Chapter 909: Where's My Cleaver? (II)

Just like Chu Liang’s group had done earlier, Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu walked through the fog and saw the same brightly lit tavern. The burly cook was once again standing in the center of the main hall, gazing vacantly at a large bloody bone. The scene looked eerie and absurd.

A group of waiters rushed out, spoke the same lines they had said to Chu Liang’s group, and ushered Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu into the tavern.

After sitting the pair down, the waiters placed numerous dishes on the table.

"Please enjoy your meal, exalted immortals."

Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu didn't move a muscle. There was no way they were going to eat any of the food here.

After a moment, the cook stopped chopping up the bone and glared at them. "Why aren't you eating? Do you think my cooking is bad?"

Daoist Cangyun followed Caiyi’s example and replied, "Where’s the food?"

"Isn't it on your table?" the cook asked fiercely.

"

Hmph,

then why don't I see it?" Cangyun mimicked Caiyi's sharp tone. "Isn’t there clearly nothing here?"

"Nothing at all?" The cook looked confused. "Then I'll make you another serving..."

Just as he raised his hand to chop the bone again, he froze. "Wait... where's my cleaver?"

Daoist Cangyun was about to follow Caiyi’s next step, but the cook’s unexpected words threw him off, and he froze too. "

Eh?

What?"

"Where is my cleaver?!" The cook's eyes turned crimson. A terrifying wave of murderous intent erupted from him, enveloping his bulky frame. "Did you two steal my cleaver?!"

"What?" Daoist Cangqiu sprang to his feet. "What are you supposed to say at a time like this??"

"How should I know?" Daoist Cangyun also shot to his feet and bolted for the exit. "If I

must

say something, I suggest we run!"

However, it wasn’t going to be easy for them to escape. The cook leaped forward and transformed into a massive cloud of fire, rushing toward them like a raging tidal wave.

Daoist Cangqiu was already exhausted from the earlier battle at the Xuanle Heavenly Sect. Nevertheless, fury surged through him. He raised his hand, and purple lightning and dark thunderclouds converged into a bow and arrow.

"Die!" he roared, releasing the beam of arrowlight!

Whooosh!

Like a meteor, the purple lightning arrow ripped through the air with a thunderous rumble and tremendous might.

Boom!

The purple lightning arrow shot into the cloud of fire. The flames then swiftly reformed into a humanoid figure. The figure had caught the purple lightning arrow in his hand, where crackling sparks of electricity danced.

Daoist Cangyun charged toward the cook with a powerful gust of wind and threw out a palm strike, intending to send the cook flying. However, the cook stood as steady as Mount Tai, shaking just a little bit. He flipped his hand palm up and unleashed a ball of blazing fire.

Whoosh.

The ball of fire burned fiercely, burning away half of Daoist Cangyun’s robes. He let out a yelp and fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Daoist Cangqiu seized the opportunity and threw forth a thunderous palm strike.

The cook flipped his other hand palm up and met Daoist Cangqiu’s palm strike with another burst of fire.

Boom!

Daoist Cangqiu was slightly weaker in raw power. However, a crisp crack rang out. The collision had snapped the cook's right wrist.

"

Aaaaargh!

" the cook screamed in agony. "My hand!"

Daoist Cangqiu hadn't expected the cook's bones to be so fragile. He flipped his hand palm up again and conjured a long spear made of purple lightning. The moment it crackled into existence, he thrust it straight into the cook's chest!

"

Raaaaaaaar!

" the cook snarled.

As the purple currents ran through him, his form flickered between that of a living person and skeletal remains. In the end, he turned into a charred corpse.

Thud.

Daoist Cangqiu took a moment to stabilize the flow of his foundational qi. Then he deactivated his divine ability and hurled the cook’s corpse aside. When he looked around again, the tavern had reverted into a pitch-black ghostly cave dwelling. Daoist Cangyun lay sprawled on the ground with no clear signs of life.

Daoist Cangqiu walked over to Daoist Cangyun. He didn't even bother bending down to check.

He simply lifted a foot and gave Daoist Cangyun a solid kick. Then he asked irritably, "Useless bugger. Are you dead or not?"

...

In the center of a training ground surrounded by seven or eight buildings, ferocious beasts charged through a forest of halberds.

A group of bare-chested warriors wielding legendary weapons were shouting loudly in unison.

"Join the Heavenly Martial Sect and learn great divine abilities!"

"Come one, come all! Join the Heavenly Martial Sect and learn great divine abilities!"

Aside from them, there was one more person present. He was a burly man clad in divine iron armor, sitting on the back of a silver dragon.

Noticing Chu Liang’s group approach, the dragon-riding warrior called out, "Are you immortals here to join our Heavenly Martial Sect?!"

"We're just passing through," Chu Liang replied.

