Chapter 29 Part 1

Lian Yunzhi had never understood before why he experienced spiritual power chaos and maladaptation to the environment as soon as he left Xiaoze State for the outside world. But when he arrived in the outside world again and observed it with his Divine Soul Force, he finally discovered the problem.

The outside world was very “fake.”

This “fake” meant that the entire outside world lacked the intricacy of Xiaoze State. One cloud in the sky resembled another, one mountain resembled another ten li away, the faces of distant pedestrians were blurry and indistinct, and even the faces of nearby cultivators were largely similar.

If the entire world was an Illusion Realm, then Xiaoze State’s Illusion Realm could be called meticulously carved, realistic enough to deceive the real. But the outside world’s Illusion Realm was crudely made, full of flaws—as if the creator of this Illusion Realm had never left Xiaoze State, and everything related to the outside world was fabricated out of thin air.

“This is my Cave Mansion.” Mu Cheng brought Lian Yunzhi to a cave on Spirit Mountain. “You can advance to Nascent Soul here.”

Lian Yunzhi looked at this pirated version of Spirit Mountain, which was identical to his own, and fell silent.

If Mu Cheng had deliberately chosen a similar place for his Cave Mansion, that would have been one thing. But no matter how similar, it couldn’t be that even the rocks at the cave entrance and the broken trees were exactly the same—this was clearly the Illusion Realm’s master unconsciously copying over Lian Yunzhi’s entire Spirit Mountain.

Lian Yunzhi looked up at Mu Cheng.

Mu Cheng’s expression was natural, his posture calm, but the depths of his eyes held an un fading crimson—he had been exposed for killing those Lin Xian Sect disciples, and along the way, many from Lin Xian Sect had come for revenge or to clean house.

Lian Yunzhi somewhat suspected how Mu Cheng had lived those past few years: had he been constantly killing and going mad? Had he never truly been sober? Otherwise, why would he turn a blind eye to such obvious flaws in the Illusion Realm?

Lian Yunzhi pointed at his reddened eyes. “Need any help?”

Mu Cheng’s gaze darkened further. He rasped, “No, you go advance. More people are coming.”

Lian Yunzhi nodded, but after taking just two steps, he felt it wasn’t right. He turned back, grabbed Mu Cheng’s collar, and kissed him.

—Only then did he realize that for the mad Mu Cheng, kissing had the same effect as blood-sucking. Since that was the case, Lian Yunzhi naturally preferred the former.

After the kiss, the crimson in Mu Cheng’s eyes indeed faded a lot. Lian Yunzhi patted the top of his head in satisfaction, finally set his mind at ease, and turned to advance.

.

Because he didn’t need to face Thunder Tribulation, Lian Yunzhi’s Nascent Soul formation should have gone smoothly. But at the critical moment of breaking his core to form the infant, the entire Spirit Mountain shook violently—a Soul Transformation Powerhouse had sliced the whole mountain in half from the mountainside with a single sword!

Lian Yunzhi’s heart filled with horror. His already unstable spiritual power grew even more chaotic, nearly causing his infant formation to fail.

But at that moment, the tilting peak was steadied by a force. The Soul Transformation Powerhouse’s aura surged violently for an instant before vanishing—he had fallen.

【It’s fine now. Advance with peace of mind.】

A familiar voice rang in his mind. Lian Yunzhi’s breathing steadied from its urgency, and he continued to focus on forming his infant.

Three days later, Lian Yunzhi successfully advanced to Nascent Soul. The first thing he did afterward was to spread out his Divine Sense to search for Mu Cheng’s whereabouts.

Mu Cheng was at the foot of the mountain.

He was covered in blood and filth, disheveled and unkempt, with messy hair and scarlet-red eyes. He dragged his sword, advancing step by step toward a Void Refining cultivator.

A Void Refining cultivator!

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Lian Yunzhi’s back. He shot up from the Prayer Mat with a “whoosh,” but before he could even think about what to do next, Mu Cheng had already severed the Void Refining cultivator’s head with one sword.

The Void Refining cultivator’s head fell to the ground in disbelief. The Black Mist that had sealed his meridians returned to Mu Cheng’s body.

The next moment, vast, nearly sky-obscuring thick Black Mist burst from the Void Refining cultivator’s body and plunged straight into Mu Cheng’s spine!

Mu Cheng’s body trembled, veins bulging all over. He threw his head back and let out a beast-like roar. His entire face twisted into madness. When a cultivator behind him tried to sneak attack, he whipped around without even looking and tore the attacker in half!

Blood sprayed, limbs flew.

Lian Yunzhi’s face paled, nausea rising. He instinctively withdrew his Divine Sense.

He sat back on the Prayer Mat and pressed his temples, only to find his fingers trembling too.

He knew Mu Cheng went mad when killing, but he hadn’t expected it to be this severe! He had completely lost his reason and become a beast! Lian Yunzhi didn’t even doubt that if he had been standing behind Mu Cheng just now, he would have been the one torn in half!