Chapter 1792: Being Rejected by the Whole World

The Heavenly Palace army, surrounding Bai Ziqi, went to investigate. They saw that the tall grass on the ground had been pressed down, forming a path. This area already had a narrow animal trail, worn by both beasts and humans. However, the new indentation didn't follow the usual path. The dense mugwort, more than ten feet tall, was now flattened on the ground, clearly crushed thoroughly.

"It's a large creature," someone said. This path, forcibly created, was seven feet (2 meters) wide!

"It wasn't made by wheels," someone noted. "It looks like a road roller went through here."

Bai Shi touched some sap from the flattened mugwort and sniffed it. "Very fresh," he remarked, "it was crushed not long ago."

Bai Shiqi pointed ahead. "The tree crown is broken," he observed. Beside the path stood a tall palm tree, its crown snapped off. The problem was, it stood more than thirty feet (ten meters) tall. What kind of creature would deliberately climb up to break off a tree crown?

With just a glance, Bai Ziqi said, "The tree crown was scraped off." The tree trunk bore marks of being forcefully scraped; a layer of its tough bark was peeled away, and broken leaves and berries lay scattered on the ground. Everyone gasped. "That height," someone exclaimed, "it's almost as tall as a Golden Armored Divine General!"

An elephant demon in the troop snorted. Its own body was ten feet tall, quite robust among existing demons, save for a few exceptions like the Snail Toad and Flap-Skin Anglerfish. Yet, the massive creature that had emerged from the pond earlier was more than twice its height.

"Considering its height, its body isn't wide; it must be long and slender to create such a mark on the grass," Bai Shi mused. "Hmm, a giant python?"

"This is Upside Down Sea, the lair of True Master Qianhuan," the gray parrot stated coldly. "It's very likely its Yin Kui Dharma Manifestation!"

A collective gasp went through the group. "That's right," they realized, "the Yin Kui's movement would leave such marks." The traces of the giant Kui Dharma Body extended only as far as a stone mountain, then ceased. The stone mountain consisted only of loose rocks and solid bedrock; the giant Kui wouldn't leave marks as easily here as it would in grass or mud.

A wolf demon stepped forward and sniffed a few times. "Nothing," it reported, "no scent." Its sense of smell was far more acute than a human's.

"Does this giant Kui have a scent?" Bai Shi asked.

When Bai Shi asked, Bai Shiqi shook his head. Bai Ziqi explained, "No. True Master Qianhuan long ago perfected a flawless true body; no scent will ever be emitted. Furthermore, we've just employed several tracking divine abilities, but none could pinpoint its location."

The wind rustled through the tall grass, creating an eerie sound, as if ill-intentioned eyes were always watching from the shadows. Knowing that the Yin Kui Dharma Manifestation had returned to Upside Down Sea, the group advanced even more cautiously, wary of an ambush from the roadside. That monster had caused one Heavenly God clone to die and another to be severely wounded, and Qingyang had also suffered greatly. Consequently, Lord Miao Zhan had naturally requested a detailed report of the entire battle.

Bai Shi whispered to Bai Shiqi, "Why do I feel this real world is even more bizarre than the previous illusionary realm?" At least the people they encountered in the illusionary realm were living civilians, not dead souls who believed they were still breathing! But why would the civilians of the real world be made of dead souls?

Bai Ziqi subconsciously glanced at the ring on his hand. Seeing that it still wasn't glowing, he said, "Let's check the village up ahead." A few farmers weren't enough to understand the situation; there were villages ahead, and he needed more samples. Dead souls occupying water shells and impersonating living people—isn't that a divine ability, a form of disguise? Why then was the ring bestowed by Lord Miao Zhan completely unresponsive?

The gray parrot remained silent, making Bai Ziqi suspect it was deep in thought.

No sooner had he spoken than a bird demon descended from the sky, urgently reporting: "From the southwest, due north, and due south of Kidney Lake, forces of three hundred, over five hundred, and one thousand individuals, respectively, are rushing towards this location."

"Where are they coming from?"

"There are villages and towns in all three directions," the bird demon replied. "We flew to the town due north and saw the townsfolk rush out wearing ordinary clothes, holding pitchforks and pokers. But when they emerged from the dense forest in front of the town, they had transformed, now clad in light armor and wielding fine weapons!"

Another bird demon added, "Oh, and they were wearing ghost masks!"

Eighteen hundred? Bai Ziqi immediately ordered, "Prepare for battle! The entire army will engage!" After the conflict in the illusionary realm, his army numbered fewer than a thousand. If the approaching forces all possessed the strength of the deceased farmers, the Heavenly Palace troop would face an exceptionally difficult battle. Even if they managed to eliminate all these dead souls, there were still over two hundred thousand more in and around Silver Pearl City.

"Go to the hill and first erect a small tower," Lord Miao Zhan instructed. "I can illuminate their true forms until they disintegrate." Dead souls cannot withstand light and rely entirely on their water-shell disguises for protection. With the sun bright and warm now, if the Eye of Truth can strip away the water shells, the dead souls, once exposed to sunlight, will naturally dissipate. Everyone had witnessed His capabilities, so at Bai Ziqi's command, the army swiftly moved to the high ground before the enemy could converge.

The illusionary realm had only a little over a thousand cultivators, but here there were hundreds of thousands of dead souls. His current force of nearly a thousand could never eliminate them all; it would be best to use the divine light for their destruction. The "lighthouse tactic" had proven highly successful in the illusionary realm and was well-suited for battling overwhelming numbers. They might as well replicate it here, weathering the initial waves of attack before devising further plans.

As Bai Shiqi and others dug pits to bury the red candles, the gray parrot remained silent. Bai Ziqi noticed that Lord Miao Zhan had become very quiet after crossing the lake. Upon entering this world, they immediately witnessed frequent anomalies and countless strange occurrences visible to the naked eye. Yet, when observed with the Eye of Truth, everything appeared perfectly normal. Even Lord Miao Zhan's Dharma Eye was deceived, which was terrifying.

Bai Ziqi's mind raced. If Lord Miao Zhan's perception of the entire world was flawed, it meant their group had stumbled into an enemy trap, and the advantage they had built in the illusionary realm was utterly lost. The upcoming battle might be fought from a very defensive position.

Just then, Bai Shiqi stood up, his face filled with alarm. "Divine Venerable, Commander," he stammered, "the lighthouse... the lighthouse won't build." Previously, in the illusionary realm, red candles infused with divine power would quickly grow into towers simply by being planted in the soil. Given the intensity of the previous battle, the Illusion Sect would never have allowed them to grow slowly. But now, the red candle lay inert in the pit, showing no signs of growth whatsoever.

A chill swept through everyone. If the lighthouse couldn't be built, and they alone had to face hundreds of thousands of ghost soldiers... Even with the Divine Venerable present, did they truly stand a chance?

A faint light flashed behind Bai Ziqi. True Lord Zang Xi materialized out of thin air, walked to the edge of the pit, and a flicker of red light passed through his eyes. He could clearly see through the layers of earth beneath the surface. Everyone immediately knelt and bowed, uttering "Divine Venerable," recognizing that Lord Miao Zhan had manifested by possessing the body of an ancient True Immortal. This world was rife with profound mysteries and illusions, too complex for mortal power to unravel. Lord Miao Zhan had no choice but to intervene personally.