Chapter 5240: White Mist Hydra Mountain Cave

Davis and Epsila descended into the mountains.

At the foot of the mountains, there was a deserted city which was probably bustling once.

There was no one there, all having gone to the sanctuaries. It was only a matter of time before they returned and started rebuilding and getting the trade city started again.

However, Davis didn’t think it would happen anytime soon.

Nonetheless, the closer they drew to the White Mist Hydra Mountain, the thicker the mist became, obscuring their view.

At first, it was merely a thin veil drifting between towering peaks, but after crossing a few dozen kilometers, the surrounding mountains and even the flying boat hovering in the skies gradually disappeared from their view.

"Interesting..." Davis’s sapphire pupils continued to spiral with an iridescent radiance.

What appeared to be a mountain before him would occasionally ripple and reveal a bottomless ravine. A cliff would become a tranquil lake for an instant before returning to stone. There were even instances where the direction of the heavens and earth appeared to reverse, making the mountain peaks seemingly hang upside down above them.

The illusions weren’t merely affecting sight.

His hearing, soul sense, perception of direction, and even his sense of distance were being subtly deceived.

"Whoa-oa-oh~"

Epsila swayed and flipped in mid-air, unable to keep herself standing straight.

Davis also swayed, but he kept himself in control.

Clearly, they hadn’t taken the safe route to the entrance of the secret realm that the city below would use, just flying into the mountains without reading any kind of warning. The full force of the mist that hadn’t affected anyone for the past two months acted on them. However, it failed to have any harmful effect on them.

But Davis still warned Epsila, "Be careful. This mountain is famed for its ability to make people go missing and return as a pile of bones. Sometimes, not even their remnant souls could be found. There are plenty of illusory manifestations and illusion-attributed magical beasts living in this mountain range. If you try to cross the mountain, it usually wouldn’t end well even for High-Level Exalts because of the natural dangers present here. The mist seeping from the secret realm and the mountain’s natural formation have long fused, becoming an illusory death trap."

"Fhm-fhm-fhm~"

Epsila nodded upside-down.

Davis shot a glance at her before pulling her into his palm and making her sit on his shoulder.

He believed he shouldn’t let this curious pill spirit move around independently since she might get lost. Even if she couldn’t be harmed within the secret realm, she might get lost.

If one got lost here, it was said that they might not return even in a thousand years on average.

Fortunately, Davis had the ability to see through illusions even if not for his reincarnation-infused eyes. He wasn’t even using an ocular technique but was just a forceful infusion. That was how powerful reincarnation energy was against falsehoods.

Eventually, they arrived before an enormous cavern hidden behind a curtain of white mist.

The entrance resembled the maw of a gigantic hydra. Jagged stalactites hung from above like fangs, while the rocks beneath curved upward in a similar manner. Clearly, some Hexadra Clan member had to have carved it. Dark mist continuously seeped from within, mingling with the white mist outside before disappearing into the mountains.

"Found it?"

"Yes." Epsila pointed inside, "My senses detect it is coming from deep below, but I don’t know how deep until we can get inside."

Davis narrowed his eyes.

There was no visible light whatsoever. However, he trusted Epsila’s senses.

They entered. The moment Davis crossed the cavern entrance, the scenery transformed.

*Splash~*

His foot landed in water.

Davis lowered his gaze and saw crystal-clear water covering the cavern floor. It was barely ankle-deep, yet there appeared to be another world reflected beneath its surface. He blinked as he saw dark mountains stretch endlessly downward with the reflection even though there was nothing above.

When Davis moved, the mountains beneath his feet moved with him, creating the bizarre impression that he was walking across the skies of an inverted world.

"Illusion Laws..."

Davis sensed their profound nature.

The shallow waters themselves possessed powerful illusion energy, but they were corrupted by a hint of desolate air. He felt it was normal for the entrance to be affected even with the vast amount of mist outside. In a year, it might’ve all dispersed if the Desolate Era continued.

Nonetheless, every ripple distorted the reflected world, sometimes revealing forests, ruins, enormous hydras, or cultivators wandering helplessly beneath the water.

Some figures even raised their heads and looked directly at him.

Davis wondered if this was an illusion or if there were some locations inside this secret realm. He inwardly heaved a breath, thinking about the last time he had entered one, the Void Dust Secret Realm. That was nostalgic, especially when he remembered little Stel-

*Cough~*

Davis cut off his thoughts and continued to walk, muttering under his breath about how Stella was more than a hundred thousand years old, and it was fortunate that she had attained her mature form.

Nonetheless, he couldn’t help but smile as he still recalled how she cheered him on even though it was his first true Divergent Immortal Tribulation.

Meanwhile, Epsila literally had no care in the world, dancing in the air as she circled around Davis every few seconds.

The illusory creatures or oddities trying to block their path didn’t even get a second look from them. As much as they tried to attack or even attacked, they dispersed upon failing to get any reaction from them.

At the entrance, it was literally child’s play for Empyreans whose prowess was equivalent to Exalts.

Even Epsila’s prowess allowed her to match a Level One Exalt as a Level Nine Empyrean. She was a true supreme genius-level entity, only not having matured and tended to imitate a lot as a defensive mechanism to blend in. However, that didn’t mean her emotions weren’t true. She was just an innocent pill spirit that knew nothing of morality or intricacies.

It was hard for her spirit to mature simply because she was already a miracle.

In Davis’s opinion, the difficulty of her spirit’s birth was only second to Calypsea’s birth.

