Chương 355: Everyone's Target

The air in the Fallen Realm tasted wrong. Lin Mei stood perfectly still among towering trees with bark the color of dried blood and leaves that resembled sharpened blades more than foliage. A heavy mist clung to the forest floor, curling around her ankles like spectral fingers. The light filtering through the canopy cast everything in a sickly greenish glow, making even her own skin appear alien. Her first instinct was to call out for Ke Yin and Wei Lin, her lips already forming their names.

She caught herself before the sound escaped, pressing her fingers against her mouth. If there were others nearby, competitors or worse, announcing her presence would be extraordinarily foolish.

"Think," she thought to herself, letting her spiritual sense expand cautiously around her. The forest felt... hungry, somehow. Not merely dangerous but actively malevolent, as if Ancestor Tian's comprehension of the Dao of Death had seeped into every root and branch. The Mark of Return on her palm pulsed gently, and Lin Mei closed her eyes to focus on the two distinct sensations emanating from it. She could feel Wei Lin's steady presence and Ke Yin's more complex signature, but both felt impossibly distant.

In completely opposite directions, no less.

"Of course they'd separate us," she sighed. The sect wouldn't make this easy. Lin Mei assessed her situation with cold clarity. Her recent breakthrough to the sixth stage of Qi Condensation was significant, a remarkable achievement for her age and background, but it still placed her far below many of the tournament's participants. Against the likes of Chen Feng, Earth Fist Liu, or heaven forbid, Yuan Zhen, she wouldn't stand a chance. She was the weak link. The logical target.

A chill ran down her spine that had nothing to do with the perpetual twilight of the realm. If she were eliminated, her entire team would be disqualified. Her friends' tournament journey would end because of her.

"Not going to happen," she decided firmly.

"I just need to survive until Wei Lin or Ke Yin finds me." Wandering through this death-infused forest in search of her teammates would be suicidal. Better to find a defensible position, hide her presence, and wait. Wei Lin might be daring, but he was clever. Ke Yin was adaptable and resourceful. They would understand the situation and come for her. With her decision made, Lin Mei closed her eyes, turning her attention inward.

If she was going to survive alone, she would need every advantage her cultivation could provide. Waterfalls. That was always her first impression when observing her inner world, the constant, soothing cascade of water flowing from heights that seemed to touch the clouds themselves. Unlike Wei Lin's elaborate marketplace with its specialized stalls, or what she imagined Ke Yin's inner world might be (something filled with mystical plants and formation patterns, no doubt), her realm was simpler but no less beautiful.

A massive central waterfall dominated the landscape, its waters a crystalline blue that caught impossible light and fractured it into rainbow patterns. From its basin, countless rivers branched outward like the veins of a leaf, cutting through barren valleys and around rolling hills. The rivers converged and diverged, creating an intricate network that pulsed with spiritual energy, circulating and refining it with each cycle.

Seeing the progress her friends had made, she'd become a little self-conscious about her cultivation method. Wei Lin could manipulate and convert multiple types of energy through his marketplace. Ke Yin... well, no one quite knew what Ke Yin could do, but his rapid advancement and battle prowess spoke volumes. Meanwhile, her method focused on circulation, purification, and extraction, invaluable skills for her work with spiritual herbs and formations, but less immediately useful in direct confrontation.

Yet looking at her inner world now, this realm that was entirely hers, shaped by her understanding and efforts, she couldn't help but smile. The waters flowed stronger than ever, energized by her recent breakthrough. Small islands had begun to form in some of the wider rivers, showing potential for new growth and expansion.

"It's not impressive by conventional standards," she acknowledged.

"But it's mine. And it's beautiful in its own way." Returning her awareness to her physical surroundings, Lin Mei took a moment to center herself. Then, placing her palm flat against the ground, she extended her water affinity outward, sensing for natural water sources in the vicinity. Water always called to water, and her cultivation method allowed her to detect its presence with remarkable precision. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

There, about two li to the northeast. A sizeable body of water, with the unmistakable spiritual resonance of a waterfall. Perfect. Lin Mei rose to her feet and oriented herself toward the sensation. With one final glance around the clearing, she began moving through the forest, stepping carefully to minimize sound. The blue mushrooms dimmed as she passed, as if sensing her departure. The journey through the forest was tense.

Twice Lin Mei froze at sounds that didn't belong: once a chattering noise high in the canopy, once a low growl from somewhere to her left. Each time she remained perfectly still, cloaking her spiritual presence as best she could until the potential threat moved on. As she drew closer to the water source, the forest began to change. The trees thinned slightly, allowing more of the eerie twilight to filter down.

