Amidst the vast wilderness of mountains, two sheer, towering peaks speared the clouds like sharpened swords. Between them lay a deep, straight chasm. The valley floor was choked with towering trees, casting the view into shadow, covered in a thick blanket of dead leaves, from which a potent stench of decay drifted outward.

"Rustle! Rustle!"

In the silent canyon, the sound of cautious footsteps echoed as two figures picked their way deliberately through the gloom.

Leading the way was a young man with a rugged face and a burly frame. Trailing behind him was another young man, perhaps in his early twenties, possessing a refined appearance that suggested a scholar’s demeanor.

These two were Tai Hong and Nie Kong.

Ever since they met outside the 'Spiritual Cultivation Illusory Realm' and discovered they had both broken through to the Spirit Transformation stage, they had begun making preparations. Preparation, however, involved little more than gathering spirit medicines to heal injuries, dispel poisons, or restore spiritual energy. Afterward, Nie Kong had sought out Gu Chang Gong.

By the rules of the Inner City, leaving without permission at this time was strictly forbidden. Nie Kong had expected trouble, but to his surprise, the moment he mentioned that he and Tai Hong wished to venture into the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range for experience, Gu Chang Gong agreed without hesitation—a swiftness that left Nie Kong rather startled.

With Gu Chang Gong’s blessing, Nie Kong and Tai Hong successfully departed the Inner City.

By now, the two had been trekking through the Heavenly Wolf Mountain Range for three full days. Along the way, Nie Kong had listened to Tai Hong’s sporadic accounts of the shattered Illusory Realm. Yet, Tai Hong knew little, and true understanding would only come upon reaching their destination.

However, one detail Tai Hong mentioned greatly stirred Nie Kong: the shattered Illusory Realm not only contained the 'Crescent Moon Green Hook' but also a vast quantity of other medicinal herbs.

If only I could find a few herbs like the Lightning Vine Moon or the Scarlet Back Heavenly Net, Nie Kong mused silently.

During this period, thanks to the supply of toxic herbs sent by Long Xue Chan, Nie Kong’s urgent need for poisons had lessened. Conversely, he was now desperate for various precious spirit herbs.

Only a few days prior, Nie Kong had observed that the crimson fluid secreted by the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower' after absorbing the medicinal power of toxic herbs, while exceptionally effective at boosting the little creature’s innate medicinal strength, offered little discernible benefit for its advancement.

This was why, even after the little creature consumed dozens of rare toxic herbs, it still relied on the 'Phoenix Plume Phantom Immortal Flower'—acquired with eighty thousand points—to reach the fourth stage. The little creature itself remained simple-minded, content with whatever it could consume, paying no mind to poisons or spirit herbs; only when encountering a pivotal spirit herb like the 'Phoenix Plume Phantom Immortal Flower' would it display a pronounced need.

The little creature was foolishly naive, and Nie Kong, as its master, could not simply ignore this. If not for the immediate necessity of spirit herbs, Nie Kong might have waited until Miao Ge, Tai Ji, and Bai Yu Qing had also advanced to Spirit Transformation before seeking the shattered Illusory Realm with them.

After all, spirit herbs were not like toxic herbs!

The gold coins in the spirit card Nie Kong entrusted to Long Xue Chan could acquire a large quantity of toxic herbs, but if converted toward spirit herbs, perhaps only four or five plants would deplete the gold. Moreover, other spiritual alchemists had such a high demand for precious spirit herbs that they often could not be bought even with gold.

"Up ahead!"

Tai Hong suddenly grinned, quickening his pace abruptly.

Nie Kong looked up and noticed the surrounding light had brightened considerably. The long, narrow gorge beneath his feet seemed to terminate just tens of meters ahead.

"Wonderful!"

A faint joy flickered across Nie Kong’s brow, and he too hastened his steps.

After winding through the gorge for a short distance, Nie Kong suddenly felt the space open up. The chasm indeed ended here, giving way to a massive, abruptly sunken pit about thirty to forty meters deep, hundreds of meters long and wide. The pit was bare, devoid of any flora.

