Techniques and Dao

Chapter 29 Illusory Realm
With a deafening roar, the stone gate collapsed, raising a cloud of rubble and dust.

Then, a cool breeze blew in.

The people behind them stared in disbelief.

"How did you know there were traps here?" It was Mie Ying who spoke first.

"No, I didn't press it; it doesn't seem like a mechanism."

Mieying asked, "What kind of immortal technique was used?"

"I have never recited any immortal incantations."

"That is how the matter?"

Hua Sheng also looked puzzled as he slowly walked out of the stone gate. The starry night sky immediately came into view, and the soft rustling of leaves swaying in the night breeze could be heard all around.

Before him lay a wide, cobblestone avenue. He remembered this road vividly; towering trees lined both sides, and between them stood four tall pavilions on each side, eight in total. At the end of the avenue rose a majestic mountain, shrouded in mist and clouds.

The first time he walked this road, he was following the dark clouds.

"The Academy of Arts and Martial Arts?" Taishang Xiaojun then came out.

"We're back?" It was the chubby disciple Rongping who spoke. "That's great!"

After they emerged, they realized they had been inside a huge rectangular stone box. The stone walls were at least ten feet thick.

Xuanwen pointed to her mouth: "Waaah..."

After seeing this, Taishang Xiaojun helped him break Tianjizi's spell: "What do you want to say?"

After taking a few deep breaths of fresh air, Xuanwen said, "Even a thick stone wall should be able to be broken. This stone box must have been enchanted."

"How can you trap the disciples of the Magic Academy without using magic?"

"As expected of a celestial array set up by a celestial master," Xuanwen replied.

Tianjizi also stepped out of the stone box. He turned around and looked at it, saying, "But since the Divine Mind Calculation Game has ended and the third game hasn't even started yet, why are we trapped inside?"

No one knew the reason. Moreover, judging from the sky, it was the middle of the night. There wasn't a single person in sight inside the academy.

"Perhaps the Candlelight Battle and the Divine Calculation Game have dragged on for too long, and everyone has gone back to their rooms to rest," Qi Guang said. "We might as well go back to our rooms and ask the immortal masters again at dawn."

"That's excellent. I need to go back and get some sleep right away. Farewell, everyone. After you've had a good rest, we'll have to compete again in the next round." Xuanwen then left as well.

Tianjizi and Mieying remained silent, then turned and rode away on the clouds.

Reminded by the reminder, Hua Sheng realized that drowsiness was creeping over her and prepared to go back to her room. Seeing Rong Ping still circling the large stone box, she asked, "Why aren't you going back?"

Rongping wiped his forehead; the wound had stopped bleeding. Only his sleeves and chest were stained with blood. He said, "I'm wondering why this large stone box was placed on the Spirit Heaven Sacred Path. You guys go ahead, I'll be right back."

Seeing that he still wanted to stay by the stone box, and with her own eyelids feeling as heavy as lead, Hua Sheng stopped asking questions and walked towards their residence with Tai Shang Xiao Jun.

The Xiyuan compound was unusually quiet throughout the journey; not a sound could be heard.

Before long, Hua Sheng and Tai Shang Xiao Jun stepped into the courtyard of their residence. Upon entering the living room, Hua Sheng plopped down in a chair, feeling numbness in his legs and soreness in his back. The two consecutive Heavenly Eye Trials had left him extremely exhausted.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun walked behind, but stayed in the courtyard and did not enter.

"What are you doing? Why don't you come in?" Hua Sheng asked, sitting cross-legged on the chair, resting his arms on the armrests, and supporting his drowsy head.

"It's okay. I'll be right there."

When Hua Sheng heard Tai Shang Xiao Jun's reply, he wanted to urge her again, but found himself too tired to speak. As soon as he sat down, sleepiness washed over him like a tide, and his mind became hazy.

Immediately afterward, Hua Sheng had a strange dream. He was walking on the Xuanwu Divine Mountain of the Daoist Academy when he saw Wei Yu sitting on the stone steps in front of the Lingyan Tower. He saw Wei Yu's delicate profile, which appeared flawless in the moonlight, like a fairy. But Wei Yu's eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if she was thinking about something.

