Chapter 707 - 654: Dream Realm
In Shi Xiaowu’s room, a few people exited his Dream Realm. Qii Yue, blushing, held the puppet elixir furnace blueprints calculated by Shi Xiaowu and entrusted Jiang Yuebai to take good care of Shi Xiaowu before leaving.
Qii Yue had also received a message from Shi Xiaowu to collect the blueprints and coincidentally met Jiang Yuebai and the others setting up the Illusion Array for him, so she conveniently took a look.
After years apart, Qii Yue now possessed unparalleled grace and an ethereal demeanor, truly different from the dusty young girl of the past, embodying the real presence of an Immortal Sect aristocrat.
After Qii Yue left, only Jiang Yuebai, Li Shenzhi, and Yun Shang remained in the room.
Tonight’s triple Illusion Array was arranged by Li Shenzhi to allow Shi Xiaowu to discover it, thus lowering his vigilance through the process of noticing the flaws three times.
After all, he had already stepped out of a triple Illusion Array, and following the logic that the more layers of the Array, the greater the difficulty, Shi Xiaowu would deem the likelihood of encountering another Illusion Array low.
This momentary relaxation allowed Yun Shang’s ’Sleep Gu’ to silently enter him through the night breeze, making him unaware as he naturally fell into a deep sleep.
The Dream Demon Thorn on his body also bore the ’Illusion Gu’ cultivated by Yun Shang, convincing Shi Xiaowu to mistake the Thorn for Danggui, defenselessly.
Afterward, the Thorn activated the "Mirage Demon Skill," leading him to believe he had ’died of natural causes’ and systematically ventured into the deepest layer of the Dream Realm as if willingly reincarnating.
Upon his rebirth, Jiang Yuebai would then inject the Cloud Mushroom she had nurtured into his body, rejuvenating his aged physique.
Temporarily replenishing his energy, making him feel an extraordinary vitality and essence qi, enhancing the realism of reincarnation.
At this moment, Shi Xiaowu lay flat on the bed, with the Dream Demon Thorn on his forehead, rapidly experiencing a new life in the Dream Realm.
"Ah~~ Thorn, open your mouth, let me feed you a Wandering Soul, ah~~"
Yun Shang’s eyes gleamed as she opened her mouth and fed the Thorn using the Soul Gathering Gourd Jiang Yuebai had given her.
At this moment, Yun Shang was calculating how to have the Thorn produce a baby Thorn for her, then cultivate a nest of little Thorns.
In the end, the Thorn would continually produce more Thorns...
It seemed the Thorn saw through Yun Shang’s plans, arrogantly lifting its head and turning its rear towards her, refusing to comply.
"Oh my! Look at our Thorn’s little rear, it’s more handsome than other beasts, with a kingly aura!"
Yun Shang mimicked the tone and words of Shi Potian’s father in the Dream Realm to praise the Thorn, mischievously poking the Thorn’s rear once more.
The Thorn shivered all over, its rear and tail tensing and contracting, turning to bare its teeth menacingly at Yun Shang.
"Good teeth too, see these sharp, bright, white fangs, ah~~ open wide to eat~~"
The Thorn cast a sidelong glance at Jiang Yuebai with a demeanor suggesting ’Is she crazy?.’
Jiang Yuebai chuckled, knowing that while Yun Shang might be awkward and stammer in front of people, her boundless enthusiasm toward beasts was overwhelming for them — truly two extremes.
This Dream Realm would persist for a while until the Shi Xiaowu in it began Core Formation, and then Jiang Yuebai would use the Yin Yang Family’s human control method to guide the real Shi Xiaowu’s body in Core Formation.
This method was akin to how she had Xiong Yanhong perform alchemy through the mind state in dreams to assist the real body in forming the core.
In the Dream Realm, Jiang Yuebai designed a series of events for Shi Xiaowu, enabling him to become akin to the Heavenly Dao’s Son — blessed with extraordinary fortune and a smooth path of cultivation.
Of course, to ensure authenticity, there would still be hardships and setbacks allowing him a glimmer of hope in dire situations to let him vent the emotions accumulated in his heart previously.
If successful, Shi Xiaowu’s mindset in the Dream Realm would be strikingly different from his real self.
No matter how Shi Xiaowu would be upon waking from the dream, once the core formation succeeded and he had a lifespan of five hundred years, deducting the eighty-plus years he had lived, there remained four hundred years to gradually surpass himself.
Then he should no longer be allowed to conduct research in the sect without experiencing the world’s hardships.
Once he had seen enough, he would realize the triviality of his current dilemmas and the enormity of the world — not something he could completely understand through Math Dao. The road of Immortal Cultivation will inevitably have unsolvable issues; one must learn the art of choosing and relinquishing.
Isn’t this how Xie Jingshan made his way?
Jiang Yuebai turned to spot Li Shenzhi still standing there. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she examined him once more. This guy displayed Late-Stage Golden Core cultivation, but in reality, his cultivation had reached Golden Core Peak, just a step away from Nascent Soul.
