Chapter 1337: The Damaged Ancient Illusion Array
Chapter 1337: The Damaged Ancient Illusion Array
Similar scenes appeared frequently throughout Ziwei Palace.
One Spiritual Infant from the desert had an experience much like Qin Sang’s. However, he failed to notice it in time. One wrong step sent him crashing inside, and his figure vanished. After that, there was not the slightest ripple, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive.
The lake water was clear. The bamboo forest was fragrant.
Qin Sang took a deep breath. From this tranquil scenery, however, he sensed a trace of unease. He carefully retreated, circled around the small lake, and quickened his pace even more.
This Ziwei Palace was no longer the Ziwei Palace of before. In the future, even Spiritual Infant cultivators would probably find it difficult to move an inch here.
After bypassing the ancient herb garden, Qin Sang hurried onward for a while and soon saw a familiar place, the sword path hall where the teleportation array was located.
This place was no exception. It had changed beyond recognition. The scene before him left Qin Sang slightly dazed.
Standing on the ground, he raised his head high. From deep within the five-colored auspicious clouds, he could barely make out the entrance to the sword path hall.
One had to know that this mountain had originally been unremarkable among the peaks.
Yet now, it had grown out of the earth like a living thing. Its shape was majestic, like a sharp sword piercing into the clouds, in no way inferior to the heavenly mountain. Some surrounding peaks had undergone similar changes, but none were as obvious or striking as this one.
Surrounded by countless peaks, this single summit stood alone in splendor!
The ebony sword trembled. A familiar fluctuation reached him, indicating that the barrier of the sword path hall had not changed. The ancient teleportation array should still be there.
The good news was that the entrance to the sword path hall remained an ordinary cliff face with nothing unusual visible. Otherwise, this passage connecting the two domains would have been exposed.
Has Seven-Kill Hall been affected too, or has only Ziwei Palace undergone this upheaval? Time is pressing. After this matter is settled, I’ll go to the other side and take a look. Thoughts flashed through Qin Sang’s mind, but he did not stop. He headed straight for the sword-scarred mountain.
Traveling through countless hidden realms, Qin Sang and the Sky-Eyed Butterfly both raised their vigilance to the extreme. After a journey filled with scares but no real danger, they finally reached the sword-scarred mountain.
From afar, he could see clouds and mist swelling above the sword-scarred mountain, shrouding even the surrounding mountain range. Once he drew closer, it was indeed as expected. The entire mountain range had been affected by the illusion array.
Qin Sang did not dare act rashly. He circled the edge of the illusion array and arrived at the point closest to the sword scar. After investigating for a while, he finally let out a breath of relief.
The sword scar was world-shaking, and the sword qi had endured through the ages!
The sword qi that leaked from it was still continuously assaulting the illusion array, though it was also being suppressed by the array. The two had been locked in constant conflict.
This ancient illusion array was indeed badly damaged and full of flaws. Though it was far more dangerous than before, there was still a chance.
There was no one nearby.
The Sky-Eyed Butterfly flew out from his Qihai and landed on Qin Sang’s shoulder. It lightly flapped its wings, while lightning gathered within the Sky Eyes on its wings, making them seem increasingly vivid and spirited.
The Sky Eyes were deep, as though a pure stretch of sky was hidden within them.
Qin Sang tilted his head, observing the illusion array while communicating with the Sky-Eyed Butterfly. At the same time, he silently used a secret technique of the witch race to help the Sky-Eyed Butterfly activate its life-bound supernatural ability.
From the chaotic illusions, Qin Sang found a path. However, he could only clearly see the first section, so he had no choice but to proceed one step at a time and adapt as things changed.
For safety, Qin Sang also summoned the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet and ordered it to walk ahead to scout the way.
One man and one puppet climbed the mountain on foot. The moment they stepped into the illusion array, the scenery around them changed abruptly. The palace on the sword-scarred mountain vanished.
