Yu Ci’s gaze flicked between the mirror and the sky, eventually confirming his suspicions. He took a deep breath, stopped overthinking, and jumped up. Using both hands and feet like a monkey, he quickly scaled the cliff and stood at the highest point of the peak.
From this vantage point, his view expanded dramatically, revealing a vast, endless expanse of forest. Yu Ci’s eyes scanned the area, not toward the sky, but rather, following the earlier sensation to part the sea of trees and search for his target.
The invisible pointer, in alignment with his intent, guided him to the precise direction. This was the power of the Five Directions Spirit Talisman, but its range was now over ten times its usual capacity.
However, even with the clear direction, Yu Ci’s vision couldn’t penetrate the dense foliage. He wasn’t trying to achieve that; after confirming the approximate location, he looked down at the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror, still glowing with blue light. The image in the mirror was clear and distinct, with the sound of the talisman’s energy resembling a celestial melody. Yu Ci was unsure if he was exaggerating his own excitement.
In the mirror, a gray-furred wild rabbit appeared, dashing at full speed through the forest, constantly changing direction to escape the deadly threat from above.
The scene in the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror was incredibly clear and realistic.
As Yu Ci’s thoughts shifted, the close-up view of the rabbit in the mirror suddenly changed, as if the demon’s eye had moved away. The scene expanded rapidly, encompassing the eagle in the sky, the rabbit in the forest, and the entire forested world that contained them.
The blue light intensified, and Yu Ci felt a surge of power in the mirror. The scenes displayed in the mirror began to rise up!
Yes, they began to rise!
If the original mirror image was like a flat landscape painting, now, the painting had come to life. The mountains and rivers were transformed into living entities. The mountains, though only an inch high, were majestic; the flowing streams, though tiny, were lively. The eagle circling above and the rabbit fleeing below had shrunk to the size of lice but retained their vivid expressions and synchronized with the movements of real creatures, with no delay.
At this moment, the forest and its creatures were minified a thousandfold, projected into the misty blue light of the mirror.
Gazing at this lifelike miniature world, Yu Ci was irresistibly drawn into it. As he did, something miraculous occurred; he seemed to merge with the invisible “demon’s eye” in the void, floating within this world, shifting position and angle with his thoughts. He could see not only the eagle and the rabbit but also the activities of all living beings.
He saw yellow sparrows hopping between branches, a venomous snake hanging under a tree, crickets peeking through fallen leaves, and ants burrowing in the soil.
He saw even more: the cracked bark on the pine trees, the intricate patterns on exposed rocks, drifting clouds in the sky, and the twisting roots of giant trees beneath the surface.
Yu Ci held the mirror like a fool, with only one thought in his mind:
“Treasure, truly a treasure.”
After a long moment of dazed wonder, he suddenly began to run like a maniac, choosing a random direction and racing ahead. He climbed mountains and crossed rivers, changing routes multiple times. Eventually, he left the dense forest behind, surrounded by towering trees. The disturbed creatures chirped around him, as if the forest had come alive.
The miniature world in the mirror was also alive.
Mountains, streams, forests, insects, birds, eagles, and badgers—all flowed like water in the blue light, shifting with his frenzied sprint.
Suddenly, without warning, he stopped. The miniature world in the blue light also came to a halt. Yet, still in motion, the creatures within continued their activities, creating a dynamic jungle scene. In the center of this tiny world, his own figure was visible.
He stared at this miniature world, completely entranced.
This was a vast area centered on himself, with a radius of fifty miles, extending ten miles upwards and reaching a hundred feet below. If the displayed area were expanded to its maximum, the floating light and shadow above the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror would resemble an inverted sea bowl, overall greenish-blue, representing the extensive forest, with countless intricate patterns depicting the rich colors of innumerable species.
The deepest layer of rock and soil only covered a thin strip at the very bottom, with a deep, heavy color. The topmost layer was a pale blue, representing the sky. These contrasting colors did not blend well aesthetically but created an incredibly detailed depiction of the world, albeit one that could be held in one hand, not much sturdier than a soap bubble. This collision of reality and illusion nearly drove Yu Ci insane.
“Calm down, calm down!”
He indeed needed to calm down. The divine function manifesting the world in the palm of his hand seemed to have fallen from the sky, hitting him on the head and leaving him bewildered, unable to discern its origins.
Was this divine ability to reveal the world within a tiny space inherent to the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror, or had it been added from an external source? If it was inherent, why had it never appeared before? If it was always present but had been unintentionally activated, how was it activated? Was there a time limit? Could it be repeated? Could it be canceled?
The series of questions overwhelmed Yu Ci’s already confused mind, nearly bringing it to a halt. He had to clear his mind temporarily, take a few deep breaths, close his eyes, and calm his thoughts.
Once his breathing steadied, he held the mirror, his fingers probing the misty blue light, moving gradually across the mirror’s surface, searching for any anomalies.
If there was something unusual, it was the mirror’s surface, which was improbably smooth, not appearing to be polished. His sensitive fingertips felt only the metal’s coolness, with no burrs or textures. The more it was like this, the more the changes on the mirror were apparent to Yu Ci’s senses.
The coolness was in flux!
