Riding his Flying Sword, Chu Fan reached the five people in an instant. He didn’t land. Instead, he grabbed one person’s arm, preparing to pull him out of the wind’s path.
But the moment his hand touched the man’s arm, the person dissipated like a fluorescent glow.
’An Illusion Realm?’
"ROAR—"
At that moment, the giant beast let out a furious roar. The sound seemed to reverberate through the entire world, making Chu Fan’s eardrums ache in pain.
His heart pounded in terror. A tightness seized his chest, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The figures of the other four people in front of him had also vanished.
"You have thoroughly angered me!"
Before Chu Fan could recover from his discomfort, he saw countless people swarming toward him from all directions.
Each one wielded a sword or blade, their faces contorted in rage as they hacked at him.
With no other choice, he leaped off his Flying Sword and, holding his Long Sword, began to defend and counter-attack.
He suspected this was still the Illusion Realm, but he had no choice but to fight. ’Who the hell knows what would happen if I didn’t?’
’I wonder what kind of great formation those predecessors set up over three thousand years ago.’
’Just how many capabilities does this formation have?’
’I refuse to believe the giant beast could have come back to life. If it were still alive, after wreaking so much havoc three thousand years ago, how could it just be sitting here so peacefully now?’
He just didn’t know when this Illusion Realm had begun.
’Did I fall into it the moment I set foot on Dingfeng Slope?’
’Or did it start when I ran into those eight people?’
’Or was it the White Fox?’
’Or did it only begin when I saw the giant beast?’
But regardless, the fierce gales from before had indeed left many wounds on his body.
If the Illusion Realm could even create the sensation of pain and the smell of blood, it could only mean this illusion was unbelievably powerful.
When a sword from the attacking crowd stabbed into his body, drawing a spray of fresh blood, he could finally confirm that this Illusion Realm was truly terrifying.
He slashed desperately.
Fortunately, this tide of people wasn’t very strong, their Combat Power roughly equivalent to that of a Fusion Realm Early Stage Cultivator.
He could dispatch a figure with every swing of his Sword.
But their numbers were overwhelming!
’Even if the pain doesn’t kill me, the exhaustion probably will.’
This couldn’t go on. He racked his brain for a solution.
"CHIRR—QUIRR—QUIRR—"
A series of bird calls sounded from nearby, standing out starkly against the endless cries of battle.
Chu Fan hadn’t yet thought of a solution when the scene before him abruptly changed after the bird calls.
It was the same valley. There was thick fog in the distance, the ground was littered with bones, and to the southeast, the giant beast lay prostrate on the ground, as massive as a mountain, its eyes tightly shut and utterly lifeless.
The five people were also still there, but their postures were extremely bizarre.
The man with the brandy nose, Lan Bing, was holding a curved blade that was buried in the shoulder of the slender Liu Yisheng, from which blood flowed freely.
The Sword in Liu Yisheng’s hand was stabbed into the thigh of the fatty, Che Dagui.
The bearded man, Qi Biao, was kneeling on the chest of the goateed Ji Bufan, who was coughing up blood while trying to push Qi Biao away.
Clearly, they too had been trapped in the Illusion Realm. Theirs was likely different from Chu Fan’s, leading them to turn on and kill one another.
Now that the Illusion Realm was broken, they were all stunned.
’That bird call just now... it sounded like a partridge, didn’t it?’
’Why would the Illusion Realm break just because a partridge chirped?’
One could imagine that without that bird call, the five of them would have surely killed each other, while Chu Fan would have likely died from exhaustion and pain.
After all, the pain within the Illusion Realm was real.
In other words, the Illusion Realm had started the moment they saw the giant beast’s corpse.
Everyone was completely exhausted and slumped to the ground, no longer caring about the skeletons littered everywhere.
The five men didn’t blame each other. After all, trapped in the illusion, they hadn’t recognized one another.
