Everyone ascended, but I didn't get on board

Chapter 242 Entering the Sea of ​​Consciousness

The temporary mental bridge constructed by the dog system had a limited lifespan. Seeing that the mark on Youming's forehead was about to fade, Qiu Ci couldn't care less and immediately sent a wisp of her divine sense into it. In the blink of an eye, the scene before her eyes changed.

The first thing she felt was the intense heat hitting her face. Upon closer inspection, she realized that she was surrounded by lava. The scalding, crimson magma had turned the entire world into a fiery red color. Lava was flowing and surging everywhere, and flames were burning all around her. The whole world seemed to be a void.

Qiu Ci's heart sank, and she quickly leaped into the air, thus avoiding being swallowed by the lava covering the ground. Even so, being in this hellish sea of ​​consciousness still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, as if all her immortal power had been sealed off.

Qiu Ci was somewhat surprised that Immortal Venerable Youming's sea of ​​consciousness was such a dangerous place. The next moment, she discovered that the lava below began to surge, and suddenly, sharp spikes shot out from the fiery red liquid and rushed towards her.

Qiu Ci was startled, not expecting the sea of ​​consciousness to attack her so quickly, and immediately dodged on her sword. But she soon discovered that the more she dodged, the stronger the attack from below became, and the incoming lava spikes lashed at her like an inverted rain curtain.

At first, she dodged with ease, but gradually she began to struggle. Moreover, it wasn't just the spikes; the entire sea of ​​lava was churning. The scorching magma, which seemed capable of melting everything, whipped up waves several meters high, as if trying to swallow her whole.

Qiu Ci was startled. She had never seen such a dangerous sea of ​​consciousness before. She couldn't retaliate, otherwise it would only splash more lava. She could only dodge again and again with her movement skills. She immediately understood why Qinghe had failed so quickly. This place was really not a place for humans to stay.

"Immortal Venerable Youming! Youming!" She could only call out the other person's name while dodging, trying to awaken the other person's primordial spirit, but unfortunately it had no effect.

There was no response from the entire sea of ​​consciousness, nor was there any trace of the primordial spirit's aura sensed.

Moreover, these lava rocks seemed to have eyes, relentlessly attacking her no matter how she moved; their attacks were incredibly swift.

and many more!

They have eyes?

Qiu Ci suddenly realized something and stopped in her tracks. Instantly, a massive wave of lava crashed down on her, threatening to engulf her completely. But then, a flash of blue light appeared around her, and a layer of dark blue shield enveloped her, blocking the falling lava.

But the attack didn't stop. Wave after wave crashed over her, and countless lava spikes shot towards her, only to be blocked by the psionic machine. This was originally her sea of ​​consciousness, and although it wasn't hers, she could still summon the psionic machine.

Qiu Ci did not rush to retaliate, but instead observed the entire sea of ​​consciousness. Sure enough, she found that You Ming's sea of ​​consciousness seemed to be able to accurately locate her. All the attacks were aimed at her. Moreover, in the entire sea of ​​lava, only her part was stirred up particularly violently. On the contrary, the further away the lava was, the calmer it was, and there was no sign of attack.

This is wrong, this is very wrong!
Logically speaking, Youming's primordial spirit should be asleep, and she should be in a state of unconsciousness. Even if her sea of ​​consciousness senses someone intruding, her attack should also be unconscious, meaning it would attack indiscriminately.

But this sea of ​​consciousness is different; its attacks are purposeful, as if... it's being manipulated.

Is that even possible? The dog system's diagnosis couldn't be wrong, which means that Youming's primordial spirit is indeed asleep. Could it just be that her sea of ​​consciousness is more sensitive to unfamiliar auras?

Thinking of this, Qiu Ci immediately formed a hand seal and summoned a ball of light, which he threw into the distance. The next moment, the ball of light exploded violently dozens of feet away, scattering layers of lava, and then returned to calm.

Sure enough, this sea of ​​consciousness was conscious, which is why it kept targeting her and attacking her.

[Beep! Unknown mental parasite detected. Please remove it as soon as possible.] The dog system suddenly announced. Parasite!
Sure enough, there was someone else.

Qiu Ci was overjoyed and immediately asked, "Where? Locate the target's location."

[Beep! Treatment guidance has been activated.]

The next moment, a huge arrow appeared in front of her, pointing to a direction about 100 meters to the right.

With a thought, she immediately ordered the psionic machine to attack. Instantly, a blue light shot towards the target direction, followed by a deafening roar as the entire sea of ​​lava exploded, and a semi-transparent figure darted out.

"Hahahaha..." A wild laugh rang out from above, the voice rough and somewhat familiar, "I thought it would be that good-for-nothing Qinghe who came in, but I didn't expect it to be just a celestial being!"

Qiu Ci looked up and saw a familiar, muscular figure appear in the sky, his face still bearing the same arrogant expression.

"Ling Hua!" Her eyes widened immediately. Wasn't this guy dead?

"Hmm? You recognize me!" Ling Hua was somewhat surprised, looking at her with unfamiliar eyes, as if he had never seen her before. This was completely different from the stupid expression he had when the Western Immortal Realm was breached. "It seems that the Northern Immortal Realm is indeed out of people. Sending only a Celestial Immortal like you is not a waste of my original plan."

Upon closer inspection of the other person's semi-transparent figure, she immediately understood, "You are Ling Hua's lingering remnant."

"What regret? I am but a wisp of a divine being, but dealing with a mere celestial being like you is more than enough." He said with murderous intent in his eyes.

"Oh." Qiu Ci felt inexplicably relieved. "Your original body said the same thing a few months ago." Then he fell silent.

"Have you seen my true form?" The other party looked her up and down, asking with some surprise.

"Yes," she nodded, speaking the truth, "After all, I was the one who personally saw you off on your way!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Ling Hua's face immediately darkened, her whole body radiating killing intent. "How dare a mere Celestial Immortal speak so arrogantly?" How could she possibly defeat the true form?

"Huh? You didn't know?" Qiu Ci said with some surprise, "Not only your Western Immortal Realm, but now even Mu Xi of the Eastern Immortal Realm has been sent into reincarnation by me. Now I am the Immortal Venerable of both the Eastern and Western Realms."

"Ridiculous!" He clearly didn't believe it. "How could this be!"

"Believe it or not!" Qiu Ci shrugged. "You've been hiding in someone else's sea of ​​consciousness for so long, haven't you contacted the original body? Or... are you unable to contact it?"

Ling Hua must have left a wisp of his divine thought—or rather, a remnant of it—in someone else's sea of ​​consciousness a long time ago, undoubtedly intending to cause trouble. Perhaps the reason You Ming has been asleep for so long is because of his meddling, but You Ming sealed his own primordial spirit, which presumably also sealed the connection between Ling Hua's wisp of spirit and his main body.

That's why Ling Hua felt so unfamiliar with her when he saw her just now, and he didn't even know that his original body had already died.