Chapter 59: Daybreak

Chapter 59: Daybreak

There's almost no one in this world more focused on Chu Jingxi's current state than the Chu Clan Patriarch.

Except for the Ghost Clan, that is.

The instant the Blood Curse Art locked onto its target via the Reincarnation Compass, Gold Immortal Xuanlu's aura skyrocketed.

He'd never dared to fully digest Ghost King Cang's power, afraid that a slip-up during a breakthrough would trigger the Heart Demon Tribulation.

The release of all that pent-up frustration nearly pushed Gold Immortal Xuanlu to break through on the spot.

But he held himself back.

"Xuan Lu, you've done a great service this time." Ever since the Blood Curse Art locked on, quite a few Ghost Generals had come to check things out personally.

If they could really get rid of the scourge that was Chu Jingxi, the Ghost King would definitely reward them handsomely.

"But this kid's luck is insane—what if..."

"No amount of luck can beat heaven itself. Even the Heavenly Dao stumbles before the Blood Curse Art."

That shut down the last of their doubts. Just as the Ghost Cultivators were basking in their shared glory, the bone needle on the Reincarnation Compass suddenly slipped back half a notch.

Gold Immortal Xuanlu's smile froze. The Blood Curse Art's power had weakened.

But he recovered quickly. "We need more soul sacrifices to power the curse."

The Ghost General helping with the divination scowled. Activating the Blood Curse Art even once was insanely costly—they'd already burned through nearly half the souls the Ghost Clan had gathered over a century.

Xuan Lu said, "A genius like this scraping out a slim escape in a desperate spot is normal, but there's no way he gets a second shot."

Even though every Ghost General looked sour, they all privately agreed with him.

The lead general nodded. "Go get the souls."

After gorging on fresh souls, the Reincarnation Compass spun again. Gold Immortal Xuanlu's lips curled up—but within seconds, something unprecedented happened: the bone needle turned back a notch, then slid back half a notch. The Ghost Cultivators gritted their teeth and fed it more souls. The needle turned again, then retreated again.

It was like an endless game of fishing.

What really broke these Ghost Cultivators was that when they were about to give up, the needle that had retreated halfway never actually went back to zero! As if adding souls or not made zero difference.

It just hung there, half-dead, dangling in limbo!

**

While the Ghost Clan was having a total meltdown, Chu Jingxi was on the verge of fully merging with the illusion, losing himself.

To borrow a modern saying, his current state could be summed up as: dumb but hardworking.

Whatever the illusion said, he took it as gospel.

Having decided on his own that this was a Heart Demon Tribulation world, Chu Jingxi threw himself into nonstop cultivation.

Illusions that can attack a cultivator's Dao heart can't escape the Illusion-Reality Law, which actually made it easier for him to feel it out deeply.

What he needed to do now was go against his instincts, avoid forcing his way out of the Heart Demon Tribulation, and rebuild the illusion instead.

But every time he made a little progress, the blood-red light in the sky flared up, clouds collapsed in huge chunks, cranes fell apart, and half the immortal domain shattered.

"How is this possible?" Chu Jingxi pressed his thin lips together, his face white as paper. If shedding the Sword Bone was physical agony, this was a dull knife scraping against his mind.

After several near-misses, he couldn't help getting anxious.

A hand reached out and grabbed his just in time, bringing a different kind of warmth.

Yan Zizhan had fully figured out Chu Jingxi's logic:

Under the Blood Curse Art's influence, Chu Jingxi was dead certain he was going through the Heart Demon Tribulation. The only wild card was that Chu Jingxi cared about him a lot and wanted to use the Illusion-Reality Law to make him real and take him out of here.

But Yan Zizhan couldn't correct him now—he could only push the process forward.

Seeing Chu Jingxi about to go into qi deviation from forcing the enlightenment, Yan Zizhan kept his voice steady: "Try to find where the virtual and the real intersect in the illusion. See through the line between truth and falsehood."

Putting theory into practice was harder than climbing to heaven. As Chu Jingxi fumbled around, he found another angle: Yan Zizhan was a perfect reference point.

His pulse was real. His body heat was real.

"At least this character is solid!"

Most of the world's scenery had collapsed—the Dao Protector who'd rushed over when he noticed something off, and the family scions screaming in the distance, were all gone. But Yan Zizhan's features were still intact, with no sign of falling apart.

As long as Yan Zizhan was still there, it meant the Heart Demon space hadn't fully collapsed—you could even call it a huge win!

As a die-hard idealist, this misunderstanding only made the illusion's framework more stable. The world's collapse gradually slowed, then stopped.

Chu Jingxi's confidence came back, and he steadied himself: "Haste makes waste."

