Nodding one last time at Hui, Sis Mei stepped through the portal. The world wobbled all around her. Bright light obscured her vision. When it cleared, she stood in a wide field. The field stretched in all directions, completely coated in knee-high poppy flowers. They undulated gently under a soft breeze, a blood-red sea that reached the horizon. Overhead, a pure, clear-blue sky met the red, so that it seemed the world was divided into two: the poppies below, and the blue sky above.

Sis Mei drew out Hui’s talisman and turned away, activating it behind herself. “See, Hui? It’s a very safe realm.”

On the far side of the portal, Hui sat down on his sword and entered the lotus pose, meditating. He reached out to his link with Jin Xian and peered through her eyes, suppressing her death aura as best he could at the same time. Jin Xian drooped slightly; suppressing her death aura was the same as suppressing her cultivation. Hui stopped before he cut it all off. I don’t need to have her pass out in front of Sis Mei!

She turned at his nudge, slowly taking in the world.

Here and there, spread evenly across the world of poppies, pavilions stood. Long, slender, translucent silk curtains swayed on the breeze, and faintly, Hui made out the tinkling of ornamental bells, though even Jin Xian’s fourth-tier eyes couldn’t see them from this far away. He could, however, make out the glitter of gold light from within the pavilions. As far as they stood from any of the pavilions, Hui still felt the beat of magical auras from within their silky curtains. He looked around and swallowed. Danger? What danger! It really is danger-free good fortune.

“See? Like I said,” Sis Mei said, smiling gently at him.

“It really is as you said,” Hui agreed, speaking in the lowest register of Jin Xian’s voice.

“Hui, are you coming down with a cold? When we get back, I’ll make you some chicken soup,” Sis Mei asked, concerned.

Hui cleared his throat. “It’s nothing. Er, probably an allergy.”

“Allergy?” Sis Mei cocked her head.

Hui waved his sleeve. “It’s nothing, nothing!”

“If you say so,” Sis Mei said. She turned back to the field and nodded. “This realm only holds danger for disciples at or below Qi Gathering. The poppies might be able to drag them to sleep. Their medicinal abilities have been enhanced, after all. But that’s all. This realm… I’ve heard it was originally the experimental realm of an ancient cultivator. The natural laws are different here, but subtly. No one knows exactly what that ancient cultivator wanted, but we know they amassed a great fortune, and put it here, deliberately to lure cultivators inside, then reward them for taking part in the experiment by letting them leave with a single treasure. As everyone says, truly, the only difficulty is selecting the treasure best-suited for you. It’s said that a few particularly indecisive cultivators have ended up caught eternally in this realm, trapped by heart-demons of their own making… but you’d truly have to be a particular type of individual for that to happen.”

Hui frowned, putting a hand to his chin. Li Xiang is many things, but indecisive isn’t one of them. I could see Gu Tian hesitating… heavens know that man is hesitant, but hesitating to the point of cultivating a heart demon and being unintentionally devoured by the realm? I don’t think he’s that kind of obsessive person. He shook his head. No, that can’t be it. Not for either of them.

“Is something troubling you?” Sis Mei asked, looking at him.

“I’m just worried about Li Xiang and Gu Tian,” Hui admitted, giving her a small smile. I don’t need to lie about this in front of Sis Mei. She’ll help me out.

“How about this? We’ll split up and look for them as we’re searching for our respective good fortune. How does that sound?” Sis Mei said.

Hui bowed. “This small cultivator is grateful.”

Sis Mei leaped forward and raised him from his bow. “Oh, stop that, stop that. I consider you a brother, Hui, you know that. There’s no need to be formal with me.”

Hui beamed at her. “Of course, Sis Mei!”

Sis Mei turned and headed off to the left, while Hui turned Jin Xian to the right. Once he could no longer sense Sis Mei’s aura, he stopped repressing Jin Xian’s death aura and let her take control of her body, watching quietly through her eyes. I trust Jin Xian to know how to use her own abilities better than I do. I’ll let her do the hard work of searching and simply observe.

I won’t enter yet. There may be hidden danger. There’s no reason to be rash when I was explicitly warned by Master about this realm. But… if Jin Xian really doesn’t see anything, I’ll have to assume I misunderstood Master’s warning and take my chances to enter.

After all, even though Master warned me about danger, he also told me not to use the life-saving jade he gifted me inside. If I faced nothing but death inside the realm, surely Master, wouldn’t need to warn me not to use it, because I’d be dead. On the other hand, if I faced extreme danger to the point that I couldn’t escape it on my own, he also wouldn’t warn me not to use the jade, because I’d need to use his power to escape.

Jin Xian reached the first pavilion. Silk curtains blew open before her, revealing the pavilion’s glittering contents. Everything from fine weapons made of materials that Hui couldn’t recognize, but which emanated powerful auras of their own, to bottles of pills, fans, wall-hangings, scrolls, even raw materials and small trinkets whose purpose Hui couldn’t guess at, everything seemed to lie within the pavilion. Hui blinked, barely able to look at the conglomeration of wealth. This much… and this is just one pavilion? How many pavilions are there? And then… He gulped. The ancient cultivator is basically giving them out for free? I’ve never seen this much wealth in my life! This small cultivator was poor in his first life and remains poor in the second! Somehow, I feel like I'm not qualified to stand inside this realm! If only I could take everything from this realm…

Hui shook his head. He sighed at the immense display of wealth and opened his right eye, looking at the realm’s opening. Even as he watched, other cultivators rushed inside. He had Jin Xian turn toward where he and Sis Mei had entered on the inside. In the distance, far beyond where he and Sis Mei had entered, a small hole opened in the sky, and the cultivators appeared, falling into the poppies.

Interesting. So there are different entrances to the True Self Realm. In other words, I can’t judge where Li Xiang or Gu Tian could have gotten to by where I entered. Unless I explore the entire realm…

Hui sighed and opened his right eye again, leaving his left eye shut to watch Jin Xian. Ah, well, that’s what I have Jin Xian for! While she explores the realm, I’ll work on a little more cultivation.