Chapter 348: I Can’t Tell the Difference

“Junior Sister!”

“Junior Sister! Wake up!”

Inside the side room, Daoist Ling Xi was slumped over a table, with a copy of the Book of Songs beside her.

Upon entering the room and seeing his Junior Sister in such a state, Daoist Ling Xuan panicked and hurriedly shook her shoulders.

Seeing this, Gu Ning’an flicked his fingers, sending a streak of mystical light into the crown of Daoist Ling Xi’s head.

The next second, her body trembled, and she suddenly sat up, looking dazedly at Daoist Ling Xuan as she murmured, “Senior Brother.”

“Ah!” Daoist Ling Xuan quickly asked, “Junior Sister, what happened to you? I was calling you from outside for a long time, but you didn’t respond. You even attacked me and Mr. Gu with spells.”

“Attacked?”

“Mr. Gu?”

Daoist Ling Xi glanced at her Senior Brother, then at Gu Ning’an standing by the door, hesitating. “Is this real or fake?”

“What do you mean, real or fake?!”

Daoist Ling Xuan furrowed his brows. “Why are you crying? Wipe your tears!”

Upon hearing this, Daoist Ling Xi reached up to touch her cheek. Feeling the sticky dampness on her fingertips, her confusion deepened. “Senior Brother, are you real or fake?”

“This is bad… Is the Five Decays of Heaven and Man causing memory loss? Or is her soul in disorder?”

Frowning, Daoist Ling Xuan flicked his fly-whisk, causing a Three-Essences Crown to appear above Daoist Ling Xi’s head.

“The Three-Essences Crown is still intact. She hasn’t fallen from the True Immortal realm yet, so why is she acting like this?”

Seeing this, Gu Ning’an interjected, “Daoist Ling Xi, do you still remember me?”

“Mr. Gu, I remember.”

Daoist Ling Xi paused, then continued, “Mr. Gu, please check— is my Senior Brother real or an illusion?”

“An illusion? How could I be an illusion?” Daoist Ling Xuan had barely responded when he felt a gaze settle on him.

Following the gaze, he saw Gu Ning’an carefully scrutinizing him up and down.

“I’ve checked— he’s not an illusion.”

Hearing this, Daoist Ling Xuan was speechless. He clicked his tongue and muttered, “Mr. Gu, my Junior Sister is clearly not in the right state. Don’t take her seriously and start suspecting me.”

“Just joking.” Gu Ning’an waved with a smile, then sat at the table. He reached for a teacup to pour himself some tea, only to notice that one cup already had half a serving of tea left.

Assuming it was Daoist Ling Xi’s, he moved it aside. However, as soon as she noticed the cup, she suddenly grabbed it, causing the tea to spill across the table.

“Tea cup… tea cup…”

Daoist Ling Xi stared blankly at the cup, murmuring as if in a trance.

But at her cultivation level, her divine consciousness should be clear— there was no reason for her to behave like this.

“Mr. Gu, I think she should sleep for a while. Something is definitely off.” As he spoke, Daoist Ling Xuan prepared to cast a spell.

“Wait.”

Gu Ning’an raised a hand to stop him, then asked Daoist Ling Xi, “Daoist Ling Xi, last time I gave you two golden kumquats— did you eat them?”

“Golden kumquats…”

Daoist Ling Xi turned her palm over, and two glowing golden kumquats appeared. “They’re still here.”

“As long as they’re here…”

Gu Ning’an paused before continuing, “These serve as physical proof— proving that the me you see now, along with Daoist Ling Xuan, are real.”

“Yes…”

After a long silence, Daoist Ling Xi gradually calmed down. Her expression returned to the serene and ethereal state that Gu Ning’an had first seen in her.

“I must have been affected by the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, trapped in a state where I couldn’t distinguish reality from illusion.”

“No rush. Eat a fruit and take your time explaining.”

As soon as Gu Ning’an finished speaking, Daoist Ling Xi took a bite of the golden kumquat.

The kumquat’s juice spread through her body like a refreshing stream. The rich spiritual energy filling her depleted Qi sea after using so much mystical energy earlier.

After finishing one kumquat, Daoist Ling Xi hesitated briefly before storing away the second one. Then, she began recounting her experience to the two of them.

By the time she finished speaking, an entire incense stick’s time had passed. She poured herself a full cup of tea and drank it in one go.

Meanwhile, Daoist Ling Xuan’s brows had furrowed so tightly that they formed the character “川.”

“Junior Sister, our master passed away long ago. Given your state of mind, there’s no way you should have been unable to distinguish between reality and illusion…”

“To be honest, even now, I still don’t believe the master I saw was just an illusion conjured by my uncontrolled power.” Daoist Ling Xi sighed helplessly.

At her side, Gu Ning’an, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke with a serious tone:

“Daoist Ling Xi, just now, you said that at the last moment, your master told you he had once seen a Path to the Heavens— and that walking this path could bring back your deceased master and Senior Brother from the illusion. Is that correct?”

Daoist Ling Xi nodded. “Yes, my master… No, the master I conjured said exactly that.”

Path to the Heavens… Could it actually be referring to the Outer Heaven?

The one in Outer Heaven was undoubtedly far beyond the True Immortal realm. That meant the True Immortal stage wasn’t the final step on the cultivation path.

As he pondered, Gu Ning’an caught sight of Daoist Ling Xuan out of the corner of his eye. The man’s face was filled with hesitation and conflict.

“Daoist Ling Xuan… Forgive me for asking so bluntly, but how exactly did your master— a True Immortal— die?”

“This…”

Caught off guard by Gu Ning’an’s directness, Daoist Ling Xuan was momentarily at a loss for words.

“This concerns Daoist Ling Xi’s Five Decays of Heaven and Man. I ask that you speak frankly,” Gu Ning’an said with a respectful bow.

“Sigh…”

Daoist Ling Xuan let out a long sigh. “Years ago, my master once said he had glimpsed the realm beyond True Immortal… and so, he entered seclusion.”

“When I saw him again… he had already gone mad.”

“Mad?!”

Daoist Ling Xi suddenly stood up, staring intently at Daoist Ling Xuan. Her voice was heavy:

“Senior Brother, why have I never heard this before?”

“Why did you tell me that our master suffered the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, exhausted his lifespan, and dissolved his Three Souls back into the world?”

“Junior Sister, back then, you were on the verge of breaking through to True Immortal. How could I tell you the truth?”

Daoist Ling Xuan’s expression turned bitter as he continued:

“The last time I saw our master was inside a small illusory world he had created.”

“He sat alone at the edge of a cliff, surrounded by shifting illusions. No matter how I called to him, he acted as if he couldn’t see me.”

“Sometimes, he would even talk to illusions of himself…”

“He would ask his own illusions whether they were real or not, questioning which side was truly reality…”

“And in the end— when his real self and the illusion suddenly swapped places—”

“The illusion vanished.”

“And the one that remained… turned to look at me and said—”

‘I can’t tell the difference anymore…’