Chapter 1821

The main force is about to evacuate from Invincible Ridge. While moving, they still have to defend against the Illusion Sect's attacks from the rear, which is extremely difficult.

How could Thousand Illusions allow them to evacuate smoothly? Seeing the Tiangong's direction of retreat, it casually raised the ground in front of them, turning flat land into peaks and high ridges into deep chasms. As soon as the Tiangong entered the mountain path, the cliffs above would collapse and landslides would occur.

In the Illusion Realm, Xiao Wencheng could achieve all this through the Haoyuan Gold Mirror. In this world with even greater freedom, wouldn't changing the landscape be a simple task for Thousand Illusions?

As for the Tiangong, the only one capable of handling Thousand Illusions' willful actions is Miao Zhantian.

Although True Monarch Cangxi was still meditating with his eyes closed, the range of the lotus lamp barrier in his hands suddenly expanded to a radius of three miles.

No matter what kind of terrain Thousand Illusions conjured to block the Tiangong's team, as long as it entered this exceptionally bright barrier, it would melt away quickly like ice and snow under the scorching sun.

By the time the Tiangong's team reached them, they had already returned to their original appearance.

Even if the mountain peaks overhead collapsed and rolling boulders fell, once they entered the lotus lamp barrier, their volume would shrink to one-thousandth of the original size.

Boulders larger than a house might become pebbles the size of a fingertip when they fell on the Tiangong's team, stinging their faces or making them rub their eyes.

But there was no fatal danger.

Miao Zhantian's explanation was that they were only that big to begin with, but in this world where the false is taken as true, they had the effect of boulders when they hit people.

And True Monarch Cangxi's True Barrier simply stripped away their disguise and returned them to their original form.

"This is called, 'Divine Radiance Illuminates the Illusion Sea.'" In essence, it is a battle of techniques between Miao Zhantian and Thousand Illusions.

Although this world is bizarre, Miao Zhantian had not come away empty-handed after observing it for so long.

After saying this, the gray parrot fell silent again.

While dealing with the pursuers behind him, Bai Ziqi asked in his busy schedule: "Does the Divine Venerable have some doubts?"

"Hmm." Bai Ziqi was one of his own. Having cooperated with him for so long, Miao Zhantian couldn't be bothered to put on airs. "I was just battling Thousand Illusions when I suddenly felt another force intervene. But before I could trace it, it disappeared again."

Bai Ziqi was startled.

A contest at the level of a True God and a True Immortal, and someone could actually intervene?

No, that shouldn't be the power of a "person."

Bai Ziqi knew that the power that could be solemnly pointed out by Miao Zhantian must be extraordinary and transcendent.

"Within the Inverted Sea, there is actually a third force?" This discovery was no small matter.

"It only touched and retreated, just testing." The gray parrot pondered. "Thousand Illusions must have sensed it too. Could it be that this is the rescue force it brought in?"

Not only did Miao Zhantian borrow treasures from the Lingxu Holy Venerable, but if Thousand Illusions also had reinforcements...

"At this critical juncture? And inside a Small Cave Heaven." Bai Ziqi said, "Unlikely. The storm wall of the Inverted Sea only opens for ten days. Thousand Illusions doesn't seem to trust anyone; even Lingshan doesn't know its exact location. How could it be such a coincidence that help suddenly arrived?"

"Indeed, this force even felt a little familiar." Miao Zhantian was still a bit surprised. After all, this matter defied common sense.

Bai Ziqi asked: "Does this force come from a god or an immortal?"

This could surely be distinguished, right? Miao Zhantian did not answer directly, only saying: "Thousand Illusions' strength is also exceptionally profound, especially the Illusion Realm it built single-handedly, which initially blinded even my Eye of Truth."

It said leisurely: "Between truth and falsehood, there was originally a clear chasm. Once crossed, it is false; if not crossed, it is true."

No matter how much divine power it poured in, for the Eye of Truth to function, it must first be able to define "truth."

"But Thousand Illusions filled in this chasm, confusing the judgment of the Eye of Truth!" The gray parrot raised its beak toward the falling rocks on the cliff. "I spent quite a bit of effort to recalibrate the Eye of Truth. Otherwise, your journey would have been fraught with difficulty."

These rocks on the ground were thousands or tens of thousands of tons of boulders when they fell, with great momentum.

"Thousand Illusions lost the Mirage Pearl; I originally thought its cultivation would stagnate. Now it seems it must have found another way. These old things really know how to scavenge treasures for themselves."

Speaking of this, it suddenly let out an 'eh', flapped its wings and flew to the bottom of the rock wall, and brought back a stone.

It was a stone the size of a pigeon egg, very round, gray and black, and Bai Ziqi didn't see anything special about it.

The gray parrot lowered its head and tapped it a few times, using its hard beak to break it into pieces.

The cross-sections of two of the fragments flashed with a soft, moist light under the sun.

Just a little bit.

The gray parrot immediately said: "This thing has the aura of Thousand Illusions."

It was extremely faint, but it felt it, which is why it picked it out from a pile of rubble.

"What is this?" Bai Ziqi picked up a piece and shone it toward the sun a few times. "Why would Thousand Illusions put it in the mountain peak?"

This was a rolling rock that fell from the giant peak, which shattered into a dozen pieces after hitting the ground.

