Chapter 1358: The Third Level of the Derivation Heaven Scripture

"Brother Yuan and Brother Luo are both injured. Take care of them; I'll go in and take a look!"

Knowing that if he continued speaking, he would definitely give himself away, Zhang Xuan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Let me do it!"

Bi Hongyin stepped forward: "I am skilled in illusions and soul attacks, and my soul defense is slightly stronger. I should be able to hold out for a while."

"Alright!"

After a moment's hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded: "Be careful of illusions; do not use your strength under any circumstances!"

The space that had just injured Yuan Xiao and Luo Xuanqing was not a single whole. Even using the library, the two times he looked at it were completely different.

Otherwise, he would have known about the illusion earlier and warned them.

Since she wanted to go in, it would give him a chance to observe more and have more references.

"Mm!" Nodding, Bi Hongyin also sealed her cultivation.

Her sealing technique was not as good as Luo Xuanqing's, and the Eye of Clear Principle could see through it clearly. However, without the release of true qi, ordinary formations were not so sensitive and should be hard to detect.

Whoosh!

The girl walked forward, taking a few steps to the place where Luo Xuanqing and Yuan Xiao had been attacked. She seemed to see something as well, stopped, and stood motionless.

"Be careful..."

Yun Lianhai could not help saying.

"Don't bother calling out; it's useless. In that place, not only sound but even divine sense cannot pass through!" Luo Xuanqing shook his head.

"Divine sense cannot pass through?"

Frowning, Zhang Xuan extended his divine sense. Indeed, not far ahead, it was as if he had fallen into another world, unable to see anything anymore.

Clearly visible at a glance, yet it seemed like two separate worlds.

Amid the worried gazes of the crowd, Bi Hongyin took another step forward, but still could not resist. Her true qi turned, and just like the previous two, she was sent flying back.

"How was it?"

He approached her.

"When I entered, I seemed to be teleported to another space. I saw a sacred beast slaughtering everywhere, devouring people. I couldn't help but strike..."

Her face slightly red, Bi Hongyin explained.

Originally, she could have held back, but watching a child have its head bitten off by a sacred beast was truly unbearable.

"Teleported? You didn't move from where you stood!"

Yun Lianhai said.

They had clearly seen Bi Hongyin standing not far away, not going anywhere. How could she have seen a sacred beast and a child?

"Divine sense cannot probe it, yet we can see it. Don't you find that strange?"

Interrupting his words, Luo Xuanqing said.

"This..."

Yun Lianhai was stunned.

Sometimes, what the eyes see may not be real.

Like a mirage, where countless towering buildings appear nearby, but... in reality, they are false.

Cultivators trust their divine sense more, because divine sense is an extension of the spirit and can never be mistaken... In the current scene, divine sense saw nothing, but the naked eye saw clearly—can that guarantee it is real?

"Brother Yun, can you sense whether that Cave Void Gourd is real?"

Zhang Xuan suddenly spoke.

"Alright!"

Yun Lianhai nodded.

Since the images of Bi Hongyin, Luo Xuanqing, and the others they had just seen might be false, the Cave Void Gourd in the sky might also not be real.

A drop of blood flew out, and his brow seemed to grow an extra eye as he observed the sky.

After a moment, he shook his head: "I can't sense the aura of a treasure..."

"Can't sense it?"

Luo Xuanqing's face turned pale.

He had prepared for who knows how long for this Cave Void Gourd; if it turned out to be fake, just an illusion, he would truly cry.

"Let me go take a look."

Frowning, Zhang Xuan couldn't determine what was happening and had to speak.

The scene before him exceeded his imagination; even he felt utterly confused, and he feared only by going over personally could he get an answer.

"Be careful..."

Knowing that the young man before him had many tricks up his sleeve, Luo Xuanqing warned him.

"Mm."

He acknowledged, took a deep breath, suppressed his cultivation, and stepped inside.

Although his method of sealing his cultivation was not as sophisticated as Luo Xuanqing's, he cultivated the Heavenly Dao True Qi; if he truly wanted to hide, even a Saint Domain ninth-level expert couldn't detect him, let alone others.

Whoosh!

Entering, he immediately saw a vast expanse of white before him. His divine sense spread out and could extend as far as before, yet he saw nothing, as if he had arrived in a wilderness where, besides heaven and earth, there was only himself.

Luo Xuanqing and the others, who had just separated from him, had vanished, as if they had never appeared.

"Truly strange..."

Frowning, Zhang Xuan continued forward, and soon a mountain and river appeared before him.

A waterfall, a pool, the sound of flowing water.

"This is..."

With a glance, his heart couldn't help but pound violently.

He had been here before, precisely the place where he first met Luo Ruoxi.

The Phantom Feather Mountains!

Here, he had seen countless spirit beasts charging toward him, thought they meant her harm, and rushed forward without hesitation—thus they came to know and cherish each other.

He hurriedly looked toward the waterfall ahead and indeed saw a graceful figure standing quietly in place, like a faint ink-wash painting.

The girl resembled a lotus unstained by dust, serene and indifferent, as if nothing concerned her.

"Ruoxi..."

His heart leaped, Zhang Xuan filled with agitation.

He had thought he would see her upon arriving at the Saint Son Hall, but the more he learned, the more he understood the pressure on him, and he dared not meet her.

Even so, his longing for her had not diminished in the slightest; it had only grown stronger.

"No, this is an illusion..."

He clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to rush forward, and gradually steadied his breathing.