The five men tended to their own wounds. Though no accusations were made, a rift had already formed between them.
They didn’t speak a single word until nightfall.
After experiencing the Illusion Realm, no one held onto their initial wishful thinking. Instead, they were filled with a profound sense of awe and fear.
With the exception of Chu Fan, the others were already thinking of retreating. But they didn’t dare to, for who knew what they might encounter on the way back.
Meanwhile, Chu Fan’s mind was consumed with pondering the mystery of the partridge’s call.
’Why did the Illusion Realm shatter on its own after the bird call?’
’I just can’t figure it out.’
As the sky grew darker, they became even more hesitant to make any sudden moves. Even though their stomachs were rumbling with hunger, they could only swallow their saliva and endure.
"Kid, how did you dare come to Dingfeng Slope all by yourself?" Qi Biao called out to Chu Fan.
Hearing this, Chu Fan gave a self-deprecating laugh and said, "I was forced into it. If things were fine, I’d have to be out of my mind to come here. Even if this place holds a heaven-defying fortune, you still have to be alive to walk away with it!"
Initially, Chu Fan had admittedly grown a bit arrogant. His Golden Core had been shattered and his meridians destroyed, turning him into a cripple, yet he still got the chance to start his Cultivation anew—and with a Chaos Body, no less.
’Wasn’t that the impossible becoming possible?’
Possessing the Chaos Body had made him much more confident. Coupled with his uncontrollable rage at the time and his inability to bear watching Yun Xi be pushed into the abyss, he had impulsively agreed to Yu Zongding’s conditions.
But now, after experiencing the Illusion Realm, his mind had calmed. It would be a lie to say he had no regrets.
’Haven’t those people from the Lingyun Sect done enough treacherous things?’
’They were just looking for an excuse to send me to my death, to get me out of sight and out of mind.’
"Why did you all come here?" Chu Fan asked.
"It’s not like we’re guaranteed to get out of here alive, so I might as well tell you. We’re all wanted criminals from the Hua Xu Empire. With warrants out for our arrest, we were chased all the way to the Eastern Domain. Then we heard the legends about Dingfeng Slope and decided to take a gamble here."
The Hua Xu Empire. It was an extremely distant place, the most powerful Empire on this continent, occupying the entire Central Domain.
He had once heard his master say that the Central Domain was countless times more prosperous than the other four domains. In the eyes of the people of the Hua Xu Empire, the four outer domains were nothing but a barren wilderness.
Chu Fan didn’t press for more details. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and began his Cultivation.
He had been fighting and killing in the Illusion Realm for nearly two hours, and the True Qi in his body was long since depleted.
The night passed without incident, and the morning sun rose.
They were clearly in a valley on Yunmeng Mountain. Logically, the night should have been filled with the roars of beasts and the chirping of insects, and the morning should have brought the calls of countless birds.
Yet, from last night until now, the place had remained utterly silent.
In fact, ever since they had set foot on Dingfeng Slope, nothing could be explained by common sense.
On the second day, they only circled the area at a distance of a hundred zhang from the giant beast. They didn’t encounter any danger, but they also didn’t dare get any closer to it.
They didn’t find anything of value, though they did spot several beetle nests.
For some unknown reason, they also encountered lone beetles, but the beetles didn’t pursue them.
That night, it suddenly began to rain. Having not eaten for two days, the drenching rain made them completely lose their patience.
The five men had their first argument.
Some wanted to leave, some wanted to go search for treasure near the giant beast, and some were undecided.
After a heated argument, they turned their attention to Chu Fan.
It was because Chu Fan had driven away the beetles at the beginning, and when they were trapped in the Illusion Realm killing each other, he was the only one who hadn’t been fighting them.
Therefore, they thought Chu Fan might know how to approach the giant beast without coming to harm.
"Kid, we’ve waited a whole day. Are you going to go for the treasure or not?" The one who spoke was the goateed Ji Bufan.