Falling into an illusion

  In front of him was a man in purple clothes, holding a long sword, who was Xu Zifeng, a strong player in the foundation period. Beside him was a woman in gorgeous clothes, with a delicate and charming face, who was Meng Wanjin. Now the two joined forces to fight against a middle-aged man with a beard under his chin, coming and going, with great fanfare.

  Behind the three people, a few meters away, many young men and women stood densely, each with a dazed expression. The ritual objects in their hands were either held or hung on their bodies, all dull and without any radiance, not having been taken out yet.

  These hundreds of people were all motionless, also didn't know what they were doing, unexpectedly had no reaction, and the spirit was as if it had been covered up, without a single ripple.

  The cave was quite large and could accommodate these monks with ease. Xu Zi Qing stood at the edge, not in the midst of the battle. He looked closely at these monks and felt a sense of wonder. He then looked at the three seniors who were fighting intensely and discovered another inappropriateness.

  A few days ago, he had seen the master of this house, Xu Zhengtian, and Tian Kuang, in a grand and majestic manner, which was enough to make him feel shocked and frightened even in the Baicao Garden. But now, three foundation-building cultivators were fighting, how could it be far inferior to that time? Xu Ziqing felt that this battle might not even be comparable to the usual competitions between Qi-refining cultivators!

  How strange, too strange.

  Xu Ziqing couldn't understand why he was so weak and gave up thinking about it. He looked around again, trying to find Old He's trail.

  I still remember before the illusion array was activated, he was still standing with Old Man He, how come I can't see him now?

  Fortunately, he soon found out where Old He was. It turned out that Old He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, and the pipe gun had returned to its original size before it was fired and fell beside him.

  He Lao also looked dazed, his eyes seemed to be closed but not quite, with a bewildered expression. Xuzi Qing felt something was off and quickly ran over, using his hand to shake him awake.

  "Mr. Guan, Mr. Guan!" he cried out in a urgent voice, "Wake up quickly!"

  Xu Ziqing suddenly had a guess in his heart as he recalled the behavior of those cultivators just now and the scene he saw before he woke up. Maybe everyone was trapped in an illusion, which is why they were all dizzy and unable to move.

  Thinking that He Lao might have been enchanted by the illusion, Xu Ziqing activated his spiritual power and cast a simple spell "Clear Heart Mantra", slapping it on He Lao's face.

  Although this mantra is of a low grade, it has the effect of clearing one's mind and warding off evil spirits. With Xu Zi Qing's current level of cultivation, he can only use such mantras.

  Fortunately, it was useful. Old He's face received a refreshing slap, and he suddenly woke up with a start, shivering and opening his eyes. For a moment, there was still a look of terror on his face, but when he saw Xu Ziqing's worried expression, he seemed to remember something and returned to normal.

  He Lao Tou is much more insightful than Xu Zi Qing. With just one glance around, he understood the situation at hand. His gaze was complex as he looked at Xu Zi Qing and said: "Young man, your determination is quite firm, not bad."

  Xu Ziqing smiled wryly: "The junior is just accidentally hitting it."

  In fact, since this illusion array can trap so many people, how could it be easily broken? Xu Ziqing was able to escape only because he had died once and had a certain understanding of the boundary between life and death.

  He was fortunate to have benefited from his misfortune. In his previous life, he had been bedridden for a long time, and no matter how much he consoled himself, he didn't know how much resentment and bitterness had accumulated in his heart. He thought that after reincarnation, he wouldn't care about it anymore, but when he entered the fantasy realm, he realized that it had become a heart demon, usually submerged deep in his heart. If he continued to cultivate for a long time and his Taoist practice became even more profound, then when the heart demon went berserk, it would be difficult to subdue. Fortunately, after going through this matter, he discovered where the heart demon was, broke free from it, and suddenly his thoughts were much clearer than before. From now on, when he continues to cultivate, he won't be disturbed by this resentment and bitterness!

  He Lao didn't say much to him either, now that the situation was urgent, he understood more than Xu Zi Qing.

  He recalled earlier and asked first: "Youngster, how did you wake me up?"

  Xu Ziqing replied: "I used a Clear Mind Mantra..."

  He Lao nodded slightly: "I'll go call the others, if you can still use a few more spells, then go." He paused for a moment, "But first, we need to summon my Xu family members, do you know how?"

  Xu Ziqing was taken aback for a moment, then responded: "Yes, I understand."

  This cave is quite strange, the more people who wake up the better. But they are not from the same family and cannot act together with one heart. They are relatives of the Xu family and must first consider the interests of their clan.

  Xu Ziqing felt a bit uneasy, but he also knew that there was a distinction between intimacy and distance, so he listened to her words and did as she said.

  Then the two of them worked together, both slapping the Clear Mind Mantra onto the faces of those bewildered monks. This method was indeed effective, and whoever received a slap immediately woke up. But after waking up, those monks also realized their current situation, either feeling ashamed or annoyed, yet they all went to rescue others.

  Those three foundation-building monks were still fighting fiercely, and it seemed that they had been deceived quite badly. Old He saw that the Xu family members were about to be awakened, thought for a moment, and then flashed his body to the front of the three people's melee, casting the Clear Mind Mantra on Xu Ziyu! Even if there was still much that wasn't right, in this kind of situation, he couldn't let the three high-ranking individuals continue to consume each other's energy!

