Chapter 1797: Crossing the Boundary

As soon as Dong Rui landed, he pressed his abdomen and retched twice, his face ugly: "This is more uncomfortable than crossing the Haoyuan Golden Mirror!" In an instant, they were moved from Stone Dragon Peak to here. Dong Rui felt his body couldn't adapt, and his internal organs felt like they had been punched hard, almost spraying a mouthful of old blood onto the tree in front.

He didn't spray, but the two Illusion Sect disciples in their teens who jumped into the sand table really vomited blood on the spot, unable to straighten their backs for a long time.

This supernatural power of traveling a thousand miles in one step and coming and going in an instant was not something everyone could bear.

He Lingchuan patted Dong Rui on the shoulder and looked around again.

The open space by the lake was temporarily cleared as a camp area, where the Illusion Sect organized personnel and transferred supplies.

The location for distributing the Silver Pearl Fruit was crowded, and even though the instructors tried hard to maintain order, shouting not to fight, Illusion Sect disciples were still pushing frantically and even grabbing.

Several instructors jumped into the crowd, pulled out the troublemakers, and threw them directly into the water.

Dong Rui stood under a tree far away and watched, couldn't help but sigh: "These are still Illusion Sect disciples? Why are they like the refugees we saw on the Flash Gold Plain?"

Refugees in front of the disaster relief shed were basically in this state.

"They are afraid that the Tiangong will kill them and want to cross the lake as soon as possible to go to a safe place."

In fact, more Illusion Sect disciples had confusion and anxiety in their eyes. Before last night, they were the superior people of Silver Pearl Island, living a life without contention, and their biggest worries were just the petty infighting in the sect.

When the Tiangong came and the Heavenly Demon took action, and their own elders fell one after another, they realized that there are people above people, demons above demons, and they themselves were nothing.

The civilians of Silver Pearl Island were like ants in front of immortals, and weren't these immortal sect disciples the same in front of Heavenly Demons and the Tiangong? There were also a few cultivators who couldn't grab the Silver Pearl Fruit and knelt by the lake in a breakdown, chanting Qian Huan's name while wiping the corners of their eyes.

Mother Zhu was impatient: "Don't talk about these useless things; did we get our Silver Pearl Fruit?"

Dong Rui pointed his chin, and the Ghost Ape jumped down from some tree branch, holding two Silver Pearl Fruit branches in its hand, with many heavy fruits on them, which was enough.

There was still plenty of time, so He Lingchuan squatted on a big rock by the lake and lowered his head to observe the lake water.

The big trees here blocked the sky and the sun, covering a large area of the lake with green shade. Even though the sunlight was becoming brighter, the water hidden in the depths of the tree shadows was still pitch black.

Kidney Lake was lucky; the space-time rift opened by Miaozhantian earlier didn't face here, so most of the vegetation was preserved.

"I heard that except for the light of the sun, moon, and the Silver Pearl Fruit, this lake water cannot be illuminated by anything else." He Lingchuan said, taking out a shriveled spore from his chest and dipping it in some water. It soon lit up, emitting a fluorescent white light.

He brought the fluorescent spore close to the water surface.

The lake water rippled, and both the man and the spider said "Eh" at the same time: "Sure enough!"

When the light source approaches normal water, it should penetrate a bit of light below the water surface, illuminating floating small organisms and messy impurities.

But this lake surface was as black as ink, and it was pure ink black.

The fluorescent spore in He Lingchuan's hand, no matter how close it was to the water surface, didn't shine light on the water surface.

He let go of his hand, and the fluorescent spore fell into the lake water and sank.

From the second it entered the water, it was like being swallowed by darkness, and the lake surface didn't reveal a bit of light.

"Eh, interesting, interesting!" Dong Rui was also interested. "Is this lake water completely opaque?"

He Lingchuan casually picked a Silver Pearl Fruit and brought it close to the water surface.

And then it was normal:

The silver pearl on the water glowed, and the water reflected its pearl light.

