Powerful spiritual energy surged inside her Purple Mansion. A faint cracking sound echoed from the unpolished Worldly Secret Treasure, as though something was breaking open during its gestation.
The rounded form of the secret treasure gradually elongated, radiating brilliant light, and soon shaped itself into a longbow.
The bow was exquisite beyond measure, completely crimson-gold in color, with intricate runes carved across its limbs that shimmered with radiant light. Its bowstring was woven from countless gold threads, fine and smooth to the touch.
In an instant, its name surfaced in her mind: “Yinhuang.”
When she lightly plucked the string with her divine sense, tiny sparks of flame burst from the bowstring, accompanied by a subtle warping of the surrounding space.
The sparks and spatial distortion were intimately familiar, prompting Shi Yu to murmur, “It actually formed a connection with the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame.”
The Worldly Secret Treasure resided in her Purple Mansion, while the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame was harbored in her dantian; normally, they kept to their own domains. Their ability to connect now was likely thanks to this realm, where they had both been nourished by spiritual Qi sharing the same origin.
Nocking an arrow and drawing this bow would imbue her shots with the pressure of the Heavenly Fire's laws, yielding frightening power.
This bow would be her natal magic treasure from now on. Shi Yu took a deep breath, wanting to test its power, but the surrounding fairyland was still collapsing and the ground beneath her feet was splitting apart. She could not afford to be careless.
She absorbed spiritual Qi to nourish the Yinhuang Bow and the Void Fissure Spiritual Flame while keeping a close eye on her surroundings.
Before long, a wave of intense dizziness and turbulence swept over her. Her body felt as though a giant hand had grabbed her and tossed her out, flinging her clear of the shattering wonderland.
Her vision blurred into a sea of white. Then, as if emerging from a barrier, her feet touched solid ground, and she stumbled back several steps.
“Girl Yu!”
“Little Yu'er!”
Several people rushed forward, flicking their wide sleeves to quickly catch her.
Once she steadied herself and looked up, she found familiar faces all around her.
President Song, Master Ji, President Liang Guan, and the rest were all present. Beside them stood the contingent from the Yun Clan. Seeing her emerge from the Enlightenment Mirror, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Everyone, what is...” Shi Yu blinked and glanced in front of her. Standing there was an immensely large ancient mirror. She seemed to have just stepped out from inside it.
A Yun Clan elder stepped forward with a bitter smile. “Miss Shi, if you hadn't come out soon, these presidents and elders would have skinned us alive.”
As it turned out, after Shi Yu mysteriously entered the Enlightenment Mirror that day, Yun Feng and the others had waited over ten days without seeing her emerge.
There had never been a precedent for such an occurrence with the Enlightenment Mirror. They only knew that observing its surface allowed one to comprehend Dao laws and intents; none expected the mirror could actually pull a person inside.
At first, they could clearly see Shi Yu's reflection inside the mirror, so they knew she was safe. But when she walked out of the cave and became enveloped by white clouds, the mirror's surface turned foggy, obscuring everything from view.
Unable to determine Shi Yu's safety, Yun Feng and his companions panicked and immediately dispatched someone to report back.
The Yun Clan members were equally anxious upon hearing the news.
“We thought this was merely a simple trial and that with Yun Feng and the others guarding her, there wouldn't be any great danger. Who could have anticipated such a twist? Naturally, we informed President Song and the others immediately.”
After explaining what happened, the elder gave President Liang Guan a rather strange look.
Seriously, Shi Yu is the Alchemist Association's precious treasure, so President Song's group being nervous is understandable. But you're from the Refinement Association—why did you hurry over too, and with a face as dark as the bottom of a pot?
Only a handful of people knew that Shi Yu also cultivated the Dao of Artifact Refinement.
“You were inside that mirror for a full three months!” President Song glared at her, extending a hand as his spiritual Qi enveloped her. He checked her for hidden injuries or depleted reserves, unable to conceal the residual fear and anxiety in his expression. “If you hadn't come out, we would've had to figure out a way to—wait, your cultivation level...”
Only three months passed in the outside world?
Shi Yu pondered for a moment. Inside, she had observed the lives of several people from start to finish, a journey that surely added up to a hundred years of time. A century's journey of the soul, yet only three months for the flesh—this Enlightenment Mirror truly was extraordinary.
Recalling the second half of President Song's question, Shi Yu looked up and smiled softly. “I've reached the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm.”
Several sharp gasps filled the air.
