My Dream Connects to 3000 Years in the Future

Chu Bamboo closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply several times. After a moment, he finally managed to calm himself down.

’Descendants! Descendants.’ Chu Bamboo felt a strange mix of emotions. It wasn’t as if he instantly developed paternal, or even ancestral, feelings for Governor Su. In fact, even knowing the truth, none of it felt real to him.

Forget about descendants created through genetic engineering; even if they were his own flesh and blood, born naturally, there could be no real emotional attachment after such an immense passage of time.

Not to mention...

Even if he wanted to acknowledge the connection, the Daqian Imperial Family would never acknowledge him...

Even with Nuwa to provide proof, the situation would likely play out differently than one might imagine—

’If Nuwa really provided proof and announced it to the world, the Emperor of Daqian would most likely put me on a pedestal, give me absolutely no power, and use me purely as a source of legitimacy for his Mandate of Heaven...’ Chu Bamboo mused with a sigh.

In that scenario, if Chu Bamboo tried to actually get involved in politics, the moment he revealed such intentions... the Emperor would arrange for him to have an ’accident.’

It wasn’t that Chu Bamboo was being cynical; it was that his experiences in the Dream World and the history books he’d read in the Real World all pointed to the same cruel truth—

There is no room for sentiment in politics! Figures like Emperor Wu of Han and Tang Xuanzong both had their own sons killed. For the sake of power, Li Shimin had unhesitatingly slaughtered all his brothers and imprisoned his own father...

’Besides, even if Nuwa did help me! And even if I used my ability to constantly reset... and somehow actually won the power struggle! Even if, under the most absolutely ideal circumstances, I took the throne... it would be meaningless!’

An emperor like that would be nothing more than a figurehead, a ’sage ruler’ who ’governs without effort’ while being completely controlled by his ministers! After all, even if I won, my foundation and authority would be far weaker than the current Emperor’s...

’And that’s all assuming the ideal scenario... where Nuwa intervenes and gives me her full support! In reality... I don’t even know what Nuwa’s current situation is.’ Chu Bamboo gazed toward the distant north, his thoughts churning.

Of course...

That didn’t mean this claim to being their ancestor was completely useless!

Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes. If he were to start a rebellion in the future, using the union as his foundation, then revealing this identity at a critical moment could effectively weaken his opponents’ will to fight and make them question their own cause...

It was like dropping Zhu Yuanzhang into the final years of the Ming Dynasty. Even if he could prove his identity, Emperor Chongzhen would never have simply handed the throne over to him.

However, if Zhu Yuanzhang mounted a campaign like Li Zicheng’s, breaking into Yanjing—no, even just reaching the city gates... and *then* revealed his identity, and managed to gain recognition from the Great Ming establishment—

Then the Great Ming Dynasty’s resistance would be nowhere near as fierce as it was against Li Zicheng! Emperor Chongzhen himself probably wouldn’t have even hanged himself. He would have simply accepted his fate and surrendered...

The difference lay in psychological expectations. So-called blood ties and familial relationships are worthless in the face of power... but they can influence history at critical junctures, causing it to veer off in a completely different direction...

’But it’s too early to be thinking about that now!’

Instead of dwelling on that... Chu Bamboo found himself more focused on, or rather, puzzled by, something else.

’In my previous life! My DNA... it shouldn’t have been entered into any cryo-bank, right?’

His thoughts churned as he stared silently at the Nuwa light screen before him.

If he reasoned it out, it meant that in previous timelines, the Daqian Imperial Family theoretically hadn’t been his descendants.

But... now they were...

’And even though their ancestry has changed, the Daqian Imperial Family is still composed of the same people... with the same names... and the same histories!’

Chu Bamboo’s frown deepened. ’Uncanny! This is just too uncanny.’

’It must be the theory of temporal inertia again! Or maybe it’s because I exist in both the Real World and this current era simultaneously, the past and future of history have been anchored to a certain degree—’

’The long stretch of history between my existence here and my other self’s existence in the Real World can be altered... like how the Daqian Imperial Family’s ancestor was changed this time... But the events within the time periods we occupy are largely fixed? The people who are meant to appear will still appear... The things I’ve encountered, events that have already transpired, will most likely happen again! They’re anchored...’

Chu Bamboo crossed his arms, his fingers tapping lightly against his bicep. He had a feeling this was most likely the truth of the matter...

As he mulled it over, Chu Bamboo suddenly latched onto a key detail and asked urgently, "Nuwa No. 17, what did you mean by ’the Su Clan of the Chu lineage’?!"

Nuwa No. 17’s voice was as gentle as ever. "The Chu surname is one of the six great ancient progenitor lineages. It gave rise to the Su, Lu, Cai, Guan, and other surnames..."

"The dynasty before the last one, which is also the earliest known feudal dynasty, was the Great Chu Dynasty. The Royal Family’s surname was Chu..."

Chu Bamboo’s eyes glazed over. As he listened, an idea began to take shape in his mind.

The Chu surname, in this current timeline, was something like the Ji surname of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan in the Real World.

It was the origin of many other surnames...

Looked at from this angle, it was highly likely that his descendants hadn’t ascended the throne by pure luck.

Rather, it was because he had so many descendants. The probability of one of them eventually taking the throne was simply very high...

According to Nuwa’s information, his descendants might very well make up more than a tenth of Daqian’s population of hundreds of millions...

"’In that case, this Great Chu is a bit like the Zhou Dynasty from the Real World!’ Chu Bamboo pursed his lips.

The Royal Family of the Real World’s Zhou Dynasty had the surname Ji, and they proclaimed themselves to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

Of course, in the Real World, later emperors were also fond of playing this game...

