Chapter 38: A Cold Salad’s Illusions

“Cold salad? Are you truly going to eat it like that?”

‘I truly thought Xian Yuan would choose to cook it; this is a real eye-opener. A cold salad? Do you wish to hasten your own demise?’

“Trust me.”

Xian Yuan made an ‘okay’ gesture, brimming with confidence.

‘I’d be a ghost if I trusted you.’

Murong Fier decided against eating it, convinced that consuming it would lead to her immediate demise.

****

“Done.”

Xian Yuan then placed the prepared bowl on the table.

“You’re actually going to eat it as a cold dish?!”

“Yes, a cold mushroom salad.”

“Do you need me to call for an ICU?”

“Sister Murong, where in the Qiyuan Realm would we find an ICU, seriously?”

“Enough talk, let me try it first. It smells amazing!”

Xian Yuan eagerly picked up a mushroom slice, popped it into her mouth, chewed a few times, and then swallowed.

“How is it? Are you alright?”

Murong Fier watched her reaction with concern.

“Mm, it’s delicious. Although it’s quite spicy, there’s a hint of sweetness.”

While the initial seasoning delivered a fiery kick, the mushroom’s inherent moisture and flavor, like a refreshing dew, soon tempered the pungent spice.

“Sister Murong, are you sure you won’t have some?”

Xian Yuan casually picked up a piece and offered it to Murong Fier.

“Who are you offering that to?”

From Murong Fier’s perspective, Xian Yuan was speaking to the empty air beside her, even extending a mushroom slice into it.

“I’m offering it to you, Sister Murong! Why aren’t you eating it?”

“You haven’t been poisoned, have you?”

“No, my mind is perfectly clear. Look, there are several little people playing on me right now.”

“You just try your best to pull through.”

‘If seeing little people isn’t poisoning, then what is?!’

“I told you, I’m not poisoned.”

Seeing Murong Fier’s continued disbelief, Xian Yuan felt a pang of frustration, having already declared herself unpoisoned, and promptly attempted to stand up to prove it.

However, the moment Xian Yuan rose, a powerful wave of dizziness nearly made her lose her footing.

She rubbed her eyes, only to find the scene before her beginning to warp, as if the entire world was spinning.

Her head felt extraordinarily heavy, and to her astonishment, Murong Fier had inexplicably split into three figures.

“Huh?! Why are there three Sister Murongs? Why do I feel like I’m spinning?” Xian Yuan mumbled in astonishment.

Clenching the edge of the table, she struggled to steady herself, yet everything around her seemed to twist and distort.

The three Murong Fiers, identical in face, each displayed a distinct expression: one smiled serenely, another wore a troubled frown, while the third, with bright, piercing eyes, presented a vibrant contrast before Xian Yuan.

‘Why does my body feel so hot?’

Xian Yuan felt an intense heat radiating from within, as if a boiling kettle resided inside her, and her thoughts swiftly descended into chaos.

She closed her eyes, attempting to calm herself, but the intense sensation of dizziness continued to cling to her.

“So hot!”

Xian Yuan continued to murmur, then began to shed her clothes.

“Xian Yuan, what are you doing? Have you gone mad?”

Murong Fier rushed forward, seizing Xian Yuan’s hands and attempting to halt her disrobing.

If she were to strip naked in this ice plain, Xian Yuan would likely not survive more than a few hours.

This was no ordinary ice; it was spiritual ice, which held no mercy for cultivators.

“Sister Murong~ You’re so beautiful~ Even more so underneath.”

Yet, Xian Yuan seemed to have fallen into a profound illusion.

In her current state, she effortlessly unfastened her outer garment, revealing a white silk robe as delicate as cicada wings.

Her skin, exposed at the shoulders, was pristine and smooth, seemingly translucent and radiating a faint, ethereal glow.

“Sister Murong, look, I’m so hot, this clothing feels like it’s burning.”

Xian Yuan’s voice was hazy, her eyes betraying an uncontrollable desire.

“What exactly are you seeing?!”

A faint blush crept across Murong Fier’s cheeks.

Listening to Xian Yuan’s delirious murmurs, she could already imagine herself transformed into some lewd figure within Xian Yuan’s hallucination.

“Sister Murong, here I come.”

Xian Yuan’s face flushed crimson, and a pair of lecherous hands prepared to grasp Murong Fier’s chest.

“…”

‘Oh no,’ Murong Fier thought, ‘this is aimed at *me*.’

With a slight shift of her body, Murong Fier evaded Xian Yuan’s grasping hands, then slowly drew her fated weapon, the Demon Slaying Spear, from her spatial ring.

“Xian Yuan, I’m truly sorry.”

Murong Fier’s voice was laden with deep apology and helplessness.

She knew she had to act, decisively and swiftly, to quell Xian Yuan’s hallucination, or her own chastity would be compromised.

Xian Yuan, utterly engrossed in her own illusion, remained oblivious and unworried by Murong Fier’s actions.

In her distorted vision, Murong Fier had already revealed most of her fair, soft body, her arms outstretched in an inviting embrace.

The next instant, as the Demon Slaying Spear descended, the very air seemed to solidify.

Murong Fier’s movement was resolute and decisive; the iron rod whistled through the air, aiming for Xian Yuan’s head.

“Thwack!”

With a dull thud, the Demon Slaying Spear struck Xian Yuan’s skull forcefully, emitting a terrifying impact sound.

In that instant, Xian Yuan was assailed by a searing pain.

Her head felt as if it would split open, her vision darkened, and she promptly lost consciousness.

“That’s done.”

Seeing Xian Yuan unconscious, the anxiety and worry in Murong Fier’s eyes finally eased.

‘I told you not to eat it, but you wouldn’t listen.’

Murong Fier gazed at the half-eaten mushrooms on the table.

She had initially intended to dispose of them directly with spiritual fire, but then, remembering Xian Yuan’s work, she held back.

She then carried Xian Yuan to the bed, retrieved water and a towel from her spatial ring, and began to cleanse her own body, feeling uncomfortable after several days without a bath.

‘I truly don’t know how her body is shaped; it’s so alluringly wicked.’

Murong Fier glanced at the unconscious Xian Yuan on the bed, then cast her eyes downwards at herself, a pang of jealousy spreading through her heart.

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, Xian Yuan’s form seemed to possess a certain enchantment.

With just a glance, Murong Fier found her mind filled with the urge to keep looking, to embrace her, and a blush immediately crept across Murong Fier’s face.

In merely an instant, Murong Fier snapped back to her senses, then slapped her own flushed cheeks with a damp palm.

“Slap~ Slap~ Slap~”

‘Murong Fier, oh Murong Fier, how could you have such lewd thoughts!’

In truth, it wasn’t Murong Fier’s fault.

Xian Yuan, as the eldest daughter of an immortal family, a marvel of the immortal family’s law-based technology tree, possessed a physique that subtly attracted all species, and carnal desire was merely one aspect of this allure.

‘I should cultivate.’

Murong Fier sat cross-legged on the ground and began to circulate her cultivation art.

The night passed in quiet solitude.

Early the next morning, Xian Yuan groggily awoke in bed.

“Ouch, that hurts.”

A sharp, intense pain instantly roused the drowsy Xian Yuan.

‘Why do I have a huge lump on my head?’

Touching the large bump on her head, Xian Yuan instantly realized she had been struck the previous day.