Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 747 Wake up
Xiao Ran's "consciousness" floated in this boundless void.

This feeling was mysterious and indescribable. He could clearly feel his own existence, yet he also felt that he was part of nothingness itself.

With a single thought, his form changes at will; he can be a vast nebula, a wandering whale's shadow, solidified lightning, or even instantly split into millions of tiny points of light, which then coalesce into the silhouette of a towering giant. He seems omnipotent; this void is the canvas of his will.

This is the fourth level of the Soul Cultivation Technique. He is no longer bound by the existence of a physical body or limited thoughts, but has truly touched the origin of the spirit, transforming into a chaotic state that is closer to the "Dao".

However, behind this omnipotence lies a cold prison.

It's like someone who has struggled in the water for a long time and finally learned to tumble freely, only to find that the surface of the water is covered with impenetrable ice!

His will surged within this vast universe constructed by his own soul cultivation technique, yet he was never truly able to awaken.

Every attempt is like trying your best to crash into an invisible but unshakeable barrier.

The barrier did not come from external enemies, but rather from the inherent characteristics of the "Primordial Qi" realm itself—extreme freedom, which also brought about extreme isolation.

The overly vast spiritual essence and the overly free form of existence have made the path back to the material world blurry, or even almost closed.

"Could it be that this is why I can't get out?"

Xiao Ran became increasingly frustrated, because he didn't know how long he would be trapped here.

Because her five senses were blocked and she couldn't open them, Xiao Ran had no idea what was happening outside.

"I wonder what the situation is like outside?"

"Jin Chanzi, Wu Man, Dai Long, are you still alive?"

"Has Brother Lu obtained the Imperial Seal of the State yet?"

"The Ghost City has already become a reality, right? There shouldn't be any fish that have escaped outside. If we're talking about danger, I'm afraid there are still some scattered evil spirits inside the Ghost City."

"They say that after I die, the heavens and earth will fall and the earth will crack, but why do I feel worse than death right now? If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have destroyed the Bone-Scraping Demon King. It was all meaningless. At least he could have kept me company."

"Ugh……"

Xiao Ran tried to lie down, and this simple thought caused her surroundings to churn. A solid, enveloping feeling surrounded her, as comfortable as lying on a cloud.

"I don't know... how is Yuting? I'm going to die here, and I don't know if she'll be sad. Hmm... I haven't even had a chance to say goodbye to her yet... I hope this girl doesn't get stuck on this thought."

Just as Xiao Ran was lost in thought...

"Om...!"

A deep, muffled roar suddenly exploded in the depths of his mind!

The sound did not come through hearing, but acted directly on the core of his existence, as if someone had smashed a giant hammer into the foundation that supported this nothingness.

Xiao Ran instantly became alert!

That omnipresent yet gentle "Qi" suddenly stirred! Like a pot of boiling oil suddenly thrown into a hot iron! The countless stellar vortexes that formed the background of his consciousness abruptly accelerated...

Xiao Ran's focused mind instantly tightened, and immense vigilance pierced through the fog of all her thoughts like ice spikes.

coming!

This force originated from the outside! It forced its way in through an impenetrable "barrier" with extreme brutality and brute force!
Like a red-hot iron rod, it forcefully pierced into Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness.

"who is it!"

Upon sensing this power, Xiao Ran was secretly surprised, as the "Qi" in her sea of ​​consciousness was easily pierced by this power.

"Tianwei!"

At this moment, Xiao Ran sensed a divine power within this aura, which greatly surprised her: "A celestial being! Could it be... that Huang Chao still has some hidden tricks up his sleeve?"

Xiao Ran instinctively thought of Huang Chao, because he couldn't think of anyone else who could reach the Celestial Realm besides Huang Chao.

But whether it was Huang Chao or not was not important to Xiao Ran.

Instead, a look of joy appeared on his face. He had been feeling suffocated here, and now the other party had rushed in...

"Hehe, once you're in, you're not leaving."

Just moments ago, the "Qi" that had been scattered throughout the boundless sea of ​​consciousness like a vast universe was now like a galaxy being sucked back by an invisible giant mouth, instantly collapsing and condensing!
However, that powerful force pressed forward relentlessly, relentlessly crashing into Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness.

"boom!!"

