187: Chapter 187 Two Illusions

None of the Half-demons in the entire city had any ability to resist.

They could only watch helplessly as their flesh and blood drained away. By the moment of their deaths, their once-abundant flesh was reduced to mere skin and bones, their cheeks sunken, and their eye sockets hollow, looking just like mummified corpses.

The Half-demons in the city were all slowly turning into mummified corpses.

The dense cloud summoned by Zheng had the ability to completely suck dry the flesh and blood of all the Half-demons, and this forcibly drained flesh and blood would be converted into cultivation supply.

Once all the Half-demons in the city had turned into mummified corpses, the corpse of Baili Jin borrowed by Zheng had already welcomed a Breakthrough in Realm.

It smoothly broke through from the Sixth Realm cultivation to the Seventh Realm.

A Seventh Realm strength, if placed in the outside world, would already be considered a great Yao of some renown, standing on equal footing with Li Xiuyuan.

"The Breakthrough was far too casual. That useless Baili Jin, despite having fused with half of my Bloodline, spent all his days dreaming of a peach blossom utopia."

"How could an eternal utopia possibly exist in this world?"

"That damnable Heavenly Dao will sooner or later use all kinds of methods to drag it forcibly into the great web of Karma."

Zheng's words were filled with complaints, seemingly harboring deep hatred for the so-called Heavenly Dao.

After consuming all the Half-demons in the city and achieving a Breakthrough in Realm, Zheng began trying to sense the rootless duckweed.

After all, it was a treasure he had left behind. Although it was in some unknown corner of this grotto-heaven, once it sensed Zheng's aura, the rootless duckweed would actively appear and seek him out.

He closed his eyes and spread his Spiritual Sense outward like threads, extending toward every corner of the grotto-heaven.

After a moment, his Spiritual Sense touched something, and a ripple-like fluctuation spread from the depths of the grotto-heaven, as if responding to his call.

The rootless duckweed had already sensed his presence.

Immediately after, Zheng slowly opened his eyes, the curve of his lips lifting a bit more. He did not linger any longer, stepping over the threshold of the mourning hall, his figure turning into an afterimage in the twilight as he sped toward the Wind Plains.

On the Wind Plains, the confrontation between the two armies continued, the chilling aura having been tense for a long time.

Meanwhile, Zheng had already instructed Baili Fei to bury an Absolute Killing Array in this wide-open plain beforehand. As long as Li Xiuyuan stepped into the range of the Wind Plains and Zheng activated the Formation, those array patterns sleeping underground would instantly activate, trapping Li Xiuyuan to death within the Formation.

As he sped along, Zheng felt the power rising continuously within his body. This body of Baili Jin had already broken through to the Seventh Realm after absorbing the flesh and blood of all the Half-demons in the city. Soon, he would be able to enjoy another true feast. The flesh, blood, and inner core of Li Xiuyuan's Qiu Dragon form, combined with all the remaining Half-demons in the grotto-heaven, would be enough to push him into the Eighth Realm.

An Eighth Realm great Yao would be an existence that could walk sideways in the outside world where Spiritual Qi was recovering, and by then, the natural creations of heaven and earth would be easily within reach.

Zheng's figure, like a shadow swallowed by the twilight, landed silently right in the center of the Wind Plains.

The moment he landed, the battle-hardened Half-demons in both army lines simultaneously felt a sudden pang of fear. It was a tremor from the depths of their Bloodlines, like a young beast suddenly sensing the approach of a predator more than one level above itself.

The warriors of the Tiger Tribe and Snake Tribe gripped their weapons tightly one after another, but besides vigilance, their eyes held more of a sense of confusion.

They recognized the face of that figure—it was Baili Jin, the Venerable who was supposed to be lying in the coffin of the mourning hall.

Yet the Baili Jin standing in the center of the Wind Plains at this moment had an aura completely different from the Venerable in their memories.

The Tiger Tribe leader and the Snake Tribe leader waved their hands to order almost simultaneously. As if granted a grand pardon, those tense Half-demons backed away to both sides, clearing a wide path in the center of the battlefield.

No one asked aloud, nor did anyone dare to question.

Zheng stood at the end of that path, his gaze like an invisible sharp blade, piercing precisely toward the dense shrubbery at the edge of the Wind Plains.

Those eyes belonging to Baili Jin narrowed slightly, the corners of his mouth slowly turning up, as his voice spread exceptionally clearly across the entire Wind Plains.

"You've been hiding for so long, shouldn't you come out and meet me?"

The shrubbery was completely silent.

Li Xiuyuan's clay false body lurked in the shadows, while that yellow clay Qiu Dragon had shrunk its body, coiled behind a rock deeper in.

Zheng waited for a moment. Seeing no response, the smile on his lips deepened a bit more: "What, the dignified Dragon Lord is actually afraid to show himself at a time like this?"

