Extra: When I am thousands of times, the end

What is real, and what is false?

All those worlds he had experienced.

Those vivid faces, those stirring past events.

Rivers, lakes, seas, and mountain breezes.

Love, hate, grudges, and the obsession with longevity.

Heroes, cowards, saints, and sinners.

…Were these all false?

Initially, Qiao Sidao was somewhat bewildered.

He felt that if everything in the world was illusory, then what meaning did the lives of the ignorant Zhong Sheng have?

The divine Cultivation Techniques, Magic Treasures, and Cultivation Realm they yearned for and painstakingly pursued would all have to start over once time and space reset.

The death they feared would no longer be the end of life, but another beginning.

In this life, they might be close friends who shared life and death, but in the next, they would become strangers.

How desolate was that?

During that period of confusion, Qiao Sidao seemed to lose interest in everything.

He even became so disheartened that he began actively spreading the truth that this world was false.

He originally thought this would attract the attention of the 'Observers' from outside, leading to his ultimate liberation.

What Qiao Sidao hadn't expected was that no one believed him at all.

Instead, they all mocked him as a madman.

Qiao Sidao exhausted himself trying to tell people the truth, only to be met with impatient scolding.

“Then let’s see if this daddy’s sword is real or not!”

When he annoyed others, a sword light would even flash by, directly severing his legs.

At that time, Qiao Sidao saw no trace of pity in the eyes of the people around him.

All he saw was schadenfreude.

There were so many crazy people in the world; why would the Observer from beyond the firmament care?

From then on, Qiao Sidao also sobered up, abandoning the idea of exposing this shocking conspiracy.

He re-adjusted his mindset and tried to integrate into each world as much as possible in every life.

He gave up on the idea of being a savior, only seeking a way out for himself.

As a member of a false world, escaping from it was destined to be incredibly difficult.

At first, Qiao Sidao was also at a loss.

However, he quickly found a way. He no longer loudly proclaimed to others that this world was false.

Instead, he compiled novels and storybooks, describing numerous illusory Cultivation Worlds that existed for mere moments within an Immortal’s Magic Treasure called the [Lantern of Reincarnation].

With his experience from countless civilizations, the scenes he depicted were naturally grand and expansive, attracting the attention of many Cultivators.

As the storybooks slowly spread, Qiao Sidao discovered that some Cultivators actually began actively discussing whether the world they inhabited was real.

Naturally, the topic of “what to do if one truly discovers the world is false” also became a subject of discussion within a small circle.

“If it can be mistaken for the real thing, then it means that the operating Laws of this false world must be copied from the real world outside.”

“Reconstructing a flawless world structure…”

“To achieve this is almost equivalent to creation. There’s no talk of true or false then.”

“Indeed, there is truth within the false. Even if the Zhong Sheng of this world are false, the foundational Laws of the world’s operation may not be false!”

“Speaking of which, I am reminded of the Taiyan Sect’s hua dao stone. It is said that within it, countless worlds self-evolve in every instant. I wonder what those fleeting worlds are like.”

…Gathering wisdom.

The discussions among the many Cultivators pointed Qiao Sidao to a clear path.

From then on, his goal became clear.

In each life, he no longer pursued the Cultivation Realm, but instead immersed himself in minor paths like Formations, Restrictions, and Deduction Arts.

While cultivation could not be retained with each Reincarnation, memories could.

In Qiao Sidao’s vision, by slowly accumulating knowledge bit by bit, he would eventually find a flaw in this [False World] one day, once he mastered enough knowledge.

The idea was beautiful. But in practice, it was fraught with difficulties.

Initially, Qiao Sidao's skill in these minor paths indeed advanced by leaps and bounds.

He quickly went from knowing nothing to rapidly getting started.

But when he truly wanted to master them, he discovered the extent of the Cultivation World's monopoly on this knowledge.

What could be learned in ordinary Sects were merely the most basic methods. In the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, information on this aspect was even scarcer.

To truly seek the essence, one still had to go to the Immortal Dao Ten Sects.

But how could someone with mediocre Aptitude enter an Immortal Sect?

This was true even in ancient times, let alone in the Cultivation World after the Sects were destroyed.

Only a few worlds, such as when the Immortal Net descended and the Immortal Alliance unified, could provide suitable learning environments.

If it were only this, Qiao Sidao believed he was constantly making progress.

Given enough time, he might not be unable to find a way to Break through the world.

But…

After Qiao Sidao experienced his 9999th world.

He did not reincarnate into a new world, but instead arrived in a vast blue ocean.

There, Qiao Sidao witnessed a scene that would forever be etched in his memory.

Dense, countless Divine Souls were squeezed together.

From above, one could vaguely see faces that seemed to be in deep slumber.

Within the great sea, a whirlpool formed. Millions of Divine Souls also churned continuously in the ocean.

Divine Souls collided and crushed each other, some directly shattering and dissolving into the ocean.

