Chapter 498: Reality and Fantasy

He Lingchuan watched him disappear, wide-eyed. Only when the red mist rejoined the giant shadow did he snap out of it.

That's right, Sun Fuping died in the illusion of the Great Flask, so his soul was likely confined to the Soul Realm. It seemed he would never find release.

At this point, He Lingchuan started to feel breathless. He had held his breath for too long; if he didn't return to the surface soon, he would be forced out of the dream. The red giant shadow at the bottom of the water moved calmly, yet each sweep propelled it scores of meters forward. In just two breaths, it disappeared into the extreme cold.

He Lingchuan also swam back to the surface with all his might, surfacing to gasp for air. He was just moments away from suffocating in the deep water, which would have created yet another new way to die for himself in Panlong City.

The web-like net still hung from the stalactite, but unknown roots had already reached it, wrapping the head inside several times and sucking its essence like jelly. This was why the monster's head hadn't grown a body yet. Fortunately, these roots were very thin; they hadn't drained it completely.

He Lingchuan grabbed the net and tugged; the roots snapped immediately, with only a few remaining wrapped around the monster's head. These thin roots seemed only to cling stubbornly to the monster's head. It was trembling, and when it saw He Lingchuan appear, it loudly questioned him:

"What happened down there? My true body? Why can't I sense my true body!"

He Lingchuan had no mind to answer it. He looked up at the rock wall again; the monster's body was now a completely empty husk, but the root system remained. He thought for a moment, then simply swam to the rock wall and climbed up along the roots. What kind of plant was this, that it even ate monsters? He wanted to find out.

Interestingly, as he climbed, he discovered that the crevice the roots penetrated was large, more than wide enough for a person to enter. He continued to climb along the increasingly thick and tangled roots, then crawled horizontally for a short distance. Unexpectedly, he saw light! Was he nearing the surface?

No, ahead was another body of water. The water was clear and warm to the touch. A warm spring? He Lingchuan swam out of this grotto and saw stream fish playing and water lilies blooming. He even heard children's laughter.

When he surfaced, a familiar sight greeted him: a small bridge and stone railings by the lake, a wide plaza opposite, and shops lining both sides of the street. He turned his head and saw a lush green tree growing by the water. "Isn't this... isn't this Panlong City's South Gate Plaza?!"

He had clearly been fighting monsters in an underwater cave on the northwest side of the Chipa Plateau just moments ago. How did climbing up some tree roots bring him back to Panlong City?

He Lingchuan wiped the water from his face, countless questions swirling in his mind. Children on the bank ran to gawk at him, and an old man also ambled over, offering him a hand. "Come on up," the old man said. "Did you drink too much? Who jumps into the river here unless they're drunk?"

He Lingchuan thanked him for his kindness and pulled himself onto the bank. "Bats, bats!" a boy exclaimed, pointing at his net bag. "These bats look like monkeys." He Lingchuan inwardly wondered, the monster's head was far more horrifying and attention-grabbing; why didn't these children mention it?

The boy asked him, "Can they fly?"

"Yes," He Lingchuan replied, holding the net closer to the boy. "Besides the bats, what else do you see?"

"Nothing," the boy answered. "Hmm, why do you have a big rock in your net?"

"A rock?" There was no rock in his net.

"How can this be the Soul Realm!" the monster's head in the net exclaimed, its voice full of shock. "You were clearly sleeping, why aren't you in the Dreamland?"

"Is that my fault?" He Lingchuan was also surprised. The fact that this thing could accurately name "Soul Realm" indicated it wasn't a native of the Panlong world. Was this thing an invasive species?

No wonder the red giant shadow, wandering outside the Soul Realm, had acted; it seemed to have always served as the Soul Realm's guardian. The children around him were chattering noisily. He Lingchuan casually gave them a few copper coins. "Go buy some candy," he said. The children happily ran off.

Once quiet returned, He Lingchuan had the time to examine the green tree in front of him. Were the roots that had penetrated the rock wall from this Juruo tree? At least by its location, it seemed to be.

He Lingchuan leaned on the railing and looked down, discovering that the underwater cave was gone. Indeed, he had passed by here dozens of times; the riverbank's stone walkway was perfectly neat. When had there ever been a grotto? Did this tree tear through space-time and bring him directly from the northwest of the Chipa Plateau to here?

Hmm, or, to put it another way, did it extend its roots directly from here into the cave in the northwest of Chipa to capture monsters for a grand feast?

Looking at the small Juruo tree again now, its previously slender trunk had thickened to the size of his two arms combined. Its height had also shot up, reaching several meters above the ground, and its canopy had begun to spread. Only now did it possess a hint of its ancient ancestor's grandeur.

This Juruo tree was different from all other plants in Panlong City; it had grown from a precious Tree King seed he brought from the outside world and inherently possessed the power to span the heavens. So, it could sense foreign intrusions? It ate the monster; did this mean the nutrients it needed for growth were also... otherworldly?

Questions swirled in He Lingchuan's mind, but he had more important things to do. Picking up the net bag, he rushed to a shop on the street and said to the old man inside, "Uncle Li, may I use your backyard!" Uncle Li was weaving something from grass and, without lifting his head, replied, "Go ahead."

