Thousand Flower
Before Ruan Qingyu could continue thinking, the strange sensation of downy hair on her calves brought her back to her senses, and she looked down.
She saw Yun Yin staring intently at her, his eyes filled with worry, clearly still thinking she was in an illusion.
"I'm fine, I just used up too much spiritual energy." Ruan Qingyu recalled how she had attacked the fake Chen Tian in a fit of anger. Although she knew it was an illusion, she still felt a sense of satisfaction.
Upon hearing her words, Yun Yin immediately felt relieved: "Many cultivators have fallen victim to this cave. If they cannot see through the illusion, they will be trapped in a cycle until their spiritual energy is exhausted, and they will eventually grow old here like ordinary people."
As he spoke, Yun Yin looked at the white flowers beside him, his voice unusually deep: "I didn't expect that there would be a Thousand Machine Flower growing next to the Transformation Fruit. With this thing around, every time it ripens, the aura it emits can bring the surrounding demon beasts or human cultivators into an illusion, and finally absorb their spiritual power to increase its own strength."
"Thousand-Mechanism Flower?" Ruan Qingyu looked at the white flower with some curiosity. After breaking the illusion, she had sealed her five senses with her spiritual power and no longer absorbed the spiritual energy around her.
Nodding, Yun Yin said, "Let's take the Transformation Fruit first, and pick the Thousand-Mechanism Flower directly. We might need it in the future." Although the Thousand-Mechanism Flower is useless unless one is a highly skilled alchemist.
But since the two of them had encountered each other, there was no reason to let it go to waste.
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qingyu covered her palm with flames. She carefully stored the Thousand Machine Flower, which was still emitting a strange fragrance, into her storage bracelet, and then looked at the Transformation Fruit.
There were only three on the tree. If they were all taken, the people who escaped might become suspicious. Thinking of Yu Linlin, who had also come in, Ruan Qingyu carefully picked two Transformation Fruits.
She then quickly returned to Lü Liangke's side. After the illusion broke, she had already walked from the entrance of the cave to its deepest part. Along the way, she saw the senior brothers who were said to have arrived first, and it was clear that they had been in the illusion for quite some time.
The faces of the group were all pale, their lips the same color as those of a terminally ill person. In the middle of the path stood Yu Linlin, her eyes closed, her body radiating colorful spiritual light.
Yu Linlin must have encountered something in the illusion to be in this state, otherwise she wouldn't have mobilized all her spiritual power to attach to herself.
After Ruan Qingyu took the Thousand Flower, the strange fragrance in the cave gradually dissipated, and the poisonous spiritual energy was also gradually consumed.
The first to awaken was Yu Linlin in the cave passage. She frowned and suddenly opened her eyes. The previously turbulent colorful spiritual energy around her softened again, but she still had some lingering emotions from the scene she had just witnessed.
A moment later, Yu Linlin came to her senses and scanned the cave with her divine sense. She naturally saw the Transformation Fruit, but assumed that she had broken the illusion prematurely.
This strange fruit was the culprit that had trapped everyone in the illusion. Linlin then made a hand seal and chanted incantations.
As the colorful clouds dispersed, the disciples who had been trapped in the illusion awoke one after another. All of them wore expressions of shock and lingering fear.
After waking up, Lü Liangke first looked at Ruan Qingyu, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was alright.
"In the illusion just now, I found that you were like a demon, constantly chasing me. If I made a move, you would disappear, and if I stopped, you would reappear. Even the spiritual energy in my body was out of control and kept flowing away." Lü Liangke spoke very quickly, and only stopped after realizing that the disciples around her were in a similar state.
Ruan Qingyu nodded, then whispered, "I just saw those seven-colored clouds. It must have been Senior Sister Yu who broke through the illusion first and saved everyone."
Although the voice was low, the surrounding disciples could still hear it. Upon hearing this, they all showed gratitude, followed by a hint of regret.
"Let alone good stuff, even if you gave it to me, I wouldn't dare come here. Just now in that illusion, I saw many ferocious beasts that almost devoured me," a disciple said, patting his chest with lingering fear.
The other person beside him said, "Yes, me too. In the illusion, everyone there was someone I had a grudge against. They chased after me and tried to kill me. No matter where I hid, they could find me. It was terrifying."
Once the disciples closest to the outside of the cave regained consciousness, they ran straight out of the cave entrance. This place was so dangerous that even the best opportunities were not for them to seize.
Just as Ruan Qingyu was pondering how to speak to Lü Liangke, someone finally emerged from the depths of the cave. Leading the way was Yu Linlin, with a thick, seven-colored mist floating behind her.
Within those clouds and mist were the Xuan Tian Sect senior brothers that Ruan Qingyu had seen, who were trapped in an illusion and had almost completely exhausted their spiritual energy.
"Senior Sister Yu is so kind; she even brought several senior brothers along."
"She took all the best things; saving someone is just a matter of lifting a finger." This was quite a blunt remark, and Yu Linlin, who was nearby, must have heard it, but she didn't even glance at the other person.
His eyes swept over the disciples still lingering at the cave entrance, then suddenly fixed his gaze on Ruan Qingyu.
The gaze felt tangible; Ruan Qingyu was certain the other person was looking at her. A sudden tightness gripped her heart. Had they discovered she had taken the Transformation Fruit?