Strange flowers grew here: black blossoms with centers that glowed a soft crimson, bobbing on impossibly thin stems.

"Death essence," Lin Mei murmured, recognizing the energy signature.

"This really was Death Cultivator's realm." These flowers were clearly born from Ancestor Tian's understanding of death's fundamental nature. As an herb specialist, Lin Mei couldn't help but be fascinated. In the Azure Peak Sect's gardens, such plants would be kept in carefully sealed chambers, accessible only to advanced disciples. Here they grew wild, their essence mingling freely with the forest air. She gave the flowers a wide berth.

Beautiful as they were, she suspected their pollen carried properties she'd rather not experience firsthand. Finally, the sound of flowing water reached her ears. Lin Mei quickened her pace slightly, emerging from the forest edge onto the bank of a broad, fast-flowing river. The water was crystal clear despite its dark bed, allowing her to see smooth black stones lining the bottom.

Following the river upstream, she soon discovered what she was looking for, a waterfall approximately thirty feet high, cascading from a stone cliff into a deep pool. What caught her attention, however, was the space visible behind the falling water, a small cave, partially hidden by the liquid curtain.

"Perfect," she whispered, a smile forming on her lips. Getting to the cave required careful navigation along the slippery rocks that bordered the pool, but her connection to water helped her find secure footing where others might slip. Within minutes, she stood behind the waterfall, in a shallow cave roughly fifteen feet deep and ten feet wide. The floor was surprisingly dry, suggesting air circulated well through some unseen crevice.

The constant rush of the waterfall would mask small sounds and movements, while the watery barrier would obscure her from casual observation. Any attacker would need to navigate the same treacherous path she had taken, making a surprise assault difficult.

"This will do," she decided, removing a small wooden box from her storage ring. The box contained copper wire, small jade tokens inscribed with basic symbols, crystallized spirit grass sap, and chalk made from ground elemental stones. The materials were nothing elaborate like the formation masters used, just basic components she'd pieced together from scrapped materials and abandoned practice arrays that disciples tossed away.

"Let's see if those late nights were worth it," she murmured. Formation study wasn't her primary focus, her garden duties and water cultivation consumed most of her time, but Lin Mei had always been drawn to the elegant precision of formation work. After seeing Ke Yin's natural talent for it, she'd begun studying on her own, often practicing late into the night when the garden pavilion was empty. Her first formation was simple: a Veiling Mist Array designed to obscure her spiritual signature.

She placed four jade tokens at the corners of the cave and connected them with copper wire infused with her water-natured qi. The second formation was more complex: a modified Tremor Response Array that would immobilize anyone who stepped into its trigger zone for a brief moment, perhaps only a second against a powerful cultivator, but sometimes a second was all you needed. As she worked on the formation, she occasionally reached out through the Mark of Return, checking the distances to her teammates.

Neither seemed to be moving closer yet. She wondered if they were dealing with challenges of their own.

"Please be safe," she whispered, though she knew the concern was probably unnecessary. Both Wei Lin and Ke Yin were formidable. If anyone should be worried, it was her. The formations took nearly ten minutes to complete properly, when she was done, she checked her work carefully, making minor adjustments to the wire positions and reinforcing the anchor points with her qi.

These weren't particularly impressive formations, certainly nothing like what Ke Yin could create, but they represented hundreds of hours of careful study and practice.

"They'll have to do," she said, settling cross-legged near the back of the cave. She entered a light meditative state, keeping her spiritual sense extended to monitor the area while conserving her energy. The waterfall's rhythm helped her maintain focus, the sound reminding her of her inner world's central cascade. Time passed strangely in the Fallen Realm.

Without the sun or moon to mark its passage, Lin Mei could only estimate that several hours had gone by based on the subtle ebb and flow of the realm's ambient energy. The strange twilight remained unchanged outside, neither brightening nor dimming. Her vigilance was eventually rewarded, or perhaps punished, when her spiritual sense detected a flare of unfamiliar energy approaching the waterfall. Someone or something had found the river and was moving upstream, directly toward her hiding place.

Lin Mei's eyes snapped open. She shifted silently into a crouch, ready to move if necessary. The presence grew closer, now unmistakably human and cultivator in nature. And strong, far stronger than her.

"Not good," she thought. The presence paused at the edge of the pool beneath the waterfall, lingering there as if considering the scene. Lin Mei held her breath, hoping her concealment formation would be enough to mask her presence. For a moment, it seemed to work. The energy signature began to move away, continuing upstream. Lin Mei allowed herself a small sigh of relief, which caught in her throat as the presence suddenly stopped, then turned back toward the waterfall with deliberate purpose.

She'd been discovered.