Chapter 1817

How could the word "intense" even begin to describe this process?

But Zhu Xiuer's discernment had long been sharpened by He Lingchuan. Although the attacking side was struggling and the defending side was trying their best, with the whole field filled with shouts and flying divine powers, in fact—in fact, very few people had died in battle; even now, it was only a few dozen in total for both sides.

It was evident that this great battle was only lively on the surface.

Every time He Lingchuan gave a command, he could state deep meanings from one to five, all with careful consideration, but the battle line indeed failed to advance. Xiao Wencheng had no other way; the other party was the expert in command, and besides, battle was not child's play where one could do whatever one wanted.

Hearing Zhu Xiuer's words, He Lingchuan looked up at her and smiled slightly.

Seeing his expression, Zhu Xiuer knew her guess was correct; this guy was intentionally suppressing the tempo while commanding the Illusion Sect team.

Was he stalling for time? As if answering her question, He Lingchuan said to Xiao Wencheng: "Sect Master Xiao, why do I feel that both the Immortal Venerable and Miao Zhantian are not fighting with their full strength?"

"Oh?" Xiao Wencheng asked him back, "How do you feel that way?"

"Only one of the Immortal Venerable's Dharma forms has appeared." He Lingchuan said, while attending to the chaotic battle situation, still having the leisure to pay attention to such details, "Only the Yin Serpent Dharma form has entered the battle."

The Yin Serpent Dharma form did not participate in the battle head-on, but instead found a crater for itself and went to extinguish the meteorite.

The Divine Fire Array was missing two array feet, and one of the meteorites was dug away by it.

A True Immortal as mysterious as True Person Qian Huan could not possibly have only one external Dharma form.

"And Miao Zhantian hasn't even released a single clone, which makes no sense." True Lord Cang Xi was squatting at Unbeaten Ridge meditating, playing a rule-based duel with True Person Qian Huan.

He did not believe these two great powers had no spare energy to do anything else.

"The Immortal Venerable only needs to release one more Dharma form to flatten Unbeaten Ridge, and the Illusion Sect army wouldn't have to fight stubbornly there for so long."

There were two ways to determine the winner in the battle between Qian Huan and Miao Zhantian: one was to win squarely in the battle of laws; the other way was to physically destroy the opponent's body.

Whichever one succeeded was called winning.

Before Xiao Wencheng could reply, True Person Qian Huan's voice sounded in the ears of the few: "Do you think Miao Zhantian would entrust his own safety entirely to a ragtag army to guard?"

"What do you mean?" He Lingchuan thought for a moment, revealing a look of sudden realization, "Miao Zhantian still has a backup plan arranged at Unbeaten Ridge?"

"If I attack, he will surely protect himself." Qian Huan said coldly, "He is different from me; his true body is exposed in broad daylight, which is extremely unstable, so he wants to lure me into acting as soon as possible."

Until now, the Illusion Sect still held the advantage on the battlefield. His hidden state at this moment was like a sword in its sheath, about to be drawn but not yet, which posed the greatest threat to the enemy and also made Miao Zhantian the most uneasy, requiring enough leeway to be reserved for every battle.

If he acted, Miao Zhantian's hanging heart would finally be put down, and he would instead feel secure and could go all out.

This subtlety was difficult to grasp without rich individual combat experience.

Zhu Xiuer figured it out in the blink of an eye and scratched her large eyeball: So, He Lingchuan didn't dare to send the Illusion Sect to attack urgently because he was afraid of falling into Miao Zhantian's trap and becoming cannon fodder for Qian Huan.

Looking at the fact that their trio had never personally entered the field, it was the same logic.

He had been trying his best to protect his companions, but he would not say it out loud.

At this moment, another light point on the sand table went out: another array foot of the Divine Fire Array had been dug out by the Yin Serpent Dharma form.

This was what He Lingchuan called "the advantage is on our side"; Miao Zhantian's Heavenly Demon subordinates were few in number after all, and they were somewhat stretched thin in trying to stop Qian Huan from digging out the array feet.

If they didn't think of a change, the Divine Fire Array might really be dug down by True Person Qian Huan in the end.

Dong Rui couldn't help but ask: "Does Miao Zhantian still have any chance to turn defeat into victory?"

"Yes." He Lingchuan said without hesitation, "Besides protecting his own true body well, there is only one way for him to win quickly—"

"Find True Person Qian Huan's true body!"

"Then he is going to waste his effort." True Person Qian Huan laughed, the low laughter causing ripples on the stone wall. "He has misjudged me."

This meant that True Person Qian Huan was certain Miao Zhantian could not find his true body, even if he possessed the Eye of Truth and the ability to see through illusions.

But he said Miao Zhantian misjudged him; what did that mean? Was there any information gap between him and Miao Zhantian? He Lingchuan thought while saying: "Miao Zhantian dared to enter the Inverted Sea this time because he came prepared and should have considered all kinds of accidents. For example, being at a disadvantage in battle."

Judging from the few ultimate moves Miao Zhantian had released, his backup plans must not have been fully exhausted.

This was likely also the reason why True Person Qian Huan was still extremely cautious and dared not attack with full force.

He wanted to consume Miao Zhantian's divine power and slowly grind him to death.

This was the method of winning with the least cost.

But Miao Zhantian would certainly not sit and wait for death; he had made this very clear in both worlds. As long as he was at a disadvantage, he would take quite radical and violent measures, attempting to destroy the established pattern.

And this move was quite effective.

Now, Miao Zhantian was again faintly about to be at a disadvantage. "So, what other ways does he have to turn the tables?"