Calypsea was a genuine spirit while Epsila was a pill spirit. Even if the latter was birthed, how could their creation method not have flaws? Besides, they had reconstructed her true body.

Hence, Davis guessed Epsila’s growth was a bit slow or even stunted. She might forever remain a child, but he didn’t think so since she was learning well- for a child.

The shallow cavern gradually widened until its walls disappeared entirely.

Before them appeared a vast subterranean realm.

Misty peaks rose from endless shallow waters, hundreds of mountains piercing into a ceiling that couldn’t be seen. Pale-white mist curled around their slopes while darkness filled the spaces between them. Strange vegetation grew from the mountainsides, their leaves black while their flowers were pale and translucent.

There was no sun, not to mention the moon, yet the mist itself emitted a faint silver-white glow as though reflecting the moon.

Darkness energy and illusion energy intertwined throughout the secret realm.

The former concealed and the latter deceived, but the opposite also happened.

Together, they made even Davis feel as though the entire secret realm was hiding something, making him chuckle. The mystery indeed made one want to jump like a moth into the fire.

"Which direction?" But he asked Epsila.

Epsila looked around before pointing towards a distant mountain.

"That way."

Davis nodded, and they flew across the shallow waters.

However, after several seconds, Davis suddenly stopped.

The mountain Epsila had pointed toward remained exactly the same distance away.

"..."

He turned around.

The cavern entrance was still behind them.

They hadn’t moved.

Davis’s lips curled.

"So that’s how it is."

They had been flying for nearly a hundred kilometers, yet their bodies had remained above the exact same patch of water. The surrounding space wasn’t distorted, but their perception of movement was.

Every sensation associated with movement had been reproduced perfectly. The wind brushing against his robes, the consumption of energy, the passing mountains, even the subtle displacement of spatial energy around his body had all been simulated through the power of illusion.

"Not bad."

Davis’s iridescent pupils abruptly brightened.

*Bzzz~*

The world shattered like a mirror.

The distant mountains disappeared.

What replaced them were seven cavern entrances carved into the side of a black mountain directly before them.

Each entrance was enormous enough for a magical beast hundreds of meters tall to enter comfortably. Above them were weathered carvings depicting seven hydra heads, their eyes closed as though sleeping.

Davis paid them no heed as he sat down.

His Illusion Laws that had reached Level Nine Quiddity showed signs of breaking through.

Illusion Laws is a Primary Law, so Level Seven Quiddity to Level Nine Quiddity is comparable to the comprehension of an Empyrean, but even Empyreans might not necessarily have such comprehension unless they’re supreme geniuses or have lived for a long time.

Davis digested the insights he gained from the illusory world of this secret realm, but most importantly, what he had seen outside since that had directly allowed him to bask in the terrifying motion sickness, vertigo, and other illusory sicknesses that threatened to make him fall into a coma.

*Bzzz!~*

Eventually, in ten minutes, Davis comprehended Level One Quintessence of Illusion Laws.

He heaved a breath of white mist as he opened his eyes, his sapphire pupils twisting with a hint of reincarnation energy as he stood up and continued without a word, wanting to make up for the ten minutes he had lost.

"Wait for me, master~"

Epsila, who had been playing with an illusory manifestation on the side, hurriedly shot towards him.

She pointed toward an entrance.

"That one."

Davis entered alongside her.

They traveled through winding tunnels, sometimes emerging into enormous grottos filled with shallow lakes before entering another passage. There were intersections everywhere.

Three, nine, twenty-seven paths.

At one point, there were over a hundred cavern entrances scattered across an enormous underground chamber. Some led upward into misty peaks while a few descended into underground lakes. Others returned to places they had already visited despite extending in completely different directions.

It was an enormous natural labyrinth compounded by the force of Illusion Laws.

Even Davis gradually lost track of their physical position.

Only Epsila continued pointing.

"Left."

"Down there."

"That wall."

Davis was simply full of marvel for Epsila’s treasure detection ability. She had also pointed towards Empyrean Grade treasures, but he said no need for it since they only had a few days to retrieve about thirty-four World Hegemon Grade Treasures. Nonetheless, he raised his brows at the last one.

There was no passage.

He supposed this was the end of his passive illusory resistance combined with reincarnation-infused eyes.

Instantly, he made his Enigmatic Will descend like a shield as he stopped suppressing it and instantly caused every screen of illusion to evaporate. The dazzling cave filled with stalactites and dangerous illusory manifestations ready to prowl on them on the slightest reaction shifted into one of a normal cave.

*Fhi!~*

An illusory magical beast rabbit, a Darkmist Crescent Rabbit at Level Six Empyrean Beast Stage, quickly dashed out of the cave, scared for its life. This was one of the true dangers of the grotto other than the illusions because they couldn’t be any more real.

Davis paid it no heed.

Between comprehending Illusion Laws and gaining a quick way to the World Hegemon Grade Treasure, Davis chose the latter. He guessed there should be an illusion-attribute World Hegemon Grade Treasure at the end, so it hinged on him not falling into its natural trap.

The only way for him to survive was to be fully ready with his Enigmatic Will that reached the level of a Mid-Level World Hegemon!

Perhaps this kind of difficulty was also the reason why no Empyrean had even been able to go past this level, much less get to the place where the World Hegemon Grade Treasure had matured.

"Hmm?"

As Davis rose and entered through the illusory wall that was no longer impeded him, he raised his brows.

Someone was actually here.

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