The Shuang Hua sword shattered on command. It didn’t turn into shards, but rather a cloud of frigid mist that neared absolute zero.
“SHUANG HUA, CONGEAL!” The mist expanded, ignoring the laws of physics and the roaring lightning. In a single heartbeat, it completely froze Lei Wei and the space surrounding him.
His palm remained in its forward thrusting position, and the flickering arcs of electricity on its surface were frozen into strands of purple ice, ceasing their movement. The cruel sneer on Lei Wei’s face was frozen in place while demonic chi continued to pour frantically into his body.
A mist of blood sprayed from Xia Lingshuang’s mouth, splattering onto the ice. The spiritual chi here was too thin; even using all her strength, she could only trap Lei Wei for this single instant. The rest was up to her disciple.
In this moment of absolute silence, a black figure swung a green sword, cutting through the pristine white scene.
“ETHEREAL SWORD ARTS, BREAKING DELUSION!”
The sword followed the person, the body moving like a flowing wind. Wu Yan ground the frozen lightning net into powder. The sharp green blade of Wu Nian pierced through the frozen layer, stabbing into the area below Lei Wei’s left ribs.
Inside the ice, Lei Wei’s eyes stared fixedly at Wu Yan’s movements. He saw the green blade and wanted to mobilize his demonic chi for defense—or even release the lightning within his body to blast Wu Yan into dust. But he couldn’t do it. Xia Lingshuang was indeed a veteran Soul Transformation Stage cultivator; this gamble had caught him completely off guard.
Wu Yan’s advance was the line between life and death. The lightning was tamed by the gale, and the wind shredded his sea of chi.
“Master!”
As soon as Wu Yan spoke, a white silk ribbon flew toward them. The last thing Lei Wei saw was Wu Yan’s cold yet exceptionally beautiful face, the blood-stained silk ribbon, and his own headless body collapsing to the ground in convulsions.
‘Oh, so I’m dead… How frustrating.’
With Lei Wei’s death, the demonic chi he had been controlling dissipated. The white mist restructured itself, turning back into the Shuang Hua sword and falling to the ground. There was movement over by the stone platform. Wu Yan picked up Shuang Hua and handed it to Xia Lingshuang just as Yu Qingyao and the others arrived, supporting Gu Jian. Although everyone was injured and their spiritual power was exhausted, their eyes were filled with joy.
“It should finally be over now, right?” Su Qianqian said with a sigh of relief as she treated Gu Jian’s wounds.
“Probably.” Yu Qingyao handed the third stone tablet to Wu Yan. Wu Yan took the two tablets that had previously merged into one from Xia Lingshuang. Sure enough, as the two pieces were brought together, there was a crisp *click*, and they fused perfectly into one complete stone tablet.
This time, there was no map and no red light. The stone tablet spun into the air and grew in size, eventually turning into a massive black lopan. A brilliant pillar of light shot from the center of the lopan straight into the sky, piercing through the dim haze. At the end of the light pillar, the mist that had been looming over everyone’s heads slowly cleared, revealing a massive vortex passage.
“The gate is open.” Wu Yan looked up, feeling the heart-pounding spatial fluctuations coming from the gate.
“Let’s go.” Xia Lingshuang stabilized her condition. Although the lack of spiritual power made her body feel uncomfortable, she needed to take the lead as an Elder.
The group of six prepared to step into the pillar of light.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If it ends just like this, I simply cannot accept it.”
Just as Xia Lingshuang was about to step into the light, a heart-chillingly familiar voice echoed from behind her. She whipped around, only to see Gu Jian’s mangled body and Su Qianqian’s severed head, with a look of joy still lingering on her face.
“You!”
—
“I say, isn’t this a bit too cruel?”
An aged voice rang out in the center of the Martial Arts Arena in Tianyuan City. The speaker was the Taiqing Sect Master, who had been left in an uncertain state after being struck by the “Mahayana Realm Demonic Cultivator.”
“What? Are you feeling embarrassed because your disciple has such a poor mindset that he fell into demonic possession so easily?” The woman sitting to his left countered him. She had a pair of exceptionally beautiful eyes, but the rest of her face was covered by a veil, preventing anyone from seeing her full appearance.
“At least it proves my disciple isn’t a spy for the Demon Sect!”
“You are already crying from frustration.” To his right, an old Taoist with a white beard holding a lopan calmly shot him down. This was the Tianyan Sect Master.
“Who says she didn’t mean you? Our disciples were in the dark; why is it that your disciple knew everything?”
“Because some people weren’t careful, and the little girl of my sect happened to calculate it.”
“You!”
“You are already crying from frustration.”
Seeing that the two were about to start bickering again, the Lingxiao Sect Master had to step in to mediate. “There is no need for everyone to dwell on this. After all, Lady Zhi Qiu also participated in the creation of this Illusionary Realm.” The Lingxiao Sect Master was a woman dressed in luxurious robes with a stunningly beautiful face. She looked to be only 20 or 30 years old, making her the youngest person present.
The last one to speak was a muscular middle-aged man with a beast that looked like a Xuanwu resting beside him. “Those fellows from our Myriad Beasts Gate are full of nothing but fighting once they go in. We really need to limit the frequency and dosage of the blood essence they absorb in the future.”
Returning to the main topic, after a round of discussion, the conversation turned to the most critical part.
“So, after these disciples leave the Illusionary Realm, will they have any memories of it?” The Lingxiao Sect Master looked at the Queyue Palace Mistress, her young face full of seriousness.
“Naturally not,” the Queyue Palace Mistress replied with a wave of her hand. “This is a secret technique of my sect; even my disciple doesn’t know it. Those who enter the Illusionary Realm will remember nothing after leaving. They will only feel as though they had a beautiful dream. Once they wake up, they will find that the strength of their souls has increased significantly. That being said, since we dragged them into the Illusionary Realm without permission, we cannot skip the proper compensation.”
The Taiqing Sect Master also returned to his previous dignified posture. “I have already sent messages to the Sect Masters of each sect, offering satisfactory compensation for their sects and disciples.”
“That is good.” The Lingxiao Sect Master nodded. “I didn’t expect that Elder Xia of the Piaomiao Sect would be such a ruthless character, actually coming up with a method like this to catch those Demon Sect spies.”