Chapter 577: Can It Still Be Repaired?

Zhang Xuan pushed open the door and stepped into the Illusory City.

Before his eyes was utter darkness, so thick that he could not see his hand in front of his face.

He walked forward two steps along the corridor when a chill wind brushed past, followed by a strange sound in his ears.

Woo—woo—woo—!

It was like a plaintive lament, a sobbing plea, resounding in his heart, useless even if he covered his ears.

"Is this soul bewitchment?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

This situation had occurred once before in the Witch Soul Tomb, when Mo Hun Sheng had used it.

The sound echoed deep in the soul, useless even if he shut off his six senses.

Looking up, it seemed countless eyes were staring at him, ready to pounce at any moment and tear him to shreds.

The dark environment, the weeping sound in his heart, the attacks that could come at any time...

No wonder it tested one's temperament; if one's temperament was poor, they would probably be scared unconscious.

Boom!

Just as he was marveling inwardly, he felt a powerful aura burst out from one side, followed by a whistling wind as an attack descended on him.

His pupils contracted, and he leaped forward, barely dodging the attack, only to sense another aura charging straight at him from the front.

He dodged again, but before he could land, he felt the attack change direction and strike from another side.

After jumping seven or eight times in succession, sweat beaded on his forehead, and Zhang Xuan grew anxious.

The sound of the attacks was growing faster; if he couldn't dodge in time, he might very well be injured here.

Could this level really be this difficult?

"No! The attacks just now—I only felt the aura and fluctuations, but I didn't hear the sound of force colliding..."

After a few more jumps, he suddenly froze.

The attacks in his ears came like a torrential rain, one after another, but he only heard the sounds of attacks aimed at him, not the sounds of them hitting the ground or walls.

If they were real attacks that he dodged, they would surely hit the walls or floor, leaving pits or marks... But there was no sound at all. Could the attacks also be an illusion?

"Eye of Insight!"

While swaying, he activated the Eye of Insight.

Instantly, the darkness before him faded, revealing the outline of the entire room.

The Eye of Insight could see through to the essence. Although this ghost domain, the Illusory City, was of a high level and difficult to see through, being inside it made it simple to see through part of the illusion.

The attacks that had previously torn through the air now appeared in his eyes as countless spiritual essences swirling around.

These spiritual essences, whether from vegetation or spirit beasts, produced fierce winds but had no actual physical attack effect.

That was why the ground had no pits.

However, if not for his Insight Eye, sensing such a powerful aura madly charging in the darkness, he wouldn't have dared to withstand it even with several lives.

"Others can do nothing about these things, only suffer their interference in agony. Over time, they might truly collapse. Not me!"

Understanding what was attacking, Zhang Xuan curled his lips and smiled slightly.

Others, encountering these invisible and intangible spiritual essences, would indeed be baffled. Over time, like seeing a ghost, their minds would collapse and they'd go completely mad.

But he... as a Soul Spirit Master, if he were confused by these things, that would truly be embarrassing.

"Soul Spirit, out!"

With a mental command, his brow shone brightly, and a soul spirit identical to him leaped out, its hand forming a spell seal.

Hum!

With a flash of light, all the spiritual essences, as if seeing their natural enemy, fled in terror.

A soul spirit itself was a powerful spiritual essence, and Zhang Xuan cultivated the Heavenly Soul Spirit Art, his soul bearing a fierce aura that repelled even ghosts and gods. Not refining these spiritual essences on the spot as nourishment was already showing mercy and giving face to Master Hong.

Having driven away the troublesome spiritual essences, his ears became much quieter. The soul spirit returned, and Zhang Xuan stood up, intending to find an exit, when he suddenly smiled slightly.

"Why look for an exit? Find the flaw, break through the illusion, and walk out, no?"

He had just entered and already encountered so many spiritual essences and bizarre attacks. Who knew what lay ahead?

Rather than go through such trouble, it was better to find the defect, like with a formation, stop this Ghost Domain Illusion City from operating, and walk out boldly.

After all, stopping the formation didn't destroy the foundation. After he left, it could be restored, not affecting the next assessment.

With this thought, he touched the ground with his palm, and a book appeared in his mind.

"Ghost Domain Illusion City, refined by Five-Star Master Feiyu, containing esoteric arts and countless spiritual essences, used for assessment and tempering the mind. Weakness: 1. The central stone platform is the mechanism hub, easily discovered..."

The book detailed the contents.

"The central stone platform is the mechanism hub?"

Activating his Insight Eye, he walked forward a few steps and indeed saw a stone platform over one person tall.

"That's too exposed!"

Seeing such an important thing placed so blatantly in the open, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

But thinking about it, he could understand.

The most dangerous place is the safest. Sometimes, the true core need not be hidden; placed in the most conspicuous spot, it instead makes people disbelieve.

Moreover, cultivators entering the Illusion City, disturbed by spiritual essences, could hardly distinguish their six senses. Even if they saw the stone platform, they wouldn't think it was the most important place!

"Since this is the mechanism's hub, if I push this thing aside, will the ghost domain stop?"

