Jiang Xinyue, The Person Under the Moon

The behavior of the fishing boat quickly attracted people's attention.

In the past, others had attempted to sail to River Heart Island, but very few had ever managed to reach it.

One reason was that the currents near River Heart Island were treacherous; without a certain level of skill, it was impossible to dock.

On the other hand, River Heart Island was protected by a mysterious shroud. Ordinary people who ventured there would lose their sense of direction, drift away aimlessly with the current, and only realize they were far from the island once they had regained their senses.

"This is because of an illusion array!" Lou Jingren spoke with great confidence. He sat at the bow of the boat, observing River Heart Island while speaking to Lu Bai.

"By coordinating the terrain and water flow, and making deliberate arrangements using light, sound, and even scents, one can mislead a person's senses and create an illusion."

Lu Bai suspected he was bluffing, but he had no proof.

Theoretically, such things did exist, but only in theory.

It was like a trick painting; if you drew a giant pit on the ground, it would look very realistic from a certain angle, creating an illusion.

But as soon as you changed your perspective even slightly, you would see the reality of the thing.

For an island as large as River Heart Island to utilize such a visual trick, the amount of labor required and the difficulty of daily maintenance would be unimaginable.

However, this was the Martial Forest Dimension; one shouldn't dismiss martial arts as lacking mystery.

Astrology, calendars, astronomy, geography, the Eight Gates and Nine Stars, Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and the Three Wonders and Six Yi—these fields contained practical, scientific knowledge, but they were equally infused with mysterious factors.

If you tried to apply strict scientific logic to this mystery, you were simply overthinking it.

Lu Bai didn't overthink it. He wasn't very good at these mystical, superstitious things, not even back on Earth.

He had once asked his master how to reach the pinnacle of martial arts, and the master had told him to rely on his "heart."

He wanted to discuss martial arts, but the master wanted to discuss philosophy.

In any case, after Lu Bai sparred with that master, the master developed a stress-induced mental illness regarding the word "heart," and his legs would ache whenever it rained. It was truly unfortunate.

As the boat continued to approach River Heart Island, some anomalies finally began to appear.

A bright moon had appeared on the horizon at some point, and it was shockingly large.

The people on the boat heard the rushing sound of water in their ears, and it seemed as if River Heart Island had vanished from ahead, as if they were sailing upon the open ocean.

The waves became terrifying, and a sense of vast, existential dread began to take root in their hearts.

Luo Chuan looked at this scene and felt as if he were about to sink into the ocean and be buried there.

Luo Chuan turned to look back at the shore, but the shoreline had become a mere line, appearing to grow more distant by the second.

"Go back, quickly go back!" Fear drove Luo Chuan to shout out loud.

In his panic, Luo Chuan even tried to grab the rudder.

However, at that moment, Lu Bai pressed him down firmly.

The best way to deal with fear was not to face it, but to counter it with another, greater fear.

When Luo Chuan met Lu Bai's gaze, the terror of the ocean was instantly suppressed, as if a pause button had been pressed.

In its place rose a bone-chilling terror of Lu Bai himself.

"M-Master!"

"Let me teach you a lesson," Lu Bai said, his expression turning serious.

"You may hold death in awe, but do not fear it."

"No matter the situation, even in the face of death, you must remain calm."

"If you lose your composure every time you encounter a problem, you will find it difficult to accomplish anything."

"Indeed, young friend Luo Chuan, to remain unmoved even when Mount Tai collapses before you, and to not blink even when a deer leaps at your side—this is a vital mindset," Lou Jingren added, nodding from the side.

"Of course, you can't explain this kind of thing just by talking; even if you know it, you can't do it," Lu Bai said with a smile, picking up Luo Chuan and dropping him into the water beside the boat.

"Ahhh-gurgle-splash!" Luo Chuan's constant screaming vanished as soon as he hit the water.

And as soon as Lu Bai pulled him back out, he started screaming again.

"Brother Lu?!" Lou Jingren watched this unfold and opened his mouth to intervene, but ultimately, he could only sigh and remain silent.

Since a master was disciplining his disciple, there was little he, an outsider, could say.

They cultivated a mindset of indifference to favor or humiliation through reading ten thousand books and traveling ten thousand miles; only when knowledge and experience were both enriched could one barely achieve it.

But Lu Bai's attitude toward Luo Chuan was clearly an attempt at a shortcut to that mindset.

Inevitably, Lou Jingren began to feel that Lu Bai was not one of their kind.

Lu Bai didn't care about that; he wouldn't change who he was just to please others.

He toyed with his "Luo Chuan-version merit-releasing artifact" while observing the surrounding environment.

He had to admit, this illusion array really had some substance to it.

The sea and sky were one, the bright moon hung high, and the light made everything appear chaotic.

They had clearly been heading toward River Heart Island, but suddenly, they had lost their target.

Fortunately, he had come with these scholars from Linjiang Academy; otherwise, Lu Bai would have had no choice but to dive in and see if he could make it across underwater.

"This kind of illusion array is easy to break," Lou Jingren explained from the side.

Although he had slight reservations about Lu Bai's behavior, he did not distance himself because of it, remaining polite and maintaining a friendly attitude.

"For instance, the water flow; as long as one observes it beforehand, one can confirm that we are indeed still heading toward River Heart Island."

"Beyond that, this bright moon actually has flaws as well."

"As long as you focus, you can see that the moonlight is converging from various directions."

"An illusion array cannot account for every single detail; there will always be elements that reveal information belonging to reality. By following these clues, one can determine their true location."

What was being tested here was actually knowledge of astronomy and geography—how the stars were aligned and how the currents flowed.

After performing some calculations, a few scholars cheered in delight and steered the boat straight toward that bright, clear moon.

And then, River Heart Island appeared right before their eyes.

On the island, atop the Three Moon Pavilion, that great pearl was still shining brilliantly.

Along the sandy beach by the shore, a specific line of sand was currently responding to the pearl above, shimmering with light.

"These are specially treated grains of sand capable of reflecting moonlight; combined with the pearl, they form the illusion of the bright moon," Lou Jingren said with exaggerated flair. "What a brilliant method!"

"?" Lu Bai wore an expression that said, Are you kidding me? But fine, I haven't read enough books, so I'll just have to take your word for it.

"The talents of Linjiang Academy are truly extraordinary!" Just then, a woman draped in light gauze drifted down from the Three Moon Pavilion.

She was like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal realm, and at that moment, the bright moon in the sky seemed to become nothing more than a backdrop.

At the very least, Luo Chuan, who was standing next to Lu Bai and had drunk his fill of water, was already staring in a daze.