343. Hush, look what I found-a lone stupid fish!

Born to be a monk? Pshaw! Children say the darndest things, good luck! It's just a few strands of hair, I'll grow them back in a few days!

"Pah!" Song Shuhang gave the little monk a hard flick on the forehead.

The little monk covered his forehead, his eyes blurry with tears, his serious face full of grievance—he was clearly telling the truth, so why did he have to get a head slap? Shuhang is being unreasonable!

Whoosh~~ Another sea breeze blew by, and Song Shuhang felt a strange coolness on his head, a coolness that he found very uncomfortable.

Song Shuhang touched his bald head, sighed, and asked Venerable White, "By the way, Senior White, was that the 'reality' of illusion just now? If it can turn reality into illusion, then why was there a groove in my hair?"

Even the potholes in the ground have disappeared... So why couldn't his hair, which was shaved off, turn back?

"Hehe, actually, it's just a minor technical issue." Venerable White smiled slightly and explained, "I'm not quite proficient in using the 'real' ability of illusion. So, to avoid confusing 'reality' with 'illusion' when using illusion, I need to set up a key element... This element won't be affected by illusion, and it can serve as a reminder... preventing me from getting trapped in illusion and unable to extricate myself. And the key element I've set up is hair. Because even if all the hair disappears, it won't affect a person's body, and it's also very conspicuous."

Song Shuhang touched his bald head—meaning, he was unlucky; something else hadn't hurt him, but his hair had. Therefore, his hair, being the 'key element,' wasn't protected by the Venerable White's illusory 'reality,' and so it was shaved off, leaving him with a real bald patch...

This is truly a sad story.

Inside the tent, Doudou took out a crystal-like object from somewhere, pointed it at Song Shuhang, and gave it a gentle flash.

A bright light flashed from the crystal in Doudou's hand.

The light shone on Song Shuhang, with a large portion of it concentrating on his bald head, reflecting a dazzling light with a "Song Shuhang ding".

Song Shuhang: "..."

He turned around and looked at Doudou speechlessly. "Doudou, what are you doing?"

"Let's take a picture to remember this, woof." Doudou poked the crystal and explained, "This is Image-Capturing Gem, which used to be very precious. Before cameras came out, low-level cultivators used these things to take pictures. My phone is still with Zhou Li, so I can only use this to take a picture."

As she spoke, Doudou gently patted the crystal again, and a life-size image of Song Shuhang was projected into the void.

In the picture, Song Shuhang turned his head curiously, and his bald head reflected the light from the crystal camera... The reflected light enveloped Song Shuhang's entire head in a ball of light, making it look as if his head was surrounded by Holy Light.

It was absolutely hilarious!

Song Shuhang: "..."

"I didn't expect I had such a talent for taking photos." Doudou proudly put away the crystal.

Song Shuhang gritted his teeth and said, "Doudou, delete this photo right now. Otherwise, our friendship is over!"

Doudou waved triumphantly at Song Shuhang: "Then our friendship is over, woof~"

Song Shuhang rubbed his temples, feeling utterly exhausted.

He turned to look at Senior White again, wondering if Senior White's anger had subsided since he was now bald.

Then, Song Shuhang saw Venerable White tilt his head back and swallow a pill—wait, did that illusory 'reality' just now greatly deplete Senior White's energy? He actually needs to swallow a pill to recover his spiritual power?

"Alright, your mental strength has recovered to its peak. This time it'll definitely work!" Senior White said softly, then he beckoned to Song Shuhang: "Shuhang, get ready, let's try again, the illusory 'reality'!"

"Wait, senior! I've already lost all my hair, so please keep my eyebrows!" Song Shuhang shouted. He remembered that Senior White had said that the key to the illusory 'reality' was 'hair,' meaning not just hair, but also eyebrows, eyelashes, beards, and anything else that could be hair. He already had no hair, and if he didn't lose his eyebrows too, he would look terrible.

The moment he finished speaking, Song Shuhang felt a blur before his eyes.

A waterfall plunges three thousand feet, as if the Milky Way were falling from the Nine Heavens!

The roar of rushing water reached Song Shuhang's ears.

He strained to lift his head, and then he saw a colossal waterfall overhead, so magnificent it defied description, like the Milky Way cascading down...

"Spectacular!" Song Shuhang exclaimed, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized something was wrong. Water had entered his mouth, and then... the saliva was expelled from both sides of his cheeks.

During this process, he actually felt a sensation similar to 'breathing,' as if he was replenishing oxygen from the water?

What's going on? Song Shuhang wondered. He reached out to touch his face, wondering what strange change had occurred this time.

But the next moment...

Huh? Where are my hands...? Why can't I feel my arms anymore?

Not only hands, but it seems even legs are gone.

