Blood Asura was stunned, but his mind worked quickly. Instead of getting angry, he smiled. “Fine, I’ll fly slowly then.”

You can wait in the Cold Land as long as you like.

Let’s see whose time gets wasted, and which grandson ends up freezing.

Yin Changli gave him a look that said: That’s wonderful, I hope you fly as slowly as possible and give me more time alone with my beloved.

Blood Asura…

…

So, by the time Xiang Haikui and Yin Changli arrived at Ice Spring Mountain, Blood Asura was still flying en route and wouldn’t arrive for at least half a month.

Xiang Haikui sat beside the water pit and continued to meditate.

Previously, the three of them had cultivated their minds here for three months. Xiao Bai and Lu Xiqiao had made qualitative breakthroughs and had already gone to the “battlefield.”

Xiang Haikui remained stuck at the peak of eighth rank without moving.

But this time, after only three days of meditation, she broke through to the ninth rank, effortlessly and simply.

Then she focused on stabilizing her realm while waiting for Blood Asura to arrive.

When he finally arrived, panting and shivering, Yin Changli emerged from Xiang Haikui’s sleeve, descended to the ground, and transformed into human form. He first raised his arm to adjust the scales at his temple, then smiled and asked, “Do you need to rest?”

Blood Asura snorted coldly, ignoring him, and looked toward Xiang Haikui. “Where is this intersection point?”

Xiang Haikui immediately squatted down by the water pit. “Here.”

The young man called Amu, as if afraid of losing contact with this world, kept his hand that held the small knife raised high.

“Miss Xiang, please step aside first.” Blood Asura raised his arm, and the radiant Dream Sword materialized in his palm.

Xiang Haikui quickly ran behind him.

Blood Asura stood holding the sword, closing his eyes to sense for nearly three hours. Suddenly, he opened his eyes, raised his arm with a shake, and the sword in his hand burst with brilliant light.

Following the rotation of his wrist, threads of sword energy moved like dragons, writing runes in midair.

Too messy—Xiang Haikui couldn’t understand what was written.

She only knew that Blood Asura’s expression now was very different from before, with the full aura of a Tribulation Transcendence master unleashed.

Indeed, there’s nothing more attractive than a man seriously focused on his work.

“Illuminate!” Blood Asura shouted.

The runes became like the sun, exploding with dazzling light.

Then, with a “boom,” an explosion shook the ground and mountains, and even the air trembled.

Amid the trembling, Blood Asura flicked his finger, creating a bubble that enclosed the three of them.

Then the bubble shrank and flew into the water pit. The water showed no ripples as the bubble directly penetrated the ice layer and descended into the cave below.

After the bubble burst, Blood Asura’s face was extremely pale, but his mood was delightful as he exclaimed, “The thickness of this Mirage Realm barrier is at least dozens of times that of an ordinary dream realm.”

This journey was truly worthwhile and eye-opening.

“You came in…” Amu finally could lower his aching raised arm, looking at them with excitement.

Especially at the Dream Sword in Blood Asura’s hand.

Xiang Haikui looked up at the cave ceiling, unable to see any trace of the ice spring, then looked toward the handsome young man. “Amu, has your companion… the peerless master not returned yet?”

When she had returned to Ice Spring Mountain, the peerless master was already gone from the cave.

He had said there was a monster charging toward the mountain, and fearing they would lose contact after it crashed into the mountain, the peerless master had gone out to kill the monster.

Amu said, “He’s still killing it.”

Xiang Haikui was slightly surprised. At this intersection point, time was synchronized on both sides. Killing a monster for over ten days without success?

Amu wore a bitter expression. “The monsters in the Mirage Realm are increasingly ferocious. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have partnered with him, enduring his bad temper every day.”

Hearing the word “ferocious,” Xiang Haikui felt eager to try her skills.

Tian Kuang also leaped within its case, equally excited.

Though already at maximum level, Tian Kuang had no intention of retiring and couldn’t resist its fighting spirit and love of excitement.

In recent months, Xiang Haikui had been recovering from injuries without wielding her sword much, and she felt it was in a good mood.

