Chapter 1156: This Is One Of Those Times! (I)
Chapter 1156: This Is One Of Those Times! (I)
No one knew the true size of the Mirage Dragon Pocket World, much less where its boundaries lay. Its landscapes were so complete and lifelike that it seemed no different from the outside world at all.
Six days had passed since the beginning of the grand competition. At the entrance to a mountain valley, six Adepts moved cautiously across the terrain while keeping watch on more than a dozen white argali resting in the open ahead. After studying the beasts and their surroundings for a while, someone finally spoke up.
"We're not like Senior Brother Wang. He can hunt illusory beasts on his own with nothing but a sword. For us, it'd be safer to work together. That said, we'll set up a formation first, then deal with them one at a time. Does anyone have a problem with that?"
One of the others immediately asked, "And the illusory cores? How are we dividing them?"
Longwind replied, "Evenly. If we can't find so many at once, we'll take turns and settle the difference later. And if someone gets killed..."
Wu Tao, who was standing beside him, picked up where he left off. "Life and death are up to fate. If someone gets killed, their share goes to those who are still here. But there's one rule: No one is allowed to play dirty or turn on each other. Otherwise... we'll meet again outside."
Longwind gave him an approving look before turning to the others. "Everyone agrees?"
Guan Xiaoping was the first to nod. The other three exchanged wary glances before reluctantly agreeing as well, though this cooperation agreement did little to ease the distrust within the group. The cultivators from the Liu, Guan, and Wu families had always been on good terms, so there was nothing unusual about the three of them being together, and they did not really intend anything untoward. Even so, the three were clearly the strongest members of the group, which made the others all the more reluctant to let down their guard.
Once everyone had agreed, Longwind handed out the formation flags and assigned each person a position around the valley. After they were in place, he cautiously rose into the air and took out a talisman. As he poured mana into it, countless threads of light spread across the valley until they linked together and formed a barrier that sealed the entire area.
Only then did Longwind charge in. "AATTTAAAAAACCCKK!"
The others followed close behind. Soon, the valley rang with the crash of enchanted treasures as the group tore into the herd. Every strike dispersed part of an argali into white mist, and whenever the cloud of energy tried to escape, the surrounding formation forced it back into the valley.
The battle continued for nearly an hour before they finally stopped. The prolonged effort had left Longwind visibly drained. After catching his breath, he took out a gourd and raised its mouth toward the white mist drifting through the valley.
"Collect!"
Streams of mist immediately began flowing into the gourd. Most of the cloud energy was drawn inside, but a considerable amount still remained by the time the flow weakened. Longwind frowned at what remained, but when he shook the gourd and heard a crisp series of clinks from within, his dissatisfaction quickly faded.
Guan Xiaoping hurried over. "Senior Brother, sounds like we got more than a dozen illusory cores this time!"
Longwind stroked his flowing beard. "And we're only getting started."
Wu Tao nodded excitedly as well. "Exactly. If we keep this up, we'll have plenty more soon."
The others came over as well, but unlike Longwind's trio, they had already lost one of their own. The competition had only just started, yet their group was already down a man! If things continued like this, no one knew how many of them would still be around by the end.
Their unease was made worse by something both men had begun to notice during the hunt. Longwind's trio had never done anything against them, but whenever one of them needed support, the trio always seemed to hold back just enough to avoid taking on too much of the burden themselves. By now, it was clear what they were doing—they were letting the others exhaust themselves and shoulder more of the danger so that, sooner or later, there would be fewer people left to split the illusory cores.
The two men exchanged a glance and reached the same decision without needing to speak. Once they received their share from this hunt, they would leave Longwind's group. Afterward, they could continue traveling together, recruit a few more cultivators to help hunt illusory beasts, and employ the same tactics Longwind's trio was using against them now.
Having made up their mind, one of them turned to Longwind. "Senior Brother, let's finish this and condense the rest of the cloud energy into illusory cores."
Longwind nodded. "That's the plan. But the strongest beast here was at the late stage of the third tier. That core won't be so easy to condense."
He rested a while longer before forming a series of hand seals and activating the gourd again. The cloud energy scattered throughout the valley began streaming steadily toward its mouth. Slowly but surely, more illusory cores took shape inside the gourd, until only the largest mass of cloud energy remained. Then, without warning...
BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!
A colossal azure-and-red hand descended from the sky and slammed into the formation. The formation flared desperately, but it was nowhere near strong enough to withstand the overwhelming mana behind the attack, and it shattered at once.
