Xiang Haikui wasn’t afraid of Jing Ran.

She was unsure of the current situation and genuinely confused.

Afraid that Jing Ran might discern something from her eyes and expression, Xiang Haikui maintained a cold, icy countenance. While looking up and holding eye contact with Jing Ran, she continued communicating with Yin Changli through the morning glory. “Not only can I see the Emperor, but he can also see me… He seems to be calling me Mirror Spirit? Xuantian Mirror Spirit?”

Yin Changli didn’t answer.

The morning glory was a group chat tool, but the other three people seemed to be blocked, not interrupting at all.

Jing Ran saw the person in the mirror as a stone statue. “Mirror Spirit?”

Xiang Haikui’s concern was unnecessary. From the mirror light on the ceiling, she could see the entire Heavenly Dao Palace in high-definition quality.

But Jing Ran, through the Xuantian Mirror before him, couldn’t even see her face clearly, let alone her eyes.

“Not the Mirror Spirit?”

At this moment, not only was Xiang Haikui confused, but Jing Ran was equally puzzled.

He reached out his hand toward the mirror surface.

Xiang Haikui held her breath, afraid his hand might penetrate the mirror.

If that happened, she might not resist drawing her sword and cutting off his arm.

In the end, Jing Ran’s fingers lightly tapped the mirror surface but did not penetrate the Xuantian Mirror.

Jing Ran confirmed that the Xuantian Mirror had indeed activated on its own.

The person in the mirror probably wasn’t the Mirror Spirit. When divining, if the Xuantian Mirror had instructions, the surface would usually display brief, obscure, small text.

It had never shown “images” before, let alone the Mirror Spirit appearing.

Jing Ran withdrew his finger from the mirror surface, placed his hands behind his back, and scrutinized the Xuantian Mirror. “Since I succeeded to the Emperor position, I’ve only seen you activate on your own twice. Last time was to warn that Shuluoye might bring catastrophic disaster to our Heavenly Race. This time, what is it for?”

What deep meaning was there in showing Xiang Haikui’s image?

It shouldn’t be so trivial as to deliberately mock him.

Xiang Haikui observed Jing Ran’s contemplative frown, growing increasingly perplexed. “Senior?”

—”I’m here,” Yin Changli responded.

Just as Xiang Haikui was about to speak, the bronze mirror inlaid in the floor suddenly lost its color, and the reflected light above dissipated in an instant.

Everything returned to calm.

“It disappeared…?” Xiang Haikui was slightly dazed, momentarily wondering if she had experienced a hallucination.

She was standing by the door.

A surge of power flowed in from outside.

Xiang Haikui’s gaze sharpened, and before she could draw her sword, she heard Blood Asura’s voice through the morning glory. “Miss Xiang, it’s me.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, she cleared space behind the door.

Blood Asura passed through the door, hurrying to the bronze mirror, crouching down with his sword to study it. “How could it connect to the upper realm? That shouldn’t be possible.”

Blood Asura didn’t know much about the upper realm, but he knew enough. Those who had a chance to integrate with the Dao and go to the upper realm had all been recruited by Han Qi in advance.

Especially since he had a grudge with Yin Changli, Han Qi wouldn’t have overlooked him.

But Blood Asura hadn’t agreed.

After studying for a while, he exclaimed, “Such ancient runes, Yin Changli, I doubt even you would recognize them.”

Xiang Haikui walked over and crouched down beside him, first glancing up at the ceiling. “Is this the passage to the real world?”

Blood Asura pondered, “Nightmare Prisons exist naturally. Nightmare forces flow here, like pure energy rising and turbid energy sinking—it’s also a natural phenomenon. Why would there need to be a special formation set up?”

Xiang Haikui considered, “According to your guess, this place and the Heavenly Race’s Xuantian Mirror aren’t naturally connected. The soul companion used some ancient formation to forcibly connect them?”

“I’m not just guessing.” Blood Asura gave her a “certain” look. “Young lady, mirrors themselves easily gather yin and yang energies, and they’re extremely common—almost every household has one. According to the Ancient Sword Forger’s handwritten notes in my Dream Sword, he suspected that human nightmare forces are absorbed through mirrors, gradually accumulating before flowing into the Nightmare Prison.”

