One minute in reality is equivalent to two days in the dream.
Under such a terrifying flow rate of time, three hours passed in reality, while two full years passed in the dream.
The people in reality could not imagine how Zhou Ming survived two years in a dream world where Sword Dao masters were everywhere.
Even Zhou Ming himself, recalling those difficult and bitter two years, couldn't help but tear up, sighing that it was a past he couldn't bear to look back on.
How many times did he die in these two years?
How many battles did he experience in these two years?
Countless Sword Moves flashed through his mind, countless duels, countless life-and-death struggles; in every Move, his consciousness seemed to be left with only the Sword.
Loyal to the Sword, true to the Sword, then he would reach the peak of the Sword.
Standing on the city wall, Zhou Ming looked at the clouds drifting across the sky, as if they were dancing sword clouds. He looked at the crowd gazing up at him below the city, as if they were streams of Sword Aura pointing at him. He looked at the man in white, whiter than snow, standing with a Sword opposite him, as if he were a peerless Sword, man and Sword perfectly combined.
"You are not my opponent, yet I still came to the appointment. Do you know why?"
The man opposite stood silently, like a ten-thousand-year-old black ice; his Sword was cold, he was cold, and his voice was even colder.
"Because half a year ago, a man very much like you fought his way to me with all his might, just to make me act."
"That day, I acted. With just one Move, I cut his throat and ended his life. But with a short sentence before his death, he made me remember him forever."
"What did he say?" Zhou Ming asked with a slight smile.
"He said, 'I heard that if a sword is fast, the blood gushing from the wound sounds like wind, which is very pleasant to hear. Hmm, I hear it now, and it is indeed very pleasant.' It was a very simple sentence, but he said it with a smile. He smiled with great abandon. Just like your smile now, you are really very much like him."
"Do you think you can kill me again?" Zhou Ming asked.
The white-robed swordsman fell silent, then slowly drew his Sword.
"You don't answer because you don't even know the answer yourself? Have you noticed that your voice already has warmth, and you are no longer the emotionless Sword you once were?" Zhou Ming's hand also rested on his sword hilt.
"Do you know, this is not the first time I've been killed by you. Every time I die by your hand, I try to leave my mark on you, subtly changing you."
"I succeeded. That time half a year ago, I firmly imprinted my image in your heart, making it impossible for you to ever forget me. It's strange, isn't it, even though it was just one sentence."
"I don't want to hear fairy tales. If you're going to tell me you can't be killed by me, then I'll kill you and wait for the resurrected you to prove it to me." As the white-robed swordsman finished speaking, he decisively drew his Sword.
His Sword seemed to pierce through the barriers of time and space, instantly passing through Zhou Ming's body. It was a magnificently beautiful Sword Aura, mesmerizing all who saw it.
But Zhou Ming did not; there wasn't even a single scratch on his body, as if that sword strike just now was truly just a playful gesture.
"You are skilled in Sword Dao. In this world, I can never defeat you with a Sword, but my companions provided enough perturbations for me to leverage the cornerstones of this world."
"Accumulated over time, the power of the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture has finally reached a level sufficient to distort this dream."
Zhou Ming lightly waved his Sword, and a sword strike exactly like the white-robed swordsman's just now appeared, its magnificent Sword Aura piercing through the white-robed swordsman's body.
A flicker of astonishment crossed the white-robed swordsman's eyes, and the coldness in his heart was finally washed away by sufficient emotion. He slumped to the ground, but then suddenly laughed, a laugh of liberation.
"I heard there's a kind of wine in the world called 'Drunken Life, Dream Death.' After drinking it, you can forget everything you've ever done. The greatest trouble for people is having too good a memory. If everything could be forgotten, every day after would be a new beginning. How happy would that be, don't you think?"
"You see, you are very happy now, because although every one killed by me is you, every one of you is a different you. The you who died, the you who lives, the you who lives but is about to die, the you who dies and will be resurrected. Each time is a new beginning."
"So all of you can start anew after dying, forget everything, and immerse yourselves in Sword Dao. This is indeed very happy and very relaxing, isn't it?"
Zhou Ming sheathed his Sword and walked to him, looking down at the white-robed swordsman slumped on the city wall.
"That sword strike just now was indeed your Sword, so you were defeated by your own hand." Zhou Ming extended his right hand, and a hazy glow appeared in his palm.
"You must remember, you are Shangguan Wuji."
The power of the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture imprinted the information contained in this sentence into this wisp of will.
As the white-robed swordsman's body disappeared, that wisp of will vanished into the ethereal, reappearing in some part of this world with a new identity, seamlessly integrating into this world.
No one would find it strange, and no one would question it, because this was the logical law of how this world operated; everyone here was born this way.
However, this time, the newborn individual, for some unknown reason, suddenly heard a sentence echoing in his mind.
"I am... Shangguan Wuji?"
