326: Broken shackles

"That should be enough, right?"

Inside the Sea of Consciousness.

A Cai looked at the cluster of Regretful Monsters she had gathered. These pure Regretful Monsters floated in the center, urgently wanting to merge with A Cai.

A Cai "bound" them.

Her goal was clear: she would use these pure Regretful Monsters to blast through the shackles.

"First, I'll go into seclusion for a bit to adjust my state to its best."

After confirming again that these Regretful Monsters were completely bound by her, A Cai exited her Sea of Consciousness.

She took out several Medicinal Pills from her Storage Ring and put them into her mouth.

While taking the Medicinal Pills, A Cai raised an eyebrow. "It seems Mr. Yan has never given me Medicinal Pills that can restore Soul Power? It would be great if he had.

The time it takes for me to recover would be greatly shortened."

She thought about it.

A Cai then felt that perhaps such Medicinal Pills were quite precious, and even if Mr. Yan had them, he would have consumed them himself.

Mr. Yan's Divine Soul was severely wounded; she knew this.

Time passed by second by second.

In this grey mist, there was no sun or moon, and the concept of time was blurred.

Only the jade token for entering the Spirit Ruins would display the remaining time.

A Cai awoke.

She looked down.

"There are still three and a half hours left; that should be enough."

A Cai directly entered her Sea of Consciousness.

She had cultivated her Divine Soul to its Peak.

The white mist obscuring the shackles had been dispersed. When A Cai entered her Sea of Consciousness, she saw the "light orb" imprisoned by numerous shackles.

The A Cai within the light orb looked pained, as if she had suffered a great blow.

"Perhaps there will be a result soon."

A Cai held the pure Regretful Monster in her hand, then pushed it forward.

The Regretful Monster orb began to float towards the shackles. Then, these Regretful Monsters wrapped around one shackle, and then... "Explode for me!"

A Cai directly detonated the Regretful Monster.

The pure Regretful Monster exploded, striking the chain.

The shackle swayed.

A Cai frowned, enduring the aftershocks of the explosion impacting her Sea of Consciousness.

"Still a little short."

After saying that, A Cai directly transformed her Divine Soul into a heavy hammer, striking the chain repeatedly!

This was the method she had devised.

This chain was too tough; it was impossible to unlock the shackles all at once. But if one of them could be blown off, allowing the A Cai in the light orb some buffer.

Perhaps they could work together from inside and out.

To completely open this chain!

The heavy hammer that A Cai transformed into struck the chain repeatedly.

Clang—Clang—

Finally.

Just as A Cai's Divine Soul was about to give out.

A crack appeared in the chain.

A Cai saw hope.

She roared.

Clang—

The chain broke!

This broken chain swayed, falling from the surface of the light orb.

The chain hit the ground.

And "melted" directly.

The connection points at the other end of these chains were also fully revealed.

"Heavens..."

A Cai had originally thought that this chain might be a deficiency in her Divine Soul, or perhaps she had taken a wrong Dao during her cultivation, which led to its Formation.

But upon seeing this blood-red Formation, A Cai was certain.

Someone had intruded into her Sea of Consciousness.

And had sealed some of her things with a Formation.

"Who exactly is it?"

A Cai frowned deeply.

She hadn't thought of Mr. Yan at all right now, because Mr. Yan was like an elder to her, and also like a lofty deity; how could he do such a sordid thing?

But... "If it's not Mr. Yan, then who could it be?"

A Cai tilted her head.

Her thoughts were unstable.

She seemed to have forgotten many, many things, and these things were very important to her.

A Cai knew that when she unlocked the shackles.

Everything would be "revealed."

What she was doing now was continuously accumulating power to break these shackles one by one!

"I originally wanted to tell Mr. Yan about this, but it seems I can't just blurt it out."

A Cai was not some "naive" person.

She and her father depended on each other for survival in these mountains. If she were truly so naive and kind, she would have long been killed and stripped of everything.

How else would she have waited for Gu Yanqing?

She was not a "flower" in a greenhouse, nor was she a sheltered young lady like those Mortals who "never step out of their homes."

She was a young girl who supported her family at a young age.

The "pillar" of a home.

"Let's see if I can get something first."

A Cai, having transformed back into human form, moved forward.

The "other her" in the light orb's tightly furrowed brow relaxed somewhat, presumably because she had knocked off a chain, making the light orb feel much "lighter."

A Cai extended her fingertip, reaching out to touch it.

Boom—

The chain vibrated.

A Cai was instantly sent flying.

Her Divine Soul was almost shattered. After stabilizing herself, A Cai looked at the chain and the grand Formation it supported behind it, incredulous.

"Still no good? This grand Formation is deliberately preventing me from exploring!"

The more this happened, the more it proved that there was a great secret hidden within this light orb.

A great secret that it didn't want him to know.

A Cai got up.

She walked forward.

She noticed that outside the chain, wisps of Divine Sense were appearing.

These Divine Sense wisps were not as large as the decomposed Regretful Monsters, but they came from the light orb.

A Cai absorbed a wisp of Divine Sense.

Shifting forms and changing shadows.

Her surroundings transformed into another world.

"This is, home..."

This was the place she had lived since childhood.

A Cai saw her former self, for some unknown reason, walking together with a Cultivator.

They seemed very close.

Every time, this male Cultivator would help her sell herbs, and every time he came, this Cultivator would bring her favorite pastries.

One day, she saw this Cultivator with another woman, heartbroken.

"This... who is he?"

A Cai murmured to herself.

Looking at the scene in the picture, she at that time must have loved this Cultivator very much; they were a happy couple.

But how did this male Cultivator end up with this female Cultivator?

What exactly happened?

And Mr. Yan?

In her memory, where was Mr. Yan? Had Mr. Yan not arrived yet?

She clearly remembered that Mr. Yan had always been by her side.

"It hurts..."

A Cai's Divine Soul felt as if it were being torn apart.

Her entire Divine Soul body was becoming transparent and distorted.

"I can't think anymore, I'll die."

A Cai stopped herself from thinking.

A Cai thought, perhaps she didn't know this memory because it was so painful, and Mr. Yan sealed this memory to prevent her from continuing to suffer.

But Mr. Yan... A Cai raised an eyebrow.

After accepting this memory, her heart actually felt some resistance towards Mr. Yan.

"Mr. Yan said that Cultivators should trust their instincts. After cultivation and the tempering of Spiritual Qi, Cultivators are inherently connected to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

A Cai trusted her instincts.

"I won't tell Mr. Yan about this for now. It won't be too late to tell him after I've figured this out and confirmed it has nothing to do with him."

A Cai planned this.

She exited her Sea of Consciousness.

She looked at the jade token; there were still two quarters of an hour left until her departure time.

A Cai stood up.

She needed to return to the inn to see if Mr. Yan had returned. If not, she would leave another note and restock her supplies.

Next time, she would stay in the Spirit Ruins a little longer.