Xiang Haikui listened attentively, occasionally glancing up at the ceiling.

It sounded like mirrors had a pipe behind them, similar to a natural gas pipeline.

Blood Asura continued, “So the placement of mirrors in homes involves many principles. If aligned with the surrounding energy field, they can absorb people’s negative energy. If placed discordantly with the surrounding energy field, not only will they fail to absorb, but the negative energy within the mirror might leak out…”

No matter how powerful the Heavenly Race’s Xuantian Mirror was, it was still a mirror.

For the soul companion of the Nightmare Prison, any mirror represented potential for “breakthrough.”

“Senior Yin…” Xiang Haikui communicated, “Could it be that the fortunes and misfortunes predicted by the Xuantian Mirror have nothing to do with the Heavenly Dao, but come from the soul companion?”

—”That’s possible,” Yin Changli answered solemnly.

“Do the Heavenly Race people themselves know? That their clan treasure isn’t a divine mirror, but a demonic one?”

Xiang Haikui believed they didn’t know.

At least Jing Ran didn’t know.

When mentioning their Heavenly Race and the Xuantian Mirror, his proud demeanor wasn’t feigned.

No, her question wasn’t precise.

She should ask whether the recent six or seven generations of Emperors knew that their “divine mirror” had become a “demonic mirror” at some point.

Not long ago, Yin Changli had just told her about Shuluoye’s experience crafting divine artifacts.

He had mentioned that Shuluoye believed the Heavenly Race’s path was becoming increasingly skewed.

“Inspiration” made them desireless, and the Heavenly Race’s ancestors were indeed without desires or demands. Several generations ago, they began to develop a bloodthirsty nature, exalting only the Heavenly Race.

So there was a hidden hand behind it all?

After the Xuantian Mirror’s power weakened, it was breached by the Nightmare Prison’s soul companion, which then impersonated the “Heavenly Dao”?

When the Emperors faced difficult decisions, did they deliberately give incorrect prophecies, pushing the situation among the races toward increasingly deteriorating trends?

Did the soul companion have such an ability?

It probably did.

Thoughts by day become dreams by night. As the lord of a dream realm that absorbed nightmares, it could extract many secrets from people’s dreams.

For instance, when Shuluoye’s nightmare accidentally flowed into this Nightmare Prison.

At that time, he was crafting the Divine Arrow to establish a spatial channel. Due to concerns about the risks after connecting with the Great World, in his nightmare, he became a madman wielding a great weapon, annihilating the entire Heavenly Race.

So the soul companion issued a warning, telling Jing Ran that Shuluoye might be creating a divine artifact to destroy the Heavenly Race.

When Jing Ran investigated and found that Shuluoye indeed seemed to be crafting something precious, he naturally believed it.

Plus, since it was left by the ancestors, how could he possibly doubt it?

“Senior Yin?”

Xiang Haikui had been pondering in her mind for quite some time without hearing Yin Changli’s response.

She only heard rumbling thunder echoing, approaching from a distance.

“This is bad!” Blood Asura frowned, then stood up, looking toward the rear palace. “The soul companion has awakened. It probably sensed the activation of this formation.”

Since Yin Changli was guarding it, he must have intercepted it. “What rotten luck. In this situation, our only way out is to fight our way through.”

Xiang Haikui rose with him, and the ground suddenly shook violently. She nearly collided with Blood Asura.

She could already feel that the palace where the soul companion had been in seclusion was like an erupting volcano crater. After two overwhelming forces collided, they began to splatter and sweep outward.

Yin Changli and the soul companion had engaged in battle.

Even if the soul companion hadn’t been awakened, Yin Changli wouldn’t have just sneaked away quietly.

The Heavenly Race and the Sea Race were at war, and this creature had been fanning the flames behind the scenes, craving chaos.

Additionally, it was the one who predicted the warning about Shuluoye crafting divine artifacts, making it partly responsible.

Either reason constituted a blood feud for Yin Changli. How could he let it go?

—”Come to me,” Yin Changli transmitted briefly.

“Let’s go!” Blood Asura’s body dematerialized as he passed through the door.

Xiang Haikui used another invisibility talisman and also passed through the door.

