Chapter 1731: Illusion Sect's Disguise

He Lingchuan exited Wenhua Pavilion and immediately summoned Wanqifeng and others to head to the large plaza on Stone Dragon Peak. They walked quickly, but by the time they arrived at the plaza, Xiao Wencheng had already finished his motivational speech, the last few words echoing around the mountaintop.

Over three hundred people had gathered in the plaza. Judging by their attire and headdresses, they appeared to be disciples of the Illusion Sect. Each held a spear or halberd, with three-pronged tridents being the most common weapon.

In addition, over a hundred demonic beasts and spirit birds were resting along the plaza's edge. Most of these creatures were not only rarely seen by ordinary people, but even He Lingchuan had only encountered their images in illustrated books. For instance, there was a large baboon-like creature with a red backside, blue face, and red nose, featuring another heavily painted face on the back of its head. This creature was known as the Facemask Baboon.

Upon seeing it, the Ghost Ape couldn't help but touch the back of its own head; the creature bore a slight resemblance to itself. The Facemask Baboon sensed its gaze and glared fiercely back. Dong Rui patted his demon puppet, telling it not to stare rudely. In fact, when he originally formulated the Ghost Ape, he had incorporated some characteristics of the Facemask Baboon, though not sampled from this particular one.

However, the most striking feature was not these demonic beasts, but a large mirror standing in the center of the plaza. The Haoyuan Golden Mirror, having vanished from the quiet room, had reappeared here, its size at least doubled, now far exceeding the garden's moon gate.

He Lingchuan saw in the mirror that Bai Ziqi's fleet had successfully landed on the stony beach of Upside-Down Lake. This was half an hour earlier than Xiao Wencheng had planned. Therefore, the Illusion Sect's immediate priority was to prevent the Heavenly Palace members from spreading towards Silver Pearl Island.

Xiao Wencheng stepped aside a few paces, pointing at the mirror's surface: "Go! Let these Heavenly Demons witness the might of my Illusion Sect!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Elders Jin and Xu strode into the mirror! The mirror's surface rippled like water after they passed through. With them leading the way, the Illusion Sect disciples in the plaza quickly followed, stepping into the mirror. A dozen spirit birds flapped their wings, flying over the crowd and entering the mirror's surface.

The Soul-Capture Mirror exclaimed, "Instantaneous travel, regardless of distance! Truly remarkable!" He Lingchuan tapped the useless object. Was it truly so impressed by another mirror?

But the Haoyuan Golden Mirror was indeed immensely powerful. In less than a quarter of an hour, the plaza was empty; all the Illusion Sect disciples who had been present had entered the mirror. Based on the Haoyuan Golden Mirror's past performance, these individuals had likely all arrived at the shores of Upside-Down Lake.

He Lingchuan watched with deep envy. Wasn't this effectively an "Anywhere Door" function? Through this mirror, Illusion Sect members could reach any designated location at will, providing incredible mobility. This was a home-field advantage, though it seemed to be effective only within the small realms controlled by Qianhuan. He also specifically noticed the turquoise at the top of the mirror, observing that its color hadn't changed much. It appeared that spatial teleportation was a basic function of this mirror. Even though it transported hundreds of people at once, it didn't consume much energy. What a treasure, a true treasure. If he had this treasure, could he also open "Anywhere Doors" in his own territory in the future? Although the Startling Swan Crossing in Lingxu Upper City was also a long-distance teleportation array, its location was fixed and it couldn't be moved freely like the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

"Where are they?" Dong Rui asked, looking at the quiet distant lakeshore. "Why can't I see anyone?"

"They're here," Xiao Wencheng said, extending his index and middle fingers to draw two circles in front of the mirror. The localized image on the Haoyuan Golden Mirror immediately zoomed in and focused. He Lingchuan and the others then clearly saw hundreds of yakshas gathered on the lakeshore in the northwest corner of the Heavenly Palace's camp. They were grotesque and varied, with hardly two looking alike, but they remained silent and still, completely obscured by nearly two-zhang-tall dense, long grass. The Haoyuan Golden Mirror had specifically chosen an overhead view; otherwise, they would have been invisible from other angles.

Several more yakshas arrived one after another, and the one leading them turned around and made a few gestures to its companions behind. These gestures could only be made by a human.

Dong Rui uttered a surprised "Eh?" and pointed at the lead yaksha, saying, "Wait, this... this Hunyuan Trident..." The yaksha was holding the Hunyuan Trident that Elder Jin had just had in his hand. Its design was somewhat unique, with two bladed prongs curving and splitting like snake tongues, and the tips were a distinct blue color—he remembered it clearly. Now the Hunyuan Trident was in the yaksha's hand. Could it be...?

"Is this Elder Jin?!"

Xiao Wencheng nodded: "Precisely." He pointed to the group of yakshas in the mirror: "This is the team that entered the mirror earlier."

The Haoyuan Golden Mirror's abilities weren't limited to teleportation. As they passed through the mirror, they also changed their appearances! Of course, this was the Illusion Sect under the Mirage Immortal, and this was an illusion created by Qianhuan. It would be stranger if they didn't possess some skills in changing appearances.

Aunt Zhu looked at herself and asked curiously, "If I pass through the mirror, could I also change my appearance?"

"Yes," Xiao Wencheng replied without turning his head. "This illusion only alters your external appearance, how you appear in others' eyes, not your true form. Even if you were an elephant, you could take on a human form after passing through the mirror."

"Oh? Interesting." Aunt Zhu wiggled her front paws. She would definitely try it if she got the chance. For centuries, she had maintained this same form, and she was thoroughly tired of it.

