True Face

"System, what exactly is this thing? Could it be some hidden Big Shot inside this palace?" Ye Han asked doubtfully.

The person before him did not belong to this palace.

Just one sentence made Ye Han's heart tremble. He did not dare think too much about it, since the other party seemed capable of reading his thoughts.

Please rest assured, Host. When the Host communicates with the system, the other party's ability will automatically be blocked.

Seeing the system's words, Ye Han let out a sigh of relief. Honestly, the more one tried not to think about certain things, the more likely they were to think about them.

After calming himself, Ye Han looked at Hui, who had remained quiet the whole time, and quickly asked the system, "So what exactly is going on? What the hell is that thing, and is there any way to deal with it?"

The system cannot resolve it, but it has detected that the Host possesses the ability to resolve it.

The system's words caught Ye Han off guard. He asked uncertainly, "You're sure it's me?"

That's right.

Since the system had said so, Ye Han figured it could not be wrong. After recovering his composure, he looked at Hui. "Even if we entered on our own, what is your purpose?"

Hui said gently, "Heart Refining was established to screen candidates for the palace's master and select an inheritor!"

Ye Han did not believe a single word. With his mind connected to the system, he was naturally no longer afraid of having his thoughts peered into.

"So how do we complete Heart Refining?" Ye Han asked curiously.

"When you can remain steadfast in your heart!"

Ye Han neither agreed nor disagreed. He was merely pondering the true purpose of the person before him, as well as the method the system claimed he could use to solve this.

After thinking for some time, Ye Han stopped paying attention to Hui. He sat cross-legged and immersed himself in the Gate of Babylon.

Upon entering again, it was as dazzling as ever, but this time Ye Han had a clear priority.

"I wonder if my Gate of Babylon has an item like that. I hope I'm right!" Ye Han continuously used Appraisal. Some Noble Phantasms were of such high grade that he could not even appraise their true names.

As he passed over them one by one, Ye Han soon spotted the Noble Phantasm he wanted. "I never expected my Gate of Babylon to have this spear!"

Without hesitation, Ye Han grasped the crimson spear. His Soul Power began draining rapidly, and he withdrew from the Gate of Babylon. In his hand was the famous Demon Piercing Red Rose, the weapon once wielded by Diarmuid, the son of Ireland, during the Fourth Holy Grail War.

Ye Han remembered it quite clearly. Whether it worked or not, he directly drove the Demon Piercing Red Rose into the blank white ground.

In an instant, the world around them began to collapse. Hui's expression changed, and he roared almost crazily, "How is that possible?! Why can you break my illusion?!"

Ye Han ignored him. As the surrounding space crumbled bit by bit, everyone soon returned to the palace, still in their original positions. However, an ugly old man now stood before them.

Black mist coiled around the old man's body, and he looked half-mad. "Tell me, why was my illusion useless against you? Why can you break the Illusion Dream Silkworm's illusion?!"

With spear in hand, Ye Han warily watched the old man. Honestly, someone capable of constructing such an illusion and sending Zhao Lei away made Ye Han feel that things did not look good for him today.

Seeing that Ye Han remained silent, the old man slowly approached him step by step. Cold sweat covered Ye Han's forehead as he swung his spear and stabbed at the old man.

The latter neither dodged nor evaded, continuing to ask, "Answer me, why? I have to find out the Illusion Dream Silkworm's weakness!"

"Pfft!"

Ye Han felt the Red Rose in his hand pierce something solid. The old man's expression did not change at all, and in the next instant, he vanished from where he stood, leaving nothing behind.

Extremely tense, Ye Han heard movement atop the palace's stone statues. He stretched out his right hand. "First Soul Skill, Control."

Several Noble Phantasms shot out fiercely. Regardless of whether they hit, Ye Han poured in Soul Power again. "Second Soul Skill, Detonation!"

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted atop the statue. Ye Han saw someone fall from the air. Following the principle of striking first, he activated the Gate of Babylon again.

After a barrage of attacks, Ye Han felt his Soul Power plummet. When he saw that the person being attacked was the old man from before, he realized that this time, the old man no longer felt dangerous.

Now, Ye Han felt that the old man before him was just an ordinary person. Blood continuously flowed from his mouth, but Ye Han did not care about anything else and prepared to finish him off.

"Wait! Don't you want your friends to wake up?" Hearing the old man's voice, Ye Han paused, then cautiously moved closer.

"The method?" Ye Han spoke coldly. Halos surrounded the old man in every direction. If the old man made any suspicious move, Ye Han would kill him without hesitation.

The old man coughed up blood, yet seemed completely unafraid. He laughed loudly. "Kid, let's make a deal! I'll help you wake your friends, and you answer a few of my questions!"