It mocked her for being an eighth-rank waste, unworthy of a fully leveled divine sword.

“Hmm…” Blood Asura suddenly made a sound.

Xiang Haikui turned her head. “What is it, Senior?”

Blood Asura furrowed his brows. He could no longer sense the real world at all.

He shifted his gaze from the long sword in his hand and glanced sideways at Yin Changli. “Have you also discovered the problem?”

“Yes.” After landing, Yin Changli had been analyzing the spiritual energy composition.

Blood Asura asked Amu, “When you two mistakenly entered this place, how did you determine it was a Mirage Realm rather than an ordinary dream realm?”

Amu replied, “We’ve been trapped here for decades. Who could sleep that long? Even if one dreams for a thousand years, time isn’t a reliable measure. The territory and monster strength in a dream realm are related to the dreamer’s spiritual power. Here, the land is endless. You can go outside and experience the power yourselves…”

“I didn’t say it was weak; I think it’s too strong—can get in but can’t get out.” Blood Asura had never entered such a powerful dream realm.

It was filled with violent energy that constantly corroded the radiance of his sword.

His Dream Sword had followed him for thousands of years, but this was the first time he felt it experiencing fear.

Blood Asura made a judgment: “This place is not a dream realm that any powerful master could create simply by using a mirage pearl and some spells.”

Even a hundred powerful masters might not accomplish it.

Yin Changli rarely agreed with him. “No wonder they couldn’t find an exit after decades. If searching as if it were a Mirage Realm, they wouldn’t find one even after thousands of years.”

So this place wasn’t a Mirage Realm after all. Xiang Haikui’s gaze cooled. She initially wanted to question Amu for deceiving her, but on second thought, this wasn’t his fault.

She had overheard Amu and the peerless master talking by chance.

The two of them truly believed they were in a Mirage Realm.

Moreover, since Blood Asura could use the Dream Sword to open a passage, this place must be related to “dreams.”

Amu was shocked. “Then what kind of place is this?”

As he spoke, he hurried out of the cave. “Why don’t you all come out and see?”

Xiang Haikui followed him out of the cave. As soon as she exited, she widened her eyes in an expression of inexperience.

She saw flowing fire everywhere, and in the distance stood a stone giant with a pitted surface of various colors.

Xiang Haikui pulled her spiritual perception closer. The patches of green were trees, the blue was a lake…

It was a humanoid mountain!

It threw a punch, causing the lake water to fly out like a huge wave, attacking the peerless master.

No wonder they feared it would destroy the mountain—this small mountain they were sheltering in could probably be flattened by one of its steps.

No wonder it couldn’t be killed after more than ten days of fighting.

“‘Ferocious’ doesn’t seem like the right description.” Xiang Haikui’s temple throbbed.

“It’s just large in size, a monster that can be dealt with,” Amu explained. “On our journey, we’ve encountered some monsters we could only hide from.”

The peerless master, who was battling the giant, sensed the spiritual energy fluctuation and looked over at them.

With this momentary distraction, he nearly got struck by a vine of grass and wood spat out by the giant.

“I haven’t exercised for too long. Let me stretch my muscles a bit.” As Xiang Haikui spoke, she charged toward the giant.

She had also observed that this giant was a strength type. To deal with a simple, brutal strength monster, one needed to use equally simple and brutal methods.

The peerless master had a name that sounded very “warrior-like,” but in reality, he was a “mage.”

Who would have thought that a man with such a heroic appearance would fight with a sky full of flower petals?

He must be some kind of flower spirit.

No wonder he always suspected women of “desiring” him—it wasn’t just excessive self-love after all.

Amu exclaimed in alarm, “Miss, you must not…”

She appeared to have just entered the ninth rank. The peerless master was at mid-Tribulation Transcendence and was already struggling greatly.

Yin Changli didn’t stop her. “Be careful.”

“Don’t come over!” The peerless master was indeed overwhelmed and didn’t want to divert his attention to protect her.