With a piercing thud, a burst of light finally broke through the blockade of Xiao Ran's sea of ​​consciousness and rushed in.

"Buzz!"

The entire sea of ​​consciousness felt as if it had been violently torn apart by two invisible giant hands! A shockwave ten times more intense than before erupted.

“Right now!!”

Xiao Ran's heart stirred, and her sea of ​​consciousness suddenly blazed brightly. In an instant, all the "Qi" spread towards that power like countless vines.

He didn't want to suppress the other party with force, but rather wanted to use the other party's power to either pull himself out or pull the other party in.

However, even though Xiao Ran had made ample preparations, the result was so smooth that it surprised her.

When his power entangled with the other party, the other party did not resist at all, but instead took the initiative to intertwine his spiritual power with Xiao Ran's spiritual power.

The moment when the two spirits intertwined.

"boom!!"

The entire sea of ​​consciousness seemed to be pried open, and the deafening mental collision was a clash between heavenly might and primordial Qi!

There was also a trace of... a familiar aura that made his very soul tremble?!
Although this aura was almost indistinguishable amidst the devastating power of the heavens, Xiao Ran would never mistake it! The unique resilience beneath that cold exterior, the gentle profile he had sensed countless times, was a faint beacon even in the midst of thunder and lightning!

"Yuting?!"

The immense shock instantly shattered all of Xiao Ran's attack intentions and calculations.

After a brief moment of shock, the force pulling him down did not stop; instead, it intensified suddenly because he had taken the bait!
Xiao Ran felt as if she had been swept into a mental storm, being pulled uncontrollably by that force, rushing outwards along the torn gap.

"Xiao Ran!! Xiao Ran!!!"

"Brother, wake up! It's me, Huang Le. Can you hear me?"

"Could it be... that it didn't work? Should we try again?"

The first thing to recover was her hearing. Familiar voices appeared in Xiao Ran's ears: Wu Man's shouts, Huang Le's calls, and Liu Mu's voice.

Are they... all here?

Hearing these familiar voices, Xiao Rankante's heart immediately relaxed, until he heard Gao Yuting's voice in his ear.

"Xiao Ran!! Wake up."

The familiar voice made Xiao Ran's heart race.

"Bang! Bang!! Bang bang bang bang!!"

The powerful pounding of her heart in her chest grew stronger and stronger, and her previously stiff body gradually began to regain its vitality, with fresh blood rushing into Xiao Ran's body like a surging Yangtze River.

[Warning!! Your mental strength is damaged!!]

[WARNING!! Your physical body has suffered massive damage, all attributes have decreased by 20%]

[WARNING!! Your body is showing signs of breakdown!!]

A constant stream of notifications appeared in Xiao Ran's ears; these were notifications that she hadn't received while she was unconscious.

Now that Xiao Ran has woken up, a series of notifications appear before her.

However, unlike the information in the prompt, when Xiao Ran's consciousness returned to her physical body, the vast innate Qi in her sea of ​​consciousness seemed to have found an outlet, and quickly surged into her whole body along Xiao Ran's eight extraordinary meridians.

In just a moment, Xiao Ran felt as if her body was filled with vitality again.

In fact, his condition is much better than before.

"Hey, look! Xiao Xiao's up!"

At this moment, Huang Le noticed something first, his eyes lit up, and he covered his mouth and chuckled.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked down and couldn't help but grin. Gao Yuting, standing to the side, wasn't shy at all; she simply grabbed a piece of clothing and covered Xiao Ran with it.

Before long, sweat began to seep from Xiao Ran's skin. This sweat was more like stagnant blood in her body, and it quickly stained the ice bed beneath her body red.

At this moment, Liu Mu walked to Xiao Ran's side, stretched out his finger, and touched Xiao Ran's pulse. Immediately, a relaxed expression appeared on his face. He turned around and gave Wu Man and Qinghai Old Demon a wink.

The two relaxed, Wu Man grabbed Huang Le, and Qinghai Laomo took Qinghao away. The group quietly left the room.

Gao Yuting was left alone in the room.

I went out of the house and sat on the bench in the yard.

It was already late at night, and the moon overhead was big and round.

"Oh, we finally managed to save him." Huang Le plopped down in a chair, but there was still some confusion on his face. He looked at Liu Mu and said, "Sixth Brother, without a physical body, can't you just be a carefree immortal?"

