Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Mystic Moon Realm
Li Chao Ge chuckled and finally let it go, though she still looked reluctant.
“Fine, fine.” She tilted her head. “It’s a shame this is only ordinary blood. If it were true essence blood, you could refine great medicines above Fifth Grade. But no one could ever pick something like that up by luck.”
With this drop, Li Chao Ge could more than repay the favors she’d owed from gathering information.
She smiled brightly. “Junior Sister, next time you get something like this, you have to come to me again.”
When they rose to part ways, Li Chao Ge hesitated. In the end, she still spoke.
“When I had people investigate, I also dug up the grudge between you and Jiang Yun Jiang.”
Shao Heng’s expression didn’t shift.
“Jiang Yun Jiang has top-tier talent,” Li Chao Ge said quietly. “I heard she’s only cultivated for nearly half a year, but not long ago she already reached mid-stage First Realm. And she has a contracted Azure Carp Demon at late-stage Qi Induction Realm.”
Li Chao Ge’s voice carried bitterness. “People like me… I’ve cultivated for over ten years and still can’t match her half year.”
She leaned closer, lowering her voice as if offering sincere counsel. “There’s no need to cling to old grudges. Forget ‘better to reconcile than make enemies.’ At worst, we avoid her edge.”
Shao Heng only smiled. “Thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister.”
If she were truly low-grade talent, those words would have been heartfelt comfort. So Shao Heng showed no strange reaction and accepted them graciously.
After Li Chao Ge walked away, Shao Heng’s smile faded.
[Jiang Yun Jiang? I avoid her edge?]
[She had Yan Ning and those people meddle with me. She even delayed my spirit rice planting and cut off my spirit stone income. I still have a full account to settle.]
She lifted Duo Bao into her arms and walked to the railing of Autumn Maple Terrace, looking out into the night.
Cinnabar Flame Maple Trees surrounded a small lake. The moon hung bright overhead, and when the wind moved, ripples spread across the water, scattering reflected light like shattered silver.
Shao Heng stroked Duo Bao absently, her thoughts tightening into a single point.
[The problem is the filthy thing on Jiang Yun Jiang.]
[But the fact it can only cooperate with a First Realm cultivator means it’s in a tough state. Even if it’s strong, it can’t be too strong.]
“I still have over 3,000 spirit stones,” she murmured. “I’ll go to the market and see if there are spells or treasures that specifically counter souls.”
Her mind ran through possibilities until only one truth remained.
“I’ve heard the Mystic Moon Secret Realm is a special little world,” she thought. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
Just imagining it made her fingers itch.
—
One day, Shao Heng was meditating when something suddenly flew out of her storage ring on its own and hovered in front of her.
She opened her eyes.
The crescent-shaped Moon-Inquiry Token shone with deep blue light. Runes crawled across its surface, spinning and shifting without pause.
Shao Heng touched it and sent her power in.
The token flared.
Light wrapped her entire body—and then she vanished.
Only Duo Bao remained in the room. Seeing Shao Heng disappear, he let out two disappointed whines.
On his right wrist was a small storage bracelet Shao Heng had bought for him. Inside were enough spirit bananas and spirit fruit to last him. She’d also left a pile of more than 20 thick books, all purchased from the market—written in demon script so simple even Duo Bao could understand.
She’d ordered him to use this time to study and make real progress.
For the first time, the obedient little monkey showed rebellion.
He stared at the books as if they were poison. His head hurt just looking at them. With a frustrated scratch of his scalp, he shoved the entire pile over.
At that moment, the silver mark between his brows split into a thin crack.
An eyeball pushed outward from within, opening into the air.
—
Elsewhere, Shao Heng had no idea what had happened to Duo Bao.
When she opened her eyes, she couldn’t see a trace of light—like a blind person trapped in a world made only of darkness.
Her whole body felt as if it were being swept by violent astral winds. She’d read about it: turbulence that accompanied travel through space. The force invaded everywhere, like steel blades scraping bone.
Thanks to the earlier dragon-blood tempering and her improved cultivation, she could endure it.
After about a quarter-hour, the pain eased. A thin strand of light appeared ahead.
Shao Heng controlled her body and lunged toward it.
In the next instant, the world changed.
She twisted in midair, landing lightly instead of crashing to the ground. Her eyes swept the surroundings. She chose a thick tree for cover before she dared to study the area more carefully.
She looked up.
Just as she’d heard, there was no sun in the secret realm. Night reigned without end, and only the moon provided light.
And yet vast forests still grew—more lush than trees that basked beneath ordinary sunlight.
After watching for a time, Shao Heng picked a direction at random and moved out.
Each time the Mystic Moon Secret Realm opened, the terrain changed drastically sixty years later. It couldn’t be mapped effectively. Even paying spirit stones couldn’t buy anything useful.
The spirit qi here was richer than the sect’s outer sect by a wide margin. Quiet cultivation alone would bring gains, but Shao Heng hadn’t come here to sit still.
She headed east.
The trees gradually thinned, and mushrooms—taller than a person—became common, glowing with faint white light.
Not long after, a scream tore through the forest.
Shao Heng instantly crouched behind a huge mushroom. At the same time, she cast Face-Changing Art, shifting her face and build into Jiang Yun Jiang’s appearance.
Then she leaned out and looked toward the sound.
A man in white robes was stumbling backward, screaming hoarsely.
In front of him stood a massive mushroom. Countless filaments stretched from beneath its cap like writhing tentacles, whipping toward him at terrifying speed. Even when his spells destroyed them, they grew back almost immediately.
After the first surge of panic, the male cultivator forced himself calm. He gathered his power. Golden light spread, and it looked as if countless golden needles shot out, slicing the filaments apart in a single sweep.
Shao Heng’s eyes narrowed.
[Thousand-Gold Historical Compendium… mushrooms reproduce by spores. You can’t see them. Fire should be best.]
The man had no time to celebrate. White dots appeared on his clothes and skin, spreading into rings in the blink of an eye. From those rings, new filaments burst outward.
He struggled, flailing wildly, but a thick purple fog surged from beneath the cap. The moment he inhaled it, his body went slack. His eyes rolled back.
The end was obvious.
Shao Heng’s scalp prickled. She took careful steps backward, quick and silent, retreating from the mushroom she’d used as cover.
The aura that man had just released was clearly late-stage First Realm. Judging by his robes, he was likely a disciple of the Star-Inquiry Sect.
She’d barely moved when a pressure brushed her divine sense.
Shao Heng spun, drew her longbow, and loosed an arrow on instinct.
A figure in goose-yellow caught the arrow casually between two fingers, as if plucking a falling leaf.
The woman’s face was gentle, like a lotus after rain. Star-patterned secret runes ran along the hem of her dress.
She glanced at Shao Heng—at the disguise—and smiled faintly.
“Mid-stage First Realm,” she said, voice soft with contempt, “and you dare enter the secret realm? Let the other sisters scout the road first.”
Then she lifted her hand.
A massive palm-print of power formed in midair and slammed down toward Shao Heng.
Shao Heng’s pupils tightened.
Peak First Realm cultivator.