This was where Sun Fuling bought memorial ice lanterns in winter. In summer, when ice lanterns couldn't be made, the old man wove handicrafts like grasshoppers and small horses from bamboo and grass to sell, which were very popular with children. His backyard was empty, except for various bits of bamboo strips, rattan, and other odds and ends. He Lingchuan picked up the monster's head and held it facing him. "What are you?" he demanded.

"What happened to my true body?" Since it had been chopped off, the monster's head had been in a state of shock. Everything it saw was beyond its comprehension.

"Gone," He Lingchuan stated succinctly. "If you want to follow in your true body's footsteps, I can arrange that now."

Interestingly, the roots he had torn off in the cave were now tightly wrapped around the monster's head, neither draining it dry nor leaving it. A human-like head with three eyes, tightly encased by several tree roots—the sight was beyond description; even "bizarre" felt inadequate. He Lingchuan had a hunch that the monster's head hadn't grown a body because of the Juruo tree roots.

"No, no!" the monster's head reacted strongly. "I don't want to die."

"Why did you come for me?" He Lingchuan asked.

"Someone marked you as a tribute," the monster's head confessed. "We like young, strong souls. Delicious!"

"Who?" He Lingchuan pressed.

"I don't know who he is," the monster's head replied, still with a trace of its former arrogance. "We don't care."

"Where is this person?" He Lingchuan's brow twitched. "I want their exact location and appearance!" This demonic thing came from the real world, which meant someone in the outside world was targeting him! Good, very good. The clue had delivered itself.

"You won't kill us, will you?"

"That depends on how you cooperate."

"Three hundred *zhang* to your west, at the Tongfu Inn," the monster's head quickly said. "They're skinny and gaunt, with a long face, looking like they'd fall over in a gust of wind."

He Lingchuan picked up the net bag and slipped back onto the street. He passed two patrolling guards and separated the monkey-bats, handing them to the guards and asking them to take them to the Alchemy Department for A-Luo. As for the remaining human-like head wrapped in roots, He Lingchuan jumped onto the Juruo tree and wedged it into a fork in the branches. Anyway, to the natives of Panlong City, it would just look like a large rock. No one would be interested, and the children couldn't reach it.

"No, no, don't put me here!" the monster's head cried out, horrified as it sensed the Juruo tree's aura. "Isn't this the tree demon that previously sucked my body dry?"

"Help me watch it," He Lingchuan said, patting the Juruo tree trunk. "Don't eat it yet; I still have a use for it." The Juruo tree's wisdom was fully evident in the Tree King; although this one was still in its infancy, it hadn't tried to contend with him when He Lingchuan grabbed the net bag in the cave, indicating that this young one was very sentient.

Afterward, He Lingchuan found a deserted corner and sat down, closing his eyes to rest and relaxing his entire body. "Wake up, wake up, wake..." he thought. Previously, he thought the only way to leave a dream voluntarily was through suicide, but that was an unpleasant experience. Later, he realized that wasn't right. He was the master of the Severed Blade; why shouldn't he be able to enter and exit freely? He tried several times, and indeed, by concentrating and wishing to log off, he could quickly return to reality.

As the Hundred-Faced Nightmare was dragged into the deep sea by the red giant shadow from outside the Soul Realm, almost no one noticed that a star in the eastern night sky suddenly flared brightly in reality and quickly pulsed a few times. Just those few times. After that, everything seemed to return to normal.

Tongfu Inn.

With a *crack*, the idol on the table suddenly broke into several pieces. The spellcaster, who had been chanting with closed eyes, suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and exclaimed in disbelief, "Lord Hundred-Face? How is this possible!"

His answer was the idol's fragments scattering across the table. Nightmares also had varying strengths. The Hundred-Faced Nightmare's predecessor was a celestial soul, its power undeniable to both its own kind and humans. This Nightmare rarely attacked, but it never failed. It was precisely because he deeply believed in the Hundred-Face's strength that he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Even the heroic ruler of Mang Kingdom had died by its hand; this He fellow was merely a commoner, with no elemental energy to protect him. How could he defeat the Hundred-Face?

It was as absurd as a six-year-old child defeating a boxing champion in the ring. But facts spoke louder than words; no matter how horrified the spellcaster was, he had to plan his next move.

The room door was thrown open with a *bang*, startling the spellcaster. The guest from the next room stepped inside and said, "You failed?" The spellcaster was furious. "You... how dare you enter uninvited?" The person glared at him and asked, "Did it succeed, or not?"

"It failed; it was broken. The opponent is very strong; I'm afraid, I'm afraid they'll pursue." The spellcaster felt a sudden shortness of breath and could only shakily stand up. "Are you staying?" There were fragments in the blood he spat out; his heart meridian was injured. What he should have done was lie down and rest quietly and not get up for at least half a month, otherwise it would cause lasting harm. This was backlash from a spell; mildly, it led to injury or disability; severely, it led to death. But the spellcaster couldn't bother with such concerns. Even someone as powerful as the Hundred-Face had gone and not returned; if he stayed, he would likely meet a similar grim fate.

"You spellcasters are indeed unreliable," the other person said, propping one hand against the wall. A giant shadow stirred in the darkness behind them, and a reeking gust blew into his face. "You may leave; this place is mine now."