But he saw her running faster and faster. After a sprint, she tapped off with her foot, soared into the air, and instantly transformed into a completely black flood dragon.

The flood dragon charged toward the giant and, after adjusting its angle, began to expand its body. “Get out of the way!”

This was shouted to the peerless master.

Then came a thunderous “boom” as the flood dragon crashed into the stone giant’s neck.

The giant staggered backward, shaking the earth with each step.

The flood dragon also seemed a bit disoriented, shaking its head in midair before charging again, this time directly knocking the stone giant’s head clean off its neck!

Not only were Amu and the peerless master shocked, but even Blood Asura, who was half a fellow disciple, found it hard to believe. “What level of Tian Kuang has she reached?”

Blood Asura had previously sought people for duels and had once faced a Tian Kuang sword master. With about eighth-rank cultivation and seven levels of madness, their strength couldn’t compare to even Xiang Haikui’s toe.

Yin Changli watched as the flood dragon also smashed off the giant’s two arms. “Maximum.”

Blood Asura’s mouth twitched. “You’re joking?”

Yin Changli didn’t answer, watching as the flood dragon landed, transformed back to human form, and flew back toward them. “How did it feel?”

The peerless master returned slower than her. Amu had already couldn’t help shouting to him, “They say this isn’t a Mirage Realm!”

“How could that be?” The peerless master immediately doubted their abilities.

But Blood Asura, who held the sword, was only half a step away from Integration, with cultivation higher than his.

As for Yin Changli, who looked clear as wind and bright as moon, his cultivation level was impossible to discern.

Among the three, the one with the lowest cultivation was Xiang Haikui, who had just shocked him and still hadn’t completely calmed his heart.

Blood Asura withdrew his probing gaze from Xiang Haikui and asked Yin Changli, “What do you think?”

Yin Changli threw the question back. “What do you think?”

Blood Asura said, “Although I hate to admit it, you are indeed more knowledgeable than I am.”

He didn’t want the acknowledged wise man to remain silent, but if he spoke first and was proven wrong, what then?

Xiang Haikui didn’t want to watch them pass the buck. “Each has their expertise. Senior Blood, please share your thoughts.”

Yin Changli generously admitted, “That’s right. My knowledge about ‘dream realms’ is broad but certainly not as deep as your expertise in this field.”

These words greatly pleased Blood Asura, so he didn’t hold back. “If my perception is correct, this should be a Nightmare Prison—prison as in jail.”

The three others simultaneously repeated, “Nightmare Prison?”

“Few in the world know of it, but coincidentally, my Dream Sword has records of it.” Blood Asura lifted the sword in his hand and looked at Xiang Haikui. “The Ancient Sword Forger created the Dream Sword after mistakenly entering a Nightmare Prison.”

Dreams include both pleasant dreams and nightmares.

Nightmares are often filled with violence, fear, and many other negative emotions.

When nightmares are too intense, even after the dreamer awakens and the dream realm collapses, these negative forces cannot dissipate and flow toward a Nightmare Prison.

This was Xiang Haikui’s first time hearing of this. “I often have nightmares. Are my nightmare forces also here?”

Perhaps she could even see those monsters that chased her for three hundred streets in her dreams? She wanted to get her revenge, since in dreams she could never control herself properly to defeat them.

“Who knows?” Blood Asura folded his arms. “There isn’t just one Nightmare Prison—there are many. Otherwise, how could all the nightmares of countless beings be contained?”

Xiang Haikui asked, “There’s a capacity limit?”

Blood Asura replied, “Of course. When the capacity limit is reached, it will be cleared by the Heavenly Dao, and new ones will emerge.”

“It will be cleared?” Hearing this, Amu’s expression changed. “Does that mean if we can’t find a way out and stay here, we might be annihilated along with it?”

Blood Asura said, “Probably.”

The peerless master frowned and bowed slightly to Xiang Haikui. “I’m sorry, we truly thought this was just a Mirage Realm…”

“It’s not your fault.” Xiang Haikui had entered for her reasons, not to rescue them.

She also bowed slightly to Blood Asura. “I apologize.”

