Chapter 1805: Thousand Illusions' Last Resort

With a four-to-two advantage, they weren't yet assured of a decisive victory, so Miaozhantian provided them with another trump card.

Once Bai Ziqi completed his arrangements, the four powerful experts transformed into streaks of light and sped directly towards Weiqiu.

The Heavenly Palace understood that if even one powerful being remained to defend, the Illusion Sect might hesitate to attack. However, doing so would likely obstruct their plans for the Divine Fire Array.

Manpower was scarce. The deaths of those two Sky Demons before crossing the lake had truly been in vain.

“The first battle is happening at Weiqiu! The Heavenly Palace has sent one, two, three… Did I count right? All four of them?!” exclaimed Dong Rui, holding his Soul-Capturing Mirror and zooming in on the scene displayed on the sand table. “Whoa, it’s intense! The ground here has collapsed again!”

The Divine Fire meteor fall had already rendered the geological structure here precarious; it could hardly withstand another round of chaotic battle between immortals and demons.

He Lingchuan, however, was not surprised.

The Heavenly Palace had a limited number of powerful individuals, putting them at a disadvantage against the Illusion Sect. Bai Ziqi could no longer play his valuable cards one by one, so he decided to go all-in.

Had it been He Lingchuan, he would have selected only two meteor points, assigning three immortals to excavate each. This approach would have been both efficient and ensured their safety.

As the attacking party, they initially held the initiative. However, Xiao Wencheng, being risk-averse, actually ceded this advantage to his opponent.

Bai Ziqi would certainly not be polite with him.

If a commander fails to assess the situation, even a conservative approach can become a mistake.

There can be no compromise on the battlefield.

Shortly after Dong Rui finished speaking, the light in the secret chamber suddenly dimmed, and an oil lamp on the altar table extinguished with a sudden pop.

The attendant guarding the lamps exclaimed in alarm, “A soul lamp has gone out… Grand-uncle Pi!”

On this table were seven oil lamps, their shades a bluish-green. The flames within them were unusually steady, impervious to wind.

He Lingchuan knew these were soul lamps.

Only the soul lamps of the Illusion Sect's seven elders were qualified to be placed there.

Unexpectedly, one lamp extinguished without warning. Not only was the flame gone, but several cracks appeared on the lamp's outer wall.

When a person dies, their lamp extinguishes.

The one Xiao Wencheng had dispatched to Weiqiu to dismantle the array base was—

“Junior Brother Pi!”

Xiao Wencheng was greatly alarmed, but no sooner had his words left his lips than another soul lamp extinguished, shattering into three pieces that rolled onto the table.

A wisp of green smoke curled upwards, signifying that the individual had passed away.

The attendant guarding the lamps was so stunned that he stammered, “Grand-uncle Bai’s soul lamp also… also extinguished!”

Dong Rui murmured, “Elder Pi and Elder Bai are both gone.”

These two elders had been trapped in this realm for over a decade and had just recently reunited with the sect, only to be sacrificed on the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

Fresh out of the tiger's maw, they had now entered the netherworld.

Only then did He Lingchuan feel surprised.

Judging by this speed, the immortals and demons had only just met, perhaps exchanging four or five blows at most, and two Illusion Sect elders were already gone?

Achieving a four-to-two kill ratio, how could it be so swift?

He looked at Xiao Wencheng, whose face was ashen, and whose eyes were filled with disbelief.

They had all fought those Sky Demons before; it was utterly impossible for them to instantly kill his junior brothers.

“It must be Miaozhantian employing another underhanded tactic!”

Last time, Miaozhantian personally intervened and killed four of his junior brothers.

Now, were they doomed to repeat the same tragic mistake?

“What’s happening underground?” Madam Zhu asked. “We can’t see anything!”

The meteor was underground, and naturally, the battle between immortals and demons was also taking place deep beneath the surface, making it impossible to discern anything from the sand table.

