Chapter - 27
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On a rocky wasteland filled with scattered stones, a few people were carefully searching for eggs.
Round stones, round eggs, it took an extremely sharp sense of spiritual energy to distinguish one from the other.
Qinggu Eagle eggs were incredibly valuable. Not only were they prized on the market and delicious if cooked right, but if you were lucky, you could even raise one from hatchling to become a contract beast.
So naturally, everyone was searching with great enthusiasm.
Everyone except Qiao Han, who was sitting on a large rock, chin in hand, staring blankly upward.
In the center of the rocky area stood several towering trees, and nestled in their canopies were nests—five or six of them—all belonging to Qinggu Eagles.
A single pound of Celestial Luminary Stone could be dug out from under those nests.
Digging it out wasn’t the hard part—getting past the Qinggu Eagles was.
These creatures were absurdly lazy. Most of the time, they were curled up in their nests, practically fused with the bedding. Even if they left briefly to forage, they’d be back in a flash. There simply wasn’t enough time for Qiao Han to act.
As Qiao Han watched, one of the massive eagles shifted in its nest. He immediately raised the alarm, and the others stopped what they were doing and concealed their presence.
Fortunately, they were still far enough from the central area to avoid being noticed.
Qiao Han watched as the massive eagle—its wingspan easily ten meters across—flew down from the treetops with a round, stone-like egg in its beak. It didn’t even bother nesting it properly. It just casually dropped the egg onto the rocky ground, letting it absorb spiritual energy naturally to hatch on its own. Then it turned around and lazily flew back to its bed.
They had just witnessed a live-action case of “lay it and leave it.” Truly an irresponsible parent.
But the sight sparked an idea in Qiao Han’s mind. A moment later, he joined the egg-hunting team.
With a freshly laid egg as a reference, everyone now had a better sense of what to look for. Their speed increased noticeably.
Several hours later, each of them had gathered a small collection of eggs.
Lu Xiang’s mission was officially complete.
Outside the water mirror, Lu Zhui watched as they finished gathering and didn’t immediately leave. Instead, they huddled together, clearly discussing something.
“…Don’t tell me… Qiao Han has another task. There’s no way he’s been asked to kill a Qinggu Eagle, right? That’d be suicide…” Lu Zhui trailed off, swallowing hard.
He remembered his own foolish attempt at mining Celestial Luminary Stone back in his youth, and getting viciously chased by an eagle for it. And that was after he’d reached Foundation Establishment.
Xiao Jiuci’s breathing slowed. He knew Qiao Han’s usual style—if there wasn’t a solid plan, he’d never take the risk. But still, he couldn’t help feeling tense.
Sure enough, in the mirror, Qiao Han began moving on his own.
He carried a Qinggu Eagle egg and carefully approached the trees. Just as he was about to trigger the eagle’s attention, an explosion echoed in the distance—loud and jarring.
The Qinggu Eagle instantly turned its gaze in that direction, its attention fully diverted.
Using the diversion tactic of attacking in one direction while striking in another, combined with his expert command over wood-element spiritual energy, Qiao Han swiftly climbed to just beneath the Qinggu Eagle’s nest.
At this point, all he could do was wait for his teammates to act. But after waiting for some time with no movement, he wasn’t even surprised. He figured Meng Wan was probably the one dragging things down again. The guy never wanted to take risks in the first place, and now that Qiao Han wasn’t there, he was likely doing everything he could to talk the others out of the plan.
Sure enough, Qiao Han’s guess was spot-on. But after all they’d been through with him, not even Lu Xiang was willing to abandon the mission halfway.
No matter how many times Meng Wan insisted it was too dangerous, told them to call it off, Lu Xiang just coldly snorted, pulled out her magic weapon, and launched a wind-and-fire-infused arrow straight at the base of the tree.
Sheng Jue followed up with a wave of spell talismans that struck the trunk, while Bai Rong cast an earth-element technique to shake the ground.
With their cultivation level, there was no way they could actually harm a centuries-old spirit tree. At most, they could make it shudder.
But that was all they needed.
The trembling was enough to disturb the Qinggu Eagles slumbering high above. They panicked—wings flapping wildly, claws gripping the Celestial Luminary Stone as the branches swayed beneath them. When the shaking finally subsided, all the eagles let out shrill cries of rage and launched spell attacks in the direction of the disturbance. Their feathers flew like blades, forming a deadly rain of sharpness.
The sheer range, speed, and ferocity of the assault made even Lu Zhui outside the water mirror draw a sharp breath.
Although the team had made thorough preparations and quickly retreated after the initial strike, they still didn’t manage to get to a safe zone in time. The spiritual energy shockwaves caught them mid-flight and blasted them hard. If they’d taken a direct hit, they’d be seriously injured for sure.