Dong Rui kept staring into the mirror: "Have they gone into the water?" The mirror clearly showed Elder Jin's team, apparently having assembled, beginning to move forward until all the "yakshas" submerged into the lake, leaving the shore empty once more. The group looked at the lake, then at the Heavenly Palace camp on the shore. Without Xiao Wencheng's explanation, they understood what Elder Jin and his team intended to do.

The mirror's view switched back to the Heavenly Palace camp. After waiting for a while, Dong Rui couldn't help but chuckle, "No, I really can't distinguish which are true yakshas and which are Illusion Sect members." This was a case of "mixing fish eyes with pearls." This group of living people had blended into the yaksha army and were launching a fierce assault on the Heavenly Palace forces! It was difficult to discern the real from the fake. Yet, their individual combat power far surpassed that of ordinary yakshas, often catching the Heavenly Palace soldiers off guard.

Aunt Zhu rubbed her eyes. "Wait, doesn't the Heavenly Palace team have primal energy? Can't they see through your disguises?" Bai Ziqi and his personal guards did not, but the elites he brought seemed like soldiers, perhaps from various nations, and should be capable of gathering some primal energy.

"With just that pitiful amount of primal energy, they think they can see through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror's divine power?" Xiao Wencheng said blandly. "Not unless the entire Beijia army arrives in person!" Though all referred to as "primal energy," the primal energy of Yaoguo and Luodian couldn't be compared to Beijia's. While sufficient for seeing through ordinary illusions, this was Upside-Down Sea, and the Haoyuan Golden Mirror was the Mirage Immortal's ancient supreme treasure!

He Lingchuan suddenly said, "It seems there are quite a few disciples from Silver Pearl Island among the teams your sect dispatched. They are sworn enemies of the yakshas; how could they be willing to disguise themselves as yakshas and go into the sea?" Lu Jing, who had guided them up Stone Dragon Peak, was from Silver Pearl Island. Over the past century, countless disciples like him, born as commoners and chosen in their youth to enter the sect and cultivate immortal arts, had joined. The yakshas in the lake would periodically emerge to harass and hunt commoners. Wouldn't these sect disciples harbor resentment fighting alongside them?

Xiao Wencheng waved his hand. "They often did this in the past—disguising themselves as yakshas to infiltrate the yaksha army for disruption and slaughter. It's just that this time, the situation is unique; their target has shifted from yakshas to the Heavenly Palace forces." All these explanations made sense.

While observing the battle scene displayed on the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, He Lingchuan asked Xiao Wencheng, "Sect Master Xiao and the elders have followed Immortal Qianhuan for many years and are very knowledgeable. I have something I'd like to ask."

Elder Liu immediately chimed in, "Go ahead."

"I've heard that over the past few millennia, the Heavenly Palace has invaded many immortal grottoes and caused the deaths of numerous immortals," He Lingchuan stated his long-standing question. "I've witnessed the Heavenly Palace's monstrous beasts and also observed what the Heavenly Demons call 'Divine Descent.' Especially with the latter, the limited strength of their vessels restricts the power of the descended divine avatars. They are more than capable of dealing with cultivators, but how could they inflict fatal harm upon true immortals?"

Before encountering these living immortals of the Illusion Sect, no one could provide him with an answer. Aunt Zhu, by his side, had died in ancient times and knew nothing of later events.

"There are many reasons for this," Elder Liu said gravely. "If an immortal grotto doesn't receive spiritual energy from the outside and only consumes its own reserves, its internal environment will gradually deteriorate. If the Heavenly Palace attacks such a grotto, the immortals within would already be weakened, far from their peak, and their defensive capabilities would naturally be reduced."

Grandmaster Qianhuan's status and ability were evident; he could create a vast spirit-gathering array that drew away half of Shanjin's spiritual energy for his own use. How could ordinary immortals possess such a capability? Over the past three thousand years, most immortals perished without the Heavenly Palace even needing to intervene, simply fading away silently. The Reversed Heavenly Gang Array had been dismantled, and the massive infusion of spiritual energy had ceased. Thus, the immortals of the Illusion Sect now also feared following in their predecessors' footsteps.

"To conserve spiritual energy, some immortals would also enter long periods of meditation, known as 'death seclusion.' If an external enemy invaded, they might not be in a conscious state, providing the Heavenly Palace an opportunity." He Lingchuan's face showed dawning realization. He understood; it was like a hibernating bear, always a bit sluggish after being roused.

"The first two methods relied on luck, so the Heavenly Palace had one final trump card," Elder Liu's face was grim. "Deploying their own immortals!"

Dong Rui gasped in surprise, "Huh? The Heavenly Palace...?" The Heavenly Palace also had immortals?

But he immediately realized: yes, when Yu Zecheng went to the Yangshan Archipelago to hunt the Queen of the Cavern Spiders, he had even called upon a clone of True Monarch Muxiu. According to Aunt Zhu's later assessment, True Monarch Muxiu's true form was a "Nine-Death Revival Grass," almost reaching the power of a demon immortal. In other words, Beijia indeed had demon immortals guarding it, though they typically wouldn't be dispatched easily, given the limited spiritual energy in the outside world. This also aligned with Beijia's status as the world's foremost demon kingdom. And with Beijia's strength, supporting a few demon immortals should be no problem.

"How many demon immortals and true immortals do the Heavenly Palace and Beijia truly possess? We never obtained a complete roster even before the Immortal Venerable went into seclusion," Xiao Wencheng said solemnly. "However, we can confirm that there is definitely a demon immortal among this Heavenly Palace team."