Chapter 030

Chapter 30: He Is a Dead Man

A loud laugh burst out, and someone mocked: “Idiot, hahaha.”

As that laugh fell, the whole inn roared with laughter. People joked: “Which sect fell for Brother Qi this time? Not that we can blame them. Senior Brother Qi’s illusions are so good they pass for real. Even we didn’t notice anything wrong.” Others chimed in: “Yeah, yeah.” Someone squinted at Fang He An’s group and said: “Their robes look unfamiliar. I haven’t seen that style.” Another agreed: “Strange for sure. Which sect are they from? Check their disciple token.”

But a disciple token is not something anyone can just look at, and Fang He An’s group hadn’t pinned theirs out. A few people sized them up from head to toe, their eyes full of ridicule. It was obvious they looked down on them, especially when they noticed one of the four was only at the Qi Refining Stage. Someone scoffed: “This trial allows anyone below the Core Formation Stage, sure, but a Qi Refining Stage coming here to die is just plain arrogant.”

Ye Wan Wan’s lips curved: [Are you talking about me?]

The praised illusionist Qi Ming Lu shot them a provocative look as if to ask: “How does it feel?”

Li Wan Zhi bristled and started forward, grumbling: “These brats. What is a Core Formation Stage acting so cocky for?” He kept thinking, we have four people.

Fang He An, annoyed but steady, pressed him back and said: “We don’t know what’s going on. Less trouble is better than more trouble, so don’t be impulsive.”

Li Wan Zhi swallowed his temper.

Scanning the room, Fang He An found an empty table in a corner and led Li Wan Zhi, Ye Wan Wan, and Bai Jian over. After the four sat, Fang He An met Bai Jian and Ye Wan Wan’s eyes and said in a low voice: “This isn’t an illusion.”

Ye Wan Wan lowered her lashes and smiled: “As expected of Senior Brother Fang.” He had seen through it.

Fang He An said: “I’ve never seen that Qi fellow’s illusions, but with his level, he can’t control illusions over an entire city.” A Core Formation Stage cultivator can’t cover that wide an area. He frowned. “There’s something weird about this city.”

He thought hard but couldn’t find the key. Bai Jian was not one to overthink. Li Wan Zhi was hotheaded. Though the four seemed to be discussing together, Fang He An was really looking at Ye Wan Wan. Before they left, Senior Uncle had told him: if there’s something you don’t understand, ask your junior sister. Fang He An didn’t understand why Senior Uncle said that, but when he glanced at pure-eyed Bai Jian and at Li Wan Zhi muttering about teaching Qi Ming Lu a lesson, he thought Senior Uncle was right.

Ye Wan Wan asked: “Who is the Dark Nether Sect’s contact for this trial?”

“Haven’t seen them,” said Fang He An, glancing around. “The Dark Nether Sect sent invitations to every sect three months ago. They said this secret realm trial was for disciples at or below the Core Formation Stage. Senior Uncle thought we hadn’t traveled in years, so he sent the four of us to see the world. But I just looked, and I don’t see anyone from the Dark Nether Sect.” The one in charge should be shuttling among the disciples, but the crowd was leaderless and scattered. Clearly, whoever was supposed to host hadn’t shown up. That let Qi Ming Lu play monkey king over the mountain.

“Even if the Dark Nether Sect does show, the strongest they bring won’t be above Nascent Soul,” Fang He An added. “For a small trial like this, one Elder escort is already good.” Otherwise Senior Uncle wouldn’t have let the four of them come alone.

But now it didn’t look so simple. At least what happened after they entered the city wasn’t normal.

Ye Wan Wan thought a moment and asked: “How much do you know about this secret realm?”

Fang He An answered honestly: “It’s called the Illusory Dream Star Marsh. Its age can’t be traced. Rumor says it existed even before Dreammarsh City. Some say it is a spirit realm left behind when a Great Ascension Stage expert failed their Ascension. After the failure, the space slowly shrank and finally attached itself to Dream Marsh Mountain. It may be thousands of years old, just undiscovered.”

“Five hundred years ago, a Divine Transformation cultivator blundered in and found immortal herbs, treasures, even Heaven Grade artifacts. That’s when the place became known. But after a few hundred years of raids, most treasures are gone. What’s left are common herbs and ores. For anyone above Nascent Soul it’s not very useful. Still, there are ancient restrictions and insights in there, so it helps those of us below Nascent Soul.”

He paused, then said: “Three hundred years ago the Dark Nether Sect took Dreammarsh City and gained control of the Illusory Dream Realm. Back then their sect wasn’t very strong, so to avoid being robbed they offered to open the secret realm every fifty years and invite all sects’ disciples to train. Under the Dark Nether Sect, it has opened five times. This year is the sixth.”

“In the past, nothing ever went wrong,” Fang He An added.

Ye Wan Wan nodded.

Li Wan Zhi, catching on, asked: “Junior sister thinks the Dark Nether Sect is the problem?”

“Not sure yet. Let’s keep watching,” said Ye Wan Wan.

Li Wan Zhi said, quick-witted for once: “I’ll go sniff around.”

“Where would you even ask?” Fang He An rolled his eyes.

Li Wan Zhi shut up, but Ye Wan Wan knew he had some tricks. She didn’t press it and waited quietly. Fang He An murmured: “By now the Dark Nether Sect people should have appeared.”

Ye Wan Wan said softly: “If someone shows, that’s fine. I’m afraid no one from them can make it here.”

Fang He An was about to ask what she meant when pounding hit the inn doors. This wasn’t ordinary knocking. The blows were fast and urgent, like raging wind and sudden rain, without a break.

Everyone looked over. Two or three dozen cultivators in the hall froze for a second. Instinctively, they looked to Qi Ming Lu: “Brother Qi, what illusion did you set up this time?”

Qi Ming Lu’s expression shifted and he gave a weak laugh to the questions, but panic drummed in his heart. He hadn’t set anything. Maybe the earlier illusion was still affecting things?

The pounding grew more frantic. Someone called: “Brother Qi, stop joking and dispel it. This sounds wrong.”

Others agreed. No one would knock like that unless it was life and death.

The next instant the doors slammed open. Wind and rain rushed in and whipped people’s hair. Someone staggered back more than ten steps and blurted: “Such strong wind spirit power!”

Without drawing attention, Ye Wan Wan burned a spirit talisman. Array arts formed a shield around their group. The four of them were safe.

In the doorway, framed by wind and rain, two pale, wounded young cultivators stumbled in and cried: “Save us!”

“They’re from the Dark Nether Sect!” someone recognized their robes.

Everyone shot to their feet and looked past them to the figure stepping in after. A person wrapped head to toe in a black robe came in on heavy steps.

It was a dead man.