Zhou Bai lay in the pit, closed his eyes, and soon felt a drowsy sensation.
’Am I actually entering a dream to study? Does that mean I’ll go alone to learn the Twilight Taoist Skill? Will it bring Christina along?’
Zhou Bai began to worry, ’If exposed, I’ll reverse time and then find an excuse to come back next time.’
Just as Zhou Bai was thinking this, he felt a wave of Primordial Spirit power enveloping him and a faint suction force seemed to pull at his consciousness.
Christina spoke, "This power of the Primordial Spirit must be from that great elder, it feels very gentle. It seems that I won’t enter the dream unless I actively go."
’Is that so? So as long as Christina doesn’t actively go, she won’t enter the dream?’
’Should I let Christina control my body just in case, to guard my physical body, while I enter the dream?’
Suddenly, an idea struck Zhou Bai, and he handed over the control of his body to Christina.
Christina took control of the body and nothing unexpected occurred. Although she really wanted to learn the Twilight Taoist Skill, she understood that the dream realm was too risky for exposure, so she could only guard Zhou Bai’s physical body from outside.
Next, Zhou Bai extended his own Primordial Spirit power.
The next moment, his vision went black, and he lost all sensation of his physical body.
As Ying Hui looked at Zhou Bai with some concern, he suddenly saw Zhou Bai sit up abruptly with a frown of confusion on his face.
At the same time, the other cultivators within the other pits also sat up one after another.
"Ah, the great elder has completely fallen asleep, and the dream has disappeared."
"He might sleep for several days."
"We won’t be able to see the elder these few days."
It turned out that due to some abnormalities, the elder occasionally needed to completely fall asleep, and today was apparently one of those days.
Zhou Bai thought to himself, ’Feels like they forcefully kicked people out like during game maintenance.’
Ying Hui sighed, "There’s no way around it, I’ll bring you back in a few days."
Thus, Zhou Bai had no choice but to head home.
Passing the gate, Zhou Bai saw Elder Sun shrunk in a lounge chair, feeling somewhat guilty as if the elder had seen through him.
However, he saw Elder Sun smiling at him and waving as he watched Zhou Bai leave.
After a long while, Elder Sun suddenly frowned, "Elder Sister? How did you come out?"
His head tilted slightly as if he was speaking to someone invisible.
A female voice rang in his mind, "Did you see clearly? I feel his consciousness seems somewhat familiar."
"Indeed, there’s a bit of Christina’s aura, but it’s slightly different. It might be some of her lineage left behind," smiled Elder Sun.
The female voice retorted, "Hmph, I find him utterly inept, none of Christina’s excellence seems to have been inherited."
Suddenly, Elder Sun spoke, "Could it be part of the Ming Ri plan?"
Female voice, "Impossible, that plan was terminated long ago. Don’t overthink it; if he can’t even master the Twilight Taoist Skill, then no plan would be useful."
Elder Sun exhaled, "Elder Sister, I feel like I can’t hold on much longer. Lately, I dream about master every day. I remember our days back on the mountain."
Elder Sun’s eyes turned pitch black as he seemed to see familiar figures standing not far away, smiling at him.
"Those were the happiest days of my life," sighed Elder Sun. "I miss them so much."
The female voice was silent for a while, then spoke sternly, "Have you forgotten who caused us to end up like this? Have you forgotten how our masters passed away? The Qingtian Dao Sect’s three thousand two hundred and two lives, and tens of billions of human souls, have you forgotten them all?"
Speaking, the voice softened, "Junior Brother, endure it. I know you’re suffering, but you must hang on."
Elder Sun’s eyes gradually returned to their original state. He looked bewilderedly around and softly said, "Elder Sister? Is it you?"
"Elder Sister?"
No one answered.
…
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The next morning just after six o’clock, Zhou Bai thought about his appointment with Lin Muqing and walked out of his dormitory.
Night 19:05, Zhou Bai stood on the rooftop of a small building.
He held a telescope he had exchanged, continuously watching for any sign of Lin Muqing.
This was his way of observing from a distance to assess Lin Muqing’s situation and to confirm whether it was a trap.
Meanwhile, Christina had already detached from Zhou Bai’s mind, wandering around and observing, ready to turn into smoke and return to his mind upon noticing anything.
…
Night 21:43, within the family home of Xiao Pei.
Lin Muqing slowly opened her eyes, her Primordial Spirit extended, sensing the breathing of a sleeping Xiaopei, and she slowly got up, preparing to go outside.