But right at that moment, Qiao Han seized the window of chaos.
While the eagles above focused their fury downward, he silently used wood-element spells to grow vines. One by one, he placed the eggs he’d brought onto each nest.
Now, he just had to wait.
Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the enraged Qinggu Eagles to quiet down—only to suddenly discover… new eggs in their nests.
A chorus of confused screeches rang out as they squawked and flapped, clearly trying to make sense of what had just happened. But before long, instinct took over. One by one, they picked up the eggs and flew down from the treetops.
In just a few moments, the entire canopy was empty.
The group below held their breath, watching tensely. Outside the water mirror, eyes were locked onto the scene.
Soon, one of the Qinggu Eagles returned to its perch. It didn’t seem alarmed. It merely looked around, then slowly began to settle down again as if preparing to nap.
The spectators blinked in confusion. There was no sign of a fight. Based on the timing alone, Qiao Han couldn’t possibly have excavated the Celestial Luminary Stone that fast.
There was only one logical conclusion: he’d run out of time… and given up.
Meng Wan immediately grew agitated. Just as he thought, Qiao Han’s plan had never stood a chance. And now they’d nearly gotten hurt for nothing! He opened his mouth, ready to start ranting again, when a wave of danger slammed into him.
Before he could react, Lu Xiang had already yanked him to the ground.
A sudden rain of sword-like feathers tore through the air above their heads.
Everyone thought the Qinggu Eagles had finally discovered the real culprit and were now chasing them down, but when they looked up…
They froze.
That barrage wasn’t aimed at them.
It was two Qinggu Eagles… fighting each other in mid-air.
The same lazy beasts who’d rather die than get out of bed… were now brawling in the sky.
Then came the third eagle, and the fourth until every single Qinggu Eagle was airborne, locked in a wild aerial brawl. Feathers and sword-like spiritual energy flew across the sky like a rainstorm of death.
Everyone flattened themselves against the ground, eyes wide in stunned silence—until Bai Rong suddenly shouted, “I see Young Master Qiao coming down!”
“Good. With how dangerous things are up there, it makes sense to abandon the plan,” Sheng Jue added.
Lu Xiang let out a frustrated huff. The failed plan clearly left her more than a little bitter. Only Meng Wan let out a smug snort, saying, “Told you it wouldn’t work.”
But outside the water mirror, the expressions of those watching began to shift, rapidly turning grim.
Unlike the people inside the realm, they could see exactly what Qiao Han had just done up in those nests.
Qiao Han was now sprinting toward his team like hell itself was on his heels. Before anyone could even ask what was going on, he yelled, “Run! NOW!”
Not stopping for breath, not even glancing back, he barreled forward and waved for them to follow.
The others were still confused, thinking maybe he was just afraid of getting caught in the blast radius from the eagle fight, but his urgency was contagious. Without a second thought, they all took off running with him.
But as they ran, Bai Rong—bringing up the rear—suddenly felt a chill climb up his spine. His fur practically stood on end. He looked back—
—and screamed, “The Qinggu Eagles are chasing us!!”
Everyone turned mid-stride just in time to see the same eagles that had been viciously tearing each other apart now united in fury, hot on their heels, blasting them with powerful attacks.
Thankfully, the gap was wide enough that the magic strikes were falling just short, exploding behind them.
But if they didn’t outrun them soon, they’d be dead meat.
“Run faster!” Qiao Han shouted.
“Why the hell are they chasing us!?” Meng Wan yelled in panic. “What did you DO!?”
“…I might’ve… dug up the Celestial Luminary Stones,” Qiao Han said between pants.
“…All of them?”
Qiao Han hesitated. “Possibly… I might’ve… dug up all the stones in every single one from their nests.”
Everyone: … WHAT?! Every. Single. Celestial. Stone?! Those things had been refining for centuries! And Qiao Han just… looted them all?!
“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” Meng Wan roared.
“It was a rare opportunity!” Qiao Han defended himself, looking almost aggrieved.
“I thought I’d share them with you guys as compensation for all the hard work…”
“Compensation my ass!” Lu Xiang nearly exploded. “Give them back!”
“I would,” Qiao Han said, dead serious, “but I don’t think they’re in the mood for negotiations!”
“Don’t panic!” Sheng Jue tried to calm them down. “Maybe if we run into another spirit beast’s territory, they’ll back off!”
“The only beast nearby that could scare Qinggu Eagles,” Bai Rong wailed, “is the Rockspine Tiger—and it already wants to kill us too!”
“MOTHERFUCKER—QIAO HAN!” Meng Wan shouted again, now practically foaming at the mouth.
Qiao Han: …Oops?
As they sprinted for their lives, no one noticed that the nearby sea of green lotuses had started to shift… unnaturally.
