Chapter 1144: Stone Cave Illusion Realm

"What does it matter if a Martial Cultivator gets a little hurt? No risk, no resources! If you don't dare go in, just wait for me outside!" Ye Liuyun also didn't want to force Zhu Youfu.

Zhu Youfu hesitated a moment, then gritted his teeth and decided to go in with Ye Liuyun.

"Let's go, we can't die anyway! I'll throw myself in just once!"

Ye Liuyun looked at him, as if he were about to gallantly go to his death, and couldn't help laughing, "Your courage is far too small!"

Zhu Youfu, however, didn't care at all.

"Being cautious is the way to live long!"

"Mm, that makes sense! Then you be careful yourself!"

After saying that, Ye Liuyun forged ahead, exploring deeper inside.

Inside the Cave, the winding passage stretched far, and at its end stood a stone door, its interior contents unreadable.

Ye Liuyun's Divine Sense, even from a distance, scanned the situation and found nothing unusual.

When the two reached the stone door, Zhu Youfu sensed danger inside and took a Defense Array Plate in hand, ready for the unexpected.

Ye Liuyun also, fully alert, pushed the stone door open.

"Boom—!"

The stone door seemed long unopened; at first it required great force to push it aside.

When the door opened, dense spiritual energy burst out, almost vaporizing everything.

"This is a great place, the spiritual energy is so dense!"

Just as Ye Liuyun thought of this, the Ten Thousand Gods Command flared, keeping his Soul clear.

"Illusion technique?"

Ye Liuyun didn't realize how he had fallen under the illusion.

But since the Ten Thousand Gods Command warned him, it couldn't be wrong.

"Wait here while I go in and take a look," Ye Liuyun instructed Zhu Youfu, then cautiously stepped inside.

Beyond the stone door were some stone benches and tables, bearing blackened, rotting items that emitted a foul stench.

Human skeletons littered the ground; they were likely Martial Cultivators who entered and fell under the illusion.

The Cave's spiritual energy was indeed very dense, source unknown, and there was nothing else.

Just as Ye Liuyun was about to activate Gold Eye Search, Zhu Youfu's voice came from behind, "This place is so beautiful! Any tasty food?"

Zhu Youfu, speaking, dashed toward the rotting food on the stone table, reaching out to grab it.

Ye Liuyun's eyes sharp and hand swift, he seized Zhu Youfu and pulled him back.

"Didn't I tell you to wait outside? Why did you come in?"

"Boss, this place is like a fairyland, there's food, and no real danger!"

Zhu Youfu said, glancing at Ye Liuyun, "You don't intend to hog it all for yourself, do you?"

Hearing that, Ye Liuyun realized Zhu Youfu was already under the illusion; explaining would be futile, so he said, "First find the treasure, then eat. I won't eat first, so don't worry."

The top priority was to locate the source of the illusion.

He activated the Gold Eye, scanning the entire room.

It was then he noticed the Cave was relatively bright because a luminous pearl hung from the ceiling.

Inside that luminous pearl was another bead; the Cave's spiritual energy was all emitted by that bead.

"First check that bead before anything else!"

Ye Liuyun immediately used Gold Eye's void translocation to move the luminous pearl into his hand, then crushed the outer luminous pearl, extracted the bead, and examined it closely.

But he couldn't discern how the bead cast the illusion.

He tried absorbing the spiritual energy emitted by the bead, to test its authenticity.

With that inhalation, the Ten Thousand Gods Command's radiance instantly grew stronger.

"It turns out the issue is this spiritual energy!" Ye Liuyun immediately used Mysterious Origin to envelop the bead completely, preventing its energy from leaking.

Then he used Gold Eye to unleash Golden Crow Holy Fire, incinerating all the Cave's spiritual energy.

But Zhu Youfu refused to cooperate with his actions!

"Huh? Why did you burn it all away!"

In Zhu Youfu's eyes, Ye Liuyun not only destroyed this fairyland but also burned away all the food.

"I can't explain it clearly; let's talk outside!" Ye Liuyun said, pulling Zhu Youfu to head out.

Zhu Youfu still felt a bit reluctant to leave.

While he was hesitating and tugging.

"Boom—" a muffled thud sounded as the stone door Ye Liuyun had opened slammed shut again!

"Damn, there's a trap! The way out is sealed!"

Ye Liuyun silently cursed, "This is bad."

But Zhu Youfu kept pestering him, demanding why he burned everything here.

Ye Liuyun, helpless, released an Ice Demon Tiger to freeze Zhu Youfu, calming him.

He himself first tried pushing the stone door; even using True Essence, it wouldn't budge.

Smashing it with a divine artifact, he found a Defense Array still on the door.

He even sent Ice Blue to push the stone door, yet it remained immobile.

Soon Zhu Youfu regained consciousness, using Divine Sense to send Transmission Voice to Ye Liuyun, asking him to release him.

Ye Liuyun had the Ice Demon Tiger unfreeze him.

Zhu Youfu pounded his chest, shocked.

"I just fell under an illusion? Why is this place like this?"

Ye Liuyun pointed at a pile of ash-like stuff on the stone table and told him, "If I hadn't stopped you, you would have rushed up and eaten it!"

Afterwards, Ye Liuyun roughly explained the whole situation to him.

"There must be some special gas in the spiritual energy that can let people enter the Illusion Realm!" Ye Liuyun analyzed.

Zhu Youfu thought of those nauseating things, felt so sick he grimaced, and repeatedly thanked Ye Liuyun.

"If I ate those disgusting things, I wouldn't be able to face living!"

Ye Liuyun sighed: "We don't even know if we can survive! We're trapped here!"

Only then did Zhu Youfu notice that the door had been sealed shut.

He also tried pushing the door or smashing it with a divine artifact, but couldn't break the formation on the door.

After studying the formation for a while, he helplessly told Ye Liuyun, "This formation is too advanced; I can't break it!"

The two of them then began examining the surrounding stone walls, discovering formations on all sides, which they likewise couldn't break.

Ye Liuyun also didn't retreat.

His connection with that shadow outside was cut off the moment the stone door closed.

"Don't panic! As long as it's a mechanism, there must be a way to solve it!" Zhu Youfu continued to comfort Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun also said helplessly: "That's true. Besides, even if we can't break it, when the time comes the token will send us out. I just don't know whether this stone door can block the token."

Thinking of this, he took out his own token, tried to sense the Fourth Prince's position, but found he could not sense it.