Wang Xuan's hair stood on end. With his instincts, how could anyone get close without him noticing? Even in deep sleep, he would feel it. But now, in the dead of night, he awoke with a start to find a furry creature beside him, sending chills down his spine.

Especially when he looked down and saw a pair of cold, glowing eyes staring back at him.

"Aw…" A piercing scream erupted, so sharp that it made Wang Xuan's eardrums ache. In the stillness of the night, with the room shrouded in darkness, that creature suddenly wailed. Any ordinary person would have fainted from fright.

Bang!

Without a second thought, Wang Xuan slapped down. His palm was strong enough to flatten a face, possibly even crush a skull.

The creature was agile, letting out a cry as it leaped away, far more nimble than a person.

At the last moment, Wang Xuan withdrew his hand, as he finally recognized what it was—a large black cat, its fur glossy and dark, with bright green eyes, weighing around nine pounds, almost as big as a small dog.

How did it get in? He turned on the light to find clues and discovered the window wasn't properly closed. The big black cat had squeezed through the gap.

"You get out! If you dare come in again, I'll flatten you into a pancake!" Wang Xuan opened the window and shooed the cat away.

"Meow!" The cat leaped out and climbed up a branch of a nearby tree, turning back to let out a sharp cry, glancing at Wang Xuan with cold, ghostly eyes, almost grinning, as if mocking him.

Wang Xuan felt an impulse to chase after it and give it a slap. There was something off about that cat.

It was the middle of the night, first a woman in white with red shoes appearing, blood streaming down her face, then the wailing from his bed. Who could handle this? Wang Xuan splashed water on his face and sat down to calm himself.

He suspected that the cat was somehow related to the female spirit, possibly sent by her. It was just too bizarre.

"I said, once I have the strength, I will go to the Greater Khingan Range to rescue your physical body, but right now I don't have the power to interfere," Wang Xuan spoke, regardless of whether she could hear him. He felt it was necessary to explain again.

"Could someone have taken your blood again?" he wondered, increasingly uneasy.

This was too eerie. He had always believed death was like extinguishing a lamp, and now, being disturbed in the dead of night by a haunting woman was truly unsettling.

After practicing his root law for a while, he began to visualize the female spirit, imagining her face with two streaks of blood as a beautiful specter. Normally, he would see her as a ghostly figure, but now he tried to hypnotize himself, envisioning her as serene and immaculate, a transcendent beauty.

If Qingmu knew, he would certainly exclaim that Wang Xuan's heart was large enough to transform a terrifying ghost into an immortal fairy.

Having visualized enough, Wang Xuan fell asleep. In the latter half of the night, the woman with disheveled hair indeed appeared in his subconscious.

"Here again?" Wang Xuan greeted her in his dream and promptly fell back asleep.

The woman seemed momentarily startled but continued to approach him, her white face streaked with blood, nearly pressing up against him as she stared.

"Celestial maiden, accompany me in sleep?" Having self-hypnotized and engaged in "alternative visualization," Wang Xuan, in his dream, saw a beautiful face approaching, and instead of feeling horror, he found her eyes to be so gentle that he reached out to caress her.

The female spirit nearly exploded. What was this situation? She looked this ghastly and he was still delighted, even reaching out to touch her.

Boom!

A bolt of thunder crashed down, white and bright, like a river of stars falling into his consciousness, ringing in his ears and waking him up.

What's going on? Is it thunder and rain outside? He pulled back the curtain to see moonlight shining brightly, stars twinkling. How could there be a storm?

He pondered what he had seen in the dream and realized that the female spirit had used lightning to wake him.

Looking down at his right hand, he thought he had touched a smooth, delicate face, but there were no bloodstains left behind.

He felt assured now; no matter how extraordinary she had been as a top-tier pre-Qin sorcerer, she had ultimately transcended. At least at this stage, she couldn't interfere with the mortal realm, only borrow from his subconscious to project her former transcendent methods.

Wang Xuan settled back into meditation, not only visualizing the blood-streaked female spirit as a celestial being but also imagining the blinding thunder as ethereal music, adding some scenery, poetry, and dance.

Then he buried his head in sleep again, hoping to last until dawn.

