Realm of Illusion

The world around them suddenly shifted. The originally murky fog churned and flowed, transforming into countless dazzling illusions.

Immortal light rained down from the heavens, revealing the grand scene of Purple Firmament Palace preaching the Dao. Innate spiritual roots covered the land, spiritual herbs grew in abundance, and the melodies of the Great Dao drifted through the air, bewitching hearts and stirring the deepest greed and obsessions within cultivators.

"What powerful illusionary force."

Lei Xiao's expression turned grave. If not for the Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder within him, he would likely have fallen into it at once.

Though Lei Xiao had not succumbed, he was still trapped within the illusionary world.

Lei Xiao looked around. The Purple Firmament Palace within the illusion looked vividly real. He could even "see" Hongjun seated upon a high platform, lotus blossoms spilling from his lips as every word of the Dao transformed into golden runes flowing through the void. The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Fuxi, and other great powers sat upon prayer mats, intoxicated expressions on their faces.

He knew it was false, yet he still could not help wanting to draw closer, listen, and comprehend.

"This illusion certainly knows how to cater to one's desires. Unfortunately, fake is fake. Third Sister's condition doesn't look good. I have to break this illusion quickly." Lei Xiao shook his head slightly.

Not far from him, Bi Xiao had her eyes tightly shut. White mist was pouring madly into her body, making her entire figure seem somewhat illusory.

"Break!"

Lei Xiao activated a trace of Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder. With his low shout, endless Purple Heaven Divine Thunder descended from the sky. The seemingly vast and boundless spectacle of Purple Firmament Palace preaching the Dao cracked apart inch by inch like glazed glass.

The immortal light filling the sky and the golden Dao melodies rapidly dissolved beneath the tyrannical Purple Heaven Divine Thunder, exposing the fog's original grayish-white backdrop.

If I could summon Purple Heaven Divine Thunder like this with a single thought in reality, I could probably instantly kill even a Da Luo Golden Immortal. Lei Xiao thought.

However, just as the illusion was about to shatter completely, the cries of a dragon and phoenix suddenly rang out. Immediately afterward, two enormous figures appeared in the sky—a dragon and a phoenix—emanating the pressure of Da Luo Golden Immortals.

The dragon's roar and phoenix's cry instantly scattered the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder Lei Xiao had just gathered across the heavens.

Lei Xiao felt as if his chest had been struck by a heavy hammer. An invisible force violently flung him away. He forcibly circulated the mana within him to steady himself, then stared solemnly toward the sky.

The five-clawed golden dragon was covered in blue-black lightning, its scales gleaming with a metallic, frigid sheen. The phoenix was crimson all over, its tail feathers blazing with inextinguishable Natal True Fire.

The two circled and intertwined, their pressure sending ripples through the surrounding space.

"An illusion? No, this is no longer a pure illusion." Lei Xiao stared gravely at the dragon and phoenix in the sky.

"Little Fourth, was that Purple Heaven Divine Thunder just now your doing? Good thing you were here, or I wouldn't have been able to escape the illusion."

Bi Xiao spoke with lingering fear. Though only a moment seemed to have passed outside, she had already experienced tens of millions of years within the illusion.

Lei Xiao had no time to answer.

The dragon and phoenix had already locked their gazes onto them. The dragon's eyes were cold as icy pools, while the phoenix's eyes burned like molten lava. The pressure of two Da Luo Golden Immortals intertwined, descending like a net spread across heaven and earth.

"Third Sister, fall back!" Lei Xiao shouted in a deep voice.

Although Bi Xiao had only just awakened from her tens of millions of years of immersion in the illusion and her mind was still somewhat dazed, at Lei Xiao's command, her body reacted faster than her thoughts. Taiyi escape light wrapped around Lei Xiao, rapidly retreating.

The dragon and phoenix did not pursue them. Instead, they began fighting each other.

"Alright, Third Sister, stop!"

After retreating some distance, Lei Xiao had Bi Xiao stop. They were still inside the "illusion," after all. They could not leave simply by retreating.

"Two Da Luo Golden Immortals—and they definitely aren't ordinary Da Luo Golden Immortals. But there's something strange about the feeling they give me." Bi Xiao frowned.

"They aren't real Da Luo Immortals. A dragon and phoenix, both Da Luo Golden Immortals, must have perished together here in the past, leaving behind their obsessions. The power of this place's illusion then formed those obsessions into projections."

Lei Xiao's gaze was deep and heavy as he stared fixedly at the two terrifying figures battling in the sky.

His attention was mainly focused on the five-clawed golden dragon. Within its body, he sensed a lightning origin. If he could devour that mass of lightning origin, the fusion progress of the Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder within him should improve considerably.

However, Lei Xiao did not act rashly.

Although the five-clawed golden dragon was merely a projection of obsession, the strength it displayed was genuinely that of a Da Luo Golden Immortal. Let alone him—even a peak Taiyi Golden Immortal would die if they approached it.

"Little Fourth, help... me..."

Before she could finish, the light vanished from Bi Xiao's eyes. She then transformed into a streak of escape light and charged toward the battlefield in the sky.

Not good.

Lei Xiao's expression changed drastically. He realized that he had overlooked something crucial.

They were still within the illusion, and it was no ordinary illusion. The Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder within him allowed him to resist it, but Bi Xiao did not have Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder suppressing her primordial spirit.

He raised his hand to seize Bi Xiao, but he was already too late. As a Taiyi Golden Immortal, Bi Xiao was far faster than him.

Lei Xiao's eyes nearly split with rage as he watched Bi Xiao charge toward the battlefield of the two Da Luo Golden Immortals like a moth flying into flame. His heart clenched sharply.

He knew full well that if Bi Xiao crashed into the killing range of the dragon and phoenix's obsession projections, even the aftershocks would be enough to completely crush the body of a Taiyi Golden Immortal like her!

"Damn it! I have no choice but to risk it!"

Lei Xiao no longer held back. He activated the Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder within him with all his strength. Perhaps because he was inside an illusion, this time felt completely different from before.

As he activated the Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder at full power, he suddenly had the illusion that he had become the master of lightning.

Most notably, he discovered that he could control the five-clawed golden dragon by manipulating the lightning origin within its body.

The discovery shook Lei Xiao to the core, followed immediately by a surge of wild joy.

Lei Xiao closed his eyes and sank all of his divine sense into the connection he shared with the lightning origin inside the five-clawed golden dragon.

The blue-black lightning origin pulsed slowly within the golden dragon, like an ancient heart that had slept for endless ages. It sensed the call of the Purple Firmament Origin Divine Thunder within Lei Xiao and responded in an almost instinctive manner—yearning, submission, allegiance.

The next instant, his consciousness entered the five-clawed golden dragon's body, and he gained control of it.

The cold, merciless blood-red glow in the dragon's eyes rapidly faded, replaced by clarity and calm born from Lei Xiao's will.

"It worked!"

Lei Xiao's mind trembled as vast, boundless power of the Dragon Dao surged into his limbs, bones, and divine sense.

This was true Da Luo Golden Immortal-level combat power! The dragon body was cloaked in ten thousand jun of lightning, its scales condensed the power of heaven and earth. One claw could shatter mountains and rivers, one roar could shake the four seas.

Even if it was only the body of an illusionary projection, the destructive force it could unleash far surpassed the limits of Taiyi.