Nightmare?

Ji Yu pouted and touched his belly. “Big Sister, I’m hungry.”

Shi Yu pressed her hand to her forehead, waving her hand to retrieve a bag of Heavenly Scent Rice and dried meat.

“Heavenly Scent Rice!” Though young, he had good eyes and recognized it at a glance, taking it with glowing eyes.

Shi Yu watched as Ji Yu deftly started a fire and fetched water, putting the spiritual grain in a pot to stew. While waiting, he happily munched on the dried meat, not forgetting to ask if she wanted some.

Shi Yu was not hungry at the moment and shook her head.

Seeing him wolfing it down, she poured a cup of tea and passed it over.

Ji Yu gulped down a mouthful and asked indistinctly, “Big Sister, you said you passed through our village before?”

“Mhm.” Shi Yu propped her chin on one arm, recalling for a moment before saying, “I originally intended to buy some spiritual grain to bring along, but after entering the village, I found it completely deserted.”

“And... looking at the scene, the people and livestock all seemed to have vanished in an instant.”

Ji Yu’s chewing slowed down, and only after a long silence did he say in a muffled voice, “Indeed, in just the blink of an eye, everyone was gone.”

“It was like... like in that single instant, hundreds or thousands of years passed over them.” He gestured with his hands. “Right before my eyes, my mother’s entire body crumbled apart. A gust of wind blew, turning her into sand that swept away.”

“Just a moment before, she was still smiling at me, but who knew... Speaking of which, it happened about two months ago.”

Seeing his teary eyes, Shi Yu pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears. She was not good at comforting people, so she quietly waited for Ji Yu to finish crying.

Once he was feeling a bit better, Shi Yu murmured thoughtfully, “Why did that happen?”

“My master said it was a Nightmare. A Nightmare stayed in the village.”

“A Nightmare?”

“Mhm!” Ji Yu nodded, trying hard to recall. “Master said a Nightmare is an extremely rare spirit beast. Wherever it stays, an illusory realm is born. People enveloped by the illusion cannot perceive it at all, believing they have genuinely lived through decades, experiencing all kinds of joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. But in reality, all of it was merely a momentary illusion.”

Constructed from false years, the villagers gradually lost themselves in the illusion woven by the Nightmare, unable to distinguish reality from falsehood. Their souls were captured by the Nightmare’s power without them realizing it.

When they lived through decades in the illusion and reached what should have been the end of their lifespans, their physical bodies in reality would dissipate as well.

“The Nightmare relies on this to grow stronger.”

Hearing this, Shi Yu broke out in a cold sweat.

That day, if she had not reacted in time, she likely would have fallen into the void illusion woven by the Nightmare, living out decades muddleheadedly without knowing it, only to die in a single instant.

Coming back to her senses, Shi Yu asked, “Why were you the only one who didn’t fall into the illusion?”

Ji Yu pulled a bitter face. “I don’t know what happened either, but I wasn’t affected by the Nightmare. My master said it’s because my mind is too simple that I wasn’t affected.”

The exact words were “utterly pure and true, like a blank sheet of paper.” Ji Yu had not understood what that meant, so his master shot him a glare and explained that it meant he was simple-minded, which dealt Ji Yu quite a blow.

Shi Yu pondered for a moment before saying, “Your master...”

“I fled from the village and had no travel funds on me. I was starving to death, but luckily I met an old beggar on the road who taught me a theft technique. Isn’t he my master then?”

Shi Yu was left speechless, sensing that the master he spoke of was likely no ordinary person. Pausing, she asked again, “What if you get caught and beaten like today?”

Ji Yu poked his head over to check if the spiritual grain was cooked yet, saying nonchalantly, “That just means I haven’t mastered the technique yet. I just need to practice harder!”

With that, he whispered mysteriously, “Master said that once I cultivate this technique to perfection, it won’t just be stealing physical objects—I can even steal other people’s inner thoughts and mind!”

He had a smirk of proud boasting all over his face.

Shi Yu raised an eyebrow and refrained from saying more. Standing up, she casually dropped a sentence: “Even thieves have a code. Theft should not stem from greedy desires; choosing one's path requires understanding righteousness and ethics.”

“Find a guest room to rest and heal your injuries first. Once you’re healed, you may leave.”

With that, Shi Yu walked toward the guest room where Qingzhou was staying.

Leaving Ji Yu alone on the spot, guarding a pot of spiritual grain rice, scratching his head. “Even thieves have a code...?”

...

After dropping off a large bag of spiritual grain and a bag of spirit stones for Qingzhou, Shi Yu instructed, “I am going into seclusion for a few days. Do as you like. If that kid outside wants to leave, let him.”

Qingzhou sat on a prayer mat inside the room, looking up at Shi Yu, the small cluster of scales beneath his eye gleaming brilliantly.

His gaze was pure as he nodded obediently. “Okay.”

She then took out Heavenly Scent Rice seeds and a small jade bottle filled with diluted Life Spring water, handing them to him. “In your free time, sow these spiritual grain seeds into the medicinal field. Add this water when irrigating—mm... just three to five drops per bucket will do.”

Qingzhou noted down every instruction.

Shi Yu said no more, turning around to return to her main room and closing the stone door.

Sitting cross-legged atop the spirit node, her consciousness sank into the Fate-Tapping Bell. She carefully took out the Heavenly Tone Lotus she had just won at the auction from its jade box and planted it into the medicinal field beside the Life Spring.

Around the Life Spring, dense vitality condensed into milky-white mist that floated over as if summoned, swirling around the petals of the Heavenly Tone Lotus.

In an instant, the elegant and beautiful petals of the Heavenly Tone Lotus unfolded, looking even more exquisite and striking.

Shi Yu felt relieved. “It seems by the time I am ready to establish my foundation, the medicinal efficacy of this Heavenly Tone Lotus will be greatly nourished.”

She then looked at the Dragon Bamboo Grass nearby. Now, the branches on the bamboo joints had already flowered and fruited, plump green fruits competing to burst forth.

“In a little while longer, the Dragon Bamboo Fruits will mature too.”

Counting them, there were about twenty in total.

A single Dragon Bamboo Fruit could match a month of painstaking cultivation for a Qi Refining Realm cultivator. Although the effect would diminish if taken too frequently, raising her cultivation by a layer wouldn't be much of a problem.

She only needed to wait for them to mature.

Delighted, Shi Yu withdrew her consciousness from the Fate-Tapping Bell.

Having accumulated for so long, it was now time to break through to the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

She set up the Spirit-Gathering Array, took out the Xianyun Dew, focused her mind, and drank it down in one gulp.

This was the second time Shi Yu had consumed spiritual dew.

Unlike the sweet and delicious taste of the Qingming Dew when she drank it the first time, the Xianyun Dew tasted slightly bitter as it went down her throat.

As before, many visions arose before her eyes; this time, she saw the vast mortal world.

Appearing first were countless pavilions, towers, and bridges, but they were not hidden among immortal mountains and clouds. Instead, they stood firmly upon the rich soil.

She no longer saw immortal maidens or old Daoists, only ordinary people farming and living on the plains. Nor were there immortal birds and exotic beasts dancing in the sky—only the most ordinary birds flying through the woods.

Though the scenes were utterly ordinary and commonplace, they seemed to contain the most profound and authentic truths of heaven and earth.

Shi Yu quietly observed the various states of mortal life, gaining a completely different revelation.

Within her dantian, spiritual energy circulated rapidly as Qi cyclones rose and fell around the yellow sprout Dao Foundation, endlessly breathing in and out energy.

...

When she opened her eyes again half a month later, her cultivation had reached the fifth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.