Chapter 1832

However, as they passed another glowing meteorite crater, the meteorite inside suddenly transformed into a giant flea with tremendous jumping power—small in size but moving so fast the naked eye could barely discern it—and it pounced squarely on Elder Xue, who happened to be passing overhead. Meanwhile, the sand table before Bai Ziqi showed that the vast majority of meteorites in the Divine Fire Grand Formation had ceased rotating, their light gradually dimming.

He murmured: "The Divine Fire Grand Formation has shifted."

This formation can no longer be called a "grand formation." Yet not all meteorites have gone dark—five still glow and emit heat.

Three of them happen to form a triangle, enclosing Kidney Lake at its center, while the other two lie on the outer sides of the diagonals.

This is another shift of the Divine Fire Grand Formation, but it can still be seen as a smaller eye-shaped pattern.

In the hands of the Great Heavenly Demon and the True Immortal, formations are not limited to just one or two uses. Like the so-called "variables" in the Positive and Negative Heavenly Gang Grand Formation, Miao Zhantian also understands them.

On this side, He Lingchuan's mind was racing.

With Miao Zhantian fully occupying Kidney Lake, the strange formation—what schemes does this Great Heavenly Demon still have? Miao Zhantian suddenly said: "For thousands of years, your True Immortal cultivation has grown ever more refined, yet Ling Mountain has waned—unable to recruit followers, gather faith, or expand influence. Do you know why?"

The Wind God did not answer.

"It is because you have schemed to the end, thinking yourselves clever!" Miao Zhantian struck, forcing the Wind God back, then lunged forward to taunt Him with a smile that bore a chilling killing intent.

"You have fallen into the trap!"

Having said that, Cangxi Zhenjun transformed into a mass of golden light and slammed violently into Kidney Lake.

With His speed, who could stop Him? From the view of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, it looked like a small sun plunging into the lake—so fast that it sent up a thousand layers of waves on the surface, and immediately Kidney Lake began to steam under intense heat, like a volcano about to erupt.

Yet the light of the great fireball did not dim—on the contrary, upon entering the water, it reached its peak intensity.

Viewed from above in the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, the bottom of Kidney Lake seemed to have ten suns blazing together, the water offering no obstruction whatsoever.

In the blink of an eye, the golden light slammed ruthlessly into the lakebed.

The entire world shuddered violently, as if struck with great pain.

The Wind God's expression changed in the heavens, and together with the other dharma forms, He surged downward. The black cymbals shattered, and the dharma form of the Thousand Illusions Wind-Thunder Beast also burst forth.

It is evident that Cangxi Zhenjun gave His all, even lacking the strength to continue restraining it.

He Lingchuan furrowed his brow.

What does Miao Zhantian intend to do—directly blast open the two-realm passage? Since he cannot occupy the Inverted Lake, he has settled for second best, trying Kidney Lake instead? In any case, he has no other options.

But even if Kidney Lake is the weakest link in the two realms, can His brute force truly break through? The world established by Thousand Illusions should have laws that are quite stable.

He Lingchuan recalled Bai Ziqi's repeated glances at the sand table—was he plotting something with his master? The Inverted Sea then trembled violently twice, as the golden light kept pounding the lakebed.

It did indeed encounter resistance.

Whether Miao Zhantian or Cangxi Zhenjun, both have expended too much strength within the Inverted Sea today, so much so that in their full-force strike, they actually failed to achieve merit!

The two subsequent impacts were instead less fierce than the first.

Bai Ziqi stared at the sand table without blinking, his fists clenched tight.

If he fails to pierce this passage, his plan will collapse, and the Divine Venerable may well die with regret in the Inverted Sea!

As the Three Great Dharma Forms of Thousand Illusions neared the lakebed, the golden light flared again. Cangxi Zhenjun seemed to gather all His remaining strength for one final strike, slamming violently toward the lakebed!

And at the very instant before this collision, the surface of the Haoyuan Golden Mirror suddenly flashed with red light.

Very faint—just a flash, so quick it might be an illusion, after all, the current sky changes too rapidly, and the mirror's reflection shifts with it.

Had He Lingchuan not been the mirror's owner, he might have overlooked this barely noticeable tremor.

Something quietly occurred.

Not earth-shattering, unknown to anyone, yet it felt as if it had plucked the strings of fate for everyone present.

Then, Cangxi Zhenjun struck the lakebed again—the great fireball flared one last time, then vanished into nothing.

Had it gone out, or had it passed through?

Before the mirror and before the sand table, everyone's hearts rose to their throats.

The Three Great Dharma Forms of Thousand Illusions also entered the lakebed, the giant viper leading the charge—only to slam headfirst into the lakebed!

Those before the mirror witnessed this scene and all exclaimed in unison, "Eh?" before realizing: Kidney Lake had already been taken by Miao Zhantian, and now even Thousand Illusions himself could not arbitrarily open the two-realm passage.

To be blocked at home by one's own door—this is nothing short of a great shame for Thousand Illusions.

But the other two dharma forms ceased their futile attempts, turned, and prepared to rise from the water and fly away, leaving the Kidney Lake area.

Onlookers saw it—Miao Zhantian had truly succeeded!

The only question is: did He return to the upper Illusion Realm, or break through the Illusion to face Thousand Illusions' true form? Either way, He is no longer in this realm.

Zhu Xiuer murmured: "How did He manage this?"

He Lingchuan, however, fixed his gaze on the Haoyuan Golden Mirror.

That earlier tremor felt familiar—was it the Great Vase acting, helping—or perhaps pushing Miao Zhantian? Before the audience could even mutter their astonishment, something even stranger happened:

Above Kidney Lake, a massive golden-light barrier suddenly appeared.

The Three Great Dharma Forms of Thousand Illusions slammed headfirst into it—and were bounced back! "Eh?" the crowd before the mirror cried out in unison, and He Lingchuan raised one eyebrow.

Far away, Bai Ziqi saw this on the sand table, swung his fist heavily, unable to conceal his excitement: "Success!"

His plan had succeeded!

Naturally, Thousand Illusions' dharma forms did not believe it, and slammed again several times—only to be bounced back each time.

The Wind God's dharma form tried to summon the Haoyuan Golden Mirror, but failed.

This was not due to the mirror's fickleness, but because within that barrier, the mirror itself was hard to use.

Thousand Illusions' dharma forms were trapped.

This golden-light barrier actually has six support points, five of which are the Divine Fire meteorites orbiting Kidney Lake, one side heating while spinning on its own.

The sixth lies at the bottom of Kidney Lake.

The Haoyuan Golden Mirror automatically focused on the lakebed, magnified in one second—and thus everyone saw the true form of this support point: Cangxi Zhenjun's Iron Lotus Lamp!

Though originally shaped like a bud about to bloom, it is now fully opened, its petals unfurled in layers.

It appears to be sealed within a large block of transparent crystal, golden light shimmering within.

Each time the Thousand Illusions dharma forms violently strike the golden-light barrier above Kidney Lake—meaning, each time the golden light trembles—the lotus lamp slowly sheds one petal.

Considering there are many lotus petals, it might take some time for them all to fall off.

The elders of the Phantom Sect were also shocked by this turn of events; they never expected a sudden reversal. Xiao Wencheng was the first to regain his composure and quickly ordered: "Dig out the meteorite, quickly!"

As long as they uncover the formation's base, the Divine Venerable's Dharma Form will be able to break free.

The immortals of the Phantom Sect all rose on clouds, carrying out the sect leader's command.