In Shangguan Wuji's dream, in this self-contained world, a "ghost" suddenly appeared.
A ghost that roamed various places, constantly challenging various masters, winning every battle, never suffering a single defeat.
The reason he was called a "ghost" and not a master was because his swordsmanship was not particularly brilliant, not on the same level as the top masters he killed.
And those top masters, rather than being killed by him, were killed by themselves, because they all died by their own ultimate techniques.
But the "ghost" was immortal; no matter how powerful the master, no matter how exquisite the Sword Move, as long as they attacked the "ghost," their Move would return exactly as it was, not only failing to harm the "ghost" in the slightest but instead killing themselves.
In a very short period, more than a dozen top masters died at the hands of the "ghost," but the people of this world never feared death, or rather, they faced death as if returning home.
The appearance of the "ghost" did not cause any chaos; instead, it made true masters eager for a challenge, lining up to die.
At the same time, another event in this dream world began to attract more and more attention.
At some unknown point, a new faction appeared in the originally harmonious dream. They called themselves Shangguan Wuji; it wasn't that a single person was Shangguan Wuji, but that everyone claimed to be Shangguan Wuji.
They didn't know why they were Shangguan Wuji, but they all firmly believed they were Shangguan Wuji, or rather, they believed they were a part of Shangguan Wuji, and all of them together formed the complete Shangguan Wuji.
And these "Shangguan Wuji" were like a rampant, dividing virus; while shouting that they were Shangguan Wuji, they were also constantly assimilating others, making more and more people believe they were Shangguan Wuji.
"Shangguan Wuji!"
"Shangguan Wuji!"
"Shangguan Wuji!"
They shouted like this, their momentum growing stronger.
These people finally made the normal people, who originally only cared about Sword Dao, react, and conflicts erupted between the two sides repeatedly.
At this time, people discovered that the "ghost" appeared repeatedly, each time standing with the "Shangguan Wuji" faction. Only then did people realize that the "ghost" belonged to Shangguan Wuji, or perhaps, he was also Shangguan Wuji, but the ghost never admitted it.
What shocked the normal people even more was that some "newcomers," upon appearing, immediately believed they were Shangguan Wuji, and the proportion of these newcomers was constantly increasing.
They tried various methods to stop this from happening, but all their efforts were futile.
Just like a virus dividing without any restrictions, the number of "Shangguan Wuji" grew exponentially: one became two, two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen. The number of people grew, and the speed of increase became faster and faster.
When everyone became a part of the ocean shouting "Shangguan Wuji," Zhou Ming stood on the city wall, looking at the dense crowd of "Shangguan Wuji" below, feeling at peace.
"It's even faster than I imagined."
In his perception, the "normal consciousnesses" that did not belong to "Shangguan Wuji" became fewer and fewer, until the last one disappeared, and everyone in the world turned into Shangguan Wuji.
Zhou Ming spread his hands, palms facing the sky, as if to embrace the heavens. His entire body transformed into a hazy glow, suddenly dispersing.
The glow spread like waves, passing over every "Shangguan Wuji," and overlapping with this dream world.
"The human world is like Hell, all beings are me, Hell Soul Cleansing, mind and Soul as one."
The entire dream world suddenly turned into a sea of fire.
Everything in this world was cast into the vast flames; everything was burning, melting, becoming one.
The beings in the world, the countless Shangguan Wuji, made no attempt to dodge. They were all waiting, waiting for the moment they would merge together, waiting for the moment the true Shangguan Wuji would awaken.
Everything, absolutely everything, ended in the sea of fire.
Heaven and earth became a fiery furnace, and all things melted into one within the furnace's flames.
That was a peerless Sword.
Before Zhou Ming could clearly see the appearance of that Sword, the Sword had already transformed into a person, a man with temples streaked with gray, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, handsome and refined.
That person's body was still filled with that peerless Aura, as if only the form had changed, while the essence remained that unparalleled Sword.
Then, that person slowly opened his eyes.
When his gaze met Zhou Ming's will, Zhou Ming, who had originally used the Hell Soul Cleansing Scripture to transform himself into heaven and earth, merging with this dream world and refining all of Shangguan Wuji's Souls and wills into one, was suddenly knocked out of this Incarnation of heaven and earth state, reappearing in his physical form.
The two streams of consciousness and thought transmitted information to each other at a speed far exceeding that of light. In an instant, countless exchanges were completed, and their understanding of each other, in that single moment, transformed from strangers to deeply acquainted confidants with shared thoughts.
Then, Shangguan Wuji was seen smiling and nodding to Zhou Ming, extending his right hand.
"I will awaken, and this dream world, which has lasted for twenty years, will also dissipate."
"But before that, with our combined strength, we can still make final use of this dream world."
"Use this great power of heaven and earth to charge towards the supreme path of Sword Dao, to glimpse that Sword Dao Realm that does not belong to this world!"
"Enter that legendary Sword World!"