Chapter 1080

He quickly turned to ask Cheng Jing: "Did you see it?"

Cheng Jing's eyes were blank: "What did Your Majesty say?"

He didn't see it.

The Emperor suppressed his inner excitement, his gaze sharply fixed on the air—but in the span of a single turn of the head, Wang Feiyin had vanished.

Pan Yun stood by a river, staring at it again and again, then turned to ask Pan Xiaohei: "Strange, why can't I fly now? How do I cross the Yangtze?"

Pan Xiaohei: "You call this the Yangtze?"

Pan Yun frowned: "If not the Yangtze, then what is this?"

Pan Xiaohei's jet-black eyes fixed on her, then after a moment asked: "Do you remember how your soul left your body?"

"Soul departure? What are you talking about?" Pan Yun regarded it skeptically: "Aren't we going back to Mount Sanqing for the New Year?"

Well, she must have suffered soul damage when entering the Huang Quan, causing her to seal off some memories.

Pan Xiaohei told her the truth, but Pan Yun's self-awareness was too strong—she suspected Pan Xiaohei was fake, never once doubting herself.

Pan Yun pinched her own arm right in front of it, hissed sharply, then stared at it in silence: "You say this isn't my body?"

Pan Xiaohei jumped up and down: "You're in the Huang Quan, the Huang Quan! Here, pinching your seven souls and three poisons is no different from pinching your flesh—it hurts!"

Pan Yun stepped back a few paces, silently raising her palm—only to find her body utterly weak, unable to summon even a trace of Qi.

She stared in shock at her own palm; just moments ago, there had been power there, though little, it had been real.

Pan Xiaohei also looked at her hand, finding it even harder to explain.

It fixed its gaze on her forehead, squinting: "Pan Yun, this isn't my doing. Once more: the Yangtze you see now is Yellow Spring water. If you don't wake up, I won't be gentle anymore…"

A flash of green light passed through its black pupils; it moved slightly toward her forehead, then forcibly suppressed the impulse.

If I could obtain her body…

No no no, Pan Xiaohei shook its head, forcing itself awake, repeating inwardly: Pan Yun's body is not something easily seized.

Besides, what's so good about a human body? Far less useful than my spiritual form.

I am naturally endowed with eternal life, and what I lack now is freedom—the power to reach another dimension.

Moreover, Pan Yun is cunning; she may well have hidden plans. Not worth the risk, not worth the risk…

Pan Xiaohei warned itself, its gaze gradually clearing; when it looked up again at Pan Yun, it saw she had somehow squatted before it.

Pan Xiaohei startled violently, instinctively stepping back.

Pan Yun smiled at it, then reached out and stroked its chin.

Fear flashed in Pan Xiaohei's eyes; its hindquarters collapsed backward onto the ground.

Pan Yun withdrew her hand, lips slightly curled, calmly saying: "Fine, I believe you."

Pan Xiaohei swallowed hard, unable to resist asking: "H-how did you suddenly believe me? I've been trying to convince you for so long, yet you kept walking straight toward the Yellow Spring water…"

Pan Yun gazed at the roaring Yangtze before her, smiling faintly: "Because unless cornered, you'd never want to possess my body. The Spirit Realm is your most precious treasure. We cultivators seek to discard illusion and retain truth; if we follow nature, the body will inevitably die, but only the soul achieves eternal life. Thus we sever the Three Corpses, allowing the soul to exist independently of the body. But you? You don't need to. You only need to remain in the Spirit Realm to live forever. What you seek is freedom and power to reach another dimension."

"So unless cornered, why would you ever want to seize a filthy human body? You'd only want to parasitize me, drain my Qi and merit, and break your seal."

Pan Xiaohei guiltily averted its gaze, wanting to defend itself—but found it couldn't, because she spoke the truth.

Pan Yun didn't seem to mind; she simply stared at the Yangtze before her: "So this really is Yellow Spring water."

"Yes," said Pan Xiaohei. "Your soul departed, heading straight south. I thought you were returning to Mount Sanqing, so I followed you. But as you drifted on, midnight passed, June turned to July—July is the Ghost Month, the Ghost Gate gradually opening. One blink, and you plunged into the Underworld. Had it not been for the black cat's spiritual ability to move freely between Yin and Yang, I couldn't have kept up with you."

"July?" Pan Yun slowly remembered: "Right—I entered meditation on the twenty-ninth of June. The next day was July. I've been gone two days?"

"No, five days. Today is already the fifth of July."

Pan Yun's eyes sharpened; she couldn't imagine she had been unconscious for five days.

Her mind, as if cleared of mist, surged with memories; sweat slid from her forehead. Before her, the raging Yangtze seemed to tear open like a painted scroll—the river water calmed, the towering banks and scattered rocks vanished, replaced by a tranquil stretch of water.

Not a single ripple. Smoother than a mirror. Looked like stagnant water.

Pan Yun startled, then stared as the Yellow Spring water shimmered: "Yellow Spring water… what does it do?"

Pan Xiaohei: "... You're actually going to harvest this? This is a dire object—it only destroys vital energy and invites disaster."

"But isn't it said that Huang Quan erase past memories? Isn't this the Water of Forgetting?"

Pan Xiaohei: "Yes—your mind goes blank, you forget parents, wife, children, friends—all gone. Isn't that the Water of Forgetting? You're not seriously thinking of taking this to the mortal world to sell to commoners? How cruel your heart is!"

"What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?" Pan Yun squatted beside the Yellow Spring water, thoughtful: "Things themselves have no good or evil—it's only how the user wields them."

Pan Yun asked Pan Xiaohei: "Quick, check the Spirit Realm's records—what happens if someone accidentally touches this? What container can hold it? If I take it to the mortal world, will the Ghost Officials hunt me down?"

Pan Xiaohei: "... You really mean to take it?"

Pan Yun glared at it: "Do you know how rare it is for a living soul to enter the Huang Quan? And I've traveled all this way to reach the Yellow Spring water—no Ghost Officials, no ghosts watching. Don't you understand 'opportunity knocks but once'?"

"You're proud of yourself?" A voice sounded behind her.

Pan Yun and Pan Xiaohei both jumped, turning sharply to see Wang Feiyin—then sighed in relief.

Pan Yun accused first: "Big Brother, you walk like a ghost! Don't you know scaring someone can kill them? I almost plunged headfirst into the Yellow Spring water!"

Wang Feiyin's two fingers shot precisely to her ear, twisted hard—and Pan Yun screamed "Ow!"

Wang Feiyin was furious: "You have the nerve? Do you know how chaotic things have become looking for you? How old are you to dare soul departure? Why not just sever your Three Corpses and fly straight to heaven?"

"Have you forgotten your own strength? You jumped two realms at once, your cultivation still unstable, yet you dared to push further…" Wang Feiyin gripped her ear and dragged her toward the edge of the Huang Quan: "And now you dare steal Yellow Spring water? Why not just walk straight into the King of Hell's Hall and take the King of Hell's throne?"

Fifteen minutes later, the two siblings squatted side by side beside the Yellow Spring water, while Pan Xiaohei sat nearby, looking down on them with disdain.

Wang Feiyin: "Can your space still be used here?"

Pan Yun: "The space I crafted myself? No. But I still have the one gifted by my ancestor."

The Spirit Realm rested within her Dantian; its spiritual form squatted beside her. Even now, without any Qi, Pan Xiaohei could still retrieve things from the Spirit Realm.

Pan Yun was immensely relieved—thankfully, the Spirit Realm's space was vast, so she kept most of her belongings there; only a few coins and another set of Daily necessities were kept in her own crafted space.