Chapter 1825: Miaozhan Tian's Little Secret

"That's because there's likely no spiritual energy where they're fighting," He Lingchuan said slowly. "And they probably don't have divine power or immortal energy themselves right now."

"Huh?" What kind of place could that be? Dong Rui once again voiced everyone's unspoken question: "Where are they?"

He Lingchuan glanced at him. "Where do you think Miaozhantian went after breaking through the passage between the two realms?"

"Hmm..." Everyone pondered deeply.

"Miaozhantian was so eager to break through the passage precisely to find Qianhuan's true form." Just then, another golden lightning bolt struck overhead, and Dong Rui looked up at the sky. "So it must be beyond these two realms."

Wanqiliang also said, "Maybe it's right above us."

"To find Qianhuan's true form?" He Lingchuan countered. "Qianhuan has already merged with the Upside-Down Sea; it *is* the Upside-Down Sea, and the Upside-Down Sea *is* it. It is both omnipresent and untraceable. Even if Miaozhantian escapes these two realms, where could she find Him? Even if Miaozhantian were to destroy the entire shell, she might not be able to kill Qianhuan."

"Ugh..." Dong Rui gave up thinking, saying huffily, "You're smart, just stop with the suspense, okay?"

Granny Zhu: "Could it be that..."

But she only uttered those two words, and then nothing more.

Dong Rui stared straight at her. "Could it be what?"

Granny, just say it!

"This is a personal deduction, for reference only." He Lingchuan started with a disclaimer. "I've told you that within this Upside-Down Sea, the boundary between reality and illusion, the standard for solid and void, is Qianhuan itself. Miaozhantian has been fighting Him for so long, she must understand this principle."

He Lingchuan also pondered, "Qianhuan's body has become vast; it's no longer feasible for Miaozhantian to defeat His true form. So, she can only enter the void from the substantial, and engage in another layer of combat."

Simply put, since Qianhuan defines the entire Upside-Down Sea, Miaozhantian can no longer defeat Him in the "real world." She can only find a way to break the situation from a higher dimension.

"So the place Miaozhantian went after breaking through the passage between the two realms might not be outside the heavens, but —" He pointed to his temple. "— Qianhuan's mind."

Dong Rui was startled. "Qianhuan's brain?"

"Qianhuan tried to merge his body with the Dao in the Upside-Down Sea. Since his physical body is integrated with this world, where do you think his divine soul is?"

"..." That's beyond my comprehension.

"Qianhuan has been trying to make his own will the law of this small grotto-heaven, which is 'body transforms into all things, mind creates laws'."

With this hint, Granny Zhu suddenly understood. "I get it! His sea of consciousness is very likely the 'realm of laws' for this small world—at least what he believes and identifies as the 'realm of laws'!"

Qianhuan's body merged with the Upside-Down Sea, representing "substance."

Qianhuan's sea of consciousness, merging with laws that are similarly formless and shadowless yet truly exist, represents "void."

"Brilliant, truly brilliant!" Granny Zhu couldn't help but exclaim. "Qianhuan's attempt is truly audacious."

This realm, above that of an immortal, was something she herself eagerly pursued and yearned for.

"Breaking through the passage between the two realms was likely an opportunity to transition from the substantial to the void, and Miaozhantian's only chance!" He Lingchuan pointed to the scene in the mirror. "If it's a battle between divine souls, then fighting blade to flesh, without using spells, makes perfect sense."

Divine abilities and spells are means of the material world; the world of divine consciousness is very simple, devoid of such things.

There, there is only the clash of divine souls, at most a spark of thought—no, a spark of consciousness.

"Previously, Miaozhantian failed in her bid for the Upside-Down Sea, and Qianhuan, thinking Him at the end of his rope, finally felt confident enough to dispatch all his avatars." Qianhuan's caution backfired this time. "Miaozhantian was waiting for this opportunity: to use the silver pearl fruit to force open the passage between the two realms and enter Qianhuan's sea of consciousness. Meanwhile, Qianhuan's three main avatars are trapped in the barrier, unable to provide assistance, which is a huge disadvantage."

"No wonder you said earlier that powerful avatars can sometimes be Qianhuan Zhenren's weakness," Granny Zhu said, raising a paw to wipe her eyes, not out of emotion, but excitement. "The more powerful the avatar, the more powerful the divine soul needed to control it."

To control such powerful avatars, Qianhuan had to disperse a lot of soul power—and three portions at once!

A divine soul is like a whole cake; the more you cut off, the less is left. Normally, this wouldn't matter much, but now Qianhuan must face Miaozhantian, a prehistoric Great Celestial Demon of the same caliber!

Apart from anything else, just looking at these two sworn enemies in the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, Miaozhantian's size isn't much smaller than Qianhuan's.

For the same body type, Jiaotu's combat ability doesn't have an advantage over a humanoid Celestial Demon.

"Qianhuan possesses myriad illusionary arts and would likely be unwilling to clash head-on with an enemy in such a straightforward manner." As a mirage demon, Qianhuan's weakness was evident. "So, Miaozhantian, by finding every way to force Him into this situation, had already won thirty percent; by tricking Him into splitting off three avatars, she won another thirty percent."

"Qianhuan also couldn't refuse to fight, otherwise his true form, like the two realms above and below, would be devoured and eroded by Miaozhantian." Didn't she invade the Upside-Down Sea because she coveted his body? "Having ransacked so many immortal caves in the past, Celestial Demons must be highly skilled at annihilating immortal souls and forcibly occupying immortal bodies."

