Chapter 65: Visitors from the Divine Martial Gate

At that moment, the golden ancient pine outside the body emitted a ring of watery ripples; a branch slipped into Wei Yuning's body, and a cool, refreshing breath surged from the branch, quickly spreading throughout his whole body.

Wei Yuning let out a relieved shiver and came to his senses from the crisis. A wave of dread rose in his heart, and he immediately gave the Spirit Butterfly visualization object a command to sleep; fortunately, in his spiritual consciousness he sensed that the Spirit Butterfly was still under his control, and its aura faded quickly.

"Baoxiang, wake up, wake up…" Wei Yuning shouted more than ten times, yet the sleeping emperor butterfly would not awaken.

Just as he was about to use the beast‑ring owner's authority to force‑wake the emperor butterfly girl, a crisp voice rang out: "Dear life‑contract partner, I am currently asleep; please do not disturb my rest. Oh, I forgot, the beast‑ring has already been sealed by me, so you cannot disturb my rest either. Fine, that's that. Goodbye!"

Wei Yuning fumed, his head throbbing and chest tight: "Is the Spirit Butterfly holding a grudge against me? It's one thing if the helpful ones refuse to aid, but the new visualization object even plans to betray its master. At the critical moment, it was the unreliable golden ancient pine that saved my life. What on earth is going on?"

All the joy from successfully establishing the Foundation vanished. Wei Yuning rose from the snow, gave a shiver, and a thin layer of skin flakes slipped out through the seams of his clothes. Under the effect of the Purification Technique, his spiritual consciousness expelled all impurities from his body, and now his physique, among truly innate spiritual bodies, is probably a rather decent one.

Returning to Pill Peak Valley, Wei Yuning first went to find Man Niu. After the initial excitement of successfully establishing the Foundation, Man Niu gradually reduced his time spent on external tasks and refocused his energy on cultivation.

Disciples at the Foundation Establishment stage and above, apart from a small amount of sect‑assigned duties, enjoy mostly free time.

Man Niu was about to leave when Wei Yuning asked and learned that the sect's mountain‑patrol team was recruiting; he planned to give it a try. Patrol work is considered relatively high‑risk within the sect, yet each recruitment still draws many sect disciples to sign up.

Although patrol work carries higher risk, it has many perks. First, the pay is very high—perhaps only the alchemy‑room disciples can slightly surpass it among peers. Second, patrol members enjoy long leave; they rotate shifts, so if no major incidents occur, the total work time in a year is only about three months. Third, there are numerous invisible benefits: within the Cloud Hidden Sect's sphere of influence, the patrol's protection of a region earns modest respect from minor sects, the mortal world, and wandering cultivators.

Moreover, when we speak of risk, it's mainly compared to other sect disciples; within a thousand‑plus‑mile radius around the Cloud Hidden Sect, threatening spirit beasts or unruly cultivator forces have already been cleared, leaving only the worry of wild beasts that lack spiritual intelligence yet possess great strength.

After arriving at the Cloud Hidden Sect, Wei Yuning's only outing had been the previous marriage alliance gathering; that single trip landed him in trouble with a major demon. In the short term, leaving the mountain gate is a luxury for him, let alone joining the patrol team, even though he has little interest in patrol duties.

Man Niu's reason for wanting to join the patrol is simple: his home village suffered greatly, mainly due to constant harassment by various beasts, so he harbors deep resentment toward any beast that disrupts human life. Joining the patrol lets him legally hunt beasts and aid humanity, which is the most appealing thing to him.

Wei Yuning approached Man Niu about the Hundred Flowers Garden renovation issue. When an old friend asks for help, Man Niu did not hesitate and agreed at once. It's certainly impossible today; they'll have to wait until Man Niu is free.

"I know Uncle Hong Yun of the patrol team; if you want to join, you can mention my name to him—might help!" Seeing Man Niu take the patrol so seriously, Wei Yuning could only offer this modest assistance.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Qing Mo!" Man Niu's only flaw is that he's too proper.

The two part ways.

Wei Yuning didn't tell Man Niu about his double Foundation Establishment success; in the Cloud Hidden Sect he's already too famous, so it's better to stay low‑key.

Returning to Wind Lotus Garden, he reached the house's doorway and found the interior filled with mist, nothing visible. He gave a slight smile and stepped inside.

All around was water; looking up, the sunlight refracted through the liquid, the surface only about ten meters above. A person's first instinct when falling into water is to swing the arms toward the surface to swim. But all this was Thus line: Ye Ying's illusion. Perhaps because it was fake, his arms felt no buoyant support; no matter how hard he strained, Wei Yuning's body could not rise, instead sinking into darker, deeper depths.

Wei Yuning silently admired the skill.

The Azure Luan Sect's illusion techniques are in a league of their own; the highest level is called "When the fake becomes real, the fake is also real," such as the phoenix‑dance "Azure Luan Nine Strikes," whose ultimate form can manifest an actual Azure Luan divine bird. Thus line: Ye Ying's water‑based illusion isn't the sect's signature art, but it still carries a hint of that elegance.

Even Wei Yuning cannot discern the truth from falsehood here. However, when facing an illusion, if one cannot see through it, there are two ways to cope.

One is simply to exit the illusion's range; most illusions do not trap you, they only affect the senses and cannot alter the environment, so as long as you haven't entered deeply, the lingering senses remain, and you can retreat the way you came. This is the most normal and effective method.

The other method is to forcibly adjust one's spiritual consciousness, using it to control the senses and resist their influence from within. This technique is hard to execute; most people cannot achieve it.

Nevertheless, Wei Yuning's keen sense of smell served as a reference; while fully operating, various scents merged into three‑dimensional images before his eyes, and combined with the original mental picture in his spiritual consciousness—stone‑slab paths, pavilions, ponds, houses, and Thus line: Ye Ying—everything became clear.

With the illusion's interference removed, Wei Yuning resumed normal breathing; the shattered illusion burst apart, and the entire deep‑water scene fractured like broken glass, disintegrating into nothing. The quiet courtyard, blanketed in snow, revealed its true form, and Thus line: Ye Ying, seated in the pavilion, stared at Wei Yuning in surprise.

"Senior Brother, I thought you'd need at least the time of an incense stick to dispel an illusion!"

"For this kind of illusion, I could break ten or eight of them in a minute!" Wei Yuning boasted unabashedly.

Thus line: Ye Ying tried to retort but couldn't argue, the facts standing before her. She mumbled, "This is my newly grasped illusion, several times stronger than before, the most powerful illusion I can currently wield. I thought your cultivation would surely trap it, but—cackle!"

"Forget the senior‑brother talk; you're now my wife, so you should call me husband!" Wei Yuning teased.

Thus line: Ye Ying's face flushed red as she lowered her head, "Yes, husband!"

Thus line: Ye Ying's compliance left Wei Yuning a little at a loss; he feared the young girl might take this provisional measure seriously. Yet, from his impression, Thus line: Ye Ying has constantly teased him, so a genuine role‑play seemed unlikely.

He glanced around and changed the subject: "Where did Qiu Hu go?"

"She went out again; she said she's looking for some materials," Thus line: Ye Ying replied.

"What's the word from the Azure Luan Sect?" Wei Yuning asked. That was also why he came here, but he hadn't expected Qiu Hu to leave so abruptly, leaving the whole matter to himself.

"Someone from the Divine Martial Gate is coming!" Thus line: Ye Ying looked up at Wei Yuning and said anxiously.