"Look ahead!"

Tai Hong clapped Nie Kong on the shoulder, smiling mysteriously.

Nie Kong shot Tai Hong a suspicious glance, then looked straight ahead, realizing there were four deep, dark ravines stretching straight out opposite them. To the left of the pit, another deep trench slanted away into the distance—and their depths were comparable to the pit itself.

Tai Hong chuckled and asked, "What does it look like?"

"A palm print?"

Nie Kong’s eyes swept across the five deep grooves, a flash of inspiration striking him, causing him to exclaim in disbelief. The pit and the five connecting trenches formed a single, gigantic right palm print, as if a colossal hand had pressed down heavily onto the earth.

Tai Hong seemed to have anticipated Nie Kong's expression, laughing heartily. "Correct, a palm print. I reacted exactly like you did when I first found this place. If I'm right, a powerhouse must have engaged in a fierce battle here years ago."

"I see now!"

Nie Kong suddenly recalled the canyon he and Tai Hong had traversed, realizing the truth with a jolt. "No wonder the peaks on either side of the gorge looked so strange, as if they were cleaved in two by a single blow. With a palm print here, it’s not impossible that the mountains were forcibly split open."

Looking back at the two steep peaks, Nie Kong felt a profound shock ripple through him. The scene from earlier this year, when he stole the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower,' involuntarily flashed through his mind. Back then, though Nie Shen Gong did not appear, his mere presence made the heavens tremble and the clouds shift color, treating the Soul Master of the Spirit God Temple like a mere child.

The same must be true here!

One palm print imprinted the earth, one blade split the mountain, creating this massive hand mark and the towering peaks. Such might suggested the combatants here were undoubtedly Heavenly Spirit experts.

One day, I too will stand atop the peaks of this world! Nie Kong took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. Filled with soaring ambition, he smiled. "Brother Tai, the shattered Illusory Realm should be down in that pit, right? Let's go down!"

"Wait!"

Tai Hong quickly pulled Nie Kong back. "Nie Kong, didn't you see how barren it is down there? Around noon, it releases vast clouds of poisonous mist, and they linger for a long time. Last time, if my sister hadn't noticed something wrong early on and we hadn't fled fast enough, we might have died in that mist. Look at the white ash on the ground—it’s all the bones of spirit beasts. That mist corrodes bones; imagine the toxicity! It’s nearly noon now; the mist will emerge soon. Going down now would be suicide!"

"I guessed as much, or you wouldn't have asked me to refine so many detoxification elixirs back in the Inner City," Nie Kong replied with a slight smile, not overly surprised by Tai Hong’s words. To Nie Kong, since the mist was toxic, it could serve as nourishment for the 'Fire Tree Silver Flower,' potentially saving a few toxic herbs.

"Those detoxification elixirs are basically useless against the mist here. Carrying them is just to give ourselves some peace of mind," Tai Hong laughed.

Nie Kong nodded slightly, about to speak, when he saw Tai Hong's expression change.

"It’s coming!"

Tai Hong’s face grew grim as he uttered two words.

Nie Kong followed his gaze and saw a massive amount of black mist erupting simultaneously from the five fingers of the palm print, rolling toward the deep pit like churning black dragons. In the blink of an eye, the black dragons surged out of the wide trenches, intertwining into a towering vortex of black energy.

In that instant, the world seemed to dim considerably.

Nie Kong’s pupils contracted. The mist was as black as ink, resembling a ferocious beast baring its claws and fangs. A single glance instilled a feeling of intense oppression.

"Aah-yah-yah!"

The little creature clearly sensed the toxic mist and chirped excitedly.

When Tai Hong first mentioned the mist, Nie Kong had considered absorbing it. But now, seeing the inky-black vapor, he instinctively changed his mind. He sensed that the mist seemed almost like a living entity, incredibly eerie.

It was better to exercise caution around such a thing!

