Awakening

Reality. Midair above the Hall of Dharma Transmission. A cold, strikingly beautiful woman clad in ink-black robes sat quietly cross-legged atop Ice Cloud Steps, her dark gaze fixed intently below. A sea of ethereal cherry blossom petals drifted up and down, every bit as vast as the red-robed woman's earlier Dao domain, if not larger. The entire Hall of Dharma Transmission was enveloped within its reach, severed from any outside probing. After watching for a long time, Ran Qingmo slowly withdrew her gaze. Having slain the true body of the Meishen cherry tree, she had intended to rush here to support Xu Yuan. But the moment she activated the teleportation array, she found the Hall of Dharma Transmission already subsumed by this ocean of blossoms. Not daring to take the risk of teleporting directly inside, she had spent half an hour traveling here by Ice Cloud Steps, only to discover that the floral sea below was saturated with the aura of the Meishen cherry tree. The Meishen aura radiating from below kept her from acting rashly. She had quietly remained seated in the sky, cultivating while she waited. That wait had lasted two whole weeks. Today, however, a shift occurred in the sea of cherry blossoms below. Ran Qingmo's pitch-black eyes flickered. She sensed the aura of the floral expanse beginning to thin. After a brief hesitation, Ran Qingmo drew her black sword from her Sumeru ring. Specks of faint blue light gradually surfaced along the dark blade. Seconds and minutes ticked by, and Ran Qingmo's senses proved correct. Within moments, The vibrant, dazzling cluster of cherry blossoms began to fade. *** Inside the Hall of Dharma Transmission, The first thing that met Xu Yuan's eyes upon waking was a magnificent sea of cherry blossoms. Staring at the dispersing petals, Xu Yuan was lost in a daze, his dark pupils failing to focus. It felt as though he had had a dream—an exceedingly long dream. It hadn't lasted a month, nor a year. Perhaps ten years, perhaps even longer. In short, it was an immensely long dream. He could no longer recall some of the fragmented details clearly, but he still remembered becoming a disciple named Jinghe within the Qionghua Sect ten thousand years ago. Yuchu's Jinghe—that was what everyone in the Qionghua Sect had called him. For various reasons, he had fled the Qionghua Sect, running away alongside Tianyan, that washboard Saintess. The world beyond the Qionghua Realm had not been an empty void, but a flourishing, boundless land. Life on the run was far from easy, fraught with constant danger. Xu Yuan had suggested finding a secluded life deep in the mountains and old forests. The two had settled in a mountain valley nestled beside hills and water for a month before Tianyan told him they had to move. The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion could deduce their location. And reality had proven Tianyan right. Because of the Meishen cherry tree, the relentless pursuit by the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, the Qionghua Sect, and the Dao Palace had never ceased from start to finish, particularly the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's maddening ability of deduction. Fortunately, with Tianyan—an "insider" of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion—they had been able to counter it. Tianyan's intimate familiarity with the Heaven-Deducing Art allowed the two to narrowly survive one deadly pursuit after another. Snowy mountains, grasslands, deserts, secluded valleys, islands... The days of being hunted felt endless. Along the way, they had met countless people and witnessed countless events, coming to understand how magnificent the sect-dominated world had been during the great surge of Source Qi. Yet an illusion was an illusion after all. Some places were as vibrant as reality, while others were blank voids that barred further progress. Much like... The invisible walls encountered in the video games of his past life. As though just waking from a deep stupor with his mind muddled, Xu Yuan stared at the blue sky visible through the massive hole in the palace dome, his thoughts sluggish. It felt like a fleeting instant, yet also an eternity. Gradually, Xu Yuan realized something. He seemed to have emerged from the illusion. With that thought, Xu Yuan surveyed his surroundings. "..." Seeing the familiar yet foreign Hall of Dharma Transmission, Xu Yuan couldn't help but cover his face with a hand and chuckle softly. He was finally out of that damned illusion. As the cherry blossoms swirling around him fully dispersed, his gaze through the gaps between his fingers was caught by a graceful figure descending from the gaping hole in the dome. Amidst the cascading sunlight, she descended with sword in hand like an immortal descending to the mortal realm, her sleeves fluttering before she came to a halt beside him. It was Ran Qingmo. Seeing this familiar yet distant big block of ice, Xu Yuan was thoroughly certain he had truly returned. After all, no such big block of ice had existed ten thousand years ago. Reining in his thoughts, Xu Yuan looked up at Ran Qingmo. He noticed she wasn't looking at him, but staring fixedly toward the front hall of the Hall of Dharma Transmission. Following her gaze, Xu Yuan saw a barefoot girl in palace attire, her beautiful eyes tightly shut, enveloped layer upon layer in a golden membrane of light. Compared to the "Shield" True Word in the illusion, the current membrane before him rippled with dense golden patterns—an entirely different league. Seeing this, Xu Yuan instinctively wanted to laugh. Yet in the next breath, his smile froze. He realized he needed to run. This was no longer the illusion. "Ran Qingmo, how much time has passed outside?" "..." Ran Qingmo let out a soft murmur of surprise, her eyes remaining vigilant as she stared at the closed-eyed girl in palace dress. She replied softly, "About two weeks." "Only two weeks?" Hearing this, Xu Yuan knitted his brows. The air fell quiet for a moment. In that quiet interval, the teleportation platform beneath him and Ran Qingmo suddenly began to charge "on its own." It was