Boundless Illusion Realm

Liu Qingyan personally stepped forward to greet him, her face piled high with smiles.

"Ah, Fellow Daoist Xu, your honored arrival truly makes our Flower-Washing City shine even in its humble surroundings."

The other Plain Maiden Sect disciples hurriedly bowed as well, scarcely daring to breathe.

This sight left quite a few Rogue Cultivators visiting for the first time dumbstruck.

The Plain Maiden Sect practically walked sideways through Flower-Washing City. Their disciples usually held their heads high above the clouds—when had they ever shown such respect to a cultivator from another sect?

Xu Sheng merely nodded casually. He did not even spare Liu Qingyan a proper glance before finding the viewing platform with the best view and sitting down.

The Earth Spirit Sect disciples behind him quickly dispersed, expertly claiming several key positions. It was obvious this was far from their first time doing such a thing.

"Humph, what a pack of bootlickers who chase after the powerful!"

An angry voice came from nearby.

Shen Qingzhou did not even need to turn around to know who was shouting.

Lu Chen stood atop another stone platform, his face full of indignation. Beside him stood a female cultivator dressed in a fiery-red martial outfit.

The female cultivator had a capable, efficient air about her. She was likely the Junior Sister Qin Liu Qingyan had mentioned before, the one cultivating the Chamber Sun lineage.

Qin Wan frowned and tugged at Lu Chen's sleeve, her tone somewhat helpless.

"Keep your voice down. Do you want him to notice you?"

Lu Chen cursed under his breath, his face flushed red from holding back his anger.

"I just can't stand it. What the hell is Xu Sheng? We're all cultivators, so why should you bow and scrape to him like this?"

"And that Incense and Fire ritual—it's clearly demonic conduct, wringing the vital essence out of mortals. Are you really just going to stand by and watch?"

Qin Wan sighed and hurriedly explained to him through voice transmission.

"You don't understand. It isn't that simple. Senior Sister Liu... she has a deep partnership with that man."

"Our Plain Maiden Sect's city-protecting grand formation, as well as the core formation of the Heartmoon Illusion Realm, both require the Earth Spirit Sect's formation masters to set up and stabilize them."

"What formation?"

Lu Chen was briefly stunned.

"Well, our Plain Maiden Sect excels at drawing upon Lunar Yin and Great Sun power, but we are not very good at bearing and transforming it. The Earth Spirit Sect's Wèi Earth Tradition happens to fill that gap."

"Senior Sister Liu wants to use this grand ceremony to draw upon stronger yin-yang power and help herself and the sect disciples break through their bottlenecks, so she definitely cannot avoid Xu Sheng."

There was a trace of complexity in Qin Wan's voice.

"For this, the sect paid an enormous price. Allowing Earth Mother Palace to spread its teachings within the city was one part of it."

Lu Chen fell silent. Though he still found it somewhat disgraceful, he understood that sect-level exchanges of interest lay behind it.

This was not something an outsider like him had any place pointing fingers at.

He glanced at the unremarkable bald man in the crowd and found him increasingly dangerous, unable to stop himself from muttering quietly.

"He really doesn't look like a sect disciple. More like some religious ringleader."

Shen Qingzhou quietly swept his gaze through the crowd and happened to spot the Lin sisters among the Earth Mother's believers.

Their faces were filled with anticipation and devotion. They clearly had placed great hopes on this grand ceremony.

Shen Qingzhou secretly shook his head.

He had long made up his mind that if anything went wrong, he would turn tail and run immediately.

Benefits were certainly worth taking, but his life was definitely more important.

Just then, the bell atop the lotus platform in the middle of the lake rang once more, sounding even more melodious and profound than before.

Liu Qingyan lightly flew back to the center of the lotus platform, and her clear voice immediately spread across the shores of Heartmoon Lake.

"The auspicious hour has arrived. Heartmoon Illusion Realm, open!"

The moment her words fell, strange ripples began spreading across the entire surface of Heartmoon Lake.

The afterglow of the setting sun and the newly risen moonlight seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, transforming into one golden and one silver pillar of light that shot straight into the center of the lake.

