Illusion Realm

Few could cross the Mystic Ice Plain as easily as Qin Sang had. Even those among the cultivators present who had avoided injury had severely depleted their true essence fending off the cold. Qin Sang committed each of them to memory; when the time came to contest the Soul Cleansing Liquid, all of them might be his rivals. Finally, he turned his gaze toward the two pavilions ahead. Inside each pavilion stood a teleportation formation. One led outside the hall, while the other led to the third trial. Qin Sang did not hesitate. Under a few astonished gazes, he walked straight into the pavilion and entered the next trial. When his senses cleared, Qin Sang found himself in what appeared to be a canyon. All around him hung a mist so thick it refused to disperse, impairing spiritual consciousness. It carried a hint of sinister cold, though it was far milder than the Mystic Ice Plain. Faint silhouettes loomed in the distance, resembling sheer precipices or the faint outlines of mountain ranges. More alarming still was that these shadows seemed alive—sometimes shifting about, and at times vanishing altogether. Deep within the dense mist, strange roars of vicious beasts echoed intermittently. It was impossible to tell whether someone had entered ahead of him and disturbed the beasts, or if the monsters simply roamed rampant everywhere. Qin Sang dared not be careless. Without hesitation, he executed the Heavenly Demon Transformation and summoned the ebony sword to protect himself. Next, he awakened the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. Taking in the sights within the dense mist, Qin Sang harbored a few guesses. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly fluttered onto Qin Sang's shoulder, nudged his chin, spread its wings, and opened its Heavenly Eye. The eye upon its wings came alive, revolving gently with an eerie aura. With the aid of the Heavenly Eye divine ability, Qin Sang saw through the dense mist and fixed his gaze on a distant mountain silhouette, finally discerning its true nature. "So it's an illusion..." Qin Sang murmured to himself as the memory surfaced. Among the trials, there was one renowned for its illusion formations: the Thousand Mountains Formation. It was said that the complete Thousand Mountains Formation was a top-tier ancient illusion formation, using countless peaks as chess pieces to lay out the grand array. Anyone who barged into it would face endless permutations and never find a way out. Naturally, the trial realm could not possibly contain the full Thousand Mountains Formation—it had to be an incomplete remnant—yet its power was not to be underestimated. Due to its unpredictable variations, the Thousand Mountains Formation was ranked among the most perilous of all known trial realms. Their group had drawn poor luck in encountering this particular trial. Seeing this, however, Qin Sang felt no panic. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly's ability happened to be the natural bane of such illusion formations; so long as he did not run into a top-tier vicious beast, escaping the illusion realm would not be very difficult. Qin Sang remained where he was rather than moving rashly, channeling the Heavenly Eye divine ability to observe his surroundings. Within an illusion formation, the most crucial thing was to maintain control over one's heart and mind, refusing to lose one's bearings out of panic. Qin Sang was not worried on that front. After lingering for a moment, Qin Sang took his first step. The thick mist parted to either side. Everything in the canyon seemed ordinary. Aside from the distant beast roars, it was exceedingly quiet—so quiet that Qin Sang could even hear the sound of the mist drifting. After a few paces, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly saw clearly in the direction he had been observing earlier. There was no mountain silhouette there at all; it was entirely conjured by the illusion formation. Its vanishing and shifting were merely tricks of the array. After probing for a while, Qin Sang gained a rough understanding of the illusion formation's methods and quickened his pace. Before long, he emerged from the mouth of the valley. Right then, the mist ahead suddenly surged violently. A jackal-like vicious beast appeared before Qin Sang without warning, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as it pounced toward him. "An illusion!" Qin Sang sneered coldly. The Heavenly Eye Butterfly had already seen through the beast's true nature. He slashed fiercely with his flying sword, and as expected, struck empty air. The ebony sword passed straight through the phantom beast, shattering it on the spot. The very next instant, identical beasts lunged toward Qin Sang from above, below, left, and right all at once. "Three illusions and one real!" Qin Sang discovered that the beast diving from overhead was real, and he was secretly surprised. He was certain the creature had not been here before; it had appeared out of nowhere. The Thousand Mountains Formation could not only generate illusions, but also displace beasts from elsewhere. Intertwining truth and falsehood made it nearly impossible to defend against. Fortunately, these illusions had nowhere to hide before the Heavenly Eye divine ability. Qin Sang reacted calmly. True essence surged within his body, releasing a circular shockwave that shattered the remaining illusions, after which he jabbed sword-fingers toward the real beast. *Bang!* The beast died on the spot, its corpse thudding to the ground with a pungent stench of blood. With quick eyes and hands, Qin Sang flicked his finger to shoot out a streak of flame, burning away the corpse and the smell, before surveying his surroundings. Having left the canyon, Qin Sang found three mountain silhouettes standing side by side ahead. At his feet lay three paths leading toward each of the three peaks, showing no visible difference to the naked eye. "These must also be a mix of real and fake. I probably have to find the real path to proceed, right? Cultivators skilled in illusion formations might find a way out by analyzing the array's shifts; otherwise, one can only test them one by one. The rumors were true—the intertwining of reality and illusion here is indeed perilous." Qin Sang murmured to himself and instructed the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to push its Heavenly Eye divine ability to the fullest. Before long, the Heavenly Eye Butterfly ruled out the mountain on the left. The end of that path was an illusion. Yet to Qin Sang's surprise, the other two were real, revealing no flaws. "Does the Thousand Mountains Formation have more than one way out, or must I choose the correct one between the two?" Qin Sang knew little about this place and could not be sure. Previously, the Hall of Seven Kills opened only once every three hundred years or so, and the Thousand Mountains Formation had appeared very few times. There was virtually no information available, leaving him to feel his way forward alone. After some thought, Qin Sang stepped toward the middle mountain. He did not walk fast, having the Heavenly Eye Butterfly observe the surroundings as he advanced. With the ebony sword blazing the trail, he encountered no danger all the way to the foot of the mountain. Qin Sang paused slightly, looked up toward the summit, waited a moment, and stepped onto the first stone stair. Just then, his eyes flashed, and he abruptly swung his sword toward the empty space on his right. *Thud!* Before the beast could even reveal itself, it was sent flying by the ebony sword. With a whimper, it died on the spot. At the same time, another ripple appeared on the right. "An illusion!" Qin Sang casually waved his hand, releasing a stream of spiritual power. Unexpectedly, when that spiritual power struck the opponent, it was easily shattered. *Crack!* "Awooo!" The beast that should have been an illusion let out a wolfish howl, opening its gaping maw and snapping viciously toward him. A foul wind blew right into his face! Qin Sang's expression changed. The Heavenly Eye divine ability definitely could not have been mistaken. Yet the Thousand Mountains Formation was truly bizarre—it could turn illusion into reality, teleporting a genuine beast in at the very instant of contact! If a cultivator was not careful, they could indeed suffer severe injuries. Fortunately, this beast's strength was not formidable; it was likely just an appetizer meant to warn intruders. Qin Sang turned slightly and drove the ebony sword to slay the creature. He stood in place for a short while, and seeing no further changes in the illusion formation, continued upward. Gradually, he began to grasp the pattern of the Thousand Mountains Formation. Every time he covered a certain distance, he would be attacked by beasts. Sometimes they were real, sometimes fake, and the real and fake could even swap places. It was exceedingly vexing, and he did not dare let his guard down even against what appeared to be mere phantoms.