Chapter 1730

Bai Ziqi pondered for a moment and smiled. The two most valuable sentences in this note: True Person Qianhuan is currently in seclusion;

The disciples of the Illusion Sect are trapped and unable to leave the Upside-Down Sea!

"Ancient True Immortals are usually in seclusion for ninety-five out of every hundred years. They rarely appear in public, and sect affairs are managed by trusted disciples, known as the Sect Master," Bai Ziqi said with a serious expression. "Even if a True Immortal is in a death-seclusion, they can still come out if there is an emergency. But looking at it now, it is very likely that True Person Qianhuan has truly met with an accident, which is why he has been so long in appearing."

Therefore, the one who gave him several warnings in succession on the sea just now is likely not Qianhuan. If a True Immortal had acted personally, it should have been more ruthless and violent.

Why would the Tiangong team come to the Upside-Down Sea? Isn't it because Qianhuan failed to fulfill the agreement to rotate at Lingshan and has been holed up in his cave dwelling?

At that time, Bai Ziqi had already judged that something had happened to him; what he has obtained now is merely a form of verification.

Regardless of who it is, "as long as it is not True Person Qianhuan acting personally, that is fine!"

This piece of intelligence is too important to Bai Ziqi. It means the difficulty of his operation can be significantly reduced.

He muttered to himself: "The second piece of news is even better; the disciples of the Illusion Sect also cannot walk out of the Upside-Down Sea!"

He asked Bai Shiqi: "Do you know what this means?"

Bai Shiqi pondered for a while before asking: "Is there a barrier?"

"Not just that." Bai Ziqi's eyes shone with a sharp light. "The Illusion Sect previously used tsunamis and the Black Fish Array to deal with us, which indeed showed their powerful strength; this was a form of deterrence."

At that time, his expression remained unchanged, but his heart was heavy, deeply feeling the lawlessness of the Immortal as the host within his own cave dwelling.

"But later, using land elevation to stop us from landing, and doing it several times in a row, this is very strange." Bai Ziqi asked his attendant, "Do you think raising the land consumes more spiritual energy, or does creating a tsunami require more?"

"This..." Bai Shiqi calculated and looked up, saying, "Raising the land is more difficult."

"Correct. Logically speaking, the energy consumption of the Black Fish Array is low, followed by the tsunami, and the most difficult is raising the land." Bai Ziqi analyzed, "The Great Array of Inverted Heaven and Earth set up by Qianhuan has been out of use for a long time, so the concentration of spiritual energy in the Upside-Down Sea must have dropped. We haven't even engaged with the Illusion Sect yet, so why are they wildly throwing out these super energy-consuming, large-scale divine abilities right from the start?"

The so-called moving mountains and filling seas has the most astonishing cost. Yet the Illusion Sect not only summoned tsunamis twice and altered the landscape twice, but it also looks like they can continue to exert force.

As far as Bai Ziqi knows, Immortals are very shrewd when it comes to calculating spiritual energy; there is no reason for the Illusion Sect to be so extravagant.

"Unless their actual consumption is far lower than our estimate." Bai Ziqi's gaze flickered. "This leads to one possibility—"

"The Upside-Down Sea is completely controlled by True Person Qianhuan."

"Controlled?" Bai Shiqi didn't quite understand; True Person Qianhuan has been controlling the Upside-Down Sea for at least 150 years, right? "I mean, if this world is entirely under the control of True Person Qianhuan or the Illusion Sect and can change according to their will, then whether it is summoning tsunamis or raising land, the difficulty for them has dropped by more than sixty or seventy percent. By the way, turning seawater into ointment—this move also appeared very suspiciously."

A flash of inspiration struck Bai Shiqi's mind, and he blurted out: "An illusion!"

"Correct. I fear we are already in True Person Qianhuan's illusion!" Bai Ziqi looked again at the glowing ring: "This ring has been reminding me that the opponent's divine abilities are never far from me, but we ourselves have no feeling of it at all, and even the Eye of Truth hasn't detected anything abnormal in this sea area. All things considered, only True Person Qianhuan has such means."

If they are in an illusion, it is very reasonable for the enemy to be able to cast large-scale divine abilities at will.

After all, an illusion is not reality.

Bai Shiqi couldn't help but say: "But, but our last ship was destroyed just now."

Bai Ziqi was still immersed in his own deduction: "However, it is a bit strange. Whoever set up the illusion would want it to remain unknown; we just entered the Upside-Down Sea, and the Illusion Sect is endlessly playing tricks—aren't they afraid at all that I might suspect them?"

A sneak attack is a sneak attack; if you don't catch people off guard, the win rate will drop significantly.

True Person Qianhuan himself is a Mirage Immortal; his ability to lure people into a trap must have been honed to perfection. Why is the Illusion Sect in such a rush? "Perhaps this illusion is particularly powerful and they aren't afraid of us knowing?" Bai Shiqi was actually a bit apprehensive. "My Lord, it seems the Illusion Sect is intentionally draining our strength."

The Illusion Sect is acting wantonly on True Person Qianhuan's turf, pulling out all sorts of earth-shattering arrays, while their side is exhausted from dealing with it, with consumption several times that of the Illusion Sect. If this goes on for a few more rounds, and the power of the Heavenly Gods they rely on is squeezed dry, will the Tiangong team still have the strength to fight back?

Bai Ziqi stroked his chin: "The intention is to delay, but they are subject to some limitations. Without Qianhuan personally presiding, it is still different, after all."

He immediately ordered: "Advance along the coastline and continue to look for the next landing point."

Since they came by ship, they must land to carry out subsequent actions; and being easily manipulated before landing is the most disadvantageous part of this operation.

There is no other way; risks must be taken, and losses must be borne. The Illusion Sect disciples cannot get out, and the Tiangong team has even less of a chance—unless they defeat True Person Qianhuan.

Besides, he brought a great killer weapon this time, so what is there to fear?

"In addition, send a bird demon to fly out of the storm circle to test it."

Intelligence is easy to verify, so he can make the next step of the plan.

Xiao Wencheng went out again to make some arrangements, designating Elder Liu Qingdao to stay behind to deal with He Lingchuan and the others.

With foreign enemies invading, the Sect Master is the busiest.

This Elder Liu has a round face and square lips, with smile lines around his eyes, looking easy to talk to. He is Xiao Wencheng's junior fellow apprentice and has been by Qianhuan's side for over 2,300 years.

This age, if revealed outside, would scare most people silly. However, He Lingchuan also has the ancient Spider Immortal Zhu Xiuer by his side, who is even older than Elder Liu, so He Lingchuan was able to hide his surprise well.

Honestly, the first time he saw a living Immortal in the real world was after entering the Upside-Down Sea.

Either you don't see any, or you see seven or eight at once.

Elder Liu returned to the quiet room, closed the door, and said to He Lingchuan and the three others: "There is still some time; let me tell you about the Immortal Venerable."

Compared to Xiao Wencheng and other Sect Masters, Elder Liu's attitude could be called amiable, with less of a high-and-mighty air.

He Lingchuan had been waiting for this: "I would like to hear the details."

"Since you are guests from Lingshan, I will not hide it from you." Elder Liu hesitated slightly. "Actually, these words were already said once five years ago—"

Even if he didn't want to say it, these people were sent by Lingshan, after all. Even if you don't respect the monk, you must respect the Buddha; the Illusion Sect should still give an account to the organization's inquiry.

"—The Immortal Venerable has been in seclusion and has not come out to this day. We have tried many methods, but we cannot invite him out."