After leaving the secret chamber and entering the corridor, not only did the ground’s trembling intensify, but a thick wave of violent energy rushed toward them.

The guards patrolling outside the palace had received instructions from the soul companion and were charging in.

Judging from the density of the violent energy, their numbers were considerable.

Some were strong, some weak, with the weaker ones leading the charge and the stronger ones following.

“You go ahead, I’ll conserve my strength.” Blood Asura had originally been in the lead, but suddenly stopped, turning to position himself behind Xiang Haikui.

Xiang Haikui also stopped.

Blood Asura pushed the sword case on her back. “I’m not trying to trick you. This soul companion dared to deceive even the Heavenly Race. Its strength likely exceeds the ‘not to be underestimated’ range, and Yin Changli might not be able to defeat it. Among us, I’m probably the only one who can still lend a hand.”

Xiang Haikui replied, “I understand. I’m analyzing the terrain.”

Beyond the corridor was an open hall. When fighting multiple opponents, the narrower the position, the more advantageous for her. This way, she wouldn’t need to worry about encirclement, ambushes, or positioning.

“We’ll wait here for them to charge into the corridor, then rush out.”

She beat her chest as if it were a muscular physique. “As they say, he who dares wins in a narrow path!”

Blood Asura’s mouth twitched. “You do prefer simple and brutal solutions to problems.”

Xiang Haikui raised an eyebrow. “Your logic is flawed. If a simple problem can be solved brutally, why waste mental effort?”

Blood Asura rubbed his chin, seemingly finding her reasoning somewhat valid.

As they spoke, the monster guards had already charged into the corridor.

The monster at the forefront resembled a hybrid of a scorpion and a centipede, raising a battle ax with shimmering purple electric arcs, exuding the aura of mountain-cleaving force.

Xiang Haikui opened her sword case. Tian Kuang remained undrawn, but sword energy gushed forth.

Xiang Haikui’s first attempt at controlling sword energy came after dual cultivation with Yin Changli.

At that time, she had just barely managed to control a single stream of sword energy. The normal progression would be to practice until proficient, then try controlling two streams of sword energy simultaneously.

The difference between one and two might seem small, but it required splitting one’s divine consciousness in half—a tremendous challenge.

Yet Xiang Haikui skipped controlling two streams of sword energy and directly dispersed Tian Kuang’s sword energy into dozens of streams.

Ever since Yin Changli had brought her to this world, her ability enhancements had always occurred under extreme pressure.

As a result, she had developed habits of taking risks and thriving in desperate situations.

This wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

While she was dispersing her divine consciousness, Blood Asura glanced at the corrosion on his Dream Sword with concern. He patted her shoulder. “Forget it, step back. I’ll handle this. Though the violent aura from each monster isn’t strong individually, together their eruption could be terrifying…”

Xiang Haikui replied, “It’s fine, I can handle it. You should conserve your strength.”

Blood Asura warned, “I’m worried you can’t control Tian Kuang. This violence will affect your mental state…”

Even previous Tian Kuang sword masters, whose cultivation exceeded the sword’s level, easily had their minds clouded by the madness, becoming erratic and crazed.

Not to mention that Xiang Haikui’s Tian Kuang was already at maximum level.

“I don’t want to have to control you after you finish killing these monsters and lose control. That would be counterproductive.”

“There won’t be any problems,” Xiang Haikui assured confidently. “Senior, rest assured, there absolutely won’t be any issues.”

“Where does your confidence come from?” Blood Asura frowned.

This generation’s Tian Kuang sword master did seem different.

Xiang Haikui replied, “This isn’t confidence. I’m the Tian Kuang sword master—I have to be this arrogant!”

Blood Asura…

Not different at all—the same.

Swoosh…!

Dozens of sword energy streams surged forward under Xiang Haikui’s control, like penetrating needles, stabbing into the monsters’ bodies.

The madness expanded within them, and with boom after boom, they exploded into mists of blood.

There was no blood smell in the air, confirming what Blood Asura had said—they had no real physical bodies, merely dark forces congealed from nightmares.

After releasing all the sword energy from the case, Xiang Haikui charged forward, transforming into a flood dragon.

Opening her massive blood-red mouth with a roar, sword energy gushed forth, killing another large swath.

