The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

A vast ocean, broken islands, and rolling waves.

Lei Zhan stood on the void, high in the sky, his eyes slightly closed.

At this moment, Lei Zhan no longer paid attention to either the recently defeated Betalieu or the unseen gazes he sensed.

Because, right there in the sea of ​​consciousness between Lei Zhan's eyebrows, a tremendous transformation was taking place.

"boom!!!"

At this moment, the powerful mental force completely interfered with reality.

The power of the heart is extending, and illusion and reality are converging.

A 'dot' was born.

It's as if a chaotic world was born from a 'heart of the world'.

At the center of his brow, this single 'point' seemed to be giving birth to the heart of the chaotic world, and it was changing wildly at this moment.

Rumble~~~
It's as if a 'singularity' contains infinite possibilities, and within this 'point', the world has already been created, and the world has begun to evolve and be born.

This... is the world of the heart!
The sixth level of mental power – the world!
Lei Zhan had already reached the threshold of this level, and with enough accumulation, he could naturally break through.

However, if he had not personally experienced the arrival of Betalieu's projection of the world of the heart, Lei Zhan would probably have needed to go through many things and see many things before he could finally break through.

This time, however, good fortune came to his heart, and Lei Zhan finally took this step, his mental strength crossed the threshold, and he reached the sixth level.

From then on, illusion influenced reality, opening up the 'world of the heart' and becoming a true practitioner of mental power.

"Hoo." Lei Zhan opened his eyes, glanced at Betalieu in the distance, and turned to leave.

"This, this, you..." Betalieu stared wide-eyed at Lei Zhan, his face full of disbelief. "You... created the World of the Heart?"

He had just sensed that peculiar aura fluctuation.

As a powerful cultivator of mental strength, Betalieu was very familiar with this fluctuation of energy, and it was precisely because of this familiarity that he was so shocked.

"Hmm." Lei Zhan nodded lightly. "My mental strength has been at the peak of the fifth level for a long time, and I have accumulated enough. Now, it's just a natural progression."

"It's a natural progression?" Bertaleleer was somewhat taken aback, but he immediately understood. "No wonder my illusions had no effect on you at all."

"I'm gone!" Lei Zhan shook his head and then disappeared into the sky.

Lei Zhan has only just opened up the world of the heart; he still needs to build it.

It should be understood that the larger the mental world of a cultivator, the stronger their mental power, and the greater their strength.

Building a 'World of the Heart' is a very meticulous task, and it is naturally not suitable to build it in this cave world.

……

Star Island.

Inside the Huanyu Liuyun Palace.

Lei Zhan sat cross-legged on the futon, silently thinking to himself:
"Now I have defeated Betalieu, who is also the only one on the sixth level in the entire Star Island."

"During this time, no one can challenge me to a duel. This is enough time for me to build a vast world of the heart."

With a single thought, Lei Zhan immediately immersed himself in his own inner world.

A grain of sand contains a world; a leaf contains a Bodhi tree.

Although the world of the heart that Lei Zhan has built is now only a small 'dot' between his eyebrows, the space contained in that single dot can be infinitely vast.

The size of your heart determines the size of your world.

It is even possible to build a world of the heart that is even larger than the 'Great Mo Domain'.

However, for a normal cultivator on the verge of achieving enlightenment, their mental world is only comparable in size to a territory.

A cultivator who has reached the Perfect World Realm can build a mental world that is comparable to a chaotic world by relying on the Dao he comprehends at the Perfect World Realm.
To break through this bottleneck, one's own Dao must reach the level of the Dao Lord of Life and Death.

“Huhuhu~~~”

At this moment, the world of my heart is still shrouded in mist, like the primordial chaos before the creation of heaven and earth.

"World of the Heart, open!" A voice resounded throughout this space.

Suddenly, as if Pangu were creating the world, the mist began to dissipate, the earth began to stretch out in all directions, and the sky began to rise continuously upwards...

At the same time, the entire world of the heart began to continuously draw upon the power of chaos.

Inside the Flowing Cloud Palace of the Universe, a massive amount of Chaos Crystals are being consumed continuously, while the entire World of the Heart is expanding rapidly.

"It's comparable to a chaotic world." Lei Zhan looked at the vast world that was between illusion and reality. The entire world was a hundred billion in diameter, incredibly vast and magnificent, comparable to a chaotic world.

The world is permeated with the power of spacetime, which is unpredictable; this is a world of 'spacetime'.

"Open again!" With a thought, Lei Zhan realized that four of the five styles of time and space had already reached their strongest level.

Although they could not be perfectly combined, the strongest single path was already comparable to some second-step Dao Lords.

Furthermore, the four strongest paths allowed Lei Zhan to barely rival some weaker three-step Dao Lords in his comprehension of the Dao.

Lei Zhan began to expand the 'World of the Heart' with the Five Styles of Time and Space as its core.

"Rumble~~~~"

The color of heaven and earth changes.

At the very center of the world of the heart, the earth began to rise continuously, and five huge and majestic mountains grew out.

The mountains continued to 'grow,' with the four representative mountains—'Annihilation,' 'Thousand Realms,' 'Reincarnation,' and 'Fleeting Shadow'—reaching heights of billions of miles.

The other mountain, representing 'shattered stars,' is over a billion miles high. These five mountains, stretching as far as the eye can see, resemble an inverted giant hand, standing tall at the center of the entire world. The power of these five mountains radiates throughout the entire world of the heart, and at the same time, they are the external manifestation of the Way of Time and Space.

Meanwhile, the world of the mind was growing wildly. Ten times, a hundred times, the expansion was astonishingly fast.

……

Just as Lei Zhan was constructing the World of the Heart within the Time Acceleration Treasure, at the bottom of the Dark Abyss, the powerful beings all wore inscrutable expressions.