"This mist is extremely strange. It stays strictly within the boundaries of the pit, never venturing out, as if controlled by something," Tai Hong frowned. "Luckily, the entrance to the Illusory Realm is over here. If it were near the five fingers, I would absolutely not have brought you."

"...While you were speaking, the five thick columns of black mist intertwined and crept to the center of the deep pit, then rapidly spread outwards, filling the entire pit in moments. Just as Tai Hong said, the mist churned only within the deep pit like clouds, not dissipating outwards.

Upon touching the surrounding cliff faces, the black vapors simultaneously rolled back; for a time, the mist in the pit looked like a gigantic mouth opened to the sky, swallowing the light between heaven and earth, plunging the surroundings into gloom.

Although the blazing midday sun hung high in the clear sky, Nie Kong and Tai Hong, standing so close, experienced the strange sensation of being unable to see their own hands, as if trapped in night. Unconsciously, both settled down at the edge of the woods, surrounded by absolute silence.

About half an hour later, the black mist began to recede toward the palm's finger sections, like a river ebbing, moving even faster than when it emerged!

In mere seconds, all five streams of black mist retreated into the ravines and vanished without a trace. Clarity returned to the world.

"Let's go!" Tai Hong sprang up, pulled a white pill from his robe, tossed it into his mouth, chewed vigorously a few times, then walked to the edge of the pit. His arm glowed with light as he slid rapidly down the earthen wall.

Nie Kong followed close behind. He hadn't taken the third-grade detoxification elixir. As Tai Hong had said, if any residual toxic gas remained in the pit, that pill would be useless for neutralizing it; taking it offered nothing more than a placebo effect.

Moments later, the two landed on the floor of the pit.

The toxic mist had indeed vanished completely, leaving no residue in the air. Guided by Tai Hong, they walked along the cliff face to the right for several dozen meters. Nie Kong noticed the earthen wall gradually giving way to stone.

Continuing forward a short distance, Tai Hong finally stopped.

"The break in the stone wall here is very irregular."

Tai Hong looked up, then suddenly sprang up, landing on a protruding, sharpened rock ledge about ten meters above, and vigorously waved down at Nie Kong.

"There are signs of artificial carving on these stones!"

Landing beside Tai Hong, Nie Kong quickly scanned the area, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"That’s right!"

Tai Hong chuckled, unleashing a punch full of spiritual energy, striking a small, slightly bulging stone in front of him. To Nie Kong’s astonishment, the stone actually sank into the stone wall along the path of Tai Hong's right fist. The sound of grinding stone immediately emanated from within.

"A mechanism?"

Nie Kong paused, watching as the relatively flat section of the stone wall before him began to slowly shift, revealing a crack before his eyes.

With the fissure came a dazzling white light. Seconds later, a rounded archway, three meters high and two meters wide, was exposed. Some kind of gem was embedded in the ceiling, casting bright white radiance that illuminated the passage. Nie Kong and Tai Hong exchanged glances, slightly amazed to find such a wide passage behind the stone wall.

"It's inside," Tai Hong said cheerfully, stepping in, a look of relief on his face. "Last time, my sister accidentally triggered that mechanism when we happened to descend this way. Otherwise, we might have searched for ten days or half a month here and never found this passage."

Nie Kong nodded. The stone walls were covered in thick layers of dust, making any signs of carving hard to spot. He could see it now only because Tai Hong and his group had opened the passage previously. Furthermore, the mechanism lacked engraved spirit patterns. If the shattered Illusory Realm was housed in a chamber built of 'Absolute Spirit Jade,' even a Heavenly Spirit expert searching for it would have difficulty detecting its existence. Not long after entering the tunnel, the stone door behind them, several meters thick, closed with a grinding sound. Nie Kong and Tai Hong pressed onward, their footsteps echoing loudly in the passage.

Several hundred meters later, another stone door blocked their path.

"It really is Absolute Spirit Jade!" Nie Kong laughed softly after examining the door for a moment.

