Chapter 966: Illusion Heart Mirror

Yan Buji's figure flickered in the wind and snow, his newly breakthrough unified Dao cultivation perfectly merging with the chill between heaven and earth.

The broken‑law eye in his left pupil intermittently flashed a faint light, scanning the distant towering Tianhan Palace.

There, the aftershocks of the battle between the Corpse‑wielder and the Cold Heavenly Sovereign had not yet settled, and the entire palace complex was shrouded in twisted spatial turbulence.

"Time to take a look." Yan Buji rubbed the black ice shard in his hand, a cold sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

This was the key to his plan; while both sides were wounded, he might fish in the muddied waters and find the method to achieve sainthood within Tianhan Palace!

Yet just as he prepared to slip in, the broken‑law eye suddenly tingled with pain.

The scene of Tianhan Palace before his eyes warped slightly, revealing the hidden truth: the whole palace was actually a meticulously arranged Illusion Formation!

"The real battlefield has been moved underground, and these surface ruins are merely bait. Good, good, the old monster was indeed prepared." Yan Buji frowned.

This Tribulation Crossing Stage great one's tactics are utterly incomprehensible; could a Illusion Formation spanning a million li truly be set up by a person?

"Impressive, Cold Heavenly Sovereign…" Yan Buji squinted. Had it not been for the broken‑law eye, he would have almost fallen into the Dao.

He stepped back a few paces without showing any emotion, desire thoughts coalescing beneath his feet into a formation.

Since the obvious front is a trap, he would strike from the shadows.

He didn't want to be chased forever; if at the crucial moment he got nothing and just fled, that would be too wasteful, wouldn't it?

As the technique completed, his form gradually sank beneath the ice layer, slipping along the earth veins toward the true battlefield.

A thousand zhang underground, a massive ice cavern unfolded before him. The Cold Heavenly Sovereign and the Corpse‑wielder's fierce clash had reached a white‑hot stage, both covered in scars. Yet Yan Buji immediately sensed something off—their injuries were too symmetrical, each attack like a rehearsed performance.

"Fake?" The thought arose, and the entire ice cavern suddenly flared with blinding blue light.

Around, the icy walls sprouted dense runes, forming a perfect spherical barrier that trapped Yan Buji at its center.

"I've been waiting for you, little mouse." The Cold Heavenly Sovereign's voice echoed from all directions.

From the cavern ceiling descended three figures: in the center, the pallid Cold Heavenly Sovereign; on the left, the supposedly already devoured female cultivator Han Yue; on the right, the supposedly dead Cold Frost Elder!

Bad!

Yan Buji's pupils contracted sharply: "Illusion Heart Mirror?"

He recognized the ancient plain bronze mirror in Han Yue's hand, the prized treasure of Tianhan Palace, capable of creating illusions that even Great Vehicle Stage cultivators struggle to discern as real.

The Cold Heavenly Sovereign chuckled lightly: "To lure you into the pot, I even spared the Corpse‑wielder for a performance."

He waved his hand, and the nearby "Corpse‑wielder" turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished—it was merely a clone.

Yan Buji quickly steadied himself, the broken‑law eye scanning the barrier.

The seal fused spatial lock, spiritual energy restriction, and soul suppression—a triple effect that ordinary means could not breach. More troublesome, the Cold Heavenly Sovereign toyed with a black ice crystal in his hand, which was the core of the Corpse‑wielder!

"I'm curious," the Cold Heavenly Sovereign said, twirling the ice crystal, "how did you earn the Corpse‑wielder's approval? That old stubborn one despises me as an 'evil demon outsider'."

Moreover, this old thing can actually see through the illusion?

Then how dare it come here?

The Cold Heavenly Sovereign narrowed his eyes, already acting covertly!

Yan Buji calmly circulated the Extreme Desire Path, but his face showed panic: "Senior, spare me! I only stumbled upon this by chance…"

"Spare me the pretense." the Cold Heavenly Sovereign cut in, "Your performance pales compared to the Corpse‑wielder." He suddenly pressed the ice crystal to his own brow, "Let me see your secret personally."

