Chapter 100.1: Sixth Level pt. 1

Noble Consort Zhen, who used to be so honored and favored, was thus banished to the dilapidated Cold Palace. That night, she once again saw Guo Huizhen's face, but this time, she was no longer afraid.

“Why are you here again? I'm already like this, aren't you satisfied?”

Guo Huizhen, “You only have yourself to blame for this. Why, don't you think I'm a ghost now?”

Guo Huizhu, “So what if you’re a ghost? Kill me if you can.”

Guo Huizhen, “Wouldn’t it be letting you off easy if I just killed you? Don't you want to know how all this happened?”

Guo Huizhu's lifeless eyes moved slightly but she didn’t make a sound.

Guo Huizhen, “It’s just an illusion spell. You thought the one you caught in Huaqing Palace was Yan-xiuyi, but it’s in fact your mother. You thought the cloaked woman was your mother, but in fact it's me. Oh yes, your mother has been saved by the imperial physician, but her face… Tsk, I wonder if Father can bear it. However, father’s Marquis position is also getting shaky, isn’t it?”

Guo Huizhen didn’t believe that Marquis Luo didn’t know anything about the affairs in the backyard. No one was innocent in this matter.

Guo Huizhu's face was pale, clutching her chest and gasping. After a while, she said, “How can you cast a spell?”

Guo Huizhen looked at her steadily for a moment and said nothing, leaving her to her own guesses, with no answer for the rest of her life.

The rumor was that a few days ago, the emperor's favorite concubine, Yan-xiuyi died a sudden death. The pair of children born to him and Noble Consort Zhen also passed away tragically. All of this was caused by Zhen-guifei’s competition for favor, which not only harmed Yan-xiuyi, but also accidentally implicated her pair of children.

The emperor fell very sick and only came back to his senses after a month. After that, Zhen-guifei, who was detained in the cold palace, was sentenced to skinning, while her mother was sent to the heavenly prison, tortured every day.

Meanwhile, in the countryside thousands of miles away from the capital, a beautiful woman was bowing to two youths. “Thank you for your kindness, immortals.”

The woman was Guo Huizhen. She knew by now that the two young people were not mortal. Otherwise, how could they use the immortal means to replace the emperor? And frequently used deception methods to let her enter and exit the Huaqing Hall at will so that no one noticed? Or refine the elixir that restored her appearance?

Now, the people who harmed her had received their comeuppance, the emperor who broke her heart had experienced the same pain as her, and the two children were also brought to her. Even though she could only remain incognito as a village woman for the rest of her life, she had no attachments and no more regrets.

Looking at the two departing backs, she kowtowed again and did not get up for a long time.

…

Last time, in the Apricot Blossom Village illusion, Jing Yue received the Nanweng Elixir that could prolong life for 1,500 years. This time was not in vain either. Through hypnotizing Madam Marquis, Jing Yue knew that her evil method was learned from a book, so he took the book without hesitation.

After reading it, Jing Yue found that this book was not of evil arts but a transformation technique. The book recorded many ways to change appearance, and skinning was the most superficial one. Madam Marquis had no spiritual roots and couldn't practice other spells, so she could only choose the cruelest method.

In fact, this book was called ‘Thousand Faces Technique’. Once cultivated to the highest level, one only needed to borrow a piece of hair to transform into the appearance of others, and the appearance could also be changed at will. This kind of transformation technique was different from that of the Cadaver Gate and the Asura Tower. The former was transformation while the latter two were more equivalent to possessing others. If anything, it was closer to the effect of the Camouflage Pill, but the pill couldn’t hide someone from cultivators Amethyst Abode and above, while the Thousand Faces Technique could fool almost anyone below Tribulation Passage.

Jing Yue put the book away, patted Qin Yanzhi, and half-jokingly said, “Yanzhi’s favored consort was not in vain. We even obtained a pretty interesting technique and can laugh about it.”

Qin Yanzhi smiled half-heartedly. “Ge pretending to be the emperor was also not for nothing. When will you let me see you dress up as a woman?”

Jing Yue suspected that Qin Yanzhi held some resentment and said strong-handedly, “I’m just afraid that you are too young to cope with it. The emperor is always surrounded by thousands of beautiful women and you must withstand the temptation. What if you got bewitched? A young man like you must abstain from lust.”

When Qin Yanzhi heard the words ‘abstain from lust’, he inexplicably thought of not long ago when he entered the illusion alone, he saw Jing Yue, who was wet in the rain, and his face turned red.

Jing Yue just thought he was shy and marveled at his low tolerance. If Ji-ji recited some little porn to him, those articles from the street vendors that portrayed him as the protagonist, would he explode in blood and die instantly?

Blue phoenix immediately said in his divine consciousness, “Me, me, me! Ji-ji can recite!”

Jing Yue, “… No need.”

Innocent Jing Yue learned many years later that having Ji-ji to recite the little yellow text was nothing. What was truly scary was that someone could recite the plot from the little yellow text in an extremely serious tone while doing something extremely indecent to him.

At this time, the surrounding scene began to fade. Then, he felt his body lighten and fell into darkness.

For cultivators, even in the dark, one could rely on the divine consciousness to see things. But here, the divine consciousness seemed to be sealed off. Apart from the black, there was nothing.