The silence in the field was broken by a burst of whispers. The warriors of the Tiger Tribe and Snake Tribe looked at each other, their gazes repeatedly scanning that familiar figure in the center of the Wind Plains, the weapons in their hands unconsciously lowering a bit.

"Isn't that Venerable Baili? How is he alive?"

"Could he have faked his death? Why would the Venerable do such a thing?"

"No... the aura on the Venerable isn't right..."

Although the Half-demons recognized Baili Jin's face, they could not ignore the aura radiating from this body.

It was completely different from Baili Jin.

On two earthen mounds at the edge of the Wind Plains, the leaders of the Feather Tribe and the Fox Tribe also stood up. Unlike those ordinary Half-demons, they were not confused; their gazes were tightly locked onto that figure in the center of the Wind Plains, their brows furrowing tighter and tighter.

"That is not Revered Master," the Fox Tribe leader said in a low, firm tone. "Revered Master would never have that kind of look in his eyes."

The Feather Tribe leader did not reply, only slowly shaking his head, lowering his arms from his chest, his knuckles tightening slightly.

In the center of the Wind Plains, Zheng was completely deaf to the discussions around him, his gaze still locked onto that patch of shrubbery.

Just as he was about to speak again, there was suddenly movement behind the shrubbery.

The branches and leaves of the shrubs parted to both sides, and a silver-white figure slowly emerged from the twilight.

The silver-white scales gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the afterglow of the setting sun, the edge of each scale outlined with a layer of pale gold patterns.

He was like a moving silver hill, fully revealing himself from the shadows of the shrubbery.

On the Wind Plains, all the whispering came to an abrupt halt at the exact same moment.

Tens of thousands of eyes fell in unison upon that massive silver-white body. The Half-demons of the Tiger Tribe and Snake Tribe unconsciously gripped their weapons tighter, their throats bobbing.

The leaders of the Feather Tribe and Fox Tribe also held their breath. They had not expected that there would actually be a white Dragon on the Wind Plains!

Looking at the slowly emerging silver-white Qiu Dragon, Zheng's smile finally carried a hint of genuine amusement.

"You've finally decided to show yourself," he said.

"Where is that tiger?"

Zheng asked.

The silver dragon body stood coiled in the twilight, those golden vertical pupils calmly watching the figure belonging to Baili Jin in the center of the Wind Plains.

A voice came from the dragon body, carrying a steady quality: "He found a place to hide and doesn't plan to get involved in this matter anymore."

Hearing this, Zheng let out a short laugh: "That tiger is the most naive one I've ever seen. If it were in the ancient Mountains and Seas era, it would have long been coaxed and deceived by other exotic beasts into carving off the most delicious pieces of its own flesh and presenting them with both hands."

"It's also lucky to have run into me, and then to have met you."

He shook his head, his tone carrying a mockery that was almost like pity.

Li Xiuyuan's gaze fell upon Zheng, feeling the aura radiating from Baili Jin's body: "In my impression, Baili Jin's cultivation was only at the Peak of the Sixth Realm. How did you break through to the Seventh Realm?"

Zheng replied casually, "I ate all the Half-demons in the entire city."

On the Wind Plains, those Half-demons who had been listening intently all fell silent at this moment.

In the lines of the Tiger Tribe and Snake Tribe, some Half-demons unconsciously took half a step back, while others gripped their weapons so tightly their knuckles turned white.

The leaders of the Feather Tribe and Fox Tribe looked at each other, seeing the same gravity in each other's eyes.

As expected, Venerable Baili was right; those pure Yao Race from the outside world would absolutely never show any mercy toward Half-demons like them.

Even if the other party was Zheng, it was the same.

Zheng looked around, his gaze sweeping over the dazed Half-demons, his tone carrying a satisfied leisure: "Don't look at me with those eyes. Once I've dealt with him, all of you will become my nourishment, the meat in my mouth."

The moment Zheng's voice fell, although a trace of chill also swept through the Tiger Tribe leader's heart, he quickly composed himself and strode out to the front of the battle line.

Raising his thick arm covered in tiger stripes, he shouted to his alarmed and uncertain Half-demon clansmen behind him, "Listen up, everyone! I have long aligned myself with King Zheng! From this day forward, King Zheng is the co-ruler of our Tiger Tribe. He will lead us out of this tiny grotto-heaven to conquer a world of our own in the outside world!"

The leader's voice was extremely loud, attempting to dispel the fear and wavering in the eyes of his fellow Half-demons.

The Snake Tribe leader followed closely behind, his voice raspy: "The Snake Tribe as well. King Zheng and I had an agreement long ago. After today, we will follow him together. The world outside is our true stage."

The words of the two leaders steadied the minds of the Half-demons in the ranks slightly.

Those steps that had begun to retreat came to a halt, and the fingers gripping their weapons loosened slightly.