Because Huang Le had been busy in the front yard, having people constantly collect ice from the ice cellar, he hadn't seen Plum Blossom Taoist.

It was only later that she discovered the sky was terrifyingly oppressive, and Gao Yuting's aura filled the entire world in an instant. She rushed over in a panic and learned the reason for the matter from Lingxian Qinghao. With this question in her heart, she took this opportunity to ask.

After all, in Huang Le's mind, escaping the cycle of reincarnation, roaming freely in the world, and even existing for thousands or tens of thousands of years seemed like a good choice.

Liu Mu rolled his eyes at him, but still explained to Huang Le, "What do you know? Plum Blossom Taoist is a very powerful figure. If he were really as good as he says, why would he bury himself in a coffin?"

Others may not know, but he saw that coffin with his own eyes.

Although the coffin was different from others, being square like a small house of about 20 square meters, it was still a coffin after all.

Moreover, he was buried in a place between the realms of Yin and Yang, a place that even the underworld cannot find.

"Just tell me what terrible things they must have done to hide in that place and not dare to show their faces."

Since Plum Blossom Taoist hadn't gone far, Liu Mu didn't hold back at all when he started criticizing him.

"With this change in the world, the physical body will become the only boat to cross the world. Losing the physical body is like losing the driftwood he depends on for survival. The authority within his body will also disappear. Even if he can hide like the Plum Blossom Taoist, he will probably have no chance of turning things around afterward."

The old demon Qinghai sat to the side and began to explain.

Xiao Ran has a physical body and authority; he is only temporarily lacking in strength. Even if he were the Great Emperor, he would only dare to play dirty tricks and stab people in the back.

Without the protection of authority, the Old Demon Qinghai dares to guarantee that when the entire Lost City is laid to rest, Emperor Fuzi will surely beat Xiao Ran to a pulp.

Therefore, the path pointed out by the Plum Blossom Taoist was unworkable from the very beginning.

Unless Xiao Ran can also find a place to hide that even the Great Emperor of the Jade Emperor cannot find.

After hearing their explanation, Huang Le felt relieved. He looked up at the room behind the courtyard and said, "It's just... a pity for my sister-in-law."

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a moment...

Inside the room, Xiao Ran slowly opened her eyes. The chill of the ice bed, the fine ice crystals in the air, and the faint sounds coming from outside the window—her five senses were suddenly flooded like a torrent in a dried-up riverbed, becoming incredibly clear in an instant.

When that face, which she had longed for day and night and which was etched into her soul, appeared above her eyes, Xiao Ran's heart felt as if it had been gripped by a burning hand, and then it began to pound violently!
"Yuting!" Without hesitation or thought, intense joy and the excitement of surviving a disaster erupted like a volcano.

He practically sprang up from the ice bed, stretched out his arms, and with a thousand words to say and the overwhelming joy of finding what he had lost, he suddenly hugged the person in front of him tightly!
However, the instant his arm touched Gao Yuting's body, an extremely strange sensation, like ice water poured over his head, instantly froze all his ecstasy.

That wasn't the soft, real warmth of a human body.

The feeling... was like holding a piece of ancient, cold jade, separated by an invisible, extremely tough layer of glass!

An overwhelming yet cold and distant aura emanated from Gao Yuting, forming an absolute spatial barrier at the point where their bodies touched!

Xiao Ran could see her, could sense her in his arms, his arms tightly wrapped around her, and could even smell the familiar scent of her hair. But the sensation his fingertips returned was emptiness! It was a cold resistance! It was that vast, overwhelming power that completely isolated him... the might of heaven and earth!
It was this unique force that barged into his sea of ​​consciousness and forcibly pulled him out of it.

His Adam's apple bobbed violently, all his elation and relief instantly turning to dust, clogging his chest, making it almost impossible to breathe. After the chilling fear came a deafening, overwhelming pain, a thousand times more agonizing than the burning of thoughts in his mind.

“Foolish…” His voice was like sand grinding against rough rock, struggling to squeeze out the first word, but the second word choked in his throat, turning into a burning heat that welled up in his eyes.

"Don't call me stupid." Gao Yuting interrupted him, trying to force a smile by curving her lips upwards, but the smile was as fragile as a thin layer of frost under the pale moonlight, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.

