Spirit Spring Light Qi Against the Mirage Pearl

"I was actually able to withstand the effects of the mirage pearl!"

Zhang Xuezhou had been affected by the mirage pearl, but at the time he was able to avoid it with his strong mental power.

However, at that time, the Shanglin Garden formation had no master and operated only with the most basic formation functions. Subsequently, it was constantly entangled with the Four Gates Encirclement Formation, and those in the secret area were always just brushing against it.

In a true sense, Zhang Xuezhou and others never encountered any specific targeting from the Mirage Pearl.

He only fell into a daze the moment he plucked the mirage pearl from the temple.

It may seem like just a few moments, but by the time Zhang Xuezhou regained his senses, the water had receded, and three days had passed.

Although he had retrieved the Mirage Pearl, Zhang Xuezhou was more hoping that a high-ranking cultivator from the Immortal Court would be aware of the situation and stop his destructive actions.

For example, if the Jade Emperor, who is in charge of the Lingxiao Palace, senses something unusual in the formation, he might order Zhang Xuezhou to quickly put away the treasure or temporarily store it away.

The Mirage Pearl appears to be extremely powerful, but this treasure also has obvious flaws.

Firstly, once the mirage pearl is taken out, it cannot distinguish between friend and foe. Secondly, if an opaque treasure is placed over it, the mirage pearl's radiance cannot leak out, rendering the treasure largely useless.

Zhang Xuezhou used Lesser Heaven and Earth Bag to isolate the mirage pearl's influence, which is the latter method; others can also use the same approach to deal with it.

Zhang Xuezhou had already come up with a plan, and he didn't expect that he would recover so quickly after a brief moment of distraction. He could even clearly hear Wu Chao's voice after his outburst.

As Zhang Xuezhou slowly opened his closed eyes, he felt colorful light constantly sweeping across the divine robes bestowed with the seal, creating ripples of color.

"The divine robe bestowed upon me is merely an embellishment based on my physical abilities. This Heavenly Robe cannot possibly resist the mirage pearl; otherwise, it would have assisted me beforehand. My body didn't directly resist illusions either... it was the aura from soaking in the spiritual spring!"

Zhang Xuezhou concealed all parts of his body in various ways, including his face, which was kept extremely well covered.

After shielding his body from the radiance of the spiritual spring, Zhang Xuezhou almost forgot about the temporary effects of the immersion.

Little did he know that the light emanating from the mirage pearl underwent a subtle change upon encountering this luminous aura, and that the effect weakened after a short while.

"Is this just my imagination, or have I actually managed to temporarily ward off the mirage pearl?"

Having been successfully lured by the grand formation and the magical treasure, Zhang Xuezhou ate whatever he could find, and at this point he didn't dare to completely trust his own judgment.

"Wu Chao?"

"The Buddha's Son of Wu Chao?"

Zhang Xuezhou called out to Wu Chao beside him twice, but Wu Chao seemed to be in a daze and completely ignored him, lost in its own world.

"Where is the Jade Emperor? Why hasn't he arrived yet!"

Although he was conscious, Zhang Xuezhou did not make any rash moves. Instead, he waited for the Jade Emperor, who was in charge of the Lingxiao Palace, to manipulate the formation so that he could collect the Mirage Pearl.

"Could it be that the mirage pearl has little effect within the grand formation, and is only confined to this small area around me?"

After a series of wild guesses, Zhang Xuezhou also became somewhat restless.

He took a few steps with the mirage pearl in his hand, then looked back at the Wu Chao for reference.

Only after confirming that the path he had chosen was likely real and effective did Zhang Xuezhou continue walking forward.

"The real moments that the formation will provide when it operates—if I seize these moments, I can move forward step by step, eventually reaching the Lingxiao Palace!"

"Your Majesty the Jade Emperor, I have arrived!"

After wandering around for a while, Zhang Xuezhou saw a figure flash in front of him, and the figure of Brahma appeared, accompanied by the other person muttering to himself.

"Real time? What is that? Does the formation contain both false and real time, or does the formation follow the principle of 'the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Cycle is forty-nine, and Man escapes one,' giving the contestants a chance to move within the formation?"

Zhang Xuezhou listened attentively for a while near the Brahma Temple, then asked a few more questions.

But like Wu Chao, Brahma was also trapped in his illusions and completely ignored him.

Zhang Xuezhou was extremely frustrated and could only guess and test on his own.

"The formation seems to pause for one breath every fifty breaths, and then it can move forward normally!"

"As long as you keep moving forward, even if you waste forty-nine breaths, there is still one correct breath that allows you to truly move forward!"