Some Half-demons looked at each other, as if confirming whether what they heard was true, while others whispered words like "outside world" and "co-ruler," complex expressions appearing in their eyes.

But at this exact moment, Zheng suddenly moved.

His movement was so fast that it barely left an afterimage. Before the Tiger Tribe leader could even retract his raised arm, he felt an invisible force tearing outward from inside his chest cavity.

In the blink of an eye, this mountain-like, robust Tiger Tribe leader's entire body collapsed inward in an extremely bizarre manner, his flesh and blood rapidly shriveling like an emptied sack.

The Snake Tribe leader's reaction was slightly faster than the Tiger Tribe leader's. His figure shot backward in that instant, trying to pull away, but that invisible force precisely gripped his neck, lifting him into the air.

He swung the tip of his tail violently and flailed his limbs in the air in vain a few times before, just like the Tiger Tribe leader, being drained of all his flesh and blood at an irresistible speed in full view of everyone.

The two shriveled corpses landed on the ground one after another.

On the Wind Plains, there was a moment of dead silence.

Zheng stood between the two mummified corpses, an undisguised sneer rising on his lips: "You actually dared to believe my words. So naive. You couldn't even protect your own lives, yet you wanted to conquer the outside world?"

On the Wind Plains, the dead silence lasted for an extremely brief moment.

Then, as if the final supporting pillar of both the Tiger Tribe and Snake Tribe lines had been pulled out at the same time, the entire battlefield began to collapse inward from the edges.

The Half-demons scrambled to turn and flee, their weapons discarded on the ground with a chaotic clatter of metal. Some had legs so weak they collapsed to their knees, while others opened their mouths but could make no sound. All eyes were fixed on the figure in the center of the Wind Plains wearing Baili Jin's face, terror spreading like a tangible chill from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads.

Zheng did not care at all about the collapsing lines. Once he dealt with Li Xiuyuan, he could consume all the Half-demons in this grotto-heaven at any time. Even if these Half-demons hid in some undiscovered corner, it would be in vain.

He shifted his gaze from the two shriveled corpses, landing once again on the silver-white Qiu Dragon.

"Why do you think I chose the Wind Plains?"

"Because the earth veins here are the thickest, the Spiritual Qi is the most abundant, and it is most suitable for burying an Absolute Killing Array."

The instant those words fell, a strange, hair-thin green pattern suddenly lit up among the seemingly randomly scattered rocks and low shrubs on the ground of the Wind Plains.

These patterns seeped out from deep underground, spreading and intertwining along the crevices of the soil. The eerie light grew brighter and brighter, and the air began to grow heavy and thick.

Standing in the center of the Formation, Zheng felt the power that was sufficient to crush all living things condensing, his tone carrying a confident composure: "I instructed other Half-demons to bury this Absolute Killing Array long ago."

"The Formation core uses my shed old bones from back then, and the Spiritual Qi it draws upon is the earth vein essence accumulated in this grotto-heaven for thousands of years."

"Once the Formation is activated, even an existence at the Peak of the Seventh Realm would be firmly trapped to death here."

His gaze fell upon Li Xiuyuan's silver-white body: "I know you have already taken control of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and your strength is already among the top in this world. But in this grotto-heaven world, even a Dragon must coil up."

At this moment, Zheng's tone was filled with immense smugness.

The moment the Absolute Killing Array was activated, the air on the Wind Plains suddenly froze.

The eerie green patterns seeping from the ground surged in an instant, and the Spiritual Qi within the Formation turned into countless hair-thin blades of Spiritual Qi, crisscrossing and shuttling through the Formation space at an uncatchable speed.

Wherever those blades passed, the air was sliced open, the ground was plowed with dense grooves, and rocks and shrubs were ground into fine powder the instant they came into contact with the blades.

In the center of the Formation, the moment the blades touched Li Xiuyuan's scales, his entire body began to disintegrate from the outside in, the silver-white scales scattering like shattered porcelain blown by the wind, revealing the grayish-yellow clay essence beneath.

In the nearby shrubbery, that humanoid false body was not spared either. Almost at the exact same moment, the blades of Spiritual Qi caught up with it, shredding the moon-colored robe along with the clay-sculpted body, turning them into flying dust that scattered in the twilight.

On the Wind Plains, the smile on Zheng's lips froze before it could fully bloom.

He had never expected that at this moment, both of Li Xiuyuan's bodies were fake!

Zheng had subconsciously thought that this Qiu Dragon body was Li Xiuyuan's true body, because the Creation False Body that Li Xiuyuan had molded was right beside it.

Moreover, he had deliberately not taught Li Xiuyuan how to control two Creation False Bodies at the same time, precisely to prevent Li Xiuyuan from throwing in another false body.

But Zheng had never imagined that without any need for him to teach, Li Xiuyuan had been able to figure it out on his own!