SSS-Rank 10x Reward System: Accepting Disciples to Live Forever-Chapter 208: A World without Tyranny

As Wang Chen followed the trail of footprints deeper into the green forest, the crunch of snow gradually faded beneath his boots, replaced by softer earth and scattered frost-tipped leaves. The towering trees swallowed the wind, their branches interlocking overhead like a living ceiling, filtering the pale light into muted streaks.

His steps slowed.

Just what is true freedom?

The question rose in his mind quietly, but it did not leave.

It lingered.

However, this was not something one could answer with a single thought. It demanded depth. It demanded honesty.

Before answering what freedom was, one first had to ask—

What exactly was restricting them?

For a trapped bird, wings beating helplessly against iron bars, freedom was the moment the cage door opened and the sky stretched endlessly ahead.

For someone shackled in an abusive bond, freedom was the end of fear. The silence after shouting stopped. The first breath taken without dread.

But those were mortal interpretations.

Small.

Limited to fragile lifespans and short horizons.

What does freedom mean to a cultivator?

Wang Chen did not have an answer.

Yet he did have clarity on something else.

Why was he cultivating?

Why had he willingly tortured himself for thousands of years inside that suffocating Tower? Why had he endured endless solitude, silence stretching so long it could crush a lesser mind?

Was it ambition?

Domination?

The desire to stand above all others? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

No.

From the very beginning, his goal had been simple.

He wanted to live.

To live long enough to explore.

To see.

To experience everything the world had to offer.

The Seven Cloud Converged World alone was vast beyond comprehension. Beyond it lay the Upper Realm. Beyond that, who knew how many more layers of existence?

The world was boundless.

His lifespan, however, had once been pitifully short.

A mortal flicker against an eternal canvas.

The goal he chased so desperately—making sacrifices, grinding through eras of isolation—

The Domain of Eternal Dream had handed it to him.

Eternal existence.

No fear of death.

No decay.

No expiration.

And yet...

As he walked, brushing aside low branches dusted with frost, Wang Chen felt an unfamiliar hollowness.

The forest air shifted gradually. The biting cold softened. The scent of pine sap mixed with damp soil. He inhaled deeply.

Something was missing.

Suddenly, he missed the sensation of snapping space beneath his feet with One Thought to Cross the World.

He missed the certainty of overwhelming strength, the confidence of crushing obstacles without hesitation.

He missed the sharp clarity that came from standing at the peak of a realm, able to bully the weak and wary of the strong.

With his cultivation gone, he felt... smaller.

Reduced.

Not mortal.

But incomplete.

The realization crept in slowly.

It was not only eternal life that I was chasing.

It was the power that came with it.

Power had allowed him to see deeper into the structure of reality.

Power had sharpened his perception.

Power had made the world clearer, more understandable, less chaotic.

Without it, the world felt muted.

Like looking at a grand painting through fogged glass.

He exhaled slowly.

So perhaps what he wanted was not simply eternity.

But eternity with agency.

Eternity with the ability to shape.

To explore freely without limitation.

As these thoughts churned within him, the forest thickened.

The last remnants of snow thinned into damp patches of frost clinging to roots. The air grew heavier, carrying a different scent.

Fresh wood.

Wet bark.

And beneath it—

Something sharp.

Salty.

Wang Chen paused mid-step.

Salt?

His brows furrowed slightly.

Ocean?

Here?

The wind shifted again, stronger this time, brushing against his face with unmistakable moisture.

The forest ahead thinned slightly, light shimmering through gaps between trunks.

Wang Chen moved forward carefully, each step carrying him toward a sound he had not yet consciously registered—

The distant, rhythmic crash of waves.

A puzzled look appeared on Wang Chen’s face.

Everything pointed toward an ocean.

The air had grown heavier and moist, the scent of salt unmistakable now. The faint, rhythmic crashing sound carried through the thinning forest, low and deep, like a distant heartbeat echoing across the earth.

Beyond the trees, there had to be water.

A vast body of it.

He could no longer ignore the signs.

Still, confusion lingered in his mind.

He turned slightly toward Mo Huyan.

"Nether Empress," he asked, his tone steady but edged with doubt, "do you know what the real challenge here is? There has to be some sort of test, right?"

It was obvious.

This was the Dragon Race Inheritance Ground.

Even if it was the domain of a dragon who hated tyranny and violence, there still had to be a trial. Otherwise, what separated an ordinary wanderer from someone worthy of inheritance?

Hearing his words, Mo Huyan seemed to snap out of her thoughts.

Her gaze, which had been distant and unfocused for the past few moments, gradually sharpened.

She had finally accepted it.

This was not a replica.

Not a feeding ground.

This was the true Domain of the Dragon of Eternal Dream.

And now—

Where were the treasures?

For a brief moment, the ancient, composed Nether Empress faded, replaced by a flicker of something almost youthful. It reminded her of the distant past—of exploring secret realms, of stepping into ancient ruins filled with unknown possibilities.

She had not felt that sensation in a long time.

Wang Chen waited.

Silence.

He frowned slightly.

"Nether Empress, are you listening?" he asked again, louder this time. "Nether Empress, hey!"

It was only when he practically raised his voice that she responded.

"Of course I know," she replied calmly.

Wang Chen narrowed his eyes.

"Then can you please tell me what it is?"

