Chapter 8: The Illusory Realm

The stairway to immortality, paved with gray-white stone bricks, seemed endless at first glance.

A broom about half a person’s height worked intermittently on its own, sometimes operated by Ji Ning herself.

When her spiritual energy was nearly depleted, she switched to manual labor, then reverted to semi-automatic mode once her energy replenished.

In this way, she could steal moments of leisure to enjoy tea and cakes.

Ji Ning was efficient; by mid-afternoon, she had already swept three thousand five hundred steps. After resting for an hour, she was confident she could finish the remaining one thousand five hundred steps well before sunset.

Lush trees flanked both sides of the stairway, their shade casting a cool veil over moist, soft soil. Ji Ning found a soft patch of grass and sat down comfortably.

She took out the leftover Hundred-Flower Cakes and fried matsutake mushrooms, savoring them with her spiritual flower tea.

The food quickly disappeared.

During this time, Ji Ning was pleasantly surprised to discover that the herbal tea stored in her gourd was not only as refreshing and sweet as freshly brewed tea but also seemed to contain an added trace of spiritual energy. After drinking it, the spiritual energy she had expended in her dantian recovered rapidly, like bamboo shoots sprouting after rain.

For one at the Qi Refining stage, even without relying on spirit stones or energy recovery pills, this allowed a brief yet effective replenishment of spiritual energy.

The restorative effect might diminish significantly beyond that stage, but this was not a concern for Ji Ning at present.

She couldn’t help but marvel, “From the moment I first met Senior Brother Lu, he exuded an extraordinary aura. Indeed, the gifts he gave are no ordinary items.”

At this moment, Ji Ning was quite pleased with herself, having completely forgotten the earlier grievance about Lu Chen’s inability to provide spirit stones for her.

Occasionally, small birds flitted through the forest, chirping as they perched on branches, tilting their tiny heads in curiosity at the stranger. Their eyes, no larger than green beans, sparkled with wonder.

By the hour of Shen (mid-afternoon), Ji Ning had rested sufficiently. She rose, brushed off the dust, rolled up her sleeves, and took up the broom, preparing to finish the task in one go before heading home for dinner.

Just then, the compass in her storage pouch reacted once again.

Ji Ning activated her spiritual awareness, retrieving the compass and holding it in her hand. One of the small beads on its surface lit up, and the needle trembled frequently.

Unlike the previous time, this bead glowed a bright yellow.

Though she pondered deeply, Ji Ning could not discern the difference between the white and yellow lights.

But she knew one thing: the compass’s ability to extract treasures was enough.

After stowing the broom away, Ji Ning carefully searched the forest with the compass in hand.

The woods grew deep and shadowed, with overlapping tree silhouettes. To avoid getting lost, she marked her path as she went.

After about fifteen minutes, Ji Ning stood still in the forest. The bright yellow bead shone intensely, and the needle pointed steadily to one side.

She was close…

Looking around, the forest was silent and undisturbed, with no signs of anomalies.

Yet the number on the compass representing her fortune remained unchanged; the key to breaking through was here.

There had to be something she had yet to discover.

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Releasing her spiritual awareness, Ji Ning once again surveyed the area. The outlines of objects within a hundred miles appeared clearly in her mind.

With eyes closed, she examined everything inch by inch.

Suddenly, a cluster of seven or eight trees planted closely together caught her attention.

The trunks were thick and the foliage dense, indistinguishable from the surrounding trees. Yet their roots were thin and shallow, buried just beneath the surface, which would typically cause nutrient deficiencies and weaker growth compared to the towering ancient trees nearby.

However, these trees were all equally tall and luxuriant.

Something was amiss.

Ji Ning cautiously approached. The closer she got, the stronger the faint spiritual energy fluctuations became.

Upon stepping near the strange cluster, though the scenery remained unchanged, she found herself immersed in another realm.

Yet Ji Ning was unaware of this.

After walking a short while, the ancient trees still towered before her, the unsettling silence persisting.

Her feet grew heavier, and her spiritual awareness blurred.

Alarmed, Ji Ning quickly released several fireballs. As the trees burned to ash, she felt her body plunging downward.

The vision shifted rapidly.

She landed heavily on the ground, pain striking both body and spirit.

Though her physical form had been destroyed, tenacious, slender vines wrapped around her, siphoning her life force for nourishment.

Ji Ning unleashed a burst of spiritual energy, easily shattering the vines.

Her spiritual awareness swept the scene, frowning.

They were Ghost Illusion Vines!

A third-grade spiritual herb, small in size, thriving near water or damp places. Their bright appearance made them easy to identify. They emitted a fragrant scent that induced hallucinations, entrapping victims in illusions where the vines would constrict and drain spiritual energy. Once the spiritual energy was exhausted, they fed on the cultivator’s life force until only a dried corpse remained.

Earlier, they had drained most of her dantian’s spiritual energy. Had she delayed, the consequences would have been dire.

Breaking free from the illusion, Ji Ning was startled to find that beside the one Ghost Illusion Vine she had burned to death, six or seven others lay in ruin—each killed with a single strike.

Her spiritual awareness confirmed they were thoroughly dead.

A wave of dread swept over her; had they attacked together, she would not have survived half a quarter of an hour.

The compass still glowed, the needle unmoving.

Ji Ning formed a rough theory.

The compass’s indication was likely related to the person who had slain those Ghost Illusion Vines; it was guiding her to find them.

But after that ordeal, though her legs were steady, fear had taken root in her heart.

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If there were more illusions ahead, or something even more terrifying than the Ghost Illusion Vines, Ji Ning dared not imagine how cruelly she might perish.

Fear breeds hesitation, and hesitation shackles both hands and feet.

Sensing her thoughts, the compass buzzed and the bright yellow bead dimmed slightly.

This was a sign that her fortune value was fading, though Ji Ning remained unaware.

After a dozen seconds, she took a deep breath, gripping the compass firmly, and resolved to move forward without hesitation.

Having lived two lives, she now had two chances. Her previous life ended badly; why should she fear now?

“Compass, thank you for encouraging me!” she said aloud.

If the compass could, it would surely return three large question marks to her.

Reinvigorated, her mind clearer than before, Ji Ning linked the illusions to the invisible celestial book, believing their principles to be the same.

Both were merely layers of deception over reality.

She decided to use the little fox’s ability to probe ahead. If unsuccessful, she would consider other methods.

Manipulating her spiritual awareness, Ji Ning summoned the essence within her sea of consciousness. Her once jet-black pupils gradually shimmered with golden light, instantly reflecting the true appearance of the surroundings.

No towering ancient trees or green forest lay ahead. Instead, just seven or eight meters away stretched a calm lake with smooth ripples, its waters clear but bottomless.

Within that distance lay dozens of dead Ghost Illusion Vines and traces of blood.

Cautiously, Ji Ning stepped forward. Nearby trees bore sword slashes, and the grass showed signs of repeated trampling.

Blood stained the grass, still fresh.

Ji Ning concluded that a fierce battle had occurred here not long ago.

She did not advance further but extended her spiritual awareness to search.

The closer to the lake she drew, the stronger the spiritual energy fluctuations became.

The source of the disturbance finally fixed on a huge stone statue at the lake’s center.

Yet every attempt to probe was blocked at the threshold of her spiritual awareness.

Helpless, Ji Ning stepped forward a few paces and squinted toward the statue.

What she saw startled her.

Lying on the stone platform beneath the statue stood a person covered in blood. Above him, a sharp sword was plunged into the right eye of the serpent-headed stone statue.