Desert Illusion

The desert night was bitingly cold, a stark contrast to the scorching heat of the day. Ning Xiaochuan huddled in the lee of a hastily built sand dune, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. Su Linger sat beside him, her hands forming seals as a thin ice-blue light screen enveloped them, barely keeping out the freezing wind.

"Your source energy..." Ning Xiaochuan looked worriedly at Su Linger's pale face. "Don't use too much."

"I'm fine." Su Linger's voice was calm, but her breathing was noticeably more hurried than usual. "The Ice Heart Art can regulate body temperature. It doesn't consume much."

Little Dragon's source soul poked out from Ning Xiaochuan's collar, shook the sand from his scales, then flew between them and breathed out a cloud of milky mist. The mist spread within the light screen, bringing a trace of warmth.

"Thank you, Little One." Su Linger gave Little Dragon's source soul a rare smile.

Ning Xiaochuan took out the Dragon Soul Jade. Under the moonlight, the jade gave off a soft milky-white glow, and the dragon pattern on its surface pointed northwest. Ever since entering the desert, the Dragon Soul Jade's reaction had grown stronger, as if answering some kind of summons.

"At this pace, we'll reach the center of the desert by noon tomorrow." Ning Xiaochuan estimated the distance. "Mu Qing said there's an oasis there. It might be the entrance to the Land of Origin."

Su Linger nodded, then suddenly looked up alertly. "Something's approaching."

Ning Xiaochuan immediately put away the Dragon Soul Jade. The two held their breath and focused. A rustling sound came from the other side of the dune, drawing closer and closer...

A scorpion-like creature crawled over the dune, yet it was as large as a wild boar. Its body was pitch-black, and its tail hook gleamed with a chilling green light.

"Sand Demon Scorpion!" Su Linger lowered her voice. "Its venom is deadly. Don't alarm it."

Neither of them moved, hoping the desert beast would leave on its own. Yet the Sand Demon Scorpion stopped before the light screen, as if it had sensed something, and began digging at the sand with its forelimbs.

Little Dragon's source soul nervously shrank back into Ning Xiaochuan's collar, leaving only his eyes exposed. Ning Xiaochuan could feel Little One trembling—not from fear, but from some kind of warning.

"It's calling its kind..." Su Linger's face changed. "Prepare to fight!"

The moment she spoke, the surrounding sand suddenly heaved. Five or six Sand Demon Scorpions burst from beneath the surface, surrounding them on all sides!

Ice Crystal Barrier! Su Linger brought her hands together, and the ice-blue light screen instantly thickened, blocking the first two Sand Demon Scorpions that pounced. But a third attacked from the side, its tail hook stabbing at the barrier's weakest point.

Ning Xiaochuan reacted instantly. He drew the short sword at his waist and slashed sideways, striking precisely at the base of the tail hook. With a clang of metal, half the hook was severed, and the Sand Demon Scorpion let out a piercing screech.

"Watch out for the venom!" Su Linger warned.

The injured Sand Demon Scorpion opened its mouth in fury and sprayed out a stream of dark-green venom. Ning Xiaochuan rolled aside, and the spot where he had stood was corroded into a deep pit. Even the sand had turned black.

"These things are even tougher than the rumors said!" Ning Xiaochuan gritted his teeth and tried to draw on his source energy. But source energy was thin in the desert, and it recovered at an agonizingly slow pace.

Su Linger faced the same problem. Her Ice Crystal Barrier began flickering, clearly unable to hold out much longer. Worse still, the sounds of battle had attracted more Sand Demon Scorpions. More and more ghostly green eyes appeared in the darkness.

"We have to break through!" Su Linger dismissed the barrier and condensed two ice swords in her hands. "I'll clear the way. You cover our rear!"

Ning Xiaochuan nodded and communicated with Little Dragon's source soul at the same time. "Little One, get Sacred Spirit Breath ready!"

