Chapter 1811: Thousand Illusions' Eavesbell

This boat was very similar to the walnut boat Sun Fuping used in the Panlong Desert. It could also freely change size, but it didn't require any creature to tow it. As long as someone steered, it propelled itself forward, suspended in the air, moving quickly and steadily.

The main force was preparing to withdraw from Bubaigang. While moving, they also had to fend off attacks from the Illusory Sect behind them, which was extremely difficult.

How could Qianhuan allow them to withdraw smoothly? Detecting the Heavenly Palace's withdrawal direction, she arbitrarily raised the ground in front of them, transforming plains into mountain peaks and severing high ridges into deep ravines. As soon as the Heavenly Palace entered the mountainous path, cliffs collapsed and landslides occurred above them.

In the Illusory Realm, Xiao Wencheng could achieve these feats with the Haoyuan Golden Mirror. In this world with greater freedom, for Qianhuan, altering the terrain was effortless.

As for the Heavenly Palace, only Venerable Miaozhantian could contend with Qianhuan's capricious actions.

Although True Monarch Zangxi was still meditating with his eyes closed, the Lotus Lamp barrier in his hand suddenly expanded to a radius of three li.

No matter what kind of terrain Qianhuan created to obstruct the Heavenly Palace's forces, as soon as they entered this exceptionally bright barrier, they would melt away quickly like ice and snow under a scorching sun.

By the time the Heavenly Palace troops approached, the terrain had already reverted to its original form.

Even if a mountain peak collapsed overhead, sending down massive boulders, once they entered the Lotus Lamp barrier, their volume would shrink to one-thousandth of their original size.

Falling rocks larger than houses might become pebbles the size of a fingertip when they landed on the Heavenly Palace troops. They might sting faces or make people rub their eyes.

But there was no mortal danger.

Miaozhantian explained that the objects were originally only that small, but in this world where illusions appeared real, they had the effect of massive boulders when they struck someone. True Monarch Zangxi's True Realm barrier merely stripped away their disguise, reverting them to their original form.

"This is what is called, 'Divine Radiance Illuminates the Illusory Sea'," she said. It was essentially a spiritual contest between Miaozhantian and Qianhuan.

Although this world was strange, Miaozhantian had not observed it for so long without gaining anything.

After speaking, the grey parrot fell silent again.

While fending off the pursuers behind him, Bai Ziqi asked amidst his busy schedule, "Venerable, do you seem to have a problem?"

"Yes." Bai Ziqi was one of their own. After cooperating with him for so long, Miaozhantian no longer bothered to be reserved. "Just now, as I was contending with Qianhuan, I suddenly sensed another power intervening. But before I could trace it, it vanished again."

Bai Ziqi was startled.

In a contest at the level of a True God and a True Immortal, someone actually managed to intervene? No, that shouldn't be a "human" power.

Bai Ziqi knew that any power Miaozhantian pointed out so gravely must be extraordinary.

"Within the Upside-Down Sea, there's actually a third force?" This discovery was significant.

"It merely touched and withdrew, only probing." The grey parrot mused, "Qianhuan must have sensed it too. Could it be that she's brought in reinforcements?"

Not only had Miaozhantian borrowed a treasure from Saint Venerable Lingxu, but if Qianhuan also had backing...

"At this critical juncture? And within a minor grotto-heaven?" Bai Ziqi countered, "Highly unlikely. The storm wall of the Upside-Down Sea is only open for ten days. Qianhuan seems to trust no one, not even Ling Mountain knows her exact location. How could it be such a coincidence for someone to suddenly offer aid?"

"Indeed, this power even felt a little familiar." Miaozhantian was still somewhat surprised. After all, this didn't conform to common sense.

Bai Ziqi asked, "Does this power come from a god or an immortal?"

Surely that could be distinguished?

Miaozhantian did not answer directly, only saying, "Qianhuan's power is exceptionally formidable, especially the Illusory Realm she built. Initially, it even fooled my Eye of Truth."

She calmly continued, "Between truth and falsehood, there was originally a clear chasm: crossing it meant falsehood, not crossing it meant truth."

No matter how much divine power she infused, for the Eye of Truth to function, it first had to be able to define "truth."

"But Qianhuan filled that chasm, confusing the Eye of Truth's judgment!" The grey parrot pointed its beak towards the falling rocks by the cliff, "It took me a lot of effort to recalibrate the Eye of Truth. Otherwise, your journey here would have been extremely difficult."

These pebbles on the ground were, when they fell, massive boulders weighing thousands or tens of thousands of tons, creating an immense spectacle.

"Qianhuan lost her mirage pearl, and I originally thought her cultivation would stagnate; now it seems she must have found another method. These old beings are truly adept at collecting treasures for themselves."

At this point, she suddenly exclaimed, flapped her wings, flew to the base of the cliff, and returned with a stone in her beak.

It was a small, round stone, about the size of a pigeon's egg, grey and black. Bai Ziqi didn't see anything special about it.

The grey parrot, however, lowered its head and, with several sharp pecks of its hard beak, broke it into fragments.

The cross-sections of two of the fragments gleamed with a faint, soft light in the sunlight.

Just a tiny bit.

The grey parrot immediately said, "This object has Qianhuan's aura."

It was extremely faint, but the parrot had sensed it, which was why it picked it out from the pile of rubble.

"What is this?" Bai Ziqi picked up a piece and held it to the sun, "Why would Qianhuan place it inside a mountain peak?"

