CHAPTER 165: CHAPTER 33: ILLUSION REALM

When night fell, Gu Qingqing and others returned to their respective rooms, except for Si Lin and Yue Zhao.

The two used the Invisibility Talisman provided by Rong Ye, trying their best to hide themselves, quietly waiting for midnight to arrive.

In the room, Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran were not asleep either but sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting for the Soul-devouring Beast to appear.

The night grew deeper, and as time passed bit by bit, there was no movement outside, making them almost think the Soul-devouring Beast wouldn’t come.

Just as Yun Ran was about to transmit her voice to Gu Qingqing, the door was suddenly knocked on, startling her. She exchanged a glance with Gu Qingqing, and both simultaneously looked towards the door.

The knocking was slow at first, just like the previous night, but after realizing Yun Ran and Gu Qingqing didn’t respond, it got faster and louder.

Immediately after, a voice similar to Yue Zhao’s came from outside, asking Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran to open the door.

Gu Qingqing and Yun Ran weren’t fooled but sat motionless on the bed.

After waiting for a while, the knocking became more urgent, and the door shook violently, as if it would fall apart at any moment.

Having experience this time, Yun Ran and Gu Qingqing weren’t as worried as they were the previous night but watched the door shaking more violently quietly.

While Yun Ran was thinking that the Soul-devouring Beast’s movements were the same as before without any changes, Gu Qingqing suddenly moved.

She flashed by the door, and immediately took something out of her Storage Bracelet. Yun Ran, with her sharp eyes, recognized it as a puppet-like object.

She saw Gu Qingqing bite her fingertip, squeeze out a drop of blood, and wipe it on the puppet’s forehead. The puppet suddenly grew larger, becoming the size of an adult.

Gu Qingqing took a step back and, under Yun Ran’s surprised gaze, manipulated the puppet to open the door.

As the door opened, a red light suddenly struck the puppet, causing it to fall directly to the ground, and Gu Qingqing came face to face with the thing outside.

In the darkness, it was hard to make out the thing’s appearance, but its blood-red eyes were very clear. Although the red light appeared very quickly, Gu Qingqing still saw that it shot out from those eyes.

At this moment, the owner of those eyes realized it had made a mistake, and its eyes flashed fiercely. A red light shot straight at Gu Qingqing’s head, but she dodged it directly with a tap of her toe. The light vanished after striking the wall behind her.

Using this opportunity, Gu Qingqing approached the owner of the eyes. She took out a talisman, tore it, and the surroundings immediately became as bright as day, allowing her to see the thing outside the door clearly.

It looked exactly like the statue she had seen before, entirely black. It resembled a lion, but wasn’t quite one, with a tail like a snake’s, covered with scales, and its claws were very sharp. It was indeed the Soul-devouring Beast they had guessed.

The Soul-devouring Beast seemed somewhat afraid of the light. In the glow, it appeared restless, constantly scratching the ground with its claws. Its blood-red eyes looked fiercely at Gu Qingqing, its mouth wide open, and its tongue licking its lips as if it wanted to devour Gu Qingqing.

It suddenly raised its head, making a roaring motion, yet there was no sound. Just as Gu Qingqing was puzzled, she suddenly felt something attacking her Divine Sense!

Her Divine Sense had become very powerful since she became the Heavenly Dao of the Xuantian Continent. Although she couldn’t fully harness it, it wasn’t something that could be attacked easily. The Soul-devouring Beast’s attack might work on others, but to Gu Qingqing, it was just like being pricked by a needle, noticeable but not painful.

Seeing that Gu Qingqing didn’t faint as it had expected, a flash of surprise appeared in the Soul-devouring Beast’s eyes. Just as it was about to launch a second attack, its body was tightly wrapped by Gu Qingqing’s Mixed Immortal Silk.

"Shut up!" A mysterious and ethereal voice came from Gu Qingqing’s mouth, and an inconspicuous light fell on the Soul-devouring Beast.

The next moment, the Soul-devouring Beast’s mouth closed tightly as it had just opened, unable to open no matter how it struggled. Its blood-red eyes were no longer fierce, and it looked at Gu Qingqing with disbelief, not expecting her to have such capabilities.

"Break this Illusion Realm, or I’ll kill you directly!" Gu Qingqing stood in front of the Soul-devouring Beast, coldly saying.

The Soul-devouring Beast glanced at Gu Qingqing, then turned its head away, showing a disobedient look!