Too lazy to keep reading, he casually closed the book. The Eye of Clarity flickered as he stared at the stone platform before him.

The stone platform was hard, made of some unknown material, smooth and neat. Even if he found a button, he couldn't locate any mechanism.

He reached out and pushed it, but it didn't budge, as if it had grown together with the castle.

"I don't believe I can't move it. Fist of Heaven!"

His brows lifted, arm muscles tensed, and the strength of his whole body surged like an arrow.

Bang!

A punch landed on the stone platform. The latter only shook slightly, then fell still again, while his fist felt a searing pain, nearly swollen.

"Such hard stone..."

Zhang Xuan was full of astonishment.

His strength had reached 2.6 million cauldrons. With the Fist of Heaven technique, he could shatter even a spirit-grade low-level weapon with one punch, or overturn a small hill. This seemingly ordinary stone platform didn't budge, even jarring his fist painfully—wasn't that too terrifying!

"It's probably at least spirit-grade mid-level, or even... high-level!"

Able to block his attack, this stone platform, like the Illusory City, was of no low grade—at least spirit-grade mid-level, perhaps even high-level!

"What to do if I can't push it?"

He rubbed his brow.

Knowing how to stop this ghost domain Illusory City but being unable to do so due to insufficient strength was frustrating enough.

"Right, I can't push it, but that doesn't mean others can't!"

He paused, then his eyes suddenly lit up.

His current strength indeed couldn't push it, but that didn't mean others couldn't—for example... the doppelgänger!

Back when he exchanged blows with that guy, the original had been utterly dominated.

Not to mention strength, just the other's physical body was incredibly powerful.

"Come out!"

With a thought, the doppelgänger appeared before him.

This guy was stored in the storage ring; releasing him took only a thought.

With a mental command, he shared the current predicament, then instructed: "Push this stone platform aside for me and stop the formation."

"Okay."

The doppelgänger and the original were one person, sharing the same thoughts. He clenched his fist and threw a punch.

Fist of Heaven!

Crack! Crack!

This time, the doppelgänger didn't feel pain in his fist, but the stone pillar before him let out a crisp sound, cracks appearing one after another.

Then the cracks grew larger, and with a "crash!" the stone pillar collapsed into a pile of rubble.

"You... couldn't you have used less force?" Zhang Xuan's eyes widened, his mind reeling.

Wasn't this thing supposed to be very hard, jarring his fist painfully? How... did it shatter all at once?

It seemed... the doppelgänger hadn't used much force either!

"Is it... because the doppelgänger's physical body is too strong? A level suppression?"

He paused, then suddenly understood, feeling like he was about to cry.

The doppelgänger was forged from the Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo, of too high a grade. When encountering something of lower grade, even without using much force, it could still destroy it.

It was like diamond: used in combat, it wasn't as effective as a dagger, but when cutting glass, the latter couldn't compare.

He was the knife; the doppelgänger was the diamond. Though the force used wasn't great, the stone pillar simply couldn't withstand it. He had intended to push it aside, but... ended up breaking it completely.

Rumble!

Just as he was fretting over what to do now, he felt the entire ghost domain Illusory City emit a roar and shake violently.

The core hub was destroyed, and the formation supporting the Illusory City was completely wrecked. The massive structure, like a castle in the air, collapsed instantly.

"Retract!"

He put the doppelgänger back into the storage ring and, seeing stones falling from above, knew it was too late to escape. He simply raised his palms to block the falling rocks, preventing them from hitting his head.

...

"Teacher Yang is so formidable; his student should be able to pass this ghost domain Illusory City, right?"

On the round platform outside, seeing Zhang Xuan enter the entrance, Teacher Hong was also a bit worried.

Teacher Yang had his student participate in the competition for training, not to be eliminated in the first round.

But on second thought, with Teacher Yang being so powerful, how could his student be simple?

"Although the ghost domain Illusory City is eerie, I've adjusted the difficulty. Of the fifty-six contestants, over eighty-five percent should pass... Teacher Zhang won't be among the eliminated! Now I just want to see how long it takes him to come out."

The ghost domain Illusory City also had another benefit: it could gauge the strength of one's heart. The earlier one came out, the stronger the heart; conversely, the weaker.

If not worried about whether Teacher Zhang could come out, then see how soon he would appear.

"This Illusory City takes even me seven minutes to exit. These contestants, even with excellent hearts, need at least ten minutes. Teacher Zhang, at his age... if he can come out in about thirteen minutes, that would be quite good!"

Calculating in his mind, Teacher Hong nodded to himself. Seeing it was still early, he was about to relax and find a place to sit when he felt the ground shake violently, then tremble as if an earthquake struck.

He quickly looked up and saw the massive ghost domain Illusory City before him "crash!" down in front of him, revealing a figure with both palms raised like a martyr, and a face full of embarrassment and slight awkwardness.

Then the figure scratched his head, full of apology and innocence: "Um... Teacher Hong, I accidentally broke your ghost domain Illusory City. Can it still be repaired?"