Fortunately, Yu Linlin seemed to have only glanced at them casually before quickly looking away and leading the unconscious Xuan Tian Sect disciples outside.
"Yunyin, when I made my move just now, she should still be in the illusion. How could she have known that I took the rest of the Transformation Fruits?" Instinctively, Ruan Qingyu asked within the contract consciousness, sensing that she had been discovered.
Yun Yin's voice quickly rang out: "Her seven-colored spiritual energy must be formed by a special physique. Judging from the descriptions of other Xuan Tian Sect disciples, she must be very sensitive to spiritual energy, which is why she was able to discover so many secret realms."
Naturally, one could sense the lingering aura of the Phoenix Divine Fire on the Transformation Fruit Tree. Among everyone present, only Ruan Qingyu possessed the aura of the Phoenix Divine Fire, which was why Yu Linlin was able to detect it.
"In that case, I should be even more careful when using the Phoenix Divine Fire in the future." Concealing the power of the divine fire and winning secretly is the best strategy.
Hearing her say one sentence, he immediately thought of himself. Yunyin helplessly flicked his tail: "There are only two or three people in the world who know about the Phoenix Divine Fire. She probably just noticed that your aura is not right. Don't worry."
Yun Yin was indeed right. Yu Linlin possessed the bloodline of Radiant Light, making her extremely sensitive to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Just now, on that strange fruit tree, she sensed a pure fire spiritual energy, which is why she became suspicious of Ruan Qingyu.
However, there was no other evidence, and Ruan Qingyu's cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, so it was impossible for her to break through the illusion faster than the only Golden Core cultivator present.
With her mind at ease, Ruan Qingyu's expression subtly relaxed.
"Liang Ke, it seems my disciple token has been recorded enough." Ruan Qingyu took out the disciple token that was shimmering with spiritual light, swept her divine sense over it, and found that the contribution points for this secret realm were already sufficient.
Hearing her ask this, Lü Liangke quickly examined himself, and after a moment he said with some surprise, "Is that really enough? Qingyu, are you going to leave now?"
This small secret realm was opened to all disciples by the sect for free. If they were to enter again in the future, some contribution points would be deducted. Immediately, Lü Liangke's expression became hesitant.
Having consumed most of the Transformation Fruits and now having broken through to a higher level of cultivation, Ruan Qingyu had also undergone another round of body tempering and strengthening. She was already content with this small secret realm, and the probability of finding anything good further was not high.
He immediately nodded and said, "That's enough, I want to go out."
Seeing that Ruan Qingyu genuinely wanted to leave, Lü Liangke looked somewhat regretful. She had gained quite a few resources from Ruan Qingyu these past few days. She felt that Ruan Qingyu was luckier, but now she wanted to cultivate in the secret realm for a few more days.
"Then you can go out first. I was thinking of cultivating here for a few more days," Lü Liangke sighed, her eyes filled with regret.
Understanding Lü Liangke's thoughts, Ruan Qingyu smiled slightly: "Alright, then be careful."
After speaking, Ruan Qingyu looked down at Yun Yin. She swiped her right hand across her disciple token, and the next moment she was enveloped in a white light and quickly disappeared from the spot.
Ruan Qingyu, who had been taken away, did not appear outside, but went straight back to the gate of Xuantian Sect. The disciples on duty were not surprised; many disciples had gone to and returned from the newly opened secret realm.
Although the secret realm was small, she had gained quite a bit in the past few days. Ruan Qingyu went to the affairs hall with a calm expression. The map of the small secret realm recorded in the disciple's token could be exchanged for a lot of contribution points.
The elders of the Affairs Hall had seen many disciples coming to exchange contribution points in the past few days. After asking Ruan Qingyu which small secret realm she had gone to, they took out the map from the token to check it.
Seeing that Ruan Qingyu had visited many places and recorded them in detail, and that many of these places even required a great deal of Yellow-grade spiritual herbs from various sects.
The elder of the Affairs Hall's eyes lit up: "You've not only been to many places, but you've also discovered quite a few resources. The sect naturally won't accept things that a disciple finds on his own. But since your map is of high quality, I'll take the liberty of giving you the highest contribution points."
I was initially a little worried that the elder had spent so much time examining me; perhaps he had discovered something. Maybe he was wondering how an ordinary disciple like myself had managed to visit so many places.
Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected surprise. Ruan Qingyu smiled and immediately cupped her hands, saying, "Thank you, Elder. This secret realm was originally opened to us disciples by the sect. It is really no big deal for us to record some maps for the sect."
The elder smiled kindly and quickly entered 2,400 contribution points into Ruan Qingyu's account. He then stroked his beard and said, "These contribution points are enough for you to go to the library to find more cultivation techniques. I see that you don't have any magic weapons, so perhaps you can go to the magic weapon pavilion to exchange for a suitable one."
Ruan Qingyu once again bowed and thanked the elder of the affairs hall for his kind advice.
However, he did not go to the Magic Weapon Pavilion, as he now possessed the Phoenix Divine Fire, which could be considered the best 'weapon'. However, he could not always rely on this divine fire as his primary weapon.
Now, the goal is to find a cultivation method for oneself, not to conceal the "Great Phoenix Heaven".
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