"If we keep heading forward for the next three days, we might actually reach the Lingxiao Palace quite soon!"

After testing it dozens of times, Zhang Xuezhou finally discovered the pattern of the great formation.

However, he discovered this pattern somewhat late.

As if he had obtained the token of the Great Heavenly Evolution Boundless Array, Zhang Xuezhou, holding the Mirage Pearl, discovered that his influence had been reduced by half.

While others might have a one-in-fifty-breath chance of success, Zhang Xuezhou felt he had at least a twenty-five-breath success rate.

He passed over Brahma and then saw Ao Sheng, who was rather reckless.

Ao Sheng was clearly extremely agitated by this grand formation, and the mirage pearl had also stirred up memories of his time in the Mohists's mechanical city, causing him to keep cursing and swearing.

Next up was the Zoroastrian Pulladi, the saint who had won first place at his home ground in Western Kunlun. He appeared calm, probably no longer concerned about the rankings in the event, and wandered around rather casually.

"I'll be able to inherit the position of cult leader in ten years, hahaha!"

After Zhang Xuezhou had walked a few steps past Purla, the calm saint suddenly spoke, seemingly because the mirage was too close, thus stirring a small thought in his mind.

"Aomoang!"

After his test flight in the formation, Zhang Xuezhou wandered aimlessly, covering a relatively limited distance, thus ranking quite low.

There might be someone behind him, but there are many more other competitors in front of him.

Moving forward again, Zhang Xuezhou encountered another contestant from the Dragon Clan, Ao Moang.

Although the ranking of the two dragons in the Dragon Clan is average, Ao Moang and Ao Li have both participated in the Grand Gathering three times in a row without any replacements, so they can be considered to be evenly matched in strength.

Zhang Xuezhou was too close to Ao Moang, and failed to discern Ao Moang's deep dragon language.

Leaving Ao Moang behind, Zhang Xuezhou looked forward again and saw Kong Ning.

Kong Ning encountered him twice in a row, which was considered unlucky. However, Kong Ning's ranking was not bad, belonging to the upper-middle level. It was just that it would be quite difficult for Kong Ning to complete the task of rescuing the Peacock Great Wisdom King.

They might be eliminated by him, or they might be too exhausted to act immediately, or they might not even get to the Western Sect disciples in the third round, or the rules of the third round might make it difficult for a fierce battle to occur.

Hearing the other person's low, unwilling mutterings, Zhang Xuezhou didn't linger.

As I walked forward again, Wang Shan, whose head was wrapped in a white cloth, came into view.

Wang Shan's head was still swollen, and the redness of his skin had not subsided.

The Soul-Severing Powder applied to wounds is a pain only those who have experienced it can understand. It is one of the most powerful methods used by Xiniu Hezhou to punish criminals. Ninety-nine percent of criminals who use it will die, and even great cultivators will suffer greatly.

"I have failed to win first place in Lingshan, which is a disgrace to His Majesty's past teachings. I can only try my best in Lingxiao Palace. However, if I win on home turf, I will be accused of cheating by outsiders, and if I lose, I will be punished internally. What should I do?"

Wang Shan didn't care about the pain from the Soul-Severing Powder on his body; instead, he was worried about his performance at the Immortal Court Gathering.

"Golden Summit!"

The best performers at the Immortal Court's home-field event were indeed the Immortal Court's cultivators.

Wang Shan ranked second, while the first was the Golden Summit cultivator from the Eastern Heavenly Gate Zhang Xuezhou had met once before.

The opponent had already stepped halfway into the Lingxiao Hall and was positioned at the very front of the contestants that Zhang Xuezhou could see.

But the golden-topped figure's feet remained suspended in mid-air, refusing to fall.

"Entering the Immortal Court is difficult, becoming a Celestial Official is even harder!"

Jin Ding looked wistful, shaking his head and repeating those two sentences over and over again, as if he were endlessly lamenting.

Holding the mirage pearl, Zhang Xuezhou walked past the golden roof, crossed the threshold that was about half a knee high, and stepped into the grand hall filled with auspicious clouds.

"Strange thing? Where is the Jade Emperor?"

The Lingxiao Palace is supported by twenty-four towering Tongtian carved with dragons and phoenixes, their ends obscured by clouds and mist, making it difficult to see the roof of the palace supported by the pillars.

But beyond the twenty-four Tongtian, Zhang Xuezhou could see the golden throne at the very top center.

The throne was empty; the Jade Emperor was nowhere to be seen, as one might expect.