"Look!" She suddenly raised her other hand and pointed to the window frame.

A huge, full moon hung in the sky, its cool, silvery light passing through the invisible barrier without hindrance, bathing her in its light and illuminating Xiao Ran's face, which was streaked with tears of shock and pain. "This moon, doesn't it look like the one we saw on Purple Mountain the night we first met?"

“Zishan…that night…” Xiao Ran’s voice was broken, each syllable carrying the choking sound of a blade scraping through flesh.

Gao Yuting turned to look at Xiao Ran, her clear black and white eyes sparkling: "I want to go to Zishan."

"Okay, go now."

Xiao Ran nodded, a thousand words still choked in her throat, a bitter ache rising within her. At this moment, all thoughts of her plans, her injuries, Ruzhou, even Wu Man and Liu Mu, were temporarily forgotten.

Without even thinking, he instinctively turned around and rushed out of the room, like a reckless teenager, to take her away without a care in the world.

But this time, as soon as he took a step, a slightly cool little hand gently grabbed his arm.

Xiao Ran was stunned and turned around.

Moonlight streamed in through the open door, illuminating Gao Yuting's face.

A hint of playfulness appeared on her delicate face, and the corners of her mouth slightly curved up, revealing two shallow dimples.

That smile instantly dispelled the awe-inspiring aloofness surrounding her, as if that stubborn and slightly spoiled girl had returned.

"Hey…"

Her voice was clear and melodious, with a hint of lightness that was barely perceptible, as if it had been washed by moonlight. "Silly boy, what's the panic?" Her eyes sparkled as she looked directly into his anxious eyes.

"Things are different now,"

The curve of her lips widened slightly, carrying an undeniable confidence and a subtle sense of pride, even a hint of boasting. "I'm amazing now, I'm a celestial being!"

"Celestial Being, you understand, right?"

She tilted her head slightly, emphasizing the weight of the word, as if she were telling a tremendous little secret: "Even God has to give me some face!"

Before Xiao Ran could even respond to her childish declaration, a powerful yet gentle force quietly spread out from Gao Yuting.

There was no loud, booming sound of air being torn apart, no violent energy storm.

Without warning, a visible ripple of icy blue spread across the bluestone pavement beneath her feet, as if a star had been thrown into a calm lake.

Immediately afterwards, an invisible wind rose from the ground.

This "wind" was not a surge of air currents, but rather a distortion and support of space, carrying a gentle yet powerful force that lifted them up, instantly enveloping the two of them.

Xiao Ran felt a sudden lightness in her body, and her feet no longer had solid ground beneath them.

Gao Yuting gently tugged at his arm, the movement as casual as if she were simply leading him for a walk in the garden. But the next moment…

"Whoosh!"

The two disappeared like streaks of light, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"Hey!!"

Outside the courtyard, Huang Le and his group stared blankly at Xiao Ran and Gao Yuting's departing figures. Huang Le stood up from his chair and pointed in the direction the two had left: "Wait... why did they just leave like that??"

"Alright, they've gone on their honeymoon, let's not worry about them. Those who need to rest should rest, and those who need to heal should heal properly."

Seeing this, Liu Mu was quite philosophical about it, pointing to Wu Man's crippled arm and broken leg beside him: "It's just that you've suffered, you'll have to lie down for the time being."

Wu Man didn't care, or rather, he was helpless. In fact, his current state was no different from that of a cripple.

However, since she has some free time now, Wu Man really plans to do something else during this time.

He completed a special professional task this time, which granted him the privilege of establishing businesses here.

Since we're just idling around anyway, why not use this time to think about where we could open this business?

Then he looked at Huang Ledao and said, "Alright, you can stay with me for the time being. You'll definitely get your share of the benefits."

Huang Le was naturally happy to agree. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well follow Wu Man and help out. As for the others, Liu Mu, Qing Hai Lao Mo, and Ling Xian Qing Hao, they figured they had nothing else to do either, so they decided to join in the fun and pass the time by working with Wu Man.

After a brief discussion, Liu Mu slammed his fist on the table and declared, "Since we're going to build a restaurant, let's build the biggest one possible! As for the location... let's choose one next to the Amazing Pavilion!"

(End of this chapter)