Just at this moment, Elder Liu, who was in another crater, suddenly sent a message: "The ritual vessels bestowed by the Immortal Venerable are about to be exhausted."

The ritual vessels Qian Huan bestowed upon them were actually manifestations of his own power, which could be coordinated with the elders' immortal power to strike a fatal blow to the Divine Fire Meteorite at the right time.

But the Divine Fire Meteorite was constantly being strengthened by Miao Zhantian, so the ritual vessels in Elder Liu's hands were becoming insufficient.

This was an empty millstone; after Elder Liu activated it with his own power, the millstone's volume magnified hundreds of times and placed itself under the meteorite, hindering its rotation.

The result was that the millstone was ground until sparks flew everywhere, and the stone slurry produced could extinguish the golden light.

Although the meteorite's rotation did slow down, the speed at which the millstone was being ground thin was faster.

At most, in another fifty breaths, it would be ground away.

Elder Liu could not get away, so he asked the sect for help.

Xiao Wencheng looked back at the offering table and saw a horsetail whisk emitting a faint blue light, so he said to the lamp-guarding disciple: "You! Send the whisk to Junior Brother Liu!"

The lamp-guarding disciple complied, took the whisk from the offering table, held it in his arms, hurriedly walked to the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror, and plunged into it.

The mirror surface rippled.

Then, the lamp-guarding disciple was bounced back.

This scene made everyone present look sideways.

Ever since He Lingchuan lent the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror, the Illusion Sect disciples had used it smoothly and seamlessly, with no difference from before.

Why did this error occur when it was the lamp-guarding disciple's turn to enter? The last time the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror had a problem, it only transmitted He Lingchuan to the side of Kidney Lake and did not directly reject him.

The lamp-guarding disciple didn't believe it and, after standing firm, rushed into the mirror again, his movements more urgent than the last time.

*Duang! * He was bounced back by the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror again!

And because his momentum was great, the mirror's rebound force was also great, bouncing him back five large steps.

The look in Xiao Wencheng's eyes as he looked at this lamp-guarding disciple changed immediately: "What is going on?"

The lamp-guarding disciple whispered: "I, this disciple doesn't know either."

Dong Rui, standing on the side, also saw it; his movements were urgent, but his face was stiff and his tone was flat, completely inconsistent with the urgent context.

He Lingchuan was even more straightforward: "He is not an Illusion Sect disciple!"

The Hao Yuan Golden Mirror was set up so that He Lingchuan's party and the Illusion Sect disciples could all use it. This lamp-guarding disciple being rejected meant that the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror judged that he was not an Illusion Sect disciple and had no qualification to pass!

As soon as He Lingchuan's voice fell, the lamp-guarding disciple suddenly turned around and lunged at the sand table.

The sand table and the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror were not far apart, and his speed was fast, arriving in the blink of an eye.

As long as he jumped into the sand table, he could escape the secret room.

None of the three, He Lingchuan, made a move; this place had an owner.

Sure enough, the moment before the lamp-guarding acolyte was about to crash into the sand table, the light shield of the sand table flashed a trace of blue light.

With a *bang*, the sound of him hitting the sand table was like hitting a copper wall and iron barrier; the sand table didn't move a bit, but he hit it until his forehead bled.

The lamp-guarding acolyte seemed unable to feel pain and just wanted to turn around, but his feet were trapped in the ground, completely unable to move.

He looked down and saw that his feet were somehow sunk into the ground, truly a case of being deeply mired in mud.

"Struggling is useless." Xiao Wencheng raised his wrist, and the whisk was in his hand, "What does Miao Zhantian want you to do?"

He carefully examined the lamp-guarding acolyte and saw his eyelids blinking incessantly, his eyes rolling upward, so he walked behind the acolyte and brushed him with the whisk—

The clothes on the acolyte's back were brushed away.

His back was quite clean, with nothing on it.

But Zhu Xiuer suddenly said: "There is a hole outside the cervical spine! That thing was originally attached to the back of the neck, and now it has drilled into his skull!"

Xiao Wencheng struck with the whisk.

Don't look at the whisk threads as thin and soft; in his hands, they were harder than a long sword. With just this brush, half of the lamp-guarding disciple's head was sliced off!

The corpse fell to the ground, and red and white matter splattered everywhere.

Xiao Wencheng's eyes were like torches as he dragged something out of the dead corpse's brain: a small insect the length of a little finger, looking like a scorpion, but the tail was not a barb, but several long, thin whiskers.

"Brain-Eating Insect Demon!"

They had already discovered this thing once before on Stone Dragon Peak.

Xiao Wencheng frowned: "After crossing Kidney Lake, this acolyte of mine has never left the team; how could he have been hit?"

Zhu Xiuer replied: "Then it was before crossing the lake. They caught the lamp-guarding acolyte, planted the Brain-Eating Insect Demon in him, and then released him back."

The Illusion Sect's retreat plan, how should one put it, was executed somewhat messily. Zhu Xiuer shook her head just looking at it.

After the main Illusion Sect team entered the lake, the remaining crowd was chased and scattered by the Tiangong army, and many disciples were caught. It was easy for the Tiangong to do something to them, wasn't it? This Brain-Eating Insect Demon had deeper cultivation and was harder to detect than the previous ones. Even the corpse it controlled had muscles that didn't loosen, pupils that didn't dilate, and didn't emit the stench of a corpse. Plus, it had always stood far away and rarely approached anyone's line of sight, so it had actually managed to deceive everyone here.

If it weren't for the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror, who knows how much longer it would have lurked here.