The Great Luo Thousand Illusion Art

A stunned silence fell over the room. The disciples who had just been sharing quarters with the fallen man now stared in horror as he lay dead in an instant. Multicolored protective shields and defensive artifacts flickered to life around the survivors, most of whom fixed their gazes on the scholar, not daring to look away.

No one moved rashly.

The woman named Mu recovered from her shock and immediately distanced herself from Du Dong, her ribbon artifact swirling around her in a defensive barrier.

As for Sun Huo, he had silently retreated several steps the moment the scholar appeared, his gaze darting between the scholar and Du Dong, his expression grim.

Han Li had slid noiselessly to a corner of the meditation chamber. His eyes flickered as he observed the scene, his thoughts unreadable.

It was then that Du Dong’s aura suddenly exploded outward. Black light enveloped his body, and dark, twisting runes surfaced across his face and neck. Within that radiance, his form swelled dramatically, transforming into a towering giant nearly two zhang tall. His face was ferocious, his eyes a ghastly green, and his cultivation base had surged to the mid-Core Formation stage.

“Excellent! If the Thousand Illusion Sect claims second place in the art of concealment and transformation here in Tiannan, no one would dare claim first. The ‘Great Luo Thousand Illusion Art’ truly lives up to its reputation as your sect’s ultimate technique.” The scholar named Bai clapped his hands and laughed, showing delight rather alarm at Du Dong’s startling transformation.

“Hmph.” The giant that Du Dong had become let out a cold snort, offering no reply. Instead, his sinister gaze swept over the others before settling back on Han Li. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes.

Two sounds followed in quick succession: a swoosh and a thud.

The gathered disciples only saw the giant’s form blur. A gust of wind, and he was already beside Han Li, who was protected by a defensive barrier. Without hesitation, the giant raised a hand. The barrier shattered instantly. His hand shot like lightning into Han Li’s chest, then withdrew, clutching a bloody, still-beating heart.

Han Li’s body crumpled to the floor.

“Ah!”

The other disciples cried out in a mix of anger and fear at the bloody scene, convinced the slaughter had begun. Their hearts pounded with dread.

“Huh?” The giant wore a puzzled expression at how easily his target had fallen. Frowning, he examined the heart in his hand. It was still warm. The kill was genuine.

“What are you doing? These disciples aren’t yours to kill as you please. Several of them have significant backing. One of them is the direct descendant of that old fiend, Tian Hen. Don’t act recklessly!” the scholar barked, alarmed by Du Dong’s sudden attack.

“Hmph. You killed one, so why can’t I? Besides, this brat was somewhat peculiar. It was better to strike first. As for old fiend Tian Hen’s descendant, it’s definitely not this man. He joined the sect at the same time I did—a fresh recruit,” Du Dong said flatly, tossing the heart aside.

“See that you keep that in mind. I don’t know if Tian Hen’s descendant is male or female, or which sect they joined. But given his vast abilities, the three sects will surely ensure his descendant is among the ten selected disciples, to have a chance at the Pure viewing opportunity. If you had accidentally killed that person, the trouble would have been immense. As for the man I killed, I knew his background well. He was certainly not the old fiend’s descendant,” the scholar said, his tone easing but still carrying weight.

“Fine. I won’t touch the rest of them for now. But we can’t have them causing trouble. Let’s put them to sleep for a while.” With that, Du Dong spun on the spot. Black light burst from him, expanding like a tidal wave to blot out the entire meditation chamber.

The other disciples had just felt a flicker of relief at the earlier exchange when the black light engulfed them. One by one, they grew dizzy and collapsed, unconscious.

The scholar nodded, looking satisfied as he surveyed the fallen disciples.

“Let’s go. We can’t delay any longer.”

“Understood.”

With that brief exchange, the two strode toward the door.

But as Du Dong reached the threshold, a faint unease stirred in his heart. He couldn’t help glancing back at the corpse he had disemboweled. Han Li lay motionless in a pool of blood, undeniably dead.

Du Dong laughed silently at his own suspicion and followed the scholar out.

Once they had gone, the meditation chamber fell into complete silence.

But only moments later, a woman’s pleasant voice suddenly rang out in the room.

“Brother Han, how does my Celestial Fox Confusion Art compare to that Great Luo Thousand Illusion Art? That fellow’s cultivation wasn’t weak, but he couldn’t even tell if his kill was real or not. How amusing!”

As she spoke, Han Li’s supposed corpse on the floor began to emit a faint white glow. The light coalesced into a silver radiance, which then condensed into a snow-white fox barely a foot long. The little fox shook its head and spoke.

