Chapter 21: To the Sea of Illusion

Early the next morning, Zong Ji set out.

Counting on his fingers, the demon sect’s peace conference was three days away.
With his speed, the trip to the Northern Continent would take just half a day.
So, what to do with the remaining two and a half days?

As he pondered this philosophical dilemma, a message from his jade slip solved it perfectly.
The sender was his junior brother, Yan Si.

Here’s the story: last time Zong Ji wandered near the Sea of Illusion, he found a fragment of Mysterious Star Stone.
Though just a fragment, its origin was no small matter.

Mysterious Star Stone ranked top three among Xuanyu Continent’s crafting materials.
It was the dream of master craftsmen and a treasure cultivators chased relentlessly.

A tiny piece could elevate a magical tool to a spiritual weapon.
A larger chunk, forged skillfully, could form a weapon to summon a thunder tribulation, ascending to immortal-tier.

Immortal-tier! A true immortal weapon!

Naturally, such a rare treasure was scarce.
Xuanyu hadn’t seen public news of Mysterious Star Stone in years.
Any hint of it sparked bloody storms, with countless people vying for it.

Zong Ji got lucky this time.
When outlining One Sword to Immortality, he’d hidden a few stones in Illusory Sea Flower City for Jing Zhe to craft a sword later.

Since he’d only written the outline and not the actual text, a few years back, Zong Ji wandered near the Sea of Illusion and picked up some fragments.
He had no use for them—his fan’s materials were nearly as good, and his chess pieces were made from rare beast bones.
The stones would just rot in his Qiankun bag.

So, he handed them to his junior brother.

Yan Si: !!!

As a true sword cultivator (fake sword cultivator · Zong Ji: ?), Yan Si was fanatical about anything sword-related, especially crafting materials.

A sword was a sword cultivator’s life.
Treating it well? No problem.

Yan Si, thrilled, took the fragment to Tai Xu Sect’s forging master, aiming to upgrade his sword.

His sword was already a top-tier spiritual weapon, one step from half-immortal.
But the master lamented the fragment was too small—just a thumb-sized piece more, and it could reach immortal-tier.
He hesitated to reforge.

Yan Si wouldn’t have it.
He spent his savings, posting a bounty in Shengyang City for any trace of Mysterious Star Stone.

Five years passed in a flash.
Not a whisper of the stone.
Reluctantly, Yan Si thickened his skin to ask his revered senior brother if he could revisit the discovery site for overlooked stones.

Zong Ji couldn’t let that slide.
His adorable junior brother, asking for help for the first time in years?
Even for the sake of all that wine, Zong Ji had to find more stones.

He thought it over.
With The Carefree Journey and One Sword to Immortality merged, and One Sword’s timeline not yet at Jing Zhe’s sword-forging moment, those stones were unclaimed.

Zong Ji figured there were plenty of stones.
On his way to the Northern Continent’s demon sect conference, he could detour to Illusory Sea Flower City, grab a small piece, and not disrupt the world’s timeline.
When Jing Zhe found the stones per the plot, there’d still be enough for a sword.

Besides, this conference was clearly a dragon’s den.
Zong Ji needed to project the Dark Hall Master’s cold, domineering, badass vibe among his demon sect peers.

When it came to showing off, Zong Ji dared claim second place, and no one would claim first.
He decided to find a flashy mount for a grand entrance the demon sects would never forget.

Introducing: the northern shore of Illusory Sea Flower City, home to a rare creature.

Cranes.

Cranes were everywhere, but Flower City’s were different—not white cranes, but black cranes.

Maybe because too many scholars washed their inkstones in the Sea of Illusion, the cranes got drunk, their snowy feathers turning pitch-black, like eternal night.

But—
So cool.
That alone made black cranes perfect as the Dark Hall Master’s temporary mount.

Illusory Sea Flower City had a natural maze formation.
To enter, one had to break through it, or stare longingly across the sea.
Black cranes were rare, and many doubted their existence, treating them as legend.
But Zong Ji had an old friend in Flower City who wouldn’t mind guiding him.

Coincidentally, the Mysterious Star Stone was there too.
Two days was plenty to catch a black crane and snag a stone.

So Zong Ji veered northeast.
Leaving at dawn, he landed on the Sea of Illusion’s white beach by noon, greeted by the salty sea breeze.

This was the Eastern Kingdom’s northernmost tip, boasting Xuanyu’s most beautiful beach.
Across it lay the famed Illusory Sea Flower City.
The city was an island, akin to mythical Penglai or Yingzhou, shrouded in mist and clouds, blanketed in flowers, its coastline a fairyland.

The noon sun blazed, golden light spilling from the azure sky onto the sea.
Waves danced, glinting, leaving the white sand scorching.

The beach always drew crowds—scholars, poets, and cultivators itching to test the maze.
Over time, locals formed a vibrant seaside market, bustling with life.

Zong Ji didn’t want attention.
He cloaked himself in spiritual energy, bending light to hide, striding past the chattering crowd.
He walked over the waves toward Flower City.

The black-clad, gold-eyed man tread the roaring waves like flat ground.
Spiritual energy at his feet repelled the sea, keeping towering waves at bay, roaring unwillingly beneath him.

“Should be around here…”

Zong Ji circled the sea, treating it like land.
He paused at a spot, rubbed his chin, scanned around, then dropped his spiritual energy and dove into the deep.

The beach side of the Sea of Illusion was sandy, but the other end was jagged rocks.
Below them, the sea plunged ten meters deep.

The seabed was dim, sunlight piercing only a dozen meters.
Beyond was endless dark, waves rumbling, deep and mysterious.
Xuanyu’s mightiest beasts weren’t on land but in this sea.
Beneath, countless terrifying creatures lurked—even Saint-tiers struggled in uncharted waters.

Zong Ji held a luminous pearl, walking the seabed until he touched bottom.
A compass appeared in his hand, its golden needle guiding him.
He stopped by a vibrant coral reef.

“This is it.”

He thought, then unhooked his rarely used Chengying Sword from his waist.
A flash of cold light, the fierce sword roared out, icy sword aura surging, forming long icicles in the deep sea, freezing nearby fish.
Utterly dazzling.

This was why, though Zong Ji couldn’t wield swords, he’d gone to that ruin, broken its core, and stolen Chengying.

Chengying was a half-divine weapon, the highest-grade in One Sword to Immortality and The Carefree Journey.
The Moon-Sinking Pool dungeon wasn’t open yet, but when it was, Zong Ji would be first to raid it for gear.

Maybe because its master rarely used it, Chengying trembled in his hand.
Despite its chilling aura and fearsome reputation, it was a total softie with its owner.

This sword was close to birthing a sword spirit.
Once it did, it’d face nine heavenly thunders to become a true divine weapon.

“Easy now.”

Zong Ji ran two fingers along the blade soothingly, then squatted—

And started digging.

A half-divine weapon dug like a dream. Hell yeah!