In its place appeared a wide river of magma. The magma flowed, and scorching heat rushed toward him, incomparably lifelike. Waves splashed up, releasing fluctuations powerful enough to make Qin Sang’s heart tremble.
However, not far upstream of the magma river, there was a break, as though two worlds had been stacked together and had come into conflict.
With the Sky-Eyed Butterfly’s help, Qin Sang easily found these flaws and moved through the illusion array.
Everything went very smoothly. Qin Sang silently calculated the distance.
He should have already climbed onto the mountain. If nothing unexpected happened, he would soon reach the pill chamber where the Southern Sun Fire was located.
Just then, a sudden change occurred. The Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet ahead stopped in place. The crimson glow in its eyes faded at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving its gaze hollow as it stood completely motionless.
At the same time, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly’s wings suddenly stiffened.
Qin Sang only sensed a vague consciousness from the Sky-Eyed Butterfly before losing contact with it. He lowered his head and saw that the Sky-Eyed Butterfly seemed to have fallen asleep.
His heart shook. If the Southern Sun Fire caused an accident to the Sky-Eyed Butterfly and the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, it would be a loss far greater than the gain.
He steadied his mind and swept his gaze around. After confirming that nothing seemed abnormal, he began examining himself. There was nothing wrong with him.
Looking again at the Sky-Eyed Butterfly and the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet, he found that his connection with them had not been severed, but both had fallen into slumber. At that moment, the Spiritual Infant Talisman Puppet’s eyes shifted slightly, as though it was struggling against something.
"The Jade Buddha again!" Qin Sang roughly guessed the reason. It seemed the illusion array also had the power to confuse the mind. Most insidiously, it gave no warning at all. Intruders would unknowingly fall asleep and become lost here.
The Jade Buddha had saved him once again. Even an ancient illusion array could not affect him.
Qin Sang let out a breath of relief. The higher his cultivation became, the more varied the methods he encountered against the primordial spirit. The Jade Buddha’s role would only become increasingly important.
From here on, he could only rely on himself. Qin Sang put away the talisman puppet and the Sky-Eyed Butterfly, becoming even more vigilant.
He passed through a stretch of pavilions, corridors, and waterside terraces. Suddenly, a rustling sound came from ahead, as though something was moving through the forest.
"Someone's here?" Qin Sang was startled.
But after a second thought, aside from Old Devil Ye, no one could possibly have arrived here faster than him. Why would Old Devil Ye come here instead of going to the heavenly mountain?
Qin Sang felt that possibility was not high. He restrained his aura and walked forward for a while, hiding in the shadows. After waiting briefly, he saw several red foxes appear at the edge of the dense forest, playing and chasing one another. The sound had come from them.
He had not expected to encounter living creatures here.
Qin Sang knew these red foxes could not be real. Otherwise, Wandering Man would have told him long ago. He poured true essence into his eyes and stared for a moment. Sure enough, he discovered something.
The red foxes looked real, but strange fluctuations occasionally passed through their bodies, revealing their illusory nature. They were indeed spirit beasts conjured by the ancient illusion array. Because the array was damaged, they had also weakened.
The red foxes were far too lifelike and agile. The person who set up the array must have created such spirit beasts for a special purpose. Even though this was only a damaged array, Qin Sang had no desire to test the red foxes’ abilities.
But this place was the only way to the stone hall!
As Qin Sang silently pondered, he suddenly noticed one of the red foxes stop playing. Its pointed ears twitched slightly, as though it had sensed something.
Qin Sang’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly retreated. The spirit fox’s senses were far too sharp. If the illusion array’s power had not been damaged, he would probably have been discovered already.
He frowned and thought for a while, then turned his gaze to the other side. The sword scar lay in that direction. From where he stood, he could already feel the sharpness of the sword qi.
The red foxes’ origins were unclear, so there was no need to force his way through. Using the terrain to lure the red foxes toward the sword scar, then borrowing the sword qi to kill them, was also an option, and an easier one at that.