Even a Golden Immortal couldn't create a full living being out of thin air. He could aim lower—use the Illusion-Reality Law to forcibly stash away part of the Heart Demon and save it for later cultivation.

Even if the Heart Demon had no body, it could still pop up in his mind now and then to keep him company.

As Chu Jingxi found a new path, Yan Zizhan—who wasn't being treated like a person—kept a close eye on the changes around them.

After hitting rock bottom, things suddenly turned around. The lake stopped evaporating into the void, the plants kept their scraggly look, and only the blood-red glow in the sky kept blazing.

Yan Zizhan could actually sense a kind of crumbling desperation from those sinister cursed bloodlines. Some even seemed at their limit, about to snap.

Yan Zizhan let out a cold chuckle.

The Blood Curse Art was pricey to use, and by the looks of it, the Ghost Clan had used it more than once—otherwise, Chu Jingxi wouldn't have been so close to success every single time.

Now, those bloodlines showed no signs of multiplying anymore. The Ghost Clan must have thrown in the towel.

Now that was true self-sacrifice—handing Chu Jingxi a win on a silver platter.

Yan Zizhan picked the right moment to remind him: "Don't rush to reshape the world. Start with the simplest stuff—a grain of sand, a drop of water."

Chu Jingxi had always been quick on the uptake. With no outside interference, he soon found the way.

Feeling the Dao rhythm shift, Yan Zizhan's gaze softened.

Earlier, things had been dire—the Blood Curse Art could destroy a person fast, and he could only act as a wild card, repeatedly trying to pull Chu Jingxi out.

Now that the other's conscious world had stabilized, they had all the time in the world. The Chu Clan and the Taiqing Sect couldn't just sit around. With just a little outside help, the two of them had a real shot at escaping.

Outside the secret realm, outside help had been ready for a while. What had started as hesitation from just the Chu Clan Patriarch had now spread to several others.

A stubborn will inside the Blood Curse illusion was only a guarantee of survival. No matter how many growth arcs you walked, it couldn't pull the cursed one out of the illusion.

What really gave them pause was the Realm Spirit Origin. It was scribbling notes in front of the Yin-Yang Sky Mirror, saying it sensed fluctuations of law power around the unconscious Chu Jingxi.

The Realm Spirit Origin wasn't all that educated either, so it couldn't explain things clearly.

At that moment, deep within the secret realm, a wisp of residual thought from a Great Cultivator briefly stirred awake. With a wave of a hand, it left four characters hanging in the air: Illusion-Reality Law.

Linking this to the recent shifts in the laws, the Holy Land Elder hesitated slightly and speculated: "Is Chu Jingxi forcibly using the Space-Time Law to suppress the Illusion-Reality Law, trying to break free from the illusion?"

Is that even possible for a human?

As it turned out, no one could fully accomplish it—otherwise, Chu Jingxi would have woken up by now.

Zheng—

The Immortal Alliance Leader finally made his move. The sound of music flowed like water, rippling through spatial dimensions, gradually diminishing until it was almost inaudible.

But that faint lingering note was enough to sustain the law's power around Chu Jingxi.

A faint voice rode the soundwaves to the ears of the two formation masters.

"Set up the Dao-Catching Formation."

As its name suggested, the Dao-Catching Formation could forcibly extract a strand of law power for cultivators to gain insight from.

This formation was extremely difficult to construct and extremely costly to build. Most importantly, even capturing just a single strand of law power could easily lead to energy spiraling out of control.

If anything went wrong with the formation, the destructive force would be comparable to a cultivator self-detonating.

However, the two top-tier formation masters didn't hesitate. The Immortal Alliance Leader had already suppressed most of the power with his music; they just needed to play their part.

Meanwhile, the Realm Spirit Origin wasn't idle either, making sure Chu Jingxi's medicine kept flowing to offset the drain from overusing the Space-Time Law.

With the blood cocoon at its core, the grand formation took shape.

The surrounding space became extremely unstable. If not for the excess energy being forcibly absorbed by the music, everyone present would have been sent flying.

The external support greatly alleviated Chu Jingxi's pressure, and his curled-up, pained body gradually loosened.

"Is this going to work?"

Watching the Immortal Alliance Leader force-feed the law to Chu Jingxi, the Holy Land Elder still wasn't optimistic: "After touching the Space-Time Dao, it's impossible to also walk the Illusion-Reality path."

"It's possible."

Chu Jingxi's uniqueness lay in his cultivation of the *Wind-Moon Mirror*. This technique of the Love Heaven Sect, a legacy technique rooted in both time and illusion arts. The time aspect had less of a rejection reaction to the Illusion-Reality Law.

The Chu Clan Patriarch said: "It's just that in the future, he won't get far on the Illusion-Reality path."

