After leaving Sui Shan County, Pan Long did not follow the main road. He soon rode his horse into the mountains.
What he planned to do next had to be kept out of sight. Locking the doors and windows of an inn room would do in a pinch, but finding somewhere deserted would be best.
After about an hour, he found a cave in the mountains. It was small and offered only modest shelter from wind and rain, but it was clean inside. Its floor was all stone, with no sign of wild animals, snakes, or insects. For his purposes, it was just right.
He tied his horse to a rock outside, sat down in the cave, and closed his eyes.
Light flashed, and the scene before him became an expanse of white void.
"Thanks to the Immortal Peach Tree, enough spiritual energy has accumulated. It's time to open the Illusory World again," Pan Long murmured. "But... the world I open this time needs to be different."
He did not rush to summon the starry sky that held countless worlds. Instead, he sat in the pale void and thought.
"When I open an Illusory World, there are only three kinds of things I can gain: rare treasures from that world, a Character Panel from a game world, or benefits I receive directly in a world, like eating a Spirit Medicine or receiving a blessing."
"Of those three, the first comes with the most restrictions. Rare treasures aren't easy to find, and after finding one, I'd still have to spend spiritual energy to bring it into reality. That energy determines how long I can act in the world, and the longer I stay, the more I might gain... So unless I have a particular need, or that world holds a treasure