The moment Li Yu’s boot crossed the threshold of the dilapidated archway, the world seemed to invert.

  It wasn’t a subtle transition. It was a visceral shift in reality, like stepping through the reflection on a calm lake into the hidden ocean beneath. The outside environment vanished instantly and was replaced by a breeze so sweet and rich in spiritual Qi that it felt like inhaling liquid cultivation pills.

  Li Yu froze slightly at the change. His hand instinctively tightening around the grip of his bamboo staff. Beside him, the two girls gasped in unison as well. Their cultivation bases trembling as their pores involuntarily opened to greedily absorb the dense atmosphere.

  "Li Yu..." Bai Ruo whispered. "The spatial laws here... they are completely self-contained. The density of the Qi is... it’s suffocating."

  Li Yu nodded slowly, his eyes narrowing as he swept his gaze across the horizon. "A Miniature Realm," he murmured. One that neither of us detected before stepping through. A seamless transition was well. "And not just a simple pocket dimension carved out either. This implies a mastery of space that is beyond our understanding."

  Before them lay a village that seemed to have been plucked from a painting of a simpler, forgotten era. Thatched cottages with chimneys puffing gentle, white smoke dotted the landscape.

  A crystal-clear stream wound its way through the center of the settlement. It was turning a massive wooden waterwheel with a rhythmic,hypnotic creaking sound. Glistening fields of herbs, vegetables and crops swayed in a breeze that carried the scent of baking bread and blooming lotus.

  It was idyllic. It was peaceful. And that very thing terrified Li Yu.

  He extended his spiritual sense, attempting to sweep the area for threats. He was cautious, his soul force moving like a quiet stream but the moment his consciousness touched the village, it was met with... nothing.

  Not a void, but a strange unending ordinariness. There were people moving about—elderly men and women tending to their daily chores—but to Li Yu’s senses, they registered as completely mortal. No fluctuations of Qi. No aura of the Dao. Just flesh and blood.

  But that was impossible. No mortal could survive the pressure of the spiritual Qi in this realm. It was thick enough to crush a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s organs into paste, yet these elderly villagers were walking through it as if it were a spring breeze.

  "Be careful and do not act unless I do." Li Yu said softly to the girls which they quickly nodded. This place was much too strange. "I don’t want to show any hostility but caution is good. We are the intruders here."

  He walked down the main dirt path and the crunch of gravel under their feet sounded suspiciously loud in the tranquil air. As they approached the first cluster of houses, the villagers finally took notice.

  They were scattered about their tasks. Upon seeing Li Yu and his companions, there was no alarm, no shouting for guards. Instead, wrinkled faces broke into warm, crinkled smiles.

  "Oh! Visitors!"

  A booming voice shattered the silence. Standing behind a massive wooden chopping block was an elderly woman who was built like a mountain. She wore a blood-stained leather apron over a simple hemp shirt. Her arms were thick with corded muscle that defied her age. Her gray hair was pulled back in a severe, tight bun.

  This was Auntie Tu, the village butcher.

  "We haven’t had fresh faces in the village for... well, I can’t quite recall." She wiped her hands on a rag, her grin revealing surprisingly white teeth.

  Li Yu cupped his fists and bowed deeply, his posture radiating the utmost respect. "This junior is Li Yu. I have unintentionally intruded upon your secluded paradise with my companions. We apologize for the disturbance. We happened to be in the area and wanted to check out the village."

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  Auntie Tu laughed, a sound like boulders crashing together. "Intrusion? Nonsense! We’re just a bunch of old bones here. It’s nice to see some youth. Come, come! Don't stand on ceremony."

  Li Yu remained wary but he straightened up and offered a polite smile. "Thank you for your hospitality, Senior."

  "Senior? Hah!" Auntie Tu waved a dismissive hand. She picked up a cleaver that was nearly as big as her torso. "Just call me Auntie Tu. I’m just a butcher. That over there is Grandpa Hua, picking his weeds. And the scrawny one by the forge is Granny Tie."

  Li Yu glanced around. To his left, an elderly man with a long, wispy beard was kneeling in a garden, delicately pruning flowers with fingers that looked as fragile as glass. To his right, beneath a lean-to was a hunchbacked old woman hammering a piece of glowing metal.

  As Li Yu turned back to Auntie Tu, his gaze fell upon the butcher's block. She was preparing to cut a massive slab of meat. It looked like the thigh of a beast, the flesh shimmering with a faint, metallic blue luster. It was the leg of a Thunder-Scale Rhino, a beast known for skin so tough it could deflect flying swords.

  "Watch out, lad," Auntie Tu said, hefting the cleaver. It was a rusty, chipped thing that looked like it would shatter if it hit a bone. "Got to separate the tendon just right. It’s twitchy today."

  Li Yu watched, intending to be polite. But as Auntie Tu raised the rusty cleaver, Li Yu’s pupils constricted to pinpoints.

  The motion was simple. There was no flair, no explosion of Qi. But in Li Yu’s eyes, the world seemed to split. The trajectory of the cleaver didn't just cut through the air; it followed a fault line in reality. It was the Law of Severing.

  Li Yu of course didn’t realize what it was exactly, only that it was extremely impressive. He could only vaguely sense that the old woman in front of him was utilizing a law in her daily tasks. Not only that, she was extremely skilled with it. It was a strike that didn't rely on sharpness but on the concept of separation itself.

  Shing.

  The cleaver passed through the Thunder-Scale Rhino meat and the extremely hard bone beneath it without a sound. The slab separated into two perfectly smooth halves. The bone marrow was exposed and looked like it had been polished to a mirror finish.

  Li Yu swallowed hard and his throat dry. That strike... if used in combat, it could likely sever the connection between a cultivator and the Heavens. Separate the cultivator from the environmental Qi. And Auntie Tu had used it to trim a roast.

  "A bit rusty," Auntie Tu grumbled while inspecting the blade. "Here, lad. You look skinny. A man needs meat on his bones to swing a stick like that." She tossed him a chunk of the dried meat, jerky made from the trimmings, toward Li Yu. She ignored his two companions completely and didn’t offer them any.

  Li Yu caught it instinctively. The moment the meat touched his skin, he felt a scorching heat. This wasn't ordinary meat. The energy contained within this single strip could likely fuel a cultivator’s breakthrough from the Core Formation realm to the Soul Formation. For her to so casually give it to him.

  "Senior, this is too precious—"

  "Eat!" Auntie Tu commanded. There was a softness in her eyes. Like that of an elder treating a little kid. "It’s just a snack. Don't insult my curing skills."

  Li Yu didn't dare refuse when he saw how aggressive she was. He bowed again. "Thank you, Auntie Tu."

  Leaving the butcher, Li Yu felt a bead of cold sweat trickle down his back. The girls were looking at the meat in his hand with wonder as well; they could sense the terrifying energy radiating from it. This village was definitely not simple. Most likely that Auntie could kill all three of them if she wanted to.

  "Keep walking," Li Yu whispered. "Don't offend anyone. These are not mortals. They are monsters hiding in human skin. However, they are treating us extremely well. I don’t really understand it."

  Si Luo and Bai Ruo agreed. Auntie Tu treated Li Yu as though he was a family member. They had never met but she was nice to him. She didn’t even give the two of them a single glance. As if they simply didn’t even exist. The auntie’s full attention was glued on Li Yu.

  “She was interested in you, Li Yu.” Si Luo said quietly. “So your charms only work on old women?” She joked.

  Li Yu only shook his head, barely registering what was said. His mind was focused on what had happened and what was going to happen here.

  They passed the forge next. Granny Tie, the blacksmith, was working on a robe. Surprisingly not a weapon or something made of metal. She was a tiny, withered woman, barely coming up to Li Yu’s chest but she held a hammer that looked to weigh far too much for her frame with casual ease.

  "Ho there, youngster," Granny Tie croaked while not looking up from her work. She was hammering a thin metal thread into a piece of dark shimmering cloth on the anvil. Clang. Clang. Clang.

  The rhythm was intoxicating. Li Yu felt the vibrations in the his bones. Thump. Thump. Thump.

  Li Yu realized with a start that the hammer strikes were tempering the surrounding space, locking the laws of the world into the fabric. The Blacksmith wasn't just making clothes; she was forging a defensive barrier.

  She finally stopped and looked up. Her eyes are sharp and devoid of the cloudiness of age. She looked at the staff Li Yu was holding. She shook her head at the sight. “This won’t do young man.”