Outside the water mirror, Lu Zhui dragged a hand down his face and muttered, “Disgrace. Absolute disgrace.”
Then he turned to Xiao Jiuci with a look of barely contained accusation.
“Your partner, your responsibility. Wife not taught, husband at fault!”
Back inside the realm, it turns out, Qiao Han had known he wouldn’t have time to clean and harvest everything. So earlier, when he’d tricked the Qinggu Eagles into delivering eggs, he’d also sneakily chipped off pieces of Celestial Luminary Stone from each nest…
…and tossed the fragments into the wrong nests to stir up chaos.
The Qinggu Eagles were extremely possessive of their nests and hypersensitive to any foreign scent. When the first eagle returned, it had noticed something off but didn’t think much of it. But then, the second one flew by and suddenly picked up the distinct scent of its own Celestial Luminary Stone… inside its neighbor’s nest. The other got angry and started fighting.
In the Qinggu Eagle world, stealing someone’s nest stone wasn’t just disrespect; it was full-on war.
The eagle instantly flew into a rage, convinced that its idiotic neighbor had taken advantage of its absence to dig up its stone and use it to improve their own sleeping spot.
That was a challenge to its pride.
Heads could be broken, feathers could be cut, but their bed was sacred.
And just like that, a full-blown Qinggu Eagle civil war erupted, instigated entirely by a certain human’s underhanded scheming.
Meanwhile, Qiao Han had calmly taken advantage of the chaos above, carving out six nests in a row, looting them of every last stone.
Was it any wonder the eagles were now out for blood?
“They’re really chasing them like their lives depend on it,” Lu Zhui muttered from outside the water mirror.
“Even a swarm of locusts wouldn’t be that thorough. He might have emptied out their sacred site!”
“Won’t they just chase him to the ends of the earth now?” he added, horrified.
Xiao Jiuci’s brows furrowed, full of worry and exasperation. As expected of Qiao Han… always pushing boundaries. He really couldn’t be left unsupervised.
He could only hope they’d barge into another spirit beast’s territory and get the eagles to back off.
Or, worst-case scenario, toss a few stones behind as bait while running. That might buy them enough time to escape.
And that was exactly what Qiao Han was thinking. He reached for his storage pouch, ready to sacrifice a portion of his ill-gotten gains.
But just then, he felt something odd under his feet. The texture of the ground was… off.
At the same moment, the eagles above began to slow. One by one, they faltered in the air… and then, to everyone’s disbelief, turned and flew away.
Before anyone could even ask what just happened, a cloud of glittering particles burst up from the ground around them, drifting through the air like floating pollen.
Qiao Han glanced down, his vision going fuzzy.
In front of him, dozens of squat, chubby green mushrooms were wobbling back and forth in rhythm.
Those were the illusion mushrooms.
No one had expected it. They’d run straight into the territory of the one thing even Qinggu Eagles avoided—a colony of illusion mushrooms.
Because illusion mushrooms were nearly the same color as the surrounding lotus field, from a distance, the entire area looked like a harmless sea of green.
Too easy for careless cultivators to wander in and lose their minds.
Coincidentally, this happened to be Sheng Jue’s final task, so he knew what they were dealing with. Unfortunately, it was already too late to warn anyone.
As soon as the mushroom field was disturbed, it responded aggressively, releasing clouds of glittering hallucinogenic spores into the air. In an instant, everyone fell under its spell and dropped to the ground like fallen leaves.
The mushrooms, as if irritated at being trampled, withdrew into the earth—only to reappear several meters away, waddling out like little green dumplings that had merely shifted positions.
That was the strange thing about illusion mushrooms: they could move. Encountering one was considered rare and fateful. If approached carefully, they could even be harvested. But stumble in like they did? You were bound to get hit with the full effect.
No wonder the Qinggu Eagles didn’t dare follow them in. Even spirit beasts couldn’t resist the mushrooms’ spores. If they were caught and passed out in the field, they’d be devoured whole.
Illusion mushrooms hated humans, but they didn’t eat them, so for humans, the effect was non-lethal. The worst you'd get was tripping hard and passing out.
Besides, this was the Qinglian Realm, a regulated assessment zone under constant surveillance via the water mirror. There was no risk of murder or robbery. Ironically, getting knocked out here was actually the safest thing that could happen.
Sure enough, outside the mirror, the spectators collectively exhaled in relief.
“I mean, hey, not a bad outcome,” Lu Zhui chuckled, unable to keep the amusement off his face.
“Talk about disaster turning into a blessing.”
But Xiao Jiuci didn’t relax. If anything, his expression grew more tense, his brow furrowing with a different kind of unease.
“What?” Lu Zhui noticed.
