I Use Illusions To Control The Whole World Chapter 21
The bronze law – [iron will]
Ding!
A delicate, dark-gold pocket watch with intricate openwork designs flicked out from Su Mu’s fingertips, swaying before Yang Dongqing’s eyes.
The watch was attached to a thin chain, the end gripped in Su Mu’s hand. With a slight tug, the dark-gold pocket watch began to swing.
Its movements were slow, yet incredibly steady. Each arc precise—like the ticking of a second hand.
“Keep your eyes on it,” Su Mu said in a deep voice. At the same time, he removed his amber glasses, revealing a pair of obsidian-like, deep and radiant eyes.
Whether it was an illusion or not, those eyes glowed faintly in the dim dungeon, like luminous pearls in the night.
A massive wave of Mental Power began to spread throughout the dungeon.
Yang Dongqing instinctively focused on the dark-gold pocket watch in front of him. His eyes unconsciously followed its left-right sway. His attention gradually fell into its rhythm, slowly… slowly…
Then, the dark-gold ouroboros on the watch came alive.
It slithered and twisted through the darkness, overlapping itself, radiating an eerie, mysterious aura.
“Now.” A gleam flashed in Su Mu’s eyes. His overwhelming Mental Power surged into Yang Dongqing’s mind like a tide, silently imprinting the symbol of the ouroboros into his consciousness.
The dark-gold ouroboros appeared to reflect in Yang Dongqing’s pupils before gradually fading away.
Huff… Su Mu let out a long breath. His legs felt unsteady, his body hollowed out.
“As expected of a Transcendent… Even after enduring such inhuman torment, he still retains strong mental resistance. Fortunately, it worked.”
He looked toward Yang Dongqing. At this moment, Yang Dongqing’s eyes were lifeless. He sat motionless, like a soulless puppet.
“Yang Dongqing,” Su Mu called softly.
His words were like a command that activated the puppet. As they entered Yang Dongqing’s ears, his blank gaze began to stir—then flickered with a surge of fanatical devotion.
“Chief!”
Su Mu smiled silently, but he didn’t indulge in the moment. He had to quickly uncover the source of Transcendent power—after all, he didn’t have many days left to live.
“How did you become a Transcendent?”
“I became a Transcendent in the Nightmare World.”
Nightmare World?
Su Mu’s brow furrowed. So, it was connected to dreams after all? He recalled his own unusual dreams—how every time he slept, he would enter a dream world, and every dream seemed to enhance his Mental Power.
“What is the Nightmare World?” he asked his second question.
“The Nightmare World is the world you enter when you fall asleep—a realm made up entirely of nightmares. It’s filled with strange, terrifying, and impossible Nightmare Creatures.” As Yang Dongqing spoke, even this once-proud Transcendent showed visible fear on his face.
That surprised Su Mu. If a person under hypnosis could still display fear, then the terror the Nightmare World instilled in Yang Dongqing must be rooted deep in his soul.
Yang Dongqing took a deep breath and continued, “At some point, the boundary between reality and dreams broke down. That’s why things from the dream world can now invade the real world, and real people can accidentally fall into dreams.”
“You mean Nightmare Creatures are hiding in the real world too?” Su Mu recalled the bizarre, terrifying rumors he used to hear—stories that students whispered to each other with excitement. But back then, he’d been completely absorbed in his dream world and paid no attention to the real one.
“That’s right. If humans can enter the Nightmare World, then creatures from there can also step into reality. Can you imagine that kind of fear? The thing you fear most… the nightmare buried deep in your heart suddenly crawling out from your dreams. Or worse, you fall into a nightmare that’s all too real and come face-to-face with your deepest terror. That kind of feeling… it’s just… it’s just…”
The fear on Yang Dongqing’s face deepened with every word.
“It sounds amazing!” Su Mu said excitedly, his voice cutting through Yang Dongqing’s fear like a blade.
He was suddenly filled with anticipation for the Nightmare World. He had long forgotten what fear felt like. In the hundred-plus years he’d spent within dreams, he’d experienced everything the world had to offer. Later, to burn through Mental Power faster, he deliberately created horrific monsters and scenes to stimulate himself.
As a result, his emotional threshold became inhumanly high. No matter how terrifying something was, it couldn’t shake him anymore.
To be honest, it was boring.
This wasn’t some enlightened detachment of ‘unmoved by joy or sorrow.’ It was pure burnout—a jaded numbness from having experienced everything.
“How does one enter the Nightmare World?” Su Mu asked with growing interest.
“Sleep. You can only enter the Nightmare World while dreaming. It’s like a nightmare you never wake up from. A month ago, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, I was already there. I found others like me—people who also entered while asleep.
We encountered horrifying monsters there. They… they ate people… everyone… they all died…”
The fear in Yang Dongqing’s expression intensified. He even began to show signs of breaking free from the hypnosis.
Su Mu narrowed his eyes and quickly changed the subject.
“How do you become a Transcendent in the Nightmare World?”
“The Bronze Law!”
Yang Dongqing suddenly uttered a term that was completely unfamiliar to Su Mu.
“What is the Bronze Law?”
“I… I don’t know.” A look of confusion appeared in Yang Dongqing’s eyes. “It’s like a massive net hidden across countless dimensions within the Nightmare World. It’s vast and omnipresent. Once you connect to the Bronze Law, you become a Transcendent.”
Su Mu’s frown deepened. He understood every word Yang Dongqing said, but together, the meaning became harder to grasp.
The Bronze Law? A massive net?
“How do you connect to the Bronze Law?”
“There’s no fixed method. It depends entirely on one’s talent. Those with strong talent can sense the Bronze Law the first time they enter the Nightmare World and connect to it.”
“What about those with weaker talent?”
“They might have to enter the Nightmare World many times before they can connect. And then… there’s a group of people with no talent at all. They’ll never connect, no matter what.”
“How many times have you entered the Nightmare World?”
“Once.”
Su Mu: “…”
So basically, you’re a natural-born genius?
“Do all Transcendents have a steel body like yours?”
Yang Dongqing shook his head. “My Transcendent power is called [Iron Will]. It’s one of the more common types of Transcendent abilities. After acquiring [Iron Will], all my physical attributes were enhanced, and my body became as tough as steel. This toughness can also temporarily increase depending on my willpower and emotional state.”
