Yanzhu was seeing a giant dirt pit of this scale for the very first time.
The soil surrounding the pit had a darker shade than the ordinary ground surface, making it look as though it had been created quite recently.
At the very least, definitely not exceeding a single day.
A growing sense of crisis welled up within Yanzhu. She looked toward the small mountain peak not far away that had half of its summit cleanly sliced off, finding it difficult to imagine what kind of formidable power could have brought all of this into existence.
Ultimately, it was an ominous omen where disaster heavily outweighed fortune.
Someone must have been here a short while ago, using their own strength to leave behind two distinct “landscapes.”
That person might not have even departed yet; perhaps they were still lingering in the vicinity, or even… possibly observing them from the shadows.
Yanzhu broke out into a cold sweat, frightened by her own hypothesis.
As an ordinary person who had previously lived in a peaceful era, once the initial excitement over the novelty of “transmigration” faded away, the only thing left in Yanzhu’s heart was enduring anxiety.
Even if this was the world written by her own hand.
It was a world she had meticulously mapped out, stroke by stroke, racking her brains to construct.
Yet, the truth was that the moment it took shape under her pen, it no longer belonged to her.
Compared to the vast and wondrous nature of this world, what she had displayed in her book was merely the tip of the iceberg.
It seemed alive, as though it were breathing. It possessed its own operating logic, its intrinsic laws, and profound mysteries hidden deep within…
She knew not whether Zhuang Zhou dreamt of the butterfly, or the butterfly dreamt of Zhuang Zhou.
Yanzhu took a deep breath, raising her head to gaze at the sky. The sun was still hanging precisely in that same position.
She thought to herself that things were fine just like this.
There would always be certain things that remained eternal throughout ancient and modern times.
“Quite a few people must have entered.”
Song Wenqing said, having also spotted the hundred-foot-wide dirt pit nearby.
Although she could not discern the specific details, the residual spiritual energy fluctuations lingering above it caused her to furrow her brows in vigilant caution.
, That person was exceptionally powerful.
It was even possible they were stronger than her Master from her memories, who had already reached the Deity Transformation Stage.
Song Wenqing tightly gripped the sword in her hand, subconsciously turning her head to locate Yanzhu. Confirming that the other person was right beside her, she let out a slight breath of relief, sidestepping half a step forward to shield Yanzhu behind her.
“Stay close to me.”
As the words left their lips, the two of them froze for a moment.
At first, Yanzhu thought she had misheard. When she finally came to her senses, a trace of warmth welled up within her heart.
“Alright.” She gazed at the slender shoulders of the young woman in front of her, her eyes curving into gentle crescents.
It felt… somewhat closer than before.
That “Alright,” carrying a hint of a smile, drifted into her ears. Song Wenqing, who was currently berating herself for doing something rather foolish just moments ago, suddenly felt that none of it mattered anymore.
A sensation she had never experienced before bubbled up bit by bit from the depths of her heart, slowly spreading to the tip of her tongue, it tasted sweet.
Regardless of whether Yanzhu was genuinely an ordinary mortal as she claimed, or a high-level cultivator possessing immense cultivation base just as she suspected, it no longer mattered at all.
Song Wenqing thought to herself.
The only thing that surprised her was that the moment she sensed potential danger, her instinctive reaction had been to step in front of the other person, assuming a fully protective posture.
It was quite bizarre. Pity that she could not figure out the reason behind it just yet.
However, right now was hardly the time to ponder such matters. Song Wenqing mobilized her spiritual energy to scan the surrounding area.
“There is no immediate danger for now.”
Of course, she could not rule out the possibility that the other party was deliberately concealing their aura.
She kept those words to herself.
The person who had left behind that lingering aura was simply too formidable. If that individual truly set their sights on the two of them, escape would be utterly impossible regardless of what measures they took.
Even when Song Wenqing had been at the Golden Core Stage, she might not have necessarily possessed the combat capability to contend with such a foe; now that her cultivation had plummeted to the Foundation Establishment Stage, she stood absolutely zero chance against them.
Furthermore, her physical condition was even worse than she had anticipated.
Ever since her Golden Core was dug out, the meridians in her Dantian had fallen into complete disorder. She found it fundamentally impossible to guide spiritual energy to circulate within her body, and the very foundation of her cultivation had been more than half-destroyed.
