Chapter 572

Chapter 572: The Mirror Small World, Accelerated Time Reward

"This aesthetic is just like mine," Xu Fan said, stroking his chin as he examined the dark-colored puppet.

A huge, ugly stick appeared beside Xu Fan.

"Since your first treasure is a stick, I’ll name you Wukong."

Xu Fan patted Wukong and then stored it in the Daoist artifact palace.

"Everything is ready, just waiting for Master Qianling," Xu Fan remarked.

For some reason, the closer it got to the opening of the secret realm, the more familiar Xu Fan felt.

………………

In a mysterious secret realm, one man and three women were watching the massive star gate slowly opening in the sky.

"Dad, do you really think there’s an exit inside this secret realm?" Wang Linger asked, awestruck as she stared at the star gate.

"There might be an exit if we go in, but if we don’t, we’ll be stuck in this small secret realm," Wang Yulun replied.

Although they didn’t have to worry about food and clothing inside the secret realm, the prolonged stay felt suffocating.

"There’s nothing left to cherish in this small space; we’ve cleared out all the Spiritual Treasures, spirit ore, and spirit herbs. Staying longer is pointless," Wang Yulun said.

"I sense a trace of celestial energy from this star gate. Could it lead to the Thousand Worlds?" Xiuxin said, feeling the aura of the star gate.

"Then let’s go in and see," Murong Qianer suggested.

Truthfully, she felt a little reluctant to leave. Living here with her family felt like a blissful isolation, incredibly intimate and comforting.

At that moment, the star gate in the sky had fully opened, its length and width spanning at least several thousand zhang.

"Let’s go in. We’ll take a small spiritual boat first. I sense that this secret realm is not ordinary."

Seeing the star gate, Wang Yulun knew this secret realm was extraordinary. The imposing aura of the open gate made it clear that without reaching the Great Ascension stage, no one could boldly walk in.

Wang Yulun stored all the spiritual boats within his Daoist artifact palace, and his robe transformed as he activated battle mode.

In an instant, the handsome and charming young man reappeared.

Xiuxin glanced lightly at Wang Yulun and then turned her head away, her heart racing.

"Let’s go, but let’s keep a low profile once we’re inside," Wang Yulun said as he piloted the star boat toward the star gate.

As Wang Yulun’s spiritual boat entered the gate, everyone felt as if they had stepped into another world.

An incredibly strange world, resembling a shattered realm, appeared before them, with shattered mirror surfaces forming numerous small worlds.

"The laws of the wide road here are off," Xiuxin said with a frown.

She then raised a glowing orb in her hand, presenting it to everyone.

"There’s a problem with the flow of time here," Xiuxin observed at their location.

It was a place where one shattered realm intermingled with another.

"We are all confined to one mirror small world; let’s see what happens," Wang Yulun suggested after some thought.

"Okay~"

The one man and three women all stepped into a mirror small world.

Just as the four of them stepped into the mirror small world, all the mirrors outside shattered, leaving only the mirror small world they were in.

At the same time, everyone felt something strange; the flow of time seemed to speed up.

"The flow of time here is accelerating," Xiuxin said, looking at the spiritual energy in her hand.

"Yes, that’s the feeling—time speeding up and life being drained away," Wang Yulun replied, his expression grave, recalling a past unpleasant experience.

"So what do we do now? Will we die?" Wang Linger asked, feeling a bit anxious.

"Let’s observe what happens. This world must have its own rules, but it definitely shouldn’t lead to our deaths," Wang Yulun said.

He had once heard Xu Fan say that using the path of time to accelerate time and drain the vitality of cultivators was the worst trade.

Sure enough, after a while, the flow of time in the mirror small world stabilized.

The scenery before them began to change quietly.

A large platform slowly rose, displaying various kinds of Spirit Materials and exotic treasures.

"The flow of time has accelerated by ten years," Wang Yulun noted, feeling his body.

"That’s about the same as my calculations; it seems to be ten years."

"As for the treasures on the platform, could they be a reward from this mirror world for us?" Xiuxin wondered, looking at the items on the platform.

At this moment, Wang Linger had already dashed to the side of the platform to examine the Spirit Materials and exotic treasures.

"Dad, Mom, Master, the most valuable item here is this Daoist spirit pearl," Wang Linger said, holding up a teal spirit pearl the size of a billiard ball.

"Using time to exchange for treasures feels a bit unfair," Wang Yulun frowned, seeing spirit stones and treasures as nothing more than clouds in the sky.

"Linger, why don’t you give this Daoist spirit pearl to your master?"

"She is the most suitable person for using the Daoist item among us," Wang Yulun asserted, unable to admit he didn’t find the item appealing.

"Linger, keep it. This is an auxiliary Daoist item for cultivation; it will benefit you," Xiuxin gently declined.

Wang Linger looked toward Wang Yulun and only smiled happily after seeing him nod, accepting the spirit pearl in her hand.

"Since Linger has taken the Daoist item, the rest of the treasures can be taken by the seniors," Wang Yulun gestured invitingly.

"Then I won’t be polite," Xiuxin said, waving her hand to gather all the exotic treasures from the platform.

As soon as Xiuxin finished collecting the treasures, the world before them began to change again.

The previously disappearing mirror small worlds reappeared around them, each connected by bridges to the mirror small world they occupied.

"This must be to let us enter the next small world. Let’s stay still for a moment and see if this mirror small world will push us to move," Xiuxin said, observing the changing mirror small worlds.

"Right, if we enter the next small world, time might continue to accelerate, indirectly consuming our lifespan," Murong Qianer added.

At that moment, Wang Yulun looked out from the mirror small world and saw a white expanse shrouded in mist.

"If I’m right, these mirror small worlds are interconnected. There should be one that connects to an exit, and we need to find it," Wang Yulun stated.

As soon as Wang Yulun finished speaking, their mirror small world began to shrink inward, compressing the space around the four of them.

"Indeed, this secret realm won’t allow us to stay in one place for long," Xiuxin remarked.

"Then let’s change to another small world, without touching the treasures on this platform, and see what happens?"

Wang Yulun said, leading everyone to randomly choose a path towards the next mirror world.

The four of them entered another mirror small world, and soon time accelerated rapidly. Before long, they had consumed eleven years of their lifespan.

Then, a platform slowly rose, revealing an extremely ferocious Core Formation stage beast on top.