Chapter 360: The Continuation Of The Past Dream
Imperial Palace — The Immortal Life Pool
Right now, Bai Xiaoyao and Luo Wusheng were sitting together in the front hall of the pavilion that housed the legendary Immortal Life Pool.
The interior matched the opulent, elegant style of the imperial palace—extravagant, yet refined. The entire hall was empty aside from the two of them, and considering the sheer size of the building, it was clear the Immortal Life Pool was meant to be a large, open facility.
But today, it had been activated solely for Bai Xiaoyao's recovery.
The truth was, the Immortal Nation had enjoyed relative peace these past two years. With fewer conflicts, this rare healing sanctuary hadn't seen much use. That was one reason why it had been sealed off.
The bigger reason, however, was the chaos that erupted three years ago when the previous Immortal Emperor vanished. With the Netherkin Race stirring up trouble, the nation fell into disarray, and the Immortal Life Pool was used excessively for injuries in that period. After things settled down, the pool was sealed, and could only be reopened through official decree.
Thus, the peaceful years that followed acted as a cooldown period for the sacred pool. Only on rare occasions would someone be granted access to heal within it.
Bai Xiaoyao had already experienced its miraculous effects firsthand.
Her wounds, which should have taken weeks to recover from, were nearly fully healed after just one night in the pool. Even lingering issues had been completely resolved.
Still, it seemed the pool hadn't quite regained its full power. According to legend, the waters could even regrow severed limbs—but based on her experience, that might've been an exaggeration. Or at least, something the pool wasn't currently capable of.
But Bai Xiaoyao wasn't concerned with that detail right now.
Something just felt… off.
Currently, she was kneeling on the floor, leaning slightly forward with her body pressed gently against the back of the young man sitting cross-legged in front of her.
Her soft, pale hands were gently rubbing his head.
"Does it feel good, Senior Brother?"
"Mmm… yeah…"
Luo Wusheng's voice was distant, as if his thoughts were far away. His body was stiff, clearly not at ease.
Because he was facing away from her, Bai Xiaoyao couldn't see his expression—but she could hear his uneven breathing, the faint tremble in his exhale.
Which, naturally, made her remember the scene from just moments earlier.
It was right after she heard him call out for her. She had ended her healing session and prepared herself before stepping out of the bath area.
—Well, she had done it with a bit of mischief in mind.
Sure, she almost walked out without putting anything on. That would've been bad. But in the end, she did put on a clean white dress before exiting.
However, she didn't bother tying up her long, dark hair. She left it loose, letting the droplets of water from her bath still cling to it. A few drops even trailed down the strands and fell onto her clothes.
Her intention? To make sure her dense Senior Brother knew she'd just come out of the bath. Maybe that would stir some imagination in his head? Maybe he'd picture something a little more… suggestive?
She was curious to see how flustered he'd get.
And to her great satisfaction, it worked.
Luo Wusheng was indeed flustered—his expression was one she hadn't seen in a long time: red-faced, awkward, anxious, a little embarrassed… yet somehow also hopeful?
(…But wait, I didn't really do anything too bold, did I? Why does he look like that?)
As she opened the door and looked at that familiar face—one she'd seen even in her dreams—she paused.
His usual calm was nowhere to be found.
Even though his left eye had become hollow and etched with mysterious patterns, it was undeniably him—her Senior Brother, the Holy Saint of the Demon Sect.
And yet… something felt off.
So off, in fact, that for a second she worried maybe she really had walked out naked.
A quick glance down confirmed her white dress was still on, thank the heavens.
"Senior Brother? What happened to you? What's with that look…?"
As Bai Xiaoyao asked her question, she stared intently at her Senior Brother's face, noting the peculiar state he was in—especially that empty, hollow left eye.
She had seen him like this once before.
It was back when they first discovered the chicken Netherkin's true identity. Back then, Luo Wusheng had also taken on this strange appearance. He had tried to cover his eye at the time, but Bai Xiaoyao, ever observant and focused on him, had caught a glimpse of the change.
Right after that... her Senior Brother had captured the chicken Netherkin's disguised form.
But before Bai Xiaoyao could dwell too long on that memory, Luo Wusheng seemed to rein himself in, adjusting his expression with practiced calm.
The proud Holy Saint of the Demon Sect gave a little cough.
"Ahem. It's… it's nothing. Just a slight mishap while activating a secret artifact. You know, this area is where we fought the chicken Netherkin yesterday. I was trying to see if I could pick up any lingering traces of something special."
Something about his explanation felt a little off to Bai Xiaoyao. Her instincts told her he wasn't lying—but something about his words still struck her as odd.
Before she could respond, Luo Wusheng—pointing to his own left eye—quickly pressed on, giving her no chance to interrupt.
"Ahahaha… Anyway, looks like the Immortal Life Pool really does live up to the legends. Just a short soak and your wounds are already pretty much gone. Excellent... truly excellent…"
"Oh, and since the atmosphere here is perfect, and it's just the two of us, how about we take this rare chance to resolve the 'Dao of Causality' issue between us? You know, the one that's still hanging over our heads… we can talk about what happened after the battle while we're at it…"
A few moments passed.
Watching her Senior Brother lean in and rest his head next to her hand with zero hesitation, even the usually unshakable Bai Xiaoyao was at a loss for words.
She had thought that even if he were willing to cooperate in completing their mysterious Predestined Effect (which he likely had no idea about), he'd still need a few attempts—maybe two or three—to get used to the idea before naturally going along with it like this.
But now… he was leaning in on his own?
Wasn't this progressing a bit too fast?
...
Meanwhile, despite looking calm on the surface, Luo Wusheng was screaming inside.
Bai Xiaoyao had no idea that, at this very moment, he was secretly using the new power of his Antediluvian Nether Eye... to spy on the Empress watching… ahem... "educational films."
Educational films that introduce people to the knowledge of how to make children.
The two actors of the educational film are himself and the Empress of the Immortal Nation.
Genre: Romance, Mature
Rated: Very not safe for public consumption.
Through the shadow hidden beneath her—his Antediluvian Nether Eye power—he was witnessing the whole thing in real-time.
When he first saw it, he had genuinely been stunned.
Originally, he had just planned to discreetly scan the Immortal Pool area for clues. That was why he'd activated the Ephemeral Tether Nexus in the first place. But the moment he saw that scene, he'd lost control of himself and couldn't help blurting out a loud "What the—!?"
And in that same moment, he totally forgot to disable the voyeuristic ability, leaving his eye in that hollowed-out state.
Fortunately, Bai Xiaoyao didn't understand the significance of his Antediluvian Nether Eye's appearance—nor did she understand the modern dialect he accidentally slipped into. She could only guess at his flustered state based on his tone.
Still… that shock had been real.
This new ability of his Antediluvian Nether Eye allowed him to leave behind a portion of his shadow in a place he'd previously visited. The mechanic was similar to his older Ephemeral Tether Nexus, but with several key differences.
For one, the shadow he left could now move within the area on its own, responding to his intent—but it could only activate its voyeur ability when within darkness.
The duration depended on how much of his shadow he left behind. For instance, this time he only used the shadow from his right arm, which gave him around half an hour of peeping time. If he'd used his full-body shadow, he could've spied for up to three hours.
But doing that would also drastically increase the risk of discovery.
He'd only used this power on a whim today—because the Empress had been acting strange lately, and he was curious what she was up to. Especially after obtaining this new ability.
And the result?
Well… to put it crudely—
He got to see the continuation of the dream that he had in the past
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Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD[1]
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[1] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
[2] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
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