Chapter 2775: Breaking Through the Illusion

Having heard of the unified standard for battle armor weapons, I never heard that illumination tools also needed to be unified in style. So—

"This is a magic artifact! It's the magic artifact they use when employing specific divine abilities, so it must be lit." Mingke Xianren's eyes flashed as he said to the little stone figure, "Let the stone puppets focus on attacking the floating lamps and see."

The little stone figure nodded.

Indeed, more than ten stone puppets changed their attack method, suddenly going for the small lamps beside the immortals and demons. Their first reaction was to defend, but when they acted, they revealed their physical forms, allowing the stone puppets to strike them; however, two stone puppets still managed to hit the floating lamps by surprise.

The lamp went out instantly, and correspondingly, the immortals and demons' figures suddenly vanished, while the ground's shadows seemingly "stood" up out of nowhere, transforming from flat to three-dimensional!

Mingke Xianren was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood:

"No wonder we can't hit them—they've swapped the virtual and real with their shadows!"

Under bright light, objects cast shadows. Nobody pays attention to shadows.

These immortals and demons used divine arts, combined with the floating lamps, to swap their positions with their ground shadows. No matter how the stone puppets and garrison attacked, striking the shadows meant striking air, naturally hitting nothing.

Having deciphered the immortals and demons' secret, the little stone figure immediately ordered the stone puppets to attack the immortals and demons' floating lamps or ground shadows.

This tactic proved remarkably effective; the immortals and demons hiding in the shadows emerged one after another, no longer able to conceal themselves.

Mingke Xianren felt invigorated, dispatching the garrison and cultivators to intercept.

Seeing that actual combat was unavoidable, the immortals and demons also devised a new countermeasure.

They originally intended to use a labor-saving trick to find the entrance to the Panlong Secret Realm, but since their invisibility trick had been seen through—

Gengyue Shen coldly said, "Let's just have an open and aboveboard fight."

Saying this, he pressed an object into his palm and rubbed it repeatedly before lightly tossing it halfway into the air:

"Illuminate!"

This was a round mirror the size of a rouge box. After being tossed into the sky, it stabilized at a height of a hundred zhang above the ground, then suddenly blazed with light!

The myriad rays of scorching light, fiercer than the sun, shone upon the mist over the Earth Mother Plains, producing a hissing sound.

The thick mist grew thinner and thinner, soon scattered by the light, restoring the bright, clear sky.

The Earth Mother Plains' fairy secret realm, which usually flowed with mist and twilight haze, was thus shattered.

Mingke Xianren clenched his fists: "How is this possible!"

When he and Earth Mother took this secret realm, he had used many methods, yet could not dispel the thick mist. How could the demons accomplish it so easily?

He did not know that this round mirror was Miao Zhantian's relic, capable of piercing most delusions in the world.

Besides the mist, the architectural disguises on the Earth Mother Plains were also exposed by the light, and many so-called "Panlong Ancient City" structures revealed their true forms.

What ancient city? Just some old buildings, that's all.

The reason the demons previously did not use this mirror magic artifact was because it would also expose the secret of the floating lamps' shadow-swapping. But since this divine art had already been deciphered by the Cangyan side, the demons no longer needed to hide it.

Each side broke one of the other's obstructive illusions, resulting in a temporary stalemate.

However, Mingke Xianren clearly knew the situation was greatly unfavorable to his side!

Yang Sheng led nine hundred garrison troops out to support the Crown Prince of Shen State, leaving only over six hundred garrison troops on the Earth Mother Plains.

Earth Mother's return to the Kunlong Pit this time was for rest and recuperation, not for troop deployment or combat readiness, so the troops, cultivators, and monsters she brought were few. The enemy truly seized a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

With Earth Mother's true whereabouts unknown, dozens of immortals and demons made the Earth Mother Plains' defensive forces appear weak.

Now that the mist secret realm has been broken, the enemy finding the Panlong relics is merely a matter of time.

These thoughts had not yet fully turned when a green shadow flew back, circling around Mingke Xianren. He caught it in his hand, and Yang Sheng's urgent words rang in his ear:

"We've been tricked! Three thousand Bei Jia troops and over ten immortals and demons burst out from fifteen li northeast of the Kunlong Pit. Ling Xianren stayed behind to cover our retreat!"

Mingke Xianren's mind buzzed; he first pinched a Clear Wind Formula to contact Ling Jinbao.

They usually used this method to communicate.

However, this time, after pinching the formula for a while, there was no response from the other side.

Something really happened? Mingke Xianren took two steps and ran to the Nancheng Square of Panlong.

In the square, the high tower housed three small niches, each containing an ever-burning lamp.

These three lamps corresponded respectively to the lives of three immortals.

There was no wind in the city, but the lamp representing Ling Jinbao, which had been burning steadily, suddenly hissed, and before his eyes was compressed into a bean-sized flame core, swaying left and right, extremely weak.

The state of the life lamp indicated that Ling Jinbao was in danger, his life hanging by a thread.

Mingke Xianren jumped in fright: "Ling Xianren!"

Ling Jinbao had just been promoted to immortal; his cultivation could not yet compare to that of veteran immortals. Relying solely on his own strength, how could he block those dozen or so demons? Mingke Xianren thought of it and felt anguished.

Ling Jinbao fundamentally did not need to step forward to fight to the death, yet he unhesitatingly chose to stay and fight to the end, out of gratitude for the Jiukuang Great Emperor's recognition.

He was naturally unrestrained and uninhibited. Mingke Xianren had known him for over three years, not long, yet they had instantly clicked, regarding each other as kindred spirits.

What should be done? The Earth Mother Plains currently suffer from manpower shortages and have also encountered the main force of the demons' invasion. How can we rescue Ling Jinbao?

Just as he was anxious and flustered, a gust of green wind blew by, and two voices came through:

"Mingke brother, has Yang Sheng already brought the Crown Prince of Shen State back to the plains?"

"How is the situation on the plains?"

It was indeed Ling Jinbao's voice transmission.

He's still alive! Mingke Xianren instantly rejoiced: "How are you? Is your injury severe?"

"I won't die." Ling Jinbao gave a bitter smile: "These immortals and demons are formidable; even the great demons my sect has captured throughout history barely managed to hold them off."

"Just now, I was fully focused on fighting, with no time to receive your transmission." He paused, "I've trapped them in a small cave dwelling; I just ran out myself, and I estimate that place won't hold them for long."

"Hurry back to the Earth Mother Plains and fight alongside us!" Mingke Xianren said, "Qing Shou Di Jun can heal you."

A dead immortal is useless, but a living Ling Jinbao, even if severely injured, is still an immortal and one of the most precious combat forces currently on the Earth Mother Plains.

"I'm heading to the Kunlong Pit now." Ling Jinbao was flying on his sword, needing to seize every moment, "Have you clashed with the invading demons?"

"Not yet; mainly relying on Earth Mother's stone people for defense, I want to observe their combat capabilities." Mingke Xianren replied, "Earlier, this group of demons used a scheme, hiding their true bodies in shadows, so the stone people couldn't hit them. Now this trick has just been deciphered by us."

"Don't engage in battle!" Ling Jinbao said upon hearing this, "The enemy went to great lengths to redirect the garrison and invade the Earth Mother Plains; they surely prepared multiple countermeasures against us. For now, the best strategy is simply a 'delay' tactic."