“There’s no danger. Worst case? They all act like drunkards and make fools of themselves for a bit. Illusion mushrooms dig up whatever's been on your mind lately. They’ll probably just keep hallucinating that they’re still running from the Qinggu Eagles.”
Xiao Jiuci remained silent, eyes locked on the water mirror.
What illusion mushrooms really did was unearth a person’s most buried desire—breaking through masks and restraint, laying bare their truest self. And what a person “wanted” could vary wildly.
His gaze flickered.
Suddenly, Qiao Han moved.
Xiao Jiuci’s lips pressed into a tight line. He didn’t blink once.
In the mirror, Qiao Han slowly sat up with his eyes closed and began to walk. After a few steps, he reached for his waistband—
And started undressing.
Lu Zhui: “???”
Xiao Jiuci: “!!!”
“…What’s he doing?” Lu Zhui asked, stunned.
“Is he hallucinating… that hard? What kind of fantasy is this?!”
Xiao Jiuci looked like he wanted to sink into the floor. He froze awkwardly as Qiao Han still blissfully unaware in his dream happily stripped off his robe.
Under the moonlight, his pale, elegant form was revealed slender yet firm, refined bones and skin glowing with health from constant cultivation. Though his frame wasn’t large, it had the perfect proportions of wide shoulders tapering to a narrow waist.
“Stop looking. Stop staring. Move along, nothing to see here,” Lu Zhui barked, already shooing away the crowd that had gathered near the water mirror.
Xiao Jiuci felt Lu Zhui was being overly dramatic. They were all men, after all. Nothing worth panicking over—
Until—
Qiao Han began removing his pants.
Xiao Jiuci’s breath caught. His mind blanked. His heart slammed into his ribs.
Oh no.
He remembered clearly—Qiao Han had very specific habits when it came to sleeping.
Panicking now, Xiao Jiuci swept his eyes around the courtyard to confirm that Lu Zhui had driven away the onlookers. Only then did he let out a slow breath of relief…
But in the very next second, realization struck him.
Lu Zhui… was still watching.
Just as Xiao Jiuci was about to say something, he looked back at the water mirror and froze.
Qiao Han had finally stopped his shameless stripping spree, mercifully leaving himself in a single pair of underwear. But those long, impossibly pale legs were so eye-searingly bright under the moonlight that even Xiao Jiuci began to wonder if watching this violated some sort of spiritual decency law.
After all, if someone did something truly private, the water mirror was supposed to fog up on its own.
But now? The image was still crystal clear.
“…So I guess it’s nothing… inappropriate,” Lu Zhui mumbled, a bit disappointed.
“But what is he doing?”
Xiao Jiuci blinked and forced himself to focus.
In the water mirror, Qiao Han had sat himself down somewhere, eyes still closed, wearing a goofy smile while rubbing his hands lazily across his arms and chest.
He looked almost exactly like…
Lu Zhui tilted his head. “Wait a sec… is he pretending to… bathe?”
Then his eyes widened. “Ah—don’t tell me! Is this because we didn’t bring him along to soak in the spiritual hot spring last time?! Has he been this hung up about it?!”
Xiao Jiuci stared at the screen, dumbfounded. The way Qiao Han was rubbing himself down, grinning like a child on a sugar high, chatting happily with someone to his left did look eerily similar to that time they'd all soaked in the hot spring together.
No wonder he'd stripped down. He was clearly deep in the fantasy.
Xiao Jiuci let out the faintest breath of relief. If that’s all… then it’s fine. Nothing serious.
But the relief didn’t last.
In the mirror, Qiao Han suddenly looked down toward his left… as if checking something.
Then he glanced down at himself.
…Then he looked back to the left.
…Then he nodded.
…Then—
He gave a big fat thumbs-up.
Xiao Jiuci: “…”
Lu Zhui: Pfft! “HAHAHAHA—Wait, what’s he looking at?! Is he seriously comparing sizes?!”
Xiao Jiuci stared silently at the collar of his robe, which now felt strangely tight. A thin stream of heat crept up from beneath the folds.
Lu Zhui, meanwhile, was laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Xiao Jiuci turned toward him with a look of exasperation.
This entire mess… was clearly his fault!
But before he could say anything, Lu Zhui choked out, “Look—look at the mirror!”
Xiao Jiuci turned back—
—and promptly froze.
Qiao Han had a nosebleed.
“Something’s wrong with the illusion mushrooms,” Xiao Jiuci muttered, brain short-circuiting.
“Hah! Nope,wrong,” Lu Zhui howled.
“That’s not the mushrooms’ fault—he’s just too damn repressed! Saw one glance of his crush in a towel and his body couldn't take it! Qiao Han’s been down bad for a long time, huh?”
For once, Xiao Jiuci, who was normally unfazed by any teasing, became truly flustered.
