Chapter 594: Can It Still Be Repaired?

Zhang Xuan pushed open the door and entered the Illusion City.

It was pitch black inside, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

He took two steps forward along the corridor when a chilling wind brushed past him, followed by eerie sounds in his ears.

Wailing, lamenting, like weeping and yearning, the sounds echoed in his mind. Even covering his ears did no good.

"Is this soul enchantment?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

Mo Hunsheng had used a similar technique once in the Witch Soul Tomb.

The sound resonated deep within his soul; closing off his six senses was useless.

He looked up and felt as if countless eyes were staring at him, ready to pounce and tear him to shreds at any moment.

The dark environment, the crying echoing in his mind, and the constant threat of attack... No wonder this test examined one's mental fortitude. Someone with poor mental resilience would likely be scared unconscious.

Boom! As he was thinking this, he felt a powerful aura surge from one side. Immediately, a whistling wind descended, attacking him.

His pupils contracted. He leaped forward, narrowly dodging the attack, only to feel another aura charging directly at him from the front.

He dodged again, but before he even landed, he felt the attack change direction, assailing him from another side.

After leaping seven or eight times consecutively, sweat beaded on his forehead, and Zhang Xuan began to feel anxious.

The whistling of the attacks was getting faster and faster. If he couldn't dodge them, he was very likely to get injured here.

This stage couldn't be this difficult, could it?

"Wait! The attacks just now, I only felt their aura and fluctuations, but I didn't hear any sounds of impact..."

He jumped a few more times, then suddenly paused.

The attacks in his ears were relentless, like a torrential downpour, but he only heard them targeting him, not impacting the ground or walls.

If they were real attacks, after he dodged them, they should have hit the walls or ground, leaving craters or marks... Since there was no sound or impact, could the attacks also be an illusion?

"Eye of Insight!" While still moving, he activated his Eye of Insight.

Instantly, the darkness before him completely faded, revealing the outline of the entire room.

The Eye of Insight could see through essence. Although this Ghost Domain Illusion City was high-level and difficult to fully penetrate, it was still relatively simple to discern some illusions from within.

The attacks that had whistled through the air earlier now appeared as countless spiritual entities swirling around him.

These spiritual entities, whether from vegetation or spirit beasts, generated intense wind, but actually had no physical attack power.

That's why no craters appeared on the ground.

However, if he hadn't possessed the Eye of Insight, experiencing such powerful auras assailing him relentlessly in the darkness, even with several times his courage, he wouldn't have dared to confront them head-on.

"Others would be helpless against these things, only able to suffer their interference and excruciating pain, possibly breaking down over time. But I'm different!"

Understanding what was attacking him, Zhang Xuan's lips curled into a slight smile.

Others, encountering these invisible and intangible spiritual entities, would indeed be troubled. Over time, it would be like seeing ghosts, leading to mental breakdown and complete madness.

But him... as a Witch Soul Master, it would be truly embarrassing to be disoriented by these things.

"Witch Soul, emerge!" With a thought, his glabella shone brightly, and his Witch Soul, identical to him, immediately leaped out, forming a hand seal.

With a flash of light, all the spiritual entities immediately scattered in fear, as if they had encountered their bane.

The Witch Soul itself was a powerful spiritual entity, and Zhang Xuan cultivated the Heaven's Path Witch Soul cultivation method, so his soul carried a fierce aura that spirits and gods avoided. Not refining these spiritual entities on the spot into sustenance was already a show of mercy, giving Elder Hong face.

Having driven away the troublesome spiritual entities, his surroundings became much quieter. With his Witch Soul returned, Zhang Xuan stood up, about to look for an exit, when he suddenly smiled faintly.

"Why look for an exit? If I find the flaw and break through the illusion, won't I just walk out?"

He had just entered and already encountered so many spiritual entities and strange attacks. Who knew if there would be more later?

Rather than going through all this trouble, it would be better to find the flaw, like with a formation, and stop the Ghost Domain Illusion City from operating, then simply walk out.

After all, stopping the formation wouldn't destroy its foundation. It could be restored after he left, not affecting the next assessment.

Thinking this, he touched the ground with his palm, and a book appeared in his mind.

"Ghost Domain Illusion City, crafted by the Five-Star Master Fei Yuzi. It contains Qi Men Dun Jia, countless spiritual entities, and can be used to assess and temper one's mental fortitude. Flaws: 1. The central stone platform is the mechanical hub, easily discovered..."

The book detailed the contents.

"The central stone platform is the mechanical hub?" His Eye of Insight activated, and he took a few steps forward, indeed seeing a stone platform taller than a person.

"That's way too exposed!" Seeing the most crucial element so overtly displayed, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

However, upon reflection, he understood. The most dangerous place is often the safest. Sometimes, the true core doesn't need to be hidden; placing it in the most obvious spot makes people disbelieve it.

Moreover, cultivators who entered the Illusion City would be interfered with by spiritual entities, making it difficult for their six senses to discern. Even if they saw the stone platform, they wouldn't realize it was the most important spot!

"Since this is the mechanical hub, if I push this thing aside, will the Ghost Domain stop?"