Tai Hong nodded. "If it weren't for it isolating the Illusory Realm, this place would have been discovered long ago. Nie Kong, based on our previous observations, this Illusory Realm is a 'Spiritual Cultivation Illusory Realm,' but the spiritual energy density is only double that of the outside world. The environment also differs from the Inner City's version, bearing more resemblance to the Outer City's 'Phantom Space.' It contains flora, fauna, and spirit beasts, which should generally be restricted to below the fourth rank."

Saying this, Tai Hong shifted his tone. "However, since the Illusory Realm shattered, some parts have connected with the outside world, and the realm's binding effect has waned. Powerful spirit beasts might have wandered in, and some might even have advanced on their own. So, we must be extremely cautious."

"Understood!"

As Nie Kong nodded, Tai Hong shoved open the stone door crafted from 'Absolute Spirit Jade.' Inside was a stone chamber dozens of meters long and wide, the walls entirely isolated by 'Absolute Spirit Jade.' In the center of the chamber, a round piece of jade was exposed, crystal clear, about a meter in diameter, radiating brilliant white light.

Nie Kong quickly noticed the surface of the Illusory Realm’s carrier was covered in dense cracks. If the carrier was in this state, the Illusory Realm must also be severely fragmented. Once this mass of jade shattered, the Illusory Realm it supported would completely collapse and disappear.

To the left of the jade, a few square meters of empty space shimmered slightly.

"This is another entrance and exit formed after the Illusory Realm shattered. We can enter directly, no need for Illusory Spirit Stones." Tai Hong strode over, plunging into that shimmering void. His burly figure gradually faded until, in an instant, he had vanished completely from the room.

Watching where Tai Hong disappeared, Nie Kong was somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected that after the Illusory Realm shattered, one could enter directly with their physical body, without needing Illusory Spirit Stones to extract the soul!

Scattered throughout this stone chamber were over a hundred Illusory Spirit Stones. It was likely this place was once a small sect of spirit masters, but some unforeseen event caused the Illusory Realm to shatter! Perhaps the sect had some connection to the powerful entity that left the palm print and the chasm outside.

With that thought, Nie Kong also walked toward the rippling void.

"Aah-yah-yah?"

The little creature suddenly bounced inside the Yaochi Acupoint, its sound laced with a trace of doubt, as if it had discovered something uncertain.

This was the first time Nie Kong sensed such a tentative communication from the little creature. He paused, momentarily stunned, then walked around the void to a corner opposite it, where a pile of Illusory Spirit Stones lay. Yet, besides the stones, there seemed to be nothing else.

"Aah-yah-yah?"

The little creature tilted its leaves and buds, looking utterly bewildered.

Could it be concealed by the Illusory Spirit Stones? A thought struck Nie Kong. He crouched down and carefully moved the Illusory Spirit Stones away one by one. A moment later, a dark, dim light caught his eye. Nie Kong sped up, quickly moving the remaining stones aside.

The dark glimmer revealed its true form: a small black tablet, about two fingers wide and one finger long. It seemed like stone, yet wasn't; like jade, yet wasn't; like wood, yet wasn't. Nie Kong turned it over several times, unable to discern its material. Engraved upon it were five small red characters: Beast Taming Sect!

A Beast Token!

A Beast Token of the Beast Taming Sect? Perhaps the original owner of this shattered Illusory Realm was the Beast Taming Sect, but what exactly was this token? Since the sect’s name contained the characters for 'Taming Beasts,' could this token be used to command spirit beasts? If so, why was the little creature making that noise?

Nie Kong’s interest piqued. He channeled a wisp of spiritual power into the token, but there was no reaction.

With a thought, a strand of the little creature’s innate medicinal power slipped out of the Yaochi Acupoint and flowed into the token, but still, nothing was found. Logically, if there were any medicine hidden inside the token that could attract the little creature's attention, its innate power should be able to draw it out.

But the reality was the opposite.

The little creature also seemed perplexed. After retracting its innate power back into the Yaochi Acupoint, its two leaves drooped across its stem, floating listlessly above the dark green sap. Its upper leaves and small flower bud hung askew, giving it the appearance of deep contemplation—a sight quite amusing to behold.