Moreover, due to the ceaseless struggle between Qianhuan and Miaozhantian, vast amounts of white vapor continuously billowed from the meteor crater, frequently obstructing visibility even when observing the sand table.

They could only see that the meteor crater still glowed, the foundation of the Divine Fire Array remained intact, and four streaks of light ascended from the billowing white mist, heading straight for the next meteor crater!

The four immortal demons from the Heavenly Palace emerged from underground, wasting no time.

The quickest way to destroy the Divine Fire Array was to excavate two or three adjacent array foundations. Thus, the Baitou Mountain meteor crater, where Elder Xue and Xutuo were headed, was only a dozen li from Weiqiu.

For the Sky Demons traveling by air, it was a mere flick of the leg to reach it.

After devastating Elders Pi and Bai, they struck while the iron was hot, proceeding to claim their next set of victims.

Of the Illusion Sect’s seven great immortals, only five remained after a single encounter. Numerically, they could no longer overwhelm the Heavenly Palace.

The scales of power between the two sides had shifted slightly back.

“Those Sky Demons are using power that does not belong to them,” Qianhuan’s voice resonated once more, surprisingly calm to He Lingchuan. “He Xiao, lend me the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.”

With the crisis at hand, he had finally made up his mind.

They would address the immediate crisis first; any issues with the mirror could be dealt with later.

He Lingchuan had been waiting for this moment and promptly replied, “Very well.”

He then walked to the mirror and casually pressed his hand against its surface.

On the mirror’s surface, clear as autumn water, a red light flashed instantly.

Immediately, the Haoyuan Golden Mirror detached itself from the wall and floated in mid-air as before. However, it no longer followed Xiao Wencheng; instead, it appeared directly before He Lingchuan!

This bizarre scene made it clear to Xiao Wencheng that He Xiao was still undeniably the mirror’s true master.

“Can this reconnect to our realm?”

It wasn't He Lingchuan who answered him, but the mirror's surface itself, which, after rippling a few times, became clear again.

Then, a scene materialized within the mirror:

The four immortal demons of the Heavenly Palace swept across the sky, shown in such detail that even their facial expressions were perfectly clear.

In the lower right corner of the mirror, the scene inside the Baitou Mountain meteor crater was displayed:

After crashing into the earth’s ley lines, the meteor had created a hollow here, glowing and emitting heat while slowly rotating.

Upon closer inspection, they realized its astonishing size and that its surface was incandescent from the high temperature, almost like a small sun that even immortals were reluctant to look at directly.

The seawater flowing into the meteor crater evaporated into large clouds of white vapor before even reaching the meteor, indicating its extremely high temperature.

Noticing the white vapor obstructing the view, He Lingchuan swept his hand across the mirror’s surface. Instantly, the white vapor in the image transformed into transparent, ethereal forms, no longer impeding the vision of those in the secret chamber.

The sand table lacked such a function. Upon seeing this, Xiao Wencheng’s heart was filled with a mix of emotions, leaving him momentarily unsure how to feel.

Previously, only the Immortal Venerable and he could manipulate the Haoyuan Golden Mirror with such ease.

At the Baitou Mountain meteor crater, Elder Xue and his companion, both from the Illusion Sect, naturally disliked approaching the Divine Radiance True Fire. However, they had to either remove or extinguish it now, as only then could they successfully dislodge one of the Divine Fire Array’s foundations.

Before the immortals departed, Qianhuan had bestowed upon them a ritual object from an altar, imbued with the great divine power of a Mirage Immortal. Elder Xue and his companion had received an oil lamp, so they poured the lamp oil onto the meteor.

This was a classic case of 'adding fuel to the fire,' and logically, the meteor should have burned hotter and brighter. However, when the lamp oil was poured onto the meteor’s surface, it indeed sizzled, but the large masses of black smoke that emerged condensed instead of dissipating, settling within the meteor crater.