The female spirit came back faster than he had expected; just as he was drifting off, she appeared, wearing flowing white, her feet barely touching the ground, hovering close to him without daring to come too near, her palm beginning to glow.

However, as the thunder grew louder, the surroundings began to change.

In an instant, it became a scene of revelry, with falling petals, and fragrant scents filling the air. Amid the flickering lightning, crystalline flower petals rained down from the void.

Nearby, women danced, musicians played the guqin and guzheng, and there were scholars reading ancient texts, while someone sang: "The delicate clouds play tricks, the shooting stars convey love, the silver river stretches far and dim. The golden wind and jade dew meet, surpassing countless encounters in the mortal realm…"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The female spirit was mesmerized, her white dress flowing with the wind. Although her palm was glowing, she did not unleash the lightning, lost in the sights and sounds of the afterlife's festivities.

Eventually, her eyes regained clarity. She realized that this was Wang Xuan's domain, and all the scenery was pre-set by him.

She floated closer to Wang Xuan, peering down at him, her palm glowing, thunder faintly visible.

"You're back again?" Wang Xuan, still in a sleeping state, regarded her as a celestial maiden. Though this was his subconscious at play, it was his domain, where all thoughts and feelings manifested instantly. He grasped the female spirit's delicate hand, feeling the joy of encountering an immortal again.

Boom!

The thunder from her hand crashed against him. Wang Xuan yelled, startled awake. He quickly checked his body and then introspected his energy and spirit, discovering he was unharmed.

He felt calm now; it turned out that the female spirit could only reach this point—she couldn't harm his body or spirit.

"Celestial maiden, accompany me in sleep!" Wang Xuan declared and went back to sleep, feeling there was nothing to fear. He treated it as a spiritual adventure and an encounter with an immortal.

That night, although he woke several times, he felt more at ease and composed. Instead, the female spirit seemed somewhat dazed, disappearing completely before dawn.

When the sun rose, Wang Xuan washed up and had breakfast before rushing to find his old colleague. Despite his calm demeanor in dreams, exclaiming "celestial maiden accompanies me in sleep," he couldn't continue this way nightly; he would definitely wear out.

His colleague, who enjoyed tranquility, had a secluded courtyard outside the city and was practicing martial arts early in the morning.

"Old Chen, you've got to help me! I can't be singing and dancing with her every night; celestial beings and mortals are worlds apart. We can't keep meeting like this."

Wang Xuan refrained from mentioning the inner landscape, only saying that the female spirit had sought him out and that two nights in a row was excessive. If it continued, who could stand it?

"Given that the Greater Khingan Range is thousands of miles away, how could she chase you down? Besides, hasn't she been dead for three thousand years? How could such unpredictable incidents occur? She seems truly extraordinary," old colleague Chen Yongjie sat down, deep in thought.

"Strange, why hasn't anything happened underground in the Greater Khingan Range?" Chen questioned.

Wang Xuan mulled it over. "Don't rush. This is likely due to the spiritual energy I released from the transcendence stone flowing into the inner landscape. It's probably still connected to me. Maybe someday it will recover some strength and reach out to other people in dreams."

"Old Chen, could you please use your connections to find out if they've drawn blood from her again? Can they stop temporarily? I'm worried about potential disasters. You know she can already interfere with the subconscious, so who knows when she might affect the mortal realm?" Wang Xuan stressed the severity of the situation.

"Don't worry, I'll ask around while also thinking of ways to deal with it." Old Chen picked up the phone. He returned shortly with a nod, confirming that the underground laboratory in the Greater Khingan Range had indeed drawn blood recently.

Wang Xuan asked, "Did you explain the seriousness of the issue to them?" He hoped Old Chen would convey that this project carried certain risks. From the bottom of his heart, he also wished to help the female spirit.

Old Chen pondered for a moment and said, "I don't talk much with them. How about this: if you behave well recently, I'll let you take my opportunity to go to New Star on a business trip, so you can avoid her for a while. She can't possibly chase you to New Star, right?" He quickly added, "It's not a permanent position; I can't just send anyone there, especially nowadays, it's tough to get people over. It's just a temporary assignment."

