Chapter 120: White Tiger Mirror — A Surprise for Him

The Blood Moon had already been half devoured by dark clouds. There was still half an hour before the end of the Sixth Illusion. The magical beasts on the desert were entering a fatigued state, and the hordes that had gathered began to return to their nests in large numbers.

This was the perfect time to hunt magical beasts. Lian Mu and Wen Yun carved a bloody path through wave after wave, forcing a corridor through the swarms. The stench of beast blood mixed with the desert’s sandy scent was enough to make one dizzy.

“Watch your step.”

After killing the last beast, Wen Yun saw the sand shifting beneath Lian Mu’s feet and immediately pulled her back.

Lian Mu glanced at the sand’s surface and said, “It’s fake. Nothing will happen.”

She felt nothing at all inside, remaining perfectly still. Sure enough, in a moment the sinking sand stilled and returned to its normal state.

“Just a mirage in the desert,” Lian Mu said. “If you don’t panic, it won’t swallow you.”

She had already figured out the quicksand vortex’s pattern. As expected, this kind of illusion was likely a test set up by the Clear Thought Sect’s sect master to observe disciples’ state of mind in danger — once caught, staying calm was enough to survive.

Wen Yun stepped back two paces and stepped into another one. The sand immediately swallowed his feet. He tried to pull free but only sank deeper. Following Lian Mu’s advice to calm down, the sand stopped moving.

“So that’s how it works.” Wen Yun found it amusing. “Much more interesting than those fire pillars that shoot from the ground.”

Ji Mingyue finished her pills and stood up, feeling a chill that made her rub her arms. “This place is too quiet — even the magical beasts don’t make a sound. It’s much colder than before.”

“This desert is opposite to the outside. It’s blazing hot near the Black Tortoise Mirror, but the closer you get to the White Tiger Mirror, the colder it gets.” Lian Mu had felt this earlier but thought it was just her own misperception. Now it seemed it was deliberate.

Wen Yun nudged the corpse of a magical beast with his foot. In this environment, even the freshly killed flame beast cooled rapidly and stiffened completely.

Lian Mu cut off the usable parts and stored them in her spatial pouch. It was nearly full — they’d gathered plenty along the way and hadn’t run into any other sects. Apart from the endlessly ringing spirit jade token being annoying, everything had gone smoothly.

Lian Mu estimated they’d been walking for about half an hour — and the spirit jade token had been ringing that entire time. The Clear Thought Sect’s first team really had gone berserk this time; the Azure Profound Sect’s formation team was nearly wiped out.

So far, the Azure Profound Sect had lost four hundred people, while the Clear Thought Sect had lost only fifty — twenty of those had fallen into quicksand vortices and been eliminated.

After the Azure Profound Sect’s formation team got targeted, the Crimson Sky Sect’s disciples also began to be knocked out one after another, in numbers comparable to their own.

Lian Mu was certain that no one from the Returning Immortal Sect was involved in this mess. The Clear Thought Sect’s first team was busy hunting the Azure Profound Sect’s formation team, so the Crimson Sky Sect’s casualties were likely the Azure Profound Sect’s doing.

Clearly, the Azure Profound Sect’s first team had realized they were being messed with, but hadn’t figured out by whom — so they turned their suspicions on the Crimson Sky Sect.

After all, the Clear Thought Sect had never dared to oppose the Azure Profound Sect openly. They would never have imagined that this spineless sect would strike at them during this match.

The Clear Thought Sect’s talisman cultivators were not adept at erasing traces without a sound, yet somehow the Azure Profound Sect blamed the Crimson Sky Sect instead.

Lian Mu guessed the two sects must have crossed paths earlier and had some unresolved conflict, so when trouble arose, the Azure Profound Sect immediately suspected the Crimson Sky Sect.

In any case, the Returning Immortal Sect was safe for now. With the Azure Profound Sect’s formation team nearly annihilated, their first team wouldn’t sit idle. Shen Wuxie, the messenger, was already eliminated, and no one knew her nonsense had sparked this, so for now they couldn’t trace anything back to the Returning Immortal Sect.