But even a sliver of entry was already a huge win.

The Chu Clan Patriarch looked at the ritual artifact's phantom in the sky and nodded slightly to the Immortal Alliance Leader: "Anything more would be overkill."

The Immortal Alliance Leader understood this even better than the Patriarch did.

After confirming that Chu Jingxi had begun to absorb the law power, the flowing music became grand and magnificent, resounding around him again and again.

For an ordinary cultivator, seven chimes would be enough to wake him.

But as a true connoisseur of illusions, it took a full forty-nine chimes before the Immortal Alliance Leader thought he had fallen asleep—and finally, Chu Jingxi reacted!

The blood cocoon began to melt like soft dough, the threads entangled in his blood disappeared, and Chu Jingxi reluctantly opened his eyes.

At first, he had no idea what was going on.

"Where am I..."

The Realm Spirit Origin immediately darted over and poked him, asking if he was okay.

The two formation masters collapsed on the ground, exhausted, and said bluntly: "He's perfectly fine. We're the ones who're wrecked."

How dare they talk to the Young Patriarch that way?

Chu Jingxi's memories were still somewhat muddled, but after a long moment, he suddenly realized: "Wait, I'm not the Young Patriarch?"

This muttered remark was overheard by the Immortal Alliance Leader, who could easily guess what he had dreamed about. He didn't understand young people these days—why would anyone dream of a job with such a high death rate?

Tapping his head lightly, Chu Jingxi vaguely remembered working on construction projects during his Heart Demon Tribulation, trying to personify the Heart Demon.

No. What Heart Demon? After a few seconds, all his memories finally came flooding back—he'd been cursed with the Blood Curse Art!

Chu Jingxi quickly glanced at Yan Zizhan.

Worried that an early withdrawal might destabilize the consciousness space, Yan Zizhan had forcibly pulled himself out of Chu Jingxi's Sea of Consciousness only at the last moment, and had only just woken up himself.

When Chu Jingxi looked over, their eyes met, and for once, both of them awkwardly looked away.

One remembered treating the other as a Heart Demon and doing all sorts of wild things, trying to comprehend the Illusion-Reality Law to change the world. The other couldn't forget his own Chu Jingxi impersonation act.

Zheng! A sharp twang!

A single pluck of a string made both of them jolt. The lingering soundwaves surged forward, and Chu Jingxi was sent surfing toward the realm gate.

A clear voice sounded in his ear, reminding him to stay true to his goal: "Focus on comprehending the Space-Time Law."

Chu Jingxi, who had just woken up: "..."

Even a top doesn't get spun this hard!

Right then, everyone else was forcibly ejected from the inheritance secret realm. With fewer people inside, the realm could stay open longer for Chu Jingxi to comprehend the Dao.

The Realm Spirit once again hauled the Yin-Yang Sky Mirror to the realm gate, ready to fish Chu Jingxi out if anything went wrong.

At the same time, after successfully waking both of them with the thunderous music, the Immortal Alliance Leader returned to his usual form and pulled something out from a sleeve that functioned like a storage pouch.

Countless Recording Stones shot upward like a reverse meteor shower, wrapped in energy and sent flying toward the realm gate.

The Great Cultivators present couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The Immortal Alliance had a habit of recording everything with Recording Stones, and the habit was so ridiculous that there was even a rumor the Immortal Alliance Leader was actually a Recording Stone in disguise.

Yan Zizhan frowned slightly, the first to speak up: "Senior, could you angle the Recording Stones a bit higher?"

Chu Jingxi cared deeply about his personal image and wouldn't appreciate a low-angle shot from under his chin.

The Immortal Alliance Leader took the advice, adjusted the shooting angle, and the Recording Stones began to capture every bit of struggle and progress as Chu Jingxi comprehended the law.

The comprehension session had just started and was expected to drag on for a long while.

The Immortal Alliance Leader pulled back a few Recording Stones and handed them to one of the fastest Great Cultivators, speaking in his usual mild tone:

"Please go let the Ghost Clan know everything's fine."

...

The Tianfeng Imperial Dynasty had teleportation arrays everywhere, and with urgent express delivery, the Recording Stones made it all the way to the realm barrier without a hitch.

Upon receiving the order, Li Yan jumped straight into the prep work, broadcasting footage of Chu Jingxi comprehending the vast laws of power onto the realm boundary monuments for everyone to see, just like last time.

Word of what happened spread fast, and folks were amazed that the record for the youngest to deeply comprehend the laws might soon be shattered.

The garrison soldiers on patrol at the realm barrier made a point of talking loudly: "I heard the ghost clan tried to hit the Child of Destiny with the Blood Curse Art, and it totally backfired. If they pull that stunt a few more times, we might not even need to fight."

