Chapter 52: Crimson Clouds Filling the Sky

The mirror spirit waited until the woman’s figure vanished before daring to emerge from the mirror. It skipped over to Qing Lan, looking at the young girl with a remarkably peculiar expression. "Unbelievable, you just found yourself a teacher just like that?"

In the realm of cultivation, master-disciple lineages were regarded with the utmost solemnity. One typically pledged loyalty to a single master from beginning to end, making it exceedingly rare for two people to complete an apprenticeship ceremony with such casual ease.

It scratched its head, its thoughts spinning wildly as it pondered the woman's parting words. Suddenly, the phrases "Moon Sect taking disciples" and "Moon Monarch Chamu" exploded in its mind...

The Moon Sect?
The Mingshan Moon Sect that was destroyed by the Judgment Grounds a century ago!

The Moon Monarch...
The very same Moon Monarch whose name was once spoken in the same breath as their own Array Sect Master!

The mirror spirit's jaw nearly dropped in shock—it turned out to be that madwoman!

Its expression shifted unpredictably before its gaze suddenly drifted toward the green-robed girl beside it. Without giving it another thought, it shoved Qing Lan down the mountain. Amidst a burst of brilliantly dazzling colored mists, white fog billowed once more, and it decisively scrambled back into the safety of the mirror.

The karmic entanglement behind this master-and-disciple pair was simply too vast. It was merely a tiny mirror spirit, and none of this had anything to do with it!

Stumbling as she was pushed down the mountain, Qing Lan was utterly bewildered. She watched the light radiating from her body drift toward the sky like smoke and mist, resembling warning beacon fires signaling information to people in the distance.

She looked up and saw several other strands of colored light intertwining in the dark night sky—the two late-stage First-Realm cultivators were glowing in the exact same manner. They looked at Qing Lan, smiled faintly, and nodded in acknowledgment.

Looking a bit further away, a figure clad in black was enveloped in an intensely brilliant radiance—it was Yue Dong, quietly watching her from not far away with a warm and gentle smile on his face.

The bright moon hung high, stars filled the sky, and several trails of colored light slowly rose, gently brushing across the peak of Mirror Mountain like a dreamy, blue-purple veil.

Looking at him, Qing Lan broke into a smile as well.
They had all succeeded.

The two converged and were just about to chat when they noticed two crimson rays of light erupting from the mountain almost simultaneously, shooting straight into the sky with dazzling brilliance.

......
......

The source of those two rays of light was none other than the twin sisters, Chen Yan and Chen Xi.

Within this illusion constructed entirely from their own minds, they possessed the power to alter the future, even though everything remained entirely illusory.

The two girls stumbled frantically toward their mother. Seeing them in such a state, the mother's numb and dim expression wavered. She stared in a daze, as if unable to believe her eyes.

Flames ignited in Chen Xi's hands, quickly burning away the ropes that bound her mother until nothing was left. Illuminated by the firelight, the sisters' eyes were brighter than ever, as if they wanted to carve the woman before them deeply into their memories. Shivering all over, the two embraced their mother tightly a moment later.

With her hair disheveled, the mother held her two warm daughters. It was as if she suddenly understood something, and instantly, hot tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled her children into a tight embrace.

The mother and daughters wept in each other's arms. In the darkness, the hidden river flowed quietly, while a fierce fire burned behind them in the village, the sounds of wailing gradually fading away.

After an unknown length of time, the mother released Chen Yan and Chen Xi. Her trembling hands continuously caressed her daughters' little faces. Tears blurred her vision and choked her voice as she trembled, "Are Yan'er and Xi'er back?"

"You escaped and survived, didn't you?"

The mother's words left Chen Yan utterly bewildered—they were right here!

Chen Xi, however, instantly grasped her mother's meaning. Shock flashed through her eyes, and tears immediately broke free like a severed string, rendering her unable to speak. "Yes, Mother, I escaped with little sister. We... we went to the Heaven South Array Sect, and we were accepted as sect disciples. No one can ever bully us again..."

Only then did Chen Yan catch on, quickly chiming in to follow her sister's words. "That's right, Mother, we're both doing well, and we missed you so much..."

The mother's tense body slowly relaxed. Despite looking utterly disheveled, she wore a tearful smile, all her worries instantly vanishing into thin air. Overcome with joy, she let slip tears of happiness. "Good, that's good..."

"You survived. It's so good..."

As the mother uttered these exhausted whispers, the surrounding environment began to slowly distort. The two girls panicked, locking eyes to find that only each other's bodies remained solid and untransformed.

Both immediately understood the truth.

"Mother is so tired, Mother wants to sleep for a little while..."
"Xi'er, you must protect your little sister well. Yan'er, you must listen to your sister. No matter what happens, both of you must live on..."
"Mother, stop talking, please, I beg you, don't talk anymore..."

The two girls grabbed tightly at their mother's increasingly translucent body, desperate to hold onto her, to hold onto anything.

Yet the collapse of an illusion was irreversible. Everything before their eyes shattered like pieces of a mirror, crumbling bit by bit and dissolving into the sky.

Chen Xi's eyes turned crimson, her teeth clenched so hard a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her lips.

Chen Yan completely broke down, tears streaming down her face as she shrieked and cried, "No, don't, Mother, don't leave!"

Watching her own body gradually fade away, the mother seemed to realize that this reunion had reached its parting moment. She forced herself to stay calm, mustered her very last ounce of strength to tightly clasp her daughters' hands, and wore a look of complete relief. With a gentle smile, she said, "To be able to see you one last time, to see that you are both safe and sound, Mother has no regrets left."

"Everyone has to face this day eventually. Don't grieve for me, I will protect you forever..."

......

In the darkness, the hidden river, the barren mountains, the village, the fire, and... the mother all vanished.

Everything felt like a dream, leaving only two red-robed girls kneeling on the ground, holding each other tightly, trembling as their tears soaked their clothes.

Not far away, the mirror spirit watched this scene and let out a deep sigh. Its expression no longer carried any mockery or mimicry of others; it had resumed its true appearance.

Its profound eyes revealed the passage of time. As the master of the mist illusion, it had witnessed far too many human desires and cravings.

Some dreamed of supreme power, delusional in their attempts to control all things in the world with an iron fist;
Some coveted endless wealth, dreaming of gold and treasures within arm's reach;
Some pursued an invincible realm, holding absolute, peerless cultivation;
Others were trapped by deep-seated fears and unquenchable, lifelong yearnings...

Yet it was merely a mirror spirit. Despite possessing the power to reflect all things in existence, it could not directly alter human fate or choices. If someone became lost within the fog, they were simply lost within their own desires and obsessions.

This so-called third trial of the Array Sect—the personal trial set by the elders of the nine mountain gates—was nothing more than a trial of the heart. Its true purpose was merely to weed out those with wavering resolve and those harboring monstrous malice.

The mirror spirit waved its hand, and the white mist stirred once more. The darkness within the mirror receded, returning the two girls to the mortal world.

The mirror spirit couldn't help but sigh with emotion, "Why are all the kids from this generation dealt such a bitter hand..."

Remembering the black-robed array master who had broken through the illusion the fastest, it furrowed its brow.

That one was a truly unlucky child as well.