Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 575 The Sixteenth Dimension

Lei Chi looked at the innocent-looking beings in the Floating Pagoda and said, "Senior brother, the corpse of the Cowardly Emperor has stood here for 500,000 years. Even if he once carried many treasures, do you think it's still your or my turn to collect them?"

"Ugh!"

The Buddha sighed heavily, "We finally met the Patriarch, but gained nothing. It's so disheartening."

Lei Chi said, "A Great Emperor is a cosmic wonder, a mystery of the universe. To witness it is an opportunity, so how could one gain nothing?"

"Junior brother, your realm is too profound!" Futu Zhongsheng shook his head. "Never mind, I'll take a few more glances and bow a few more times."

After saying that, he solemnly bowed three more times to the corpse of the Cowardly Emperor.

As soon as the worship was finished, a bright butterfly suddenly flew out from between the eyebrows of the cowardly emperor's corpse. The butterfly was spiritual, and with its wings fluttering, it flew straight to the people of the Buddha.

The Buddha was taken aback. He stretched out a finger, and the luminous butterfly landed on it, then quickly melted away and disappeared.

"This is... the secret cultivation method for the final stage of the Divine Sword Technique!"

The beings of the Buddha were overjoyed and bowed repeatedly to the corpse of the cowardly emperor.

Lei Chi let out a soft "hmm," slightly surprised, but shook his head meaningfully before flying straight toward the Emperor of Imagination.

The body of the Fantasy Emperor was as tall as that of the Coward Emperor, and as lifeless as a statue. The Advanced AI could not detect any energy fluctuations within it.

Lei Chi stopped about ten zhang away from him, then cupped his hands and said, "I am Da Yitong, and I am honored to pay my respects to the Great Emperor Kongxiang. Please forgive my intrusion."

After saying this, Lei Chi had a thought, and a cosmic ring suddenly appeared behind him.

The so-called Cosmic Ring looks like a spinning, dazzling galaxy vortex. It hangs behind Lei Chi, as thin as paper, and is a projection of the fourth universe within Lei Chi's body.

"I know that there exists a power of imagination in the universe, existing outside of all matter and transcending the constraints of time and space. It is a unique kind of energy. I wish to simulate the universe within my body, to observe, contain, and create this power of imagination. May I ask Your Majesty for guidance?"

Lei Chi spoke sincerely, but the corpse of the Dream Emperor showed no reaction whatsoever.

"If I achieve anything in the future, I will remember the cause and effect of today. Please enlighten me, Your Majesty!"

Lei Chi bowed again, then sat quietly opposite the corpse of the Imaginary Emperor. He used the Cosmic Ring to display the mysteries of the Fourth Universe within his body, while also carefully observing the corpse of the Imaginary Emperor.

"Junior brother, that's just a corpse. How can he instruct you? Could it be that, like our patriarch, he left behind a portion of his consciousness before he died? But even so, you're not his successor. What right does he have to guide you?"

Futu Zhong Sheng shook his head, but also sat down cross-legged beside Lei Chi and quietly began to cultivate the secret technique of the final stage of the Divine Sword Manual.

About an hour later, Lei Chi suddenly noticed a strange energy silently emanating from the body of the Fantasy Emperor, forming a lotus shape, and moving closer to him.

Lei Chi understood immediately and used the Hongchen Gourd to guide this power into the fourth universe within his body.

In that fourth universe, the energy took on a human form, though its appearance was not visible, its shape was very similar to that of the Imaginary Emperor.

A projection of Lei Chi's consciousness appeared to the side, bowed, and said, "Welcome, Great Emperor!"

"A mere wisp of dying regret, unworthy of worship!"

The figure waved its hand, standing in the void, gazing at the fourth universe of Thunder Pool. After a long while, it slowly said, "Imagination has two meanings! From deep within, the first is faith! What is faith?"

Lei Chi bowed again, clasping his hands in greeting, and said, "Please enlighten me!"

"In short, the power of faith is the power that exists because you believe! Whether you see it or not, whether you know it or not, I believe it exists! I believe there is light, and there is light somewhere; I believe there is fire, and there is fire somewhere; I believe there is God, and there is God somewhere! This is the first level of fantasy, which can be further expressed as the power of faith, the power of belief, and the power of conviction, which is the foundation of fantasy creation."

As the illusory voice rang out, Lei Chi keenly sensed that deep within his fourth universe, a ray of light, a ball of fire, and a radiant god had suddenly been born.

That light, that or, that god, is not real, not even a phantom, but merely a projection of consciousness, which will soon dissipate.

"The power of faith, the power of belief, and the power of conviction are all the power of belief. Is the power of belief the first layer of meaning of the power of imagination?"

Lei Chi was shaken and felt greatly enlightened.