Dong Rui suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, look, Miaozhantian is transforming!"

***

Sea of Consciousness, Puyu Isle.

The clash between the two powerhouses was almost more intense than reality itself; each close-quarters combat unleashed shockwaves that rippled far across the surface of the sea.

Puyu Isle was once again on the verge of destruction, just like three thousand years ago.

Qianhuan's true form displayed strength and agility as He Lingchuan had predicted. Although this wasn't His usual fighting style, His foundation as a true immortal was solid, and thousands of years of cultivation hadn't been in vain.

What truly made He Lingchuan apprehensive was Qianhuan's recovery ability. With Miaozhantian wielding dual blades, Jiaotu couldn't entirely evade. These attacks almost ignored scales and armor; several wounds were bone-deep, and Jiaotu's right foreclaw was nearly severed, barely hanging by flesh.

Yet, after Jiaotu circled twice on the ground, the wounds largely healed, and it could fight with full might again.

In the past two days and one night of battle in the Upside-Down Sea, He had, after all, conserved His energy, unlike Miaozhantian, who had to both exert herself and break through the illusions He created, truly exhausting her body and mind.

Moreover, the shell on His back wasn't just for show. In moments of crisis, Jiaotu could shrink His entire body directly into the shell. Miaozhantian's twin blades would only produce a shower of sparks when striking the shell, leaving her in an awkward position, like a mouse trying to gnaw on a tortoise.

The situation was deadlocked; it was difficult to determine a winner for a while.

Both sides knew this was the final battle, with the winner taking all, so they held nothing back.

Qianhuan had just dodged a direct chop from Miaozhantian when a dark shadow suddenly flickered behind Him. A warning sign flashed, and at the critical moment, He recoiled His neck, resulting in excruciating pain on His forehead, one of His pointed horns being lopped off.

If He hadn't reacted quickly, it would have been His head that was severed.

Another Celestial Demon appeared before Him, bearing a slight resemblance to Miaozhantian's facial contours, with greenish-yellow skin. It was half a head shorter, only reaching Miaozhantian's ribs, and its physique was relatively slender, lacking a third eye on its forehead.

Its gaze at Qianhuan was hollow and cold.

Qianhuan was rarely so shocked. "Divine abilities can't be used in the sea of consciousness! What is this..."

This clearly looked like a doppelganger spell!

However, neither Great Celestial Demons nor True Immortals could use divine abilities or spells when fighting in His sea of consciousness.

Because here, the power of a divine soul could only manifest as "strength" and "skill"!

At most, there might be a bit of corrosive poison stemming from innate talent.

This was the law of the sea of consciousness, and no one was exempt.

Therefore, this mysteriously appearing Celestial Demon was not a clone summoned by Miaozhantian using divine abilities. Which meant—

"Miaozhantian is two Celestial Demons?!"

There was only one explanation for such a strange occurrence:

One body, two souls!

Miaozhantian had secretly harbored another soul-body, a secret so rare that even Qianhuan had never heard of it, likely unknown even among gods and mortals.

Furthermore, due to the rules of divine descent, it was impossible for two unrelated Celestial Demons to descend simultaneously and squeeze into one physical body.

There had to be a deep bond between Miaozhantian and this Celestial Demon.

"You're the first outsider to know this secret!" Miaozhantian laughed loudly. "This is my twin sister, Miaoyuntian, whom I devoured before she was even born! But since she was naturally powerful, I kept her as my twin soul!"

With the two Celestial Demons working together, Qianhuan was forced into a tight corner.

Miaoyuntian's power was far inferior to Miaozhantian's, but her movements were swift and agile. Jiaotu was initially unprepared and nearly had His head severed.

The audience before the Haoyuan Golden Mirror watched in astonishment, and Dong Rui murmured:

"Wait, isn't that cheating?"

"Kept her"? Miaozhantian had simply stripped her unborn sister's soul, reformed it, and forcibly refined her into a soul puppet!

"No wonder Miaozhantian was so confident on this trip; it turns out she has a helper even when entering the sea of consciousness!" In a sea of consciousness battle, either you're powerful, or you have numbers. An extra helper is better than anything. He Lingchuan realized, "That's it, this is probably the main reason she's been so successful in plundering immortal caves in the past."

Miaozhantian was already powerful enough, and when seizing immortal bodies, she could fight two-on-one, truly leaving her opponents no way out.

It's just that the immortals she killed could no longer speak, so this secret remained hidden until today, when the Haoyuan Golden Mirror exposed it.

After Miaoyuntian appeared, Qianhuan indeed fell to a disadvantage. Despite the protection of His shell, His body was covered in wounds.

The wounds were too numerous and severe; the slowing of His healing speed was visibly apparent.

If this continued, His situation would become perilous.

Dong Rui even started worrying, "Hey, what if Qianhuan loses? What will become of us?"

If this Upside-Down Sea falls into Miaozhantian's possession, aren't they all doomed?

He Lingchuan remained silent.

Would Qianhuan just lose like this, with no room for resistance? He felt it was unlikely.

How could such an old and cunning mirage immortal easily admit defeat?

Qianhuan most likely had a hidden card, but why wasn't He using it in such a critical moment?

What was He still wary of?