*Thump! Thump!*
In an instant, Li Fan's heart began pounding violently, completely out of his control.
It was as though he had witnessed with his own eyes a vision of his gruesome death in the near future.
Li Fan instinctively moved to silently chant *True Reversion* in his mind and return to his anchored moment.
Yet in that spark of time, he vaguely sensed that something was amiss and forcibly stopped himself.
The Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation slowly crushed the endlessly surging fear in his heart, turning it into nourishment for his mind and soul while buying Li Fan a precious sliver of clarity to think calmly.
*Could it be that Zhang Zhiliang discovered something and deliberately used this method to harm me?*
*No... He should have already advanced to Soul Formation by now. To deal with a petty Foundation Establishment cultivator like me, there is no need at all to go through such trouble.*
*He could just strike directly.*
*Then is this bizarre situation occurring because of the Will Horse itself?*
Just as he was thinking this, Li Fan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as if someone were watching him.
Startled, Li Fan whirled around immediately.
There stood Zhang Zhiliang, staring at him intently with an indescribable smile.
Li Fan reflexively retreated in a flash, spiritual energy surging within him, and his Congyun Sword was about to slash out.
Yet in the blink of an eye, Zhang Zhiliang's figure vanished.
Li Fan froze for a moment, only then remembering that he was inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Even an existence like the Heavenly Physician would cause no small commotion if he tried to force his way in.
How could Zhang Zhiliang possibly slip in without a sound?
*An illusion?*
Li Fan turned his head back to look at the Will Horse's corpse on the ground, and immediately noticed an anomaly, his brow furrowing.
Without him noticing, the corpse of the Will Horse had shifted into a different posture.
*Is it dead or alive?*
Li Fan could not help wondering.
Fear struck again, reverberating through his heart for a long time.
A chill ran through his body.
*This Will Horse is somewhat eerie.*
*Still, I have True Reversion. No matter how perilous it is, it cannot take my life...*
At this thought, Li Fan felt a little more at ease.
Strangely enough, the moment he thought this, the inexplicable fear in his heart suddenly receded like an ebbing tide.
*Interesting...*
Li Fan's gaze stirred.
Yet he remained in the state of having a human body and a horse's face; clearly, this ordeal was far from over.
Seizing this lull, Li Fan's thoughts raced as he considered his options.
However, before Li Fan could come up with anything, another change occurred in the room.
The whistle of an arrow cutting through the air suddenly rang out.
Followed by the dull thud of it piercing flesh.
Li Fan traced the sound and saw an arrow, come from who knew where, lodged straight into the left arm of the Will Horse corpse.
Just as Li Fan moved to pull out the arrow to see whether it was real or fake, a sharp pain suddenly struck him.
Coincidentally, the pain also came from his own left arm.
Li Fan swept his divine sense over it, and his expression instantly darkened.
The exact same location, the exact same wound!
Even when Li Fan channeled his spiritual energy, he could not get the wound to close.
He purchased a wound-healing medicinal pill through the Heavenly Profound Mirror and swallowed it, yet it still had no effect whatsoever.
The wound remained.
*This...*
*Is it real or fake?*
Li Fan felt the burning, stinging pain on his arm—everything felt so intensely real.
*Does that mean whatever happens to the Will Horse is reflected onto me?*
*If...*
Before his wild thoughts could spin further, Li Fan forcefully circulated the Heart-Refining Incantation to purge his distracting thoughts.
Ignoring the pain racking his body, he continued to ponder a countermeasure.
*In theory, Zhang Zhiliang has no reason to toy with me. This Will Horse truly is a treasure capable of strengthening the divine soul.*
*Can it be inferred, then, that the reason those bizarre scenes felt so real is that they bypassed my senses and acted directly upon my divine soul?*
*Transcending ordinary illusions, striking straight at the soul...*
Just as Li Fan was deep in thought, a sharp sword abruptly materialized.
Gleaming with cold light, it severed the index finger of the Will Horse's right hand cleanly at the base.
The intense agony caused Li Fan to gasp sharply.
Looking at his own right hand, sure enough, his index finger was gone.
Blood flowed from the stump continuously.
Li Fan raised his mutilated right hand before his eyes and examined it closely.
*Is it real...*
*Or fake?*
Reason told Li Fan that everything happening to his body was merely the Will Horse acting upon his divine soul. It was all illusory.
Yet the persistent burning pain radiating from his body forced him to doubt his own judgment.
*If this is all an illusion, it matters little.*
*But what if my judgment is wrong, and these wounds are real?*
*If I sit by and allow these changes to continue, wouldn't that mean I am waiting for death?*
A thought came unbidden to mind.
*If I want to determine whether this is real or fake, why not have someone else judge it?*
With that thought, Li Fan exited the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
And after wandering around before several cultivators with a horse's face without drawing a single strange look, Li Fan was finally convinced: this was indeed an illusory experience induced by the Will Horse.
However...
"Hiss!"
Li Fan clutched his chest, where another deep wound had opened.
In the short time he had spent outside verifying things, a total of eight wounds had appeared across his body.
*They are appearing faster and faster, and the wounds are getting larger.*
*Even knowing these are illusions, at this level...*
*Real or fake no longer matters.*
*In that case, if this continues to progress, could I actually die?*
Before transmigrating, Li Fan had heard of an execution method.
A prisoner would be blindfolded, and their arm slashed with a blade.
Then water droplets would be used to mimic the sound of dripping blood, while someone constantly whispered descriptions of how much blood was being lost.
Even though the wound on the arm had long since clotted and would never cause fatal blood loss, some prisoners, subjected to constant psychological suggestion from others and themselves, genuinely believed they were bleeding to death—and slowly died as a result.
When one believes oneself dead, one truly dies.
Li Fan surmised that the Will Horse functioned on the same principle.
Because the illusion was indistinguishable from reality, if he did nothing and simply waited for events to unfold, once the Will Horse's corpse suffered a fatal wound—such as its head bursting open—Li Fan might very well be influenced by the synchronized injury, genuinely believing he had suffered that fatal damage.
And then die inexplicably.
Such was the definite effect of one's own perception upon the physical body.
And to circumvent this...
Unless...
Li Fan opened the *True Reversion* panel.
He stared intently at the charging progress.
*As long as it hasn't triggered True Reversion's automatic body-protection, then no matter how real the sensations feel, my life is in no danger.*
With this thought, Li Fan felt far more grounded, and the panic in his heart gradually dissipated.
Chapter 268