He opened his mouth, ready to insist it was all a misunderstanding. After all, Qiao Han had clearly told him before that he wasn’t into men…
…Right?
But then the glow began.
Back in the water mirror, a faint green light started to shimmer around Qiao Han’s entire body.
Instantly, Xiao Jiuci’s expression calmed.
“He’s breaking through,” he said coolly.
“But he hasn’t entered proper meditation. His body isn’t stable enough to handle the sudden surge of spiritual energy.”
Lu Zhui was still laughing so hard his eyes were tearing up, but the moment he saw the green glow begin to flicker around Qiao Han’s body, he sobered instantly.
So that’s what was happening… a breakthrough. A rare moment of clarity washed over him, and suddenly it all felt like a waste, Qiao Han’s moment of sincerity, distorted into comedy.
And just as Lu Zhui was collecting himself, the others in the illusion began to move as well, each lost in their own hallucinations.
Then, the peace broke.
Several disciples guarding the secret realm ran over, heading straight for Xiao Jiuci and Lu Zhui.
Xiao Jiuci’s expression darkened the moment he heard the report. “The realm’s unstable?”
“Yes,” one disciple replied breathlessly. “The formation controlling the safety has been acting up. The formation master sensed fluctuations just now.”
“I’ll go check it,” Xiao Jiuci said with a frown.
Lu Zhui waved him off casually.
“Go ahead. I’ll stay here and watch them.”
Xiao Jiuci glanced once more at the water mirror Qiao Han was still there, soaking joyfully in his imaginary hot spring. A helpless smile ghosted over his lips before he turned to leave.
Thanks to Lu Zhui shooing everyone else away, he was now the only one watching that particular section of the mirror.
But the longer he watched, the more the smile on his face faded. His relaxed amusement slowly twisted into disbelief and then into boiling rage.
In the water mirror…
Meng Wan had moved.
In his illusion, he was crawling toward Lu Xiang, who sat peacefully against a tree, smiling dreamily, clearly talking to someone who didn’t exist.
Lu Zhui recognized that expression instantly. She always looked like that when she was talking to Xiao Jiuci.
There was no doubt: in her illusion, she was chatting with Xiao Jiuci.
At first, Lu Zhui didn’t think anything of it. He’d heard that under the influence of the mushrooms, people occasionally lashed out or collided with each other, but nothing serious. It was supposed to stop the moment it hurt.
But then—
Meng Wan suddenly lunged.
Still in his hallucination, he tackled Lu Xiang to the ground.
Lu Zhui’s brain short-circuited. His body froze, his pupils shrank to pinpoints. In a blink, the carefree noble heir persona he always wore shattered into dust.
He’d always known Meng Wan harbored some feelings for Lu Xiang, but he hadn’t expected this.
In the mirror, his little sister, still lost in her dream, didn’t react. She was completely unaware that Meng Wan had grabbed her, that her clothes were being torn.
Then—
The mirror clouded over.
A swirl of fog bloomed across the screen, signaling that something private was occurring.
A privacy shield.
The worst had happened.
No one had seen this coming.
Lu Zhui’s entire body tensed like a snapped bowstring. His mind blanked, every breath seizing in his throat.
Then—
He exploded.
Spiritual energy surged like a cyclone around him, fierce winds howling and cutting through the air like blades. The very earth trembled beneath his feet.
Without a word, Lu Zhui bolted toward the secret realm’s entrance.
He didn’t even know if he’d be too late.
He didn’t dare imagine it.
But just as Lu Zhui was about to erupt like a hurricane…
The water mirror cleared.
The fog dissipated like a violent gust tearing through a dense forest, vanishing into nothingness.
Because what greeted his eyes wasn’t the nightmare he’d feared, but something else entirely.
There, in the mirror, stood a strange pale youth, Bai Rong, his eyes wide open, both hands tightly gripping a rock. Beneath him lay Meng Wan, already unconscious.
The boy was panting hard, clearly shaken. After a moment, he dropped the stone and scrambled to drag Lu Xiang away from Meng Wan, trying to move her somewhere safe.
Lu Xiang’s clothes had only suffered a minor tear—the outermost layer ripped, nothing more.
Once he had pulled her close to the others, the rabbit boy finally exhaled a breath of relief. He plopped down beside them, still trembling slightly, his small hands clutching the sides of his head.
What he didn’t know—couldn’t know—was that in his panic, his hands had subconsciously shifted form. The tufts of "hair" he gripped so tightly had transformed into long, pointed ears.
Hidden, but not invisible.
If one looked closely enough, it was obvious—those weren’t strands of hair.
And to top it off, his red-rimmed eyes were unmistakably rabbit-like.
Outside the mirror, Lu Zhui stood frozen.
The fire in his chest slowly extinguished, replaced by stunned disbelief.
