"Congratulations, fellow cultivator, on passing the first trial of the Path of Cultivation!"
Chen Renfeng regained consciousness and found himself seemingly in a void. A woman stood opposite him—no, a beautiful fairy.
"Where is this? Who are you?"
"The Immortal Realm! I am the Queen Mother of the West!"
"I'm dead? I transmigrated? System, where's my cheat ability?"
The fairy thrust out her chest, the Twin Fish Jade Pendant hanging around her neck. Throwing back her head, she laughed loudly. "Fool! This isn't some brainless fantasy novel. This is the real world, and you're still alive!" Suddenly, her plump body transformed into a leopard and pounced at Chen Renfeng.
"Ah!" Chen Renfeng awoke with a sharp, excruciating pain.
The moment his consciousness returned, he abruptly sat up and discovered that he was lying in knee-high weeds.
A stinging pain came from his right palm. It was the wound torn open by the space-time vortex. He instinctively clenched his fist—but it was empty!
The Twin Fish Jade Pendant was gone!
Chen Renfeng's heart tightened. He immediately began frantically searching through the grass around him. Nothing. There was nothing at all!
He forced down the panic in his heart and looked around. Bai Xue and Chen Qing were nowhere to be seen. As far as he could see stretched endless, unfamiliar weeds, while farther away, everything was shrouded in a viscous, almost living fog.
"Bai Xue..."
"Chen Qing..."
"Where are you?"
He called out as he moved forward, stumbling through the uneven ground. No one answered. Unease wound around his heart like a vine.
He quickened his pace, but accidentally tripped over a slick stone and fell flat on his face.
"Ptooey!" He spat out the blades of grass in his mouth. They tasted bitter, with a faintly fishy tang. He pushed himself up and dusted the mud from his hands.
"Hiss—!"
The wound in his right palm split open again. Fresh blood gushed out and dripped onto the weeds beneath him.
Something strange happened.
The instant his blood touched the ground, the dense fog around him seemed to be driven away by an invisible force. It receded like a tide, revealing the true face of this world.
Several hundred meters ahead lay a lake, its waters an eerie, jewel-like blue. On the opposite shore stood a dark and mysterious forest, its trees towering and twisted. Farther still rose mountain peaks shrouded in a red haze.
This scenery was unlike any known landscape on Earth.
"Professor!" "Uncle Chen!"
At that moment, Bai Xue and Chen Qing ran in from behind and to the side, panting heavily.
Seeing that the two young people were unharmed, Chen Renfeng breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you both all right?"
"Uncle Chen, this place... it's so strange." Bai Xue looked around uneasily.
"Professor, where have we ended up? Did we travel through space and time?" Chen Qing's voice trembled slightly.
"I don't know, but we definitely aren't at the bottom of Fuxian Lake anymore." Chen Renfeng spoke solemnly. "Our priority is to find water and a safe shelter. Let's check the lakeshore, but be extremely careful."
He didn't tell them about the Queen Mother of the West in his dream, afraid they would overthink it.
The clear lake reflected the three of them. Chen Renfeng crouched down and was about to drink.
"Don't make a sound!" Bai Xue suddenly crouched down and pointed across the lake, her voice trembling. "There's a leopard!"
The three of them immediately held their breath and looked in the direction she indicated.
In the grass on the opposite shore, a leopard held its head high, its black eyes fixed directly on them. Those eyes didn't look like an animal's.
The standoff lasted no more than two seconds. The leopard swept them with an appraising glance, then turned and sprinted toward the mountains and forest.
"Uncle Chen, what do we do?" Bai Xue asked warily.
"We can't stay here!" Chen Renfeng made a prompt decision. "Cross to the other side, find some sturdy branches for protection, and follow the leopard's tracks. If it can survive here, that means this route should be relatively safe!"
The three of them quickly waded across the shallows and reached the opposite shore, but the leopard was already out of sight. Chen Qing went first, Bai Xue stayed in the middle, and Chen Renfeng brought up the rear as they followed the leopard's tracks on the ground.
Once they entered the forest, Chen Renfeng felt that the air was exceptionally fresh. He took a deep breath, and the fatigue seemed to vanish from his body.
"Professor, why have I never seen trees like these?" Chen Qing asked.
Chen Renfeng also began examining the forest.
The trunks were smooth and warm like jade, yet hard as iron. Their branches and leaves spread wide, glowing with a faint spiritual radiance. Some trees bore strangely shaped fruit, while others bloomed with flowers of every color.
"This place looks just like an immortal paradise!" Bai Xue was captivated by the forest and stopped walking.
"Follow the leopard's tracks and stay alert!" Chen Renfeng urged in a low voice.
They continued forward.
A fruit fell from a tree. Chen Renfeng picked it up and cautiously took a bite.
"Ptooey!" The fruit was extremely sour. He hurriedly spat it out, his tongue tingling slightly. "The fruit is poisonous! Don't touch anything here!"
Suddenly, Chen Qing stopped, his voice trembling. "Pro... Professor! That leopard... it looked back just now, and its face... its face looked like a woman's!"
The three of them looked ahead. The leopard was hidden among the dappled shadows of the trees. It glanced back at them again—but it clearly still had a leopard's face.
"Chen Qing, of all times, you're still spouting nonsense! Where did you see a woman?" Bai Xue snapped angrily, thinking Chen Qing was joking.
Chen Qing was at a loss for words. "I... I really saw it!"
Chen Renfeng's brows knitted tightly. He was just about to speak when a sudden change occurred!
The jade-like trunks all around them, the glowing leaves, and even the motes of dust in the air instantly condensed into dozens of smooth, mirror-like screens of light! These screens were not lifeless objects. They came alive, beginning to project the deepest memories within their hearts!
Chen Renfeng saw images of his impoverished youth: delivering takeout, delivering packages, and hauling bricks at construction sites.
Chen Qing saw himself playing games at school, then being informed by his teacher that his parents had been called and being taken home.
There were also intimate scenes of Bai Xue and Chen Qing secretly developing feelings inside a tent after a field expedition, even including some bashful moments, Bai... big...
"Ah!" Bai Xue cried out. Her aloof, mature-sister-like face instantly turned bright red, and she was so embarrassed she wanted to disappear.
Chen Qing's face also flushed crimson. In fury, he smashed the wooden stick in his hand against one of the screens of light, but the stick passed through it as if it were an illusion. The screen did not move at all and continued projecting the humiliating images.
"Still your minds and focus your thoughts! This forest can reflect the scenes deep within your hearts and confuse your minds! Leave, quickly!" Chen Renfeng shouted sternly.
Chen Qing and Bai Xue had nearly lost their minds and ignored his commands.
Chen Renfeng realized that this forest was absolutely no safe place. Staying any longer would bring disaster! He grabbed Chen Qing by the arm, seized Bai Xue by the wrist, and dragged them forward at a run.
Branches scraped against their clothes. Their steps staggered, and their hearts pounded wildly. He didn't dare look at those mirrors again, afraid that one more glance would let the memories, emotions, and even desires within them devour him.
At last, when bright light appeared ahead, they burst out of the strange forest.
A mountain stood before them.
And at the mouth of a cave at the foot of the mountain, the leopard stood quietly.
This time, the three of them saw it clearly—
It turned its head back, and above its neck was unmistakably the pale and beautiful face of a human woman!
"Congratulations, fellow cultivator, on passing the second trial of the Path of Cultivation!" a woman's voice rang in Chen Renfeng's ears.
"Don't run!" Chen Qing came to his senses from his frenzy, shouted, and chased after it without hesitation.
Before you continue