Gu Qingqing’s eyes turned cold, and a cold smile played on her lips. She took out a dagger from her storage space, the one Zhao Tonghai had given her.

"Won’t break the Illusion Realm, huh? Ha." She chuckled softly, bent down, and spoke by the Soul-devouring Beast’s ear, "Your eyes are pretty. I wonder if they’d still be so nice after being gouged out?"

Saying this, she moved the dagger closer to the Soul-devouring Beast’s eyes.

Although the Soul-devouring Beast turned its head stubbornly, it was secretly watching Gu Qingqing’s reaction from the corner of its eyes. Realizing she was serious, it got scared, not daring to turn its head for fear of being accidentally injured by the dagger, and it spinelessly dispelled its Illusion Realm.

...

Si Lin and Yue Zhao had been waiting in the corridor for a long time, yet nothing happened, and they immediately sensed something was wrong.

"This isn’t right. According to Geng Geng’s description, the time for the first knock has already passed. We’ve definitely missed something." Yue Zhao, frowning and looking at the empty corridor, transmitted his voice to Si Lin.

"Yeah, something’s off," Si Lin responded, focusing his gaze on the corridor.

"Could it be that the opponent has other means?" Yue Zhao speculated.

Si Lin didn’t speak, thinking for a moment before hesitantly suggesting, "Could it be an Illusion Realm?"

"Right, how did I not think of that?" Yue Zhao’s eyes brightened, "Geng Geng and Yun Ran must be in an Illusion Realm created by the opponent, so they can hear the knocking, but we can’t hear or see it!"

"Mm," Si Lin replied, his mood not relieved.

"We can’t see it. Could Geng Geng be in danger?" Yue Zhao asked with a deep frown.

"I don’t know," Si Lin’s voice was somewhat heavy, clearly not in a good mood.

Yue Zhao pursed his lips, closing his mouth and starting to think of a way to break the opponent’s Illusion Realm, to save Gu Qingqing.

Just when the two were at a loss, they suddenly felt a ripple of space at Gu Qingqing’s door. They immediately showed themselves, and the sudden bright light startled their eyes, making them close them reflexively.

"Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother," called Gu Qingqing, seeing Si Lin and Yue Zhao, unsurprised, addressing them directly.

The two opened their eyes at her voice, seeing Gu Qingqing unharmed, and let out a sigh of relief, only then noticing the Soul-devouring Beast bundled up on the ground by the Mixed Immortal Silk.

"Geng Geng, are you okay?" Si Lin quickly walked to Gu Qingqing’s side and bent down, asking with concern.

"Senior Brother, I’m fine." Gu Qingqing shook her head, indicating she was okay.

"Is this the Soul-devouring Beast?" Yue Zhao stared at the thing on the ground tied like a cocoon and asked.

"Yes, this is the Soul-devouring Beast. It creates illusions, which is why you couldn’t hear the knocking last night or sense its presence!" Gu Qingqing explained briefly.

"Senior Brother and I had already guessed this, and were trying to figure out how to rescue you." Yue Zhao and Si Lin exchanged a glance, a hint of surprise in their eyes, finding Gu Qingqing’s reaction unexpected.

"I realized it when it knocked on the door," Gu Qingqing remained calm, "Logically, you were just in the hallway. If it had appeared, you would have sensed it. It wouldn’t have knocked on the door for so long unnoticed. I immediately thought that Sister Yun and I might have been pulled into an illusion, so I captured it, forcing it to dispel the illusion."

"Indeed, Senior Brother and I really didn’t sense its presence earlier." Yue Zhao noticed Gu Qingqing’s demeanor, a faint smile on his lips.

"We all underestimated this creature. Not only can it create illusions, but it can also launch Divine Sense attacks, and its eyes emit a red light that can knock you out if hit. I used a puppet to dodge it just now." Gu Qingqing kicked the Soul-devouring Beast, clearly dissatisfied with its actions.

Upon hearing this, both Yue Zhao and Si Lin were a bit surprised, even Yun Ran, who had been watching Gu Qingqing’s actions, was quite shocked, not realizing the Soul-devouring Beast was so powerful!

At this moment, others sensed something amiss and emerged from their rooms.

"Geng Geng, what is this thing?" Zhuo Tingqiu looked at the cocooned object on the ground, surprised and puzzled.

"This is the Soul-devouring Beast I mentioned earlier!" Gu Qingqing glanced at the others and said.