It might be a subtle temperature difference, but this temperature fluctuation was unrelated to Yu Ci’s body heat and seemed to alternate between warmth and coolness of the mirror itself, subtly suggesting a cycle of sun and moon. With such a cycle came yin and yang, and with yin and yang came change. The cause and effect between these three might not be so simple, but Yu Ci didn’t need to worry too much. By grasping the changes between yin and yang, he had caught the thread of a tangled mess, needing only carefulness and patience from here on.
His fingertips continued to explore the mirror’s surface until he paused. Yu Ci was sure he had found a familiar symbol fragment, which wasn’t surprising.
It was indeed the Five Directions Spirit Talisman!
He touched a characteristic pattern within the talisman, hidden within the blue light emitted by the mirror, resembling a misty, cloud-hidden dragon, faint and indistinct. Following this lead, he soon unraveled the entire Five Directions Spirit Talisman.
However, he felt that in this situation, the talisman was inevitably tainted by the blue light, undergoing unknown changes with the mirror’s seemingly sentient “breathing.” Thus, the Five Directions Spirit Talisman was a thread, but the crucial aspect was the mirror itself.
Yu Ci wanted to continue investigating but realized this wasn’t a safe place to focus. After hearing several beast howls, he decided to abandon the calming experiment.
Remaining confused was acceptable. Laughing heartily, feeling increasingly exhilarated, he thought, “Such an incredible and mysterious power should have a grand name… Since the mirror is called the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror, the map it reveals could be named ‘Divine Map.'”
The name wasn’t perfectly fitting, but it was consistent with the mirror’s name. After repeating it a few times, it sounded agreeable, so he decided on it.
Satisfied, Yu Ci briefly oriented himself and then began to walk, holding the mirror. After a few miles, he found the situation still odd. The mirror, with its Divine Map glowing and showcasing the surrounding forest scenes, appeared as a divine artifact, dazzlingly bright. However, if it were shown to people, it would seem utterly foolish.
It was better to put it away for now. Yu Ci intended to store the mirror in the storage ring but was unsure of the ring’s effects on the mirror, so he decided to place it in his sleeve, as he had done before.
Curiously, as soon as the mirror was tucked into his sleeve, the light and images vanished instantly. This sudden disappearance surprised Yu Ci. However, when he focused again, the blue mist enveloped the fifty-mile radius forest world, appearing like an ethereal mountain in the mist. The mirror remained in his sleeve, making the misty mountain seem to materialize out of nowhere.
Yu Ci could only exclaim once more at this scene:
“What a treasure!”
The Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror was indeed extraordinary in origin. It was said to have been seized by the Purple Thunder Immortal during a grand battle that affected more than ten sects in the northern lands. The name “Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror” was derived from this event.
However, after many years in their possession, besides discovering some superficial functions like the mirror’s light spirit induction, the Immortals had not made any other significant findings. They concluded that the mirror must have been damaged in the great battle, with the missing parts like the mirror’s knob serving as evidence. Thus, they set it aside, and since the Purple Thunder Immortal thought the mirror was well-crafted, it was kept in the palace as an ornament.
When Yu Ci took advantage of the battle between the Immortals and their enemies to sneak into the burning Purple Thunder Immortal’s palace, he saw the mirror flashing with chaotic blue light under the aftermath of the battle, appearing quite mysterious. Given that talismanic cultivation required spirit induction, he took the mirror first, which proved to be the best choice.
Everything was a matter of fate, and Yu Ci felt a strong connection with the Divine Illumination Bronze Mirror!
Feeling touched, he took one last look at the Divine Map before preparing to put it away. However, he was once again stunned by what he saw.
In the few miles he had traveled, a white line had appeared on the lower left edge of the small world, stretching across the entire Divine Map. Although this line was vastly reduced compared to reality, it was still spectacular. As the white line extended, the left half of the Divine Map clearly showed the terrain extending downward without the obstruction of rock layers.
Realizing this situation at a parallel to the ground, Yu Ci quickly understood:
“That’s the Sky Rift Valley?”
Over the past day, Yu Ci had traveled hundreds of miles, which seemed like a long distance but had followed the edge of the Sky Rift Valley. As he approached the cliff’s edge, the Divine Map continued to evolve.
The Sky Rift Valley was an endless void with no ground or sky barriers, allowing the Divine Map’s supernatural power to be fully realized. When Yu Ci reached the cliff’s edge and faced the valley’s greatest expanse, the front half of the Divine Map, except for the height of the sky still being limited, perfectly displayed the curvature of the lower hemisphere.
The misty world below fifty miles in each direction was entirely within Yu Ci’s grasp. Although it was still somewhat unclear, it was vastly superior to the limited “perspective” range of only a hundred feet on the ground.
What surprised Yu Ci was something else: “Fifty miles… and still no bottom?”
Yu Ci had never delved so deeply into the internal conditions of the Sky Rift Valley. The more he learned, the more he felt that the current facts were challenging the limits of his understanding.
Fifty miles… that’s over eight thousand feet in height. Yu Ci had roamed the world for twelve years and seen countless towering mountains, but he had never encountered such an astonishing scale. Moreover, this was only the portion displayed by the Divine Map; a deeper world remained hidden within layers of mist.
“Could this really lead to the Nether Realm?”
Goblin: I will be accepting sponsored chapters for AM from now on at BuyMeaCoffee page. It’ll be $5 per 2 sponsored chapters. Just buy the 5 Coffees and write the name of the novel you want to sponsor in the “Say something nice” section.