Not far away, Xiao Jiuci had returned, walking calmly toward the water mirrors. He paused, eyes falling on the trembling figure within.
Lu Zhui instinctively stepped forward to meet him.
“How’s the secret realm?” he asked, keeping his tone casual.
Xiao Jiuci blinked once, then answered, “I’ve managed to stabilize the array for now. But we can’t be careless. I’ll need to monitor all the mirrors more closely for any anomalies.”
Before he could assign mirrors, Lu Zhui interrupted, “Don’t stress too much. I’ll keep an eye on this one for you.”
His eyes stayed glued to the screen.
“If Qiao Han does anything dangerous, I’ll call you right away. That way, you can focus on the others too.”
Xiao Jiuci didn’t argue. He simply nodded and left.
Lu Zhui let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and turned back.
Lu Zhui let out a breath of relief, turned back to his spot, and saw that the young boy had already calmed down. At the moment, he was either staring blankly at the sky or taking care of the people around him.
He covered the overly exposed Qiao Han with a robe, helped guide the direction of the wandering Sheng Jue, and kept an eye on Lu Xiang, who was still chatting with a tree.
From time to time, he cast a glance at Meng Wan, who was lying on the ground in a bizarre pose.
Lu Zhui had already figured out why Bai Rong had tried to pull down Qiao Han’s pants earlier. He couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He wanted to laugh at how dumb Bai Rong was—wasn’t now the perfect time to do that? Did he give up, or just forget?
Narrowing his eyes, Lu Zhui’s gaze locked entirely onto Bai Rong. He thought to himself—since Bai Rong had a great debt to Lu Xiang, he’d let him off for now. As for later… if he still wanted to sneak into Yuxu Sect as a spy, then—
Well, he’d just toy with him. Keep him under watch.
As long as he didn’t harm anyone, it was fine.
Lu Zhui’s mood gradually shifted back into one of spectator amusement.
As long as he didn’t try anything funny, there was no need to break his legs.
With the tension gone, Lu Zhui slipped back into his usual smug observer mode.
One by one, the people in the mirror began to regain consciousness.
Most of them still remembered their hallucinations.
They were lucky to have escaped the wrath of the Qinggu Eagles, but not everyone was feeling proud.
Qiao Han, for one, looked absolutely mortified.
His face was pitch black with shame.
He hadn’t just had a hallucination.
He had hallucinated about him.
He had seen that.
Even if it was through clothing, it was still a crime!
How could he have imagined such things about the male lead?!
And worse, he compared that, too.
Was he a pervert!?
No—he was just curious!
…Which somehow made it even worse.
As Qiao Han dressed, he tried to comfort himself—no one would know what he saw in his illusion, right?
Even if the water mirror had broadcast something, most people would just think he had a habit of stripping his clothes. That’s not too bad.
He glanced around and noticed that Bai Rong had woken up before him, not surprising. He was a demon, after all. His physique must be different.
Plus, he'd woken up early and hadn’t done anything inappropriate. As expected… a good bunny.
At the moment, Bai Rong seemed to be saying something to Lu Xiang.
Over on the other side, Meng Wan looked a little guilty, though he tried not to show it. As he stood up, his head spun. When he touched it, there was blood.
Immediately, he shouted, furious:
“Who attacked me while I was under the illusion?!”
The next second, Lu Xiang struck him without hesitation.
Meng Wan dodged in shock. “Lu Xiang! What are you doing?!”
Lu Xiang’s face was already livid, her eyes wide with tears she couldn’t hold back.
“Meng Wan, you bastard!”
Meng Wan panicked. “What? Why are you cursing me?! I just woke up from the illusion, too!”
Their commotion quickly drew Qiao Han and Sheng Jue over.
The two also noticed that Lu Xiang’s outer robe seemed damaged.
“Bai Rong already told me,” Lu Xiang said, voice trembling with fury.
“He saw you try to do something disgusting to me! My clothes were ripped by you! You’re shameless, filthy—how dare you do that to me?! I’ll kill you!”
Consumed by rage and shame, Lu Xiang lunged at Meng Wan.
But Meng Wan stubbornly denied everything. He even turned it on to Bai Rong:
“He’s lying to slander me! Lu Xiang, we’re childhood friends! How can you believe an outsider over me? He was the first one awake—maybe he was the one who did something to you and is trying to pin it on me!”
He was trying to shift the blame, now questioning Bai Rong directly.
Bai Rong couldn’t argue with him—he just told the truth as he saw it.
When he woke up, that’s the scene he saw. And from what he knew, humans could only take off each other’s clothes if they were married.
Plus, he’d noticed along the way that Lu Xiang didn’t like Meng Wan. So, of course, he had to stop him!
He thought it was only right to tell the truth.