This fruit could indeed leave a shadow in the lake water!

He Lingchuan lit another fluorescent spore on the water surface near the Silver Pearl Fruit.

A weird scene appeared:

The water only reflected the light of the silver pearl, while the fluorescent spore still couldn't leave a bit of light shadow.

Even Mother Zhu said "Interesting," but He Lingchuan was thinking about how True Person Qian Huan set up these things, and how even the details could be so interlocking? Within the Upside-Down Sea, there really seemed to be some rules forming a system.

The crowd and the demon puppets all got their Silver Pearl Fruit and jumped into the lake.

As soon as they entered the water, they couldn't see their fingers in front of their faces, and the moonlight in the sky couldn't penetrate at all.

Where is this a lake? It clearly looks like a bottomless abyss.

Subsequently, the Silver Pearl Fruit in their palms emitted a dim light, making people feel at ease.

Responding to it, a spot of light also appeared at the bottom of the lake, not dazzling, just dimly lit.

He Lingchuan immediately swam toward it.

He swam out more than a yard, and this spot of light suddenly magnified in front of him, and he also felt a suction force.

Hmm, no, saying "buoyancy" might be more appropriate.

He Lingchuan relaxed, and the force in the water pulled him down fiercely—

With a "splash," he surfaced! He Lingchuan looked left and right, and he actually floated back to the water surface? Only hearing the sound of water around, his companions also surfaced one after another.

Dong Rui wiped the water off his face and looked left and right: "Ho, isn't this still Kidney Lake?"

The shape of the lake shore, the grass, stones, and pebble beach by the lake... even that old elm tree with an afro hairstyle were exactly the same as the world they came from! There were quite a few Illusion Sect disciples in the lake, all swimming toward the shore.

The sun hit the lake surface, a piece of golden light and shadow, and the crowd bathed in such water waves.

Mother Zhu was the quickest to collect her thoughts: "Where to now?"

Being with He Lingchuan, she only needed to ask this question.

He Lingchuan looked up at the top of its head: "Mother, follow me and dive back down."

"Oh." Mother Zhu responded crisply, without a word, while Dong Rui was too lazy to ask why.

Anyway, He Lingchuan must have his reasons.

"Others wait; we'll be back soon."

Wan Shifeng and the others all responded yes, swimming slowly in the water, not in a hurry to go ashore.

Most of the Bailong people were originally landlubbers, and later became residents of Yangshan Island, so swimming was one of the compulsory courses. Those who could be brought by He Lingchuan were all proficient in water, so they could cope with complex and changeable environments.

He Lingchuan and Mother Zhu held the Silver Pearl Fruit and dived again, and sure enough, they returned to the water surface of the original world.

The sun shone directly on the lake surface and also on Mother Zhu's head, revealing the golden thread on its head.

Sure enough, God's Gaze appeared again.

He Lingchuan drew his blade and cut off the golden thread that others couldn't see to eliminate future troubles, and only then said to Mother Zhu: "Dive again."

This dive went smoothly, and He Lingchuan soon reunited with the Black Armor Army, swimming together toward the stone beach on the shore.

He Lingchuan had also walked this road in the illusion realm.

The stone beach was quiet, with two weasels wandering along the tracks, as if looking for crushed snails and insects.

Seeing people coming, they ran away without a shadow.

Besides that, the stone beach was very quiet, with no newly repaired fishing nets, no dried fish, no houses, no fences, and no children's laughter at the edge of the woods... no signs of human existence.

The small village by the lake they saw in another world didn't exist here.

The beach and the woods were still in their original state, and no battle had occurred.

A big clam was hiding among the stone eggs. The Ghost Ape had sharp eyes, dug it out, and smashed the shell, starting to suck the juice by its mouth.

"Ah pfft pfft pfft!" It only took a sip before spitting out the clam meat.

It was so bitter and astringent, not fresh and sweet at all.

Not tasty! They walked up a low hill again, from where they could see a corner of the ocean.

But seeing the sparkling waves, the sound of the waves remained.

