Chapter 700 51: Illusion and Reality

After Chen Chuan let go, he felt as if he were sinking into a viscous, dark sea. The surface beneath his feet was resilient and solid, with an uneven, undulating texture. Looking down, he saw that it was also covered in bulging folds.

He was, in fact, standing on the creature's body.

It was a being whose full form was almost impossible to discern. Most of its body was hidden by the pitch-black seawater; only the part where he stood seemed to emit a faint light due to their contact.

Just then, faint signs of an incursion appeared on his Second Self.

He could confirm that his Second Self was bearing the full brunt of the incursion, yet he wasn't ejected from the scene. This meant it wasn't a simulated Domain like the ones at the academy, but a purely mental connection.

He was only making contact with it through the medium of the Lost Object.

The creature might be illusory, or it might be real. He couldn't comprehend it yet, but it certainly couldn't be measured by the standards and logic of the real world.

Just as he had this thought, a shadow silently closed in on him. It emerged from the pitch-black seawater without any warning. Here, his senses seemed to have completely failed; he didn't detect it until it was right on top of him, by which point it had already crashed into him.

In that instant, the Horizontal Training Strength in his body erupted, and a powerful, ferocious force sent him flying sideways. In that same moment, however, the brief contact allowed him to discern its general shape and the trajectory of its follow-up attack.

He tilted his body slightly with the force, drove his elbow upward, and then slashed diagonally from low to high with the Snow Monarch Blade in his other hand. SCHLICK! He felt the blade slice through a tough body, and a flash of light seemed to flicker before his eyes.

He looked up. He was still holding the pose of his upward slash, but he was no longer immersed in the viscous sea. Instead, he was standing perfectly fine inside his tent.

It seemed that one slash had destroyed the creature, severing his mental connection to it.

He thought for a moment. 'That didn't seem too difficult, did it?'

According to Tarlu, the difficulty was supposed to gradually increase based on the combat power he demonstrated.

But training wasn't his goal this time.

He straightened up and took a closer look at the Snow Monarch Blade. In the instant he had slashed, he'd definitely felt something being absorbed by the blade. The sensation was just so faint that he would have missed it entirely if he hadn't been paying close attention.

Still, it proved the method worked.

'Time to continue.'

He brandished his Long Blade, returned to the long bone, and placed his hand on it once more.

His second attempt was similar to the first, except several of the creatures appeared at once. This didn't faze him. Having experienced the first encounter, he now fully understood their attack patterns and characteristics. Because he was prepared, dealing with them was actually easier than before.

And this time, after his mind disconnected, he could clearly feel that the Snow Monarch Blade had absorbed a little more than it had previously.

Furthermore, the Snow Monarch Blade now trembled slightly. When he probed it with his consciousness, it clearly responded with a desire for more of this substance.

That being the case, he had no intention of stopping.

Over the next Hour, he made more than a dozen attempts. The creatures he had initially seen went from a small number to a swarm, and then to hundreds, even thousands.

Fighting a horde was completely different from fighting a single one; the difficulty was on an entirely different level. He reckoned this was the stage where Tarlu had likely been forced to retreat.

The rewards for fighting these creatures over a long period must be immense. Not to mention the combat experience, it would surely hone one's Power and techniques to a fine edge.

In his case, the Snow Monarch Blade absorbed something after every kill. As these small amounts accumulated, the spirit and Mutated Organization within the blade grew more active.

After a few more attempts, however, Chen Chuan discovered a new type of creature. If the previous ones were like fish swimming in the sea, these were monsters of an unidentifiable shape with claws and feet. Not only were they fast, but they could also coordinate their attacks, making them far more difficult to handle.

This wasn't his limit, however, and he was still able to handle them with ease. But after slaying another attacker, his gaze sharpened. He saw that scattered scales had actually appeared on the floor of his tent.

It seemed that what he had just touched was something that truly existed, not just an exchange within his own mind.

He couldn't help but consider a possibility. 'If that's the case, and I get killed during one of these mental exchanges, will I die for real?'

He had actually been feeling it already. With each entry and exit, the other side felt more and more real, as if he were truly traveling there and making physical contact with those creatures. He could also now faintly sense a palpable danger.

'Tarlu never mentioned any of this. Is it because he never made it this far?'

'No, that's not it.'

He raised the Snow Monarch Blade and examined it. 'There's a key difference here. The predecessors of the Single Stream Sect probably didn't have a weapon like the Snow Monarch Blade, one that could absorb things from that place.'

