The landforms of the mortal realm had long since undergone countless changes due to the passage of time.
Where mountains and rivers once stood, the land was now leveled.
Places that were once deep pits had now become small hills.
Many locations could no longer be identified.
Jiang Lin could only determine a general direction based on the information left by 'Jiang Lin'.
Then, he searched for them one by one.
The Seven-Colored Egg and the Machine Ball followed silently, like little tails.
Just as the Seven-Colored Egg thought its master was merely out for a stroll, the white figure ahead stopped.
The master had halted.
"This is it."
The Seven-Colored Egg braked sharply to avoid a collision.
Looking around, there were no tall buildings, nor any mountains or forests.
Only vast expanses of fields remained.
The harvest season had passed, and the fields presented a desolate scene.
Occasionally, birds would land in the fields, looking left and right, hoping to find a stray grain.
'Master, where is this?'
The Seven-Colored Egg asked.
Jiang Lin remained silent, surrounded by ghostly energy, casting an isolating barrier around them.
Recalling the memories of 'Jiang Lin', he walked in several directions, muttering to himself.
Then, he let out a soft shout: "Open!"
Rumble—
Ten meters ahead to the right, where nothing had been before, an opening appeared, large enough for two people to pass through simultaneously.
Faint wisps of spiritual energy could be seen floating within, resembling a fairyland.
"!!!"
The Seven-Colored Egg and the Machine Ball were startled and instinctively flew behind their master.
What in the world was this?
Jiang Lin did not rush in.
Instead, he skillfully took out a palm-sized paper effigy from his sleeve and threw it inside, synchronizing his vision with it.
Although the aura from the small world was correct, after such a long time, changes were inevitable.
After letting the paper effigy explore the area, Jiang Lin frowned. "You two wait outside."
After giving the instruction, he flew directly into the small world.
Behind him, the Seven-Colored Egg and the Machine Ball obediently guarded the entrance, peering inside.
...
The small world was neither vast nor small.
It contained a landscape of mountains and rivers, a few acres of fertile land, and a few simple huts.
At first glance, it appeared to be ordinary countryside scenery.
If there was any difference, it was perhaps the exceptionally abundant spiritual energy here.
Beneath the ground lay an entire spirit脉, containing countless top-grade spirit stones.
The fields, mountains, and rivers were all filled with various spiritual plants and spiritual creatures.
Logically speaking,
After so many years, the spiritual plants and creatures here would have long since become invaluable.
Many would have likely gained sentience.
But…
As Jiang Lin walked into the small world, he remained vigilant for any potential unexpected situations.
He had anticipated that all the spiritual plants here might have been consumed, and the fields and mountains might be in disarray.
He had also envisioned a certain spirit or monster establishing dominance, leading the lesser spirits and monsters to cause trouble.
Or perhaps the worst-case scenario:
—The spiritual energy here had been depleted, and the plants and animals had either died or escaped.
But in reality, the vision synchronized by the paper effigy upon entering was—
The mountains were still the same mountains, the fields were still the same few acres, and the river was still the same river.
Only the original three huts had been expanded to over a dozen.
All of them had been renovated, and it looked like they had been recently repaired.
The fields and forests also appeared to have been tended to.
The animals that used to be in the river were mostly gone, replaced by young offspring.
This indicated that there were inhabitants here.
But Jiang Lin remembered that before 'Jiang Lin' left, he had only informed his two disciples about this place.
And the method of entry.
Life was unpredictable.
This was the last retreat he had left for his two disciples.
It was rich in spiritual energy and not lacking in flora and fauna.
All of it was personally sought out and arranged by him.
Even the small wooden huts were built by him using the finest materials.
The small spirit脉 underground was something he had spent half a month excavating.
It was sufficient to support the spiritual energy circulation within this small world.
Whether human, demon, ghost, or spirit,
Anyone could live a peaceful, undisturbed life here.
In that chaotic era, it was no exaggeration to call it a utopia.
...
However,
To protect the secret, Su Shenxue, upon her death, was directly guided by a first-class ghost messenger and transferred to the reincarnation path.
This left no opportunity for any information to be leaked.
This was because she could not guarantee what she might do after falling into demonic possession.
Therefore, it could be confirmed that Su Shenxue had already reincarnated.
Then…
Only one possibility remained.
Her second disciple, Que Sixi.
But the problem was, Jiang Lin did not sense Que Sixi's presence here.
From the entrance to the center of the small world, Jiang Lin felt several gazes following him.
They seemed to be observing him, the newcomer.
Jiang Lin stood still and looked towards the source of the gazes.
He said faintly, "Come out."
As he spoke, there seemed to be some commotion over there.
After a moment,
A clean-faced head, with grass roots tied around it, peeked out from behind a large rock.
He looked to be in his early twenties.
The ghostly energy on his body seemed to have absorbed a considerable amount of spiritual energy from living here for a long time.
"You, who are you? Where are you from? What do you do?"
The youth, shrinking behind the rock, tried to raise his voice to make his questions sound less weak.
But the next second, before he could react.
The scenery before his eyes changed from distant fields and the newcomer to a close-up view of white.
He slowly raised his head and saw the newcomer standing in front of him, scrutinizing him from a condescending posture.
"Ahhh!"
The youth's expression changed drastically in fear, and he sat down on the ground with a plop.
Then, using his hands and feet, he and the surrounding spirits and monsters uniformly retreated a step, two steps…
One meter, two meters…
They stopped ten meters away, still feeling lingering fear.
"You, you, you, don't come any closer! We have many people!"
The youth pointed at Jiang Lin with his finger, then thought better of it and retracted it.
He scurried behind a tree, picked up a branch, and continued to point.
"We, we are not afraid of you!"
At this moment, the newcomer opposite him slowly said,
"I am a friend of the owner here."
"Who are you?"
...