Chapter 1735: Subtlety and Tugging

He was merely making an initial probe.

About half an hour later, Elder Liu suddenly pointed at the Haoyuan Golden Mirror and exclaimed, “Look there! Look at Baishou Mountain!”

North of Upside-down Lake stood a small hill called Baishou Mountain. It was rather low and barren. He Lingchuan had passed by it on his way to Stone Dragon Peak in the goat cart. The Haoyuan Golden Mirror showed over a hundred people moving quickly through Baishou Mountain, soon reaching its summit.

It was the Heavenly Palace’s contingent!

However, they moved very discreetly; the Illusion Sect disciples on the ground had not detected their presence. This time, Xiao Wencheng specifically magnified their movements. Seeing them digging furiously after reaching the summit, he couldn’t help but glance at He Lingchuan. That young man had pointed out the exact spot! The Heavenly Palace force had indeed chosen Baishou Mountain’s peak!

Spotting the red candles in their hands, the Illusion Sect immediately dispatched personnel, sending them directly through the Haoyuan Golden Mirror towards Baishou Mountain’s peak. The battle between the two sides instantly escalated into a fierce conflict. Xiao Wencheng sent his junior brothers, Elder Wu and Elder Liu, leading two hundred disciples to intercept them. Otherwise, if they waited any longer, the second lighthouse would be erected. With over two hundred men against a hundred enemy soldiers, and two immortals on their side, success should have been assured.

However, when Elder Wu aggressively unleashed his divine ability, the opposing Heavenly Palace force immediately counterattacked with equally astonishing power. “Immortal-level,” Madam Zhu muttered, her claws itching as she tapped the ground repeatedly. “Bai Ziqi’s contingent actually has an immortal-level expert among them!”

They couldn’t delay any longer. Once the lighthouse barrier became active, the Haoyuan Golden Mirror would be powerless against it, and Xiao Wencheng would be unable to alter the terrain there. He Lingchuan watched from the side. Despite his reluctance, Xiao Wencheng had to reach for the sand table and directly flatten Baishou Mountain’s two peaks. During this process, Stone Dragon Peak vibrated incessantly once more. When he lifted his hand, Baishou Mountain had transformed into Baishou Pit. Not only had the original hills vanished, but the ground had also sunk by roughly three meters, forming an entire loofah-shaped deep gully.

Xiao Wencheng also realized that the Heavenly Palace’s lighthouses had to be built on high ground to ensure a wide coverage. If constructed on flat or low-lying land, they wouldn’t achieve their intended effect. Thus, the current Baishou Valley was entirely unsuitable for the Heavenly Palace force to build a lighthouse; they would have to find another location. No matter how they tried to alter it, Baishou Valley remained an artificial scar stretching north to south. Even if the Heavenly Palace force eventually built a second lighthouse, it would still be separated from the Upside-down Lake by a valley, preventing a complete connection. This held significant strategic importance.

Subsequently, the Heavenly Palace and the Illusion Sect played cat and mouse in the southern part of Silver Pearl Island. The Heavenly Palace successively dispatched seven or eight teams to various locations to build lighthouses and expand their advantage. He Lingchuan’s earlier predictions for those locations were mostly accurate. Especially the first two; had the Illusion Sect prepared earlier, the Heavenly Palace teams might not have even gotten through. Xiao Wencheng instinctively glanced at He Lingchuan, who remained calm and unperturbed, as if nothing had happened.

Now, the Illusion Sect could only try every possible method to obstruct them. However, it's hard to be on guard for a thousand days. Xiao Wencheng raised the terrain on the sand table three more times, but then he couldn't lift it again. Dong Rui urged anxiously, “Why aren’t you lifting it? Hurry! The Heavenly Palace is almost there!”

“No, I can’t. I need to rest. The sand table has reached its limit.”

He Lingchuan frowned. If he were Xiao Wencheng, the limited three opportunities shouldn’t have been used to raise those three locations. Circumstances had changed; he could see that Bai Ziqi had deliberately altered his strategy, no longer heading solely north. Why? But Xiao Wencheng had already finished the raising, and as a guest, He Lingchuan felt it was inappropriate to criticize further. He also noticed that the battle’s rhythm had shifted. Bai Ziqi was subtly leading the Illusion Sect by the nose, sometimes even toying with these immortals’ expectations. Such subtlety and manipulation could only be perceived by seasoned veterans of the battlefield. But He Lingchuan said nothing more, as Xiao Wencheng and the others clearly had no intention of adopting his suggestions.

As Xiao Wencheng finished speaking, He Lingchuan glanced at the Haoyuan Golden Mirror and saw that the last turquoise stone on top of the mirror had also turned red. However, Xiao Wencheng had clearly just expended the sand table’s power. Why was this depletion reflected on the Haoyuan Golden Mirror? He Lingchuan’s eyes flickered. Indeed, the Haoyuan Golden Mirror didn’t just display its own status, did it? Since it was integrated with the entire illusionary realm, did all three turquoises turning red now symbolize that the Upside-down Lake illusion’s power had been pushed to its limit and urgently needed to recover? Therefore, during the period it took to recharge its power, the Illusion Sect would have to rely solely on its own true strength to contend with the Heavenly Palace force.

Stone Dragon Mountain Range, Immortal Light Cave.

This cave, located deep within the mountain, had a small entrance with only two double doors. Though they didn't look grand or imposing, this was one of the Illusion Sect's crucial storehouses in the rear mountains. The Illusion Sect was a large and prosperous organization, and its accumulated reserves over the years were stored in several vaults, with Immortal Light Cave being the largest. Normally, it was deserted, with no one seen for days. But today, the cave doors had opened seven or eight times, with Illusion Sect disciples hurrying in and out. By regulation, vehicles were not allowed inside the storehouse, so they had to carry items out by hand to load onto carts.