Aside from Yue Zhao, Si Lin, and Yun Ran, the others were quite surprised upon seeing the Soul-devouring Beast—it was their first time seeing it. They surrounded the Beast, examining it for a while. The Soul-devouring Beast had never been scrutinized like this before; if it weren’t under Gu Qingqing’s control, it would have attacked with Divine Sense!

"Is this the culprit that’s made so many people disappear? It doesn’t look that formidable." Zhao Yan looked disdainfully at the Soul-devouring Beast, glanced at Gu Qingqing, and said dismissively.

"Yes, it’s not very formidable; it just creates an unbreakable illusion and uses Divine Sense attacks." Gu Qingqing didn’t even look at Zhao Yan, her tone very calm.

Si Lin and Yue Zhao, knowing the Beast’s power, shared a slight smile at Gu Qingqing’s remark, understanding her dissatisfaction with Zhao Yan, while the others were shocked, not expecting the Beast to be so formidable!

There are many demon beasts that create illusions, but few can launch Divine Sense attacks. Even among them, not many have mastered this spell!

Zhao Yan’s face stiffened, not expecting Gu Qingqing to refute her so directly. She looked at Gu Qingqing with anger in her eyes.

"You say it launches Divine Sense attacks—so it does? We haven’t seen it." Zhao Yan mumbled in a voice everyone could hear.

"Do you want to try?" Gu Qingqing looked at Zhao Yan in surprise, unable to fathom her intention.

Zhao Yan was taken aback, wanting to say something, but was stopped by a look from Si Lin.

"Alright, we’ve captured the Soul-devouring Beast. Now we need to find its master!" Si Lin curbed Zhao Yan with a glance and turned to the others.

"Jun Wu and Nan Hua haven’t returned yet; we’ll discuss when they’re back." Yue Zhao glanced at the Beast and spoke to Si Lin.

"Alright, then we’ll..." Si Lin began to speak, but noticed a change in Rong Ye’s expression and asked hurriedly, "Xiao Wu, what’s wrong?"

"The talismans I gave Old Third and Jun Wu were crushed; they’re in danger." Rong Ye’s face changed, speaking to Si Lin.

Upon hearing this, Si Lin and the others’ expressions changed.

"Something’s happened at the City Lord Mansion; let’s head there now!" Si Lin looked outside, and after speaking, moved first.

The others followed Si Lin, leaving the inn in succession, and Gu Qingqing, after some thought, brought the Soul-devouring Beast along.

Fortunately, they were all Cultivators; the weight of the Soul-devouring Beast was nothing to them; otherwise, it would have been difficult to carry!

...

Wuyun City, City Lord Mansion.

Nan Hua and Jun Wu watched as the middle-aged man, who resembled the Demon Clan, used blood to heal his wounds for a long time, but they only partially healed, to their surprise.

Afterward, the middle-aged man emerged from the room and approached the rock garden in the courtyard. He touched a part of the rock garden, and immediately a human-wide hole appeared beside it, which he entered, sealing the hole behind him.

Nan Hua and Jun Wu waited for a while, debating whether to follow when they saw the man hastily exit again. In the darkness, the man’s face appeared troubled, surprising Nan Hua and Jun Wu; they were about to follow when the man suddenly stopped.

His eyes warily scanned the surroundings, passing over Nan Hua and Jun Wu’s hiding spot several times, prompting them to conceal themselves carefully to avoid detection.

After surveying for a moment and noticing nothing, the man hurriedly walked away, with Nan Hua and Jun Wu following.

They trailed him for about ten meters before the man stopped again, his figure suddenly vanishing.

Startled, Nan Hua and Jun Wu immediately stood guard, ready for the man’s reappearance.

Jun Wu sensed a gust behind him, startling him. He leaped forward as a red light shot past, cutting the tree beside him into segments.

The Glazed Frost Flower Fan appeared in Nan Hua’s hands, and with a wave, a strong wind was directed at the man’s previous location; his figure vanished again, dissipating the wind.

Meeting each other’s eyes, Jun Wu drew his scimitar, both staying vigilant of their surroundings.

At that moment, a figure appeared above them; the man wore a black and red cape, armor on his shoulders, an exposed chest, a thick waistband, armor on his legs, and black military boots. It was the same man, now in different attire.

With a quick hand seal, a blood-red array formed above him, enveloping Nan Hua, Jun Wu, and himself.

Seeing things go awry, Nan Hua and Jun Wu crushed the talismans Rong Ye had given them before the array enveloped them.