I'm a villain in the superhero world.

On July 29, 2014, the second day after the main storyline began, there were still three days until the Long Night Conference.

In the early morning, with the sunlight faint, the three islands of Penglai—Fangzhang Island, the back mountain of the ancestral home of the Lü family in the Far East.

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and birdsong was sparse in the woods.

Since using 1.2 million popularity points to boost [Infinite Martial Arts] yesterday evening, Lü Buyi has been standing here, adapting to and comprehending the new realm his martial arts have reached.

Martial arts, in essence, are tools for maximizing one's own strength while minimizing its consumption.

Today, Lü Buyi's mastery of this tool is arguably the best among those at the fifth level.

Lu Buyi, his robes fluttering, stood on a flat blue stone at the edge of the cliff. His eyes, sealed by the Demon-Sealing Curtain, were closed, and his breath rose and fell with the mountain wind.

He is not adapting to the new power, because the total amount of power has not increased—

However, he has now almost reached the pinnacle in terms of the efficiency of his own power and the precision of his skills.

Extending his hand, Lu Buyi released the power of Taiyin, raising his right index finger.

With a gentle stroke, he faced the morning mist that enveloped him.

hum-

A barely audible chirping sound rang out.

The power only slowly dissipated after crossing the distance between the three connected islands and the vast ocean that had been split open without anyone noticing.

Lü Buyi withdrew his fingers; his fingertips were dry, without a trace of moisture.

He had just mobilized some of the power of Taiyin.

However, due to the increased efficiency of its utilization, coupled with the fact that the power of Taiyin itself can self-recover, its overall strength is almost completely depleted.

"Even the Zen masters' supreme mastery of the 'Five Phases Cycle' couldn't achieve this level, could it?"

"With this, even if it's just an avatar I created, it shouldn't be weaker than a regular fifth-level energy."

Lü Buyi turned around and faced the sea of ​​clouds outside the cliff.

"I've adapted pretty well, and all the preparations for interfering with the plot are complete..."

"The main storyline shouldn't change much before I go to the Sea City, right?"

In fact, Lü Buyi was quite looking forward to the main storyline deviating from its original direction because of his own actions.

Otherwise, if he had a complete understanding of the plot's development, he would still possess absolute power...

That would be a bit too boring.

"Never mind, whatever. It's more important to deal with the backlog of official business from these past few days."

Lu Buyi stretched and muttered to himself on his way back to his ancestral home.

-

Ancestral home, study.

To show respect for their ancestors, this study retains the basic layout that Lü Dongbin originally built.

However, due to the habits of generations of family members who have lived here for thousands of years, the items placed inside and the piles of things have become modernized.

This was true at least in Lü Buyi's generation.

—On the antique mahogany desk, three curved display screens are placed side by side, and a high-performance terminal stands to the side, directly connected to the internal network of the Far East Regional Branch of the Overseeing Council.

Lu Buyi changed into his usual plain clothes and sat down in the large chair.

Hime Rime was already waiting quietly to the side, holding a thick stack of physical documents that had just been transmitted via an encrypted channel.

Some reports with high confidentiality levels or involving special seals are still required to be filed in paper form.

"Master, there are seventeen documents that require your review and approval today. Four of them are marked 'urgent,' two involve the containment assessment of recent unusual events, and one is a draft budget adjustment for the Far East region's observation stations for the next quarter."

Rimei's voice was steady and clear as she categorized the documents and placed them in the empty space on her desk. It had to be admitted that she was truly impeccable as a secretary.

This is why, although Lü Buyi had over a hundred retainers, only Li Mei remained by his side on ordinary days.

"Hmm." Lü Buyi nodded, his gaze already fixed on the to-do list that automatically popped up on the first screen.

As the decision-maker of the Far East region of the governing body and one of the seven sword-wielders, he was not one of the administrative bureaucrats and executives under his command who needed to do everything personally.

Most routine matters and sealing and containment are handled by the various departments of the district and the executive officers of the executive department and their subordinate task forces. These reports and incident filings do not require his approval from beginning to end.

Only matters involving strategic decisions, high-level sealed objects, multiple sealed objects of level 5 or above breaking containment, cross-regional cooperation, or matters requiring the approval of the Swordholder's authority will be submitted to him.

Even so, there were still many matters that required Lü Buyi's review or decision.

Open the first electronic report marked "Urgent".

[Internal Notice from the Oversight Council - Encryption Level: 4]

From: Headquarters Archives Department/Abnormal Event Assessment Section

Recipients: Regional decision-makers, sword-wielders, and task force commanders—

Subject: Summary of Early Warnings and Preliminary Investigations Regarding the Recent Frequent Occurrence of "Dream Infiltration" Type Anomalies Worldwide

Date: July 28, 2014 (Historical Calendar)

Overview:

自2014年6月中旬以来，全球各分区陆续上报共37起疑似关联的「梦境渗透」型异常事件（事件编号：INC-2014-06XX-DREAM）。受影响个体散布于不同大陆、文化背景、年龄层，无明显共同特徵。

The abnormal manifestations were all: individuals repeatedly dreamed of the same "indescribable magnificent city" during sleep, and after waking up, they experienced varying degrees of cognitive confusion, weakened sense of reality, compulsive attention to or a tendency to draw specific geometric patterns.

Nine of these cases developed into persistent reality distortion (local spatial logic anomalies, transient manifestation of non-Euclidean geometric structures), and three cases led to mental breakdowns in the inmates and triggered small-scale contamination events.

Preliminary analysis:

1. The “dream city” described in all the events is highly consistent. Although limited by the reporter’s ability to express himself, the core elements (infinitely extending staircases, irrational architecture, continuous whispers, etc.) are highly overlapping.

2. No physical contact or carrier transmission route or method of infection has been found so far, and it is suspected to be a conceptual or high-dimensional information projection.

3. The frequency of these events is on the rise, raising concerns about the potential for large-scale collective subconscious contamination.

Recommended measures:

1. Each district should strengthen the monitoring and stability checks of spiritual and polluting sealed items.

2. Isolate and screen individuals within the jurisdiction who report similar abnormal symptoms.

3. It is recommended that mobile task forces with relevant resistance to mental pollution (including but not limited to "Night Watchers" and "Heartless") enter a standby state.

4. A special investigation team has been established at headquarters, codenamed: Dream Probe. Please report any further findings in each division in a timely manner.

Attachments: Summary of detailed event reports (37 documents), textual analysis of dream descriptions from affected individuals, and known mental pollution pattern atlases.

After browsing through the comments, Lü Buyi paused for a moment, then typed in the comments section:

[Directive: The Far East Region is aware of this. An order requiring the Night Watch to strengthen its mental protection training will be issued within four natural hours.]

A weekly reporting system for abnormalities of Level II or higher mental pollution-related sealed items within the jurisdiction has been initiated.

Additionally, all unresolved incident reports involving "dreams," "subconsciousness," and "collective hallucinations" from the Far East region over the past six months were reviewed, cross-referenced, and submitted to headquarters.

Authorized by: Lü Buyi

Once the approval is submitted, the system will automatically archive it and notify the relevant departments.

Next, the physical document.

At the opportune moment, Rimei pushed a dark blue folder in front of Lü Buyi.