“It’s certainly impressive. But you were originally of the Silver Wolf clan; it’s quite odd that you’re so proficient in fox arts. Still, those two cultivators aren’t particularly advanced. If they had reached the late Core Formation stage, it might not have been so easy to deceive them. And the Great Luo Thousand Illusion Art is indeed remarkable. At the very least, when that man concealed his cultivation level, even I couldn’t determine his true strength.” Han Li’s voice drifted out from the wall a few feet behind the white fox.

A flash of yellow light, and Han Li emerged from the stone wall, holding the wolf-headed jade ruyi in his hand.

At some unknown point, he had quietly slipped into the wall using an earth escape technique. The “Han Li” left in the room was merely a doppelganger created by Silvermoon, borrowing the white fox’s body. Though the illusion technique couldn’t last long, it had been more than sufficient to deceive two mid-Core Formation cultivators for that brief period.

“Is that art really so powerful? Didn’t you see through its flaws at a glance, Brother Han?” Silvermoon muttered, still slightly unconvinced, as she pursed her lips.

“I have cultivated the Great Derivative Art. In terms of divine sense alone, I’m nearly on par with an early Nascent Soul cultivator. If I couldn’t detect something amiss even with that, then that art wouldn’t be the best at concealment in Tiannan—it would be the best in the world,” Han Li said dismissively.

The white fox tilted its furry head at this and chose not to argue further.

Han Li walked to the center of the room, his gaze sweeping over the unconscious disciples. His eyes flickered, then finally settled on the black-robed youth, Meng Di.

The little fox seemed to read his mind. With a few nimble hops, it landed on the youth, unceremoniously grabbed the storage pouch from his waist, and scampered back to Han Li, dutifully presenting it.

Han Li smiled faintly and took the pouch without ceremony. With a sweep of his divine sense, he located the jade box containing the Settling Spirit Pill. He retrieved it, then casually tossed the pouch back onto the youth’s body.

Since the item was useless at the youth’s current cultivation level, Han Li had no qualms about appropriating it.

“Let’s go. Those two should be inside the Spirit Eye Tree’s cavern by now. Let’s follow and take a look.” After pocketing the box, Han Li stroked his chin and called out softly. With a sweep of his sleeve, he wrapped the white fox in his aura and shot out of the meditation chamber as a streak of azure light.

Outside, the sounds of explosions continued without pause. After listening for a moment, a flicker of doubt crossed Han Li’s eyes, but he dismissed it and pressed on.

When he reached the cavern entrance, the stone door was wide open, its restrictions completely disabled. The two men had already entered.

From inside, the faint sound of angry voices could be heard.

“Brother Wei, what is the meaning of this? With the goal in sight, you suddenly renege. Have you forgotten the great kindness the sect leader showed you back then? Or have you spent so many years in the Falling Cloud Sect that you’ve truly forgotten your identity as a disciple of the Heavenly Calamity Sect?” It was Du Dong’s voice, furious and reproachful.

Han Li’s heart stirred at these words. He was about to move closer when his expression suddenly changed. He vanished from his spot in an instant.

His divine sense had detected something unexpected: there were seven or eight people inside the cavern, including a Nascent Soul cultivator. That cultivator, along with several others at the Core Formation stage, was silently concealed beneath the cavern floor, clearly lying in ambush.

Without a sound, Han Li slipped into the cavern and found a secluded corner to observe from.

The concealed Core Formation cultivators were all protected by a faint yellow light barrier. The one maintaining the spell was someone Han Li was familiar with: the blue-robed youth, who should have been outside dealing with the enemy.

That explained why the three men above had yet to discover the ambush below.

As Han Li probed further with his divine sense, he identified the figures within the barrier: the blue-robed cultivator and the gray-robed elder, along with two others—the surnamed Fu elder and the scholar’s cultivation partner, the white-robed young woman. The woman’s face was deathly pale, and she was dragging an unconscious man—the long-faced elder.

Seeing this group, Han Li, still hidden, drew a sharp breath. A flicker of confusion crossed his mind. The sounds of the formation being breached outside had not stopped for a moment. Who was fighting out there now? Or had there never been any real breach—just a setup?

At that moment, the disheveled elder’s calm voice rang out from within the golden light shield.

“I understand. The orthodox and demonic sects recently discovered an ancient Verdant Heaven Vine near the Moulan Plains. Though the vine had long withered, if it were watered with the essence liquid of this Spirit Eye Tree, there is a strong chance it could be revived. That is why we, who have been planted disciples within these three sects for so many years, have been activated at all costs, abandoning even the original plan to overthrow the sects. And Fellow Daoist Du, in your capacity as the Young Master of the Thousand Illusion Sect, risked infiltrating this place personally, bringing the orders from above to urge our cooperation across the orthodox-demon divide.” The disheveled elder spoke slowly and deliberately.