Fang Yuan was going through the gu worms in his aperture, wondering what kind of attack or killer move he would need to do in order to clear this dream realm. However, to his surprise, there was no ongoing fight.
What ti period was this, when Blood Path cultivators could wander around without being attacked by others?
It did not appear that whoever he was in this dream was using any kind of complex killer move in order to hide his identity or cultivation either.
"Now, these are the contestants," one of the other Gu Immortals said and pointed below to the ground.
Six Starlight Stallions appeared. Starlight Stallions were Star Path desolate beasts. Their bodies were covered in tiny star fragnts, so that they glittered in the middle of the night, almost like they were covered in diamonds. Otherwise, their bodies were as black as night itself. They were quite muscular and good at racing.
"Pick your racer," the Gu Immortal said, and several of the other contestants began taking out Immortal Essence Stones and placing them in a bag as they pointed to the horses.
Fang Yuan was so shocked it took him a mont to realize what was going on.
This was horse betting? That was what the dream realm was about?
He had explored a few dream realms in the past, yet he had never encountered one which was as seemingly mundane as this. There was no fighting going on or any kind of complex problem to solve, just the decision on which horse he should bet on.
On closer inspection, Fang Yuan found that the star fragnts embedded in the horses' skin were actually arranged in terms of numbers one side, so that they were numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.
"Why is there no horse numbered 6?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Oh, that's because that horse was scared to co here," soone explained. "Do you know why?"
"Why?"
"Because seven ate nine."
There was laughter from so of the Gu Immortals while the others shook their heads.
"In reality, horse number 6 was a bit too sick for to bring out and race," the man explained, waving his hands. "Now, are you going to actually pick a horse or just stand around all day?"
Fang Yuan saw that he was the only one who still hadn't picked one, and deciding that a one-in-six chance was not good enough, he activated Dream Realm Emotional Compass.
He got a warm feeling from many of the horses. Horse number 2, however, made him feel sick inside just by looking at it. It wasn't clear who the winner might be, but Fang Yuan imdiately realized that horse number 2 was the wrong decision to make. It seed that the right answer was either horse number 1 or horse number 4 where he was getting warm feelings from. For the rest he felt nothing.
"I'll go with horse number 4," Fang Yuan said.
The Immortals then ascended and the horses began racing. There was no set track for them, but because they were desolate beasts, there was no need to mark one. They simply crushed anything that they ca upon underfoot. The race did not occur simply on the ground. A portion of it occurred in the sky as well, with them flying up and away in the sky. They could cover over one hundred li in the span of only a minute. Their speed could not be underestimated, but this wasn't their real limit. Fang Yuan knew that they could show their real speed while descending from heaven, crashing down onto the earth like shooting stars.
Fang Yuan had been right not to pick horse number 2 as it crashed into a hill, stumbling and creating a crater there. Those who had bet on horse number 2 imdiately began cursing and pulling their hair in anger.
The race lasted five minutes, yet had covered almost as much ground as the periter of most countries back on Earth, and the ultimate winner was horse number 4.
Fang Yuan then imdiately felt an intense sense of dissatisfaction and regret.
Fang Yuan was ejected from the dream realm, taking so damage to his soul in the process.
Fang Yuan was confused by the feelings of regret that assailed him. Wasn't his goal to win? He had succeeded in the dream realm as far as he could tell. He had chosen the winning horse. Even Dream Realm Emotional Compass had managed to lead him on that path.
Given the fact that he had used Dream Realm Emotional Compass to narrow it down to two choices, he now knew what the actual answer was supposed to be, and entered the dream realm once more.
This ti, he bet on horse number 1, and the race started once more.
It was clear why horse number 2 was the wrong choice this ti as well, given the fact that it stumbled midway through the race and almost crashed headfirst into a hill, creating a crater in the ground just like last ti. Not that Fang Yuan was surprised by that given this is how it had ended last ti as well.
What did surprise him, however, was that horse number 1 was the victor this ti beating horse number 4.
Fang Yuan had chosen the winning horse once more!
And yet, the dream realm didn't progress. He found himself kicked out and his soul took damage once again.
'I won once more, so it should've progressed. Unless the criteria for solving it were sothing different,' Fang Yuan thought to himself.
The outco of the dream realm had changed based on what he had bet upon.
Fang Yuan now contemplated what was going on. He had been thrown out of the dream realm twice despite picking the winning horse. Dream Realm Emotional Compass seed to have done exactly what it was supposed to do and let him pick out the winning horse.
Fang Yuan sat there, ruminating what was going on for over an hour before a thought struck him. It was a strange thought; an odd way of thinking, not sothing that he would have imdiately jumped to, which was why he had not done so in the dream realm in the first place. It was the equivalent of seeing a painting and then choosing to flip it upside-down for so reason.
But could it be that he was actually on the right path while thinking about this.
He rembered horse number 2 and how he had gotten a disgusting feeling while looking towards it, indicating that it was probably the wrong choice.
However, Dream Realm Emotional Compass was not like Unravel Dream. If he had used Unravel Dream, then he would have gotten the right answer directly, but there could be certain flaws with Dream Realm Emotional Compass that had led him to the wrong conclusion.
Sure, he had a nasty feeling while looking at horse number 2, but that was likely because of horse number 2's odds of winning.
But what if Fang Yuan was not intended to win in the dream realm?
What if the criteria for completing it was not winning, but rather picking the losing horse? It sounded strange, and yet, it seed just crazy enough to possibly succeed.
Fang Yuan entered the dream realm once more. This ti, he picked horse number 2.
As had happened in the prior two races, horse number 2 stumbled while racing. However, this ti it avoided crashing into the hill and kept on running. This had delayed it and ruined its montum, however. Just like before, many people were angry and shouted out at it, but for whatever reason the person that Fang Yuan was playing as had a strange feeling of warmth seeing this.
Horse number 2 lost, finishing last, but a strong sense of satisfaction enveloped Fang Yuan in the dream realm.
As the dream realm concluded, it faded to black, and Fang Yuan realized that he had succeeded.
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