The lake water began churning, and the mist rising from it mixed with the power of the setting sun and moonlight, swiftly spreading through the surroundings.

This spiritual mist carried a marvelous Dao-rhyme. It was clearly no ordinary vapor.

Shen Qingzhou activated Dao-Rhyme Revelation, and the world before his eyes instantly changed appearance.

He clearly saw that the entire Heartmoon Lake was a massive formation eye, its lakebed covered in dense formations of runic pathways.

One end of those pathways connected to the Plain Maiden Sect's earth veins, while the other... was deeply rooted in the vast network of Earth Mother faith and Incense and Fire Prayer Power beneath Flower-Washing City.

Every cultivator present, regardless of their cultivation level, had their souls and thoughts turned into dry firewood for this illusion ritual.

Every person's hopes, desires, and unrealistic fantasies were drawn out by the spiritual mist, then poured wholesale into the lake's center, together constructing a vast illusory world.

"So that's how it is..."

"Using yin-yang power as the foundation and everyone's souls as needle and thread, forcibly weaving a ritual world where people can indulge themselves and comprehend the Dao."

Shen Qingzhou instantly saw through the essence of the ritual.

"How truly wondrous..."

"To construct such an enormous illusion realm, even if it is merely a watered-down ritual, shows just how astonishing the person who created this method must have been!"

This method was far more ingenious than the Earth Spirit Sect's practice of penning up mortals in the valley.

It borrowed the vital essence, desires, and emotions of all living beings to entice some existence hidden in the unseen, so that Lunar Yin power could descend.

Those participating willingly released their spiritual power within the illusion. Even if they exhausted their own origins in bliss, they would not notice, eventually able only to fall into a muddled sleep.

The spiritual mist grew thicker and thicker, gradually shrouding every viewing platform.

The fog, along with a cloying exotic fragrance, wormed into the cultivators' seven orifices through every opening.

It drew out all their hidden thoughts.

An old white-haired cultivator who had been trapped at a bottleneck for more than a century was now trembling all over, tears streaming down his aged face.

"I broke through... Heavens above... I finally broke through!"

He muttered neurotically, seemingly truly experiencing the exhilaration of his mana smashing through its barrier.

Nearby, a merchant desperately stretched out his hands, greedy and satisfied, as though he were clutching heaps of spirit stones.

Others went even further, stripping off their clothes, beastlike in appearance...

Within Lu Chen's illusion, Junior Sister Qin was trapped in an encirclement.

He roared and crushed those demons into pulp, while Junior Sister Qin's Blazing Sun Sword light danced around them. Their coordination was flawless.

He truly experienced the satisfaction of fighting shoulder to shoulder with the woman he loved.

The Lin sisters had long since fallen into the illusion as well.

Lin Weiyue's cheeks were rosy as she wore the Daoist robes of an immortal sect and rode a flying sword, wind whistling past her ears amid the laughter and playfulness of her fellow disciples.

Her elder sister, Lin Shuying, saw Lin Family Trading Company banners planted thickly throughout every city in the Northern Wastes.

Countless cultivators bowed and saluted her. Under her leadership, the Lin Clan had flourished to its absolute peak.

The entire shore of Heartmoon Lake became eerily quiet.

Several thousand cultivators sat or stood there in all manner of strange poses, yet every face wore the exact same expression of rapturous bliss, intoxicated by dreams.

Shen Qingzhou had come precisely to understand the Plain Maiden Sect's methods, so naturally he would not miss such a fine opportunity. He went with the flow and loosened a portion of his mind, allowing the sweet, cloying spiritual mist to enter his body.

He activated Dao-Rhyme Revelation, and the obsessions of all beings transformed into countless threads of Dao-rhyme, densely woven into a great net.

With his mind clear, he actively released a strand of divine sense and stepped into the illusion.

"This little thing... thinks it can disturb my mind?"

With great difficulty, Shen Qingzhou passed through the vivid, sensual scenes around him, following the source upward with his divine sense.

He continued probing upward without pause.

"What a marvelous sensation."

He faintly understood that this was likely the origin connected to by the Plain Maiden Sect's ritual.

The surroundings suddenly fell silent.

