Chapter 779: Propping Up the World's Esports Industry

It was... a realm of eternal beauty, a boundless starry sky.

Above the star-strewn expanse, imagery of ambiguous meaning seemed to drift.

In the Half City shop, Zou Mo, who had been rescued by Owner Fang and become a clerk there, had never suffered from nightmares since then.

Yet recently, bizarre nightmares had come one after another...

"They... will forever be imprisoned here; their strength can never pierce the endless void, and they... can never transcend beyond this world."

"But to every rule, there is an exception..."

Within the dream, he seemed to behold a figure whose face could not be discerned.

Before that silhouette lay a stretch of blinding golden light.

Immediately following, he seemed to see a cauldron swarming with all kinds of dreadful, exotic insects; when the lid opened, these terrible entities, having been dormant for far too long, were suddenly startled and thrown into a frenzy.

As a faint blue spiritual light descended, he seemed to witness countless crawling things vying to devour each other!

Yet it did not seem entirely clear; the contents of the dream were exceptionally bizarre and surreal, and those struggling, writhing things did not quite seem to be insects after all.

Just then... suddenly... a pair of eyes seemed to look toward Zou Mo.

At that exact instant, the hairs all over Zou Mo's body stood on end.

"Ah—!" Shivering violently, he awoke with a start from the counter.

"What is it?" Even Ruan Ning beside him was startled into standing up from her seat.

"So... sorry!" Zou Mo said with some guilt, "...I didn't... didn't sleep well last night."

...

Meanwhile, within the grand hall of Saint Heinz.

"Then... in that war back then... did anyone truly take that final step?" Saint Dulan asked in a heavy voice.

"In that war back then, not a single person took that step," Saint Heinz said impassively, "Because... that divine shard... perhaps referred to as the 'Dao Seed' in the Eastern Continent, shattered."

"Sha... shattered?!" Saint Dulan exclaimed in astonishment.

"For the Eastern Continent, this requires the alignment of heavenly timing, geographical advantage, and human harmony; whereas for us, it requires a trinity," Saint Heinz explained, "Therefore, we can only wait for a new opportunity to arrive."

...

Upon the Abyssal Sea.

Two figures still stood upon the reefs by the shore of the Abyssal Sea.

The wild winds raged furiously.

Within the eyes of both, there seemed to linger a divine light of remembrance.

"Ascending to the path of a True Immortal is... like gu insects devouring one another."

"The heavenly timing approaches... when that moment comes, all worlds will surely fall into utter chaos..."

"Perhaps, one day, they will destroy themselves in this manner."

...

In the afternoon, at the Grand Heaven Faction's Celestial Sound Pavilion.

This ancient and exquisite pavilion was said to be named because the patriarch of the Grand Heaven Faction had listened to celestial melodies here, subsequently achieving a profound understanding of the Great Dao.

It was also the highest-specification venue for preaching the Dao in the entire Grand Heaven Faction.

It was said that anyone capable of preaching here was at the very least a highly powerful and respected faction elder, and such an event to open the Celestial Sound Pavilion occurred only once every few centuries, or even... millennia.

Inside the pavilion, one could smell a fragrance resembling that of orchids and magical herbs; the premium spiritual incense possessed an excellent effect of refreshing the mind. Although Owner Fang's lecture here was a spontaneous whim, the Grand Heaven Faction had clearly instructed their disciples to prepare early, and each of them sat with extreme rectitude upon the cushions in the pavilion, looking as though they had already bathed, burned incense, and fasted for three days.

The central pathway was paved with white flowers, and portraits of ancestors hung on both sides; without a doubt, every single person whose portrait could hang here represented a brilliant star of a bygone era.

At the very front, besides the white-robed Elder Xiao Yunhe and the black-robed elder, there were several other elders who had only been seen in the main hall before.

And behind them were precisely the six most outstanding disciples of the Grand Heaven Faction; among them, two sat closest to the center. One male and one female, the man on the left wore a white robe and carried a jade sword, looking handsome and solemn; he was the first disciple, Zhuge Qinlong, the most talented young disciple of the Grand Heaven Faction and the first disciple of the sect master.

The woman on the right, with white attire and hair styled in clouds, possessed a gentle and tranquil demeanor; her name was Yu Yin, and though she had entered the sect much later, her talent was by no means inferior to the first disciple, Zhuge Qinlong.

Then, Owner Fang was seen striding in from outside the door.

As Owner Fang walked past, the hairs of a group of female disciples nearby stood on end, and they almost broke into a cold sweat.

Meanwhile, Zhang Feng and several other male disciples broke into a cold sweat as well, remembering the special effects that had been added back then...

"Ahem—!" Clearing his throat, "To be honest, I really didn't know I would be dragged up here to give a lecture, so I'll just say a few random words."

"This opening line...??"

"Eh?"

Several elders: "...Why does this style feel a bit off...?"

"The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao," Owner Fang said, "Meaning that this thing called the Dao can only be sensed intuitively but cannot be expressed in words; if it is spoken aloud, then it is no longer the eternal and constant Great Dao we refer to, but merely the Dao of a single person."

"Hiss—!" Several elders in the front row shuddered, instantly staring at Owner Fang in dumbfounded astonishment.

"The Dao that can be spoken of... is not the eternal Dao!?" Carefully pondering the meaning behind Owner Fang's words, how did the lecture suddenly become so profound?

A crowd of disciples below hurriedly memorized it in silence.

Changing the topic: "Therefore, we should consider ourselves more."

"Consider ourselves?" The white-robed Elder Xiao Yunhe clearly did not understand.

"Yes," Owner Fang replied, "You can never completely comprehend it, but you can continuously improve yourself, allowing... your own understanding of it to become deeper step by step."

"Improve oneself? Put this way... does that not mean one can only isolate oneself to cultivate martial arts within the faction every day?" The black-robed elder asked in perplexity.

"Of course not," Owner Fang spoke, "Have you all... heard of esports?"

"Esports?!" A crowd of cultivators from the Grand Heaven Faction sat below, looking at each other in mutual bewilderment.

"Let me tell you a story." Thus, Owner Fang began to tell them about... something like the Sword Discussion on Mount Hua, and... "Shattering the Void"...

"This... is esports?" Xiao Yunhe asked curiously.

"No..." Owner Fang spoke, "Esports is different; esports accomplishes all of this through virtual competition."

Then he slowly went on to talk about professional leagues... and a certain Domain of Gods, and various great gods.

Next, he spoke of the great god UZI, and the Demon King Faker...

"Great gods!? Demon King!?" Several elders were truly stunned this time, "Does the Senior mean... that through this method of competition, one can continuously improve oneself, and ultimately become... a 'Great God'!?"

"But..." He shook his head and said, "The patriarch once said that human strength cannot possibly achieve self-transcendence."

"And not everyone possesses an inhuman talent like Senior!"

"Then that is even more correct," Owner Fang spread his hands and said, "Your patriarch only said strength cannot achieve it, he didn't say technique cannot achieve it; as the saying goes, mastery of technique approaches the Dao, so if you don't come to play esports, who else will!"

"So..." Xiao Yunhe said in horror, "We... need to play this electronic sports!?"

.