“Jing-jing-jing-jing-jing, where are you?” Blue phoenix’s anxious voice sounded. “Ji-ji can’t find you!”

Jing Yue could hear the sound of wings flapping not far away and quickly said, “Ji-ji, come here, I’m here.”

As soon as the words were said, he felt a hand touch his arm and slide down again, holding him.

“Ge.”

Seeing that Qin Yanzhi was also there, Jing Yue relaxed a little. “I think we have reached the sixth floor. This place…”

He put his hands together and a few frozen stones appeared between his fingers. Jing Yue tossed the stones to gauge directions. Judging from the echoes, this place should be a tunnel, very long and not wide.

There was no smell, no sound, and no vision. It seemed to be an enclosed space.

Qin Yanzhi, “Shall we go forward?”

Jing Yue, “We can only go forward.”

Ji-ji slipped into Jing Yue’s arms and they went forward in the dark. They were on high alert the entire way but encountered nothing.

The road seemed endless and time passed infinitely. The cultivator’s physique was good and would never tire after walking for a long time, but it weighed on them psychologically. It seemed that if they continued to walk like this, they would reach the ends of the world and walk through the vicissitudes of life.

Qin Yanzhi was in a trance. He felt like he had become a spirit floating in the boundless darkness and only the warmth from his palms allowed him to connect with a little reality.

“Let's talk for a bit. I feel like I'm about to disappear,” Qin Yanzhi tried to be light-hearted amid the gloom.

“Don't be distracted. There may be danger here at any time.”

Qin Yanzhi could only shut his mouth and held Jing Yue's hand even harder.

Gradually, his body got hotter and hotter, as if he was in a sea of fire, his feet were stepping on lava, and even his soul was about to be burned. Later, every step he took felt extremely difficult. Occasionally, a little white light flickered in front of him as if the exit of the tunnel was not far away. But when he looked carefully, there was still only pitch black.

Jing Yue heard Qin Yanzhi gasping for breath and guessed that the other party might have encountered a problem, but he was not affected at all.

He speculated that perhaps this tunnel was supposed to be a test of mind and he could go on calmly forever, but Qin Yanzhi in the small world was only 20 years old with limited experience, so he might have to suffer a little.

Even so, he didn’t give him any reminders because Qin Yanzhi could rely on himself to really break through the darkness, and he believed that Qin Yanzhi could surely do so.

Qin Yanzhi knew that his current state was not normal. Unfamiliar anxiety filled his heart, making him want to rebel, want to destroy, and want to vent recklessly!

His consciousness gradually became chaotic. All rationality was stripped, disintegrated, and shattered, bit by bit.

If there was light at this time, then Jing Yue would see that Qin Yanzhi's eyes had turned red, full of violence and desire.

But he couldn't see it. He just rubbed the back of the other party's hand with his fingertips anxiously, as a reassurance.

At that moment, Qin Yan Zhi suddenly stopped in his tracks. He sensed the kindness coming from his side, his blazing body cooled down slightly, and his sanity returned gradually.

A vast ocean appeared in front of him. Huge waves rolled in and crashed on the rocks. The splashing water droplets converged into the character ‘Jing’, every stroke crystal clear, reflecting the blue of the sea as if the entire ocean was locked in it.

Qin Yan Zhi looked at the word ‘Jing’ and thought of a name, the most important and most meaningful name to him.

His heart began to return to tranquility.

“Gege?”

“I’m here.”

Jing Yue knew that Qin Yanzhi had recovered and finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, a murderous intent struck and Jing Yue took Qin Yanzhi to avoid it, but his sleeve got cut.

It was here! The real danger of the tunnel had come!

At this time, his vision was finally clear and his divine consciousness was released. An icicle was stuck in the ground not far away and a blue afterimage was quickly disappearing into the darkness.

Jing Yue thought about it and felt that the figure was a bit familiar.

“Ge, are you alright?”

Jing Yue was about to speak when another black figure rushed out diagonally, carrying a wooden sword fiercely stabbing at him. The ordinary strike gave him an illusion that he couldn’t evade it.

His brain was in a mess, his ears rang loudly, and his body froze uncontrollably. Just a moment’s delay and the sword was already right in front of him!

At the critical moment, Qin Yanzhi moved forward. Two wooden swords clashed. A crisp sound was heard and both swords broke.

Blood spilled from the corners of Qin Yanzhi’s lips. The black shadow also wavered and Jing Yue finally saw the opponent. It didn't even have facial features, just like wearing a white shell mask, but also gave Jing Yue a sense of familiarity.

The black shadow slowly became transparent, disappearing like the blue shadow just now.

Jing Yue seized the time to take a pill from the Qiankun bag and handed it to Qin Yanzhi. Meanwhile, he also asked blue phoenix in his divine consciousness if it noticed anything unusual.

Blue phoenix proved to be the weakest link again and said drily, “Ji-ji will try hard to observe a little while longer…”

Jing Yue gave up on blue phoenix as soon as he heard that. He still had to rely on himself.

He recalled the sword of the black shadow just now and his expression became more serious. Even Qin Yanzhi didn’t dare to disturb him when he saw that.