“Damn it, when will these wretched things ever end?!”
Zui Yue roared in frustration as she was engulfed by the tide of monsters.
Having lost her weapon in this illusion, she used her hands and teeth to tear and bite at the ghosts.
Her once-refined face was now twisted in fury, her body covered in wounds that bled profusely, yet she refused to retreat.
“Tough little thing, aren’t you?”
Su Feiyao shook her massive fox head, flicked her fluffy tail, and lazily sprawled atop a drifting cloud.
She watched with amusement as Zui Yue struggled desperately, surrounded by the ghosts below.
Those ghosts were all manifestations of the evil cultivators and demon beasts she had slain with her illusions.
Within her own illusion realm, they were inexhaustible, an endless supply.
But now, Zui Yue’s tenacity far exceeded Su Feiyao’s expectations.
‘If this drags on, maybe she really could break free from my illusion?’
With that thought, Su Feiyao’s enormous fox eyes narrowed, and a humanlike smile spread across her face.
“In that case, let me add a little more spice.”
Her light brown pupils instantly focused, a strange light flickering within them as she silently activated her illusion technique to affect Zui Yue.
—First, let’s start with anger.
Zui Yue felt a surge of rage burning in her heart. Her attacks suddenly became more ferocious.
With one punch, she shattered a bear-headed bull monster that had crept close, sending it dissolving into white smoke.
Her originally methodical martial arts and footwork gradually turned chaotic, as she vented her spiritual power wildly, driven by her fury.
—Then, sorrow.
Su Feiyao’s influence shifted again. A wave of intense grief welled up inside Zui Yue.
Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the blood and falling to the ground.
Her resistance weakened; her punches grew weaker.
Several times, when the ghosts pounced on her, she barely mustered the will to fight back, wanting only to drown in that sorrow.
—Finally, joy.
The illusion’s influence changed once more. Zui Yue shed her sorrow and burst into loud laughter.
She laughed uncontrollably as the ghosts beat and tore at her, as if she felt no pain at all, finding everything before her utterly ridiculous.
‘That should be it, right?’
Looking down at the woman’s figure being devoured by the ghosts, Su Feiyao shook her head and yawned, a little bored.
She felt that this person wasn’t as strong as Qu Linglong had claimed.
It seemed the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion’s divinations couldn’t be fully trusted after all… Hm?
Just as she was about to dispel the illusion and leave, Su Feiyao suddenly realized—no matter what she did, she couldn’t escape this illusion realm.
She jerked her head down, staring again at the spot where Zui Yue had been swallowed by the ghosts.
“Creak… creak…”
From deep within the mass of ghosts came an eerie, hair-raising sound. Then—
Boom!
A blood wave of yin evil erupted from the center of the ghost horde, instantly engulfing them all!
At the same time, the clear, golden full moon in the illusion began to stain with blood.
The deep blue sky turned pitch black.
The floating fish and lanterns all transformed into terrifying ghost fish with bared fangs and skull lanterns flickering with ghostly blue flames—hideous and chilling.
“Hehehehe! Hahahahaha!”
The familiar piercing laughter rang out again.
But this time, it wasn’t born from Su Feiyao’s magic formula—it was Zui Yue’s genuine mad cackling.
“I knew it! When you realized you couldn’t defeat me head-on, you would definitely pull me into an illusion and use your Path of Emotion!”
The ghosts scattered with a whoosh.
They had now taken on even more grotesque forms: some covered in countless eyes on their hands, others with feet growing from their heads and tongues protruding from their navels…
If the ghosts Su Feiyao had summoned could still be considered normal, these were stitched-together monstrosities that only the most insane physician could create.
Zui Yue, surrounded by them, slowly walked toward the solemn-faced Su Feiyao. Gone was her earlier disheveled look; instead, she wore that nearly insane smile again.
“If you hadn’t used the Path of Emotion and just stuck to a simple illusion, I might not have been able to do anything to you. But who told you to be so confident, insisting on using what you’re best at—the Path of Emotion?”
“You gave me a chance—while you were affecting my emotions, I rode your emotional current in reverse, invaded your sea of consciousness, and seized control of this illusion realm!”
Her triumphant smile remained as she slowly approached Su Feiyao, who was now writhing in agony on the ground:
“How do you feel now? Does it hurt? Does it ache? Does your head feel like it’s about to explode? Tsk tsk hahahahaha!”
“This is tens of thousands of people’s worth of madness! I personally tortured every one of them and recorded their madness into my sea of consciousness! It’s specially prepared for soul-attacking cultivators like you! Now I have no weaknesses! Hehehe! Hahahahaha!”
Suddenly, her laughter stopped.
Her expression turned cruel, and she raised her hand to fiercely strike down at the suffering red fox’s skull:
“And now, you can die!”
……
Inside the secret realm, volcano region.
“Chu Ming! You despicable coward! Let me out if you dare!”
