"Master, what's going on here?"
"How can there be such a peaceful place within the Forest of Life and Death?" Chen Chang'an asked curiously.
"Of course, it doesn't exist within the Forest of Life and Death. I created a temporary space here."
"Only someone with your unique constitution can enter. Others might see it, but they can't step inside," Mu Yunyao explained.
"Oh, I see."
Chen Chang'an nodded with a smile, then walked over to the unconscious Chen Yunxuan.
"How is he doing?" Chen Chang'an asked.
"With me here, he won't die, but he needs time to recover. The blood fiend energy has affected him too severely."
"The Purgegrass here should help, but I haven't found it yet."
Indeed, Purgegrass was crucial, but...
Chen Chang'an glanced at Chen Yunxuan and said lightly, "If we can't find it, then let's not bother."
Huh?
Not bother?
Mu Yunyao frowned. Knowing Chen Chang'an, he shouldn't be the type to abandon Chen Yunxuan.
"Do you have another solution?" Mu Yunyao asked.
"Of course."
"I can help him right now."
Before the words even settled, Chen Chang'an flicked his finger, sending a streak of sword energy straight into Chen Yunxuan's forehead.
"What are you doing?"
"Chen Chang'an, have you lost your mind? He’s a descendant of your Chen family!"
Mu Yunyao never expected Chen Chang'an to outright kill Chen Yunxuan.
This method of solving the problem was truly baffling.
"My Chen family has plenty of descendants. What’s one less?"
"He was suffering anyway, so I helped him out."
"Besides... is he really a descendant of my Chen family?"
Chen Chang'an turned to Mu Yunyao, his cold smirk making her frown deeper.
"Chen Chang'an, are you saying I lied to you?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"You don’t even trust your own master?" Mu Yunyao said angrily.
"Of course I trust my master. Unfortunately... you’re not her."
Chen Chang'an’s icy gaze only infuriated Mu Yunyao further. She had already explained everything, yet this brat still dared to treat her like this?
Was he truly rebelling against his own master?
"Chen Chang'an, are you really going to betray your master and forsake your ancestors?"
"But don’t forget—just how powerful I am."
"You’re courting death," Mu Yunyao said coldly.
Hearing this, Chen Chang'an sneered. "Of course I know how strong my master is. But you? Let’s test that."
Without wasting another word, Chen Chang'an struck with full force, a blade of sword energy shooting toward Mu Yunyao.
Mu Yunyao’s expression changed as she dodged effortlessly.
"Oh, I almost forgot. This is your illusion. Killing you here won’t be easy," Chen Chang'an remarked with a smile when his attack missed.
"You..."
"How did you figure it out?"
The moment Chen Chang'an mentioned the word "illusion," Mu Yunyao knew he had seen through the deception.
Since the disguise was useless now, she cut to the chase. She was also curious—how had he spotted the flaw so quickly?
From her perspective, there had been no obvious slip-ups.
"Your explanations were plausible, not entirely impossible."
"But do you know where you went wrong?" Chen Chang'an asked with a smile.
"Where?"
"My master... never explains. She’d just kick me."
What?
Never explains?
Only then did the illusion realize—Chen Chang'an had noticed the flaw the moment it started explaining.
It had tried its best to avoid suspicious topics, yet it still slipped up.
"So what if you figured it out?"
"Do you really think you can escape from here?"
"Once you enter my illusion, the only way out is in death."
Death?
Chen Chang'an was also curious—when would that day come? But one thing was certain: it wasn’t today.
"You managed to pull me into your illusion. That’s impressive."
"But that’s all."
"Kill me? You’re not qualified."
"Break!"
"Ah!"
"This... this can’t be!"
"Your soul..."
Chen Chang'an’s soul was immensely powerful. When he decided to leave the illusion, there was no stopping him.
Instead, the illusion’s soul suffered severe damage.
As the illusion shattered, Chen Chang'an found himself standing before an enormous crimson tree.
This tree was likely the most terrifying existence in the Forest of Life and Death.
"Kill if you can, trap the rest in illusions to wear them down?"
"Not a bad plan. Too bad you met me." Chen Chang'an smirked at the crimson tree.
"P-please... don’t kill me."
"I don’t want to die."
This crimson tree had lived for countless years, evolving into a tree demon with intelligence and a formidable soul.
Ordinary people wouldn’t have escaped its illusion so easily.
"Don’t want to die?"
"Fine. I didn’t come here to kill you anyway."
"Where’s the Purgegrass? I need it."
"I know! I know everything in the Forest of Life and Death!"
"I’ll find it for you right now!"
"Good. You’re smart."
Communicating with intelligent creatures was efficient—at least they feared death and knew how to cooperate.
This saved Chen Chang'an a lot of time.
Soon, a blood corpse scurried over with several stalks of Purgegrass, placed them before Chen Chang'an, and hurried away.
"Can you command everything in this forest?" Chen Chang'an asked curiously.
"Y-yes! The blood corpses obey me, and the other crimson trees follow my orders."
Clearly, this tree was the ruler of the Forest of Life and Death—though its power lay solely in its soul.
It could only control blood corpses and other crimson trees to harm intruders. The illusion was its last resort.
But against someone like Chen Chang'an, with an even stronger soul, it was helpless.
The Crimson Tree King was puzzled—the real threat here was the blood fiend energy, so why was Chen Chang'an completely unaffected?
"How long was I in the illusion?" Chen Chang'an asked.
Time in illusions often differed from reality.
"Less than a day."
Huh? That long?
Chen Chang'an was pressed for time. He quickly stored the Purgegrass and said to the Crimson Tree King, "I’m leaving now. Clear a path for me—don’t waste my time."
Leave?
"Leaving already?"
The Crimson Tree King couldn't wait for Chen Chang'an to leave this place—otherwise, it would remain on edge.
"Very well, very well! I’ll arrange it right away."
With a mere thought from the Crimson Tree King, all obstacles before Chen Chang'an vanished.
"I’m off. We likely... won’t meet again."
"Good, good, good!"
"Hmm?"
"Ah, no no no! I’ll miss you dearly."
Chen Chang'an chuckled, deciding not to tease the Crimson Tree King further. In a flash, his figure darted toward the direction of the City of No Return.