Song Shuhang had now become the Virtuous Golden Lotus, and that lotus flower planted in the vase in front of him was surely the Sinful Black Lotus in the Netherworld Realm.

Through this dream, Song Shuhang could feel that the Virtuous Golden Lotus and the Sinful Black Lotus in front of him had yet to develop any intelligence. At this time, they were nothing but aesthetically pleasing lotus flowers that someone had planted inside the two vases.

The only problem was that he had no idea how long the golden lotus was going to stay in this vase.

Song Shuhang also thought of the creator of the Virtuous Golden Lotus and Sinful Black Lotus… that Wielder of the Will from ancient times.

Shuhang had never met a Wielder of the Will—an entity that stood at the peak of the world of cultivators—before… but since it was supposed to be eternal, everlasting, and indestructible, etc., its thinking mode was probably going to be very different from that of ordinary cultivators.

Who knew, perhaps the other party might directly nap for several hundred years just because it felt like it?

Now that I’ve turned into a lotus flower, I won’t have to pass several hundred years in this vase, right…?

Song Shuhang was very worried. The last time, when he’d experienced Lady Onion’s life, he’d spent several hundred years in the rain, sun, and wind… he absolutely didn’t want to experience something like this a second time!

He was so bored back then that he thought of killing himself several times!

❄️❄️❄️

Luckily, what Song Shuhang feared did not happen.

The master of the golden and black lotus flowers quickly made its appearance… an earthquake-like sound was transmitted over from afar.

“Tap, tap, tap~”

It was a rhythmical tapping sound, just as though something was jumping around.

Song Shuhang didn’t have arms, legs, or eyes at this time. Therefore, he could only rely on the special sensory organs of the golden lotus to ‘look’ around.

The distant figure quickly approached, and Song Shuhang was finally able to see its appearance clearly. It was a black and white ‘dragon’.

Most black and white, dual-colored dragons didn’t look strange. After all, if there was a black dragon with a white underbelly, it would be considered as a ‘black and white’ dragon as well.

However, the black and white patterns on the body of this male or female dragon were more similar to that of a zebra. The black and white colors alternated and formed a series of uniform stripes.

Beyond that, this zebra-like striped dragon had another very peculiar characteristic… it had only one leg.

Therefore, whenever the striped dragon moved, it was actually jumping around.

This was the reason for that ‘tap, tap, tap’ sound from earlier.

Is this zebra-like striped dragon that Wielder of the Will from ancient times? But can a Wielder of the Will really have such an appearance? Song Shuhang thought to himself.

Just as he was in deep thought, the striped dragon had already bounced until arriving in front of the two lotus flowers.

“They are growing well. These two lotus flowers are like the yin and the yang; they naturally complement and repel each other. Well, since it’s an experiment of mine, it couldn’t be anything but perfect. I was really smart to plant these two flowers here back in the day,” the striped dragon said with a smile.

Song Shuhang had never heard the language the striped dragon was using. The events he was dreaming of had taken place almost at the beginning of time, and it was unknown if human beings already existed back then.

However, what happened just now was similar to what he’d experienced in the Mountain of Myriad Books when he heard the speech of the Sage. Back then, when the Sage started speaking, his voice was automatically ‘translated’ through the power of the world, and all those hearing his voice could understand the meaning behind his words.

At this time, the voice of the striped dragon possessed those same properties.

Song Shuhang couldn’t understand a single word of what it was saying, but he could still understand the meaning behind the words.

“These two lotus flowers will be the core of the experiment I’m about to carry out, and I will condense the key to create a small world inside them,” the striped dragon kept muttering to itself.

After it had said this much, it stood in front of the two lotus flowers and stretched out its dragon mustache, gently stroking the two flowers.

There is no mistaking, this striped dragon is precisely the Wielder of the Will from ancient times that created the Virtuous Golden Lotus and the Sinful Black Lotus…Song Shuhang was excited.

Now, he was very likely going to dream about ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ as it was creating the ‘world of the golden lotus’ and the’ world of the black lotus’.

If he could experience the process of the two worlds getting created, he would certainly find the key to break out of his current predicament!

If he succeeded, he might be able to free all the people trapped in the world of the golden lotus from that endless cycle of death and rebirth!

Just as Song Shuhang was in deep thought, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ stopped stroking the lotus flowers, and a pensive look appeared on its face.

Did ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ discover that I’m impersonating the golden lotus in the dream? Song Shuhang was worried.

Back when he’d been dreaming of Li Tiansu’s life, Daoist Priest Scarlet Heaven had noticed him.

This striped dragon was actually a Wielder of the Will, and its strength far surpassed that of Daoist Priest Scarlet Heaven. Therefore, it surely had the ability to notice him!

How should he face this Wielder of the Will from ancient times if he got discovered?

Just as Song Shuhang was worried, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ returned to its senses and continued stroking the golden black lotus flowers with its mustache. At the same time, it injected a burst of mysterious energy into the two lotus flowers.

He didn’t notice my presence? That’s impossible! This is the Wielder of the Will we are talking about! Song Shuhang was confused. Or is it possible that it simply doesn’t care about my existence?