Blood Asura waved his hand. “What are you apologizing to me for? I should thank you for allowing me to come here. For me, this place is a treasure trove.”

Xiang Haikui looked at his calm and composed demeanor, figuring he must know a way out.

Sure enough, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Yin Changli, do you know how to get out?”

Blood Asura observed Yin Changli. It truly was a case of each having their expertise—regarding the existence of the Nightmare Prison, this fellow was hearing about it for the first time.

He had only learned about it after entering the Tribulation Transcendence realm and unlocking a higher level of sword intent in the Dream Sword.

After learning about it, he tried to locate one but found it completely untraceable.

Coming to such a place truly relied on chance and coincidence.

Yin Changli pondered for a moment. “We should find the soul companion of this nightmare space. Since nightmare forces flow in, there must be an inflow channel, and the soul companion should be guarding that channel.”

Indeed, this was his first time hearing about the Nightmare Prison, but once he understood the principle, many things were similar.

Blood Asura was somewhat disappointed but asked, “Then do you know how to find the soul companion?”

Before Yin Changli could answer, he threw his sword toward the sky. The Dream Sword burst open, transforming into colorful arcs of light that scattered in all directions.

…

Somehow, Blood Asura determined which arc to follow and began tracking it.

Xiang Haikui followed Yin Changli, sitting on a jade flute, pursuing Blood Asura.

This Nightmare Prison had inverted mountains and rivers, and strange shapes everywhere. Xiang Haikui looked around, unable to take it all in, thinking to herself that the world was truly full of wonders.

“Little Kui,” Yin Changli called to her.

“Hmm?” She was observing a monster below.

Yin Changli was silent for a moment. “I may disappoint you, but the energy here is similar to our world… After exiting through the channel, we probably won’t be in the neighboring Three Thousand Worlds. I temporarily cannot take you back to your homeland.”

“There will always be a way.” She was indeed slightly disappointed, but at the moment, her curiosity was stronger.

“Mm.”

“But Amu and the peerless master are clearly from the neighboring world. How did they get in?”

“Probably fate. They didn’t enter through the channel. This place is easy to enter but difficult to leave. If they hadn’t met you, if there hadn’t been a Dream Sword cultivator like Blood Asura, they would have been trapped until death.”

Yin Changli lightly patted Xiang Haikui’s shoulder. “Look carefully at that young man’s flying treasure.”

They were following Blood Asura, with the peerless master flying on a flower petal while Amu rode on a wooden falcon.

Xiang Haikui asked, “What about it?”

Yin Changli said, “I heard that the powerful master who delivered the treasures back then also rode a wooden falcon.”

Xiang Haikui was slightly surprised. “Could he be that senior’s descendant?”

Yin Changli smiled. “See, this is the meaning of forming good connections. You never know when you’ll reap the benefits.”

Xiang Haikui glanced at him. “You finally admit he came to offer help and not to dump trash?”

Yin Changli pressed his lips together.

Xiang Haikui swung her legs. “Senior, do you know what the biggest difference is between you and your amnesiac self?”

She hadn’t mentioned “him” and “him” for a long time. Yin Changli thought she had already merged the two. “When I lost my memory, I only had eyes for you. Now there are other things, but their importance hasn’t changed at all.”

Xiang Haikui understood.

She could indeed merge the two bosses into one now.

It wasn’t because she found more traces of the puppy boss in the current Yin Changli.

On the contrary, the traces of the puppy boss were becoming fewer.

A naive youth would always grow up to become a man.

But Xiang Haikui increasingly felt from Yin Changli the love that the puppy boss once had for her.

It manifested in various details, impossible to fake.

The puppy’s expression was more outward.

The men were more reserved.

But in essence, they were consistent, and she could feel it.

“No, when you lost your memory, you were overwhelmingly kind, thinking about things simply and beautifully. I never dared leave your side, afraid you’d be tricked by bad people.” Xiang Haikui looked down at her toes. “Now…”

“I…”

“No need to explain.” Xiang Haikui understood it all. “I don’t think the past was better, but now you’re at two extremes.”