He deliberately walked softly, intending to play a prank and scare her. But as he approached, he found tears streaming down Wei Yu's face. Wei Yu wasn't crying out loud; she was just shedding tears.

“Time. Time.” He heard Wei Yu repeat the word softly.

Hua Sheng stopped in her tracks.

"What should I do... what should I do? Great monk, why did you take this time..."

Wei Yu's eyes were glazed over, and she muttered to herself incomprehensible words.

What kind of girl is Wei Yu? Hua Sheng suddenly began to ponder. He remembered that Wei Yu had once suddenly shown a kind of inexplicable fear, and now why was she so sad? The way Wei Yu was behaving was completely different from what Hua Sheng had heard.

Or perhaps he had never truly understood Wei Yu. He wasn't even sure if all girls were like this. In his memory, he had never been so close to any girl. Although many girls at Wei Yu's age were indeed sentimental, Hua Sheng was certain that this wasn't the reason Wei Yu was like this.

In front of many people, Wei Yu always appears unusually mature and aloof, yet she is full of enthusiasm for Hua Sheng. But sometimes, Wei Yu is like a helpless child. When she trembles, she's like a child lost in the forest—no, perhaps more like someone abandoned deep within the forest.

Moreover, Wei Yu seems to be under some kind of immense, unseen pressure.

All of this is like a mystery.

Wei Yu muttered to herself, leaving Hua Sheng completely bewildered. He wanted to get closer, but then he heard Wei Yu's alert voice: "Who is it?"

"It's me." Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, Hua Sheng simply came out.

When Wei Yu saw the blooming flowers, her expression was one of surprise and confusion. Then, Wei Yu hurriedly wiped away the tears on her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Hanamori? It's you?"

"I'm sorry, I think I might be disturbing you..."

"No, wait." Wei Yu raised her hand to stop Hua Sheng from speaking, and said, "Where did you come from? How did you end up here?"

Hua Sheng thought carefully, but for a moment he didn't know why he was on Xuanwu Divine Mountain. He could only say, "I was participating in the Heavenly Eye Trial, and I don't know how I ended up here."

"You participated in the Heavenly Eye Trial?"

"Correct."

"How did I end up here during the Heavenly Eye Trial?"

"It's hard to say. But the trial should be over for now."

"Why would you participate in that? That's a challenge that only top-tier disciples dare to take on."

Hua Sheng hesitated for a moment, but decided not to hide it from Wei Yu.

"Because Tianjizi has always been the winner of the Tianmu Trial, I think if I can stop him, he will agree to my request."

"What did you promise?"

"Promise not to stop me from being with you."

Wei Yu was silent for a while, then said, "Just because of a few casual words he said that night? Why did you take it seriously?" Hua Sheng didn't say anything.

“Tianjizi won’t win forever,” Weiyu suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Hua Sheng suddenly perked up and asked, "Huh? You can trust me?"

Wei Yu said, "Although Tianjizi possesses great fortune, if he relies on it too much, he will inevitably suffer a complete defeat sooner or later."

Hua Sheng wanted to tell Wei Yu about his plan: "I thought of a method before, but I don't know if it will work. I plan to..."

Wei Yu stopped him with her hand, saying, "No, you don't have to tell me your thoughts. Just remember, luck is not invincible, but there is one thing that cannot be defeated."

"what?"

"logic."

Hua Sheng was stunned, thinking he had misheard. He hadn't expected Wei Yu to use such a word; he had thought Wei Yu might be telling him about some kind of magic.

"The logic you're talking about? Is there some kind of magical art called logic?"

"Logic is logic. Hua Sheng, you come from the mortal realm, you should know what I'm referring to."

"But how can logic contend with ultimate destiny? Ultimate destiny itself even surpasses immortal arts."

