Chapter 216: 209 Escaping the Trap

Within the Lingjing, that profound Soul course had already reached its end.

Outside, thousands of troops were slaughtering and gods were battling, long since overturning mountains and seas, yet here in this Reflection Realm, it was deathly quiet, as if it were a peach blossom spring amidst a chaotic world.

The Libationer on the platform was teaching with earnest instruction; most people were focused and attentive, the course flowing like clouds and water, creating an atmosphere that one could not bear to interrupt.

At this moment, Tang Zhao and Zhuge Yudan had finished linking up, waiting only to act together to escape the Reflection Realm.

It was just that he had already confirmed Zhuge Yudan had not given Jiang Shenyi the Xuan Su Jade; after he went out, would his senior brother just remain here?

But this matter was like an arrow on the bowstring; the others would not refrain from triggering the escape just because of Jiang Shenyi's situation. Once triggered, Zhu Yang would surely become alert, and there was no telling what dangers might arise.

At this time, he heard Zhu Yang's voice sink even lower, saying: "Things have reached this point, and our course is nearing its end; I still have one final word to gift to you all in private."

Tang Zhao shuddered, knowing the critical moment had arrived—at this very moment, although facing so many people, they were isolated from the inside and out, and no outsider would hear, so it truly counted as "private."

If Zhu Yang had no conspiracy, then so be it; if he did, it was time for the dagger to be revealed at the end of the map.

"This path of upward sublimation I spoke of today is merely a beginning. If you strengthen your Soul according to what I taught today, perhaps there will be results, perhaps not. Do not be discouraged if there are no results, and no need for complacency if there are; this is only the start. Even if the Soul is powerful, it only removes the shackles; one still needs to study diligently, and it is still a long way from truly transcending the mortal and reaching the level of Sword Hero or Sword Immortal."

The crowd nodded; in truth, without him saying it, everyone knew this principle. No matter how well the Libationer spoke, it was only a few hours; how could he explain a brand-new path clearly? Today's course was more theory than practice, and certainly not hand-in-hand guidance. No matter how high their comprehension was, they only had a concept, and were still far from doing it themselves. As for the operational knowledge and techniques mentioned later, those willing to try would not know how long they would have to study and experiment before daring to move their own Souls even slightly; most people likely lacked the courage to try at all. They all harbored the intent to wait for others to carve out a path before following in their footsteps.

In other words, even after screening to this point, eighty percent of people would just listen and leave it at that; those truly willing to open mountains and find paths were few and far between.

The Libationer said: "For those who want to walk the path of the Sword Guest, if you are just doing it for fun, then stop listening. If you truly wish to walk this path, I have words to gift you. Although the path of the Soul is my own creation, challenging immortals and gods with a mortal body is not my original invention. Predecessors made many efforts, but it is simply not a mainstream study nowadays."

Speaking to this point, he smiled meaningfully and said: "Not only is it not a mainstream study, but due to reasons other than the learning itself, it has been branded as treasonous and shelved; this is a massive loss. However, knowledge and truth will not be extinguished by people. Moreover, the spark has never been extinguished. It only depends on whether you have the heart to search for it."

The crowd's hearts pounded; after the screening, especially with the people from Qingqu Academy taking the lead and flicking their sleeves to leave, those who remained were not very orthodox and had a low threshold in this regard. So, since he spoke so bluntly, how could the crowd not know what he meant? They only thought: He actually said it! Being so explicit, is he truly not afraid of the Imperial Court's blades?

Who would have thought Zhu Yang could be even more explicit, continuing calmly: "The exploration of the self by predecessors was nothing more than the Spirit Official. He is also a building block that completes my learning. The Spirit Official tempers the Spirit, the Rune Formula sublimates the Soul, and the Martial Dao tempers the body. It is like the unity of Heaven, Earth, and Man, complete and without flaws. Only when a wooden bucket has no short boards can it be expanded to become a water vat, a pond, a lake... and eventually become the ocean."

At this time, the crowd still had varied expressions, each harboring their own thoughts; some were moved, others were restless. Zhuge Yudan pursed her lips and tucked her hands into her sleeves.

Tang Zhao had no more doubts; Zhu Yang, who claimed to have opened a new path, was ultimately just acting as a mouthpiece for the Spirit Official, clearly having truly merged with the rebellious forces of the past.

Does this mean the Libationer was a part of the Turtle Bandit invasion plan from the beginning? Or perhaps it was a parallel track to the military invasion—he was the spiritual invasion, recruiting young new blood attracted by their path to join their Spirit Official System?

If so, it made sense, but Tang Zhao felt somewhat disappointed. A perfectly good path of pioneering had been tainted by conspiracy, the taste was all wrong, and that passionate blood in Jiang Shenyi had been misplaced. The possibility of this path succeeding also had a big question mark on it; it might just be a gimmick to lure people into a trap.

Zhu Yang continued: "Things have reached this point; if I do not point it out clearly, it would be hypocritical. For those with the heart to find the path to ascend to heaven, a thousand miles west of here, there is a place..."

At this moment, Zhuge Yudan shouted: "Danger!" She grabbed the jade pendant and yanked it downward!

As she acted, Tang Zhao only felt the half-piece of illusory jade pendant on his body suddenly become heavier than a thousand catties, dragging his body as if falling from a great height. With a moment of weightlessness and dizziness, he opened his eyes and was already back at the venue.