Yin Changli gazed at her profile. “What made you feel this way?”

It couldn’t be because of the “poverty aid” versus “trash dumping” speculation.

“My father lost his Divine Arrow power, and you said he’ll be an ordinary person forever.” Xiang Haikui said, “You didn’t hide the secret you’d kept for so long from me, yet you were evasive about the reason my father lost his Divine Arrow power. When you look at me, your eyes seem to pity me… Plus, you previously asked many questions about my mother…”

Yin Changli understood she had guessed something. Fearing she would overthink and make it worse, he simply said, “Your mother either died at the hands of a thief, or she was that thief herself…”

After hearing his speculation, Xiang Haikui looked up. “Then, is there another possibility—that my mother’s death was simply due to natural causes, and during my father’s time of grief, that ‘box’ experienced fluctuations, was noticed by a powerful person, and was taken?”

“Or perhaps there was no ‘thief’ at all. My father naturally lost the Divine Arrow power because of giving birth to me. For instance, your Sea Kunpeng race—born as fish, after having children, you transform into birds, forever losing the ability to live in water.”

“There are many possibilities, aren’t there?”

Yin Changli made a sound of agreement. “Yes, there are many possibilities. I’ve thought about all the ones you mentioned, but I only selected the most likely…”

Xiang Haikui tilted her head toward him. “Why are these two most miserable, wretched scenarios the most likely?”

“Perhaps because…” Yin Changli felt uncomfortable under her gaze and slightly lowered his eyelashes. “Perhaps because I’ve seen too much of it.”

Seen too much killing and stealing.

Also seen too many beautiful women’s schemes.

“But I think…” Xiang Haikui discovered that beneath Yin Changli’s confidence sometimes lurked deep pessimism.

The reason he believed these two scenarios were most likely was because these two scenarios would cause her the most harm.

He kept thinking ahead to her future heartbreak and suffering, already arranging it in his mind.

Things that hadn’t even happened yet became a concern weighing on his heart.

Wasn’t that just seeking trouble?

She felt the urge to have a heart-to-heart talk with him.

But apart from being extremely adept at cursing, her other language expression abilities were poor.

After thinking until she was mentally exhausted, she gave up on “communication techniques” and spoke plainly. “You’re just more pessimistic. I noticed that when you lost your memory before.”

Yin Changli straightened his back.

They were both sitting sideways on the jade flute, only separated by a shoulder’s distance. Xiang Haikui counted on her fingers in front of his eyes. “Seeing leaves fall from branches, you started lamenting the passing of time. Seeing a dead mandarin duck in the lake, you sighed about separation in life and death…”

Yin Changli listened silently, but at this point, he couldn’t help saying, “And you, who killed the other mandarin duck, stewed them together, ate until your stomach was round, and beautifully called it ‘together in life and death’—that’s being optimistic?”

Xiang Haikui was taken aback, then fiercely said, “I’m kindly advising you, and you mock me!”

“I’m not.” Yin Changli shook his head, caught between laughter and tears.

It was just that her sudden mention made him recall the incident.

Xiang Haikui said, “I don’t know about other things, but my mother didn’t have any designs on my father. Though I was young at the time, I remember things. My mother was the most ordinary housewife. Because the family was poor, she was frugal and calculated, haggling over a penny… a copper coin for half the day when buying vegetables.”

That’s why when Xiang Haikui told Xiang Heng about the Demon City Lord Qing Ni’s affection for him, Xiang Heng suddenly became melancholic and mentioned Xiang Haikui’s mother.

It was nothing more than regret that Shen Yun had followed him for so many years and lived in poverty for so many years.

“I can bet with you that my mother had no issues.”

Yin Changli nodded quickly, not arguing with her.

Xiang Haikui suddenly frowned again. “There’s one point in your speculation that I find hard to understand. If my mother were some evil demonic species and my father was an arrow, how could they produce a pure human like me?”

Two different species producing a third species unrelated to either?

Fearing she wouldn’t understand the theory, Yin Changli gave an example close to her common knowledge. “A horse and a donkey produce a mule.”