The two charged back-to-back toward the weakest point of the scorpion swarm. Su Linger's swordsmanship was fierce and sharp. Wherever her ice swords passed, Sand Demon Scorpions either lost limbs or were frozen by the cold; Ning Xiaochuan handled the finishing blows and defense, using his short sword together with Little Dragon's milky mist to barely withstand attacks from both sides.

"There's a rock hill ahead!" Su Linger pointed at a mass of black stone in the distance. "We'll be safe once we get up there!"

Just as they were about to break through, an exceptionally huge Sand Demon Scorpion suddenly burrowed out of the ground and blocked their path. Its carapace was dark red, clearly marking it as the leader.

"Jump over it!" Ning Xiaochuan shouted.

Su Linger leaped into the air, but the Sand Demon Scorpion leader's tail hook swept into her midair! Although she raised an ice sword to block it in time, the remaining force still sent her flying. She crashed heavily onto the sand.

"Su Linger!" Ning Xiaochuan's eyes went red with fury as an unprecedented power suddenly surged through his body. The Dragon Soul Jade flew out on its own, hovering before his chest and blooming with dazzling white light.

Sensing its master's rage, Little Dragon's source soul instantly expanded to the size of a hunting dog. Every ice-blue pattern on his scales lit up. He opened his dragon mouth and unleashed a milky-white beam several times thicker than usual, blasting the Sand Demon Scorpion leader directly into pieces!

The remaining Sand Demon Scorpions were stunned by the sudden outburst and hurriedly burrowed into the sand to flee.

Ning Xiaochuan did not bother pursuing them. He immediately ran to Su Linger's side. Her face was deathly pale, and there was a small wound on her right shoulder. The skin around it had already begun turning black—though she had avoided the direct strike of the tail hook, venom had still splashed onto her.

"Hang on!" Ning Xiaochuan frantically took out the antidote Zhou Buhui had given him, only to find that the bottle had shattered in the battle.

Su Linger's breathing grew weaker and weaker, and her eyelids drooped heavily. "Ning Xiaochuan... keep going... find the Land of Origin..."

"No! I won't leave you behind!" Ning Xiaochuan clenched his teeth. Suddenly thinking of something, he pressed the Dragon Soul Jade against Su Linger's wound. "Please, help her..."

A miracle happened. As if it understood his plea, the dragon pattern on the Dragon Soul Jade began moving faster, releasing a warm white glow. Within that light, wisps of black poisonous gas were drawn out from the wound, and color gradually returned to Su Linger's face.

"It's working!" Ning Xiaochuan was overjoyed. He continued channeling the little source energy he had left into the Dragon Soul Jade. The jade shone even brighter, and Little Dragon's source soul flew over to help, continuously breathing out milky mist to aid the treatment.

A quarter of an hour later, Su Linger finally opened her eyes. "I... what happened?"

"You were splashed by Sand Demon Scorpion venom." Ning Xiaochuan let out a long breath. "Luckily, the Dragon Soul Jade can neutralize poison."

Su Linger tried to sit up, but she still could not help frowning when the movement tugged at her wound. "Thank you... We need to leave this place quickly."

Ning Xiaochuan helped her up, and the two supported each other as they headed toward the rock hill. The Sand Demon Scorpions had retreated, but there was no guarantee they would not return.

The rock hill was taller than expected, with a flat summit that made for an ideal temporary camp. Ning Xiaochuan gathered some dead desert plants and started a small fire, while Su Linger used her remaining source energy to set up a simple warning formation around them.

"You rest. I'll keep watch." Ning Xiaochuan handed her a waterskin.

Su Linger did not refuse. She leaned against the rock wall and closed her eyes to rest. Before long, her breathing became even, but her brows remained tightly furrowed, as though even her dreams were troubled.

"Xue'er... run..." she suddenly murmured, her voice full of pain.

Ning Xiaochuan's heart tightened. He gently took her hand. "It's all right. I'm here..."

Perhaps sensing his warmth, Su Linger gradually calmed down. Beneath the moonlight, her long lashes cast faint shadows over her face. Her lips were no longer tightly drawn, revealing a vulnerability she rarely showed.

