Accidentally Reincarnated in Cultivation World-Chapter 285: Connected

Yu Xuan looked out across the lake, golden eyes narrowing as he sensed something deep beneath the surface.

"It’s totally frozen..." Liji said cautiously.

A serpent shaped shadow lashed out from her feet, striking the lake, only to freeze solid on contact and shatter.

"You both wait here," Yu Xuan instructed calmly.

He spread his spirit sense across the lake.

Then, without hesitation, Yu Xuan leapt.

SPLASH—

The lake exploded outward in ripples. The moment he submerged, the water around him tried to crystallize...but the instant it neared Yu Xuan, it recoiled.

He wasn’t resisting it, he was simply too harmonized with the elements.

A blue star glowed in his dantian, and all water within a 20-meter radius bent away from him naturally, forming a hollow sphere.

He descended through the silvery-blue depths, passing crystal clear water and absolute stillness.

Not a fish. Not a plant. Not even a dead remnant.

Until.

At the lake’s bed, there was a single creature.

A colossal blue crab-like beast, with nearly a hundred jagged claws stacked like icy blades.

’Should I harvest it...? Forget it. This poor crab didn’t ask for this kind of fate,’ Yu Xuan thought.

Thanks to his system’s recent upgrade, he could use a certain ability — but he’d rather not.

He chose something cleaner.

He activated the new ability of his [Immortal’s Gaze].

[Immortal’s Gaze] – Spirit Annihilation.

His golden eyes turned molten.

The giant crab opened its eyes as it’s pupils shrank — then became unfocused, its consciousness wiped clean.

The blueness in the waters dulled visibly. Even above, the twins stiffened at the sudden surge in spiritual pressure.

Yu Xuan then pointed forward.

Crack—!

Frost swept across the massive creature, freezing it solid in a perfect block of ice.

He shot upward like an arrow.

Above, the lakeshore trembled. The twins took a step back as—

SPLAAAASH!!!

Yu Xuan erupted from the water, landing gracefully as a mountain-sized frozen crab floated behind him.

"I was wondering..." Yu Xuan muttered, storing the giant crab with a flick of his hand.

"Why should I wait for the Fallen Heavens to harvest all these good ingredients when the Sect’s Spirit Chefs can do it instead?"

Reasonable logic.

He becomes stronger. He eats well.

The enemy loses resources.

A win-win-win.

Sisu blinked.

"Senior Yusss... are we going to lossse that you even personally caught the food...?"

"Shut up." Yu Xuan replied flatly.

But before Sisu could retort.

BOOM!!!

Sisu went flying sideways.

Not because Yu Xuan hit her...

But because something powerful ambushed them.

And its cultivation was far above the twins.

Its cultivation... was peak Tier Three.

"YOU!!!" Liji roared, her voice cracking like thunder as a dark-red aura exploded from her body, swallowing the surroundings in a suffocating haze.

The air trembled.

The snow around her melted into steam.

Then inside her mind, an ancient chant echoed.

A soft, rhythmic murmur in an unknown language.

Her body jerked.

Her breath steadied, if only slightly.

Her rage did not disappear... but it leashed itself, keeping her from losing control entirely.

With murder blazing in her eyes, Liji glared at the attacker.

It was another disciple of the Heaven Immortal Sect or rather, what was left of one.

His robes hung in tatters.

His eyes were dull, unfocused, pupils swimming like muddy water.

Coarse fur crawled across his arms and neck.

Fingernails had twisted into hooked claws.

His spine bent at an unnatural angle.

Yu Xuan studied the creature with growing interest.

Creature, not person.

Because whoever this man once was already gone.

A foreign consciousness had burrowed into his corpse and taken root.

Liji didn’t wait.

She launched herself at the creature.

Her shadow surged outward, splitting into a dozen serpentine tendrils that whipped across the ground.

They coiled violently around the puppet — binding limbs, spine, throat. Even the creature’s own shadow rose from the snow to betray it, wrapping around its torso like chains.

The creature’s twisted face scrunched in annoyance.

A burst of icy qi exploded from its body. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Crack—!

The shadows froze solid, shattered like brittle glass, and scattered across the snow.

In the same instant, its clawed hand lunged for Liji’s throat ignoring the distance.

Liji’s eyes glowed with unfiltered bloodlust.

Yu Xuan watched quietly from a short distance.

He wasn’t worried about her dying, from what he had observed her instincts and bloodline were far too sharp for that.

No... he was worried about something else.

This sudden, violent loss of control.

This overwhelming fury that didn’t feel like her own.

Not normal.

Sisu slithered out from behind him, panic all over her face.

"Senior Yusss! Stop her! If sister losesss control any further, it will be very dangerous!"

Yu Xuan sighed.

Reasonable.

He didn’t know Liji well, but he certainly wasn’t going to let her spiral into something catastrophic.

With a flick of his fingers.

Both Liji and the creature froze mid-motion.

Telekinesis wrapped around them like invisible chains, pinning them effortlessly.

Yu Xuan waved his wrist.

Liji was flung back, directly into Sisu’s waiting arms.

"Watch her," he said simply.

His attention returned to the puppet.

"How interesting... You do possess a soul. And even fragments of self-awareness. But not enough to be a complete identity." His eyes gleamed gold.

"A Snowy Phantom mutation... No, it’s something else and merged."

With [Immortal’s Gaze] and his trait [Soul Vision], the creature’s truth unraveled before him.

The original disciple’s soul had already scattered.

The invading consciousness had taken over the corpse.

But the dying resentment of the disciple had twisted the invader, preventing it from fully controlling the body.

Before death, the disciple was Peak Tier Two.

Now, through distortion and parasitic force, the puppet barely reached Peak Tier Three.

The creature snarled. Snow swirled violently around them, forming bladed shards.

Yu Xuan flicked his fingers.

The snow dissolved instantly.

Darkness Chaos Flames ignited around his hand, the black fire.

He closed his fist around the puppet’s torso.

SKREEEEEEEEEE—!!!

A soundless shriek tore through the world.

The distance mountain trembled.

"As expected... it was linked to that consciousness."

He turned, ready to tell the twins their next destination, when he paused.

Multiple presences were sneaking and approaching them.

Yu Xuan’s golden eyes sharpened as he looked at a particular spot.

"You..."