On top of that, she still had to guard against her cultivation dropping any further.
She urgently needed to repair her foundation as soon as possible.
A powerful sense of urgency gripped Song Wenqing’s heart. Her original plan had been to head toward the Heavenly Pool, but now she could only pin her hopes on encountering some fortuitous opportunity within this secret realm.
Just as she was thinking this, Song Wenqing felt a very gentle, subtle tug at her sleeve. She turned her head slightly to the side.
A familiar fragrance drifted into her nose, followed immediately by a voice sounding softly beside her ear.
She heard her say,
“Let’s go find that fellow and demand an explanation.”
The two of them were standing very close, having broken the comfortable distance they had tacitly maintained between them previously.
Yet, unexpectedly, Song Wenqing did not dislike it at all. Bathed in the sunlight, she was able to see the other’s features much more clearly.
She had a very pretty eye shape, and her lips possessed a pale, gentle pink hue.
Regrettably, finer details remained blurred from her view. A faint trace of regret rose in Song Wenqing’s heart, though she did not dwell too much on this emotion.
As for the specific identity of the “fellow” mentioned in Yanzhu’s words, she did not pay it any mind either.
“Alright,” Song Wenqing replied.
Whatever this person intended to do, whenever she was needed, she would simply stay by her side.
Yanzhu was currently holding the Tung wood branch while searching for the Tung tree itself. While she felt genuinely apologetic for scaring this honest, thick-skinned plane tree with her ambiguous statements, she still intended to demand an explanation regarding the tree’s arbitrary decision to drag both of them into a dream without any room for negotiation.
For instance, extorting… a demand that the other party provide information regarding this secret realm, or something similar.
The Tung tree was easy to find.
Its trunk rose nearly twice the height of the surrounding trees, looking from a distance as though it intended to pierce the very heavens. The girth of its trunk was wide enough for several people to span with outstretched arms and embrace together. Its branches and foliage were lush, and its canopy blocked out the sun and sky.
On the open ground around it, yellowish leaves were scattered like tiny starlight.
Accompanied by the mournful rustle of withered leaves along the path, Yanzhu stood before the Tung tree, gripping the warm Tung wood branch in her hand.
Seeming to have known all along that she would come, a long, drawn-out sigh echoed from the opposite side.
Expecting the tree to follow up with something else, Yanzhu stood quietly in place waiting for the next sentence, only to watch the Tung tree sway its trunk and struggle mightily to pull its roots out from the earth.
An astonishing, intricate web of intertwined roots carpeted the surrounding ground, kicking up fresh, damp soil that scattered everywhere.
The Tung tree “shuffled” its trunk to shift aside, and directly behind it, a stone-walled cave entrance, just wide enough for a single person to pass through, slowly revealed itself.
A gentle breeze swept past, lifting a few fallen leaves from the ground.
Neither side spoke a word. For a moment, the surrounding silence was so profound that even the dropping of a pin could be heard.
Yanzhu had not yet fully recovered her wits; Song Wenqing had not yet sorted out what was happening; while the Tung tree nervously monitored both of their reactions.
This was already the best compensation it could possibly offer.
The cave led to an immortal’s tomb. It had previously transformed its form to scout the interior; the place was fraught with peril, and with its current cultivation, it had only been able to reach the top three tiers.
Even so, the treasures contained within merely the first three tiers were enough to make anyone drool with envy, it was simply a pity that nothing inside was useful for demonic or plant-beings.
After venturing out, the Tung tree had simply rooted itself outside, intending to use the treasures within to trade with cultivators in exchange for listening to their stories.
The plan was great, except for…
It never expected that its very first attempt would provoke someone monstrously formidable.
To the point where this immortal’s tomb had barely warmed its hands before it had to be handed over to others.
Even as compensation, the Tung tree remained plagued by lingering apprehension, terrified that the other party might be displeased and simply slaughter it to vent their anger.
And the probability of that happening was quite high, it figured.
An immortal descending from the heavens ought not to think much of the trinkets inside anyway.
Still, this was the absolute best restitution it could possibly provide.
The period of waiting was agonizing. The millennium-old Tung tree flashed countless ways to die through its mind, shaking its trunk in terror and shedding yet another massive batch of leaves.