Opening his eyes, the Sunlight before him was bright, illuminating the world clearly, with no more gloom. Tang Zhao reached out and put on his Glasses first.

Putting on the Glasses, he let out a long breath, knowing he was safe.

The Glasses could isolate all spiritual attacks and disturbances; if he had been wearing the Glasses at the time, no external force could have pulled him into any Reflection Realm. Perhaps when everyone in the Heaven District turned into puppets, he would have been the only one unaffected, left looking left and right, not knowing what had happened.

Perhaps remaining alone outside would mean missing a good lesson, but it was absolutely safe; if not the most trusted person, how could one let others control their own Spirit?

Having protected himself and fearing no further spiritual attacks from Zhu Yang, Tang Zhao stood up and prepared to run toward Jiang Shenyi to rescue his senior brother who lacked the Xuan Su Jade according to the plan. Just as he looked up, his heart shook, and his breathing nearly stopped.

He was not the only one; everyone who looked up even slightly fell into shock and terror, dumbstruck like wooden chickens.

The skyline—one could no longer see the boundary between sea and sky; at the end of the distant gaze, where thick fog and seawater were chaotically indistinguishable, two behemoths were fighting.

A Black Tortoise entwined with black water and a Cloud Dragon gathered from ten thousand clouds were clashing thunderously between heaven and earth. Every move they made stirred up wild winds and giant waves, and even space itself was trembling.

Relatively speaking, Tang Zhao and the others were already in the safest place, with double protection. The classroom around Zhu Yang had a layer of cloud-gas shielding, and the venue further out seemed to be protected by power as well, with a bright star hanging overhead, preventing the wild winds and waves outside from encroaching. But the visual impact of those giant beasts, which seemed like gods and demons, was enough to make one's soul tremble.

Looking closer, the bright star overhead seemed to be tottering, flickering on and off, not like a star that had shone since ancient times, but rather like a candle in the wind. When the star fell, the outer protective layer would dissipate, and the people in the venue would have to face the storm head-on.

Beichen, who had been continuously fueling the Polaris to protect the venue, was fighting a white-bearded old man on the other side and could not be distracted. The star supporting the battle above his head was bright like the Purple Star, while the defensive star left here was merely a dim, small star.

From this point of view, Zhuge Yudan's timing in pulling everyone out of the Reflection was very correct; if they had waited for the star to shatter and the Heaven District to be swept into the tidal wave, it would have been too late.

At this time, the battle between the Cloud Dragon and the Black Tortoise had reached a white-hot stage; the cloud-gas and thick fog also formed domains around them, and excess energy was constantly erupting. Tang Zhao stood beneath these two behemoths, and after just one glance, he confirmed there was absolutely no room for intervention here.

This power was truly... not something done by human hands.

Perhaps if he used his imitation, he could intervene for two or three moves with his greatest strength... but what would be the point of that?

He came back to his senses and gently touched a young man from the Human District who was still immersed in the Lingjing. The young man shuddered, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.

Tang Zhao hurriedly tried to help him up; at this moment, Zhuge Yudan also accidentally knocked one over and shouted loudly: "Not good! Don't touch them!"

The few who had already escaped stopped simultaneously. Zhuge Yudan said: "I thought too simply; this is not just a dormant state of entering the Spirit Image, but having one's consciousness plundered... Old scoundrel, he almost kidnapped us all!" After saying this, she reached out to draw her sword, pointing it at Zhu Yang, who was sitting in his seat.

Tang Zhao gritted his teeth; since it was confirmed that Zhu Yang was a secret agent of the Turtle Bandits, nothing he did was strange. He had thought well of him just before, assuming he only wanted to use the path of longevity and transcendence to lure young people into the bandit camp, but he hadn't expected kidnapping to be behind it.

If it weren't for Zhuge Yudan being prepared, with the Xuan Su Jade anchoring the reality, and making a decisive decision to pull them all out of the Reflection Realm before Zhu Yang could utter the rebellious words that must never be heard, everyone's Spirit would now be in Zhu Yang's grasp.

Now that a batch had managed to escape, and another batch was in his hands, they could only use force to demand them from him.

Tang Zhao followed suit, drawing his sword from its sheath, and with a light tap, ran toward Zhu Yang. Other young Talisman Sword Masters who had reacted followed along; regardless of whether they had people to save, everyone knew this extremely dangerous Libationer had to be contained!

As for Zhu Yang, facing the siege of the crowd, he remained seated in place with a calm expression, as if he had nothing to fear.

Here, swords were drawn and bows were bent; at the same time, the two giant beasts overseas collided again, and the battle became increasingly tragic. The Black Tortoise's snake tail suddenly opened its mouth and bit the Cloud Dragon's neck, while the Cloud Dragon, with its head and neck locked, actually turned its body to entwine the Black Tortoise's back. The majestic divine dragon was attempting to strangle the opponent like a python!

The outcome would be decided in an instant!

Hum—

Suddenly, a cold wind blew past.

The clouds, fog, and sea all fell into Silence at once.

Click, click, click—

A speck of white appeared on the sea surface; it was ice formed from water!

In a moment, the white Solid Ice spread from that single point, and in an instant, from heaven and earth to the clouds and fog, to the giant beasts, everything was covered by Solid Ice, as if it were a frozen world!

A sword appeared silently, hanging in the air.

Kun, treading on frost, the Solid Ice arrives.