"Passing through?" The dragon-riding warrior raised his halberd. "If you won't join our Heavenly Martial Sect, then you're our enemies. You must challenge our sect's warriors if you wish to proceed!"

Chu Liang's brows twitched.

Judging from the posture of those warriors, it was likely that none of them were easy to deal with. And the dragon-riding warrior at the center radiated a terrifying aura, indicating his cultivation power was anything but ordinary.

Thankfully, they were already long dead. If they were not spirits of the Thousand Pavilion Valley, this army of warriors could easily take over the nine provinces and the four seas.

At that moment, Caiyi stepped toward the dragon-riding warrior and asked softly, "If you want us to join your Heavenly Martial Sect, shouldn't you at least explain what kind of divine abilities your sect teaches?"

"Since our sect is called the Heavenly Martial Sect, we prove our understanding of the Dao with martial arts!" The dragon-riding warrior swung his halberd. "Show them the might of the Heavenly Martial Sect!"

"

Haaaaahhh!

"

The group of warriors yelled in unison and threw out a punch at the same time.

Winds and clouds rushed forth, and cracks spread across the fabric of the world around them. Those punches actually tore cracks into the illusory space!

Chu Liang quickly waved his hand to stop them. "All right, that's enough."

If the warriors continued to make such a big scene, they might draw in the neighboring ghosts and monsters, and that would be a real problem.

A flash of realization flickered in Caiyi's eyes as she caught the weakness of this illusion. She asked, "Martial arts? What exactly do you train when you cultivate martial arts?"

The dragon-riding warrior answered in a booming voice. "Of course, we temper the corporeal body!"

"Then where are your corporeal bodies?"

"My corporeal body—" The dragon-riding warrior had been about to laugh and give a retort, but he froze mid-sentence. His eyes widened in shock. "Where is my corporeal body?"

He muttered, "I once bound the Blue Dragon with my bare hands. I crumbled mountains with brute force. My stomp alone could shake rivers and mountains... Where is my corporeal body?! AAAAARGH!!!"

As his anguished roar rang out, the illusion shattered with a thunderous boom, revealing a desolate graveyard littered with bones.

The silver dragon had turned into an armored skeleton, and the halberd in its rider’s hand had become a useless charred shaft.

Chu Liang shook his head in disappointment, and the group continued onward.

A moment later, Chu Liang thought aloud, "So, it seems these illusions are pretty easy to break?"

Caiyi smiled and replied, "Illusion techniques are neither particularly strong nor weak. Their strength lies in their ability to produce an actual world. But their weakness is that, if you can figure out the rules of that world, you can break it with a snap of your fingers.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"First of all, the disparity in cultivation levels between the caster and the targets mustn't be too great. If we weren't at the Heavenly Gate phase, the illusions would have immediately tricked our spirit senses the moment we entered them, and we'd believe everything we saw. Illusions like these are the simplest and most straightforward to set up, but they can’t trick powerful beings.

"Figuring out the rules of an illusion is much like comprehending a Great Dao. If you observe and contemplate an illusion deeply, you’ll definitely find the flaw, the weak point that will break the illusion. Once you understand the rules, everything becomes simple."

"So, as long as you find the right rule, any illusion can be broken this easily?" Chu Liang asked.

Caiyi explained, "Great Daos are the world’s rules. If you understand them, you can even alter the world, so how hard could illusions be in comparison? Of course, it depends on the situation. For example, in this illusion, if someone else came instead of me, it wouldn't be so easy even if they knew the rule."

Then she pointed at herself. "I'm a demon and a woman, so he would never want my body.

"If a man—or maybe just a human—had asked that same question, he would probably have gone berserk and tried to seize their body."

"Is that so..." Chu Liang murmured, lost in thought.

...

"Where’s my corporeal body?" The warrior riding the silver dragon faltered in confusion. Then crimson light flared in his eyes. "Since my corporeal body is no more, I'll take yours instead!"

The dragon-riding warrior swung his halberd wide, and the silver dragon let out a thunderous roar.

"

RAAAAAAAAR!

"

The other warriors closed in on Daoist Cangyun and Daoist Cangqiu. Terrifyingly heavy pressure crushed the pair, feeling as immense as mountains and seas.

Daoist Cangyun paled in shock. He was burnt black, a bloody hole gaped in his chest, and his vision was blurry. These were all wounds he had sustained during the previous battles.

Nevertheless, he had listened to the whispers of the wind again and had been absolutely certain there would be no danger this time. That was why he brought Daoist Cangqiu through this area. He had triple-checked that his lines matched Caiyi's word for word, and the dragon-riding warrior hadn't lost anything since Chu Liang’s group passed through. So, why was the outcome different?

Why is it always different for us?!

Am I being targeted?

Daoist Cangqiu was far more straightforward. Instead of charging at the dragon-riding warrior, he leaped into the air and kicked Daoist Cangyun hard.

"Cangyun! Go fuck yourself!"