Mo Wuji flicked out a medicinal pill, which landed in Ou Ping’s mouth. Ou Ping opened his eyes, and upon seeing Mo Wuji and Lan Xiaobu, he immediately exclaimed with joy, “Thank you, Brother Mo and Brother Lan, for saving my life again.”
After speaking, he struggled to sit up, circulating his cultivation technique to heal his injuries.
“I didn’t expect you’d also come to the Great Cosmos. What was that thing chasing you?” Lan Xiaobu asked.
“It’s a native of the Great Cosmos, each one incredibly powerful, and they occupy the regions with the densest heaven and earth vitality…” Ou Ping’s words were cut off by Qi Zhe Tian.
“You’re saying it’s a Tianmeng person?” Qi Zhe Tian interjected.
Ou Ping nodded quickly, “Yes, exactly, a Tianmeng person.”
“What are Tianmeng people?” Lan Xiaobu asked, frowning.
Shi Changxing’s expression also grew serious upon hearing the term, clearly aware of what Tianmeng people were.
Qi Zhe Tian took a deep breath and said slowly, “Tianmeng people are truly formidable. Fortunately, their intelligence is low, and they’re not adept at fighting, or we wouldn’t have been able to come to the Great Cosmos. By all accounts, humans have the physique most suited for cultivating the Dao, but Tianmeng people don’t even need to cultivate. They can improve their strength just by breathing, and at lower levels, they rarely face cultivation bottlenecks. In the beginning, the Great Cosmos was controlled by Tianmeng people. We’re just latecomers, and I arrived even later than some Dao Ancestors. But that thing that escaped earlier wasn’t a Tianmeng person. Tianmeng people don’t have human faces and beastly bodies…”
After saying this, Qi Zhe Tian muttered to himself, “Something’s off. Given how much Tianmeng people have influenced the Great Cosmos, I shouldn’t have only remembered them after someone brought them up…”
“Actually, Tianmeng people were born from the chaos. They’re the only beings capable of walking through chaos, somewhat like…” Shi Changxing added, then glanced at Taichuan, “Right, somewhat like Taichuan.”
He, too, found it strange. Why did he only recall the Tianmeng people of the Great Cosmos after Ou Ping mentioned them?
“Exactly,” Qi Zhe Tian continued, “Tianmeng people were originally born from chaos, making them even more suited to cultivating the Great Dao than humans. Combined with the Great Cosmos’s perfect heaven and earth rules and extremely dense vitality, their strength grew rapidly. However, Tianmeng people had a flaw: initially, they could only be born from chaos and couldn’t reproduce on their own. This kept their numbers low, posing little threat to cultivators.
Later, humans discovered the Great Cosmos, a high-level cosmos. Countless planets and planes flooded in, each bringing entire populations. This caused the human forces in the Great Cosmos to surge dramatically.”
Lan Xiaobu knew this. Many planets in the Great Cosmos were actually foreign, brought in from outside. In fact, beyond the Great Cosmos, there were still many planets preparing to enter, as it was the true high-level cosmos where cultivators could reach higher levels of the Great Dao. For cultivators, nothing was more enticing than advancing further along the Dao.
“After human cultivators entered the Great Cosmos, they began hunting down Tianmeng people. To prevent humans from entering, Tianmeng people also started slaughtering human cultivators. However, their numbers were small, their intelligence weaker than humans’, and they weren’t accustomed to scheming. Gradually, they were nearly wiped out by humans,” Qi Zhe Tian said with a sigh.
Mo Wuji shook his head. “The Great Cosmos is vast and boundless. If Tianmeng people were truly born from chaos, wiping them out completely seems unlikely. For example, wasn’t that thing that escaped earlier a Tianmeng person?”
Qi Zhe Tian replied, “Even if they weren’t completely eradicated back then, Tianmeng people no longer posed any threat. Their bones contain the principles of the Chaos Great Dao, each one immensely valuable, which led many human cultivators to hunt them down. Though the Great Cosmos is vast, habitable areas are limited, and cultivators’ sole purpose is to increase their strength. Over countless years, Tianmeng people became nearly extinct. I never expected to see one today, but why did it have a human face?”
“Indeed,” Shi Changxing added. “Even I and Qi Zhe Tian have killed Tianmeng people and obtained their bones. Back then, their intelligence was low, and they weren’t good at escaping. Even though they were strong, they could only use a fraction of their power.”