This was a rolling rock that had fallen from a giant peak and shattered into over a dozen pieces upon impact.

The grey parrot, however, stared at the fragments in a daze, and after a while said, "Everyone says mirages are ephemeral and intangible. Those who say such things are merely repeating hearsay and know nothing about true mirages."

Bai Ziqi listened attentively, "Venerable, please enlighten me."

"We have been studying Qianhuan for a long time."

This "we," of course, referred to more than just Miaozhantian herself.

Given Qianhuan's identity and status, she was certainly qualified to be a key research subject for deities.

"No matter how sophisticated a mirage, even one created by Qianhuan, it cannot form out of thin air; it must rely on something." The grey parrot continued, "Look at how a farmer weaves a basket; they must first establish the framework before weaving along the edges. A mirage is the same; precisely because it is ethereal, it must rely on a physical object as its foundation. With this foundation, she can then arrange layers upon layers."

"What kind of physical object are you referring to?"

"Things that can help her construct a mirage." Miaozhantian slowly said, "Within this illusory realm, there must be many similar objects. Qianhuan uses them as anchor points, building the framework of this illusion with them."

As they were speaking, Bai Shi suddenly hurried over from behind and reported in a low voice:

"Lord Overseer, we just discovered something: when the minor leader of the Luodian people captured the lamp-keeping attendant of Shilong Peak by Yaoshu Lake, he found and secretly stashed a treasure."

With that, he presented an item with both hands: "It is this."

It was an eave bell, typically hung under the eaves of main halls in palaces and temples, and also found on some pagodas. Besides decoration, some were imbued with arrays for warding off evil and purifying defilement.

Bai Ziqi took it, and then listened as Bai Shi continued:

"The reason he stashed it was that he heard the attendant say this eave bell was personally bestowed upon the sect by True Person Qianhuan for communication during her seclusion. However, for the past few decades, Qianhuan had been in fatal seclusion, and the bell hadn't functioned. But when the Illusory Sect was withdrawing, Xiao Wencheng specifically instructed them to make sure to take this eave bell with them."

Bai Ziqi frowned, "Why didn't the Brain-Devouring Worm Demons report this?"

The grey parrot commented from the side, "After Brain-Devouring Worm Demons occupy a brain, they only search for memories they deem useful; they cannot fully absorb and process everything."

How large is a human brain, how many memories are there in a lifetime, and how many random thoughts? If Brain-Devouring Worm Demons tried to absorb everything, their own brains would instantly explode.

Bai Ziqi examined the bell closely. Its texture wasn't as heavy as metal, and although its surface had rough textures, if one looked inside the bell, the sidewalls were very smooth, even featuring beautiful glaze colors, like soap bubbles in sunlight, capable of refracting several hues of light.

"A token personally bestowed by Qianhuan?"

Bai Shi continued, "Oh, and the attendant also had an exact quote: 'The token that Island Master He presented to the sect leader was also an eave bell.' He was there watching at the time."

"The token He Xiao presented? No, it should be the token presented by Ling Mountain." Bai Ziqi mused, "The Illusory Sect has been in seclusion for so many years. Given He Xiao's age and background, it would have been difficult for him to establish a connection with the Illusory Sect previously. The most likely scenario is that he obtained this eave bell from Ling Mountain or Mu Nation as a token for meeting Qianhuan."

"Then, these two eave bells must be very distinctive, so that both Qianhuan and the Illusory Sect would immediately recognize them as impossible to counterfeit. Otherwise, how could they be used as tokens?"

The grey parrot scrutinized the eave bell, then suddenly said, "Shake it."

After the eave bell came into their possession, the White Guards had been afraid to shake it randomly. It was Qianhuan's treasure; who knew what might happen if it were shaken?

Since the grey parrot said so, Bai Shi picked up the eave bell and shook it twice with force.

"Huh, no sound?"

He shook it several more times with force, but the eave bell still made no sound.

The grey parrot let out a low squawk, instructing Bai Shi to pick up the stone egg it had just broken open, hold it in his palm, and then shake the bell again.

This time, it rang.

*Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-a-ling*, the sound was exceptionally clear and rhythmic.

After listening for a few moments, Bai Ziqi said, "This is a coded message."

But they had no basis to decipher it.

"It only rings when it senses Qianhuan's aura." The grey parrot stared at it for a long time, as if in a trance.

Although battle cries thundered around them and pursuers clung relentlessly, the grey parrot's thoughts remained undisturbed: "We've been in the Upside-Down Sea for so long, yet we haven't been able to obtain anything directly related to Qianhuan. That old being is extremely cautious; even the bustling Wind God Temple in the Illusory Realm contains nothing directly connected to her."

Thus, Qianhuan was exceptionally difficult to track.

After a dozen breaths, she spoke again:

"Mitian once said that Qianhuan's 'shell' was very hard. I used to think it was just a taunt, as Mitian has a terrible temper and often speaks sarcastically."

"What's your take on it now?"

"This eave bell is quite suitable for dismantling. It likely came from Qianhuan's own hands, wasn't meticulously refined, and lacks powerful array protection."

It was merely a token, not requiring complex functions. Perhaps Qianhuan originally crafted it casually, without much alteration.

So the grey parrot took the eave bell from his hand, flapped its wings, flew towards True Monarch Zangxi, and suspended the bell above the Lotus Lamp in his arms.