"Father, we did it!" Chu Feng cried out in ecstasy, immediately turning to look at his father.
But when he did, Chu Feng froze on the spot.
He discovered that his father — who had been drenched in blood, grievously wounded, and on the verge of collapse — now had a healthy, rosy complexion. His robes were perfectly intact, without so much as a single stain of blood or speck of dust upon them.
"Father, what's going on?" Chu Feng was thrown into confusion once more. He could no longer make sense of what had happened.
"Chu Feng, this is all what you deserve."
Chu Xuanyuan gazed at Chu Feng with a faint smile. Then, his figure began to drift farther and farther away.
"Father, where are you going? Father!"
Chu Feng desperately tried to reach for his father, but his hands grasped nothing but air. He wanted to give chase, yet his body refused to move.
"Father!"
Chu Feng let out a thunderous roar.
But in that very instant, Chu Feng snapped awake as if from a dream and bolted upright.
He found that he was not in the mountains at all.
Instead, he was sitting atop a cloud, as though he had simply fallen asleep and dreamed the whole thing.
Yes — a dream. It was a dream. Only now did Chu Feng realize that everything he had experienced before was nothing more than a dream.
His father was a dream. That monster was a dream. That cultivation was also…
"My cultivation — heavens, I'm actually a Fifth Grade True Immortal?!"
"What's going on? Could it be that everything that happened before was real, and none of it was a dream?!"
Chu Feng stood up in utter shock, sweeping his gaze over his own body in disbelief.
He had discovered that his current cultivation was not Fourth Grade True Immortal — it was Fifth Grade True Immortal.
Chu Feng was now fully awake. He remembered everything that had happened and knew where he was, which only deepened his confusion. How could a breakthrough achieved in a dream become reality?
"Chu Feng, what's wrong with you? What on earth did you go through?"
At that moment, the Queen's voice suddenly rang out in Chu Feng's ear.
And Chu Feng could finally hear the Queen's voice once more.
"Eggy, what happened to me?" Chu Feng hurriedly asked.
"What happened to me? I was about to ask you the same thing! You suddenly started running like a madman, calling out your father's name as you ran, as though you were having a conversation with him."
"Then you started mumbling strange words, and you didn't stop for a full thirteen days."
"After that, you actually sat down in meditation and attempted a breakthrough. What's more, you successfully attracted the Divine Thunder, withstood its tempering, and broke through!"
"But during all of that, you couldn't seem to hear a single word I said. I have no idea what came over you — it was like you were possessed," the Queen said.
"Hss—"
Chu Feng couldn't help but draw in a sharp breath.
"Eggy, I had a dream just now. But it was no ordinary dream — while I was dreaming, my body was changing along with it."
"Let's compare notes. Tell me exactly when I started dreaming."
Chu Feng knew full well that he had entered an illusion. He had not been conscious during that time, but the Queen had been.
The two of them then compared what they remembered, and after doing so, Chu Feng finally pieced together the whole sequence of events.
On his way to the Void Sacred Tree, Chu Feng had been traveling with an elderly man.
The two of them had encountered the legendary Sacred Tree Illusory Mist released by the Void Sacred Tree.
That Sacred Tree Illusory Mist had not only trapped Chu Feng and the old man — it had also conjured an illusion within Chu Feng's mind.
What Chu Feng had seen in the illusion was his father, that mysterious monster, and that mountain range covered in strange, cryptic characters.
Then, guided by his father within the illusion, Chu Feng had achieved a breakthrough.
And that breakthrough was real, because even now, when Chu Feng recalled the experience, the images of those characters from the illusion were still vivid in his mind.
"This is incredible. The Sacred Tree Illusory Mist isn't some terrifying thing that claims your life — it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" Chu Feng exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement.
"Indeed, this truly was a rare opportunity."
"However, when you were trapped in that illusion and started babbling nonsense, unable to hear a word I said, you scared this Queen half to death."
"This Queen thought you really were going to be trapped in that illusion and die, just like that old man said," the Queen said with a laugh.