“That’s not true anymore. Tianmeng people have started reproducing,” Ou Ping suddenly said.
“Reproducing on their own?” Even Shi Changxing and Qi Zhe Tian were astonished.
It was widely accepted that Tianmeng people couldn’t reproduce independently. If they could, and even developed strong intelligence, it would be nearly impossible for humans to survive in the Great Cosmos, let alone establish a foothold.
Ou Ping nodded. “Yes, Tianmeng people weren’t exterminated. They’ve found their own way to survive. By altering the heaven and earth principles, they’ve abducted many human women for reproduction. In their conflicts with human cultivators, their intelligence has gradually developed, and now they’re no different from humans. The only drawback of their human-derived descendants is that their cultivation no longer has the near-absent bottlenecks of true Tianmeng people. They now require resources and natural treasures like humans do.”
“No wonder it had a human face. If this continues, won’t they become just like humans?” Qi Zhe Tian muttered.
“How do you know this?” Lan Xiaobu asked, puzzled.
Ou Ping said, “I was told… wait, why can’t I remember who it was?”
“Don’t try to recall who. Just say what you want to say,” Mo Wuji interjected, immediately thinking of the Principle of Forgetting. This principle was strange; he knew it existed but had never encountered it directly.
“Right, that person told me Tianmeng people now mainly reside in the Great Desolation World. They asked me to spread this news and advised me to leave the Great Cosmos quickly, or no one will survive once the Tianmeng people rise.”
Ou Ping paused, frowning as he tried to think. After half an incense stick’s time, he suddenly exclaimed, “Right, it’s the Great Dream Dao! The Tianmeng people have merged with the Great Dream Dao…”
He seemed to hit a mental block, unable to recall more.
Lan Xiaobu frowned. “Ou Ping, the Great Dream Dao is the Dao principle of Mengmu Dayan. You’re from Mengmu Dayan. Could it be that your sect’s stronghold is here?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling that if I weren’t from Mengmu Dayan, I wouldn’t have found that place,” Ou Ping said subconsciously.
“I’ve always felt the Mengmu Dayan sect is strange, giving off an eerie vibe. By all accounts, since it’s in the Great Cosmos, Qi Zhe Tian and Old Shi should know more about it, but they seem to know little,” Mo Wuji said.
Qi Zhe Tian nodded. “I know of Mengmu Dayan, but it seems like an ordinary sect…”
Mo Wuji suddenly raised his hand to construct a Mortal Realm space and said to Ou Ping, “Ou Ping, you received this information recently. Even with the Principle of Forgetting at play, you might still recall parts of it. Enter the rule space I’ve created and see if you can remember anything.”
Mo Wuji’s space was based on his own Mortal Rules, unaffected by the Great Cosmos’s heaven and earth rules.
“Alright.” Ou Ping didn’t hesitate and stepped into the space Mo Wuji had constructed.
“First, circulate your Great Dao’s cosmic cycle, then try to recall everything about coming to the Great Cosmos,” Mo Wuji’s voice reached Ou Ping’s ears.
Following Mo Wuji’s instructions, Ou Ping circulated his cultivation technique to heal while recalling his journey to the Great Cosmos.
Right, because his cultivation was decent, he joined a planet called Kuang Ting Star outside the Great Cosmos. A powerhouse from Kuang Ting Star reached the Fifth Step of the Great Dao and brought the entire planet’s population into the Great Cosmos, settling in the Ji Sheng World.
After arriving, Ou Ping left Kuang Ting Star and broke through to the Fourth Step of the Great Dao there, which thrilled him. While seeking opportunities for the Fifth Step, he sensed a place that could elevate his Dao further and went there.
When he discovered it was the stronghold of the Mengmu Dayan Dao, his heart nearly stopped from fear, and he immediately tried to leave. A guardian from Mengmu Dayan blocked him. Knowing he couldn’t go to Mengmu Dayan, he fled desperately.
During his escape, a Daoist saved him. When he asked who they were, the Daoist said they were just a clone, and even if they told him, he’d forget. However, they urged him to spread the word that the Tianmeng people had allied with the Great Dream Dao, perfecting their intelligence and beginning to reproduce. If this continued, the Tianmeng people would soon dominate the Great Cosmos. If cultivators wanted to resist, they’d need to unite. To preserve their strength, they should leave the Great Cosmos immediately…
Why couldn’t he remember the name? Later, it seemed the Tianmeng people learned of his escape and began chasing him.
