Death... and me

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky stayed there for a few hours. Malo didn't mind as he waited at the entrance of the Ancestral Land. Finally, they finished paying their respects before they returned to where Malo was. "WOW! You look soooooooo old! Is this really Malo?" Kentucky couldn't help but ask Malo.

Malo bitterly smiled. Rean had already thrown those words on his face. "What do you want? You have been gone for so long already..."

"Hahaha!" Rean laughed once again. The twins' group knew about the time displacement when they went to the Realm of Gods, so it wasn't really a surprise to see Malo like that. 

Rean then decided to ask. "Tell me, Malo. Your circuitry formations have evolved a lot since I left the communication system behind. I can see that they were applied to a variety of uses, especially illumination. From outside the planet, I could see how all the cities were illuminated. Of course, there were many other places where you guys tapped."

Malo nodded. "To be honest, I'm not very versed in Formations, so I kind of acted as a symbol of the Freedom Sect while the Formations Masters did their work. As our communication with other continents expanded, things began to get a lot more peaceful. Sure, there are still conflicts here and there. Nonetheless, the planet is completely different from the time you all left."

Roan understood why. "Communication is usually one of the main reasons behind mutual understanding. Because you can't talk to someone in another country, you would grow some prejudice against them and their culture. However, once you can freely communicate, you can understand the other side's reasons."

Roan continued. "Of course, it doesn't mean a planet will truly follow the path of peace. There has to be a lot of work and patience. I'm pretty sure that to reach the status I'm seeing with my Divine Sense, hundreds of years were necessary."

Mano agreed with Roan. "Indeed. But it was worth it. Nowadays, you will rarely see conflicts except for the small issues here and there I just mentioned. It has been a long time since a country went to war against some other nation, let alone a continent."

Kentucky couldn't help but ask. "But what about training. Cultivation goes in hand with one's experience. Death and Life moments are usually what bring a cultivator forward. If such a thing doesn't happen anymore, how does everyone cultivate?"

Malo agreed with Kentucky. "We know that, and that's why we developed a circuitry formation, especially for this kind of situation. Come with me."

Rean's group followed Malo until they arrived at the Formations Masters Hall in the sect. There, Malo brought them to a place where many cultivators could be found. It's just that they all seemed to be in a trance.

Rean immediately identified why. "They are inside some kind of illusion..."

Malo confirmed. "That's correct. The illusion they are experiencing could be said to be another world altogether. In this illusory world, the old cultivation planet is still intact. If a cultivator wishes to experience life and death situation, they can come here and enter this world."

Roan found it weird. "This isn't really a Death and Life situation. They know that if they die there, they won't die for real, so it won't be of much use."

Yet, Malo shook his head. "That's where the manipulation of consciousness gets interesting. When they get inside the illusory world, they forget that the real world exists. For these guys, at the moment, the illusory world is the real deal."

Rean examined the runes of the circuitry formations and was impressed with the advancements made. "Truly a piece of art. No doubt hundreds of years were used to reach this stage as well." 

At the same time, Rean called Sister Orb. 'Sister Orb, make sure to record every single rune you see on this planet. Even if there are countless different formations, they are all low-level due to the Mortal Realm's limitations, so it shouldn't be that hard for the system processing power now. I'll make sure to study them later.'

[I'm already doing it,] said Sister Orb. [I should be done in a day. All the runes will be available in the Circuitry Formation Repository later for you to play.]

Rean smiled. 'Thank you.'

Rean then looked at Malo. "This formation is capable of pulling them into this illusion while they forget about the real world. But above all, it was created in a way where they can't spend more than a day inside. Regardless of what happens inside, they will be pulled out of the illusion by the end of a full day. Even better than that, they will retain the memories and experiences of the illusory world while understanding that everything before was fake. Nonetheless, the feeling is what matter, so it will serve just as the real thing when they stimulate their potential of cultivation."

*Boom!*

Suddenly, a wave of Spiritual Energy came from one of the people in the room. Just now, that person had a breakthrough, going from the Middle Stage of the Foundation Establishment to the Late Stage. At the same time, that person awoke from the illusion. The friends quickly came to his side and congratulated him, who seemed to be jubilant with his progress.

Roan had to admit the evolution of the circuitry formations on this planet was really useful. "Rean, you must put something similar in the Dimensional Realm later."

"I will, however..." Rean then looked at Malo.

Malo understood what Rean's eyes meant. "Indeed, the formation isn't perfect. For example, it is useless for me."

Rean nodded. "Indeed. As far as I can see, this should be useful until you reach the Soul Transformation Realm. However, once your soul transforms, the formation can't fool your consciousness anymore. I can definitely improve it for our use with the Divine Level runes, but I don't think I can reach the point of fooling a Void Tempering Realm cultivator."

Rean wasn't disappointed, though. "Nonetheless, it gave me many new ideas."