“These beasts don’t have a trace of Fire Core Flower on them,” Wen Yun said. “It’s been so long, and we still don’t know where it is.”

Lian Mu pulled her thoughts back to the main issue. “Is it possible the Fire Core Flower grows in an environment ordinary beasts can’t approach?”

Ji Mingyue said, “That’s true. All seven elemental crystal flowers have specific growing conditions. The Ice Core Flower only grows in extreme cold, the Wood Core Flower must grow with spirit plants or spirit trees… and the Fire Core Flower only takes root in scorching heat. And that’s just the start — to keep growing, it needs even hotter conditions.”

“Just the desert of the White Tiger West isn’t enough. So there must be multiple illusions layered here. When the fourth sun rises in the desert, it begins to grow; when the sun sets, it stops,” Ji Mingyue explained. “As for the one in the second realm, we’ll have to wait for the red tide.”

Lian Mu thought it over. From the fourth sun’s rise to its setting was just two hours — too short. The current Fire Core Flower probably hadn’t even fully sprouted its leaves yet.

“How long do we have to wait then? I don’t want to stay in this damned place a single day longer.” As Wen Yun complained, the sand beneath him shifted again, so he shut up at once.

“Maybe it’s a test of patience,” Lian Mu said. “But really, this place isn’t fit for humans to stay in.”

Even Wen Yun, who was local to the White Tiger West, could barely stand it — let alone disciples like Ji Mingyue, who had grown up in places where it was spring all year round. Staying here was torture for both body and mind.

“Sect Master Shen usually doesn’t meddle in affairs, but when he does, no one can bear it,” Wen Yun said. “When I was a kid, my mother sent me to him for discipline — after that, I gave up any thought of joining the Clear Thought Sect.”

Ji Mingyue laughed. “I’ve never seen you make a fool of yourself. I’ll have to ask Sect Master Shen about it sometime.”

Wen Yun muttered, “…I wasn’t the only one — the Shen clan’s other two kids were there too. Shen Wuxie was way more embarrassing than me. He always cheated, and when he lost a match, he’d throw himself on the ground and bawl. If Sect Master Shen hadn’t had a rule against hitting juniors, he’d have been beaten to death ages ago.”

Lian Mu didn’t like Shen Wuxie either. “With that rotten temper, sooner or later he’ll get what’s coming in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.”

“Shen Wuxie may be an idiot, but his younger brother is pretty good. Shen Wusang is nothing like him — you’d think they weren’t even related,” Wen Yun said. “After this Grand Competition, the Shen clan will definitely name him the young master. They say Shen Wusang was born different — he has a unique, accurate sense for certain things. The Crimson Sky Sect originally had an even more powerful talisman cultivator, but because of Shen Wusang’s foresight, they made him their first seat instead.”

After chatting for a while, the atmosphere relaxed and felt less stifling.

Lian Mu thought for a moment, then asked, “Doesn’t that mean the Crimson Sky Sect can find the Fire Core Flower?”

“That’s unlikely,” Wen Yun said. “But there are two Fire Core Flowers in this illusion. Only one will bloom properly. Shen Wusang might be able to sense which one will succeed.”

Lian Mu nodded. “That’s good enough. Interesting.”

“You mean… you want to meet him?”

Lian Mu shook her head. “Not yet. They’re strong and being watched by the Azure Profound Sect. Going now would be suicide. When the time’s right, we’ll… make contact.”

“The Clear Thought Sect’s first team is moving farther from the White Tiger Mirror. The Azure Profound Sect’s formation team is mostly in the Vermilion Bird Mirror area, so they must be nearby too. Perfect chance for us to check out the White Tiger Mirror.”

Wen Yun asked, “What do you want to do there?”

Lian Mu wanted to scavenge. After all, each of the Four Symbols Mirrors had a first-grade guardian beast. From what Ji Mingyue said, no one even wanted the magical beast cores. If the guardian beast’s corpse was still there, she definitely wanted to claim it — anything else felt like waste.

