Chapter 1884: Strong Barrier

Lying flat in the coffin, Zheng Yang’s lips curved into a smile. His body was still warm, as if he had just stopped breathing.

“Senior Brother…”

A dense poisonous gas emanated from all of Wei Ruyan's pores, and her hair billowed around her.

Though she appeared cold, Wei Ruyan was warm-hearted. Despite her recent harsh words towards Zheng Yang, seeing his corpse made her feel as if her mind was tearing apart. If she knew who the killer was, she would not hesitate to rush forward and tear them to shreds.

“Control your emotions!”

Zhang Xuan admonished in a low voice.

“Yes!”

Hearing her teacher's words, Wei Ruyan regained her composure, but looking at the corpse in the coffin, she still trembled uncontrollably.

“This isn't Zheng Yang…”

Zhang Xuan's voice continued.

He was also startled at first glance, thinking Zheng Yang had died. However, after observing for a moment, he immediately sensed something was off.

It was simply too real.

The corpse before him was identical to Zheng Yang in life. In reality, after a person dies, their spiritual energy dissipates, and even the strongest individual would not look exactly the same. Moreover, Zheng Yang was his disciple, whom he knew intimately. Even if he died, he wouldn't look so peaceful; even the most composed person would show some sign of struggle.

Most crucially, the body had the Heaven's Path True Qi he had left inside Zheng Yang. No one could have killed him silently without Zhang Xuan noticing.

“If it's not Senior Brother, then…”

Wei Ruyan was momentarily stunned, her face filled with confusion.

The corpse before her, whether observed with the naked eye or touched by hand, was identical to her Senior Brother, with no discernible difference. If it wasn't him, then who could it be?

“It must be an illusion, one so powerful that it's impossible to distinguish from reality, even capable of deceiving the Heaven's Path…”

Frowning, Zhang Xuan paced back and forth in the stone chamber.

If it hadn't been Zheng Yang's corpse appearing before him, he wouldn't have spotted any flaws and wouldn't have realized it was an illusion.

The scene before him was simply too real, so real that even the Heaven's Path couldn't detect it.

“An illusion?”

Glancing around, Wei Ruyan pinched her face again... It hurt!

“Dragonbone Divine Spear!”

*Whoosh!*

The divine spear flew in from the passage. With the spear in hand, Zhang Xuan immediately felt an endless surge of power spreading through him. Raising the spear tip, he sharply thrust it towards the stone coffin before him.

*Boom!*

The stone coffin was pierced through instantly. The stone chamber before them vanished like foam. The next moment, they saw Zheng Yang slumped in the corner, motionless, apparently unconscious.

What they had seen was not a stone coffin, but a massive barrier resembling a mirror.

They had seemingly entered a mirror world, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.

“It's an illusion, which means... the corpse of Ancient Sage Ran Qiu is also fake... Old Master, are you not dead?”

After piercing the illusion, the Dragonbone Divine Spear's excited voice rang out.

The shock of seeing its Old Master's corpse appear before it had been too great. Since these were all illusions, could that corpse also be fake?

“Ancient Sage Ran Qiu's corpse is real. It's precisely because of the immense power of his corpse that such an illusion can be created! If it were fake, it couldn't possibly deceive the Heaven's Path…”

Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Although he didn't want to upset the Dragonbone Divine Spear, facts were facts.

The moment he pierced through the illusion, he understood.

A grand array that even he couldn't discern, one that could even conceal itself from the Heaven's Path, must have sufficient power to sustain it. And the core of this array was precisely Ancient Sage Ran Qiu's corpse.

Only this second most powerful Sage in the world, second only to Master Kong, possessed such an ability to make illusions indistinguishable from reality, so much so that even Zhang Xuan himself hadn't discovered it in a short time.

However, he was a clever man after all. Unable to detect anything, he knew that something even the Heaven's Path couldn't glimpse must be hidden. Coupled with the appearance of Zheng Yang's corpse, it was difficult for him not to notice something was amiss.

“The Ancient Sage... is truly dead?”

Slumping to the ground, the bone dragon was speechless.

The corpse being real meant he was truly dead...

“Whether he's truly dead is hard to say. The corpse being real doesn't mean he's truly dead... It's like Emperor Yong. His body was already buried, and his cultivation passed to Liu Yang. He was truly dead, but his soul was rescued by a deity from the heavens. That doesn't mean he can't be resurrected!”

Zhang Xuan added, “When one's cultivation reaches the level of Ancient Sage Ran Qiu, it's not so easy to die!”

Even the Vicious, shattered into bones, could be resurrected, let alone Ancient Sage Ran Qiu.

Even if the corpse is real, as long as the soul remains, it cannot be called true death.

“This…”

Hearing this explanation, the Dragonbone Divine Spear's somewhat bewildered gaze cleared, and it finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“First, let's wake Zheng Yang. For someone of his strength to be unconscious, something must have happened…”

With a flick of his finger, a stream of True Qi flowed into his student's body. A moment later, Zheng Yang slowly regained consciousness.

This student of his had astonishing combat power and terrifyingly strong willpower. For him to be knocked unconscious like this, he must have been subjected to some kind of stimulus that caused a violent fluctuation in his state of mind.

“Teacher!”

Blushing, Zheng Yang came forward.

“You arrived in this underground palace first. What exactly did you find that caused you to pass out?”

Wei Ruyan couldn't help but ask.

“I…” Rubbing his head, Zheng Yang paused for a moment, his face flushing. “I saw a coffin, identical to the one on the upper level. When I opened it, it contained Master Kong's corpse…”

“Master Kong's corpse?” Zhang Xuan frowned.

They had seen Zheng Yang's corpse, while Zheng Yang had seen Master Kong's corpse...

Could there be a connection between the two?

“Whether there's a connection or not, it must be related to this barrier before us!”

After thinking for a while, he still couldn't figure it out. Zhang Xuan knew this place must be connected to Master Kong, and as he was still some distance from fully understanding Master Kong's secrets, it was normal not to fully grasp it yet. Without further ado, he looked up at the massive barrier not far away.

If there was an answer, it was surely beyond this barrier. Now he just needed to figure out how to get through it.

“Let's try it!”

Raising his eyebrows, he gripped the Dragonbone Divine Spear tightly, and with a low shout, he thrust it forward again.

*Whoosh!*

The long spear tore through space, seeming to rip apart the very fabric of the world. With a whistling sound, it arrived before the barrier.

A tremendous force swept over him. Zhang Xuan's body stiffened, and he was sent flying backward. His back slammed heavily against the wall, his face turned pale, and his breathing became shallow and erratic.

He had sustained a considerable injury from just that one strike.

“It didn't work?”

Zhang Xuan was aghast.

Wielding the Dragonbone Divine Spear, he could even contend with the deity he had encountered earlier. Yet, a full-force thrust at what appeared to be a mere barrier hadn't caused any damage at all; instead, it had shocked him to the point of almost spitting blood.

It was too powerful!

What exactly was this terrifying barrier?

“Master, let me try…”

As he wondered, the Vicious's voice sounded in his mind.

“Alright!” Zhang Xuan nodded, then with a flick of his wrist, he released it.

This fellow's skeleton was complete, and he had refined the straw raincoat. His combat power was already comparable to an expert in the early stages of the Void Shattering realm. If he made a move, perhaps he could truly break through this barrier that even Zhang Xuan couldn't shake.