Unexpected Conflict

Although there were still nearly two hours left, Zhang Xuezhou went to his room early.

He calmly dealt with everything that was his responsibility, and then lay back down in the therapy machine.

But his mood was not as calm as it appeared.

On the one hand, the mystery of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's Void Stone Base has not yet been revealed; on the other hand, the mess he left behind in another world has not been cleaned up.

Twelve days later, Zhang Xuezhou still didn't know if he had left the secret place.

If he hadn't left the secret realm, would he still be floating on the water, and would the secret realm's token, the yu, still be on his finger?

If the token were taken by Huo Qubing or Jin Wanliang, Zhang Xuezhou would have difficulty judging whether he would unknowingly fall into a hallucinatory state the moment he entered, and whether what he saw would be real.

He could only keep his spirits up and do his best to prepare everything.

A sudden darkness enveloped me, accompanied by a sense of movement through the darkness.

Thanks to the mental abilities mentioned by Zhang Xuezhou, he could see the tree chair very clearly and once again witnessed the seamless exchange between the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and himself.

The exchange was so smooth, so seamless, that Zhang Xuezhou couldn't find a single flaw.

If this was a technique from Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, Zhang Xuezhou felt that even his most proficient Cloud Soaring Technique was slightly inferior.

As usual, he showed a hint of resistance, while the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon remained as calm as ever.

"It seems the situation isn't too bad; the impact from the secret realm is much less than the trouble caused by A-Qiao!"

After quickly comparing the emotions of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, Zhang Xuezhou's guess about his own situation leaned towards being positive.

As the darkness receded and a faint light appeared before him, Zhang Xuezhou raised his alertness to its highest level.

The feeling of gaining control over his body surged into his mind, and a red light appeared on his eyelids. Before the fiery cloud scene of the secret place could fully enter his eyes, Zhang Xuezhou's body trembled as he roused his spirit, and a series of muffled groans immediately followed.

"Oops!"

Zhang Xuezhou leaped to his feet.

His eyes swept over the lingering fiery clouds in the sky, then down to the clear blue waters below. As his gaze swept forward, he saw Jin Wanliang and Huo Qubing collapse onto the rotten wood, their legs giving way. He also saw the flushed faces of the new emperor and Wei Qing as they staggered backward.

This was clearly not a good situation, and it was completely different from what Zhang Xuezhou had expected.

"Hey!"

He looked at the non-existent relic, the yu, on his finger, then channeled his spiritual power and shouted, attempting to dispel the hallucinatory effects of the formation.

"Stop hitting! Stop hitting!"

Before Zhang Xuezhou could even point forward, the new emperor and Wei Qing had already jumped from the floating rotten wood into the water.

The Human Dynasty Zhang Xuezhou in unison, and kept pointing to the fiery clouds in the sky.

"Dongfang Shuo must have been affected by the illusion array. Quickly, take this ring and get close to him," the new emperor said hastily.

"This is outrageous! How could he possibly intimidate and suppress me!"

Wei Qing scoffed, but his hands moved swiftly; the moment he reached out to exchange hands with the new emperor, he had already sunk into the water.

"Dongfang Shuo, look at me, look at me!"

The new emperor waved to Zhang Xuezhou, but when his gaze swept over him, he too disappeared into the water.

He shook his head vigorously in the water, and a golden light flashed across his body, bringing the new emperor back to his senses. When he noticed a trace of blood red in the clear water, his expression changed.

Wei Qing's complaints were indeed very genuine. As fellow cultivators in the Divine Ability Realm, they were actually affected by the intimidation, which didn't even seem like Zhang Xuezhou was specifically targeting them.

The new emperor could see that Zhang Xuezhou's body was constantly adjusting, seemingly trying to shake off the influence of this secret place.

He shook his head and emerged from the water from another direction.

"Qu Bing, don't look at the sky, don't look at Dongfang Shuo!"

The new emperor's shouts were jarring and drew attention back to the emperor.

After shouting, he quickly dove into the water, but this time, even though Zhang Xuezhou had already noticed him, the influence of the realm's aura did not affect him.

When they resurfaced, the new emperor saw Wei Qing standing beside Zhang Xuezhou, and the ritual vessel Huo Qubing had mentioned to avoid the influence of the secret formation had returned to Zhang Xuezhou's hands.

"Fake!"

Amidst the murmurs of dissent, and seeing Zhang Xuezhou reach out to throw away the ceremonial bowl, the new emperor couldn't help but shout in alarm.

"Illusions can only create things you know and guess, but they cannot create facts you do not know. If you cannot distinguish between illusions, you should at least be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood," the new emperor exclaimed.

"How can I judge the truth or falsehood of something I don't know?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"Even if you don't know, there must be a third party who does. For example, if you ask me a question I don't know, Wei Qing can confirm it, which can help determine whether it's true or false, right?" the new emperor asked.

"No," Zhang Xuezhou shook his head. "Unless you can tell me something I don't know, but I can also tell if it's true or false, then I can't believe you're not hallucinating!"

"This..."

It was always the new emperor who asked Zhang Xuezhou questions, and when it came time for him to answer, the new emperor really wanted to crack his own head open.

"How can one do something like this—not knowing anything, yet being able to discern the truth from falsehood?" the new emperor lamented, his head throbbing.

"I know!"

Huo Qubing, who was convulsing on the rotten wood, whispered something and made a gesture, which made the new emperor suddenly understand.

He swam closer in the water, nearing the floating rotten log where Zhang Xuezhou was.

"I'll tell you something you don't know, but you can ascertain whether it's true or false," the new emperor said.

"Speak!"

That is...

The new emperor opened his mouth, then flicked his finger swiftly at his waist.

The longsword sprang up like a rainbow, and the side of the hilt struck Zhang Xuezhou's waist almost instantly.

His plan to strike against Zhang Xuezhou wouldn't be known in advance, but the pain he felt could tell whether it was real or not.

Huo Qubing's tactics were clearly simple yet effective, and the new emperor acted with extreme speed.

Only when the sword hilt struck Zhang Xuezhou and a golden light flashed did he sense something was wrong.

"Hey!"

A muffled groan rang out, and the new emperor felt dizzy and disoriented, gulping down several mouthfuls of water.

But Wei Qing, standing next to Zhang Xuezhou, finally reacted. The moment Zhang Xuezhou made his move, Wei Qing grabbed Zhang Xuezhou's arms and firmly pinned them down, then slammed his head forward to prevent the other party from striking again rashly.

How did you get in?

After a fierce struggle on the rotten wood, Wei Qing repeatedly submerged Zhang Xuezhou in the water several times before Zhang Xuezhou finally spoke as his head surfaced.

"You believe we're True Person?" Wei Qing asked, pressing down on Zhang Xuezhou's head.

I believe you!

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

His physical skills had reached a level of Divine Ability, making him impervious to fists, feet, swords, and knives, but Zhang Xuezhou's strength was clearly inferior to Wei Qing's, not to mention his speed and other qualities.

Even when it came to savage fighting and brawling like a barbarian, Zhang Xuezhou was still outmatched.

Having been submerged and beaten several times, Zhang Xuezhou felt he could no longer let this situation continue.

"It's fake, he doesn't believe it at all, Uncle, you need to beat him until it hurts!"

Huo Qubing's grumbling voice came over, and Zhang Xuezhou felt that everything was terrible.