Wang Xuan became alert; this old man wouldn't be trying to send him there for some mysterious expedition, would he? Since receiving that book from Old Chen, he felt like this was all part of a setup. He also thought of the goddess Zhao Qinghan from his class and the enchanting beauty Li Qingxuan from New Star. Both seemed to be forming exploration teams and had tried to recruit him. People from New Star, from financial magnates to life research institutes, seemed restless, and Old Chen was no exception; were they all eyeing that Earth Immortal Herb?

"If you go to New Star, the job to disguise your identity is pretty good. You have two options: be a bodyguard for a wealthy heiress or a driver for a famous and stunning widow," Old Chen said slowly. Then he added with a serious tone, "You should seize this opportunity. Many renowned explorers would kill for such a chance, even if it's just temporary to conceal your identity."

Wang Xuan felt increasingly uneasy. Wealthy heiresses and alluring widows? This all felt too familiar. He stared at Old Chen, saying, "Are you really this desperate to send me to New Star?"

"Why not? I'm considering your needs. Young, talented in ancient techniques—you'd enjoy these roles!" Old Chen insisted.

Wang Xuan was speechless. The more Old Chen pushed, the less he wanted to go; he feared being dragged into unpredictable exploration activities and possibly becoming cannon fodder. "Just help me with my current problems; I can't go to New Star right now!"

"You need to grasp this opportunity," Old Chen said, patting his shoulder before making a call.

That morning, two old monks arrived, chanting and sprinkling water on him for most of the day before leaving. After they were gone, Wang Xuan asked, "What was that water? Why did it make me so dirty?"

"It's probably water mixed with ash from the incense burner at the temple," Old Chen calmly explained. He added that those monks had been invited personally due to his influence.

Wang Xuan looked at his dusty clothes, speechless, and left.

Later that night, Qingmu called to ask if he was going to New Star, preparing to transfer him five million old coins as an expedition compensation. Wang Xuan was thrilled; he'd never seen so much money before. He could give it to his parents as security if he decided to leave.

However, he quickly calmed down. Old Chen's subtle manipulation followed by a bribe meant he couldn't just agree to go. "Am I still looking for the ascension stones? I already have enough issues. What if I find more and end up with a bunch of old monsters? Who knows what could happen if they all gather?"

Wang Xuan sighed, realizing he couldn't act recklessly until he dealt with the female sorceress.

That night, the female sorceress appeared again. He helplessly said, "There's nothing I can do; I don't have any influence over the underground lab in Daxinganling. You'd be better off talking to Old Chen."

Maybe the sorceress understood; after his explanation, the night passed peacefully, and he slept soundly.

At dawn, Old Chen knocked on his door, waking him up early. When Wang Xuan saw him, he found it oddly amusing yet hard to hold back laughter. Old Chen had dark circles under his eyes, looking utterly exhausted, covered in talismans and visibly agitated.

"Tell me, why is she bothering me?" Old Chen ground his teeth.

Wang Xuan replied in surprise, "How would I know? She probably realized you have more pull than I do; why not help her?"

Old Chen forced a smile that was more tragic than cheerful and left to figure things out.

After some time, Wang Xuan finally processed that his problem was resolved, and life could be so unpredictable.

When he arrived at work the next day, he noticed Old Chen looking worse than ever, carrying a bagua and covered in talismans.

"What happened to you, Old Chen?" a coworker asked.

"I've recently taken an interest in the I Ching and am studying the bagua," Old Chen replied calmly.

As the days passed, Old Chen's condition deteriorated, and by the third day, he didn't show up at work. Qingmu called Wang Xuan, asking, "What did you do to my master?"

Wang Xuan replied, "What could I have done? I'm just as puzzled as you are; I'm not sure where he went."

Qingmu sighed, saying Old Chen had fled early that morning, taking a starship to New Star, muttering about Wang Xuan being a source of great terror and needing to escape.

"I can't believe it!" Wang Xuan was stunned. Old Chen had run off to New Star to avoid disaster?

He quickly realized that five million old coins were about to arrive, and without any current troubles, he could look for a couple more ascension stones. His mood lifted significantly, and he felt great.