"Xiao Zhuzi, get up! You're crushing Parrot to death!"
Jian Dan sprang up like a fish leaping from water and immediately scanned her surroundings—nothing but endless yellow sand stretched as far as the eye could see.
The air was thick with scorching heat, distorting the desert under its oppressive weight. The wind itself felt like it could melt flesh.
Brother Parrot poked his head out from Jian Dan's embrace and took a look around.
"We've entered the secret realm."
"Mm. Seems so. But I don't know where we've been transported. This is a desert."
As she spoke, Jian Dan plucked Brother Parrot from her robes.
"A desert? Then let's walk around first. What are you doing?"
"Be good. I'm changing clothes. Those two sect disciples saw me when we entered. No guarantee they won't recognize me later. Better to avoid trouble."
"Got it! Xiao Zhuzi, go ahead and change. Parrot won't peek."
He dutifully turned his back, even using his wings to shield his eyes.
Jian Dan quickly stripped off her black robe and unhooked the golden butterfly artifact. Both were stowed away in the black storage ring hanging around her neck.
In their place, she donned a white robe and matching boots—both artifact-tier gear. The robe was spun from ice silkworm thread, with golden embroidery forming defensive sigils at the collar and cuffs. For someone who hadn't even reached Foundation Establishment, this was more than sufficient protection.
She pulled out a white veiled hat to block the sun, tucked Brother Parrot back into her arms, and began her trek across the sands in search of an exit.
Three days passed. Brother Parrot had wilted completely, curled up inside Jian Dan's robes, refusing to come out.
Thanks to her body refinement, Jian Dan could endure the heat, but the endless wandering grated on her nerves.
After all, she'd only entered three days early. If she wasted all that time here with nothing to show for it, she'd be back on the same starting line as everyone else. What was the point of her head start?
Something felt wrong.
This desert… it was just sand. No oases, no bones, no beasts. Not even a cactus. Even the most barren wasteland should have had at least a few tenacious desert plants.
As the thought crossed her mind, a few scraggly bushes appeared in the distance, standing still as statues. They bore a handful of yellow, fingernail-sized berries.
Sensing her pause, Brother Parrot peeked out, his voice perking up.
"Xiao Zhuzi, plants! Are they spirit herbs?"
"They don't look like it. I can't sense any spiritual energy from them."
"Brother Parrot, we've been walking forever—have you sensed any other life forms at all?"
"Nope. I can sense direction, but that's it. No signs of beasts or people."
"Then what kinds of creatures should be in a desert like this?"
"Let me think. My big brother once told me that the most common desert beasts are sand scorpions—each one's about ten feet long. Their pincers are deadly, and their tails have venomous stingers…"
Jian Dan suddenly leapt into the air.
"Like that one down there?"
"Wahh! Yes, yes! That's a sand scorpion! So many of them! I've never actually seen one in real li—"
"Shut it."
As she spoke, Jian Dan channeled spiritual energy into her Cloud Treading Boots, speeding away from the scorpions' path.
"What's wrong, Xiao Zhuzi?" Brother Parrot asked, hurt. No one had ever yelled at him like that before.
"Don't you see? Whatever we mention appears. The more details you give, the faster they show up!"
"You mean…?"
"We're in an illusion! One that's shaped by our thoughts. So stop imagining anything about this desert!"
"O-okay…" Brother Parrot didn't dare speak another word, tucking his head back into Jian Dan's robes.
After sprinting for half an hour, Jian Dan finally stopped. She circulated her spiritual energy to recover, then sat cross-legged on the ground.
She assumed the five-point meditation posture, gripping a low-grade spirit stone in each hand, and began circulating the Primordial Chaos Art. Spiritual energy drained from the stones, flowing into her meridians as she completed a grand and small heavenly cycle.
By the time the spirit stones crumbled into dust, slipping from her palms, her mind was crystal clear—emptied of all distractions, focused solely on refining energy.
As she cultivated, the desert beneath her twisted and warped before vanishing entirely.
When Jian Dan finally opened her eyes, halting the Primordial Chaos Art, she found herself facing lush spirit fields. Rows of spirit herbs, from first to third grade, grew in orderly plots. Some had even mutated from centuries of growth.
At the center stood a stone tablet inscribed with: "Jiachen Spirit Fields." Clearly, these fields had been cultivated by someone.
Radiating outward from the tablet were nine separate plots, each growing different plants:
Dream Mist Flowers; Purple Vine Grass; Thousand-Leaf Orchids; Heart's Blood Fruit; Jade Emperor Mushrooms; Shadow-Trace Grass; Crimson Willow Gardenia; Moonlit Algae
The final plot held nothing but a single, lonely willow branch.
"Xiao Zhuzi, the others seem fine, but that willow branch feels… threatening."
"Mm. I feel it too."
As if responding, the willow branch suddenly swayed—despite the absence of wind—before lashing out like a serpent. A thousand willow tendrils materialized, striking toward Jian Dan!