But he hadn’t expected to become the target of Meng Wan’s rage. Just as Meng Wan’s attack was about to land on him, Bai Rong froze in fear.
Qiao Han, however, moved in a flash, blocking the strike in front of Bai Rong.
Bai Rong stared in a daze at Qiao Han.
“Get out of my way!” Meng Wan roared.
Qiao Han’s voice turned cold:
“Being ugly isn’t your fault, but being a pervert sure is. You should be grateful that Bai Rong stopped you. If not, Lu Zhui would’ve killed you by now!”
Meng Wan’s face contorted, “Don’t make things up! I know you’ve always disliked me—don’t tell me you put Bai Rong up to this to frame me!”
“I didn’t!” Bai Rong quickly shook his head, panicked.
“Heh,” Qiao Han sneered, “Are you stupid? The water mirrors outside show everything. Someone definitely saw what happened. Once we’re out, the truth will come to light. What’s the point in lying now?”
Meng Wan was instantly speechless.
And that silence was all the proof Lu Xiang needed.
Her rage, already past the point of reason, boiled over. She launched another attack, eyes blazing.
This time, Meng Wan didn’t dodge.
He took the hit directly, got slammed to the ground and heavily injured, but immediately put on a pitiful expression.
“Lu Xiang, I really don’t know anything! I was in an illusion; how could I know what I did in the real world? If I did something, it’s only because I love you too much! I want to marry you! How can you blame me for that? In real life, I can control myself, but illusions? That’s not something I can control! Yes! I saw you in the illusion! But it was you who hugged me first! What was I supposed to do?!”
When Lu Xiang heard Meng Wan’s twisted explanation, she was so furious she wanted to kill someone, but his distorted logic also made it clear he hadn't exactly meant to hurt her.
Still clinging to her belief in being a good person and doing the right thing, Lu Xiang gritted her teeth and forced herself to hold back, even though her temper was on the verge of erupting.
She screamed, “Get lost! Don’t ever let me see you again!”
Meng Wan still wanted to say more, but Qiao Han coldly cut in.
“Let it go. Once we’re out of the secret realm, there will be justice. But if you keep pestering now, and Brother Lu sees it from the outside—well, things won’t end so nicely for you.”
Kicking Meng Wan out not only cleared the team of a liability, but also eliminated one more person who might get corrupted by demonic qi. Qiao Han couldn’t be happier.
In the end, unable to turn the tide, Meng Wan left in humiliation.
He was, of course, bitter and unwilling—he hadn’t actually done anything! It was just an illusion! Being treated like this was unbearable.
Watching Meng Wan get kicked out, Lu Zhui finally let out a sigh of relief, though his heart still ached for his little sister, who had experienced something so traumatic.
Seeing her in tears, being comforted by the others, Lu Zhui silently swore to himself: once Meng Wan came out of the trial, he’d make sure to deliver some payback.
By then, night had fallen, and they found a cave to rest for the time being.
Lu Xiang’s emotions had also calmed considerably, and she politely thanked everyone for their help.
Meanwhile, Qiao Han finally couldn’t hold on any longer. After several rounds of nosebleeds, he collapsed inside the cave from spiritual energy overload.
When he awoke, the surroundings were glowing faintly with a protective formation—one of the defensive talismans Lu Zhui had sent in with Lu Xiang, to be used in emergencies.
Opening his eyes, Qiao Han saw Bai Rong sitting nearby, keeping watch.
“You’re awake!” Bai Rong rushed over, worried. “Are you alright? They said you’re about to break through—how are you feeling?”
Qiao Han sighed. The surge in his spiritual power probably had to do with all the random food he’d eaten inside the trial realm. Coupled with the string of dangerous encounters, his cultivation had skyrocketed, leaving him unable to suppress it any longer. He had to ascend.
Damn it. Of all times, he’d calculated everything except for this.
“Where are the others?”
“Miss Lu is standing guard outside. Brother Sheng went to look for food and water—he’ll be back soon. They told me to make sure you could focus on your breakthrough,” Bai Rong reported earnestly.
Qiao Han crossed his legs and sat up, falling silent in deep thought. After a moment, his gaze locked on Bai Rong’s face. He tossed over his storage pouch.
“There are a bunch of talismans and pills inside. Bai Rong, listen closely…”
…
Not long after, Sheng Jue returned and saw Lu Xiang sitting quietly by the fire, lost in thought. He said a few comforting words and offered her some food.
Then he went to call for Bai Rong.
Bai Rong came out, expression complicated. “Brother Qiao is already in deep meditation.”
Sheng Jue smiled reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Breaking through to Foundation Establishment doesn’t take too long. He’ll be fine.”
Bai Rong nodded and, following Qiao Han’s instructions, began sticking talismans around the cave entrance.
