Asura Emperor Venerable

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Illusion Array

Arriving before him was a lush green forest.

From Shi Hao’s perspective, he could clearly see three paths entering the forest.

As he approached, he saw that each path was very clean, without a single weed growing.

An Illusion Array?

Shi Hao randomly chose a path and walked in, and instantly, the originally bright sky immediately became overcast.

He stepped back out, and the sky cleared up again.

Tsk, how odd.

He knew this was a formation, affecting the forces of nature and altering the light.

Once again, he walked in and tried to leap to the top of the trees but found that the trees on either side were impossibly tall; he couldn’t jump to the top at all.

Yet viewed from outside, these trees were about fifteen meters tall, and he could easily leap over them.

This was the nature of the formation; if it could be so easily broken, would it still be called a formation?

Shi Hao didn’t mind and kept walking straight ahead.

After a few steps, the path came to an end, and he encountered a turn.

He turned around and continued walking forward.

This time the path was much longer, but after walking about a hundred meters, he encountered another dead end, which suddenly split into two paths, one to the left and one to the right.

Shi Hao thought for a moment and took the path on the right.

The same kept happening, with turns appearing from time to time and paths frequently splitting—sometimes not just into two but into three.

Shi Hao wandered casually, his mind at peace.

He had confirmed that this was an Illusion Array, designed not to kill but to trap people.

However, he couldn’t yet determine exactly what type of Illusion Array it was and needed to gather more information.

After continuing on, Shi Hao’s mind cleared up.

This was a Nine Palaces Green Wood Array, a low-level formation among Illusion Arrays, completely unlikely to trap a person to death. At most, it would take a few days to find a way out, since the variations were limited.

—A powerful Illusion Array could trap one in a completely lifelike illusionary realm where one might literally age and die inside.

Shi Hao walked for less than half an hour, and he had already walked out of the forest on the other side.

“Eh?”

After sketching a mental map in his mind, Shi Hao couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I almost got tricked.”

This was indeed the Nine Palaces Green Wood Array, but it had been modified. The intent was not to make the exit harder to find, but to hide a certain area within the array.

Shi Hao immediately thought of the time he had defeated the stone figure and entered the palace, obtaining Ninefold Mountain as a reward. So, was there no reward for passing through the Illusion Array?

There was, but not for just passing through—because even the most foolish person could find their way out eventually by constant trying. Therefore, giving a reward just for passing through did not make sense.

Thus, the reward for this challenge was cleverly placed within the Illusion Array.

If you passed through, you could only continue forward but wouldn’t receive any reward.

“Interesting.”

Shi Hao walked back, his mind already forming a clear map that guided him toward his destination.

As he walked, about an hour later, he saw someone coming toward him.

Tang Yu.

He was a disciple of the White Cloud Sect, so Shi Hao certainly recognized him.

“Junior Brother Shi!” Tang Yu smiled, “Are you alright? Ma Youfu has been looking everywhere for you!”

“I’m fine,” Shi Hao said.

“Junior Brother, I’ve explored the path behind us, and it’s a dead end, we should move forward,” Tang Yu still smiling, “Trust me!”

“Alright,” Shi Hao turned around, showing deep trust in Tang Yu.

Tang Yu’s smile turned cold, and he quietly drew the sword from his waist.

“Why are you drawing your sword?” Shi Hao did not turn his head but it was as if he had seen it.

Tang Yu was taken aback, how did he know that he had drawn his sword?

Since he was exposed, he had no intention of hiding it any longer.

With a swish, he slashed towards Shi Hao aiming for his legs.

His plan had always been to sever Shi Hao’s legs and then slowly force information out of him.

—If the surprise attack had been successful, it would naturally have saved him a lot of effort, considering that Shi Hao could kill Ma Youlin; his combat power was probably at the peak of soul-nurturing stage.

Why not save some trouble, if possible?

Shi Hao retreated, but carried a blade weighing around two hundred thousand catties, which naturally greatly affected his speed; he almost got clipped by Tang Yu’s sword.

In Tang Yu’s view, this was naturally to be expected; although he was not as monstrous as Liu Shixuan, he was still the strongest among the young disciples of the Chu Xiaotian lineage.

A formidable Third Stage Spirit Nurturing!

If Shi Hao dared to confront him head-on, that would be extremely strange.

In the realm of Spirit Nurturing, a difference of one stage is like the difference between heaven and earth, even for a genius like Liu Shixuan, at the peak of the first stage of Spirit Nurturing, his combat power was at best at the early third stage.

So, he was bound to win, the main issue was the cost he had to pay.

“Junior Brother Shi, as long as you hand over the secret treasure you obtained, I will spare your life. How about it?” He pursued, his sword movements still fierce.

“Hmm?” Shi Hao furrowed his brows and then drew his blade, slashing towards Tang Yu.

Ding!

The blades clashed and Tang Yu was shocked to find, his longsword was cleanly broken. The cold light of the blade scared him into tumbling to evade the strike.

He couldn’t help but feel cold sweat all over his body.

If his reflexes had been a bit slower just now, he would have definitely been bisected at the waist.

He was horrified. That blade was so sharp, it had effortlessly broken through his finely forged steel sword.

Shi Hao smiled and swung his blade again.

“So, this is why Chu Xiaotian and the others gave me this spot,” he quickly realized, “At the White Cloud Sect, they dared not attack, but here, they acted without any scruples.”

“Unfortunately, they miscalculated one thing.”

With a swish, Shi Hao slashed again. The runes of the Ninefold Mountain had been activated, making this strike unimaginably fast.

Now light as a feather, could it not be fast?

“A spiritual artifact!” Tang Yu exclaimed, both shocked and envious.

Having a spiritual artifact, that is the wish of every martial artist.

But the methods to forge spiritual artifacts had long been lost. The only source was the Mang Mountain Relics, inside a palace encountered earlier.

However, to win a spiritual artifact as a reward, one must defeat the guarding stone figure at the fastest speed. Over the countless years, few have succeeded.

Even a genius like Liu Shixuan came back empty-handed without any gain.

He immediately realized that the spiritual artifact in his hand must have been obtained from that previous palace.

Mine!

A strong greed surged within him. With a spiritual artifact, even Liu Shixuan could be slain!

But facing the overwhelming strike from Shi Hao, he dared not block directly, only retreat.

Shi Hao pressed the attack, the two hundred thousand catties of the Ninefold Mountain now as light as a feather, making it excessively convenient to swing.

Tang Yu kept retreating, sweat pouring like rain.