He suspected it was the Snow Monarch Blade's absorption ability that was causing this effect.

'In that case, I'll have to be more cautious if I try this again.'

Still, the Snow Monarch Blade seemed to have benefited greatly from it.

'I should test it out first and see if it's had an effect.'

He immediately closed his eyes and focused for a moment. Then, he brandished the blade, swinging its edge outward. The arc of light from his swing tore a bright gash in the empty air, and a brilliant radiance immediately spilled out from within.

He thrust the blade into the ground, then sat down cross-legged, circulating his spirit to absorb the essence flowing from the other side.

This time, however, he had only been meditating for about ten minutes when he sensed something approaching. It then flew out from the opening.

He glanced over and saw they were the strange insects he had encountered before. With a slight flicker in his eyes, they all fell from the air, dropping to the ground with a series of PATS.

He reached into his bag, took out a small decorative plant, and placed it in front of him. It was an insect-repellent plant produced by Green Source Ecology, highly effective at driving away these insects.

It had been included as a free gift when he ordered the tent. These insects were now especially numerous in Central City, appearing almost everywhere, so such items had become a necessity for anyone traveling.

He was no longer disturbed after that. An Hour passed quickly. Unlike last time, however, the Rift was still present. It persisted for another twenty-some minutes before gradually sealing itself shut.

Seeing this, Chen Chuan knew that in addition to the Snow Monarch Blade's own growth, the substances it had absorbed today must have also contributed to this result.

Since it was effective, he decided to try again next time. Although he sensed a certain level of danger, it wasn't necessarily something he couldn't handle.

With his mind made up, he sheathed the Snow Monarch Blade, collected the insect corpses in a bag, and went outside to pack up the tent. After stowing it in his car, he drove back toward the city.

On the way, he considered his options. 'A Rift is a sensitive thing. To be safe, it's best to open it in a different location each time. Maybe I could go out to sea next?'

But the coastal areas were either corporate testing grounds or teeming with combat creatures underwater. He would have to go quite far out, and the round trip would be a huge waste of time.

Then, he had a sudden idea—a method that could avoid a lot of trouble, be more convenient, and make discovery less likely.

'The sky.'

If he could just rent a small Airship and practice high up in the sky, he could get far away in a very short amount of time, and the Rift he opened would be much less likely to be discovered.

He remembered that Pan Xiaode's family ran an Airship Company. Perhaps he could ask him about it.

After mulling it over, he contacted Pan Xiaode once his Gard Car was back within the Central City Domain.

The connection went through quickly via his Realm Token. Pan Xiaode's enthusiastic voice boomed from the other end. "Chen? No, I should be calling you Teacher Chen now! Teacher Chen, whatever you need, this student will make it happen!"

Chen Chuan chuckled and said he needed a small Airship, explaining that he planned to conduct some special training in the sky.

Pan Xiaode didn't find this strange in the least. Many Fighters had their own quirks and specific training methods. Besides, he had later heard about Chen Chuan's feat of falling from the sky to cleave the Ferris Wheel with a single strike. He was deeply impressed and assumed Chen Chuan wanted to practice a similar technique, which made him seem even more excited about it than Chen Chuan was.

"A small Airship? We've got 'em! You want to rent one? That's too much trouble. I have one right here, ready to go. It originally belonged to my brother, but he left it to me when he joined the military. I had a new one custom-made later, so this old one has just been collecting dust."

"If you don't mind, you can just take it and use it for as long as you want. I even have a crew to pilot it for you."

Chen Chuan thought that sounded like a good arrangement. "Thanks, then," he said.

"Don't be a stranger! I'll get it ready. It should all be settled today. If you're free tomorrow, come to this location..." As he spoke, Pan Xiaode sent over an address.

Chen Chuan looked at it. "Alright, I'll head over tomorrow."

After setting the appointment, he returned to the Profound Palace Building. He checked his messages from various sources but saw nothing unusual; there were no messages from the academy's students either. He browsed the fringe channels for a bit, catching up on the latest from the arena tournaments, then rested for a while before heading to the Training Ground to cultivate.

The next morning, he drove his Gard Car out, following Pan Xiaode's directions to an Airship hangar southwest of Central City.

Pan Xiaode was already waiting for him. After a quick greeting, he led Chen Chuan inside.

It was an Airship depot with a Po Tower outside. The grounds were vast and open. As he walked in, his eyes were immediately drawn to a silver, small Airship about thirty meters long, currently docked there.

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