the Saint's remnant soul. While conscientiously operating the teleportation array, the Saint's remnant soul drifted out of the soul ring. "Many illusions are like the Yellow Millet Dream; dreaming for a century is entirely normal." "..." Xu Yuan gave neither agreement nor denial; he had anticipated as much. Glancing at the black sword in Ran Qingmo's hand, which was imbued with a chilling gleam, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke up: "Ran Qingmo, dispel your sword technique." "..." Ran Qingmo glanced sideways at him, her eyes puzzled. "...Why?" Xu Yuan shook his head, his answer simple: "It's useless. Our only option is to run." After living together day and night for so many years in the illusion, forget about her hidden trump cards—he even knew what that washboard Saintess Tianyan's underwear looked like inside and out. Ran Qingmo trying to jump realms to kill Tianyan was practically equivalent to jumping realms to kill Xu Changge. Hearing this, the Saint's remnant soul beside them chuckled softly. "Boy Xu, why hasn't this Tianyan awakened yet?" The final moments in the illusion unconsciously surfaced in Xu Yuan's mind. He shook his head and murmured: "A gift from Yuchu." "A gift?" The Saint's remnant soul raised an eyebrow. After a brief pause, Xu Yuan summarized simply: "Her long-cherished wish was fulfilled. At the very end of the illusion, she reenacted the fall of the Qionghua Sect for Tianyan and me. At my request, she also promised to let me wake first, giving me a chance to escape." The eyes of the Saint's remnant soul flickered for a moment. "It seems you gained quite a lot in that illusion." "You could say that." Xu Yuan smiled faintly. Pausing, the Saint's remnant soul asked again, "In that case, you still retain your memories of the illusion?" Xu Yuan nodded. "Yes, but they're very hazy, like a dream. Is that strange?" Hearing this, the Saint's remnant soul fell silent for a moment before speaking in a distant tone: "Strange, yet not strange. "Still, it seems the tree spirit of that Meishen cherry tree intended to bestow a fortunate encounter upon you." Xu Yuan said helplessly: "It was indeed a fortunate encounter, but it was also a life-and-death ordeal. When Yuchu pulled Tianyan and me in, her true intention was to kill us." "She wanted to kill you?!" "Soul fusion." Xu Yuan uttered a term that struck a lingering chord of dread in the Saint's remnant soul. The corner of the remnant soul's eye twitched. "Soul fusion?" Xu Yuan explained: "This Qionghua Sect was indeed destroyed by the Meishen cherry tree, just as you said. "However, before the saints of the Qionghua Sect died back then, they fused souls with Yuchu, planting an obsession within her to protect the sect. That was why she dragged Tianyan and me into the illusion—she genuinely intended to kill us. But another, deeper obsession of hers ended up saving us." "A deeper obsession?" "To live on together with Jinghe. Tianyan and I became Jinghe and her, and we lived past the point where she and Jinghe were sacrificed." "Is that so..." The Saint's remnant soul sighed with emotion, then asked in a low voice, "Then why wasn't this old man pulled in?" "Because she was too weak. Even by self-detonating, that kind of illusion could only drag in two people." "..." The Saint's remnant soul went quiet for a moment, then asked with a smile: "You must have seen quite a few useful things in that illusion, haven't you?" With the fragmented memories in his mind still hazy, Xu Yuan did not elaborate, instead urging: "It's hard to explain right now, and I can't recall most of it clearly anyway. Let's leave first. Once Tianyan wakes up, we might not be able to." The Saint's remnant soul raised an eyebrow. "Before establishing an anchor point on an unfathomable individual, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's Saintess shouldn't resort to killing..." "I know." Xu Yuan cut the Saint's remnant soul off, a peculiar look on his face. "Not killing doesn't mean she won't attack. Besides..." Saying so, Xu Yuan glanced toward the girl whose beautiful eyes were shut tight. "...In the illusion, I bullied her pretty badly." "You're a match for Tianyan?" "The kind of bullying that doesn't require cultivation." "..." The Saint's remnant soul was stunned for an instant, then a teasing grin tugged at the corners of his lips. He cast a sideways glance at Ran Qingmo. Ran Qingmo blinked and tilted her head. "...What is it?" "Heh, nothing." The Saint's remnant soul let out a soft chuckle. In a flash, The teleportation array activated, and the three figures vanished without a trace. "..." After quiet returned to the Hall of Dharma Transmission, time seemed to lose all measure within this timeless palace. After an unknown duration, The girl in light red palace attire slowly opened her eyes. A vast surge of memories from the illusion rushed into her mind, leaving her golden pupils looking somewhat disoriented. Unlike Xu Yuan, her Heavenly Yan divine soul allowed her to remember most of what had happened within the illusion. Amidst her daze, Scene after scene from their flight along the road continually flashed through her mind... After a few breaths of silence, *Hum—* A gale erupted from around the young girl, sweeping outward. Hovering a foot above the ground, her light red palace gown whipped violently in the wind pressure. The girl's pure, breathtakingly gorgeous face flushed with an unusual crimson hue, while her eyes darted about, glinting with a chilly light. She was looking for someone. Upon realizing the hall was already completely empty, the girl swept her sleeve in mortified rage: "You bastard!" *Boom!* A massive hole was instantly blasted through the hall's jade-brick wall as an outlet for her fury. After panting heavily for a long time, Tianyan slowly descended to the ground, her dainty fists clenched tight: "Scoundrel... don't... don't you dare let me catch you!" With that, Tianyan sat cross-legged on the floor, closing her eyes to regulate her breath. The potency of both the Meishen flower poison and the Heavenly Desire aphrodisiac poison within her body still remained...