The black ice crystal merged into his forehead, and the Cold Heavenly Sovereign's eyes instantly turned pure black.

A bizarre spiritual wave swept over Yan Buji, attempting to directly read his memories.

In the critical moment, Yan Buji's left eye erupted with dazzling golden light!

The broken‑law eye clashed violently with this spiritual force, exploding countless tiny spatial fissures in the void.

"This is…" the Cold Heavenly Sovereign exclaimed in surprise for the first time, "Broken‑law? Impossible! How can such power allow you to…"

Yan Buji seized the instant, the Swallow Desire Pot shot from his mouth, its mouth aimed at the clone.

This action, seemingly targeting the clone, was actually a feint; the pot's accumulated desire thoughts detonated explosively, not to attack anyone but to surge toward the Corpse‑wielder's ice crystal in the Cold Heavenly Sovereign's hand!

"Seeking death!" the Cold Heavenly Sovereign hurried to shield the crystal, but he was a step too late.

Desire thoughts slithered into the crystal like poisonous snakes, activating the dormant obsession within.

The crystal shuddered violently, broke free of control, and shot a black beam toward the Cold Frost Elder.

"No!" the Cold Heavenly Sovereign tried to stop it, but it was too late.

The black beam entered the Frost Elder's brow, his expression twisted instantly, his body began to swell and deform uncontrollably, the Corpse‑wielder was rebirthing through his body!

Seizing the chaos, Yan Buji fully drove the broken‑law eye, his gaze slicing toward the barrier's weakest point.

Simultaneously, the Human Emperor Banner unfurled from behind, rattling as it wildly siphoned surrounding spiritual energy. The powerful law of movement guarded him, no weaker than those top‑tier protective arts!

The barrier flickered erratically, revealing a sliver of opening.

"Don't even think!" the clone roared, the Illusion Heart Mirror emitted a white flash.

Yan Buji couldn't dodge, his right shoulder was pierced; blood hadn't even spilled before it froze into ice shards.

Worse, the Cold Heavenly Sovereign had already recovered his senses.

He formed hand seals, and the entire ice cavern's temperature plummeted, even the space began to freeze. This was his true strength: absolute suppression at the Great Vehicle Stage!

"For forcing me to use my full power, you may be proud." the Cold Heavenly Sovereign said coldly. As he moved, the gray mist around Yan Buji began to solidify, his thoughts slowed.

On the brink of life and death, Yan Buji made a mad decision. He ceased resisting the cold, and instead pushed the Extreme Desire Path to its limit.

All desires—survival, killing, greed... —were transmuted into the purest force, poured into the left eye's broken‑law eye.

Essential Method!

And the broken‑eye reconstructed by the mutated Dao Mark…

"Give me… open!"

With a roar, the broken‑law eye burst forth an unprecedented golden light.

Wherever this light passed, laws collapsed, order disintegrated. The Cold Heavenly Sovereign's ice‑sealed domain was ripped open, even the spatial structure briefly formed a "vacuum".

Moreover, the lingering golden light struck the mutating Frost Elder, forcibly halting the Corpse‑wielder's revival and triggering a terrifying energy runaway.

The entire ice cave shuddered violently, countless space rifts spreading like a spiderweb.

"Now!"

Yan Buji endured the piercing pain from his left eye, his form turning into a wisp of gray smoke as he shot toward the largest rift.

Cold Heaven Venerable tried to intercept, but was held back by the rampaging Corpse Handler, forced to watch helplessly as the enemy fled into the void.

"You can't escape!" Furious roars echoed behind him: "I have already planted a mark in the ice crystal; no matter the ends of the earth......"

The sound cut off abruptly.

As the space rift closed, Yan Buji saw Cold Heaven Venerable engulfed by the Corpse Handler's black aura, but only caught a glimpse before narrowly escaping.