With the help of the Invincible Core, Lu Yang successfully escaped from the puppet.
The moment Lu Yang stepped off Tianmen Peak, the puppet halted its pursuit and stood watching him disappear into the distance.
"Good thing that puppet can't leave the mountain." Lu Yang exhaled in relief. He had noticed long ago that the puppet had a limited area of operation and could not step foot beyond Tianmen Peak.
"Senior Brother Lu, why are you running so fast? Is there some danger on Tianmen Peak?" Tao Yao's voice called out from behind him.
With Eldest Senior Sister on Tianmen Peak, how could there possibly be any danger?
"N-no, nothing. I just haven't run in a while, so I went for a little jog to stretch my legs." Lu Yang could hardly admit that a puppet had chased him down the mountain; that would be far too humiliating.
"Are you busy right now? I've come up with some new ideas regarding illusion arts recently and wanted to discuss them with you."
Lu Yang thought about it. He truly had nothing to do at the moment. "Sure. Shall we head over to Dustless Peak?"
On the way to Dustless Peak, Lu Yang asked casually, "What kind of new ideas do you have about illusions, Junior Sister?"
"It came to me from that time you, Senior Brother Meng, and Junior Brother Man fused together. Since the three of you willingly accepted my illusion back then, I started wondering: can illusions be used for purposes other than combat?"
"That's an interesting line of thought. Go on."
"The hardest part of casting an illusion is making the target lose themselves in it. So why don't we look at it from the opposite angle: are there situations where someone would willingly lose themselves in an illusion?"
Lu Yang grew thoughtful. He had never considered this question before, but he felt he was beginning to grasp what Junior Sister Tao was trying to say.
Following Tao Yao's train of thought, he said, "Willingly losing oneself in an illusion requires meeting two conditions: safety and comfort."
"Safety guarantees that this isn't a technique used in battle—that's the fundamental baseline. Comfort is the prerequisite for the other party to willingly accept the illusion."
"The defining feature of an illusion is that it immerses a person completely. If you allow them to experience treatment they could never enjoy in reality, they'll willingly indulge in it."
"Could it be, Junior Sister Tao, that you mean letting them see scenes they could never normally see? For instance..." Lu Yang stared at Tao Yao in disbelief. He had never expected that beneath her innocent exterior, she would think of the sort of things only men fantasized about.
Tao Yao nodded delightedly, thinking that Senior Brother Lu was indeed the sharpest of them all to understand her so quickly.
"Exactly! Letting them watch cultivators fight!"
Lu Yang: "..."
*I'm sorry. My mind was in the gutter. I'll reflect on my sins.*
Tao Yao continued with excitement, "I don't mean battles between low-level cultivators. Those are a dime a dozen. Battles between Golden Core stage cultivators, however, are rarely seen! Especially since Golden Core cultivators can soar through the sky, possess vastly more spiritual energy than Foundation Establishment cultivators, and have an endless repertoire of spells to cast. It makes for an incredible spectacle!"
"Mortals and low-level cultivators never get the chance to watch cultivators at or above the Golden Core stage duel. If we use illusions to let them witness high-level cultivator battles, they'll definitely jump at the opportunity!"
"Of course, I'm not doing charity. There will be an admission fee."
She was counting on this to make a profit.
"What I'm debating right now is whether jumping straight into the battle without any cause or effect would feel too abrupt. Should I add some plot to it?"
The two reached the entrance of Tao Yao's cave dwelling on Dustless Peak.
Tao Yao appeared unusually eager. "Let me give you a demonstration. Don't resist."
"All right."
Tao Yao opened her red paper umbrella, shielding her body behind it, and lightly twirled it twice in front of Lu Yang. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and by the time his senses returned, he was already standing amidst an endless mountain range.
Sensing something, he looked up and spotted two figures hovering in midair. Both wore similar garments and appeared to be fellow disciples from the same sect.
One of them was in tears, his voice trembling faintly. "Senior Brother, tell me: why did you murder Master? Why did you kill your beloved Little Junior Sister, and all our other Senior Brothers and Sisters? Why?!"
The other burst into raucous laughter, an eerie black mist billowing from his body. "Hahaha, why? You should be asking Master that! And asking yourself!"
"Me?" The junior brother was startled, bewildered by his words.
"I was the first to enter the sect! I studied diligently and trained relentlessly every day, all so I could inherit Master's mantle! Even when subsequent juniors joined, I never cared, because none of their talents could compare to mine!"
"Yet your arrival ruined everything! Master actually decided to pass the position of Sect Master to you!"
"When I demanded to know why, Master told me I was short-sighted and eager for quick gains, while you were the one truly fit to inherit his mantle!"
"I was consumed by rage! Were all my years of blood and sweat nothing more than 'eager for quick gains' in his eyes?! In my fury, I struck him down! Little Junior Sister happened to witness it, shrieking and screaming in terror, drawing everyone else's attention. To silence the witnesses, I had no choice but to slaughter them all!"
"Little Junior Brother, now that you know the truth, you must die too! Your cultivation is far inferior to mine, so yield quietly!"
Golden mist surged around the junior brother, exuding an aura that faintly rivaled his senior brother's.
The senior brother blanched in shock. "How is this possible?! You should only be at the early Golden Core stage! How can you be at the late Golden Core stage like me?!"
The junior brother wore a frosty expression. He remembered arriving at the sect to find corpses strewn across the grounds, remembered his dying master passing down all his power, and remembered Little Junior Sister drawing her final breath in his arms.
The culprit behind all this had to pay with his life!
Enlightenment dawned on the senior brother, and a crazed look overtook his face. "I see now! That old bastard passed all his cultivation to you! I knew he was biased in your favor!"
Having inherited the sect's legacy, the junior brother wielded two magical treasures. With a flick of the shears in his hands, they transformed into two golden flood dragons, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they pounced toward his senior brother.
A massive ghostly claw materialized behind the senior brother, clamping down to suppress the two golden flood dragons.
The junior brother uncorked a jade bottle, and yellow sand erupted forth like a tsunami, crashing toward his senior brother. With a thunderous shout, the senior brother drew the saber at his waist and slashed outward, sending a crescent of blade energy that cleaved the tidal wave of sand cleanly in two.
The two disciples clashed in an earth-shattering struggle, deploying magical treasures, spells, and cunning maneuvers in rapid succession. The dazzling spectacle left onlookers breathless, wishing they could dive right into the fray.
All at once, the scenery flattened into an ink-wash painting before being submerged in water. As the ink dissolved, everything vanished. Lu Yang snapped back to reality, finding Tao Yao holding her red paper umbrella, smiling sweetly at him.
"Senior Brother Lu, how was it? What do you think? I tried incorporating some plot—isn't it much better than a dry, mindless fight?"
Lu Yang remained silent for a long time. Snarky thoughts queued up in his mind one after another, leaving him at a loss as to where to even begin.
*Isn't this basically a movie?!*
*And a full holographic simulation movie at that!*
The combat scenes went without saying—they were indistinguishable from reality. The plot was admittedly a bit thin, but that hardly mattered. This was merely the start, and the story could be fleshed out at any time.
If this existed in his previous life, it would slaughter the competition; no special effects could ever hope to compare.
"What a brilliant idea," Lu Yang marveled.
He was certain that once this concept was refined and introduced to the public, it would be insanely lucrative!
Chapter 343