They'd end up crippling the whole damn clan.

The booming laughter rang out across the sky and earth, but from behind the realm barrier, a blood blade shot out faster than the eye could track. The soldier who'd been laughing didn't have time to react. Right as the bloody energy was about to tear through his dantian, another force knocked it aside.

Even so, the scattered impact shoved the soldier back several steps.

The First Legion's commander showed up, his stare so cold it felt like it could bore through the realm barrier.

After clearing the bloody stench in the air, he turned and asked, "You okay?"

The ghost clan was seriously pissed this time—Ghost King Wuxiang had personally lashed out at two soldiers to blow off steam.

The soldier got up, shook his head, still rattled. Both were old hands, so they steadied themselves fast.

That hit was meant to cripple cultivation, not kill—otherwise, there's no way they'd have blocked it. At least it showed the Ghost King still had his head on straight and wasn't looking to start a war.

Inside the ghost domain, that land that felt like it never saw the sun, Ghost King Wuxiang really had no plans to kick off a war.

He showed up in front of Gold Immortal Xuanlu, and the freezing air nearly locked up the Ghost Generals on scene, so they couldn't even drop to their knees.

Glancing at the compass needle that had swung all the way back to square one, Ghost King Wuxiang didn't chew anyone out over the failed curse.

His hollow eyes stared down at Gold Immortal Xuanlu: "The clan once had big hopes for you."

Gold Immortal Xuanlu was scared of getting punished, but he also felt ashamed.

From the *Sutra of Immortality* to using Ghost Cultivators as cannon fodder to clear the path, to pulling him back to the ghost domain, and the Ghost King agreeing to use the Reincarnation Compass to trigger the Blood Curse Art—every single step had cost them dearly.

With war looming, Ghost King Wuxiang wanted to wipe out wildcards while also crowning an emperor for the ghost clan. If Chu Jingxi died, his Heart Demon would be settled, and the ghost clan would throw everything into helping him absorb Ghost King Cang's leftover power, letting him shoot straight to the top.

A flawless plan, gone to waste.

"My King, I'll risk sneaking back into the Primordial Continent, even if I never come back. I swear I'll—"

Before he could finish, Gold Immortal Xuanlu's eyes went wide.

Without a hint of warning, Ghost King Wuxiang punched a hole through his heart from across the room. A Golden Immortal wasn't easy to take down with one hit.

Gold Immortal Xuanlu looked up in disbelief. The ghost clan had sunk so much into him—how could they just kill him?

He wanted to beg for mercy, to say anything.

But Ghost King Wuxiang just calmly eyed the trembling Ghost Generals around him: "Go on, feast on his power."

Aside from freaks like Xuanlu, any race had a cap on absorbing outside power, but before hitting that real limit, you could still bulk up a lot.

The Ghost Generals froze for a second, then were over the moon.

Clearly, the King had scrapped the idea of raising a top-tier fighter and decided to beef up the other generals instead.

They had long been displeased with Xuanlu. If Xuanlu could become an emperor, the ghost clan would have at least a seventy percent chance of victory—but becoming a Ghost Emperor was no easy feat!

The Dao Source was being eroded every moment, and the longer war was delayed, the less restricted the clan's power would become.

Enhancing the Ghost Generals' strength would also increase their chances of victory.

As his origin was slowly stripped away, Gold Immortal Xuanlu struggled futilely under Ghost King Wuxiang's suppression, screaming incessantly. But his screams no longer made the Ghost Generals tremble—instead, they devoured him with even greater excitement.

"I can atone for my mistakes..." Gold Immortal Xuanlu still struggled, looking toward Ghost King Wuxiang, but only saw a ghostly figure standing there, utterly unmoved.

"Chu Jingxi—" At the final moment of his life, Gold Immortal Xuanlu rasped out three words, cursing the one who had brought him to this state, sending chills down anyone's spine who heard it.

Ghost King Wuxiang shook his head and drifted away like a specter, leaving that bloody, stained place.

Standing by the blood sea, he felt a faint confusion for the first time.

With equal effort and support, how was it that Chu Jingxi could rise so rapidly, surviving every desperate situation?

While Xuanlu failed at everything he touched.

Author's Note:

This should be the last illusion in this story, and the illusion... has wrapped up early.

Today, we gather here to bid farewell to the little illusion.

Chu Jingxi speaks with tears in his eyes:

"All along, the illusion has stood by me through thick and thin with unyielding spirit. I cannot forget it, nor the days we shared through hardship together."

(Taking the handkerchief handed over by Yan Zizhan, he wipes away tears that aren't really there)

"But all good things must come to an end. I believe the illusion wouldn't want to see me so sorrowful either. We must carry its blessings and move forward with strength.

Farewell, illusion."