His divine sense climbed higher and higher, leaving the frenzied commotion below far behind until only a faint, cold aura remained.

When he reached a certain point, he sensed something and stopped. He could investigate no farther.

"Moonlight tempers the heart... revealing one's true nature... seeing through the thoughts of all beings..."

His lips moved as he unconsciously muttered the words aloud.

His understanding of the Lunar Yin path, especially [Heart Moon], rapidly improved!

[Detected host behavior: Observing a heaven-and-earth ritual, analyzing the Lunar Yin Heart Moon Dao Lineage]

[Scripture Master profession proficiency greatly increased!]

[Scripture Master profession proficiency +20]

[Scripture Master profession proficiency +20]

...

[[Scripture Master] has begun advancing!]

[Advancement successful! Scripture Annotator (0/500)]

[Profession ability comprehended: Dao Interpretation]

[Dao Interpretation: When analyzing scriptures or Dao-rhymes, can deduce their different directions of evolution.]

At the same time, a notification from another profession appeared.

[Source Heaven Master profession proficiency greatly increased!]

[Proficiency +50]

...

In only a brief moment, it provided him with a massive amount of experience. His long-stagnant Scripture Master profession had even directly surpassed Azure Satchel Scholar.

Yet the more he came into contact with it, the more his heart went cold.

"I can't explore any further," Shen Qingzhou secretly warned himself. He had vaguely seen some things, yet could not remember them clearly, much less recall or contemplate them.

There was great terror at the seat of Lunar Yin...

Still, it was not entirely without gains. A complete body of knowledge flowed into his sea of consciousness.

It was complete information regarding the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.

There were four heavenly gates in Foundation Establishment: the body, divine sense, mana, and Dao attainment.

Even among Foundation Establishment cultivators, there were differences!

Breaking through two gates made one a low-grade Foundation Establishment cultivator, with a limited Dao Path ahead.

Breaking through three gates made one middle-grade Foundation Establishment.

Only by passing all four gates could one achieve high-grade Foundation Establishment, from then on walking a smooth immortal road.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the illusion realm, within an isolated void space.

There was no decadent music here, no visions of bliss—only cold emptiness.

Liu Qingyan's figure appeared out of thin air. The gentleness had vanished from her face, leaving only urgency and greed.

Across from her, Xu Sheng's figure slowly condensed into being as well.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, the illusion realm has formed. It is time for you to fulfill your promise!"

Liu Qingyan's voice trembled faintly with the excitement of extreme longing.

She stared straight at him and demanded without concealment, "Help me fuse the two yin-yang energies and condense a [Heart Moon] Dao foundation!"

At last, an expression appeared on Xu Sheng's ordinary face—a merciless indifference tinged with pity.

"A promise?"

He slowly spoke, his voice hoarse and devoid of emotion. "You think you plotted against me, and you're quite proud of yourself, aren't you?"

"What do you mean?"

Liu Qingyan's expression darkened, yet she still sneered in threat. "So what if I did? Using your Incense and Fire divine path to connect the patriarch's secret ritual—within this boundless illusion realm, what can you do even if you are unwilling?"

"If you help me, then after I succeed, I will grant you the position of servant. Otherwise, I will have you obediently die here."

"Heh..."

Xu Sheng gave a silent scoff, seeming mocking, seeming weary.

His somewhat shriveled hand slowly lifted.

Liu Qingyan's pupils contracted, as though she had suddenly seen something horrifying.

"Foundation Establishment divine soul?!"

She screamed, moonlight bursting from her body as all manner of protective spells activated at once. She tried to flee this space.

A great hand condensed from earth-yellow divine light appeared from nowhere, covered in ancient runes. Ignoring all her defenses, it gently closed like crushing a piece of porcelain.

"No..."

All of Liu Qingyan's sounds, mana, and life force came to a complete stop beneath that grasp.

Her body quickly petrified, cracked apart, and finally turned into a heap of yellow sand that rustled down.

Even her divine soul could not escape. It was seized by that great hand and dragged into the earth-yellow divine light, vanishing completely.

Xu Sheng coldly watched that heap of yellow sand, as though he had merely crushed an obstructive insect.

"Too noisy."