The sound carried with it an overwhelming sense of doom, a declaration of absolute dominance as the entire Chaos stirred.
Shen Yuan turned his gaze forward, his breath shallow and labored.
A towering behemoth emerged from the abyss, its form defying logic. Its mere presence warped the Chaos, twisting it into an incomprehensible nightmare.
Shen Yuan raised his broken blade, his legs barely holding him straight. Blood poured from his wounds, soaking the shattered void beneath him.
His voice cracked as he roared defiantly, even as the beast lunged.
The world shattered.
“Haah… haah…”
Shen Yuan jolted awake, his body drenched in cold sweat.
“Wh-what… was that…” he muttered, his voice hoarse and ragged.
[Are you alright?]
Yue Lan’s worried voice echoed in his mind.
He slowly raised his head as his eyes seemed to fill with endless darkness, but it receded before long.
Shen Yuan took a few deep breaths as the dream played in his mind; after calming down a little, he replied to Yue Lan.
“A dream… a bad one.” He didn’t say more as he himself needed some time to process his feelings.
[…Are you sure it was only a dream? It shouldn’t affect a cultivator of your level this much if it was merely a dream.]
Shen Yuan fell silent as his heart still pounded with indescribable emotions when he thought about the dream.
He slowly shook his head, “…I’m not sure.”
[You should go out and get some fresh air for now, you also need some time to process your thoughts.]
She slowly said as she saw sweat still forming on his head.
Shen Yuan stood up from the chair as he nodded his head in agreement.
“Good idea.”
He walked outside of his mansion and breathed in deeply. The Qi-infused air of the mountains filled his lungs as he exhaled a long sigh. But something felt off, but he wasn’t able to put his mind on what it was.
‘What was that dream?’
He thought to himself while mindlessly walking.
‘I’m sure I have never seen that place, not even during the many lives of mine inside the Dao Heart Trial.’ freewёbnoνel.com
‘It was something different, something ominous, at a much grander scale than this little Desolate Continent.’
He frowned his brows while thinking to himself.
…
“Ah, Senior Brother Shen Yuan!” A voice echoed from the distance, but Shen Yuan didn’t hear it as he was lost in his own thoughts.
“Senior Brother!” The voice sounded again but from much closer.
Shen Yuan raised his head as he got distracted from his thoughts.
“Senior Brother Shen Yuan, why are you walking around aimlessly?” The voice came from his side as he turned his head around to see Wan Ling standing there.
“Oh, Wan Ling, long time no see.” He finally smiled as it had been quite a few days since they had last met. “I was just wandering around. And how has it been since you got promoted to the Inner Sect?”
Wan Ling came closer and smiled sweetly at him, “I came to the Inner Sect just yesterday. I didn’t expect for us to meet so soon after I came here.”
Shen Yuan exhaled a sigh and smiled, “You could have just come to find me, not like it would be hard to find the only male disciple here.”
Wan Ling softly giggled as they both began slowly walking forward.
“So, you broke through to the Inner Sea Realm?” Shen Yuan curiously asked as he felt the fluctuations of the Qi around her.
Wan Ling happily smiled, “Yes, though I have only liquefied 1% of my Qi until now.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head, “That’s already good enough, you can use some pills to have your foundation stabilized and then try to break through into further realms.”
‘System Screen,’ he softly said as he remembered his own progress, which he had no idea how much it had reached.
[…How lazy are you? You could have just felt your own Qi level.]
‘Meh.’
[Cultivation Base: Inner Sea Realm (99%)]
Shen Yuan’s eyes slightly widened in surprise as he saw the process nearing completion.
‘How? Wasn’t it around 30-35% yesterday??’
[…I do not know as well, I didn’t keep track of it, but it hadn’t crossed 35% before you fell asleep.]
Her voice turned suspicious as she asked,
[Tell me honestly, what was that dream?]
Shen Yuan fell silent just as he was about to reply to her, Wan Ling spoke up, “Senior Brother? What happened? You fell into a trance all of a sudden.”
He looked at her for a second before shaking his head with a smile, “Nothing, let’s go to my mansion, I want to show something to you.”
Wan Ling softly nodded her head before she began following Shen Yuan towards his courtyard.
‘We will talk later,’ Shen Yuan addressed Yue Lan.
[Hmm…]
Yue Lan softly hummed in acknowledgement.
…
Shen Yuan soon returned to his mansion with Wan Ling in tow.
The first thing she saw after entering the mansion was the massive Cherry Tree in the middle of the garden.
“Wahh, you got another Cherry Blossom Tree, Senior Brother!” Wan Ling said in surprise.
“Hmm? I heard everyone gets a type of tree in their courtyard, I was just lucky to get a cherry tree again after coming to the Inner Sect.” He lightly said before walking towards the tree.
Wan Ling followed after him, “But isn’t your Fate with Cherry Blossom a bit too strong? I have not heard of a disciple getting the same type of tree in both the Outer Sect and the Inner Sect due to the vast variety of trees and plants our sect has.”
Shen Yuan shook his head with a soft chuckle, “Anyways, sit down and have some tea.”
He said as he took out two chairs from his storage ring and placed them beneath the cherry tree before taking out a table and tea set.
Wan Ling eagerly sat down in her chair as she giggled, “The tea made by Senior Brother might make me achieve Immortality.”
Shen Yuan laughed, “Don’t be silly now,” he took out some tea leaves and began heating up the water with his Fire Intent.
Wan Ling looked at him using his Fire Intent but mistook it for a tea-making technique due to his high mastery of Fire.
“Wow, you are really professional, Senior Brother, you even learned a Tea Making Fire Art.”
Shen Yuan raised his head and looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot, he chuckled, “I need to be professional if I want to serve my guest.”
Wan Ling chuckled hearing his humorous tone. He soon finished making tea and poured it into two cups.
She picked up her cup and softly blew on it before taking a small sip.
As soon as the tea hit her tongue, she closed her eyes as the taste made her fall into a trance.
Qi began gathering around her as her foundation began stabilizing.
Shen Yuan smiled seeing her stabilizing her foundation, he also blew on his tea and took a sip.
But nothing happened to him as his foundation had long surpassed what little improvements this tea could bring him.