He had previously studied the art of faith in the "Degree Nerve," and its theories were quite similar to those of the "Imaginary Emperor," except that the "Imaginary Emperor's" definition of faith power was clearly broader.

The phantom of the Emperor of Imagination continued, "The second meaning of the power of imagination is the power of will! Will is the will of a grand ambition, the will of a blessing! Meaningless imagination is just imagination. When it is condensed into a will, it can create inexplicable cause and effect. The power of will can be a sword, the power of will can be a law. The mystery within is beyond words. You should ponder it yourself."

Lei Chi nodded in agreement.

"You are a soulless being, and you are not supposed to cultivate the power of imagination. You are using this universe to simulate and bear it, and we don't know how it will end. If you succeed, do not forget what I said before."

The phantom of the Emperor of Imagination began to rapidly dissipate after saying this.

Lei Chi said, "I will never forget!"

The illusory figure nodded and said, "All cause and effect can be reduced to imagination. Five hundred thousand years ago, I released it, making it travel bound in a black coffin, because I had a wish. If your wishful thinking has come true, then please return its freedom!"

"Of course!"

"Finally, with this last vestige of my will, I give you a warning: the sixth level of the Great Tomb holds immense terror, and can only be traversed by ascending to the heavens. If you enter that sixth level, remember not to harbor any greed..."

At this point, the phantom of the Imaginary Emperor completely vanished.

Lei Chi cupped his hands in greeting again, and as he stood up, a multicolored [Great Tiger] appeared simultaneously in one of the 1600 worlds of this fourth universe.

The Great Tiger seemed to be patrolling the heavens, moving at incredible speed, appearing as if it were real, but in reality, it was merely a figment of Lei Chi's imagination.

Daydreaming, effortless!

But clearly, Lei Chi's fantasies are now powerless and unable to interfere with the material world.

Lei Chi, however, gained control of the Imaginary Dimension and became a sixteen-dimensional being.

"From this day forward, this fourth universe will be a pseudo-imaginary universe! Imagination relies on the soul, but I have no soul, so it is difficult for me to achieve the Great Dao through imagination. However, from now on, it will be extremely easy for beings in this fourth universe to cultivate the power of imagination! The arts of faith and the power of will will flourish here!"

Lei Chi pondered silently.

Meanwhile, in the fourth universe, Lampak, the exiled leader of the Vedas, suddenly had an epiphany. He sat cross-legged in the void, and the scenes of the world opening up that he had seen before replayed in his mind. The contents of the Faith Technique manual bestowed upon him by the Thunder Pool surfaced in his mind.

He suddenly had a profound realization.

"My faith is wrong!"

He suddenly raised his hands high and proclaimed loudly, "Brother Lan Parker, I am honored to pay homage to the Great Unity. I have understood, I have understood..."

At that moment, he completely abandoned his original faith, no longer worshipping the Lord of the Vedas, but instead thought of creating a new religion to spread his thoughts, ideas, and insights.

"This planet is named Heavenly Thunder. I attained enlightenment here, and thus founded the Heavenly Thunder Sect. I also built my headquarters here, which I named Heavenly Thunder Temple!"

Lan Parker felt a surge of inspiration and immediately began constructing the main altar and temple, while also considering where to expand his followers...

Also in this fourth universe, on a planet called the Witch, [Heavenly Wrath] remained silent, while [Imagination] beside it was very active. It kept jumping, trying to break free of the chains on its body, but in the end it could not break free.

Clang, clang...

The chains struck the coffin of the God of Locks, producing a crisp metallic tremor.

Suddenly, a light shone on the Coffin of Gods, and a phantom image quietly appeared on the coffin lid.

It was the silhouette of a woman with long, flowing black hair, wearing a black robe, her face obscured.

After it appeared, [Imagination] was as if it had been electrocuted, its body convulsed several times, and then it lay on the ground, seemingly too afraid to move.

The woman's illusory figure then vanished quickly.

From its appearance to its disappearance, it took less than five breaths.

However, he could not escape Lei Chi's notice.

"That's... the Black Coffin Emperor?"

Lei Chi, who was sitting cross-legged in the void, was startled and suddenly opened his eyes.

"No, it shouldn't be her true form, but rather some kind of spiritual imprint she left on the Coffin of Gods to suppress imagination!"

Lei Chi frowned.

"It now seems that the Coffin of the Gods and the Image were left behind by the Black Coffin Emperor and the Imagination Emperor, and were definitely not created by the Heavenly King. He simply took them out of this Heavenly Mystery Tomb. According to the information provided by the Myriad Manifestations Serpent, the Imagination Emperor and the Black Coffin Emperor should be enemies, but we don't know why they cooperated..."

Lei Chi shook his head. He knew such things wouldn't yield results through mere speculation, so he quickly dismissed the thought. After composing himself, he rose, bowed to the Emperor of Imagination, and then said to all living beings, "Senior brother, we can go now!"