Then she used the two majestic dragon horns on her head to ram through, like skewering hawthorn fruits, piercing another group and stringing them together in two lines.

Blood Asura watched from behind with twitching eyelids.

He was deeply grateful that Yin Changli had given him the Dream Sword back then, not Tian Kuang.

Stepping on the corpses of monsters, they fought their way out of the corridor. In a short time, nearly all the monsters that could arrive were killed.

After escaping the palace, they joined up with the peerless master and Amu outside, making the killing even easier.

But there were simply too many, so they fought while retreating toward the palace where the soul companion was located.

Above that palace, Yin Changli was floating in midair, his robes fluttering, his expression cold and solemn.

Xiang Haikui observed him more carefully.

Upon learning that someone as proud and arrogant as Jing Ran had been deceived by a Nightmare soul companion all along, she felt a sense of vindication that made her want to laugh.

But thinking about the disaster this had brought to Yin Changli, she couldn’t laugh at all.

The soul companion was now about twenty zhang away from Yin Changli.

This creature had a head and face but no facial features. Its skin was transparent and thin, looking as if it would burst with a single poke. Blood vessels and meridians were faintly visible, making it resemble a humanoid jellyfish.

They both appeared not to have engaged yet, facing each other from a distance, but the surrounding air had been stirred into turbulence by their auras.

With eyes closed, one could almost hear the sound of waves crashing against rocks.

Xiang Haikui extended her divine sense toward them, but even from a great distance, it felt like a tentacle touching a hot iron, shocking her.

This was precisely why Yin Changli had called them over.

The force generated by his battle with the soul companion was something ordinary monsters couldn’t approach.

“Yin Changli, how many times must I tell you before you believe?”

The soul companion spoke, its voice completely neutral, impossible to discern as male or female.

“I connected to the Xuantian Mirror only to obtain the essence, energy, and spirit released when the Heavenly Race Emperor activates it. These forces can help me evolve from a spirit form to a physical body. It’s that simple.”

Yin Changli responded with cold indifference.

His surrounding energy field didn’t diminish, completely suppressing the soul companion.

But he could only suppress it, not advance further.

The soul companion neither struggled nor yielded, allowing the two forces to see-saw between them. “The Heavenly Race’s Xuantian Mirror is ancient and has long lost its spiritual power. To make them believe me, of course, I had to actively make some predictions.”

“Like Shuluoye crafting divine artifacts—wasn’t that the truth? His death was the Emperor’s choice, not my instruction. Think about it—if I were impersonating the Heavenly Dao and wrote on the Xuantian Mirror telling him to kill his brother, wouldn’t he be suspicious?”

Yin Changli asked in a deep voice, “Then why did you predict ‘can fight’ when the Heavenly Race went to war with my Sea Race back then?”

The soul companion laughed coldly. “How do you know I said ‘can fight’? The former Emperor came to the divine palace alone when divining. His question was what result the Heavenly Race would get if they waged war against the Sea Race. My answer was four characters: ‘endless future troubles.’ But do you know how he interpreted it? He said the Xuantian Mirror believed that leaving the Sea Race would bring endless future troubles, so they must be eliminated early.”

“When I learned of this, I took the risk of being discovered and actively opened the Xuantian Mirror again, displaying the character for ‘disaster.’ But he was clever and interpreted it as ‘fierce beasts must be eliminated.’ Tell me, what could I do?”

Yin Changli slightly lowered his eyelashes, seeming to ponder.

The soul companion’s hair, like tentacles, fluttered in the energy flow. “When power is in hand and desires expand, no one can halt their steps. They can find any reason or excuse to deceive everyone, including themselves.”

Yin Changli remained silent.

The soul companion continued, “As for the change in the Heavenly Race’s conduct, what does that have to do with me? Since ancient times, life cycles have continued without end, dynasties rise and fall—what remains unchanged? Initially, the Heavenly Race was without desire because the world was still primitive. What about now? Even the simple human race has begun scheming against each other. Do you still expect the lofty Heavenly Race to always maintain their original heart?”

