Encountering Chen Ping'an Again

Five pitch-black throwing knives, gleaming with an eerie, cold light, pierced Zhang Tie's body by an inch amid shrill whistles. Yet it was as though they had struck an invisible barrier, abruptly halting in place.

At the instant the throwing knives stopped, Zhang Tie's deep eyes suddenly erupted with a sharp, lightning-like gleam, as if a slumbering ferocious beast had awakened.

An indescribably frigid aura surged from his body like a storm, instantly spreading through the area. Even the surrounding air seemed frozen, emitting faint crackling sounds. The scene before them twisted and peeled away like rippling water, revealing its true form.

What black throwing knives were embedded in Zhang Tie's body?

They had clearly transformed into an entirely emerald-green spear brimming with spiritual energy!

The spear shaft was neither gold nor iron, seemingly forged from some ancient divine wood. It felt as warm and smooth as jade, yet contained immense power.

Mysterious, intricate patterns flowed slowly across the shaft as though alive. Phantoms of flowers, birds, fish, insects, mountains, rivers, vegetation, and trees flickered over it, sometimes clearly visible and sometimes vanishing into streaming light.

The entire spear was enveloped in a deep azure halo. That glow was not constant, but flickered with mysterious, unpredictable radiance like distant stars in the night sky, waxing and waning as though each flicker stirred the surrounding spiritual energy.

Meanwhile, Zhang Tie's puppet stood dozens of yards away, throwing punch after punch at seemingly empty space, its fists leaving afterimages as thunderous impacts rang out.

Clearly, during that lightning-fast clash, Zhang Tie had unknowingly stepped into an illusion trap carefully woven by his opponents, allowing this fatal spear strike to land.

Anyone capable of casting such a superb illusion before someone of his cultivation and concealing murderous intent so successfully was almost certainly