"Leave? Junior Brother, do you mean enter the sixth level, or leave this great tomb?"

The Buddha interrupted his cultivation, his face showing an expression of lingering enjoyment. He did not get up, as if he wanted to cultivate for a while longer.

Lei Chi said, "Enter the sixth level!"

As he spoke, Lei Chi strode away.

The sixth level contains the ultimate secrets of the Heavenly Mystery Tomb, the Eternal Treasure, fragments of the Heavenly Dao, and the location of the Dao Fruit. Moreover, Yu Baichen, Sonic, and the Imaginary Serpent have all entered it, and Lei Chi is quite curious about it. Naturally, there is no reason not to go to this final stop.

The beings of Futu quickly followed, and the two soon entered the black pyramid enveloped by the rift in spacetime.

Then, a teleportation force descended, and in the blink of an eye, Lei Chi suddenly entered a tunnel of flowing light.

He realized that he was separated from the living beings in the Buddha Temple and was now all alone.

Suddenly, a snarling monster sprang out of the light tunnel.

The monster was slightly larger than a rhinoceros, resembling a pet dog, with long hair and four legs. Its body seemed to be cast in gold, gleaming with a metallic sheen. It bared its teeth, bared its barks, and looked ferocious.

"Ding! Intense energy fluctuations detected. Based on the database, the target is identified as [Golden Lion Dog]. The Golden Lion Dog is a metallic life form, a small cosmic organism with remarkable resilience, capable of surviving in various extreme cosmic environments. It can reproduce and is commonly found in spacetime rifts. Its estimated combat power is 5000 million. Prepare for battle!"

Kaituo Optical Brain issued a report.

Lei Chi thought to himself, "How strange! I actually encountered a lion dog."

"Little thing, are you the guardian of this place, or a stray dog ​​lost in the void?"

Lei Chi wanted to tease the lion dog, but unexpectedly, the dog was quite fierce and pounced on him.

"You've got some nerve."

Lei Chi pointed at it, and the magic gourd appeared, its mouth aimed at the golden lion dog.

The golden lion dog let out a howl, its body rapidly shrank, then transformed into light and flew into the treasure gourd, before being transported by the Thunder Pool to the Heavenly Thunder Star.

With a loud "whoosh!"

The golden retriever was thrown right in front of Blue Parker, and it howled and roared, immediately regarding Blue Parker as an enemy.

"Hey? Where did this dog come from? Don't be afraid! I'm Thunder Blue Parker, how about converting to my Thunder Cult?"

Blue Parker, who had been exiled and alone, was overjoyed to see the golden retriever. Even though the golden retriever was baring its teeth and looked fierce, he found it cute.

The golden retriever was quickly subdued by Blue Parker, who pinned it down and calmly said, "Don't struggle, you dog. Submit to my cult!"

Before he could get a response from the poodle beneath him, another golden poodle was thrown at him.

Blue Parker was even happier. He thought that this was specially sent by Lei Chi, so he did not dare to kill him easily. Instead, he captured him and persuaded him to join the cult.

Soon, the third golden lion dog was thrown over, followed by the fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on, up to the twelfth!

Lei Chi has now reached the end of the Tunnel of Flowing Light.

He had naturally thrown the twelve golden lion dogs into Tianlei Star; he was too lazy to kill such minor monsters himself.

"This Blue Parker is incredibly boring, and a bit abnormal. He actually wants to recruit the Golden Lion Dog into his religion. Tsk tsk, I hope he succeeds."

Lei Chi sensed what was happening on Tianlei Star. He shook his head and smiled, then stepped into a screen of light.

That light curtain is the exit; once you walk out, you leave the Tunnel of Light.

Rumble rumble...

Suddenly, Lei Chi heard a thunderous boom.

He looked up and saw the sky filled with thunder, and within the boundless thunder, there was a sword shadow, seemingly eternal, piercing the sky and bringing out numerous spatial and temporal rifts.

A bright light flashed in Lei Chi's eyes as he discovered a cross-shaped spatial rift beside the enormous sword shadow.

"This should be the sixth level of the Heavenly Mystery Tomb. According to the information provided by the Cowardly Emperor, we need to cross the cross-shaped spatial rift to leave here safely."

Lei Chi narrowed his eyes. He also discovered two enormous lightning dragons in the thunderous sky. Their bodies were huge, covered with golden scales, and their heads were like mountain peaks hidden in the clouds. As they moved, they gave people the illusion that they were about to entangle this small world.

One of the combatants, dressed in white, was none other than Yu Baichen.

His opponent wore lightning armor and looked exactly like Sonic, but displayed extremely strong combat power.

"That's... Eternal Sonic?"

Lei Chi immediately understood.

(End of this chapter)