Chapter 387: Shell

Bang!

A muffled sound like a heavy hammer hitting the ground. A sweet taste rose in An Qisheng's throat; he didn't take the hit head-on, instead borrowing the force to dash forward.

Just by the sound, he knew that the one who had launched this attack was not the Li Miao bodyguard, but the Emperor himself. With his protective Qi reduced to less than 30% under his severe injuries, he could not block the Emperor's full-force sneak attack.

Silent Illumination, the realm of nature-gong that had been lost the earliest.

For a thousand years, only Patriarch Bodhidharma and True Man Sanfeng had attained this realm.

It was also the most important realm among the three natures of mind, spirit, and intent.

Since appearing in this Great Shuo world, it seemed it had never revealed its true wonders. It either failed against inexplicable otherworldly demons like Li Miao or was difficult to utilize against opponents who had also attained Silent Illumination.

Only today, facing An Qisheng—a Heaven-man who had cultivated from a thousand years ago to the present, practicing both nature and life but failing to attain Silent Illumination—did this realm finally reveal its overwhelming advantage over other Heaven-men.

Ethereal and hard to find.

An Qisheng borrowed the force of that punch to dash forward several yards, and only after dodging did he turn to raise his palms, but he could no longer find the Emperor's figure. Only the two bodyguards, who had rushed back before him, were fearlessly raining down attacks that, while not fatal, could not be ignored.

Although An Qisheng's gaze remained calm, his attacks clearly carried a hint of anger.

Being within the Emperor's original heart illusion, he couldn't find the Emperor's location at all.

Reality and illusion are hard to fathom.

Clang!

The golden mace and axe struck An Qisheng's shoulder, breaking through his protective Qi and leaving two wounds, getting stuck in his shoulder blade.

An Qisheng stepped forward violently, his palms drilling from bottom to top into the two bodyguards' chests, aiming for their heads.

With protective Qi and desperate martial arts, his skill in trading injury for injury and life for life was no less than Li Miao's!

Seeing the two bodyguards' heads about to be crushed.

Suddenly, a sharp pain flared in An Qisheng's shoulder.

The golden mace remained on his left shoulder, but the axe pressed down violently, breaking through his protective Qi, breaking the bone, and embedding into the marrow!

With the martial power of the golden-armored guards, it was absolutely impossible to do this.

An Qisheng shifted his gaze to the bodyguard holding the axe. Right before his eyes, the golden armor rippled like a reflection in water, gradually transforming into a crimson gold-woven robe.

Crown Prince Li Miao squinted at him.

"I don't mean to belittle you, but how can a Heaven-man who has cultivated for a thousand years be so easily tricked?"

The next instant, the axe pressed down.

Crack.

The collarbone snapped.

An Qisheng's right hand hung limply, but his left hand suddenly reached out, crushing the head of the bodyguard holding the golden mace!

Then he retreated rapidly.

He knew very well that this was an illusion.

In reality, there were no Crown Prince or bodyguards, and his collarbone was perfectly intact, without the slightest damage.

But this was the wonder of "Silent Illumination." Illusions deceive not only the five senses but also consciousness and the original heart.

"When the false is taken for true, the true becomes false; where there is nothing, it is taken for something."

Even though he knew all this was fake, an illusion, the pain was real, and his consciousness truly could no longer command his arm to exert force.

And what he had traded for was only one bodyguard.

Crown Prince Li Miao stood where he was, looking over at him, suddenly chuckled, and spoke his thoughts.

"Are you thinking that trading an arm for a bodyguard is a bit of a loss?"

"Have you ever actually fought True Man Sanfeng? This Prince feels you don't really understand Silent Illumination either... Could it be that True Man Sanfeng didn't use much effort to beat you back then, and didn't use many Silent Illumination techniques?"

After speaking, Crown Prince Li Miao's expression suddenly turned solemn.

He pushed the axe forward and said in a deep voice.

"Go forth, be respectful!"

"Understood!"

A response came from the void; the golden-armored bodyguard whose head An Qisheng had crushed emerged from the air, then turned from void to solid, took the axe with both hands, bowed, and turned to look at An Qisheng. Crown Prince Li Miao then stood with his hands behind his back and laughed.

"Illusion, illusion, can something that can be killed still be called an illusion?"

"You didn't just lose a little; you lost big."

The tone was both sharp and mean, and with that half-dead expression, it already surpassed Li Miao in terms of being infuriating. One wondered what Li Miao looked like in Zhu Zai's heart, to have created such a thing in the Emperor's original heart illusion.

Yet this mockery still left no trace on An Qisheng's face.

From the beginning of the fight until now, his gaze had remained as calm as water, without the slightest wavering. Even now, with one arm crippled and the enemy suffering no losses, he showed no emotion.

Suddenly, he spoke.

"Where is the Emperor?"

Crown Prince Li Miao shrugged.

"Guess?"

"I guess, it is you."

An Qisheng said calmly.

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow and laughed mockingly.

"What, guessing randomly without clues? How about I give you three more chances? If you guess right, I'll reward you with a position as a Great Attendant, how about that?"

An Qisheng seemed not to hear his mockery.

His tone remained calm.

"You are right, I have indeed never fought Zhang Sanfeng. He was too strong; in just one encounter, I was defeated. If he hadn't been so young at the time, I might not have lived until now—so I indeed do not understand Silent Illumination."

"But I understand mental images, I understand original nature."

"The most prominent feature of this original heart illusion of yours is the unconditional trust and protection for Li Miao, which is why you can manifest three Li Miao clones to fight me."

"But, you are too impatient."

An Qisheng walked forward slowly.

"Impatient, the interval between attacks is too short."

"If you had lengthened the interval between the Crown Prince and the Emperor's attacks, I might not have discovered it. But with such rapid attacks, you have never used the main body and the Crown Prince to besiege me at the same time; isn't that strange?"

"Impatient, too many words to attack the heart."

"Instead, you revealed the biggest flaw—you just said, 'Go forth, be respectful'."

"This is what the Emperor says personally to bless a general before an expedition. The full sentence should be 'Drink this sweet wine, may your flag open to victory! I push the cart for you, waiting for your report of victory! Go forth, be respectful'."

"Yet it is said by you, a Crown Prince."

While speaking, An Qisheng had already walked not far from the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince's expression had already darkened.

An Qisheng's tone still had no fluctuations.

"Silent Illumination is an illusion of the original heart."

"Only what you firmly believe in can deceive me. So, while you are deceiving me, you are also opening everything up to me."

"Your nature is cowardly; you dare not face the enemy directly, so you used illusions to cover yourself, putting on the hardest, strongest shell you could imagine outside your main body to hide yourself. This shell—is Li Miao."

An Qisheng and the Crown Prince's gazes crossed.

He caught the fleeting fluctuation in those eyes.

"It seems I guessed right."

An Qisheng said calmly.