Elder Xue had only just begun his work, and already a thick, viscous, ointment-like black substance, formed from the accumulated black smoke, was collecting at the bottom of the crater. Anything that fell into it became stuck and immobile, like a mouse caught on a glue trap.

Furthermore, even the meteor’s high temperature couldn't re-melt this black paste; instead, it slowed the meteor's rotation, impeding its movement.

Once the meteor’s rotation slowed, its temperature also began to drop.

Madam Zhu watched for a few moments, visibly moved. “This is a tangible manifestation of their magical struggle,” she remarked. “True Lord Qianhuan still holds the geographical advantage, and by being the first to discover a method for dealing with the divine fire, he has gained the upper hand.”

In other words, as long as Elder Xue continued his spellcasting undisturbed, this array foundation could indeed be dismantled.

And so, the 'interference' arrived, didn't it?

Qianhuan ordered, “The Haoyuan Golden Mirror is back in position. Xutuo, you go to Baitou Mountain.”

This was his world; he could transmit messages to anyone within it.

“Yes!” Elder Xutuo, who had been in the meteor crater of Shilong Peak, immediately responded to Qianhuan’s command, and his corpulent figure emerged from the depths of the cave.

He summoned the Haoyuan Golden Mirror and plunged headfirst into it.

The movement was incredibly smooth, just as it had always been.

The mirror’s surface rippled as before, and then everyone watched as Elder Xutuo’s figure indeed appeared inside the Baitou Mountain meteor crater!

The teleportation was a success, as it had always been.

The Illusion Sect’s high mobility had returned.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Xiao Wencheng simultaneously observed the scene and the mirror.

The Haoyuan Golden Mirror reverted to its former function, everything as usual, as if it had never been removed.

Yet Xiao Wencheng knew that this very ‘normalcy’ was the most abnormal thing of all!

For despite the mirror clearly not belonging to Qianhuan, it could access the laws of this world and be used by the Illusion Sect disciples.

From He Lingchuan’s perspective, he still retained ownership of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, having merely temporarily transferred its usage rights to Qianhuan, hence describing it as ‘borrowed’.

But in Xiao Wencheng’s view, the entire affair was shrouded in ‘bizarre’ strangeness.

Even though it was ‘borrowed,’ how could Immortal Venerable Qianhuan possibly not seize it for himself?

Yet, even now, the mirror remained He Lingchuan’s. This could only mean that Qianhuan’s attempt to claim it had failed.

Back then, He Xiao had been able to forcibly wrench the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, the very embodiment of this realm’s order, from Qianhuan’s vast network of laws, even damaging its surface. This indicated that the power behind He Xiao was already comparable to, or even surpassed, that of Immortal Venerable Qianhuan – a power far exceeding that of any individual immortal in the Illusion Sect.

Now, he could even lend the mirror to Qianhuan for use while remaining its owner. What did this signify?

This meant that the laws the Haoyuan Golden Mirror currently adhered to or was governed by were likely superior to those of the Immortal Venerable!

At Xiao Wencheng’s level of cultivation and insight, one understood the principle of ‘nested’ laws.

The more fundamental and basic a law, the more it can embed subtle and specific laws. This layering, nested from top to bottom, ensures that all principles of the world operate in an orderly and harmonious manner. Even occasional chaotic changes remain within the framework of the fundamental great law, unable to escape its bounds.

He Xiao once again produced the Haoyuan Golden Mirror. Although it clearly no longer belonged to Qianhuan, it merged with his laws while simultaneously maintaining its independence. This demonstrated that the power wielded by the force behind He Xiao could subsume and be compatible with all the laws of the entire Illusion Realm!

Who was more fundamental, who was more foundational—it was clear at a glance, wasn't it?

Therefore, the laws of this realm and Qianhuan’s rules were unable to ascend above it.

While Xiao Wencheng could grasp these principles, Qianhuan, of course, understood them with even greater clarity, and was undoubtedly far more profoundly shaken.