Another Ingtai carriage approached and stopped at the entrance of Immortal Light Cave. Two cultivators jumped down from the carriage and strode into the cave. Just then, a boy of thirteen or fourteen emerged from the woods. He had a smooth, pale face and a somewhat wooden expression. The Immortal Light Cave’s large doors were still open, and the voices of the two cultivators who had just entered drifted out: “Wouldn’t it be great if we could just pass through the mirror directly? Riding this goat cart is such a hassle.”

“The precious mirror isn’t for you or me. Only the martial uncles and senior brothers going to war are qualified to pass through it!” the other sighed. “With the great battle starting, the higher-ups probably want to save energy wherever possible.”

“Are they really short of the little energy we two would use?”

“Less talk, more work. Martial Uncle Wu is also on the front lines; otherwise, he’d chew you out completely.”

“Passing through the mirror”—what did that mean? The boy had intended to enter the cave, but he suddenly stopped beside the Ingtai carriage. The treasury’s large doors were adorned with a beast head the size of a bamboo hat. It resembled neither a dragon nor a tiger, looking ferocious, but its eyes were tightly shut. However, as the boy approached, the beast head suddenly opened its eyes. Its pale blue pupils darted around, as if searching for something unusual. The beast head even acted like a live tiger, raising its nose, baring its teeth, and sniffing vigorously several times. The boy dared not get any closer. The beast head could already smell him from about five meters away. If he tried to force his way in, the thing would almost certainly raise an alarm! If he couldn't enter, he wouldn't. He waited patiently outside.

About fifteen minutes later, the two cultivators returned, each carrying a golden box. The boxes were inlaid with green and other colored gemstones, giving them a very luxurious appearance. But the boy knew that these two boxes were even more valuable than they appeared; they were the renowned “Hundred Treasures Chests.” Despite their small exterior, appearing as if they could only hold a small amount, they were deceptively capacious within. Each could hold a thousand jin of gold by volume. These were merely low-tier Hundred Treasures Chests. Those held by elders could have ten times that capacity.

The boy bowed. “Senior Brother Wu, Senior Brother Li, Elder Liu has ordered me to the mountaintop. Could you give me a ride?”

With a powerful enemy attacking and battles erupting below the mountain, sect personnel were moving frequently, and supplies were being transported intensively, unlike the calmer days before. Senior Brother Li suspected nothing and pointed to the Ingtai goat cart. “Junior Brother Fang, get in.” Junior Brother Fang hopped onto the cart, and the goat cart set off towards Stone Dragon Main Peak.

“What did you two come to collect?”

“What else but Black Crystals?” Senior Brother Li said, patting the small box. “With the Sky Fiends attacking, these Black Crystals are being consumed so quickly! This is our third trip!”

Were these two boxes full of Black Crystals? Junior Brother Fang began assessing the two men’s strength, wondering if he could overpower them in one move. He tilted his head. “The Sky Fiends haven’t even come up the mountain yet, so why are they being used up so fast?”

“Operating all the defensive formations, big and small, requires Black Crystals, right? And the elders who went down the mountain to fight also need them,” Senior Brother Wu sighed. “Then there’s the Haoyuan Golden Mirror; the last two times we brought Black Crystals over, it wasn’t nearly enough to power it!”

Junior Brother Fang said, “Oh. I’ve only seen the Haoyuan Golden Mirror once, during Elder Jin’s sermon. This mirror is very, very powerful, isn’t it?”

“Of course!” Senior Brother Li replied. “The Haoyuan Golden Mirror is our sect’s most treasured artifact. It observes every detail; no unusual movement, on or off the mountain, can escape its notice.”

“Stone Dragon Peak is so vast; can it truly see every blade of grass and tree on the mountain?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t it?” Senior Brother Wu interjected. “As long as the person in front of the mirror wishes to listen, it can even pick up our current conversation.”

“That’s incredible,” Junior Brother Fang intended to exclaim, but his tone remained flat. Never mind. If the Haoyuan Golden Mirror was monitoring Stone Dragon Peak, even if he killed the two men and stole the Hundred Treasures Chests, he would likely be intercepted before he could get off the mountain. It would be better to go up the mountain, gather some intelligence.

Lakeside Battlefield.

Looking up from inside the lighthouse barrier, a transparent, ripple-like film seemed to float in mid-air, yet it didn’t impede anyone’s view of the sky. This was the true boundary of the Myriad Profound Heaven’s barrier: illusion outside, reality inside. Bai Ziqi stood atop the lighthouse, surveying the battlefield from above. After the lighthouse was completed, the Goddess bestowed many blessings upon it. There was no safer place in the vast lakeside area.

Bai Shiqi stood beside him. “After the barrier was established, the Illusion Sect’s attacks weakened.”

“No, they merely became normal,” Bai Ziqi corrected him. “Within this illusionary realm, they originally benefited from the Thousand Illusions’ blessings. The barrier removed their privilege, allowing them to compete with us fairly.”

Bai Shiqi looked at the endless waves of Yakshas crawling out of the lake and couldn’t help but say, “Is this still fair? The Yakshas are endless! When will we stop killing them?” Dealing with just the Yakshas or just the Illusion Sect would be manageable, but with these two types of enemies combined, even the Heavenly Palace found it difficult. The Thousand Illusions compensated for the lack of basic troops with Yakshas. Illusion Sect disciples possessed considerable combat power, far surpassing ordinary soldiers, but the Heavenly Palace forces also wielded primal energy and were certainly capable of fighting. The question was, how long would this battle last? The Heavenly Palace army’s numbers were not endless like the Yakshas’.

Bai Ziqi patted the lighthouse. “As long as we deal with the immortals, the Yakshas aren’t a problem.”