The calm and uninhabited vast ocean also couldn't see the end.

Is this the real world where True Person Qian Huan resides? Wan Shi Liang murmured: "It doesn't seem any different from the illusion realm we came from."

The Ghost Ape chirped on the treetop.

The Illusion Sect team was ahead.

Soon, they caught up with the main force.

The Illusion Sect team rested for a while behind the low hill, and Elder Liu led the team north.

"Hurry, hurry!" Everyone knew there were pursuers behind.

Everything around was no different from the original world, and even the positions of the big trees were exactly the same. But there wasn't a trace of fighting along the way, with flowers and fragrance.

Everything was like it was before the Heavenly Demon invasion.

Being so peaceful made people feel terrified. He Lingchuan ran to Elder Liu's side, riding side by side with him:

"Is this the real world?"

"Yes," Elder Liu strode forward. "For a long time, we have lived in the illusion realm constructed by the Immortal Venerable."

Elder Liu glanced at him, somewhat surprised that he would ask this question: "The Silver Pearl Fruit only grows in the illusion realm. People who take the Silver Pearl Fruit from the illusion realm to the real world cannot go back if they don't return within a quarter of an hour."

The shore of the Upside-Down Lake in the real world doesn't grow those glowing Silver Pearl Fruit trees, only ordinary pear trees. This was confessed by True Person Jieshui, whom Elder Liu and He Lingchuan captured. Earlier on the lighthouse by the lake, he heard a few demons who had entered Kidney Lake report to Bai Ziqi.

So, this was Qian Huan's intentional design, just giving people from the illusion realm a one-way ticket? He didn't want people from the real world to go to the illusion realm?

He Lingchuan nodded and didn't ask any more.

Was Elder Liu not easy to say, or did he not know either?

After seeing True Person Qian Huan with his own eyes, He Lingchuan had a feeling that this Mirage Immortal acted exceptionally secretly. Did he hide many secrets that even the elders of the Illusion Sect didn't know?

Just looking at the relationship between Qian Huan and Xiao Wencheng, He Lingchuan felt this was very possible.

Crossing a high hill, a village appeared ahead.

What surprised everyone was:

There were still residents in the village! The location they were in was a deep pit bombed in the illusion realm, while here, the hill was high, the vegetation was lush, and chickens and dogs could be heard in the village.

This village was in the original location of Yu Village, but at least the buildings were different.

Not to mention He Lingchuan and the others, even the Illusion Sect disciples walking here were like falling into the clouds, confused and disoriented.

There were residents and living people in the real world, so what was going on with the living people in the illusion realm?

They were also residents of Silver Pearl Island from the illusion realm, so were they real or illusion themselves? The villagers heard the movement and all came out to watch, their eyes full of curiosity, but without malice.

A cultivator walking on He Lingchuan's left suddenly pointed at the village and shouted: "That, that is my neighbor from when I was a child!"

His voice was very terrified, his eyeballs bulging, like seeing a ghost. He Lingchuan looked in the direction he pointed and saw a six or seven-year-old boy behind a fence, peeking at the Illusion Sect team, missing a front tooth when he smiled.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1798 =====

Never mind He Lingchuan and the others; even the disciples of the Illusion Sect walking here were as if lost in a fog, their faces filled with confusion and bewilderment.

There are residents and living people in the real world, so what exactly are the living people in the Illusion Realm supposed to be?

They are also residents of Silver Pearl Island who originated from the Illusion Realm, so are they themselves real or illusory? Hearing the commotion, the villagers all came out to watch; the eyes of both adults and children were filled with curiosity, but there was no malice.

A cultivator walking to He Lingchuan's left suddenly pointed at the village and shouted, "Look, look, that's my neighbor from when I was a child!"

His voice was filled with extreme terror, his eyeballs bulging out as if he had seen a ghost. He Lingchuan looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a six or seven-year-old boy behind a fence, peeking at the Illusion Sect's procession; when he smiled, he was missing a front tooth.

(End of chapter)