He was currently searching for the Gourd of Cave Void; it was impossible to suddenly arrive at the Phantom Feather Mountains, let alone see Luo Ruoxi again. This meant it was false—even if not an illusion array, it might involve spatial folding, reflecting his past experiences.

Swoosh!

His mind calmed, and just as he was about to move forward, a sharp beam of light appeared abruptly, reaching Luo Ruoxi in the blink of an eye and piercing her through.

Then a young man with a lecherous face appeared behind the girl: "The family arranged for you to marry me, yet you dare to love another. Since that's the case... die!"

His eyes wild, the young man's features somewhat resembled Zhang Chun, but for some reason, they also bore a slight likeness to Zhang Xuan himself.

"The little genius of the Zhang family..."

His pupils contracted, Zhang Xuan gritted his teeth.

This bastard must be that lecherous Zhang family genius; daring to lay a hand on Ruoxi—courting death...

His true energy surged, and he was about to unseal it when the library in his mind suddenly shook, as if a great bell tolled in his ears. His body turned cold, and he came to his senses again: "It's an illusion..."

His mind raced, restoring a state of utter calm. He looked ahead again—the little genius was gone, Luo Ruoxi was gone, and even the entire mountain range had vanished.

All was still a vast white expanse.

"That was close..."

Cold sweat covered his forehead.

Even knowing it was an illusion, seeing Luo Ruoxi injured still made him want to act. The one who left this relic not only had supreme mastery over space but also an extremely profound grasp of the human heart!

"Thank goodness for the library; otherwise, I'd probably have been thrown out like Luo Xuanqing and the others..."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan continued to look ahead. Just as he was about to move forward, his body suddenly experienced a violent sensation of weightlessness, as if falling from the sky, with the air howling around him.

Looking down, he saw himself in midair, the ground below growing closer and closer, threatening to smash him at any moment.

He had now suppressed his cultivation to the level of an ordinary person; falling from such a height would surely kill him on the spot. The sealed true energy within him stirred restlessly, ready to burst out and sustain flight.

"It's an illusion..."

Suppressing his aura, Zhang Xuan slowly closed his eyes.

If not for what had just happened, he would have been unable to resist. But now, his state of mind had been elevated, and he was no longer as flustered as before.

If he actually used his true qi, his falling speed would only get faster and faster. By then, no matter how strong his defense, he would still be shaken until blood flowed from his seven orifices, and even if he didn't die, he would be half dead.

Whoosh!

Neither sad nor happy, his mind as still as water, he indeed no longer felt the whistling wind or the sensation of falling. Opening his eyes again, he found himself still standing in the same spot, having not moved at all.

"Space can produce the effect of an illusion array—this is something I never thought of..."

Relieved, Zhang Xuan found it strange and looked up, glancing around.

His understanding of formations had reached the peak of eight stars, and his study of the Void Space Scripture had also reached an extremely profound level. Under normal circumstances, ordinary folded space could no longer trap him, but this place could cause his mind to lose focus, making him completely unaware of any abnormality. His mastery over space was astonishing.

Under the illumination of his Insight Eye, the surrounding space was like a honeycomb, a collection of small grids gathered together, or like flowing water, slowly drifting. Entering it, one would be affected, and even the primordial spirit could not escape.

"Space is a kind of wave and frequency. Once found, it can be utilized..."

The contents of the Void Space Scripture flowed through his mind.

"So that's it!"

After an unknown amount of time, his eyes lit up. The parts of the scripture he hadn't understood merged with the grids before him, leading to a sudden realization.

Previously, when he studied the Void Space Scripture, it was because he had integrated the contents of the Ancient Tayan Book, and coupled with his limited cultivation, he couldn't comprehend higher levels. Now, with his strength at the peak of the Out-of-Body realm, combined with the scene before him, he had advanced his understanding of space further.

"No wonder it can create illusions. Space can also be arranged using formations, which is a type of formation itself, so naturally it can affect people's thoughts..."

He understood.

Formations can create space, and space can naturally be arranged into formations, affecting the mind, making one see what they most desire but cannot obtain—it's easy.

"Having comprehended this, I should have reached the 'Mastery' level of space!"

Exhaling a mouthful of turbid qi, Zhang Xuan's eyes shone.

The Void Space Scripture divided the understanding of space into five realms: Shortening Ground, Shuttling, Mastery, Creation, and Destruction.

Shortening Ground: as if able to shorten space, increasing one's speed.

Shuttling: similarly, with familiarity in mastering space, attack speed becomes like teleportation, covering hundreds of meters in an instant.

Completely mastering this realm means that even when facing a Void Realm powerhouse, one's attack can penetrate the opponent's domain and reach them, no longer affected by space.

Mastery means having a certain control over space; folded space and the like can no longer trap one, and one can even harness the power within to suppress opponents.

As for the later realms of Creation and Destruction, he hadn't understood them yet and knew little. He only knew that the person who left this relic had definitely achieved them, but what exactly Creation entailed, he couldn't say.

"Having reached the third realm, this place should no longer be able to trap me..."

He smiled lightly.

With his understanding of space reaching the 'Mastery' realm, Zhang Xuan looked again at the honeycomb-like space before him, which now held no secrets.

The thing that had trapped him in illusions earlier, like a formation, was now clearly visible and could be destroyed at any time.

"Time to get out!"

True qi surged within him as he gently sliced forward.

With one step, he appeared before the river from before, the emerald-green gourd floating in front of him, exuding a powerful aura.