This level of strength is already powerful enough, and now he has opened up a world of the mind, becoming a cultivator of mental power.
In the endless realm, cultivators of mental power are extremely rare.

The last cultivator in Mangya Kingdom who could achieve this level was none other than the Palace Master of the Sword Palace, Palace Master Li Xing.

That being, however, killed an Eternal Emperor with just three strikes.

"The world of the heart? This is how the world of the heart is opened up?"

King Wu clicked his tongue in amazement, "The talent of you cultivators is truly heaven-defying!"

"There are already few mental power cultivators in the endless territory, and those who walk the path to the strongest mental power cultivator are even more terrifying. I really look forward to this little guy's future!"

"It seems this little guy is also incredibly talented in mental strength," a powerful figure from the Flame Palace remarked.

"Still a little kid? Guiyi's understanding of the Dao is so strong, and he has become a mental power cultivator. He can almost stand shoulder to shoulder with you and me at any time."

"This little guy has become a mental power cultivator! It seems... Lan Zhou is in for a headache!"

The powerful figure, with a weathered look on his face, chuckled mockingly, "Such a prodigy, the Time and Space Palace and the Mental Power Palace probably won't let him go easily. Perhaps even the Great Ruler is keeping an eye on him..."

"Mu Hua!" The blue-eyed Daoist Lan Zhou glared at Daoist Mu Hua, his heart filled with complex emotions.

Before this, Daoist Lanzhou was quite certain that this precious gem, who had embarked on multiple of the strongest paths, could only belong to their Time and Space Palace.

They had even planned out Lei Zhan's future, and if Lei Zhan did not perish prematurely, they were even prepared to let him take over the position of Palace Master of the Time and Space Palace.

But now...

"Now that Guiyi has become a mental power cultivator, he is even more dazzling. And the Mental Power Palace is already small in number, so it probably won't let this opportunity pass. It's even possible that they've already notified Fuyi."

Daoist Lanzhou frowned slightly and said, "That fellow Fu Yi is easy to deal with; he's just the deputy palace master of the Heart Power Palace. But what if that fellow Xingyun Palace Master hears the news and comes back..."

Lan Zhou Daojun felt a headache coming on whenever he thought of Xingyun Palace Master.

It should be noted that the Dao Lords of the Heart Power Palace are truly few and far between, only a handful, yet it is one of the most terrifying palaces among the twelve palaces.

It's because the Heart Power Palace is really powerful. In particular, if the Palace Master of the Heart Power Palace were to make a move, even the Eternal Emperor would have to turn pale and retreat.

If possible, Daoist Lanzhou would not want to easily confront the Palace Master of Xingyun Palace.

"If all else fails, we'll have to plead with the Great Ruler. This little prodigy is so incredibly talented, and he's also on the path of time and space..."

Daoist Lanzhou muttered to himself, "I wonder what the Master was thinking. Wouldn't it have been better to just let that little guy join my Time and Space Palace? Why did he have to drag him to Star Island... and now the Heart Power Palace has got its eye on him!"

"A world of the heart has been opened up..." The powerful figure from the Heart Power Palace, hidden beneath the black robe, was also extremely excited.

"Those who can embark on the strongest path already possess a strong Dao heart. Now, they have also opened up a world of the heart..."

"No, we have to find a way to notify the Palace Master as soon as possible! Only if the Palace Master comes in person will we have a chance to compete with the Time-Space Palace."

The figure in black robes, his face hidden beneath the mist, glanced around impassively, then looked at the Palace Master of the Time and Space Palace, who was deep in thought, while secretly crushing a communication talisman in his hand.

……

The stacked Chaos Crystals were being consumed at an alarming rate, while simultaneously supplying the birth of the 'World of the Heart'.

Fortunately, Lei Zhan is now quite wealthy, and even many Dao Lords on the verge of achieving Dao Integration are envious and go crazy after learning about the magical treasures Lei Zhan possesses.

Fortunately, building a world of the mind consumes very little energy compared to building a real, physical world.

Therefore, Lei Zhan didn't care at all about the consumption of Chaos Crystals, which would make many Dao Lords feel sorry for them.

Finally, after another short while, the world of the heart also stopped expanding.

"I've reached my limit," Lei Zhan thought to himself.

As the builder of the world of the heart, Lei Zhan has absolute control over the entire world of the heart and can know everything with a single thought.

"Nearly two hundred billion miles in diameter..." The phantom of consciousness stood atop the majestic mountain at the center of the world; this was the current limit of expansion.

Looking at the whole world, the world of the heart that stretches out is boundless.

The vast world has plains, mountains, lakes, oceans, and so on, just like a real world.

This world exists between illusion and reality; though constructed with mental effort, it is remarkably stable.

"The concept of time and space seems quite suitable for constructing the world of the heart." Lei Zhan couldn't help but sigh as he perceived everything within the world.

Nearly two hundred billion miles, it is comparable in size to an eternal realm created by those eternal emperors.

In such a vast world, if Reizen were to fight Betalieu again, the projection generated by this world of the heart alone would likely be enough to crush his opponent.

"Legend has it that when a practitioner of mental power reaches the ultimate level, the world of the mind will become the real world."

"At that time, everything in the world of the heart will be real. The treasures created will be real treasures. The rare and precious materials formed will also be real..."

Lei Zhan thought to himself, but his eyes were filled with a dazzling light.

This is the ultimate goal of mental power practitioners, and now that Lei Zhan has become one of them, he naturally yearns for this goal as well.

"However, I am destined to walk the ultimate path, and the path of time and space is also very suitable for building a world of the heart. Someday in the future..."

"It is probably not an unrealistic goal to achieve this."

...(End of chapter)