Too lazy to read further, he casually closed the book. His Eye of Insight flickered as he stared at the stone platform before him.

The stone platform was hard, made of an unknown material, smooth and uniform. He couldn't find any buttons or mechanisms.

He reached out and pushed it, but it didn't budge, as if it were part of the castle itself.

"I don't believe it can't be moved! Heaven's Path Fist!"

His eyebrows furrowed, arm muscles tensed, and all his strength surged forth like a drawn bow.

His fist landed on the stone platform, which merely shook slightly before becoming still again. His own fist, however, throbbed with a burning pain, feeling as if it were about to swell.

"Such hard stone..." Zhang Xuan was filled with surprise.

His strength reached 2.6 million ding, and combined with the Heaven's Path Fist Art, he could shatter spirit-grade primary weapons with a single punch and even overturn small mountains. Yet this seemingly ordinary stone platform didn't budge, even causing his fist to ache intensely. This was truly terrifying!

"It's probably spirit-grade mid-tier, or even... high-tier!"

To withstand his attack, this stone platform, like the Illusion City itself, was of no low grade; it was at least spirit-grade mid-tier, or possibly even high-tier!

"What if I can't push it?" He rubbed his forehead.

Knowing how to stop the Ghost Domain Illusion City, yet being unable to do so due to insufficient strength, was quite frustrating.

"Right, just because I can't push it doesn't mean others can't!" He paused, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

His current strength genuinely couldn't move it, but that didn't mean others couldn't, for example... his clone!

When he had sparred with that guy, his main body had been utterly crushed.

Never mind its strength, just its physical body was incredibly powerful.

"Come out!" With a thought, his clone appeared before him.

The clone was in his storage ring; releasing it was as simple as a thought.

With a thought, he shared the current predicament with the clone, then instructed, "Push this stone platform open for me and stop the formation."

"Alright!" The clone and the main body were essentially one, sharing the same thoughts. The clone clenched its fist and delivered a punch.

Heaven's Path Fist!

Crack! Crack!

This time, the clone's fist felt no pain. Instead, the stone pillar before it let out a sharp crack, and cracks appeared all over it.

The cracks grew larger and larger, then with a crash, the stone pillar collapsed into a pile of rubble.

"You... couldn't you have used a little less force?" Zhang Xuan's eyes widened, his mind reeling.

Wasn't this thing supposed to be incredibly hard, making his fist ache painfully? How... did it shatter instantly?

It seemed... the clone didn't even use much force!

"Is it... because the clone is too powerful? A suppression of grade?" Zhang Xuan paused, then understood, feeling like he was about to cry.

The clone was refined from the Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo; its grade was too high. When encountering something of a lower grade, it could destroy it even without using much force.

It was like a diamond; fighting a person with it wouldn't be as effective as a dagger, but it could cut glass, which the dagger couldn't.

He was the dagger, and his clone was the diamond. Although not much force was used, the stone pillar simply couldn't withstand it. He had originally intended to push it aside, but instead... it was completely ruined.

Boom! As he stood there, perplexed and wondering what to do, the entire Ghost Domain Illusion City began to rumble and shake violently.

With its core hub destroyed, the formation supporting the Illusion City was completely废弃. The massive structure, like a castle in the air, instantly collapsed.

"Retrieve!" He put his clone back into his storage ring. Seeing the continuous rain of falling stones from above, he knew it was too late to escape. He could only raise his hands to block the falling stones, preventing them from hitting his head.

"Master Yang is so formidable; his student should be able to pass through this Ghost Domain Illusion City!"

Outside on the circular platform, seeing Zhang Xuan enter the passage, Elder Hong was a little worried.

Master Yang had his student participate in the Grand Competition for tempering, not to be eliminated in the first round.

However, upon closer thought, Master Yang was so powerful, so how could his student be simple?

"The Ghost Domain Illusion City, though strange, had its difficulty adjusted by me. Over 85% of the fifty-six participants should be able to pass... Master Zhang won't be among those eliminated! Now I just want to see how long it takes him to come out!"

The Ghost Domain Illusion City had another benefit: it could also judge the strength of one's mental fortitude. The earlier one emerged, the stronger their mental fortitude; conversely, the weaker.

So, instead of worrying if Master Zhang could get out, it was more about seeing how long it would take him to emerge.

"Even I need seven minutes to navigate this Illusion City. These participants, even with excellent mental fortitude, would take at least ten minutes. Given Master Zhang's age... if he can emerge in about thirteen minutes, that would be very impressive!"

Calculating in his mind, Elder Hong secretly nodded. Seeing that it was still early, he was about to relax and find a place to sit down when he felt the ground shake violently, followed by an earth-shattering tremor.

He quickly looked up and saw the colossal Ghost Domain Illusion City "crumble!" before his eyes, collapsing instantly. It then revealed a figure with both palms raised, like a martyr, and a face full of awkwardness and embarrassment.

The figure then scratched his head, looking apologetic and innocent: "Um... Elder Hong, I accidentally broke your Ghost Domain Illusion City. May I ask... can it still be repaired?"