"Why haven’t you formed the Nascent Soul yet?" Jiang Yuebai asked.
Li Shenzhi shuddered, exclaiming in shock, "You, you, how did you figure it out?"
When Jiang Yuebai studied the human control method of the Yin Yang Family, she thoroughly read the Medical Classics, not practicing Medical Dao magical techniques, but her study of the human body was on par with Medical Dao masters, enabling her to perceive the subtle indications of Li Shenzhi’s concealed cultivation.
Jiang Yuebai smiled silently, while Li Shenzhi sighed helplessly.
"Forming the Nascent Soul is too treacherous; only with utmost assurance will I proceed with it, like preparing some Dragon Scales to shield against the Heavenly Tribulation."
Jiang Yuebai shook her head, knowing Li Shenzhi’s cautious nature. The master entrusting him with the Heavenly Interence Sect’s defenses was undoubtedly correct, for with such carefulness, he would undoubtedly fortify the sect into an impenetrable fortress, and when he ascended to the Upper Realm, he would still hold responsibility.
Jiang Yuebai pulled out the string of storage rings Xie Jingshan had given her from her sleeve, rummaging through to find the ’local specialties’ Xie Jingshan had prepared for Li Shenzhi, then handing them over to him.
Upon seeing what Jiang Yuebai handed over, Li Shenzhi’s eyes gleamed brightly, and tears of gratitude welled up.
"Dragon Scale!!"
Li Shenzhi took it and inspected it carefully, indeed a Dragon Scale of the Nascent Soul Stage, more than sufficient to shield against Nascent Soul Tribulation Thunder.
"These were entrusted to me by Xie Jingshan to give to you all; he prepared nine Dragon Scales, a Lifespan Extension Pill extending life by a hundred years, and three bottles of Elixirs for each of you to increase cultivation, enhance the likelihood of forming the Nascent Soul, and consolidate afterward."
Jiang Yuebai handed over all the portions meant for Li Shenzhi and his fellow disciples to him. Considering further, she handed over ten more Old Dragon Scales that had shed from Hongye for him to share with Muh Wushuang.
On Heavenly Gang Peak, the ones capable of forming the Nascent Soul immediately were Li Shenzhi and Muh Wushuang, leaving the remaining ones for Tang Weimian and Hee Wangchen when they could initiate Nascent Soul formation.
Uncle Fuyi had been so good to her that attending to the people on Heavenly Gang Peak was her rightful responsibility.
"True Monarch Wangshu and Brother Jingshan, you are truly the rebirth parents of Li Shenzhi, hahaha, now it’s assured, forming the Nascent Soul is assured, hahaha."
Li Shenzhi couldn’t contain his joy.
"Shang, this is yours. Over the next couple of days, help me look after the Thorn first. Once Xiaowu’s core formation situation is settled, we’ll depart to deliver messages, and I’ll take you to a good place to see some delightful things."
Yun Shang eagerly nodded, roughly guessing that Jiang Yuebai intended to take her to the Lotus Platform Small World to see Upper Realm Spiritual Beasts.
"You little scoundrels, doing all these secretive things and not informing me!"
True Monarch Cang Huo suddenly appeared in the room, excitedly scanning around, and upon seeing the Dream Demon on Shi Xiaowu’s head, he pushed past Li Shenzhi, squeezing Yun Shang off the bed with his plump body.
"Is this a Demon Beast? I’ve never seen a Demon Beast before, what does it do?"
Before True Monarch Cang Huo could touch the Thorn, it emitted a sound wave strike on his forehead, knocking him back.
Intentionally offering no resistance, True Monarch Cang Huo was drawn into Shi Xiaowu’s Dream Realm.
Jiang Yuebai and Yun Shang, sitting on the floor, exchanged helpless smiles.
Now that True Monarch Cang Huo had found something intriguing, but Shi Xiaowu’s legendary life of kingly dominance was likely noted in the "Heavenly Inference Sect’s Secret Record," marking a ’blemish’ in his life.
Jiang Yuebai, after informing Yun Shang and Li Shenzhi, went to find Lii Jiuchuan.
Message delivery time needed to be postponed, at least until Shi Xiaowu’s affairs were settled before departing.
Before that, she decided to go see Song Zhi’ang.
In her youth, she disliked Song Zhi’ang, finding his constant sarcastic demeanor irritating, but later discovered that Song Zhi’ang wasn’t bad and had assisted her several times.
Reflecting on the past when she and Song Zhi’ang were at odds, the corners of Jiang Yuebai’s lips unconsciously curved into a smile, finding her younger self childish and amusing, getting worked up over trivial matters.
Song Zhi’ang’s problem might be similar to Ao Juan’s long-ago injuries to his foundations.
She, Jiang Yuebai, the mightiest Immortal Ganoderma in the Cultivation Realm, could easily handle such minor issues!