Chapter 52
Chapter 52: Just Playing Around
Hearing that, Shao Heng immediately thanked her. “Thank you, Senior Sister Bai.”
Since it was decided, they rested, recovered their spirits, and restored their mana to peak before setting off south.
Jiang Feng took out a square bronze compass from his sleeve and said softly, “Junior Sister, you may not know this, but in the Mystic Moon Secret Realm, besides demons and all kinds of dangerous places, there’s also the fact that there’s no sun—only the moon. It’s an extremely yin land. After thousands of years, something we call yin ghosts was born there, creatures that live for blood.”
“The Soaring Moon Mirror we’re going to—according to the experience of seniors—has a gathering of the Shattered Moon at the end, but it also attracts many yin ghosts. The Sun-Bronze Compass can detect whether yin ghosts are hiding nearby.”
Shao Heng nodded, the wariness on her face deepening.
Their group set out and things went smoothly. They only ran into a late-stage First Realm tree demon, which the four of them killed together.
Only then did Shao Heng learn Yu Wen was a body cultivator who practiced the immortal art Golden Body Art. In the end, he uprooted the tree demon by force, crushed the trunk until it burst, and destroyed its demon body.
When they reached the so-called Soaring Moon Mirror, Shao Heng looked around and immediately showed surprise.
A whole lake of pale silver lay before them. Under the moonlight, even when the wind blew, it didn’t ripple at all, like a smooth, flawless mirror.
But from their angle, the lake didn’t reflect the moon or their own shadows. Instead, it reflected a bizarre, complicated maze—one glance enough to make your eyes spin.
“Senior Sister Bai, this Soaring Moon Mirror doesn’t look natural. Was it left behind when that great expert refined Tai Yin star fragments and created the Mystic Moon Secret Realm?”
Bai Hong smiled at her. “Junior Sister, you know one thing but not the other.”
“That great expert was an ancient cultivator with the Dao name Ling Jiang. They say she wanted to refine a Tai Yin fragment into her life-bound treasure, but she accidentally refined it into a small world instead, and it slipped out of her control.”
“And the Mystic Moon Secret Realm is truly wondrous. It formed its own rules, limiting cultivation realms to First Realm cultivators. That’s why only juniors like us can enter. Later, many great experts threw inheritances into the secret realm, giving it the meaning of selecting heirs and passing on teachings.”
“That’s how the Soaring Moon Mirror came to be. As for which senior left it behind, we don’t know.”
Shao Heng nodded as if understanding, then asked, “So those inheritances contain strange power, which makes it easier to attract the Shattered Moon to gather?”
“Yes, yes. Enough—stop talking so much and hurry up!” Yu Wen cut her off impatiently.
He turned to Jiang Feng and frowned. “Brother Feng, should we go?”
Jiang Feng nodded and stepped forward first.
His figure moved like light. In an instant, he swept onto the lake without stirring even the slightest ripple. Suddenly, in the maze reflected on the lake’s surface, a fuzzy little dot appeared—a vague human shape.
Yu Wen followed right after him. Bai Hong tugged Shao Heng’s arm and said, “Let’s follow too.”
Shao Heng naturally agreed.
Following Bai Hong, she leapt high, using the height to take in the entire lake at a glance, then dropped onto the lake’s surface. In an instant, she felt the turbulence of spatial currents, but it was far gentler, and far shorter, than when she first entered the Mystic Moon Secret Realm.
When Shao Heng landed steadily, Jiang Feng and Yu Wen had already been waiting for a moment. Seeing the two women catch up, they didn’t say anything and simply walked forward.
Jiang Feng held the Sun-Bronze Compass in his hand. As mana poured into it, the needle suddenly snapped to a direction.
“Let’s go this way,” he said confidently.
Shao Heng stayed at the back of the group, lowering her head to hide the dark stirrings in her eyes.
They walked through a long, narrow passage. The walls were extremely high, made of some unknown material. Curious, Shao Heng reached up and slapped the wall.
