The mountain was in an ethereal, misty state.
When Bai Zihe focused his gaze, the mountain seemed to vanish again.
This piqued Bai Zihe's interest.
What the eyes saw might be deceptive, but… like just now, when his hand touched it, it surely wouldn't be false!
"Whoosh!"
Bai Zihe immediately moved towards the mountain.
"Caw…"
"Chirp chirp…"
As he moved, the cranes, deer, and other creatures in the immortal realm looked at him with curiosity.
What surprised Bai Zihe was that these creatures did not flee. Instead, they all watched him.
Bai Zihe had no time to pay attention to them, his gaze fixed firmly on the mountain as he moved towards it.
"Whoosh…"
Suddenly, Bai Zihe saw the mountain again.
That's right.
It wasn't an illusion.
It merely appeared and disappeared intermittently!
Interesting.
Bai Zihe continued his steps, moving steadily towards the mountain.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes…
Until, ten minutes passed—
Bai Zihe suddenly realized that he hadn't gotten any closer to the mountain at all.
He looked around again.
The cranes were still there, the deer were still there, everything was as it was.
It was as if…
He had been walking in place, not moving at all.
"What is going on?"
Bai Zihe was instantly stunned.
An illusion? It didn't feel like an illusion, as he could sense the presence of the surrounding energies.
Even…
He was fully aware of the energies of the cranes beside him.
If it wasn't an illusion, how could it be explained?
Bai Zihe stopped.
Until he understood, no matter how fast or how long he ran, it would be futile and meaningless.
"Buzz…"
Bai Zihe released all his spiritual sense, attempting to probe the mountain.
However…
His spiritual sense encountered no anomalies when it touched the deer and the like. Only when it extended towards the mountain did he feel a resistance.
It was exactly the same as when he was outside before.
This meant to say.
Everything in this immortal realm was centered around that mountain.
But how could he ascend it?
Bai Zihe fell into deep thought.
After a long while, unable to figure anything out, he mentally communicated with the Haotian Pagoda in his mind: "Little Pagoda, can you sense the situation outside?"
"Yes."
The Little Pagoda did not disappoint Bai Zihe.
"Then where am I now, and why can't I sense it?"
"Penglai."
The two words from the Little Pagoda caused Bai Zihe's expression to change dramatically.
The immortal realm he was currently in…
Was actually Penglai, one of the three legendary islands of Great Xia?
Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang!
These were legendary immortal mountains, said to be inhabited by immortals.
As early as the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qin Shi Huang had dispatched Xu Fu with young boys and girls to cross the sea in search of the legendary immortal mountains.
But they found nothing.
During the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong, in his desire to be with Consort Yang forever, had also sent alchemists eastward to search for these immortal mountains.
Their efforts also ended in failure.
This led everyone to believe that the immortal mountains were merely fictional legends, not real.
But now…
Bai Zihe couldn't help but press further, "Are you telling the truth? It's really Penglai Island, one of the three great immortal islands of Great Xia?"
"Yes."
The Little Pagoda's reply was firm.
Receiving its affirmative answer, Bai Zihe couldn't suppress his excitement.
This trip to Dragon Island had inadvertently led him to find the legendary Penglai Island. What an unexpected joy.
"Then…"
Bai Zihe, suppressing his excitement, looked at the immortal mountain of Penglai and asked, "I've been running for so long, why am I still in the same spot? How can I ascend the immortal mountain?"
"Your strength is too weak."
Bai Zihe was utterly speechless.
Damn it.
It was his strength being too weak, again.
Because of this, he was still insignificant even at the immortal mountain, unable to even seek opportunities.
"This is a very common immortal art, called 'Zhi Chi Tian Ya' (Distant Horizon at Arm's Length)."
The Little Pagoda added, "The immortal mountain of Penglai appears to be right before your eyes, but in reality, it is as far from you as the ends of the earth, separated by an infinite distance."
"Unless…"
"The caster withdraws it, or you possess strength comparable to theirs, can you ignore this immortal art and divine ability."
Bai Zihe fell silent.
Immortal arts…
What right did he have now to possess strength comparable to immortals?
Of course, Bai Zihe did not belittle himself.
He believed that as long as he took it one step at a time, it was entirely possible for him to stand shoulder to shoulder with ancient gods like Pangu in the future.
But for now… he was far too short.
Therefore.
Bai Zihe turned around and prepared to leave.
"Whoosh…"
Without hesitation, Bai Zihe headed back in the direction he had come from.
He needed to regroup with Zhuge Sheng and the others, so his senior sister could pinpoint their location and send a ship for rescue as soon as possible.
But after a few steps, Bai Zihe discovered…
He had come easily enough, but he couldn't go back!
He had walked for a long time, yet he was still treading in place!
Clearly…
It wasn't just ascending the immortal mountain of Penglai that was affected by the 'Zhi Chi Tian Ya' divine ability.
Even leaving required him to break through this divine ability.
This situation left Bai Zihe completely dumbfounded.
Could it be that he was going to be trapped here?
"Whoosh!"
"Whoosh!"
Bai Zihe tried all four directions.
It was the same in every direction.
He couldn't get out in any direction. He was truly trapped.
This.
Bai Zihe had no choice but to contact the pagoda spirit: "Little Pagoda, what does this mean? You won't let me in, nor will you let me out."
"Could it be…"
"That I have disturbed the immortal's peaceful cultivation?"
The Little Pagoda curled its lips and said, "Of course not. You can't even figure this out."
"He is testing you."
Testing?
Bai Zihe was stunned.
Didn't the pagoda spirit say.
Unless the immortal actively withdrew the immortal art, or he possessed strength comparable to the immortal, it would be impossible to extricate himself from 'Zhi Chi Tian Ya'.
Then why was there a need for a test…
If the immortal didn't withdraw it actively, he wouldn't be able to reach the realm of an immortal anytime soon.
However, Bai Zihe thought about it again.
Since he was here, he would accept it.
If the immortal acted this way, there must be a reason.
Therefore, Bai Zihe sat down with his legs crossed.
This was a legendary immortal island. The spiritual energy here was so abundant it was astounding. Even simple breathing was more effective than cultivating in ordinary times.
He couldn't waste this opportunity.
"Whoosh…"
Thus, Bai Zihe began to cultivate.
As he gradually calmed his mind and circulated the true essence within his body.
The surrounding spiritual energy surged towards him like a tide, forming a vortex of spiritual energy that was visible to the naked eye.
The center of the vortex was Bai Zihe!
"Splash…"
Bai Zihe suddenly opened his mouth and swallowed all this spiritual energy.
"Buzz…"
"Swish swish swish…"
At the same time, the pores all over his body absorbed the energy, which entered his limbs and bones, then flowed into his meridians.
Finally…
It arrived at his dantian, becoming Bai Zihe's true essence.
Time slowly passed.
The true essence continued to gather.
When it had gathered to an unimaginable extent.
"Rumble rumble…"
The small stream of true essence in his meridians transformed from a quantitative change to a qualitative change, finally forming a river with the momentum of surging waves.
He had broken through.
His strength reached the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm!