Chapter 235: Accepting Cai Yao as a Disciple! "Illusion"?!

What appeared before Cai Yao was not Chen Xuan’s true body, but merely a wisp of Spiritual Energy he had left behind.

Even so, in Cai Yao’s senses, the mysterious Senior remained as unfathomable as ever.

She stared at him with unconcealed admiration. No matter how much stronger she became, she still couldn’t see through him.

As Chen Xuan looked at the young woman in front of him, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

He recalled his previous guess about this illusion and shook his head.

Scenes of everything that happened flashed before his eyes.

’Perhaps it’s really destined...’ He silently whispered inside his mind.

On the surface, however, a gentle smile appeared on his face.

He looked at Cai Yao.

"It seems that you’ve finally woken up."

"You’re quite lucky. Had you been any later, this wisp of my power would have dispersed."

Chen Xuan paused for a moment.

"Of course, it is equally likely that the talisman would have been eaten by then..."

As he spoke, he glanced toward Squeebly.

The enormous white rabbit had unknowingly retreated toward one of the underground room’s corners.

At this moment, it was staring at Chen Xuan with its crimson eyes filled with astonishment. It seemed to have completely forgotten about the Spiritual Plants in its mouth.

"Woo..."

Squeebly lowered its head slightly.

Cai Yao felt somewhat embarrassed.

The Senior had obviously already seen that her pet had eaten the gifts he had given her.

Thinking about how she had failed to discipline Squeebly properly, causing the loss of so many precious items, she couldn’t help but blame herself.

Still, she knew that she had to say something.

"Se—Senior, please don’t blame my pet. It’s all my fault." She immediately pleaded.

She was afraid that Chen Xuan would take his anger out on the little white rabbit.

Thankfully, Chen Xuan didn’t seem angry. He merely shook his head.

"Since they’ve been given to you, you can use them as you wish."

"Although letting a pet eat them is somewhat... unconventional, it’s fine."

Chen Xuan chuckled.

The way he looked at Cai Yao and the white rabbit was somewhat odd.

After all, even he had never imagined that the resources he had prepared would end up becoming food for a rabbit.

Fortunately, most of the truly important items had survived. At the same time, given the relationship between the two, Squeebly getting more powerful was bound to help this girl.

Just when Cai Yao wanted to open her mouth and say something, Chen Xuan calmly raised his hand and interrupted her.

"Alright. We don’t have a lot of time left."

"My power can only sustain my existence for a few more minutes. There is no reason to waste time." His voice remained calm.

However, Cai Yao’s heart tightened slightly.

Only then did she remember that the person standing before her was merely a remnant of Chen Xuan’s power.

She didn’t dare to delay any longer.

As Chen Xuan waved his hand, the spatial ring in Cai Yao’s possession suddenly trembled.

It escaped her grasp and slowly floated toward him before settling into his palm.

Chen Xuan didn’t pour his divine sense into it.

Instead, he calmly raised a finger and pointed at the spatial ring.

Immediately—

An object flew out of it and landed in the underground room.

At first, a layer of light surrounded it, making it impossible for Cai Yao to clearly identify what it was.

However, as several mysterious runes flowed out from Chen Xuan’s hands, the light quickly dispersed.

In the blink of an eye, the item’s appearance was revealed.

It was a large egg covered in dense, peculiar patterns.

The surface of the shell was faintly shimmering, and an ancient aura seemed to linger around it.

"This is the egg of the turtle beast I killed earlier." Chen Xuan took the initiative to explain.

Upon hearing his words, a trace of surprise flashed across Cai Yao’s face.

The turtle that had attacked the island was a Nascent Soul beast.

Its descendant, even if weaker than its parent, could at least reach the Peak of Core Formation and possess the ability to contend against ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.

Such an egg was extremely precious.

If nurtured properly, the creature inside could become an enormous source of strength in the future.

’Could it be...’ Cai Yao couldn’t help but wonder.

Sure enough, Chen Xuan’s next words confirmed her guess.

"This is the most important gift I’ll leave for you."

Chen Xuan’s expression became slightly more solemn.

"I can sense that the turtle inside this egg has undergone atavism. Its ancient bloodline has awakened. Its potential is immense."

"As long as it hatches, there should be no problem reaching the Soul Formation realm."

"With enough luck and opportunities, reaching Soul Transformation and even going beyond that is possible."

Cai Yao stared at the egg slowly floating toward her. Her eyes were filled with surprise.

Could this egg truly give birth to such a terrifying being?

Had someone else said these words, she probably wouldn’t have believed them.

However, when those words came from the mouth of the mysterious Senior, she accepted them without hesitation.

She had already witnessed too many things that ordinary cultivators would consider impossible. Besides, Chen Xuan had no reason to deceive her.

Cai Yao reached out.

Her small hand gently touched the enormous egg. The shell was cold and smooth beneath her fingertips.

Yet the moment she made contact, something strange happened.

A faint connection suddenly appeared within her mind.

It was extremely weak at first. But as she concentrated, she could clearly sense the small creature sleeping inside.

Its heartbeat and its vitality.

And, most importantly...

A vague sense of dependence toward her.

Cai Yao’s eyes widened slightly. She could almost feel that the little creature inside had recognized her.

Yet this didn’t make her feel any fear. Instead, she felt a strange sense of familiarity.

She had experienced something similar when she first met the white rabbit.

Although Cai Yao was curious about why this happened, she didn’t ask any more questions.

She simply continued to gently touch the shell.

Watching Cai Yao establish a connection with the turtle with a single touch, Chen Xuan couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

In fact, he had already tried to tame the beast before.

He had used the techniques of the Beast Taming Sect and even relied on his Soul Formation strength.

Yet despite all of that, his efforts had all resulted in failure.

The turtle possessed an ancient bloodline. Its innate resistance was far stronger than that of ordinary beasts.

Even he had been unable to suppress it.

On the other hand, Cai Yao was much weaker than him.

She didn’t possess any Beast Taming techniques, nor had she even deliberately tried to establish a contract.

Yet with a single touch, the connection had formed naturally.

’It’s worthy of being an Immortal Body. No wonder she was able to create the Beast Emperor Origin Technique in the future...’ Chen Xuan sighed.

The more he witnessed the abilities of the Beast Emperor Immortal Body, the more he realized how terrifying its potential was. It far surpassed the Holy Bodies he had met before.

If it had been any other person, he might have felt jealous. But when it came to Cai Yao, he wasn’t.

After all, this girl was destined to become the future Goddess of the Sea.

More importantly, their relationship was unique.

Chen Xuan glanced at the excited Cai Yao. Then, he opened his mouth to speak, uttering words Cai Yao had waited for for several years.

"Cai Yao, are you willing to become my disciple?" His solemn voice echoed throughout the underground room.

Cai Yao froze. For a moment, she suspected that she had heard incorrectly.

Become his disciple?

The mysterious Senior... was asking her to become his disciple?

A look of astonishment appeared on her face, quickly turning into shock.

Then finally, panic.

She had long imagined what it would be like to become his disciple. But she had never expected that day to actually arrive all of a sudden.

Her lips parted slightly, yet no words came out.

She stared at Chen Xuan with her mouth open, as though afraid to speak.

--

While Chen Xuan’s remaining power was giving the final gifts to Cai Yao and preparing to accept her as his disciple, his clones had long since left the island.

The moment he sensed what had happened, a faint smile appeared on his face. It was time to try his initial idea.

However, that smile soon receded.

Chen Xuan stared at the endless ocean before him.

Or rather, at the invisible barrier preventing him from going any farther.

In Chen Xuan’s senses, there seemed to be nothing on the other side.

It was as though he had reached the very end of the world.

He slowly raised his hand.

His divine sense spread outward. Yet no matter how far it traveled, he couldn’t detect anything beyond that invisible boundary.

’It seems that the illusion has stabilized even further.’

’Now, the world has become millions of miles larger...’

Chen Xuan could clearly tell when this change had occurred.

It was the moment he had saved Cai Yao from the attack of the Nascent Soul turtle. At that time, the illusion had expanded dramatically, not only in size but had also elevated in nature.

The sense of unreality had almost vanished.

Afterward, when he gave Cai Yao the turtle egg, this had become even more obvious.

It seemed as though each time he changed Cai Yao’s fate, the illusion would become more complete.

This further reinforced the terrifying guess Chen Xuan currently had.

Was this world really an illusion?

Why did it seem more like he had traveled to the past, correcting the timeline and gradually allowing Cai Yao to become the Goddess of the Ocean?

After all, if Chen Xuan had not appeared, Cai Yao would have likely died at the hands of the Nascent Soul sea beast.

Even if she had somehow survived, she would never have obtained the turtle egg, which would then become the Guardian.

Everything that had happened afterward was only possible because of Chen Xuan’s secret help.

The thought made Chen Xuan’s eyes narrow.

Just as countless thoughts were racing through his mind and he was analyzing the situation, his expression suddenly changed.

A torrent of notifications flooded his vision.

The familiar System prompts appeared one after another.

Chen Xuan’s pupils contracted.

’Sure enough!’

He stared at the notifications, and a hint of excitement flashed through his eyes.

[Congratulations! It has been detected that the Host has accepted a 9-Star Talent as their disciple!]

His guess had proven correct! Accepting Cai Yao as his disciple would indeed trigger the System rewards!

More importantly, such a situation suggested that the illusion was not a mere illusion!