Chapter 319: After the Passage
Lin Wan arrived at the summit of Buzhou Mountain once again. The piercing mountain wind whistled past, causing her clothes to flap violently.
She gazed at the distorted and deformed void before her, her brows furrowing unconsciously.
This void was like a piece of silk crumpled by an invisible hand. Its edges flickered with unstable spatial ripples, expanding and contracting from time to time, as if breathing.
After hearing Jiang Che's words, although she was somewhat tempted, she still refused to travel with him. The main issue was naturally—safety.
What lay behind that void remained unknown. Even if it were the Upper Realm, the dangers it contained were currently unknown. As for this body of hers, it was ultimately just an incarnation. If trouble arose, she would flee immediately without even furrowing a brow.
"Tch, what a drag. It's not the main body, so what is there to fear?"
She smiled self-deprecatingly.
After all, this body was merely an incarnation. Even if it were lost, it would not harm the root.
Thinking of this, she no longer hesitated and stepped forward, instantly being swallowed by the void.
In an instant, the sensation of the world spinning struck like a tide. Lin Wan felt her body being pulled by countless invisible hands, and her limbs and bones were enduring immense pressure.
The surrounding scenery began to twist madly, turning into countless threads of flowing light. These threads interwound and tangled, outlining mysterious trajectories within the void.
"Somewhat interesting..."
Lin Wan suppressed her discomfort and observed these threads representing space-time laws with interest.
They did not drift about in disorder but flowed following a peculiar rhythm; sometimes gentle as a stream, sometimes rapid as a waterfall.
She tried reaching out to touch the nearest thread, and immediately, a sharp stinging sensation came from her fingertip. A drop of blood floated in the void.
"It can actually injure my incarnation?"
She raised her brows in surprise.
One must understand that even an incarnation contains the power of the Immortal Venerable level.
The pressure in the passage grew greater, and Lin Wan's body-protecting Astral Qi began to show tiny cracks, like spiderweb patterns on ice.
However, she did not panic; instead, she revealed an excited expression. In this chaotic space and time, she clearly sensed a fluctuation of power far surpassing the Lower Realm—that was a kind of primitive and pure energy.
Finally, after enduring what felt like an eternity of distortion, Lin Wan's vision went black.
When she recovered her vision again, she was already standing in a dense primeval forest.
Towering ancient trees pierced straight into the clouds. Their thick trunks were covered in moss, and sunlight filtered through layers of overlapping leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground.
The air was filled with the unique fresh fragrance of vegetation, mixed with a faint, indiscernible floral scent.
"...Is that it?"
Lin Wan looked around, the corner of her mouth twitching.
"What is the difference between the Upper Realm and the Lower Realm? Trees are still trees, grass is still grass. Is the sky in the Upper Realm perhaps a bit bluer?"
She just wanted to step forward when she suddenly paused, her brows knitting tightly.
"Not right."
She slowly raised her head, her gaze piercing through layers of tree crowns to look straight at the sky—
"This sky... actually really isn't blue..."
Indeed, it was not an illusion.
The sky was actually a pale pink.
Moreover, she clearly perceived that the Heavenly Dao Laws here were completely different from those of the Lower Realm, even carrying a kind of strange... greasiness?
"..."
Lin Wan fell silent for two seconds, withdrawing her gaze expressionlessly.
"No, I must first find a way to figure out if this place is truly the Upper Realm."
Immediately after, she frowned slightly, suddenly sensing something strange—there seemed to be something invisible floating in the air.
She stretched out her hand, palm facing up, allowing those invisible existences to land on her skin.
Gradually, a few pink threads manifested at her fingertips, as if materialized by some power.
"This is..."
She narrowed her eyes, carefully perceiving these peculiar energies.
The moment they touched her Immortal Essence, they dissipated, but very quickly new ones replenished them, like the unceasing catkins in spring.
Lin Wan circulated the Immortal Power within her, and a faint clear light rippled around her body.
Those pink threads melted like snow and ice upon encountering the light, but in the blink of an eye, more entwined around her, persistent to the point of being laughable.
"Heh."
She suddenly gave a light laugh and withdrew her body-protecting Immortal Light.
Since these things could neither erode her cultivation nor affect her consciousness, why waste energy? After all, it was just an incarnation. If something really went wrong, she would just discard it.
The pink threads grew more numerous, gradually accumulating on the tips of her hair and the hem of her clothes. Seen from another angle, it was like wearing a layer of hazy rosy clouds.
Lin Wan casually brushed past her shoulder, watching those scattered threads regather, a playful glint flashing in her eyes.
"This thing is actually somewhat similar to the power of merit I once saw, but it seems slightly different."
She muttered to herself, then paid it no more heed. With a single thought, she was already standing in the air. Her divine sense swept out like ripples across a radius of a hundred li, quickly locking onto a prosperous city.
The next moment, her figure flashed, and in an instant, she landed before the city gate.
Looking up, three large characters carved in a bold and flowing style were on the city gate—Lingzhou City.
"It is quite lively."
She swept a glance inside the city; mortals and cultivators lived together, and spiritual medicine shops stood next to wine shops on the roadside, yet there was not the slightest sense of discord.
The Upper Realm is abundant in spiritual energy, so the threshold for mortals to cultivate is low. It is not strange.
She pondered briefly and understood the reasoning, then immediately stepped into the city.
She hadn't walked for long when the "automatic pathfinding" instinct of the Huaxia people from her past life triggered. By the time she came back to her senses, she was already standing at the entrance of an exquisitely decorated inn.
"..."
Lin Wan fell silent for a moment, then laughed.
"Fine. I'll taste the delicacies of the Upper Realm and see how they differ from the Lower Realm."
Just as she was about to step inside, she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the end of the street.
"Make way! Make way, everyone!"
The crowd bustled as a wedding procession headed this way, with gongs and drums blaring and red silk fluttering. However, just as the procession reached the vicinity of the inn, the curtain of the bridal sedan chair was violently flung open. A woman in a phoenix crown and robes leaped down, tore off her red veil, and shouted angrily—
"I will not go through with this marriage!"
Her voice was clear and resonant: "The Little Young Master and my younger sister have long been in love. Today's marriage is simply a joke!"
The surrounding onlookers were in an uproar, discussing animatedly.
After saying that, the woman swept her gaze and actually charged straight in the direction of Lin Wan!
...
Lin Wan saw the woman in the phoenix crown and robes rushing towards her and frowned, a flash of impatience in her eyes.
"Tch, trouble."
Her figure flickered, instantly disappearing from the spot, leaving only a few wisps of unscattered clear wind. The woman threw herself at empty air, staggering a few steps before steadying herself, looking around blankly.
"Eh? I just now..."
She pressed her hand to her temple, appearing somewhat confused.
"Why did I want to run over here?"
The images that had inexplicably appeared in her mind just now flashed through her brain, along with the anger that had surged inside the sedan chair.
"So that is how it is."
She whispered, her eyes gradually clearing.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened her messy wedding dress and turned to walk back to the wedding procession.
The sound of drums and music resumed, as if the farce just now had never happened.
Not far away, Lin Wan appeared from the street corner, watching this scene thoughtfully.
...
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