Ning Xiaochuan kept watch silently through the night, until the eastern horizon began to pale. Little Dragon's source soul curled up on his lap, occasionally breathing out a small puff of milky mist to keep the fire going.

At dawn, Su Linger woke to find Ning Xiaochuan still in his watchful posture, his eyes bloodshot.

"You didn't sleep all night?" She frowned.

Ning Xiaochuan rolled his stiff neck. "It's fine. I'm wide awake. How do you feel?"

"Much better." Su Linger checked her wound and was surprised to find it had already scabbed over. "The Dragon Soul Jade's healing effect is stronger than I imagined."

The two ate some dried provisions and continued northwest. As the sun rose higher, the temperature soared, and waves of heat distorted the distant landscape. Ning Xiaochuan's lips began cracking, and Su Linger was not in much better condition.

"Look over there!" At noon, Su Linger suddenly pointed toward the horizon. "A mirage?"

Ning Xiaochuan narrowed his eyes. There really was a hazy patch of green in the distance, like an oasis. He took out the Dragon Soul Jade and found it burning hot, its dragon pattern pointing directly at that greenery.

"It's not an illusion! The Dragon Soul Jade is reacting!"

Their spirits lifted, and they quickened their pace. Yet the closer they got, the stranger their surroundings became—though they were walking toward the oasis, it felt as if the distance was not shrinking; when they looked back, the tracks they had left had vanished.

"We're trapped." Su Linger stopped walking. "It may be some kind of formation."

Ning Xiaochuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and suddenly noticed that Little Dragon's source soul was acting strangely. He kept circling one spot, as if chasing something invisible.

"Did Little One find something?"

He walked to the place where Little Dragon's source soul was circling. The ground looked no different from anywhere else. But the moment he took a step forward, the scene before him suddenly twisted and changed!

"Su Linger!" Ning Xiaochuan shouted as he turned around, only to find no one behind him—just an endless sea of sand.

"An illusion formation..." Ning Xiaochuan understood immediately. "Everyone sees something different."

He tried to return the way he had come, but no matter where he went, the same desert surrounded him. Worse, the temperature began plummeting. In the blink of an eye, scorching heat turned into bitter cold. Heavy snow fell from the sky and quickly blanketed the dunes.

"An ice-and-snow illusion?" Ning Xiaochuan was baffled. Little Dragon's source soul flew to his shoulder and watched the surroundings vigilantly.

Through the snowstorm, a blurry figure gradually approached. When it came within ten paces, Ning Xiaochuan sucked in a cold breath—the newcomer was himself! Or rather, the original owner of this body, the true Ning Xiaochuan!

"Impostor." The other Ning Xiaochuan sneered. "Comfortable occupying my body?"

"I..." Ning Xiaochuan was speechless. This was his deepest fear—he was merely a transmigrator, a foreign soul occupying someone else's body.

"You don't even dare tell Su Linger the truth." The other Ning Xiaochuan stepped closer. "What do you think she would say if she knew you were a fraud?"

Little Dragon's source soul angrily breathed out a puff of milky mist, but it passed straight through the illusion without effect.

"See? Even your source soul was stolen." The illusion mocked him. "The Sacred Spirit Young Dragon chose the third young master of the Ning Clan, not you!"

Ning Xiaochuan clenched his fists so hard that his nails dug deeply into his palms. The illusion was right. He really was an impostor. But...

"Maybe I'm not the original Ning Xiaochuan." He lifted his head and looked straight at the illusion. "But my feelings for this place are real. I cherish the bond between father and son, and I value my connection with Su Linger. Those feelings are real!"

The illusion's smile turned ferocious. "You're deceiving yourself!"

"No." Ning Xiaochuan instead grew calm. "The Sacred Spirit Young Dragon chose the soul inside this body, and the Dragon Soul Jade acknowledges who I am now. No matter where I came from, the one standing here at this moment is the real Ning Xiaochuan!"

The instant he finished speaking, the illusion let out a piercing scream, its form twisting before it vanished. The snowstorm stopped abruptly, and the desert around him shattered like glass, revealing the true scene—they had been standing at the edge of the oasis all along, less than a hundred paces from the water.

