Chapter 13: New Skill, Acquired

As she pondered and pondered, three days and nights slipped by.

The strange phenomena from cultivation in the cave gradually subsided, and Hua Jian, who had been sitting cross-legged, slowly opened her eyes.

She parted her lips and gently exhaled a misty breath of white smoke, the colors in her eyes seeming to become even more vivid.

Did I succeed? Hua Jian looked down at her own hands, lightly clenching them twice.

It felt as if something new had appeared within her body, but she couldn’t quite tell what it was— how odd.

Turning her head to look at the other person in the cave, a flicker of surprise flashed across Hua Jian’s eyes.

In her vision, Linglong once again revealed the form of a Dragon Girl, but just like before, it vanished in the blink of an eye.

This made Hua Jian suspect that she was still inside a Huanjing, thinking she had absorbed Mirage Incense, but in reality, it was just the Mirage Incense creating an illusion for her.

If it’s an illusion, then what I’m seeing should be fake, right?

Hua Jian glanced at Linglong, her courage growing bit by bit.

Hmm, the only thing here that can help me tell if this is an illusion seems to be Linglong, who’s still cultivating.

I’ll just wake Linglong up and have her let me touch her, that should do it, right?

“Linglong! Saintess Daren! Little Dragon Girl!” Hua Jian shouted at Linglong.

Golden eyes opened helplessly. Linglong could understand the first two titles, but what was with the last one?

“What is it?”

It was the middle of the night—if there was nothing urgent, she wanted to continue cultivating.

“I’m scared I’m still in a Huanjing. Do you have a way to let me know if I’m still in an illusion?” Hua Jian reached out a hand and said to Linglong, “Can you let me touch you? I want to see if you’re real.”

“No need.”

“Why not?”

“I have a better way.” Linglong stood up, her face darkening a little, walked over to Hua Jian, and pinched Hua Jian’s waist with a bit of force.

Accompanied by a miserable scream, Hua Jian understood— she was definitely not in a Huanjing. After all, an illusion couldn’t possibly hurt this much.

Seeing that Hua Jian had recognized reality, Linglong withdrew her hand and began to ask what kind of ability Hua Jian had gained from the pill.

But Hua Jian’s answer left her at a loss for words.

She actually didn’t even know what ability she’d obtained? Was this a joke?

“Isn’t that normal? I just know I gained an ability, but as for exactly what it is, of course I don’t know.” Being stared at like that by Linglong, Hua Jian immediately retorted in defiance.

This isn’t a game where you can pull up a status panel and see what new skills you have.

All she knew was that she had a skill now, but as for what it did, that would take some experimenting to figure out.

“Could you immediately know what your new ability does the moment you get it?”

Linglong hesitated for a moment, then slowly shook her head.

If it really was a completely new and unfamiliar ability, she couldn’t know its effect right away either.

This time, she had been too shallow.

“I’ve learned something.” She earnestly expressed her thanks.

Linglong’s overly sincere attitude in admitting her mistake left Hua Jian a bit flustered, and the bit of anger she had in her heart was smoothed over by that thank you.

Since the Saintess is like this, I’ll forgive her.

“In that case, you can use your ability on me,” Linglong continued.

Since Hua Jian didn’t know what her ability’s effect was, this was perfect— Linglong could act as the test subject.

The power taken from Mirage Incense was definitely related to illusions, and its lethality shouldn’t be high. Linglong had absolute confidence in herself.

The dragon bloodline gave her powerful resistances of all kinds. Hua Jian’s previous failure was also because of this reason.

“If you’re saying so, then I’ll gladly accept.” Hua Jian didn’t refuse— she’d be a fool not to take advantage of this.

The Saintess was offering herself; if she refused, wouldn’t that be disrespecting the Saintess?

Taking a deep breath, she called upon the unfamiliar power inside her and exhaled a breath of white mist toward Linglong.

The moment the mist left her mouth, it swiftly turned into a faint fragrance and disappeared without a trace.

“Eh?” Hua Jian scratched her head. That’s not right.

Shouldn’t the normal outcome be that the white mist slaps Linglong in the face, Linglong’s eyes roll back, and she collapses to the ground?

That’s the kind of effect a transmigrator should have after getting a cheat skill! But what was this— was her ability just being a walking perfume?

“Don’t say anything yet, something’s off.” Linglong raised her hand to interrupt Hua Jian’s muttering.

After Hua Jian spat out that white mist, heavy footsteps began to echo in Linglong’s ears, sounding just like the Spirit Beast they had encountered before.

Turning to look at the cave entrance, Linglong saw a pair of blood-red eyes, as if a terrifying beast was lurking in the darkness outside the cave, waiting for her to let her guard down.

“Did you see those red eyes?”

She pointed at the entrance and asked Hua Jian.

Hua Jian blinked and clapped her palm, “I know what my ability does!”

From Hua Jian’s perspective, the place Linglong pointed at wasn’t the cave entrance at all, but the stone wall of the cave, and the red eyes were pure nonsense.

It was all an illusion, created by her ability.

The power from Mirage Incense truly was formidable, and its concealment was terrifying. The moment the enemy smelled that faint fragrance, they had already fallen into Hua Jian’s trap.

Even Linglong, such a Half-Dragon Saintess, was caught off guard, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

“This is the real entrance.” Hua Jian walked to Linglong’s side and turned the Saintess’s face toward the actual cave entrance.

“All I see here is a stone wall… and something that looks like blood flowing on it.”

“It’s all an illusion. Let me dispel the Mirage Incense here, or we won’t even be able to talk properly.”

Hua Jian scratched her head, opened her mouth again, but this time inhaled.

As she drew in spiritual power, the sweet fragrance in the air condensed into white mist and was sucked back into her belly.

After about half a stick of incense, Linglong’s vision finally returned to normal. “This ability really is frightening.”

Even she had fallen into the trap without realizing it. If it were some other cultivator, they’d probably die even more miserably.

“I’ll try using a Poison-Dispelling Pill to counter your ability.”

Taking a small bottle of Poison-Dispelling Pills from her Storage Pouch, Linglong signaled Hua Jian to do it again.

If a mortal body couldn’t block the illusion, what about using a pill?

“Alright.”

Hua Jian once again sprayed out Mirage Incense.

A few moments later, Linglong was caught once more, the Poison-Dispelling Pill having no effect at all.

“It seems the Mirage Incense in my body isn’t as abundant as the first time. Each use seems to consume a portion of its power…” Hua Jian also noticed some details herself.