All five cultivators below went pale.
Longwind stared upward in shock. "Azure Yang Great Handprint!"
Apart from its colors, the hand was incredibly lifelike, to the point where even the lines across its palm and the joints of its slender fingers were clearly defined. It reached through the broken formation, closed around the last and largest mass of cloud energy, then withdrew as swiftly as it had appeared.
High above, Fu Qinglan stared at Luo Chen in shock. He had cast the spell almost instantaneously, and there was not the slightest sign of strain on his face. The very notion that someone could bring such a powerful spell to a level where they could cast it and retract it with a single thought was simply absurd.
Luo Chen opened his right hand and revealed a small white pellet shaped somewhat like a date pit. "So this is an illusory core?"
For the past five days, the two of them had been traveling from the outer reaches of the pocket world toward the center, yet this was the first illusory beast they had encountered. Luckily, someone else had already dispersed its body, saving Luo Chen the trouble of doing it himself.
Fu Qinglan smiled faintly. "It's only a third-tier illusory beast, so it can't form an illusory core on its own. This one isn't much use to me, but if we take it outside, people in the sect can use it to make enchanted treasures, pills, talismans, and all sorts of other things. Enchanted treasures in particular can generate all manner of illusions, which makes them especially suitable for low-tier disciples to temper their Dao Hearts."
Luo Chen turned the core over in his palm as he considered her words.
Years ago, he had bought a treasure called the Divine Ghost Heartmirror from a street stall in Tianlan Immortal City. Although it had been nothing more than a damaged item, it remained one of the few true bargains he had ever stumbled upon. Now, after sensing the peculiar power contained within the illusory core and hearing Fu Qinglan's explanation, a possibility occurred to him.
Perhaps the primary material used to craft the Divine Ghost Heartmirror had been an illusory core. If that was true, then the connection between the Valley of Ghosts and Divinities and the Dao Sect might run far deeper than he had first imagined.
That thought quickly shifted to a more practical one. If he were to refine this core himself, how would he go about it?
Luo Chen possessed some skill in artifact creation, and several suitable formations came to mind almost immediately. If he could find the right vessel and incorporate a few soul techniques into the refinement process, he might even be able to reproduce some of the Divine Ghost Heartmirror's wondrous effects.
Fu Qinglan did not interrupt him while he examined the core. After all, she would still be relying on Luo Chen when the time came to hunt illusory beasts and collect their cores. The more familiar he became with them now, the easier their task would be later.
The people down in the valley, however, were no longer willing to wait.
Longwind gritted his teeth and called up to them. "Daoist Aunt Fu, Senior Luo... th-that belongs to us!"
Luo Chen merely glanced at him without saying anything.
Fu Qinglan smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. This is Senior Brother Luo's first time seeing an illusory core, so he's just taking a look. He'll give it back in a bit."
She then turned to Luo Chen and lowered her voice. "Third-tier illusory cores aren't much use to me. I need fourth-tier ones for my cultivation. If you're interested in studying them, I can get a few from the sect after the competition."
Luo Chen acknowledged her with a brief nod and flicked the core back down.
Longwind hurriedly caught it, but by the time he looked up again, Luo Chen and Fu Qinglan were already gone. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, only for the two temporary allies beside him to begin urging him to divide the spoils. Naturally, he had no reason to object. He distributed the remaining illusory cores between them and kept only the one Luo Chen had conveniently condensed.
Once the division was settled, one of the two men immediately spoke up. "We'll part ways here. Thanks for everything, fellow Daoists. See you around."
Longwind froze. Before he could say anything, the two had already turned and hurried off.
Guan Xiaoping wrinkled her nose. "Hmph! Those two really don't know what's good for them."
Longwind waved it off. "Forget it. Let them go. We'll run into others sooner or later. When we do, we can ask them to join us and hunt together."
Wu Tao chuckled. "Exactly. Having a few extra hands makes hunting much easier. Once we've collected enough illusory cores, we'll leave the world. By then, we'll definitely rank higher than those two."
Longwind smiled and nodded, though his smile was rather forced. He knew exactly how powerful the formation sealing the valley had been. It was strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a fourth-tier illusory beast, yet Luo Chen had shattered it with what had looked like a casual palm strike.
Devil Lord Azure Yang has actually become this strong... If the family head runs into him, will he really be able to handle it?