"Ning Xiaochuan!" Su Linger's voice called out. She stood not far away, her face anxious. "You suddenly stopped moving. You didn't respond no matter how I called you."

Only then did Ning Xiaochuan realize that everything he had just experienced had happened in his Mental World. Only a few minutes had likely passed in reality.

"It was a trial of the illusion formation." He walked toward Su Linger, suddenly feeling as though a great burden had been lifted. "I passed it."

Su Linger looked thoughtful. "It seems the Land of Origin only permits those with the Sacred Source Bloodline to enter."

The two walked toward the center of the oasis. Unlike the desert's blazing heat, this place was cool and pleasant. Strange flowers and exotic plants grew around a clear spring at its center. Most striking of all was an ancient stone gate standing beside the spring, engraved with dragon patterns identical to those on the Dragon Soul Jade.

"This is the entrance?" Ning Xiaochuan approached the stone gate and found a groove in its center, shaped exactly like the Dragon Soul Jade.

Su Linger examined the area around the stone gate. "There are no other mechanisms. It should be opened with the Dragon Soul Jade."

Ning Xiaochuan took out the jade pendant, drew a deep breath, and placed it into the groove. It fit perfectly.

In an instant, the earth shook and the mountains trembled! The dragon patterns on the stone gate flared with dazzling white light. The spring water roiled as if boiling, and a vortex formed on the water surface, expanding without end...

"Looks like the entrance is underwater." Su Linger frowned. "We'll have to dive."

Ning Xiaochuan nodded. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a scorching heat in his chest. Looking down, he saw wisps of milky-white energy seeping from the light released by the Dragon Soul Jade into his skin, flowing through his limbs and body.

"Ah!" He could not help crying out in pain as he dropped to his knees. It felt as if countless needles were piercing him from within, as though something were awakening.

"Ning Xiaochuan!" Su Linger hurriedly supported him. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know... The Dragon Soul Jade is... changing me..." Ning Xiaochuan gritted his teeth and endured the intense pain. He could feel some dormant power in his body awakening and resonating with the Dragon Soul Jade.

Little Dragon's source soul was affected as well. His body grew larger again, the ice-blue patterns on his scales spreading across his entire body. Two tiny Dragon Horns even emerged from his forehead!

The intense pain lasted for roughly a quarter of an hour before gradually fading. Ning Xiaochuan was soaked in sweat, yet his mind was exceptionally clear, and his five senses were several times sharper than before.

"Is this... a bloodline awakening?" Su Linger guessed.

Ning Xiaochuan stood and stretched his limbs, feeling an unbelievable abundance of source energy within him. "It should be. The Dragon Soul Jade activated the Sacred Source Bloodline inside me."

He looked at the vortex in the spring water. "Now, it's time for us to go down."

Su Linger nodded. After making simple preparations and wrapping their important belongings in oilcloth, the two took a deep breath and jumped into the vortex...

The freezing current swept them downward at high speed. The vortex was far too powerful for them to swim on their own, and they could only drift with the flow. Just as Ning Xiaochuan was about to run out of breath, a bright light suddenly appeared before him!

The two were thrown out into an underground lake and crashed heavily onto wet rocks. Ning Xiaochuan coughed as he climbed to his feet, discovering that they were inside a massive underground cavern. Its ceiling soared beyond sight, and glowing crystals embedded in the surrounding stone walls provided faint illumination.

"This is...?" Ning Xiaochuan looked around.

Su Linger wrung the water from her clothes. "The entrance hall of the Land of Origin. Look there—"

She pointed deeper into the cavern, where a narrow passage wound downward. Statues similar to the stone gate outside stood on either side of the passage, though these were older and more damaged.

Most striking was the sight at the end of the passage—a huge bronze door, engraved with a pattern exactly identical to the one in the portrait of Ning Xiaochuan's mother!

"We found it." Ning Xiaochuan's voice trembled slightly. "The Land of Origin..."