Wei Yu slowly said, "This has nothing to do with magic. Hua Sheng, just remember, in this world, only logic is invincible. Just like there is no such thing as a black swan. The simpler the logic, the more powerful it is. The only thing that can defeat logic is logic itself."

“Logic…” Hanamori carefully savored the word.

"It's time for you to go back."

"But you're still here so late? Let's go back together."

“No,” Wei Yu said, “I want to sit here for a while longer.”

"At Lingyan Tower? It's too cold at the top of the mountain; you'll get sick if you sit on the stone steps."

"It's okay, you go first."

"Wei Yu, is something on your mind? Last time and this time, what are you worried about? And I saw you crying just now." Hua Sheng couldn't help but worry.

"This is just my nature. Sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming, acting crazy, maybe even a little out of my mind." Wei Yu's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint, weary smile.

Although Wei Yu said this, she was clearly very clear-headed. On the contrary, she even possessed a rationality beyond that of ordinary people.

"Nonsense! How can you say I'm crazy? If you're crazy, then I'm definitely even crazier!"

Hua Sheng interrupted Wei Yu and was about to step forward when he suddenly lost his footing and fell heavily to the ground. The bricks were exceptionally hard, and the impact made him see stars.

"Hey! Are you alright?" For some reason, Tai Shang Xiao Jun's voice suddenly came.

Hua Sheng got up, only to realize he had fallen off the chair. It really was a dream. Rubbing his shoulder, he asked, "I think I just drifted off to sleep and had a strange dream. How long did I sleep?"

Are you asleep?

"It should be. What just happened?"

"You asked me why I didn't come in, so I came in."

"What? I feel like I've slept for a long time." Hua Sheng rubbed his temples and said, "Let's go rest. I'm so tired I'm dizzy."

As Hua Sheng spoke, she headed towards the inner room. After taking only two steps, she noticed that Tai Shang Xiao Jun hadn't moved forward. She turned around and asked, "Why are you still standing there? Aren't you sleepy? Should I go in first?"

"Now is not the time to sleep."

"What?" Hua Sheng asked, puzzled, a hint of resentment in his voice. When people are extremely tired, they are usually not very patient.

Do you remember that flower in our yard?

"What? Which flower?"

“You were casting a spell on that flower that day when I happened to walk in.”

"I remember, I accidentally made the flower wither, and then you brought it back to life. So what?" Hua Sheng started rubbing her eyes.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun pulled Hua Sheng from the living room to the courtyard, pointed to a flower on the ground and said, "There's something wrong with this flower."

Hua Sheng became a little irritated: "Isn't this that flower? It's so dark, I can't see it clearly. But it's perfectly fine, isn't it?"

Do you remember the color of the flower?

"How long ago was that? I can't remember. I think it was light yellow?"

“It’s light yellow,” said Taishang Xiaojun.

Hua Sheng crouched down and examined the flower closely. It was indeed a pale yellow flower, its petals fully open, and it looked like it had just bloomed.

"What's the problem? I'm exhausted right now, I don't have time to admire the flowers." Hua Sheng said, preparing to stand up.

"It shouldn't be light yellow."

"Why not?"

"Because when I turned the petals back, I turned them blue."

Hua Sheng's sleepiness was somewhat dispelled by Tai Shang Xiao Jun: "Are you too tired and have you misremembered?"

"I cannot be mistaken." Tai Shang Xiao Jun's tone left no room for compromise.

"So what? Maybe your blue flower withered, and a pale yellow one bloomed in the same spot. You know, these flowers might have been the same variety when they were planted. It's not surprising that flowers of the same color are located close to each other."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun squatted down, held the flower in his hand, broke off a petal, and placed it in his palm. Then, he pressed it down, and the petal instantly turned into powder.

Hua Sheng shrank back: "What kind of magic did you cast? How did it turn into powder?"

"I did not cast any spells."

"If no magic was used, then how could this flower..."

"Because that's what magic is."

"What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Tai Shang Xiao Jun said with a solemn expression, "We've been deceived! This could be anywhere, but it could never be the Academy of Arts and Sciences!"

(End of this chapter)