Xiang Haikui’s face darkened instantly. Her foot aimed at his ankle. “Do you know how to talk? Why are you insulting me?”

…

The group flew through the Nightmare Prison for nearly two months. Blood Asura, as the lead, truly lived up to his reputation of wandering through dream realms for years. With his flamboyant positioning, he could avoid most flying monster types.

However, after the novelty wore off, Xiang Haikui was almost sick of flying.

Blood Asura finally began to descend, landing outside a jungle. “The soul companion should live here.”

“I think so, too.” When looking down from high above, Xiang Haikui had seen a series of magnificent palaces in the center of the jungle. Outside the palaces and throughout the jungle, monsters patrolled everywhere with considerable scale and order.

It seemed the soul companion considered itself a monarch.

In this Nightmare Prison, it truly was the monarch.

She asked the group, “What’s the plan now? If we pay a direct visit, it probably won’t send us out, right?”

With the Nightmare Prison filled with violent energy, she felt that as the master of this place, the soul companion probably wouldn’t be easy to talk to.

The peerless master and Amu remained silent, completely avoiding drawing any attention. After staying in the dream realm for decades, unable to find an exit was one thing, but not even knowing what kind of place it was, they truly had no face to express any opinions.

Blood Asura was wiping the corrosive substances from his Dream Sword while saying, “Usually it’s courtesy before force, but I should warn everyone that this Nightmare Prison has probably existed for a very long time. The soul companion’s power shouldn’t be underestimated…”

“You mean you can’t defeat it.” Yin Changli ruthlessly exposed the implication of his words. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. This is also my first encounter with such a spirit entity, and I’m not certain I can win either.”

Since awakening from hibernation until now, his cultivation had recovered to ninety percent.

Before reaching his peak, he would indeed have less confidence.

Blood Asura was about to mock him when he heard him say, “But fighting it to a draw shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Let’s not do that. If that fellow turns out to be a tough opponent and we can’t win, mutual destruction would be deadly. Our goal is just to leave—avoid fighting if possible.” Blood Asura decided not to give him a chance to show off. “So my suggestion is that we sneak in, spread out to search, and see if we can find the channel entrance.”

He raised his arm, pointing in the distance. “But don’t go to that palace in the last row. The soul companion is inside.”

Yin Changli nodded. “It seems to be severely injured and in seclusion.”

Blood Asura added, “And it’s been in seclusion for some time. If we conceal our energy, it probably won’t be easily discovered by us.”

Amu had no idea how they had determined this. “What if the channel entrance is in the palace, where it’s secluded?”

Looking past the layers of monster guards, Xiang Haikui gazed at the distant connected palaces. “Then we’re out of luck and will have to fight!”

Amu clasped his hands together and muttered, “Amitabha. I hope we get lucky.”

Though he said this, he didn’t see any worry on Xiang Haikui’s face—her eyes even revealed unconcealed excitement.

After everyone had made their decision, Amu took a wooden centipede from the cloth bag at his waist. “I haven’t been much help on this journey. I think this can be useful.”

Xiang Haikui watched curiously as he placed the wooden centipede on the ground, which instantly burrowed a hole.

When they went down into the hole, Xiang Haikui was amazed. In the blink of an eye, the wooden centipede had already dug a straight tunnel from the edge of the jungle toward the central palace.

The monsters above the jungle hadn’t detected anything.

This saved the group considerable effort, allowing them to walk through the tunnel beneath the palace.

Before they dispersed to search for the channel, the peerless master took out five morning glory flowers. “Use these to communicate—we’ll all be able to hear each other.”

It was like a group voice chat. After taking the morning glory, Xiang Haikui transformed into a small flood dragon the size of a wall lizard and crawled up from underground.

With her cultivation lower than theirs, transformation was more prudent.

“Wait.” Yin Changli privately communicated to stop Blood Asura.

Blood Asura asked, “What?”

Yin Changli said, “You all go search. I’ll go to that palace in the back row to keep an eye on the soul companion, just in case. If there’s an emergency after finding the channel, I’ll tie it up while you don’t need to worry about anything—just open the channel and take them away.”

