Chapter 560: I’ve never heard of illusion art actually boosting intelligence!
Tian Yan pondered for a few seconds before nodding. “Got it. But you’ve really gotta be careful—no more showing off like last time when facing the Siku Family’s Great Ascension-stage experts.”
Bai Feng looked down at her serious little face, smiling as he ruffled her head with the other hand. “Relax, I value my life quite a bit. I only did that last time because I was pretty sure I could pull it off.”
“Hm.” Tian Yan nodded slightly. “Do you have any plans prepared?”
A little guilty, Bai Feng shook his head. It was his first time dealing with an Immortal—well, not the full thing, just the Divine Consciousness of an Immortal. Still, not exactly something he could casually tangle with like a leftover spawn of an Immortal.
His strongest move now was the Extermination Sword Array, but that divine consciousness from an Immortal would probably recognize the famous array at a glance, making him wary.
So, his strategy wasn’t about outright battling the divine sense but rather letting the system absorb and eliminate it once the divine consciousness ‘dies,’ much like dealing with a leftover corpse.
“Still,” Tian Yan said, lifting her expressionless little face to Bai Feng, “we can’t rely solely on the Sacred Land. I think before then, we should focus on leveling up our strength and cultivation. The old saying goes: ‘Sharpen your sword before battle.’”
“And…?”
“Start practicing,” Tian Yan said, placing her tiny hand on his collar.
Bai Feng: “……”
What the heck—why did the topic suddenly jump to that?
…
“Young Master Bai! I’m here!” Hu Yiyi hurried over on her little short legs, stopping steadily in front of Bai Feng. “What are we learning today? Oh, and when do we get back into that dream from before?”
“About that…” Bai Feng considered for a few seconds. “I’ll help you return to that dream first. Once the investigation’s done, we’ll continue.”
“Yay!!” Hu Yiyi cheered, raising her little fist. Finally, she could go back into that dream to find some clues!
“Sit here first. Once you’re seated properly, I’ll recreate that day’s dream for you.”
“Okay!”
Hu Yiyi quickly sat down, then looked up at Bai Feng, her face unmoving and serious.
“…Close your eyes.”
“Oh.”
As she closed her eyes, Bai Feng’s voice slowly whispered in her ear: “Relax as much as possible, and don’t resist the illusion art I’m about to cast.”
“Mm.”
Hu Yiyi nodded gently. As she relaxed, sleepiness washed over her. She instinctively wanted to resist, but then remembered something—she immediately relaxed again, and soon her breathing was even and steady.
When she reopened her eyes, she found herself in a familiar dense forest.
“Did it succeed?”
She looked around quietly, then glanced down at herself and realized she was still in her transformed form—not as the tiger, but still as her human outshape.
“Success.” Bai Feng appeared beside her. “And to let you observe more carefully, I separated your dream from the illusion itself. Now you can scrutinize all the details more thoroughly.”
“Oh, as expected of Young Master Bai, so thoughtful!” Hu Yiyi nodded eagerly, then immediately started searching. “I remember hiding here…”
A few minutes later, Hu Yiyi found her trembling ‘self’ inside a cave.
“And where’s the other tiger?”
She kept scanning her surroundings, completely uninterested in the ‘herself’ inside the cave.
“Here.” Bai Feng pointed at the entrance, and a tiger strolled in slowly.
Hu Yiyi instantly turned her head and squinted. “Hmm, I knew it…”
“What did you notice?”
“Hmph! Of course.”
Hu Yiyi nodded. She quickly detected something was off—perhaps because she was too scared in the dream, she hadn’t noticed that this tiger’s movements didn’t exactly look like a real tiger. Despite trying to pretend, its walk still seemed oddly un-coordinated, like it barely walked on all fours, maybe less often than usual.
Unlike her, Bai Feng was also scrutinizing this tiger he’d disguised, but he couldn’t spot anything unusual—could it be that his disguise wasn’t of a species from Eastern Continent?
They continued observing the two tigers hunting, eating, resting. The more Hu Yiyi watched, the more confident she looked; Bai Feng, meanwhile, stared at her confident little face with a furrowed brow. What did she see?
Surely, Hu Yiyi didn’t realize this tiger was him, right? No way—he hadn’t shown any flaws at all! Hmm… probably.
“The dream’s about to end. Found any new clues?” Bai Feng asked, retracting his gaze.
“Hmph, one look at a pile of broken iron shoes and I’ve already had my fill!” Hu Yiyi said confidently. “I’ve totally got it now.”
“Before you go on about your fancy words, what exactly do you understand?”
“You see this tiger,” she pointed to the one he transformed into, “its movements, its expressions—they don’t look like a normal tiger. They seem fake, a disguise.”
“Hmm…”
Bai Feng looked at the tiger he disguised himself as, feeling a bit uncertain—was his disguise really that bad?
“And why would my dream involve a disguised tiger?” Hu Yiyi twirled her little hand under her chin, hopping on her short legs, eyes flicking toward Bai Feng now and then. “First, we can be sure this tiger isn’t malicious toward me. Second, it’s probably here to help me. So why is it helping?”
“Why?” Bai Feng played along, “When did your brain become so sharp?”
“I have a bold idea,” Hu Yiyi stopped walking, hands on her hips, raising her little face to look at Bai Feng. “This tiger isn’t a dream I conjured myself. Someone disguised as a tiger entered my dream—its goal is to wake me up from my slumber!”
Bai Feng blinked, slowly reaching out to pick her up. He looked her over carefully. “Huh? It is Hu Yiyi, but… it doesn’t quite seem right. Nobody ever said illusion art could boost intelligence, huh?”
“Stop pretending. I already guessed,” Hu Yiyi said, still with her hands on her hips. “The tiger is Bai Feng, right?!”
Silence fell.
Bai Feng was silent—not surprised that his secret was revealed, but rather stunned that Hu Yiyi’s little brain had suddenly become so clever.
“Fine, you’re right.” He shook his head without arguing, letting her down. “I admit it.”
“Even if you don’t admit it… you did, right?”
Hu Yiyi froze. She was ready for Bai Feng to deny it and push her away. Whether they could succeed with their cultivation gap, that’s not the point. Success or failure, getting in or out—that’s another matter entirely.