The gray parrot stared at these fragments, lost in thought for a long time before saying: "They all say mirages are illusory and ethereal. Those who can say such things are merely repeating hearsay and know nothing about mirages."

Bai Ziqi listened attentively: "Please enlighten me, Divine Venerable."

"We have been studying Thousand Illusions for a long time."

This "we," of course, was not just Miao Zhantian alone.

With Thousand Illusions' status and position, it was naturally qualified to be a key subject of study for the gods.

"No matter how brilliant a mirage realm is, even one built by Thousand Illusions, it cannot be generated out of thin air; it must have a foundation." The gray parrot said, "Look at a farmer weaving a basket; he must first set the frame before he can weave along the edges. Mirage realms are the same. It is precisely because it is illusory that it must rely on real objects as a base. With this base, it can weave layer by layer."

"The real objects you speak of refer to?"

"Things that can help it construct a mirage realm." Miao Zhantian said slowly, "Inside this illusion, there must be many similar objects. Thousand Illusions uses them as fulcrums to build the skeleton of this illusion."

While they were talking, Bai Shi suddenly hurried over from behind and reported in a low voice: "Lord Commandant, we just found out one thing: when the small leader of the Luodian people was capturing the lamp-guarding acolytes by the side of Waist Lake, he searched out a treasure and hid it privately."

After saying this, he offered the item with both hands: "It is this."

This was an eave bell, usually hung under the eaves of the main hall in palaces and temples; some pagodas also have them. Besides decoration, some also have formations attached to ward off evil and filth.

Bai Ziqi took it, and heard Bai Shi continue: "The reason he hid it privately was that he heard from that acolyte that this eave bell was personally bestowed by True Person Thousand Illusions to the sect to serve as a means of communication during seclusion. But in the past few decades, Thousand Illusions was in deep seclusion, and this bell did not function. However, when the Illusion Sect evacuated, Xiao Wencheng specifically instructed them to be sure to take this eave bell with them."

Bai Ziqi frowned: "Why didn't the Brain-Eating Insect Demon report it?"

The gray parrot said from the side: "After the Brain-Eating Insect Demon occupies the brain, it only searches for memories it deems useful; it cannot receive and read everything."

How big is a human brain, how many memories are in a lifetime, and how much random thinking is there? If the Brain-Eating Insect Demon took it all, its own brain would explode instantly.

Bai Ziqi examined the bell closely. The texture was not as heavy as metal. Although the surface had rough textures, when he turned to the inside of the bell, he could see the side walls were very smooth, and even had beautiful glaze, just like soap bubbles under the sun, capable of refracting several colors of light.

"A token personally bestowed by Thousand Illusions?"

Bai Shi continued: "Right, that acolyte also had a direct quote: 'The token that the Island Master surnamed He showed to the Sect Master was also an eave bell.' He was watching at the scene at the time."

"The token He Xiao took out? No, it should be the token Lingshan took out." Bai Ziqi pondered, "The Illusion Sect has been in seclusion for so many years. Given He Xiao's age and background, it would have been difficult for him to have any connection with the Illusion Sect in the past. The most likely possibility is that he obtained this eave bell from Lingshan or the Mou Kingdom as a token to meet Thousand Illusions."

"Then, these two eave bells should have very distinct characteristics. Whether it is Thousand Illusions or the Illusion Sect, they would know at a glance that this thing cannot be faked." Otherwise, how could it be used as a token? The gray parrot examined the eave bell and suddenly said: "Shake it."

After obtaining the eave bell, the White Guards had never dared to shake it casually. This was Thousand Illusions' treasure, after all; who knew what would come out if it were shaken.

Since the gray parrot said so, Bai Shi picked up the eave bell and shook it hard twice.

Eh, no sound?

He shook it hard a few more times, but the eave bell still didn't make any sound.

The gray parrot gave a low reprimand, telling Bai Shi to pick up the stone egg it had just cracked open, hold it in his palm, and then shake the bell.

This time it rang.

Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling-a-ling, exceptionally crisp and rhythmic.

Bai Ziqi listened for a few moments and said: "This is a secret code."

But they had no basis and couldn't decipher it.

"It will only ring when it senses the aura of Thousand Illusions." The gray parrot stared at it for a long time, looking as if it were lost in thought again.

Although the sounds of killing were deafening all around and the pursuers were biting hard, the gray parrot's thinking was unaffected: "We have been in the Inverted Sea for so long, yet we have been slow to obtain anything directly related to Thousand Illusions. This old thing is extremely cautious; even the Wind God Temple in the Illusion Realm, which has flourishing incense, doesn't have half an item directly related to it."

Therefore, Thousand Illusions is exceptionally difficult to track.

A dozen breaths later, it spoke again:

"Lady Mitian once said that Thousand Illusions' shell is very hard. I used to think this was just a mockery. After all, Lady Mitian has a very bad temper and likes to be sarcastic."

"What is your take?"

"This eave bell is very suitable for dismantling. It likely came from the hands of Thousand Illusions, and it wasn't refined or finely crafted, so it doesn't have very powerful formation protection."

It was just a token, after all; it didn't need very complex functions. Perhaps Thousand Illusions refined it casually back then and didn't change too much.

So the gray parrot took the eave bell from his hand, flapped its wings and flew toward True Monarch Cangxi, suspending the eave bell above the lotus lamp in his arms.