The sun still hung in the eastern half of the sky.
Under the brilliant sunlight, the golden statue burst forth with a radiance even more dazzling than the sun.
It was as though it had replaced the sun itself, its golden light illuminating every mountain peak within ten miles.
Li Hongzhao's phoenix eyes flickered. "This is the statue of that Undying Evil Venerable?"
Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly and gravely.
The Golden Sword at his waist was cheering and leaping with joy, like a child who had spotted delicious food, its eyes shining as it impatiently longed to rush over.
Li Hongzhao gave a soft laugh. "Interesting. This really is an illusion, isn't it?... This illusion is quite formidable."
Her phoenix eyes shimmered, flowing with radiant light.
The power of her Phoenix Bloodline had already been stirred, surging violently through her body and suppressing the illusions before her.
That glittering golden statue seemed to have spawned a small world.
Within that small world, phoenixes and countless birds danced through the air. She and Chu Zhiyuan each rode a phoenix, soaring freely through the sky.
The special True Essence within her circulated, causing the small world to fade in and out of sight, vanishing one moment and appearing the next.
Chu Zhiyuan had warned her beforehand that the Undying Evil Venerable's statue possessed the power to manipulate people's hearts and conjure illusions.
Had that not been the case, she would have believed that the small world seemed this way because it was too far from this realm. She would have believed it truly existed.
"Half real, half illusory," Chu Zhiyuan said. "This is the Undying Evil Venerable's fundamental method—a secret art of the mind."
He turned and smiled lightly. "You wouldn't dare say for certain that it's fake, would you?"
Li Hongzhao