Some of those leaves were emerald green, with faint radiances flowing across their surfaces.
After worrying away who-knows-how-many leaves, the Tung tree finally received its answer from the opposite side.
“What’s inside?”
“It’s an immortal’s tomb. It has nine tiers, but with my cultivation, I can only reach the third tier,” the Tung tree answered honestly.
Though it figured that an immortal’s divine sense should be capable of probing the scene inside without difficulty, the preceding heavenly tribulation, the shattered sea of consciousness, the ground arbitrarily smashed into a pit, and the mountain peak cleanly sliced off, this entire combination package of beatings had already pinched away half of its courage.
Now that Yanzhu was asking, the Tung tree could only assume the immortal was testing whether it was being honest enough.
As soon as the phrase “immortal’s tomb” dropped, both Yanzhu and Song Wenqing experienced a violent shock to their minds, immediately followed by a surge of joy.
An immortal’s tomb was an extremely rare fortuitous encounter in the cultivation world. Countless individuals used such opportunities to rise to prominence or even establish sects. Even for Transcending Tribulation Stage mighty figures who were standing right at the precipice of ascending to immortality, it held immense allure.
However, the Tung tree’s subsequent words poured a bucket of cold water over them, calming their excited emotions and allowing both to cool down and think rationally.
Yanzhu sighed inwardly at the Tung tree’s honest and generous disposition. Although she desperately wanted to go and witness what an immortal’s tomb looked like from the inside, after careful consideration, she still felt that staying outside was her best option.
If she entered, Song Qing would inevitably have to split her attention to look after her.
Yanzhu had no desire to become a burden to those around her, let alone cause the young woman, whose injuries had not yet fully healed, to suffer further harm.
“I am an ordinary mortal; going inside won’t be of any help to you.”
Yanzhu took a deep breath, looking straight into those amber-colored eyes as she spoke with earnest resolve, “I’ll stay outside and wait for you.”
“Be careful.”
Her tone was solemn.
The mindset of the speaker was precisely the same.
Yet, falling into the Tung tree’s ears, this played out as an entirely different scene.
If it were capable of taking on a human form at this moment, the corners of its mouth would undoubtedly be twitching violently.
, Why do all of you immortals have such bizarre hobbies?
Such a thought ought to have flashed past and vanished, but the Tung tree pondered one step further and realized something was amiss. Refusing to let it go, it dug deeper into the implication, prompting a few more leaves to drift downward.
It was utterly horrified by the conclusion of its own deduction.
The Tung tree stared at the big shot before it, who was currently maintaining the appearance of a harmless little maiden, trembling in its heart.
, You immortals truly have dark hearts!
After all, not everyone could pierce through an immortal’s disguise; even if someone noticed the occasional aura of the Great Dao Laws leaking out, they were likely to mistake it for the effect of some magical artifact. And upon probing with divine sense, the person before it genuinely possessed zero cultivation.
If she still insisted on calling herself an “ordinary mortal,” inevitably some blind fools might want to squeeze a soft persimmon or test the waters. When that happened, the heavenly Dao rule stating that “immortals must not casually interfere in the mortal realm” would be broken…
After all, once a “cause” was established, a “result” would naturally follow.
Wasn’t its own previous encounter a prime example of this?
The only thing it could celebrate was that it hadn’t done anything overly excessive back then.
Otherwise, at the very least, it would have already turned into dead, withered wood.
Fortunately, its Tung-tree self had a bit of situational awareness, saving its own life. A thousand years of living hadn’t been in vain after all.
While lamenting its own quick-wittedness, the Tung tree was simultaneously terrified by the sheer ruthlessness of the young woman before it. Terrified to the point where it didn’t even dare to watch the other party’s reaction anymore, it shuffled its roots and sidestepped another few paces away.
Yanzhu remained completely unaware that her completely sincere words had triggered a wild train of thought and massive over-analysis from the Tung tree. At the moment, she was simply waiting for the young woman beside her to make her choice.
Long eyelashes cast a small patch of shadows beneath her eyes, making her amber pupils appear all the deeper as various thoughts flashed through her mind one after another. Song Wenqing parted her thin lips and spoke: