Chapter 4020: Illusory Realm
Qishier Pin Lian locked eyes with Heavenly Mother, her mind quickly regaining calm.
Though she knew she had been tricked, she controlled the Nine-Headed Mark, and outside, the Dark Lord's right hand was present. She could attack or retreat as she pleased. Thus, even facing Heavenly Mother, she did not lose her composure.
Qishier Pin Lian said, "Deliberately luring me into the Ten Thousand Buddha Formation—do you intend to keep me here? But you probably didn't expect that the Dark Lord's right hand would also come to White Clothes Valley with me."
The wind in the forest was fierce, leaves scattering.
"In this battle, you cannot hold me. If you force it, White Clothes Valley will be destroyed first, and all the gods within will perish. You cannot afford such a cost."
Heavenly Mother stepped closer to Qishier Pin Lian, her white hair flowing, her bridal robe trailing the ground. "If White Clothes Valley were to vanish in this battle, would your heart truly remain unmoved?"
Qishier Pin Lian was silent for a moment, not directly answering Heavenly Mother's question. "My purpose in coming is to rescue the Dark Lord's left hand, not White Clothes Valley. When you set up this trap using White Clothes Valley, did you ever consider that it might destroy the place?"
Heavenly Mother said, "You always find reasons for your actions, shifting blame onto others. Today, I will never let you escape again!"
"With your Half-Ancestor cultivation realm, you are very strong. I have no chance of victory. But the armies of the Twelve Ancient Clans have already marched. Qingcang cannot stop them. How much time do you have to suppress me and the Dark Lord's right hand?"
Qishier Pin Lian continued, "The Lower Three Clans are bound together. Can you truly watch Ice King die in Lihentian?"
...
Lihentian.
"Boom! Boom!"
Ice King fought alone against Old Mo and Xue Tongling, two Indestructible Infinite experts. His blood energy was vigorous, his divine power endless. Wielding the Azure Cloud Banner, he engaged Old Mo in close combat, locked in a fierce stalemate.
Ice King had to divert power to suppress Er Daren, so his combat strength was not at its peak.
Xue Tongling knew well how formidable the Undying Blood Clan's Ice King's physical body was, especially since he had refined the Undying Bone. Thus, he stood a Divine Spirit Step away, wielding a brush imbued with dark power, attacking from a distance.
The brush was like an arrow or a flying sword, its speed extraordinary, relieving much of Old Mo's pressure.
"Not good! Di has been ambushed. The situation looks unfavorable. Use the Myriad Forms Formless power."
Xue Tongling embraced the void with both hands, and instantly, a space twelve million nine hundred sixty thousand miles in diameter began to rotate, forming an independent small world to suppress Ice King's movements.
Old Mo's surroundings continuously emitted power that twisted space. After dodging the Azure Cloud Banner, he slashed down with his blade.
Upon hearing the words "Myriad Forms Formless," Ice King grew wary.
Facing Old Mo's full-force slash, he chose to evade, quickly widening the distance, no longer entangled in battle, preparing to leave Lihentian.
In truth, given Ice King's pride, at any other time, he would never retreat from Old Mo and Xue Tongling. But today was different. Er Daren had been constantly assaulting the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao Essence, trying to break free. Continuing the fight would be very disadvantageous for him.
"Whoosh!"
Old Mo's slash cleaved through three realms.
Lihentian, the Real World, and the Void World all showed cracks hundreds of thousands of miles long.
Seizing the opportunity, Ice King spread his wings and rushed into the Void World along the crack.
"Why is the Undying Hall Master leaving? This old man hasn't had enough fighting yet!"
Xue Tongling's voice was youthful but his tone aged. He unleashed a prepared spatial vortex, slowing Ice King's speed.
Then, he and Old Mo simultaneously struck with the Myriad Forms Formless Seal that the Dark Lord had imprinted on their palms.
"Boom!"
Space compressed, heaven and earth overturned.
Even though Ice King's cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Indestructible Infinite, he could not withstand the "Myriad Forms Formless Power." His flesh exploded, his organs shattered, leaving only his skeleton relatively intact.
Old Mo and Xue Tongling both showed shock in their eyes, never expecting Ice King's physical body to be so terrifyingly strong. Even the two Myriad Forms Formless Seals bestowed by the Dark Lord could not completely destroy it.
They secretly rejoiced that they had struck with both seals together.
If only one had been used, it might not have been enough to severely wound Ice King.
"Whoosh——"
Taking advantage of this moment, Er Daren broke free from the Blood Sea Heavenly Dao Rules, transforming into a beam of light that shot straight into the sky.
"Haha, Xia Huangchao, today is your death day!"
Seeing that Ice King was severely injured, Er Daren turned back and, from tens of thousands of miles away, struck with a Death Thought Light Beam.
Ice King's pupils blazed with blood-red light. He flickered across tens of thousands of miles of space, grabbing Er Daren's body, formed from spiritual power thoughts.
"Boom!"
That body was crushed, turning into spiritual power soul mist.
Xue Tongling manipulated the brush imbued with dark power, striking Ice King's chest, breaking several ribs and sending him flying backward.
Old Mo, meanwhile, waved his sleeves, collecting the blood clouds formed from Ice King's exploded flesh.
The vast blood energy contained in those clouds, if refined, would be enough to elevate his physical body to another level.
After the spiritual power soul mist re-condensed into Er Daren's body, he became much more cautious, immediately fleeing tens of thousands of miles away, no longer daring to engage Ice King in close combat.
If he were blown up a few more times, he feared his spiritual power would drop to the eighty-ninth rank.
"Clearing the courtyard, killing at every step."
Er Daren formed hand seals with his ten fingers, preparing to execute the Courtyard-Clearing Killing Art to sever Ice King's spirit and soul.
Three Indestructible Infinite experts working together—could they not kill a Xia Huangchao?
Just as he was forming the seals, Er Daren suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He turned his head and nearly lost his soul.
There, a tall woman in a green dragon robe stood silently a few dozen zhang behind him, watching his hand seals with great interest.
Even if Er Daren's spiritual power and divine soul were severely damaged, even if his attention was focused on Ice King, he was still a being with ninetieth-rank spiritual power. How could a young woman have approached him silently?
Er Daren couldn't fully complete the Courtyard-Clearing Killing Art. He struck out, sending it toward the woman.
"Whoosh!"
As the killing art came, the woman stood still, snapped her fingers, and suddenly, dense talisman rune marks erupted around her.
Talisman light filled heaven and earth, each mark as brilliant as a star, profound and unfathomable.
The Courtyard-Clearing Killing Art was naturally dissolved into nothingness.
"Imperial Talisman!"
Er Daren gritted his teeth, uttering these two words.
"You do know your treasures!"
Luo Sha's eyes sparkled, and she smiled sweetly, softening the imperial majesty she had just displayed. But her posture remained straight, giving her a transcendent aura of soft charm mixed with resolute excellence.
Although the Imperial Talisman was precious and infinitely powerful, with Zhang Ruochen's current cultivation, its effect was minimal.
Zhang Ruochen had given it to her not only because Luo Sha had considerable skill in spiritual power and could unleash the Talisman's power to some extent.
But also because she had chosen a more difficult path, becoming the Rakshasa Female Emperor of the Tianluo Divine Kingdom, and needed the Imperial Talisman as a protective charm.
Recognizing Luo Sha, Er Daren's shock dissipated, and he sneered, "Zhang Ruochen actually gave you the Imperial Talisman. What a waste of a treasure."
"Does Senior mean you have an interest in the Imperial Talisman?" Luo Sha asked.
Er Daren said, "If I wielded the Imperial Talisman, I could fight any enemy below the Heavenly Venerable rank."
Luo Sha humbly replied, "I am not as formidable as Senior. Wielding the Imperial Talisman, I can at most exchange a few moves with you."
Exchange moves with him?
Er Daren was furious. When had he ever taken someone like Luo Sha seriously?
But with the Sundial having been open for fifty thousand years, many young juniors had caught up, their cultivation advancing rapidly. Some had broken through to the Infinite Realm, and some had even reached Great Unbound Infinite.
Although Luo Sha's current cultivation was still worlds apart from his, he truly had no confidence in breaking through the Imperial Talisman.
More importantly, the Lower Three Clans couldn't have only Luo Sha as a junior coming to aid Ice King.
"Er Daren, I have been proud since childhood. If my words have offended you, please forgive me."
Luoyan Dadi emerged from space, his tiger-like form imposing. The powerful aura he emitted indicated his cultivation had reached Indestructible Infinite.
"So you really aren't dead."
Er Daren quickly calmed down, a retreat forming in his mind.
Luoyan Dadi, clad in divine armor, locked onto Er Daren with his rules. "How could I dare die before you do? Today, if my daughter and I join forces, can we slay you?"
"Shua!"
Er Daren shielded himself with Death Divine Light, moving through the talisman light, trying to escape.
The divine armor on Luoyan Dadi grew a pair of iron wings over a dozen zhang long. He was far faster than Er Daren, a spiritual power cultivator, and caught up, striking out with a palm.
Er Daren's spiritual power thought body nearly exploded again, falling back into the sea of talisman marks.
On the other side, Xue Jue War God let out a long roar: "Three against one—what kind of skill is that? Do you really think the Undying Blood Clan has no one?"
A large expanse of space collapsed, and a god wrapped in burial cloth emerged from the center of the shattered space.
On his back grew twenty-four pairs of golden wings, emitting a thick corpse aura.
He seemed both Undying Blood Clan and Corpse Clan.
Only a very few Hell Realm gods knew that this was the Blood Absolute Family's ancestor, "Blood Absolute Half-Ancestor."
Blood Absolute Half-Ancestor's remnant soul had returned, seizing his own corpse, once wreaking havoc in the Blood Heaven Tribe.
After being suppressed, Undying War God had refined his remnant soul, erasing his spirit and consciousness.
When the corpse-burier of White Desolate Star was dying, he removed his burial cloth and wrapped it around him, making him the new corpse-burier. Without spirit or consciousness, he was completely controlled by Xue Jue War God.
Xue Jue War God held the Blood Dragon War Halberd, leading a divine army, walking at the front with the corpse-burier. He wasn't in a hurry to attack, laughing, "Ice King, are you really that useless? Getting beaten like this by two early-stage Indestructible Infinite experts—where is the Undying Blood Clan's dignity?"
With Er Daren besieged by Luo Sha and Luoyan Dadi, and Old Mo held back by the Undying Blood Clan army, Ice King had turned the tide, chasing Xue Tongling in attack, his bones quickly regrowing flesh.
Hearing Xue Jue War God's sarcastic remarks, Ice King said, "If you had been hit by two Myriad Forms Formless Seals, you would probably have been annihilated in both form and spirit. Be careful—they serve an Immortal, and their mastery of space and dark power is formidable. Very troublesome."
"Is that so?"
Xue Jue War God glanced at Old Mo, took a step back, and with a solemn expression, waved his hand. "Ancestor, go test him out."
The twenty-four pairs of golden wings on the corpse-burier emitted golden flames. At top speed, he charged at Old Mo.
In an instant, they clashed a dozen times, divine power colliding, heaven and earth shaking.
...
On the Ancient God Path leading to the Abyss of Darkness defense line, Zhang Ruochen perceived the situation in Lihentian.
Since Luoyan Dadi and Xue Jue War God had arrived in time, with Ice King's strength, it was only a matter of time before he dealt with the three Indestructible Infinite experts one by one.
Wuwo Lamp said, "I should have stayed there. With me around, there wouldn't have been all this trouble."
"I'm afraid you would have been taken away by someone," Xiu Chen Heavenly God said.
Wuwo Lamp flickered, proud. "Them? Who here doesn't know how strong I am? Under the light of Fate, all illusions are revealed, illuminating the present and foreseeing the future. Especially the 'Wuwo' part—do you know how much my light affects a cultivator's spiritual consciousness?"
After multiple teleportations and traveling the Ancient God Path, they were very close to the Abyss of Darkness defense line, visible to the naked eye in the starry sky.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly stopped, looking around.
The four old clan kings also sensed something, their expressions turning serious. Four different types of Five Elements rules emanated from them.
"What's wrong? What happened?" Wuwo Lamp asked.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Aren't you supposed to see through all illusions in the world? Didn't you notice we're trapped in an illusory realm?"
"Illusory realm?"
Xiu Chen Heavenly God was secretly alarmed. Waving her sleeve, she condensed a River of Time to protect herself.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Someone set this up in advance. The technique is very subtle. Clearly, it's meant to trap cultivators heading to reinforce the Abyss of Darkness defense line."
"An illusory realm this profound doesn't seem meant for ordinary cultivators. I feel like it's targeting us," Xiu Chen Heavenly God said.
She had reason to say this.
Because even though Zhang Ruochen told her they were in an illusory realm, she couldn't find any flaw.
How terrifying must the schemer's spiritual power and illusion arts be?
Wuwo Lamp's light surged, its Fate Divine Radiance seeming to illuminate the entire universe, but it couldn't find the edge of the illusory realm. It fell silent, no longer boasting.
The Water Clan old clan king's eyes were deep. "It's the True One Mirror. They've come!"
The other three old clan kings all shuddered, shifting positions, standing at three different directions, forming a four-direction guarding formation with the Water Clan old clan king.
"It seems you guessed right. This is a killing formation aimed at us," Zhang Ruochen said, summoning the Abyssal Divine Sword, Truth Light appearing in his pupils.
The Water Clan old clan king said, "The True One Mirror is the True One Clan's divine artifact treasure. Once trapped inside, no matter how high one's cultivation, they cannot break out."
Wuwo Lamp lacked confidence, muttering softly, "Isn't it just an illusory realm? You make it sound so mystical."
The Water Clan old clan king smiled bitterly. "True One old clan king's spiritual power has reached the ninety-third rank. With him wielding the True One Mirror, under heaven, only Yunshen Daozhu, whose spiritual power is one rank higher, might see through truth and illusion and break out."
The Fire Clan old clan king called out, "We are all old friends. Won't you show yourselves?"
From the vast void came a sharp voice: "Those in the mirror, as you wish."
Zhang Ruochen felt the surroundings darken. Time and space vanished, as if he were in a dark, cold dry well. Only a circular light appeared above his head.
A white-haired old woman appeared at the "well's mouth," revealing a gaunt, indifferent face.
Then, five more old faces appeared at the "well's mouth," each exuding an overwhelmingly powerful aura, but expressionless, looking at them like trapped beasts in a well.