After observing for a while without finding any clues, Nie Kong tucked the Beast Token into his Pet Backpack, deciding to puzzle over it another day. Entering the Illusory Realm was more important now.

He returned to the shimmering, undulating void and stepped through.

The surroundings briefly darkened and then brightened. Less than a second passed before the scenery around Nie Kong completely transformed. The stone chamber was gone, replaced by rolling green hills and clear waters, birdsong and fragrant blossoms. The surrounding vegetation was lush and vibrant, presenting a scene of perfect harmony.

"Aah-yah-yah!"

Xiang Xiang stopped its 'contemplation,' shaking its roots and stems with excitement, the joy clearly transmitted to Nie Kong's mind through its intent.

"Discovered good medicine already? Tai Hong didn't lie to me!"

Nie Kong was overjoyed and immediately began scanning his surroundings. He was standing at the edge of a dense forest. Ahead was a valley flanked by towering, fan-shaped cliffs. Within the valley, there was a deep pool, its water clear and azure. Even from a hundred meters away, Nie Kong could feel a refreshing coolness emanating from it.

"It's over there!"

As Nie Kong turned his gaze toward the valley, the little creature immediately called out. This was the tacit understanding cultivated through long-term cooperation between Nie Kong and the little creature: only when Nie Kong looked in the correct direction, having found a precious herb, would it cry out; if the direction was wrong, it remained silent.

Knowing the location of the herbs, Nie Kong quickly moved his feet.

"Caw!"

Suddenly, a piercing, crystal-shattering cry echoed across the sky, seeming capable of piercing one's eardrums. Immediately afterward, a tiny white speck appeared in the heavens, speeding toward them like lightning.

Nie Kong's heart skipped a beat. Judging by the power of the cry, the spirit beast must be formidable.

Perhaps... a fifth-rank spirit beast!

"Retreat!" Nie Kong made an instant decision, turning back and shooting away, disappearing into the dense woods in a flash. In the next moment, Nie Kong scaled the crown of a towering tree like a nimble ape. The thick canopy of leaves provided excellent concealment, and Nie Kong suppressed his breathing.

Even so, he felt it might not be entirely safe. While contemplating, Nie Kong focused his mind, and nine golden needles materialized in his hands, which he swiftly inserted into his nine major hidden acupuncture points. Nie Kong then gently manipulated the finest, longest needle, the Heavenly Needle.

This time, there was no violent buzzing, nor was any spiritual energy expended. Controlled by the nine golden needles, Nie Kong’s breath and heartbeat gradually faded. In mere seconds, though his eyes remained open, his body seemed devoid of any life force, resembling a corpse.

"Oh!"

Another sharp, clear cry sounded.

The spirit beast hurtled toward them at breakneck speed. The small white speck in the sky rapidly grew to the size of a millstone and continued to expand at a rate almost imperceptible to the naked eye. After more than ten seconds, the beast’s massive body descended to hover over the valley.

Nie Kong got a perfect view of the spirit beast’s form. Its body stretched nearly five meters long, covered entirely in white as pure as ice and snow, save for a single, ink-black fleshy crown atop its head, the layers of wrinkled flesh resembling a vividly blooming black rose the size of a washbasin. Its wings were even more astonishing; when fully spread, each spanned close to twenty meters, capable of blotting out the sky, and a single casual flap sent a terrifying surge of air howling outward.

It was a 'Ink Snow Thunder Eagle'!

As expected of a fifth-grade spirit beast—Tai Hong had predicted correctly!

Nie Kong felt a distinct shock. The 'Ink Snow Thunder Eagle' was an abnormally proud and magnificent creature, exceedingly rare across the entire Tian Ling Continent; the vast majority were concentrated in specific locales, with only a stray one or two sighted occasionally elsewhere. He never expected to encounter one in this shattered illusion realm. Rumor had it that these flying spirit beasts possessed incredibly keen senses. If he hadn't possessed the Nine Revolutions Golden Needle Technique, it surely would have detected him!

: A two-in-one, arrived a little later than anticipated