Mysterious mirror hanging high

Ling Qishuang was both anxious and furious upon hearing this. Her pretty face flushed red, and she pointed at Jing Yu, cursing, "What utter nonsense! Even if I were to live a lonely life and never attain immortality, I would never have a second thought for that idiot Ming Yutai! Stop playing these tricks..."

Before the words were even finished, the carved wooden door of the private room suddenly shattered.

Amidst the flying sawdust, several figures in black filed in. The leader, dressed in a celestial robe and exuding an aura of authority, was none other than Mingxiao, the sect leader of the Tianmang Sect—exactly the same figure as in the dream!

Ling Qishuang's pupils contracted sharply. Before she could react, she saw the Mingxiao Sect Leader lightly tap with his jade ruler.

The void suddenly solidified, and her true essence felt as if it were trapped in quagmire, unable to even move her fingertips.

"Again?!"

She subconsciously turned her head to look at Jing Yu, only to see that the gray-robed youth, before his Xuan Guang could even rise, was suppressed by invisible shackles, his handsome face pressed against the floor as he shouted, "This time it's real! This is the real deal!"

Ling Qishuang felt a huge shock in her heart, but before she could react, the surrounding scenery collapsed again. She opened her eyes again and found that everything in the private room was as before, perfectly intact without any damage. It was just another dream!

Jing Yu chuckled and said, "Sorry... that was a dream within a dream! Unfortunately, the nesting of the dreams wasn't perfect, and I didn't expect the second layer of the dream to collapse in an instant."

"Was it because you glimpsed the first layer of the dream and your subconscious became wary, that you woke up... or is it because the structure of the [dream within a dream] is inherently extremely fragile and difficult to maintain?"

Jing Yu muttered to herself, "How should I change it..."

The threads of the law representing the [Divine Dream Law] around him were faintly visible, clearly indicating that this law had been further refined in the practice just now.

"You brat...you tricked me!"

Ling Qishuang cursed loudly, then suddenly looked tense and looked around. She felt like she was still dreaming. Finally, she gritted her teeth and heard several crisp "slap slap slap" sounds. This young lady of the Ling family had mercilessly slapped herself several times.

Even after her cheeks were swollen high, the surrounding environment remained unchanged.

Jing Yu said helplessly, "This time it really isn't a dream... A dream with three nested layers is still too difficult for me."

Ling Qishuang, whose head was swollen like a pig's head, swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva, her words muffled, and said resentfully, "Is this really necessary?"

"I can't help it."

Jing Yu shrugged: "A mid-stage cultivator from the Dream Cave, altering their subconscious... is far too dangerous for a Nascent Soul cultivator like me. Even though my understanding of dream-related laws far surpasses yours, the gap in cultivation level is not so easy to bridge."

"Moreover, this action cannot be too violent, otherwise it may cause irreversible damage to Ming Yutai's soul... If we turn Young Master Ming into an idiot, then the two of us can just wait to be wanted to death by the Tianmang Sect."

"Leaving me with no other choice, I can only use you as a practice subject first."

Ling Qishuang gritted her teeth: "Your laws related to dreams are indeed quite profound. The environment in the dream is truly lifelike, and even the Celestial Immortal power of the Heavenly Mang Sect Master is indistinguishable from reality! If someone is completely ignorant of these laws, wouldn't they fall for the spell no matter how high their cultivation level is?"

"It's not as simple as you think," Jing Yu shook her head and said, "Different realms result in fundamental differences in the strength of the soul, which cannot be compensated for by higher levels of understanding of the laws..."

"Moreover, celestial beings like Mingxiao were not designed by me, but were already rooted in your subconscious."

"You must have met the leader of the Tianmang Sect, right? Otherwise you wouldn't have such a vivid imagination... All I can do is provide some guidance."

"A little guidance? And I, a mid-stage Cave Heaven cultivator, have fallen for your tricks, a Nascent Soul cultivator?" Ling Qishuang was somewhat skeptical.

Jing Yu naturally wouldn't tell Ling Qishuang that her divine soul had actually reached the Cave Heaven level, and that because she had practiced the Dao Lord's technique [Spirit Nourishing Technique], the strength of her divine sense was almost no less than that of a mid-Cave Heaven cultivator.

He simply smiled slightly and said, "Actually, the dream constructed by this law is not difficult to break... You only need to be aware that you are in a dream."

"To put it more clearly, you need to notice the 'irrationality' in the dream."

Jing Yu explained, "Actually, this dream is quite rudimentary, and it has problems from the very beginning... Do you really think that a cultivator from the Tianmang Sect can just barge into a private room at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion? Even if that person is the sect leader of the Tianmang Sect?"

"Impossible... The gap between the Golden Immortal power and the True Immortal power is perhaps even greater than the gap between immortals and mortals. The Drunken Immortal Pavilion itself provides privacy, which is the foundation of this power. If any Tom, Dick, Harry, or any scoundrel could just barge into the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's private rooms, this business would not be able to continue."

"Do you really think that even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake? The Golden Immortals are high above the Third Heaven. They just don't bother to bow down. If Mingxiao dares to break into the private room of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion today, the Golden Immortal behind the Drunken Immortal Pavilion will lower his gaze the next moment, and the entire Tianmang Sect will be destroyed in an instant."

Jing Yu said, "As long as you believe that the core logic of 'the private rooms of Zuixianlou will not be broken into by Tianmang Sect cultivators' remains unchanged, you will soon discover the flaws in this dream."

He took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Alright, this time I am really going to enter the Mingyu Terrace dream. I will trouble Fellow Daoist Ling to protect me."

Ling Qishuang remained wary, but Jing Yu ignored her, slowly closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Jing Yu felt a slight tremor in her soul, as if she had passed through a layer of cool water film, and the surrounding scenery became clear.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing on a winding water corridor.

The covered bridge was vermilion, with carved railings and jade steps. On both sides were pools of rippling blue water, in which lotus flowers bloomed and were shrouded in a light mist—this was the Ming Mansion he had visited before.

However, a strange sense of unease lingered in Jing Yu's heart.

He subconsciously lowered his head, trying to use the clear pool water to sort out his thoughts, or rather, to confirm his current "state".

The reflection in the water was not of the familiar gray-robed youth, but of an unfamiliar, somewhat childish girl's face.

She wore a light yellow dress, typical of a Ming Dynasty maid, with her hair styled in double buns. Her figure was slender, and even the slight rise and fall of her chest was clearly visible.

Jing Yu tried to move her mind, wanting to mobilize a trace of the power of the Divine Dream Law to sense the compatibility between herself and this "body", as well as the location of the core of the Mingyutai dream.

However, the threads of the laws of dreams seem obscure and unclear here, like a spider web soaked in water, difficult to clearly capture and manipulate.

Clearly, Ming Yutai, as a cultivator of the Cave Heaven, seems to have also practiced some secret techniques of the soul. The dream barrier that his soul instinctively constructs is more powerful than Jing Yu imagined.

Just then, another maid behind Jing Yu nudged his lower back and whispered:

"Xiao Huan, don't just stand there! Madam's throwing a tantrum again! She's probably broken a lot of things. This isn't the time to slack off; we need to hurry over and clean up the mess..."