Because Xiaopei’s family was too busy, Lin Muqing had been living with Xiaopei to prevent any accidents.
As the former ace student in the special class, she was also greatly trusted by Zhao Shouyi.
Driven by the power of her Primordial Spirit, her body slowly floated up and headed towards the door.
Turning back to look at Xiaopei, who was sound asleep on the bed, Lin Muqing smiled gently, turned around, and left the dormitory, heading to the air corridor where she had agreed to meet Zhou Bai.
Halfway there, she suddenly frowned, recalling the way Xiaopei had been sleeping on the bed, feeling something was off.
"Xiaopei’s mental state has always been a bit unstable, she fell asleep a bit early today."
"And... the bed is much tidier than usual, as if no one had moved at all."
"Usually, even if she’s deeply asleep, she would toss and turn before that..."
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed. Lin Muqing decided to turn back to the dormitory building, but before going back, she thought for a moment, went behind a lamppost, and activated her Primordial Spirit to inscribe a secret message.
At 21:51, Lin Muqing returned to the dormitory building, first checking the Arrays inside and outside the building; after all, as a cultivator of the ’earth’ map route, as long as the Array was still intact, she feared no adversary.
20 minutes later.
"No issues; the Arrays set up by the Dao School’s Array Academy back then aren’t so easily broken."
"But the barrier that separates two realms has been activated, did Xiaopei activate it? Wanting some peace?"
After confirming that the Array was intact and still under her control, she returned to Xiaopei’s room to see Xiaopei still deeply asleep. She smiled faintly, talking to herself, "It seems I was overthinking it."
As she spoke, she turned to leave the bedroom.
But just as she turned around, Lin Muqing’s expression became extremely tense, solemn.
Because in that fleeting glimpse just now, she clearly noticed a slight abnormal tint in the shadow on the wall.
Now in the 5th realm, her memory, observation skills, or multitasking abilities were far superior to ordinary people.
An ordinary person wouldn’t have noticed it, but Lin Muqing could.
Even though her Primordial Spirit had swept over without sensing anything different, to be cautious, she decided to activate the Array, initiating a warning.
But just as she was performing the hand signs for the Array, a call came from behind her.
"Teacher!"
"Xiaopei?" Lin Muqing felt a moment of hesitation, worried Xiaopei might be in danger.
However, her battle-hardened nature allowed her to discard this hesitation instantly, and she continued with the hand signs.
Snap!
"No reaction? How is that possible?"
"I had just checked, the Array was fine."
While her thoughts were spinning, Lin Muqing had already turned around, sensing something approaching.
However, what lunged towards her was the feeble, powerless figure of Xiaopei.
And behind Xiaopei, the constantly twisting, undulating darkness.
Facing the approaching Xiaopei, the battle-hardened Lin Muqing did not reach out to catch her but instead swept her Primordial Spirit across the space, grabbed Xiaopei from afar, then triggered several Taoist skills to protect herself, and explosively retreated continuously.
"Xiaopei might be compromised, grab her from afar and take her away, don’t let her get close to me."
"Prioritize our own and Xiaopei’s safety, retreat... then send a signal to warn..."
Watching the intermittently flickering shadow in the room not chasing out, Lin Muqing wanted to unleash a Taoist thunder skill towards the sky to warn.
But she found that the thunder had just appeared from her palm and was blocked by the Array.
Immediately after, the surrounding spiritual mechanisms began to calm, making it difficult to cast Taoist skills.
"Is it the Power of Spirit Forbidden from the Array? Why is it targeting me?" Lin Muqing was startled.
But then she saw Xiaopei silently floating up, performing hand signs, and sighing, "Teacher... why is your observation so sharp?"
"Xiaopei?" Lin Muqing suddenly remembered that the Array set up in the dormitory building was controlled by Xiaopei with higher authority than hers. "What are you doing?"
Xiaopei sighed and said, "Teacher, can you stop resisting and talk with us? Stop struggling, any sound and light cannot escape this Array."
Yet, Lin Muqing completely ignored her words and turned to leave.
With her Taoist skills being suppressed and still within the Array of the place, she abruptly executed Gale Breath Walk, trying to first escape the dormitory building.
"And after all this commotion..." Lin Muqing looked at the sequence of open doors in the corridor, thinking to herself, "Did the other teachers also wake up?"
Seeing each person emerge with a look of alertness and confusion, Lin Muqing shouted, "Everyone, be careful, Xiaopei might have mutated."
Current time, 22:12 at night.