At that, her eyes turned slightly meaningful.

A faint smile curved at the corner of her lips.

"It’s no big deal," she said lightly. "Just a simple voyage to the sea. Anyone who can cross the sea will pass the test."

"Cross the sea...!"

Wang Chen repeated her words slowly, stunned for a moment.

So there really was an ocean.

The thought stirred something inside him.

Curiosity.

Anticipation.

If this was the Domain of Eternal Dream, what would its ocean look like? Would it reflect the sky like a mirror? Would it be calm and endless? Or would it hide something beneath its surface?

Without realizing it, his steps quickened.

The forest thinned gradually. The dense canopy opened up, allowing brighter light to spill through. The scent of salt grew stronger, the wind now steady and carrying a faint chill from open waters.

Then—

The trees parted completely.

Before him stretched a long coastline.

Golden sand ran along the edge of the land, curving gently into the horizon. And beyond it—

The ocean.

Splash!

Waves dozens of feet high surged upward, their towering forms momentarily reaching toward the sky as if trying to embrace it. Sunlight caught their crests, turning them translucent blue before they crashed down violently.

The higher they rose, the heavier they fell.

When they struck the shore, water exploded outward in sheets of white foam, spraying mist into the air. The roar of the sea filled his ears, deep and unrelenting, far louder than he had imagined while walking through the forest.

The wind whipped across his face, carrying droplets of saltwater that stung lightly against his skin.

For a brief moment, Wang Chen simply stood there, absorbing the sight.

Then his gaze shifted.

Away from the raging ocean.

Toward the sandy beach below.

There—

A small crowd had already gathered.

Most of the people gathered along the coastline were unfamiliar to him.

Yet even without cultivation, even stripped of aura and divine sense, Wang Chen could tell who they were.

It was in the way they stood.

In the way they held their backs straight, as if the heavens themselves rested upon their shoulders.

In the calm arrogance hidden beneath their expressions.

These were not ordinary cultivators.

These were bigshots.

Immortals from the Upper Realm.

Figures who commanded territories, sects, and legions.

Yet here, on this stretch of sand, beneath the endless roar of the ocean, they were no different from him.

No radiance.

No oppressive aura.

No cultivation.

All equal.

Wang Chen’s gaze swept across the crowd carefully.

Then he spotted a familiar figure.

That core disciple from Sword Saint Heaven...

What was his name again?

Chu... Chu something.

He frowned slightly, trying to pull the name from memory.

Nothing.

The harder he tried, the more the name slipped away, as if erased from his mind. He could recall the face, the posture, even the faint arrogance in his eyes from their previous encounter.

But the name?

Gone.

A faint unease crept into Wang Chen’s heart.

Before he could dwell on it further, another familiar figure entered his sight.

The All-Seeing Immortal.

The so-called creature of time.

The man who had once sought Wang Chen’s help in resolving his karmic bond in exchange for the Crystal of Time—a treasure born from the river of time itself, capable of extending one’s lifespan by centuries.

Wang Chen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Hmm.

Why is he here?

Didn’t we already come to a deal?

A trace of irritation surfaced in his chest.

He had not expected the All-Seeing Immortal to come here alone, without even informing him.

For a brief moment, he felt faintly betrayed—

Completely unaware that he himself had done the exact same thing.

His gaze continued moving through the crowd.

And then—

Zi Han.

The moment he noticed her, she noticed him.

Even from a distance, Wang Chen could see it clearly—her expression brightened the instant their eyes met. The subtle tension on her face eased, the stiffness in her shoulders softening.

It happened so naturally it was almost unguarded.

Wang Chen couldn’t help but feel slightly amused.

It appears this Demon Queen is not as nonchalant as I thought.

"Fellow Daoist Wang, here!"

Zi Han raised her voice slightly, gesturing toward him.

Wang Chen returned the gesture with a small smile and began walking toward her, the sand shifting beneath his boots.

Before he could reach her, however, a commotion on the side caught his attention.

"Why should we chop wood? Why should I do manual labor?!"

The sharp voice cut through the sound of crashing waves.

Wang Chen turned his head.

A young man dressed in golden robes stood face to face with a middle-aged man. His chin was lifted high, his expression filled with disbelief and indignation.

"Who are you to order me around?!" the young man barked, his tone sharp and aggressive.

The middle-aged man’s lips twitched slightly.

Wang Chen’s eyes narrowed.

That middle-aged man...

Even without cultivation visible, even without aura—

There was something about him.

A natural authority.

A quiet dominance.

Wang Chen recognized it instantly.

A Domain Sovereign.

An immortal who commanded millions.

An existence who, in the outside world, would not even spare a glance at juniors.

And yet now—

A young cultivator who had barely stepped into immortality was speaking to him like this.

Disrespectfully.

Almost fearlessly.

Wang Chen’s gaze shifted again.

Everywhere he looked, the scene was similar.

People arguing.

Refusing.

Defying.

Questioning orders.

Immortals accustomed to obedience were now being challenged openly.

Authority had no weight here.

Titles meant nothing.

Power could not be enforced.

For the first time, Wang Chen felt he understood a fragment of the Eternal Dream Dragon’s philosophy.

A world without tyranny.

A world where strength could not suppress.

But as he watched the chaos brewing on the beach—

He couldn’t help but wonder.

Without hierarchy...

Without power...

What replaces order?