Blood Asura paused. “You know how to exit the Nightmare Prison?”

Yin Changli replied, “I don’t, but there has never been a place that could trap me.”

The prerequisite was having no worries behind him.

“Alright.”

…

Xiang Haikui crawled around the palace, searching each room but finding nothing special.

Until she entered a corridor and sensed a strong energy field nearby that gave her an intense feeling of discomfort.

Following this energy field, she arrived outside a secret chamber and used the invisibility talisman given by Yin Changli to pass through the chamber’s restrictions.

Though excellent, such invisibility talismans only worked for an instant. She became visible immediately after entering.

“This room is strange,” Xiang Haikui communicated through the morning glory.

—”What’s strange about it?” came Blood Asura’s voice.

Xiang Haikui said, “There’s an extremely strong pressure that makes it hard for me to breathe.”

She had to change back from lizard dragon to human form.

“The room is empty, with a bronze mirror inlaid in the floor at the center.”

The mirror was about a meter in diameter. “The edge of the bronze mirror is carved with runes, looking like a formation disk.”

Xiang Haikui eagerly extended her foot toward the formation disk.

—”Throw a spirit pearl on it to test,” Blood Asura said.

“Good idea.”

Xiang Haikui withdrew her foot and took out a spirit pearl, throwing it onto the bronze mirror.

Like a marble hitting the ground, it bounced with several “taps.”

She waited for a while.

“There seems to be no reaction…”

So she threw another one. This time, there was just a single “tap!” and the runes on the bronze mirror’s frame suddenly lit up!

Xiang Haikui instantly released sword energy to protect herself while rapidly stepping back, watching as the bronze mirror shot a beam of golden light upward.

The golden light dispersed from a point to a plane on the ceiling, and gradually an image appeared on the illuminated surface.

Xiang Haikui looked up, her pupils constricting tighter and tighter.

The image showed a magnificent, solemn palace supported by dozens of jade pillars, open and spacious.

It was from the perspective of the “master” at the upper position, with the line of sight extending straight to the distant hall entrance, so she could see someone sitting cross-legged in the middle—Jing Ran!

“Yin Changli!” Xiang Haikui communicated through the morning glory, her voice slightly urgent. “I can see the Emperor…”

—”Hmm?”

“He’s meditating, and the location doesn’t look like a bedchamber.”

Xiang Haikui carefully described the environment. It was too unexpected, and for a moment, she didn’t even think about her grudge with Jing Ran. “Is the channel of this Nightmare Prison connected to the upper realm?”

Only after a long pause did she hear Yin Changli speak, his voice equally filled with confusion.

—”What’s going on? It sounds like the Heavenly Dao Palace, where the Heavenly Race enshrines the Xuantian Mirror. Even if the Nightmare Prison connects to the upper realm, it shouldn’t be in a divine palace…”

“Xuantian Mirror?” Xiang Haikui knew about this divine mirror; Jing Ran had mentioned it to her before.

It was the Heavenly Race’s clan treasure, used for divination.

—”Could the Heavenly Race… impossible, Shuluoye never mentioned the Nightmare Prison…”

Xiang Haikui heard his grave tone but had no time to ask. In the mirror light above, Jing Ran suddenly opened a pair of cold eyes.

…

Jing Ran withdrew his protective golden light and looked up at the Xuantian Mirror enshrined above. His cold expression suddenly softened, showing a trace of surprise.

He rose and walked toward the Xuantian Mirror.

This divine mirror usually only revealed text. Why did a human figure appear today?

Although somewhat blurry, it distinctly resembled Xiang Haikui—blue gauze clothes, a bun hairstyle, carrying a carved wooden sword case on her back.

“Mirror Spirit?”

Jing Ran stood before the Xuantian Mirror and chuckled coldly. “Why have you taken this appearance? To mock me for failing in my reincarnation trial because of her?”

The Xiang Haikui in the mirror remained motionless, pressing her lips tightly, maintaining silence.