If it was the first possibility, it was very likely that this Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon had encountered some problem like the Sage of the scholarly faction. Sage had died both in body and soul, and he was unable to sense Song Shuhang’s presence when the latter entered his memories through the ‘Still Pond of Wisdom’ to study that secret technique.

If it was the second possibility, did it mean that Song Shuhang was something akin to a micro-microbe in the eyes of this Wielder of the Will from ancient times, someone who wasn’t even worth mentioning?

❄️❄️❄️

Regardless of the reason, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ didn’t bother Song Shuhang. As such, Shuhang could keep dreaming and see with his own eyes the worlds of the golden and black lotuses taking shape and find the key to solve the situation!

‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ continued to inject energy inside the two lotus flowers.

After around two hours, it retracted its two dragon mustaches.

Then, it bounced away, leaving the place.

Only the two lotus flowers were left in that stretch of space, fluttering in the wind.

Song Shuhang was currently impersonating the golden lotus, and he could feel that a nucleus was slowly taking shape inside the golden lotus.

The nucleus was filled with the power of space.

Was this the so-called ‘key’?

❄️❄️❄️

The second day… well, let’s just call it ‘second day’ for the time being. In this place, there was no sunrise or sunset, and Song Shuhang didn’t bother to calculate how much time had exactly passed.

“Tap~ tap~ tap~” That tapping sound echoed again.

‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ bounced over one more time, and arrived next to the two lotus flowers.

“Not bad. Just like I’ve predicted, the two lotus flowers have started to condense their respective nuclei after receiving my energy. After the two nuclei take shape, they will gain the ability to create a world,” ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ said with a smile.

Afterward, it stretched out its dragon mustache and injected its energy inside the two lotus flowers.

Then, just like yesterday, it bounced away after it was done injecting the energy into the flowers, leaving the place.

The dreaming Song Shuhang carefully examined the nucleus of the golden lotus as it was taking shape and condensing. He didn’t dare to overlook any detail since even the smallest clue might be the key to break through that endless cycle of death and rebirth!

That day, the nucleus inside the golden lotus condensed a bit, with its embryonic form taking shape and a strange rune inside the nucleus becoming partly visible.

❄️❄️❄️

The third day.

‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ bounced over again, and filled the two lotus flowers with energy. After it was done, it bounced away and left the place.

This process was repeated for 81 times!

Finally, on the 81st day, the nuclei—or keys—inside the Sinful Black Lotus and the Virtuous Golden Lotus thoroughly took shape!

The nucleus looked like a small pearl, and there were 81 runes inscribed on it. The surface of the pearl was then covered with a total of 81 dragon scales to ensure its safety.

“It was a success. Now comes the next part of the experiment… giving the flowers enough nourishment and allowing them to create their respective small worlds. Hmm, this process is going to take a very long time. Therefore, I need to look for two good places to reduce the time,” ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ said in a soft voice.

After saying this much, it coiled its dragon mustache around the two lotus flowers, and its body broke through space with just a thought, arriving in another world.

❄️❄️❄️

The world ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ had teleported to was the ‘Netherworld Realm’. The whole place was full of evil and foul energy, as well as devilish sounds that lured people into falling into depravity.

Then, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ teleported again and arrived in the place with the highest concentration of evil energy in the entire Netherworld Realm—a huge demonic sea.

Compared to this sea, the ‘unholy pond’ that the scholarly faction had created during the past several thousand years wasn’t even worth mentioning.

‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ said, “You will stay in this place from now and absorb the energy of the Netherworld Realm. Here, you can grow free from worries, and with that guy here, not a single demon in the Netherworld Realm will be able to injure you.”

After saying this much, it stretched out its hand and pulled the golden lotus out of the vase, throwing it inside the demonic sea.

The golden lotus immediately took root after falling into the demonic sea, starting to absorb the foul energy of the Netherworld inside the sea like crazy.

A smile appeared on the ‘dragon face’ of Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon. “Not bad. With the rich energy in this place, it won’t take more than a hundred years for the golden lotus to mature, haha.”

After smiling, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ moved again and disappeared from the airspace of the demonic sea. From the looks of it, it had gone to plant the Sinful Black Lotus.

“…” Song Shuhang.

Judging from the words of ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’, he would have to stay in this place as the golden lotus for something like a hundred years, continuously absorbing nutrients?

In other words, he would have to pass a hundred years in this demonic sea in the form of a golden lotus while exposed to sun, wind, and rain?

It seemed he had been unable to escape his fate in the end.

At first, he’d thought that he might not need to personally experience the several hundred years long life of the golden lotus, but little did he expect that these hundred years would be quietly lying in ambush behind the corner!

A whole hundred years! How could he endure them?!

Couldn’t someone accompany him for a chat? Or tell him funny jokes to improve his mood?

Just as Song Shuhang was in deep thought, ripples formed in the airspace of the demonic sea.

In the next moment, ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ actually came back.

However, it didn’t gently stroke the golden lotus this time. On the other hand, it quietly hovered in the air and coldly stared at Song Shuhang, who was posing as the golden lotus.

Song Shuhang got a scare after getting stared at like that.

It was very strange… why did he feel as if ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ had turned into a completely different person?

Was it possible that ‘Wielder of the Will Striped Dragon’ suffered from schizophrenia?