Chapter 1809: Strong and Hidden Strength

The Redflame Horned Viper had just been forced into its true form by the Exorcism Whip. Then it suffered another internal explosion, and suddenly, one-third of its body was sucked into a black hole that appeared out of nowhere!

The entire secret hall could not withstand this impact and instantly collapsed.

The moment the Redflame Horned Viper emerged, He Lingchuan felt an incredibly fierce flame power. Without a word, he leaped into the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror.

Stay and help Xiao Wencheng defend against the enemy? He had no such thought of sharing hardships.

If Xiao Wencheng couldn't win, Thousand Illusions would intervene.

If He Lingchuan couldn't win, he would suffer the same fate as the lamp-attendant page.

He and his companions stepped through the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror, then immediately turned to look back.

It was pitch black around them. They were deep underground, and Wanqiu Feng could still feel cold water droplets landing on his nose, carrying the distinct scent of rust from deep within the earth's fissures.

"Where are we?" He Lingchuan took out a glowing spore for illumination, and everyone looked around.

They were in another cavern, but it was far from as spacious as Thousand Illusions' secret chamber.

The ground was covered in rubble, likely from the tremors caused by the seventeen Heavenly Meteor Divine Flames.

Dong Rui looked at the white stone wall in front of him; it looked oddly familiar.

"The Xuanjing Mine?"

This seemed to be the place where they had dealt with Immortal Jieshui! He looked left and right again. "It looks like this place hasn't been mined."

"This world might not have Xuanjing ore," He Lingchuan said, casually patting the stone wall. "But Luo Xie told me that the Xuanjing Mine was once a natural cavern, only later excavated and deepened by generations of Silver Pearl Islanders. So, this world also has this cavern, and I had the mirror bring us here."

Why did he choose this cavern as their destination without hesitation?

The surface world had just endured the bombardment and purification of seventeen Heavenly Meteor Divine Flames; the dust hadn't even settled.

At such a time, deep underground was the safest. There was even natural airflow here.

The Hao Yuan Golden Mirror's view was still of Thousand Illusions' secret hall. Before anyone could say more than a few words, they saw a sudden change within the hall.

The Redflame Horned Viper and the Wind God battling made everyone wince.

These two fought with considerable ferocity.

Granny Zhu added, "These are only their manifested forms and avatars, not their true bodies fighting each other."

In any case, the bottom of the mine was relatively safe, and the battle in the secret chamber couldn't reach them here. So, for now, everyone could still point and comment with the mindset of watching a show.

"It seems the Brain-devouring Demon Worms secretly sent by Bai Ziqi followed us all the way, from crossing the lake until we entered this secret chamber!" He Lingchuan stroked his chin. "Ha, this is the Bai Ziqi I know; his skill at covert mischief hasn't declined. This means Bai Ziqi has likely been tracking our movements the entire time!"

Elder Liu led the Illusory Sect team from the lakeside to this spot, disguising themselves as ghost people and evading the Sphere Bee searches along the way. It turned out to be a joke in the eyes of the Heavenly Palace.

Dong Rui also nodded. "No wonder. Myozantenne had been at a disadvantage in the previous conflicts, but Bai Ziqi remained inactive. It turns out they wanted to use the Illusory Sect team to track down Thousand Illusions' hidden lair!"

As He Lingchuan just pointed out, for these two great powers, the quickest way to end this war was to destroy the opponent's true body in one fell swoop!

True Lord Zangxi, possessed by Myozantenne, had always been under Thousand Illusions' nose. This was Myozantenne's biggest disadvantage because Thousand Illusions was well hidden, without revealing any trace.

Myozantenne and Bai Ziqi were both convinced that the Illusory Sect would certainly rendezvous with True Lord Thousand Illusions after crossing the lake. By infiltrating Brain-devouring Demon Worms into this team, they could potentially locate Thousand Illusions' hiding place!

The more Dong Rui thought, the clearer it became. "When the team was traveling, they encountered Myozantenne's Heavenly Meteor Divine Flames, forcing Immortal Venerable Thousand Illusions to intervene and save them."

Otherwise, ninety-nine out of a hundred Illusory Sect disciples would perish, and the remaining ones would be severely wounded, if not dead.

The Brain-devouring Demon Worms, mixed within the team, naturally gained entry into Thousand Illusions' main base in this world!

Using it as a coordinate, Myozantenne could launch a sneak attack at the opportune moment.

Of course, the timing didn't seem quite right at this moment, but Myozantenne must have known when the Brain-devouring Demon Worms were singled out by Xiao Wencheng.

At that point, Myozantenne had no choice but to act; once the Brain-devouring Demon Worms died, the coordinates would be lost.

It was because He Lingchuan understood this crucial point that he urgently summoned the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror, sending everyone directly into the depths of the mine.

When immortals and demons fight, it's best not to be caught in the direct impact; otherwise, they might end up like the pages in front of the offering table in the secret hall, charred and fragrant.

Now, looking at the scene in the secret hall, He Lingchuan secretly shuddered with fear.

Summoning the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror and connecting to the laws of the Upside-Down Sea was truly a stroke of genius!

Otherwise, if Myozantenne had launched an attack, the dozen or so of them would have been trapped, with nowhere to escape.

The Hao Yuan Golden Mirror's view shifted, changing to an aerial perspective, because the secret chamber had already collapsed under the power of the twin serpents' internal explosion.

Then, everyone saw a small island, three li east of Silver Pearl Island, suddenly sink.

Seawater poured in, and waves splashed, quickly smoothing over the hollow.

Dong Rui murmured, "So that's where Thousand Illusions put his secret hall."