Her body strength was already terrifying, yet she left no mark at all. The sound was heavy, suggesting the wall was very thick.
As they walked, Jiang Feng slowed down. At some point he was already beside Shao Heng. Seeing her small action, he couldn’t help but smile. “Junior Sister Shao Heng is actually pretty childlike…and cute.”
A faint blush rose on Shao Heng’s face. She lowered her head shyly and didn’t answer.
The dragon mark hidden on her forearm, beneath her right sleeve, flickered.
“Hehehe. Is this male cultivator trying to lure you into mating?” Ao Chuan’s voice whispered through the Blood Pact.
Shao Heng unconsciously tightened her fist.
“You’re right to remind me. They say dragons are born lewd, don’t they?” Her reply was sweet with threat. “Didn’t you say True Dragon bloodline is incredibly precious?”
“Then I should really help you spread it.”
“Let me think—what breeds the most?”
“When we get back, I’ll catch some Snake Demon, pig demons, spider demons, and rabbit demons and make them mate with you. You’ll be a groom every night. We’ll definitely end up with some descendants with purer blood, and then I’ll have endless True Dragon blood.”
“No!” Ao Chuan blurted, mortified.
Ao Chuan was still just a Little Dragon. He was instantly too embarrassed to keep talking.
Shao Heng sneered inside, but she kept a shy look on her face, making Jiang Feng’s smile deepen.
Bai Hong’s gaze, however, grew darker.
Not long after, they walked into a dead end. A blue-green wall blocked the road ahead.
Yu Wen immediately complained, “Brother Feng, is your compass broken? Look, we walked into a dead end.”
Jiang Feng frowned hard, his expression sour. “It’s only a first-grade artifact. It’s not strange for it to fail inside a maze left behind by a great expert.”
Yu Wen snorted and punched the wall. As he exerted himself, a golden glow spread over his skin, forming strange patterns. A gust of wind kicked up, followed by a loud boom.
But the wall wasn’t damaged at all. Instead, a rebound force struck back, shattering the golden patterns inch by inch. Yu Wen’s whole arm finally drooped like cooked noodles, his bones clearly crushed.
He bared his teeth in pain and hurriedly took out a pill and swallowed it.
“Enough.” Bai Hong stepped in to smooth things over. “Don’t be reckless. Let’s go back the way we came.”
Shao Heng suddenly said, “I watched the maze’s layout outside earlier and memorized part of it. Why don’t I try leading the way?”
“You can do it?” Bai Hong looked surprised.
“Then why didn’t you say so earlier!” Yu Wen snapped.
“I… I thought Senior Brother Jiang’s artifact would be more accurate. I was afraid I’d end up delaying Senior Brother and Senior Sister.”
“Enough!” Jiang Feng’s gaze turned icy. He glared at Yu Wen, forcing him to shut up.
So Shao Heng began to lead the way. The three of them were doubtful at first, but the route stayed smooth the entire time.
Bai Hong leaned in close beside her and said affectionately, “Sister Shao Heng, you can even remember terrain as complex as this maze.”
“You must have photographic memory. It really makes people jealous.”
As she spoke, she observed Shao Heng’s expression carefully. She didn’t find the slightest trace of acting, and her heart tightened even more.
Bai Hong exchanged a look with Jiang Feng.
Shao Heng didn’t see it, but Ao Chuan did. He sent a message: “You slipped. They’re starting to suspect you.”
“Oh?” Shao Heng’s eyes lowered.
“Of course I know there’s a flaw.”
“The maze inside the Soaring Moon Mirror changes once every quarter-hour. Even if a cultivator records the path with a rubbing, they still can’t adapt to the changed maze. But I can keep going without a single mistake.”
“But so what?”
“As long as they want to reach the end of the maze, they’ll follow me.”
“We’re all just trying to get what we want. It’s only a bit of fun.”