At this point, Blood Asura hesitantly interjected, “Yin Changli, are you suspecting it incited wars between races to create more violent energy for cultivation? Didn’t I tell you earlier that Nightmare Prisons have capacity limits? If nightmares flowing in exceed that limit, will this Nightmare Prison collapse and be cleared?”

Amu remembered vividly and eagerly nodded, “You did mention that.”

Xiang Haikui also recalled this. Blood Asura was trying to tell Yin Changli that the soul companion instigating wars between races wouldn’t benefit it, but would harm it.

After wars break out, accompanied by large-scale killing and death, more and more nightmare forces would flow in, accelerating the prison’s collapse, causing the soul companion to perish with it.

With this evidence before her, Xiang Haikui could hardly find any reason to refute the soul companion’s defense.

She didn’t need to think too deeply about it either—Yin Changli would certainly make the correct judgment.

“Exactly, I wouldn’t dig my own grave,” the soul companion nodded. “I have a clear conscience about everything else. Regarding Shuluoye’s death… I bear some responsibility. If you insist on avenging him, I’ll oblige.”

After speaking, it added, “Yin Changli, you truly are a formidable opponent. I finally understand why the Emperor, despite his arrogance, would be so cautious when facing you. But if I hadn’t already been injured, you might not even be a match for me…”

“Enough.” Yin Changli seemed unwilling to hear its nonsense.

The power he had released began to flow back.

He was no longer clashing with it.

Yin Changli said, “You send us away, and we’ll pretend nothing happened.”

The soul companion replied, “I can send you away, but I forcibly bound the channel to the Xuantian Mirror. If you want to leave, this is the only exit.”

Xiang Haikui exclaimed, “That’s not an exit—it’s a funeral procession, isn’t it?”

Going directly to the upper realm’s Heavenly Dao Divine Palace with the Emperor guarding it was no different from going to one’s death.

When she had fought desperately with him before, though partly because she was “in the moment,” after calming down, she didn’t regret it but realized she had indeed been somewhat impulsive.

Now she certainly didn’t want to lose her life because of that scum.

Blood Asura was the first to disbelieve. “There can’t be only one path.”

“If you don’t believe me, feel free to search.” The soul companion spread its arms in a gesture of invitation.

Blood Asura went to search.

The peerless master and Amu joined the search. Though they didn’t know who the “Emperor” was, after eavesdropping for a while, they understood he was a formidable character.

“I have an idea.”

When Yin Changli was confronting the soul companion, she couldn’t communicate telepathically.

Now that the confrontation between them had decreased significantly, she tried to communicate with Yin Changli. “I have a very bold idea.”

Yin Changli seemed lost in thought, responding somewhat slowly. “Hmm?”

Xiang Haikui said, “Since the Emperor mistook me for the Xuantian Mirror Spirit, why don’t we go with this mistake? Have the soul companion send me out, and I’ll pretend to be the Xuantian Mirror Spirit…”

Yin Changli immediately objected, “No. The Heavenly Dao Palace is heavily guarded with secret agents. Even if you could deceive the Emperor, we would still be discovered upon leaving. Escaping isn’t a problem for me, but taking all of you with me—I don’t have absolute confidence…”

Xiang Haikui interrupted, “I don’t plan to escape.”

Yin Changli looked down at her from above, his gaze full of questions.

Just as Xiang Haikui opened her mouth.

He asked, “Do you want to use the Mirror Spirit’s identity to steal your master’s formation disk from the Emperor’s Wentian Palace?”

Xiang Haikui gave him a “you’re so clever” look in recognition.

Those sealed Sea Race powerhouses had their sealing formation disks kept inside the Wentian Palace, guarded by either the Emperor or the Heavenly Race’s First Sword, Dugu He.

Bypassing the formation disks, Yin Changli could still rescue them by going to each imprisonment location to break the formations.

This would be a long and arduous process.

The reason Yin Changli hadn’t started yet was that he wanted to wait until his cultivation fully recovered.

If those formation disks could be stolen, that would solve everything at once.

Yin Changli disagreed. “Setting aside the Emperor… Little Kui, given your resentment toward him, can you remain calm and composed in his presence?”

“Of course I can.” Xiang Haikui felt excited just thinking about it. What resentment? “This time I’m not going to act subservient in front of him—I’m pretending to be his Heavenly Dao father!”