Not on Silver Pearl Island's main island at all, what a cunning old scoundrel.

The Redflame Horned Viper and the Wind God also leaped from the sea, continuing their intertwined battle.

Myozantenne had finally caught one of Thousand Illusions' manifested forms and absolutely could not let it escape again.

Granny Zhu, watching the scene, immediately commented, "Myozantenne's ambush this time was well-executed, but unfortunately, the gain was too little."

Wanqiu Liang didn't understand. "Huh?"

"Myozantenne must also be well aware that an opportunity like this, to ambush Thousand Illusions on his own territory, will at most come only once, and it should be cherished," Granny Zhu said, providing live battle commentary. "The ideal outcome would have been to uncover Thousand Illusions' main lair, then capture him and fight to the death."

He Lingchuan raised an eyebrow. "Can he win? Doesn't look like it."

"Myozantenne couldn't defeat Thousand Illusions in their last confrontation," Granny Zhu mused. "If he doesn't have a trump card, I can't imagine why he would exert so much effort. What I can think of, Thousand Illusions certainly has a better grasp of, which is why he only placed a manifested form in this secret hall, not his true body! Myozantenne, having used such a precious opportunity only to retrieve one of his opponent's manifested forms, must be feeling quite frustrated."

In the current situation, should Myozantenne use his trump card or not?

If not, this is Thousand Illusions' territory; can he be sure of winning?

If he does, using it on just a manifested form would be a great waste. What would he do if Thousand Illusions' true body appeared later?

Dong Rui counted on his fingers:

"The battle between Thousand Illusions and Myozantenne involves the struggle over laws as one battlefield, the conflict between their immortal and demonic subordinates as the second, and the military campaign at Unyielding Ridge as the third. Now, a fourth battlefield has opened: the contest of manifested forms and avatars. Good heavens!"

"This is what's called getting deeper and deeper." With the war reaching this stage, neither side had autonomy anymore.

Dong Rui asked him, "Who do you think will win in this clash of two mighty powers?"

He Lingchuan honestly replied, "I can't tell."

He Lingchuan rarely gave such an answer. "Since Myozantenne entered the Upside-Down Sea, he has consistently displayed strength. This 'strength' is supported by high-energy-consuming great divine arts."

It's well known that ferocity often lacks endurance.

"In contrast, True Lord Thousand Illusions has always countered the enemy with minimal cost. The yakshas by the Upside-Down Lake of Illusions, the ghost people of this world, and even the more than a thousand disciples of the Illusory Sect are all his pawns," He Lingchuan said, looking at the mirror. "Achieving such an effect with just pawns means Thousand Illusions has preserved his strength to the greatest extent. Someone once told me that if a war of this magnitude doesn't yield a decisive victory early on, it will inevitably turn into a war of attrition in the later stages."

He had heard this statement long ago from Mitian of Panlong City.

"So, I'm truly curious about Myozantenne's ultimate trump card and how he's confident he can defeat Thousand Illusions, who has preserved his strength better than him."

And if he wanted to see both sides' true capabilities, he would have to survive until the very end.

The screen in the bottom right corner of the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror suddenly switched to complete darkness.

This was not at He Lingchuan's instruction, so he noticed it immediately.

"Light it up!" He snapped his fingers.

The view of that area then transformed into a dimly lit, grayish environment. This wasn't because the space suddenly lit up, but rather the result of the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror's self-adjustment, similar to night vision.

"Thousand Illusions' secret hall?"

The black hole formed by the internal explosion of the two gray pythons inside the Redflame Horned Viper's belly existed for only a brief moment. Many things here hadn't had time to be sucked in before the black hole closed.

However, the entire space had already collapsed, mostly filled with fallen rocks. He Lingchuan only recognized the place when he saw the offering table behind, half-melted.

However, a large boulder here had tilted, conveniently propping open a space beneath it.

The Hao Yuan Golden Mirror's view was fixed on this area.

Myozantenne's avatar, Thousand Illusions' manifested form, and Xiao Wencheng had all left. What was left inside?

He Lingchuan pondered for two breaths, then said to everyone, "I'll be right back."

Granny Zhu promptly reminded him, "The Redflame Horned Viper just left; the temperature there is very high."

He Lingchuan nodded. "Understood."

With that, he stepped into the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror.

The mirror flickered, transporting him back to the secret hall.

The momentary temperature here had been astonishingly high; the rock walls grazed by the Redflame Horned Viper were melted, and the collapsed stones had re-sealed the place as a secret chamber, leaving the temperature still very high.

As soon as He Lingchuan landed, he felt a wave of heat wash over him, as if he had stepped into a baking oven. An ordinary person entering here would be fully cooked in less than two minutes.

However, before passing through the mirror, he had already activated his protective qi shield, and the Thunder Dragon Battle Armor had automatically appeared, largely isolating the harmful heat and poisonous smoke to about three feet away.

He Lingchuan only felt a sense of warmth.

But one thing was indeed emitting heat:

The divine bone necklace on his chest.

Sure enough, the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror's automatic switch to the secret chamber's view was another trick of the Great Square Flask, the mastermind behind the scenes.

What delicious treat had it taken a fancy to this time?

The space here was small, and the divine bone necklace's reaction became even more sensitive. He Lingchuan had only walked a few steps away when the necklace stopped reacting.

Oh, the food it wanted was near his original standing position?

He Lingchuan paced back and forth a few more steps, finally discovering that what the divine bone necklace was interested in was—

The charred remnants on the ground.

They were different in color from the stone walls but had already fused with them.

He Lingchuan immediately recalled what they were—the obsidian from the Redflame Horned Viper's body.