  Xu Zifeng was deeply confused, and for some reason, he suddenly started fighting with two others. Now, just giving him a slight hint, he immediately came to his senses.

  Almost in the next instant, Xu Zifeng's long sword swung, and he retreated from the battle group, his face looking very unsightly.

  At this moment, he didn't have the energy to get angry. Just as he was awake, countless seven-colored lights suddenly floated down from the top of the cave, speckled and dotted, and it could be said that they were breathtakingly beautiful.

  However, hidden in this beautiful scenery is a cold and ruthless killing intent.

  There were still some cultivators who were caught off guard by the radiance, and in an instant, their skin turned dark, and even their flesh and blood corroded away! The remaining people were shocked and quickly retreated, but there were still those who accidentally got hit, and suddenly wailed and screamed. Many more cultivators hastily summoned their magical instruments, which emitted a protective glow that barely blocked the radiance.

  Xu Ziqing was also shocked, he didn't have a magic weapon, what could he do?

  He Lao saw the situation was not in his favor, and had already taken out his smoke gun. In an instant, a brilliant light enveloped him, protecting him from head to toe. He also pulled Xu Ziqing over, and the two of them stood together under the protection of the smoke gun's light, narrowly avoiding the same fate as those cultivators.

  Xu Ziqing didn't recognize the glow and saw He Lao's serious expression, so he asked: "He Guan Shi, what is this thing?"

  He Lao shook his head: "I don't know either, but I think Zi Feng young master knows."

  The two of them immediately turned their gaze towards Xu Zifeng.

  Xu Zifeng retreated, and Ying Guang floated down. He seemed to have recognized this thing immediately and released two sword auras, "Hiss" twice. Meng Wanjin and Tian Tao also woke up at that time and were greatly shocked.

  Three people simultaneously launched their moves, one with a body of sword light, one with a red ribbon stretching and shrinking on his arm, and another with a jade pendant hanging from his head. In an instant, the area within five meters around them was no longer affected by the falling spiritual lights.

  Xu Zifeng's expression was slightly better, Meng Wanjin and Tian Tao saw their excellent clansmen being enveloped in the divine light, they were all loudly shouting, jumping out together, and one by one slapping awake the younger generation of the clan. At this moment, the three no longer had any thoughts of competing for the treasure, their only thought was to protect more of the younger generation of the clan!

  The Xu family reacted quickly, and most of them had already woken up before the dawn broke. Although a few people were slow to react at first and were injured, they all took out their magical instruments and were fine now. They were currently going to "rescue" the two families who did not have a high-level cultivator to protect them. Unlike some other families, who were now in a state of panic!

  Xu Zifeng didn't help, instead her gaze shifted upwards, carefully searching inside the cave.

  The glimmer of light soon proved ineffective, and the other four family members were also awakened. However, another change occurred in the cave!

  At the top of the cave, what was originally a piece of gray rock suddenly cracked open in several places, lifting up some stone scales.

  Xu Ziqing's eyes narrowed and he immediately looked over!

  Everyone was attracted by the changing cave top, and they all went to see without blinking. The stone skin did not disappoint everyone, but gradually peeled off more, turning into countless small pieces of copper coins. In the blink of an eye, the flat area on the top of the cave seemed to form a dense layer of stone scales, with a dark gray color that made people's hair stand on end!

  How could it be that all of you cultivators can't see that these stone scales are not formed from the cracking open of rock skin, but rather are a swarm of gray butterflies covering the entire ceiling of the cave!

  At this time, a knowledgeable person called out: "It's a seven-colored fantasy butterfly!"

  Xu Zifeng and the other three foundation builders had long known about this thing, but they didn't care about the crowd's discussions, each guarding the excellent young masters of their respective clans, using their own methods to release sword energy and magical techniques against those gray butterflies!

  Xu Ziqing saw those who had been exposed with a look of horror on their faces, and asked in surprise: "He Guanshi, what is this seven-colored butterfly again?"

  He Lao's face looked very unsightly: "It is a kind of demon beast that can create illusions, extremely troublesome."

  Xu Ziqing somewhat understood and didn't say more, only to see He Guanshi release another strange hook-shaped artifact, suddenly attacking the countless butterflies at the top of the cave!

  Everyone was working hard to kill butterflies, among them Xu Zifeng was particularly dedicated and killed the most.

  He was exceptionally talented and had endured countless hardships over the years to achieve this level of success. However, even with all that, he had never suffered such a huge loss before. As soon as he entered the cave, he saw a dazzling treasure light deep within it. His two opponents, who had entered with him, immediately began fighting over it, and he naturally joined in as well.

  Xu Zifeng never expected that this cave was not a treasure trove, but rather the nest of the Seven-Colored Butterfly!

  As soon as they discovered the cave, they had already fallen into a fantasy realm under the Seven-Colored Butterfly Brocade. The so-called Mountain Protection Formation was originally just an introduction to the fantasy realm. Once inside the cave, the Seven-Colored Butterfly's illusionary technique became even more profound, causing them to fall into the pot.

  Because Xu Zifeng and the other two had the highest cultivation, the illusion of the Seven-Colored Butterfly's realm mainly targeted them. Therefore, only they saw what they wished for in their hearts - the Great Ability Treasure. On the other hand, the many disciples who had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage all saw scenes that they dared not face deep within their hearts, and were thus bewildered. However, there were those with unshakeable wills like Xu Ziqing, who could break free from the illusion on their own.

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