“The seventh layer... of Qi Refining?”
Shi Yu had only been at the fourth layer of the Qi Refining Realm when she first arrived in the main city. How long had it been since then? Barely a year, yet she was already at the seventh layer.
Such cultivation speed was utterly mind-boggling.
“Miss Shi... isn't even seventeen yet, right?” The Yun Clan elder was stunned, instinctively glancing over at Yun Feng, who stood quietly nearby.
Even Yun Feng, the most talented youngster of the current generation in the Yun Clan, was nowhere near Shi Yu's current level when he was seventeen.
President Song surmised that her rapid progress was likely tied to the Enlightenment Mirror before them. Tightly knitting his brows, he worried that advancing too quickly might leave her foundation unstable, creating latent defects that would hamper her future cultivation.
Troubled by these thoughts, President Song pressed two fingers to Shi Yu's wrist, sending his spiritual Qi inward to inspect her foundation.
Knowing President Song was concerned for her well-being, Shi Yu did not resist and allowed him to examine her.
After a long moment, President Song retracted his hand, the solemn expression fading from his face.
Beside him, President Liang Guan had shared the same worry and quickly asked, “How is it?”
“This girl...” President Song shook his head with a laugh. “Her foundation is so solid it's almost embarrassing for the rest of us.”
He was not exaggerating. The spiritual Qi within Shi Yu's body was dense, pure, and condensed without dissipating—a clear hallmark of an exceptionally solid foundation.
Hearing this, President Liang Guan breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. “Good, that's good then.”
Now they didn't have to worry that her rapid progress was the result of hasty, shortsighted growth.
“Though, coming back to the topic,” President Song asked, “how did you end up getting drawn into this mirror?”
Shi Yu pondered for a moment. To her, that was already a memory from a distant past.
A moment later, she said, “That day, Miss Yun and I held onto the red silk as we walked forward together. Within the passage, both sight and hearing were blocked. Bearing in mind the warning not to separate, we pulled on the red silk every so often to feel the tension and confirm the other was still there.”
Yun Ran looked up at her. Ever since Shi Yu entered the Enlightenment Mirror, her elder cousin had blamed her, assuming she had cut the silk out of jealousy. Though she wished to defend herself, she had had no way to explain.
“However, just as I was stepping out of the passage, a sudden jolt shook my entire body, and in the next instant, I found myself in another space.” Saying this, Shi Yu produced from her sleeve a severed, lusterless piece of red silk and gave Yun Ran an apologetic look. “Miss Yun, could you hand over the other half of the red silk to me as well? I will find a way to repair it.”
Yun Ran was stunned that Shi Yu still remembered this matter. Blankly, she produced the other half of the red silk. “You... you don't blame me for failing to hold on to you that day?”
Shi Yu took the silk and inspected the severed ends. “I know you were holding onto me the entire time. The Enlightenment Mirror pulled me inside; how could that be your fault?”
Yun Ran gave a quiet, muffled “Mm.”
Watching Shi Yu carefully align the broken edges of the Soft Red Silk, Yun Ran felt a lump in her throat and said awkwardly, “It's just a Tier-2 artifact. It doesn't matter if you can't fix it.”
Yet Shi Yu shook her head and said, “It can be fixed.”
Yun Ran fell silent as a mist blurred her eyes, feeling an inexplicable sense of closeness and reliance toward the girl before her.
Shi Yu thought to herself, A great deal of ingenuity went into refining this red silk, and it carries numerous restrictions. Repairing it truly won't be an easy task.
Fortunately, she was now at the seventh layer of the Qi Refining Realm, and with her enhanced cultivation behind her, her chances of success were significantly higher.
Beside them, several elders spoke up. “Now that you've come out safe and sound, we shouldn't linger any longer.”
“This secret realm shows signs of instability and will likely collapse in a matter of days. Everyone, exit quickly.”
Originally, the Nightmare Realm would not have lasted long before closing. Now, this collapse was becoming increasingly evident, and even Shi Yu could sense the turbulent aura in the air. No wonder President Song and the others had been so desperately anxious.
Had she not emerged before the secret realm fractured and vanished, she likely would have faded away along with it.
The presidents and elders led the way at the front, while the younger generation followed behind.
Shi Yu suddenly noticed that Yun Feng and the dozen or so others who had entered with her earlier kept glancing at her face. They wore utterly peculiar expressions, zoning out one moment and hesitating to speak the next.
She knit her brows slightly, at a loss as to what they meant by those looks.
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