Song Shuhang hurriedly tried to look down to see what changes had occurred in his body... but he found that he couldn't. To be precise, it seemed that he didn't have a neck; his head and body were directly connected, making it impossible for him to look down at his own body.

Senior White, what are you up to now?

"How are things? Have you adapted to this new body?" At this moment, Venerable White's familiar voice rang out above Song Shuhang.

Song Shuhang looked up and saw the familiar, incomparably handsome Venerable White. At that moment, Venerable White was smilingly squatting beside Shuhang...

Wow, he was enormous! To Song Shuhang, the Venerable White looked like a giant from ancient legends. Song Shuhang estimated that his own body was only the size of the Venerable White's palm.

Beside the Venerable White, the young Guoguo stood quietly to one side. Similarly, the young monk was also a model of a giant.

"Splash splash splash." Song Shuhang was about to speak, but as soon as he opened his mouth, another large wave of water rushed into it, and then flowed out from both sides of his cheeks, giving him a boost of oxygen... This feeling was truly amazing.

"Haven't you gotten used to this new body yet? Time is limited, so get used to it quickly." Venerable White lowered his head and smiled at Song Shuhang.

[A new body?] Song Shuhang looked into the pupils of Venerable White... Finally, he used Venerable White's eyes as a mirror and saw his current appearance clearly.

It was a small golden fish, bobbing and thrashing about in the water.

I... turned into a fish?

The illusory 'reality' can even alter race?

Upon realizing he had turned into a fish, Song Shuhang tried to move his body, and instinctively began to swim. Swimming was that simple...

"Looks like you've gotten used to this body," Venerable White chuckled, then pointed to the enormous waterfall. "See that waterfall? Let's go!"

"Up?" Song Shuhang looked up at the enormous waterfall that seemed to be the Milky Way falling from the Nine Heavens. This was a bit too difficult.

It seemed that he had read Song Shuhang's thoughts from his eyes.

"Is this difficulty enough to scare you? The legendary Fish Leaping Dragon Gate is far more difficult than this waterfall, and... the difficulty of advancing to the 'First-Grade Dragon-Gate Leap Realm' is no easier than swimming upstream against the current to the top of the waterfall as a small fish." Venerable White laughed, "Don't be afraid, just keep going. Don't think about anything else right now, just experience the feeling of 'leaping over the Dragon Gate Leap '."

"Go, Senior Brother Shuhang!" Little Guoguo clasped her hands together and said to the golden fish that Song Shuhang had transformed into, "I believe that with Shuhang's perseverance, he will definitely be able to reach the top of that waterfall!"

Song Shuhang gritted his teeth inwardly... He'd take the risk. So what if he swam upstream against the current? He wouldn't die in this illusory 'reality,' what was there to be afraid of?

So, Song Shuhang wriggled his tail and swam vigorously towards the waterfall area, getting used to his new body as he swam—but he had some doubts in his mind as he swam. Swimming against the current was fine, but why did Venerable White have to turn himself into a fish?

Is there some deeper meaning behind this?

Just as Song Shuhang was pondering, another huge figure appeared in front of him.

That was the silhouette of a Pekingese dog—it was Doudou.

"Huh? Where is this?" Doudou shook her head slightly. It seemed that the area covered by the Venerable White's illusory 'reality' this time was very large, and even Doudou, who was hiding in the tent, was caught up in it.

However, Doudou, who was caught up in the situation, was a little out of sync with the little monk and Shuhang. Doudou seemed a bit confused at the moment.

After a moment, it recovered. "Woof... Looks like this is the illusory 'reality' that Venerable White was talking about? Amazing."

It turned its head and looked around, and saw the Venerable White and the little monk not far away.

Then it looked around, at the waterfall and the bottom of the water.

Shh, look what I found! A lone, stupid fish!

This is a little golden fish. It looks silly, swimming so awkwardly. Doudou feels that she can catch this little golden fish with just a gentle pounce.

"Let's do it!" Doudou exclaimed happily, then plunged into the water and slapped the silly fish out of the water with its paw.

Then, it hooked its claws onto the stupid fish.

Then, Doudou opened its big mouth and skillfully tossed the golden, silly fish into its mouth. After chewing it twice, it swallowed the silly fish with a 'gulp'...

Don't be surprised, Doudou is a fishing expert!

When it first ran away from home, it hadn't yet reached the level of the Grain-Avoidance Realm, so it developed excellent hunting skills. Doudou can hunt tigers in the mountains and catch sharks in the sea; it can catch a small fish with a single reach of its paw!

It's good, very delicious, the meat is tender and chewy.

"Senior Doudou, no! That's Senior Brother Shuhang!" The little monk's anxious voice came a beat late.

The Venerable White blinked – this sudden change was truly unexpected!

First update!