The others assumed Qiao Han was just being cautious, worried about possible danger during the breakthrough. None of them thought anything of it. In fact, to help him focus, they all agreed not to enter the cave and simply kept watch outside.
Night deepened.
Not far from the cave’s entrance, a shadowy figure was slowly approaching.
Everyone jolted to attention only to see Meng Wan stumble out of the darkness, covered in wounds.
“Help! Help me! A demonic cultivator is trying to kill me!” he cried, stumbling into their camp.
The surrounding environment suddenly darkened with an ominous, creeping black hue.
…
Outside the secret realm, Lu Zhui, monitoring the water mirrors, noticed something was wrong. Alarmed, he rushed to find Xiao Jiuci only to realize that Xiao Jiuci had already flown toward the secret realm’s entrance.
One by one, every water mirror shattered, dissolving into rippling water that spilled across the ground.
Gasps echoed throughout the watching crowd.
At that exact moment, a disciple stationed at the formation abruptly jolted awake from meditation and vomited a mouthful of blood. Dark tendrils of demonic qi began to coil around him as panic broke out among the crowd.
Thankfully, Xiao Jiuci arrived in time.
With a flash of spiritual light, he struck the disciple’s body, instantly cleansing the demonic energy.
But the moment they looked up, they saw that the formation maintaining the entrance to the secret realm was beginning to twist and warp.
“What’s going on? Why is the secret realm suddenly destabilizing?” The supervising elder who had rushed over to investigate was stunned.
“It’s demonic qi—obviously! But the demonic beasts in here shouldn’t have this kind of aura… unless… no, it can’t be. That creature’s been sealed for thousands of years—it shouldn’t be waking!”
“Stabilize the formation! Forcefully recall all the disciples!” Xiao Jiuci barked out a sharp order. But the speed of the distortion was far beyond what anyone could respond to—before they could act, everyone near the formation was violently blasted away, all of them sustaining injuries.
Xiao Jiuci and the supervising elders from both sects immediately took action, combining their powers to forcibly stabilize the entrance and keep it from collapsing entirely.
“I'm going in!” Xiao Jiuci made his decision without hesitation.
“You can’t—it’s too dangerous! We should wait—”
“We can’t wait. Not a single disciple has returned. That means their jade tokens' spiritual ties have been severed—they can’t get out. If we don’t go in, no one will!” As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Jiuci shot into the secret realm like a streak of light.
Lu Zhui, arriving on the scene just in time to witness this, immediately followed after him.
…
But the moment they entered, the scene that greeted them left them stunned.
It was pitch-black night inside the secret realm, without a single star in the sky. Thunder cracked, lightning lit up the darkness, and torrential rain and violent winds ravaged the land.
Huge rifts were splitting the ground open, as if the claws of some ancient beast were tearing the earth itself apart.
From those chasms, waves of demonic qi surged upward like a flood.
The protective formations that maintained balance within the realm had been completely destroyed, like some invisible barrier had been wiped away.
Scattered across the realm were terrified disciples, running for their lives in every direction.
“Split up!” Xiao Jiuci shouted, taking command. “Rescue whoever you can!”
With a single pulse of his spiritual sense, he checked for the location of his marriage contract’s connection. It wasn’t pointing toward the thickest area of demonic qi, meaning Qiao Han wasn't in the epicenter.
He pointed in another direction for Lu Zhui, then wordlessly flew off toward the core where the demonic energy was most intense.
…
Not long after, the tremors in the earth grew worse. The cracks deepened, growing wider and wider, as if some ancient monster beneath the ground was roaring in rage before it broke free.
A final warning… from a beast that refused to stay caged.
When Xiao Jiuci arrived, he was greeted by a terrifying sight—an enormous, island-sized monster was crawling up from the abyss.
Its body radiated pitch-black demonic qi, pulsing with oppressive might. The moment it emerged, it lunged at Xiao Jiuci with overwhelming force.
That was… the Gray Demon Crocodile, a beast of nightmare whispered about in legends of the Qinglian Realm—sealed away for thousands of years.
An Earth-rank demonic beast, one that could only be fought by cultivators at the Nascent Soul Stage or above.
Its specialty? Soul and spiritual sense attacks.
…
Meanwhile, at the cave entrance, Lu Xiang had just stepped toward the bloodied, seemingly dying Meng Wan, only to have Bai Rong suddenly grab her arm and drag her backwards toward the cave.
“Get in the cave, now!” Bai Rong shouted as he pulled her. “He’s not hurt—he’s the demonic cultivator!”
At the same time, Sheng Jue heard the warning and rushed to cover them.
The “injured” Meng Wan’s expression instantly twisted, his eyes flashing with something inhuman. His body contorted unnaturally, and in the next second, he lunged toward Lu Xiang like a hungry and ferocious beast.
*********************************************************************
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