"Kill him! Kill him!"
"Don't let him take the Immortal Gu!"
"That Immortal Gu belongs to my Ghost Hanging Gate — he's not getting away!"
The pursuers behind her were already closing in. Two passages stretched before Feng Jinhuang.
Only one led to escape. The other connected directly to the main base of the Ghost Hanging Gate's blessed land.
Feng Jinhuang didn't hesitate. She plunged into the left passage.
Whoosh — light burst before her eyes.
Feng Jinhuang was briefly stunned, then realized her soul had returned to the real world. The dream cluster she had been traversing had completely dissipated.
"I made it through this dream cluster. As expected — that wild Soul Path Immortal Gu was the key!" Upon re-entering her body, Feng Jinhuang's spirit soared. "This time, my Soul Path realm has risen. Having reached the Dream Path Grandmaster realm truly brings tremendous help when exploring dreams."
Ever since that harrowing incident in the Gu refinement chamber, Feng Jinhuang had turned misfortune into fortune, breaking through to become a Dream Path Grandmaster.
The final scene in the dream just now had been her first time navigating it — she had no idea which passage was the correct escape route. But at that critical moment, the intuition that came with being a Dream Path Grandmaster had guided her, allowing her to swiftly choose the right passage.
"What a pity — the intuition granted by the Dream Path Grandmaster realm isn't something I can control. It appears and vanishes at will."
"If only I could reach the Dream Path Great Grandmaster realm. Then this intuition would strengthen severalfold, and I could even apply it broadly, using Dream Path Gu Insects to create killer moves that emulate the signature techniques of other Paths."
Feng Jinhuang sighed inwardly.
Her breakthrough to Dream Path Grandmaster, in her eyes, had been nothing short of miraculous — born from a crisis of death that had squeezed everything out of her, succeeding only by a stroke of luck.
She could clearly feel that all her prior understanding, perception, and accumulation in Dream Path had been completely exhausted just to barely achieve the Dream Path Grandmaster level. To advance further would require starting from scratch, with no end in sight.
Feng Jinhuang tidied herself up, rose to her feet, and pushed open the door of her cultivation chamber.
Crossing the corridor, she arrived in the main hall.
Fairy Bai Qing had already prepared the meal — a table laden with dishes of every kind.
Seeing Feng Jinhuang approach, Fairy Bai Qing smiled. "Huang'er, are you done cultivating for the day? From the look on your face, it seems to have gone rather smoothly."
"That's right, Mother. The Dream Path Grandmaster realm is truly extraordinary — it's a tremendous aid in exploring dreams!" Feng Jinhuang sat down at the table and recounted the final scene of the dream. "If not for the intuition guiding me, I'd probably be gravely wounded in soul right now."
Fairy Bai Qing's smile faded slightly. "I've already looked into it. The matter is clear now. The ones behind the scheme against you were most likely Xu Hao and Li Junying. Li Junying had quietly become a Soul Path Great Grandmaster but kept it secret, making it easy to tamper with the Gu materials. But in the end, rather than harming you, Zhao Lianyun saved you. That otherworldly demon has truly given me a new perspective this time. No wonder she was able to seize the Fairy position — she's far more than just a lucky girl who won the Love Gu's acknowledgment."
A complex expression crossed Feng Jinhuang's face.
She recalled the scene in the sealed chamber, and even now, a lingering tremor remained in her heart.
Back then, she had been utterly powerless, able only to await her fate — her life and death hanging entirely on a single thought from Zhao Lianyun.
Though Feng Jinhuang had ultimately survived unscathed, the experience had shaken her to her very core.
Fairy Bai Qing continued, "Huang'er, I've already examined your entire body. There are no hidden problems. Did Zhao Lianyun truly heal you without making any other demands?"
Feng Jinhuang shook her head. "She didn't make any demands, but I can more or less guess at her intentions. After all, what she wants to achieve is plain as day. Mother, enough about that — let's eat! After dinner, I still need to continue exploring dreams."
Fairy Bai Qing nodded. "As long as you know what you're doing. But cultivating day and night like this isn't good either. Even cultivation requires a balance between intensity and rest."
"Mother!" Feng Jinhuang cut her off. "I understand the principle of balance, but I understand even more that I need to become stronger. Only when I become strong can I protect you, Mother, instead of always being protected by you. Only by becoming strong can I fulfill Master's dying wish and become a Dream Path Immortal Gu Master. Only by becoming strong can I stop people like Zhao Lianyun and Fang Yuan from bullying and scheming against me whenever they please. Only by becoming strong can I face Father head-on, challenge him directly, and tell him what his daughter truly thinks!"
Fairy Bai Qing's gaze went distant for a moment.
Feng Jinhuang's eyes seemed to shine, twin beams of light piercing straight into Fairy Bai Qing's heart.
Fairy Bai Qing suppressed the worry in her heart and let a smile surface. "Huang'er, since you've made up your mind, then go do it. Mother will support you with everything she has. Whatever you need, I'll do my utmost to help."
Feng Jinhuang immediately left her seat, came to Fairy Bai Qing, and grasped her mother's hands. "I knew it — Mother is the person in the whole world who loves Huang'er the most. Mother, do you have any way to get Courage Gu? What I need most right now is Courage Gu."
Fairy Bai Qing let out a string of bitter laughs. "Huang'er, this request of yours puts Mother in a terrible bind. You know as well as I do that Courage Gu can only be produced at Dang Hun Mountain. And Dang Hun Mountain has long been controlled by that devil Gu Yue Fang Yuan. He hasn't sold any Courage Gu to the outside world for a long time. The Courage Gu still on the market are leftovers from when he used to sell them in the past. They're growing scarcer and scarcer, and prices keep climbing."
Fianu Feng Jinhuang sighed. "Mother, you know that there are many methods to heal my soul, but they all come with side effects of one kind or another, and none come close to the effectiveness of Courage Gu. When I eventually become a Dream Path Immortal, having too many different types of Dao marks on my soul will severely limit my future potential."
Fairy Bai Qing patted Feng Jinhuang's hands. "Mother will do the best she can. Alas, if only your father were here..."
Feng Jinhuang's expression darkened instantly, displeasure coloring her voice. "Mother, don't mention him in front of me!"
"Fine, fine, fine. I won't. Mother won't bring him up."
At the same time, at Han Qing Peak.
"I didn't expect the sect to send you as an emissary this time." Zhao Lianyun, Peak Master of Han Qing Peak, regarded the visitor with a smile.
Bu Zhenzi smiled wryly and bowed. "Please don't blame me, Fairy. I have my orders as well — I had no choice but to force myself into the role of an uninvited guest."
The smile on Zhao Lianyun's face deepened. "You're far too modest, Immortal Friend. Back in the northern wastes, during the battle at the Great Snowy Mountain, if you hadn't protected me, I would have lost my life long ago. Please, come in — allow me to brew you a pot of fine tea."