright collapse.

The mirror's warning was no joke.

It seemed that from now on, anything the divine bone necklace took a liking to, he would have to scheme and find every possible way to acquire it.

Additionally, the mirror also mentioned that the Panlong Illusion likely had a powerful energy source.

What was that about?

Unfortunately, this question had even fewer answers.

He could only return to reality and scrutinize the mirror. "So, besides fulfilling your duty as a protective mirror, what else are you good for?"

He had a tough time subduing this mirror, yet after taming it, why didn't he find it useful?

"I can also enlarge myself and be used as a shield, just as General You used to do!" the mirror promoted itself. "And after sustaining damage, as long as I'm replenished promptly, I can slowly self-repair."

"Oh, and I have mirror reflection. If an attack lands on my surface or shield, as long as it's not a spell or divine ability, I can reflect part of its force."

"The action and reaction are mutual; do you really need to explicitly state that? Fine, you do have some use." He Lingchuan asked it, "And those obedient wraiths, where did they come from?"

"They're lonely wandering spirits I took in after I awoke; now only three remain," the mirror said. "This world isn't much better than it was two hundred years ago, with new departed souls wandering everywhere. If I hadn't taken them in, they would have dissipated in a few days."

He Lingchuan hummed in acknowledgment.

"Oh, by the way, even if I transform into a shield, my soul-capturing ability remains," the mirror added. "If an opponent stares at me, they might also become disoriented."

"Alright." He Lingchuan picked it up and tried it. The thing indeed grew, transforming from a round mirror into a round shield three chi in diameter, its surface still reflective enough to see one's face, which facilitated the activation of its soul-capturing ability.

In essence, its volume simply scaled up proportionately.

He Lingchuan swung it a couple of times and found the quality and feel quite satisfactory.

It was suitable for use as a one-handed shield. With his increasing array of offensive techniques, he indeed needed one or two pieces of defensive equipment.

He had already acquired a shield in Panlong City, and now he had filled that gap in reality as well.

The only drawback was an unsightly gash on the shield, the handiwork of the Ephemeral Blade.

"How can this gash be repaired?"

"The more resentful souls I devour, the faster I recover; otherwise, it's a slow repair over time," the mirror said. "If not, then mystic crystals or nightmare energy would also work."

"Nightmare energy?" He Lingchuan heard a familiar term. Had he heard it somewhere before?

Seeing his expression, the mirror knew he was completely ignorant. "The spiritual energy of heaven and earth nourishes all things. Once it enters the body of a living being, it transforms into nightmare energy, or nightmare power, sustaining life, old age, sickness, and death."

This explanation was very straightforward, and He Lingchuan understood it instantly. It was like how in his original world, all things needed sunlight to grow: plants grew with sunlight, cattle and sheep ate plants to grow meat, and ultimately, humans consumed them.

No matter how many circulation steps or different names there were, ultimately, it was "energy."

"Wait!" He finally remembered where he had heard that term: he and his father had captured an enemy spy in Xinhuang, who claimed to be a disciple of the Frost Leaf Imperial Advisor of the Beijia Kingdom, tasked with using the Dragon Punishment Pillar to collect nightmare energy on the battlefield!

The demonic energy collected by that Dragon Punishment Pillar was incredibly potent, but only the disciple and He Lingchuan could see the light it emitted.

The disciple claimed to have opened his "Heaven's Eye," and said the Imperial Advisor wanted them to collect the nightmare energy to properly pacify and send off the souls.

"But I heard that nightmare energy is the resentment, unwillingness, and anger of deceased war souls?"

The mirror snorted with laughter. "Aha?"

"Hahahahaha!" It burst into uncontrollable laughter once more. "Who told you that? That's outrageously wrong, incredibly wrong!"

He Lingchuan didn't interrupt. Only when the mirror was in full throes of laughter did he softly say, "The Frost Leaf Imperial Advisor of the Beijia Kingdom."

The mirror's laughter abruptly ceased.

"The Beijia Imperial Advisor?"

It fell silent for a moment, then weakly said, "Perhaps he has other intentions."

How could a dignified Imperial Advisor of Beijia make such a ridiculously basic mistake?