"The method!" Ye Han had no intention of trusting the old man. He had killed one before, yet that one had ultimately vanished without a trace. Who knew whether this one was real?

The old man did not seem to care at all. "This old man is Kui Si. My Martial Soul was a silkworm, innate Soul Power level one. In my pursuit of strength, I followed clues to this palace and successfully evolved my Martial Soul into the Illusion Dream Silkworm."

Ye Han frowned after hearing that and said impatiently, "I don't want to hear your life story. You have only two choices now. Tell me the method, and after I confirm it, I'll kill you! Or I'll kill you first, then go out and find another way!"

Kui Si said without the slightest concern, "Kill me, then. This old man is tired too!"

A powerful Killing Intent erupted from Ye Han, but he quickly calmed down. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Tell me the method first. If it works, I can answer your questions."

Kui Si did not hesitate. He directly released his Soul Power, and Esdeath and the others woke up as well.

The moment they awakened, they saw Ye Han and Kui Si facing off and immediately became alert.

Seeing that everyone was fine, Ye Han also breathed a sigh of relief. "I keep my word. Ask away."

Kui Si coughed twice. Not caring about the blood on his body, he asked excitedly, "Just tell me why I couldn't create an illusion for you, and why you could break the illusion."

Ye Han planted his spear into the ground. "Demon Piercing Red Rose can break all illusions! Now that I've told you, you can die in peace!"

For some reason, Ye Han felt a powerful unease in his heart. Without hesitation, the halos around him fired a large number of Noble Phantasms, directly piercing through Kui Si.

After confirming that Kui Si was dead beyond doubt, Ye Han sat down on the ground in exhaustion.

"What happened earlier? Why did we all pass out?" Esdeath asked as she supported Ye Han from the ground.

Just as Ye Han was about to speak, a tremor of souls came from Kui Si's body. A wisp of ethereal energy gathered into Kui Si's form.

"Hahaha! This old man will take your body! As long as I have that spear, I will definitely become the strongest!" As Kui Si charged out, Esdeath and Lia both swung their swords.

Unfortunately, souls had no physical form. Both Esdeath and Lia's attacks passed through Kui Si's soul. Seeing this, Soul Power rapidly surged around Yoruichi.

"Bloom, White Wings!"

As Yoruichi whispered, a powerful spiritual pressure swept through her body from the Zanpakuto. Her original academy School Uniform instantly transformed into black combat attire, complete with powerful Gauntlets.

In her transformed state, Yoruichi threw a punch directly at Kui Si's soul. Kui Si, who had been completely unconcerned, roared when he sensed the Soul Power on Yoruichi's body, "It was you! You were the one who absorbed this palace's Soul Power before!"

But no amount of wailing could change anything. The instant he came into contact with Yoruichi's fist, Kui Si's soul began to dissipate, and a streak of white light entered Yoruichi's body.

"What happened? Wasn't Kui Si already dead?" Honjou Kaede looked at Yoruichi worriedly.

Yoruichi calmly shook her head. "White Wings' ability is simple. When it comes into contact with a soul, it can absorb that soul to strengthen itself. Of course, it can also obtain part of its memories."

Only after hearing Yoruichi's explanation did everyone relax. After all, what had just happened was far too bizarre.

"What exactly happened?" After everyone rested for a while, Esdeath asked again.

"Do you remember what each of you saw?" Ye Han asked.

"Of course I remember. Britain was destroyed before my eyes once again!" Lia said angrily.

Ye Han comfortingly patted Lia's shoulder and said softly, "I don't know why, but all of that was fake."

"It was for souls. According to Kui Si's memories, he had been researching souls in this palace for a long time. In the end, he discovered that if he wanted the purest souls, he had to make people angry, make them doubt themselves, and stir up other negative emotions."

With Kui Si's memories, Yoruichi felt a chill in her heart. They were not the first people to enter this place. Everyone who had entered before had become Kui Si's nourishment.

Kui Si's unusual actions this time were because Yoruichi had absorbed a great amount of Soul Power, because he had set his sights on Ye Han's body, and, more importantly, because the Illusion Dream Silkworm had no physical attacks, only illusions.

The atmosphere turned slightly grim. To put it bluntly, they had nearly been wiped out this time.

Their gains were not nonexistent. Through this incident, Yoruichi learned why she had begun Shikai back in Gemstone Village: it was because of souls. She did not know where they had come from, but their scattered aura had happened to be absorbed by her.

Only today did she truly complete Shikai. Another possible gain was that everyone had acquired the passive skill Illusion Resistance in their attributes.