Not knowing whether it was the repetitive scenery affecting her vision, she couldn’t find the starting point at all.
Li Jiaying wiped the sweat from her forehead and roughly estimated the time in her mind.
Half an hour had passed, more than half actually, so if she returned the way she came, she should be able to reach the lake and complete the trial. As long as she could get back, she should be safe, right? Having made up her mind, Li Jiaying quickened her pace. The surrounding twisted trees and bushes slowly receded behind her.
About a quarter of an hour later, although she didn’t know exactly where she was, she believed that the beautiful lake should be just ahead.
“Come on!” Li Jiaying encouraged herself, eager to walk faster or even run, but a wave of fatigue swept over her body, forcing her to slow down. After a while, her legs ached as if filled with lead, making them too heavy to lift, so she could only sit by a nearby tree to rest.
“Father should be cooking right now,”
“Brother Li Tan must be secretly watching over me somewhere,”
“I wonder what that silly older brother is up to and whether he’s run into any danger?”
Li Jiaying murmured to herself, burying her face in her knees.
Time passed, but her fatigue didn’t ease at all; instead, it worsened, even bringing a sense of drowsiness.
“This won’t do! Father said the Domain of Fallen Immortals is very dangerous, and unexpected things can happen anytime.” Yawning, Li Jiaying leaned back against the tree trunk to make herself more comfortable, her eyes happening to gaze upward.
The night sky was dotted with countless stars, and the moon still hung motionless in the air, emitting a cold silver glow.
Li Jiaying suddenly froze, her eyes reflecting the twin moons, panic emerging within them.
The feeling of being watched and the sense of disharmony had intensified.
What was going on?
Frightened, Li Jiaying lowered her head, her body slightly trembling. She forced herself to stand up with her heavy body and started walking forward.
Just a little more walking and she would reach the lake, and then she would be safe! She pushed through thorns and over bushes, unknowingly tearing several rips in her clothes.
After walking for about another quarter of an hour, the surroundings remained unchanged—the same silent forest! A chill ran through Li Jiaying’s body as she realized a serious problem: she had been walking the wrong path all along, otherwise she should have arrived already.
What should she do? Li Jiaying stood frozen, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, something arrogantly entered her vision.
It was a tree beside her, on its trunk was a small patch of bright red blood.
Her pupils quickly contracted; Li Jiaying suddenly understood why she couldn’t find her way back.
She had been going in circles within the same area all along. How could this happen? Panicked, Li Jiaying started jogging, praying in her heart, but the bloodstain still mockingly appeared before her eyes.
“I’m back again.” Li Jiaying gasped for breath, exhausted, but she dared not sit down to rest. In her current condition, if she relaxed even slightly, she would definitely fall asleep.
The physical exhaustion was strange. As a cultivator at the early stage of Foundation Building, normally she wouldn’t be this tired from walking for half an hour without fighting.
“I must think of a way. This must be the challenge Brother Li Tan mentioned. There must be a way to solve it!”
Li Jiaying thought carefully.
Since the beginning, what had she overlooked? Where exactly had the sense of disharmony come from? And where had that feeling of being watched originated?
From the moment her neck was struck by a water droplet, everything had become strange. If there was a problem, it was likely from that point.
Li Jiaying reached up and touched her neck, then sniffed it. Although it was very faint, she could vaguely detect a strange stench.
“There must have been something on the tree at that time.” Li Jiaying lowered her hand, swallowed hard, and slowly turned her head back.
Still, she could see nothing, but the feeling of being watched was real.
She thought that the feeling of being watched must come from an unnoticed monster, which had been secretly following her all along.
But why hadn’t it attacked yet?
There must be some reason preventing it from doing so. These things were temporarily unclear. Li Jiaying made up her mind to find and confront that monster! Although she was very scared, her determined expression lacked persuasiveness.
Moreover, she had no concrete or feasible plan. Her physical strength continued to drain rapidly. This abnormal exhaustion was probably caused by the monster. If things continued like this, she would eventually become the monster’s meal.
She had to find a solution quickly. This was merely the periphery of the Domain of Fallen Immortals—no extremely powerful beasts should appear here.
Trying to comfort herself with this thought, Li Jiaying’s physical strength continued to drain. Finally, she noticed the source of the intense sense of disharmony.
It was too quiet—how could a normal forest be this silent, without even the sound of wind or insects?
Why was this happening? No matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t figure it out, almost wanting to cry, with absolutely no clue.
Brother Li Tan would definitely know what to do.
While crying, Li Jiaying thought like this, her previously tense spirit nearly collapsing.
At that moment.
A clear, ethereal voice directly rang in her mind.
“Don’t give up. Come on! Think carefully about what you’ve overlooked.”
It was Li Tan’s voice.
Instantly, Li Jiaying stopped crying. Feelings of helplessness, fear, and emptiness immediately diminished significantly.
If Brother Li Tan was secretly protecting her, what did she have to fear?
“Ying’er understands!”
Li Jiaying wiped away her tears, her expression becoming determined. Although her body was nearly at its limit, her spirit was far from broken.
Since that moment, she had been hurrying nonstop, fearing something might jump out from the surroundings. Later, when she sensed something strange, she kept fearing the lurking monster nearby. But there was one place she had never paid attention to—the sky!
A chill swept through her entire body like an electric shock. Li Jiaying suddenly looked up. Above the starry night sky was a bright crescent moon hanging right in the center.
It had barely moved at all. Normally, within half an hour, it should have shifted about five degrees.
Could the monster manipulate the starry sky?
Impossible! This sky must be fake!
The unnaturally silent forest, the artificial starry sky—connecting these clues, Li Jiaying suddenly understood.
It was an illusion. Everything she had seen since a while ago was an illusion.
But exactly when had she fallen into this illusion?
“The monster’s saliva!” As the words left her mouth, countless pure white cracks appeared in the surrounding space, instantly shattering everything.
The fatigue vanished completely. Li Jiaying found herself still standing in the same place, and in front of her was a creature resembling a snake, covered in green scales, but with no fangs in its mouth.
This was the creature that had created the illusion.
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