“I want to see what the White Tiger Mirror looks like,” Lian Mu said. “And maybe smash the Clear Thought Sect’s mirror while we’re at it. Their second-seat talisman cultivator crippled Xu Xianxing — I have to teach them a lesson.”

Wen Yun: “?”

Ji Mingyue said, “Smash… smash the White Tiger mirror?”

She fell silent for a moment, thinking it over. It wasn’t impossible.

Before entering the illusion, no one had said it was forbidden to destroy the passage that allowed the other sect to access the second realm.

Wen Yun looked approving. “Lian Mu, it had to be you. Even this idea could come from you.”

If she hadn’t brought it up, he wouldn’t have thought of attacking from this angle at all.

“The four symbols mirrors were set up inside the illusion by Sect Master Shen himself. Can it really be smashed…” Ji Mingyue was a bit skeptical.

Lian Mu said, “We’ve got nothing better to do now anyway, and most of the beasts are dead. How would we know if we don’t try?”

“Let’s go!” Wen Yun was instantly fired up. “I just learned a few new moves. I want to see if that mirror is tougher than my fists.”

Ji Mingyue muttered, “…I really can’t with you two. Fine, let’s go.”

The three hit it off immediately and rushed straight for the westernmost part of the desert.

They took off on a silver kite they’d found in Yuan Huai’s spatial pouch, pushing their speed to the limit. In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at the White Tiger bronze platform in the west.

Sure enough, there wasn’t a soul in sight.

The White Tiger mirror glowed quietly, beast blood still stained the bronze platform, and the surroundings showed clear signs of a fierce fight with the guardian beast.

The guardian beast’s corpse still lay on the sand. Lian Mu crouched to inspect it. All the useful parts had been stripped away, leaving only a pile of ruined flesh.

She traced the sword tip down the beast’s belly and found its inner core, which the Clear Thought Sect disciples hadn’t bothered to take.

Wen Yun stepped up to the White Tiger bronze platform and saw a fixed-point talisman stuck on it, making it easy for Clear Thought Sect disciples to teleport here anytime with a transmission talisman.

He tried to rip it off but only ended up making it stick even tighter.

The three circled the White Tiger bronze platform, sizing it up.

Lian Mu drew her sword. “Who’s first?”

Wen Yun raised his hand, gathering spiritual power in his palm. “I’ll give it a shot. Stand back.”

Lian Mu and Ji Mingyue quickly retreated to a safe distance. Wen Yun didn’t hold back—he smashed his fist down on the glowing White Tiger mirror with all his strength.

In an instant, the sand around the bronze platform exploded into a storm of dust.

“It didn’t break?” Wen Yun checked, then landed a few more heavy punches, and when that wasn’t enough, he added kicks, pummeling and stomping.

At one point, as his fist struck the mirror, he felt as if he’d hit something soft, which then sank back into the mirror.

Looking closely, he saw the mirror’s glow go out—nothing left but plain surface.

“Step aside.” Lian Mu brought her sword down in a single powerful slash, striking dead center.

After so much abuse, the White Tiger mirror finally gave out. After a brief stillness, it cracked clean in two.

Even the White Tiger bronze platform had been beaten out of shape by Wen Yun’s pounding before the mirror broke.

Without a second thought, Lian Mu struck again, shattering the White Tiger mirror completely into shards.

She sheathed her sword and smiled faintly. “All done.”

Ji Mingyue hadn’t expected these two to actually smash the White Tiger mirror. She watched as ripples spread through the boundary at the edge. The once-clear, watery curtain barrier grew murky and distorted.

Ji Mingyue sighed, “…You two are something else.”

She guessed this barrier could probably be forced open by brute force, but surely the Clear Thought Sect’s sect master had never imagined someone would choose to attack the four symbols mirror directly.

“Let’s go. When Tang Wuxun comes back, we’ll give him a nice surprise.” Wen Yun grinned too. “Since their second-seat talisman cultivator insisted on making trouble, if he loves staying in the second realm so much, then let him stay in there for good.”