Fang Chengfeng’s furious, muffled roar came from inside a giant alchemy furnace.
Looking closely, the furnace lid was shaped exactly like the stone gate of the volcanic cave dwelling he and Chu Ming had just been about to enter.
“Hahaha! Despicable? No, no! You’re just too stupid! Don’t you think so, Brother Li?”
Before the furnace, Chu Ming, young sect master of the Shenhuo Sect, stood with his hands behind his back, laughing heartily.
Moments ago, Li Chengfeng had been the first to step into the hidden volcano cave dwelling.
The moment he crossed the massive stone gate, he felt the world spin, and then he was trapped inside this furnace.
Behind him, Chu Ming had completely dropped his disguise, baring his fangs.
“Friendship? Don’t misunderstand, Li Chengfeng. From start to finish, you were nothing but a useful, stupid pawn. Heh heh heh heh…”
Chu Ming sneered, ignoring Li Chengfeng’s roars:
“A few flattering words, and I could squeeze all sorts of benefits out of you; a little trick, and you’d take care of all my troubles. Honestly, I wasn’t in a hurry to refine such a useful pawn.”
He let out a feigned regretful sigh:
“What a pity—ever since you lost to Hua Yan’er last time, you completely gave up pursuing Yun Xuechang. Not only did you cost me the bet I placed on you, but even the heart demon I planted in your heart has become useless. From now on, controlling you completely will be far too difficult.”
“What?! What heart demon?!”
Li Chengfeng roared from inside the furnace.
“Naturally, the heart demon nurtured from your infatuation with Yun Xuechang.”
Chu Ming said lightly:
“If I had let you see her a few more times and be rejected a few more times, I would have been able to completely control you and extract more information from the Divine Palace. Truly a pity.”
He pulled a stack of envelopes from his storage pouch and waved them gently:
“I even intercepted ten years’ worth of your love letters, just to deepen your obsession. Who would have thought you’d be so pathetic and resolve it on your own so quickly? Sigh…”
“What?! It was you!!”
Li Chengfeng’s roar shook the entire furnace, as if the person inside was furiously slamming against the inner wall.
“Damn it! I thought Yun Xuechang was just making excuses when she said she never received my letters! I never expected it to be you, you bastard!”
“So what if it was me? Out of respect for our years of friendship, I’ll let you die with full knowledge.”
Chu Ming’s smile was cold:
“Anyway, in another two quarters of an hour, you’ll be completely dead inside my Sky-Burning Furnace.”
……
Meanwhile, similar events were unfolding across the secret realm.
The genius disciples of various sects were ambushed by evil cultivators: some pretended to be friendly before suddenly betraying them; others simply blocked the road and attacked without concealment.
Glacier region.
A muscular black-haired man laughed and swung his meteor hammer at the Saintess of the Ice Lotus Pool.
She wiped the blood from her mouth and fled in panic.
Swamp region.
A short, small child held a huge wooden box and smiled meaninglessly at the defenseless Qu Linglong.
……
Outside the secret realm, in Ji Deng’s small courtyard.
“Little Pomegranate, I think your footwork improved again today!”
Hua Xiangrong clapped her hands and generously praised the rabbit-eared girl who was hopping and dancing with ribbons on a wooden horse:
“Do you want to take a break with me? I can share some nice preserved fruit with you. Mother bought them for me before entering the secret realm.”
“No need, Rongrong. I feel like I’m having a good inspiration today, and I want to practice more. You keep those snacks for yourself.”
Ning Shiliu wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and gently shook her head at the pink-haired girl on the ground.
Before entering the secret realm, Yun Xuechang had recorded her lessons on a jade slip and assigned them to her.
For the past few days, Ning Shiliu had been training especially hard—so hard that even Hua Xiangrong, who had also been assigned homework and considered herself quite diligent, felt a little inferior.
“Oh, all right. I’ll save some for you. Come find me to eat together when you’re done.”
“Mm.”
Seeing the other girl nod, Hua Xiangrong walked toward the house by herself.
“Host, will those sect geniuses really be okay?” 099’s voice carried a hint of concern in her mind:
“In the original novel, almost all of them were defeated by those evil cultivators. You only warned them ahead of time that they might face danger, but you didn’t give them any help. Can they really win like this?”
“Don’t worry, 099. Don’t you know yet? The sect geniuses of this world are all incredibly strong.”
Hua Xiangrong stuffed a piece of preserved fruit into her mouth and comforted the system in her heart:
“In the original novel, they just didn’t know that group had infiltrated the secret realm. They thought it was a normal training trip and were caught off guard, so they suffered a crushing defeat.”
“They have strength and the financial backing of their sects. Why would they need any extra help from me? I only need to tell them in advance what they’re up against. That’s enough. They definitely won’t let themselves fall into a dead end.”
“You have to have faith in them—after all, they’re the future heirs to their respective sects.”