For example, the Qin Kingdom, which unified the Warring States, once traced its ancestry back and proudly declared its bloodline could be followed all the way to Emperor Xuanyuan—though, in truth, it was through his daughter’s line, not a patrilineal descent!

’Still, this strange situation arising... isn’t actually that surprising! You could even call it inevitable... After all, there’s the matter of genetic strength.’

Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes. ’What was my good brother’s deal? What was his status in the former civilization? You could call him the progenitor of Transcendents, the first Celestial Emperor of the original Celestial Court!’

Although Chu Bamboo believed that greatness wasn’t a matter of birthright, he had to admit that with the introduction of the Extraordinary, the descendants of top-tier Transcendents might indeed possess certain special advantages...

Chu Bamboo put himself in Lin Xin Bamboo’s shoes. To ensure the continuation of civilization, it was only natural to want to preserve superior genetic material and ensure it propagated as widely as possible in the subsequent civilization...

’Looked at from that angle... All right, fine!’

Chu Bamboo refused to analyze it any further. He didn’t want to hear any more, feeling that if he followed that line of thought to its conclusion, he might just give himself a complex...

He dreaded the thought of discovering a bunch of his acquaintances were also his descendants. After all, among the derived surnames Nuwa had listed... a few had sounded rather familiar...

After a moment of contemplation, Chu Bamboo spoke again. "Nuwa No. 17, display the written message Lin Xin Bamboo left for me."

The next moment, the light screen shimmered.

"Uncle Chu! I hope this message finds you well."

"I’m not clear on your current level of strength, so for now, I will reveal some information that experts of the First Realm are permitted to know."

"First: Information about Transcendents cannot be revealed to ordinary people..."

"Second: ...

Chu Bamboo’s eyes scanned the text quickly. Much of what Lin Xin Bamboo had written was information she had already given him in a previous timeline—which made sense. She had no way of knowing what she’d said in a past world... and even if Chu Bamboo had left behind some cryptic notes, it would have been pointless.

How could Lin Xin Bamboo possibly know what he already knew and what he didn’t? The safest approach was, of course, to explain everything from the beginning...

’Still,’ Chu Bamboo grumbled internally as he read, ’my "great-niece" seems a lot colder this time around!’

Her tone was strictly business.

In one of the previous timelines, Chu Bamboo had suspected Lin Xin Bamboo might have had a little crush on him when she was younger... But this coldness was to be expected. After all, in this timeline, his good brother had died before Xin Bamboo was even born.

Then.

"Fourteenth: These are the instructions for creating a Transcendent monitoring device..."

"!!!" Chu Bamboo’s heart jolted. He sat bolt upright, his attitude a complete one-eighty from before. He read through every last word with a solemn expression, and when he was done: "..."

’You really overestimate me, don’t you?!’

For a moment, Chu Bamboo didn’t know how to react. The instructions required, at minimum, a Third Realm expert who had awakened the Artifact Forging Divine Techniques, not to mention a collection of sufficient special resources... only then could someone follow the method she’d laid out.

And the device this would create... could only monitor a small city! To monitor the entire globe... that would require at least... a powerhouse who had mastered the Artifact Forging Divine Techniques and had reached an unimaginable level on their path as a Cultivator!

’But... while it’s a bit much for me at the moment, if I really think about it, it doesn’t seem completely impossible.’

Chu Bamboo stroked his chin thoughtfully. He was already at the Second Realm. If he broke through to the next realm and went to the Moisture Teaching to replicate a relevant Divine Technique, it just might be possible...

"..."

Chu Bamboo continued reading and soon locked onto another useful piece of information...

"Twenty-first: These are the instructions for creating a memory-erasure device! This is the method we devised, after painstaking effort, to annihilate the ’contamination’! Of course, I’m just mentioning it! In reality, Uncle Chu, it would probably be quite difficult for you to build one..."

Chu Bamboo silently read the following instructions. It was far more than "quite difficult."

After reading it, however, Chu Bamboo had a pretty good idea of the situation. In all likelihood, all the memory-erasure devices currently in the Dream World were, in fact, parts of a single artifact.

That’s right. The device Li Kang and his group possessed was merely a subsidiary component of that one, unique artifact... Strictly speaking, they were just borrowing its power.

Because even the former civilization, in its final days, pouring in all of its resources, had only managed to create one in the East and one in the West.

"...This is bad news."

Chu Bamboo didn’t know what face to make as he rubbed his aching brow. And to think he had been planning to learn how to make one of those devices. So much for that!

But then again...

"The main component for this thing... is a high-tier Cultivator who possesses a ’memory erasure’ Divine Technique!"

Chu Bamboo’s expression turned strange.

He was pondering a very serious question: was it possible that his own Memory Divine Techniques could, in the future, evolve to manifest this kind of ability?

Based on his past experience, it should be possible.

’From this perspective, "Noun" Divine Techniques must be the essence of many "Adjective" Divine Techniques...’ Chu Bamboo mused. ’In fact, a Noun Divine Technique allows its Divine Power to manifest the effects of many different Adjective Divine Techniques!’

’So, with an Adjective Divine Technique, the name is very specific, making it simple to develop its Divine Power and making progress relatively easy... But with a Noun Divine Technique, the name is too broad, making it easy to get lost! The thing is, once it’s fully developed, it’s just so incredibly powerful... equivalent to the sum of several powerful Adjective Divine Techniques!’

Chu Bamboo finally understood. This was likely the truth behind why Noun Divine Techniques were so powerful, yet so difficult to develop.

A Noun Divine Technique was clearly a late-game build.