Others absorbed the remnant souls in the seawater, becoming more refined through recombination.

It felt like a long needle constantly stirring in Qiao Sidao's mind, bringing immense pain amidst the spinning world.

What Qiao Sidao found even harder to accept was his horrified discovery that some of the memories in his Divine Soul were slowly disappearing amidst the waves of the怨魂之海 (Sea of Resentful Souls).

Despair slowly filled his heart, and Qiao Sidao gradually lost consciousness.

When his “true self” memory reawakened, he didn't know how many Reincarnations had passed.

Just like before, he inexplicably woke up without any warning.

Although most of his memories were lost, key information such as the [False Realm] and the [Sea of Resentful Souls], as well as some fragmented Formation knowledge, remained deeply imprinted in the depths of his Divine Soul.

“It seems to be to prevent other Divine Souls from Awakening their Reincarnation memories like me. Every so often, they perform a cleansing on us.”

“During this cleansing, I will lose most of my memories.”

“If my speed of accumulating knowledge is too slow, then I will never be able to master the method to escape from here.”

After some calculations, Qiao Sidao came to this conclusion.

Even so, he did not give up easily.

Having seen too much, Qiao Sidao had already understood one principle: if the number of iterations is large enough, then anything strange can happen.

Just like himself, who should not have been able to inherit and retain the Reincarnation memories of each life.

But it happened anyway.

Qiao Sidao lay dormant, waiting.

After an unknown number of cleansings in the Sea of Resentful Souls, he finally found an opportunity to break free.

It was a highly developed world called [Immortal Realm of Eternity].

Not only were the average Lifespans extremely long, with even non-Cultivators living for thousands of years, but there was also a great existence called the [Immortal Spirit Tower].

The Immortal Spirit Tower was located in every corner of the world, continuously releasing pure Spiritual Qi day and night.

More importantly, all knowledge.

Cultivation Techniques, Formations, Alchemy, medicine refining…

Everything, you could inquire about and learn in the Immortal Spirit Tower, without any Restrictions.

Looking at the vast amount of information in the Immortal Spirit Tower, like stars in the sky, Qiao Sidao trembled uncontrollably.

He understood that the way for him to escape was hidden within it.

So Qiao Sidao studied day and night.

He lived in the Immortal Realm of Eternity for three thousand six hundred and fifty-eight years, never leaving the Immortal Spirit Tower for a single step.

Although he was still a long way from seeing through the [False World],

Qiao Sidao finally saw hope.

After experiencing several thousand more Reincarnations, when he awoke from another great cleansing,

Qiao Sidao was pleasantly surprised to find that, perhaps due to his Divine Soul being more resilient, the memory loss this time was much less than before.

This gave him even more confidence.

He continued to accumulate knowledge and insights, waiting for the next descent of the [Immortal Realm of Eternity].

…When Qiao Sidao arrived in the [Immortal Realm of Eternity] for the ninth time.

At the end of his life, he finally uncovered the secret of the world he was in.

This was a false world created with a certain miraculous Deduction Artifact as its core.

Most of the living beings in the world were virtual existences.

Only a small portion possessed true Divine Souls.

And he, Qiao Sidao, was one of those millions of Divine Souls.

“Deduction has its limits.”

“This also means that the time in this world has gaps.”

“Each smallest interval is my opportunity to escape from here.”

“Of course, to avoid being noticed by outsiders, it's best to do it when the world restarts.”

Qiao Sidao stood at the top of the Immortal Spirit Tower, looking at the firmament above, and thought silently.

He used the rest of his life to prepare.

When his Lifespan ended, and he sank into a void of darkness,

Qiao Sidao woke up with a start from his slumber.

He sensed that fleeting opportunity, like a fine thread, breaking through the boundary and escaping.

He had imagined the scene of the [Outside World] tens of thousands of times in his mind.

He had also imagined confronting the potential [Observers].

But Qiao Sidao never would have thought that the so-called outside world would be so cold and vast.

His Divine Soul, which he had originally thought was powerful to the extreme, was in peril under the invasion of the cold Qi.

It seemed as if it would vanish into thin air the next second.

Even more critically, an unusual sound came from the halo of light behind him, from which he had escaped.

It seemed to be some kind of alarm.

Floating aimlessly in the air, Qiao Sidao surveyed the surroundings.

“A museum…?”

He fell silent.

So his world was merely an exhibit.

He could vaguely feel several powerful auras rushing towards him.

The world was vast, but there was no place for him to hide.

Qiao Sidao finally felt what true despair was.

Just then…

He saw a human skull in the center of the museum.

It lay there quietly, as if looking at him.

From the skull, Qiao Sidao felt an immense warmth.

When the whole world was rejecting him, it was doing its best to show him the greatest kindness.

Like a mother's embrace, it brought tears to Qiao Sidao's eyes.

Thus, as his Divine Soul was about to dissipate,

Qiao Sidao, with his last shred of strength, burrowed into the skull.

One more chapter of the main text will be released later.