72: Chapter 72 Illusion

The white mist parted to both sides with a boom, and a figure so colossal that it rendered heaven and earth speechless slowly swam out from the mist.

The massive head of the flood dragon hung low, its pale golden vertical pupils scanning everyone in the clearing from on high, and its silvery-white scales shimmered with a cold, piercing light.

The air in the clearing suddenly froze.

The pressure and aura emanating from the depths of its bloodline crushed down indiscriminately, making every living creature here unable to catch their breath, as if their very heartbeats were being gripped by an invisible hand.

Upon seeing that figure, Li Nianyu's eyes instantly burst with wild joy.

"Li Xiuyuan!"

She shouted loudly towards the White Flood Dragon.

The Li Family disciples standing beside her all stiffened, their faces turning deathly pale; this simpleton, why did she call him by his name directly?

Li Xiuyuan glanced indifferently at Li Nianyu, then his gaze fell upon Li Chongyuan: "The Li Family gifted me a map of the thousand-mile river journey to help me clear away potential obstacles I might encounter during my river journey; it is only reasonable that I save you once."

After speaking, his gaze swept over the aquatic creatures in the clearing; even that large snake was frozen in place at this moment, its eyes reflecting extreme terror.

It opened its mouth, wanting to invoke the name of the Lord River God, but before the words could leave its mouth, a streak of golden light flew out from beneath Li Xiuyuan's scales.

The golden light flashed across the large snake's head, piercing through it and bringing up a spray of scarlet blood mist.

Its massive body collapsed to the ground with a boom, kicking up dust to the sky, and that streak of golden light did not stop, continuing to harvest the lives of the aquatic creatures here.

Within a single breath, all the aquatic creatures were killed.

The ancient coin returned leisurely and submerged beneath the scales, as if nothing had happened at all.

Silence returned to the forest, and the Li Family members stood there dumbfounded, unable to come back to their senses for a long time; Li Chongyuan, in particular, could not utter a single word for quite a while.

He had brought seven or eight clansmen and fought with all his might, only barely holding on until now, yet Li Xiuyuan had solved everything nonchalantly by merely channeling a streak of golden light.

"Many thanks to the Flood Dragon Lord for saving our lives."

Regaining his composure, Li Chongyuan cupped his fists and bowed deeply, his waist bent almost at a right angle, and the Li Family disciples behind him followed suit, their eyes filled with awe and terror.

Only that simpleton Li Nianyu, on the contrary, picked up a wooden stick and poked the large snake's corpse on the ground, her face full of curiosity: "Big Boss, that shouldn't be dark magic, right? Can you teach me?"

Li Xiuyuan ignored her, and Li Chongyuan's expression changed; he reached out to cover Li Nianyu's mouth, breaking into a cold sweat, truly afraid that this girl would say something offensive again and displease Li Xiuyuan.

The White Flood Dragon turned its head leisurely, its gaze landing on the shade of the trees on the periphery of the clearing, where Qian Hongye's expression was extremely ugly at this moment.

The moment the white mist surged, he sensed something was wrong; he had assumed it was an anomaly in the Ancient Grotto-Heaven, but he never expected that it would be this White Flood Dragon that arrived.

And it was very obvious that this White Flood Dragon had come to protect the Li Family.

"Leave!"

He whispered this one word and turned to bolt into the forest.

However, at the very moment he turned, Qian Hongye suddenly discovered that his body was no longer obeying him; after turning, he fell to the ground completely out of control.

The remaining Qian Family disciples also lost their balance one after another, falling down.

Qian Hongye understood that this must be Li Xiuyuan's doing, and he began to struggle hard; as a Fourth Realm Opening martial artist, he could indeed resist the sensory interference brought by [Hibernation], but if Mirage Qi were added, even the firmest willpower would be futile.

Losing control of one's body is an extremely terrifying thing, especially for a martial artist who aims to temper their own physique.

Panic had already set in deep within Qian Hongye, but he had seen a thing or two in his life, so he could barely keep his mind steady.

"Li Xiuyuan, what are you trying to do?"

Qian Hongye lay on the ground, struggling to lift his head to look at the White Flood Dragon in the distance.

"Do you want to kill us here? I'm telling you, if the Jiantian Bureau finds out, they definitely won't let you go!"

Li Xiuyuan glanced at Qian Hongye, neither saying anything nor doing anything, yet he did not let Qian Hongye and the others leave either.

The sensory interference brought by [Hibernation] would destroy the opponent mentally the longer it lasted, especially with the presence of Mirage Qi; Mirage Qi could create illusions that looked real, and combined, the two were enough to scare someone to death.

The Mirage Qi gathered again, shrouding Qian Hongye and the others within it.

The mist looked thin and light, but it was like an invisible wall, completely isolating them from the outside world.

Qian Hongye lay on the ground, trying desperately to stand up, but his legs felt as if they were filled with lead and would not obey him.

"Are, are we going to die here?"

"I'm sorry, don't kill me, don't kill me!"

The voices of the Qian Family disciples behind him were already laced with sobbing.

Qian Hongye gritted his teeth and desperately circulated the spiritual energy within his body, wanting to break through this layer of restraint; he was, after all, a Fourth Realm Opening martial artist, and compared to the clansmen behind him, his willpower was on a different level. The spiritual energy in his meridians surged like a river, and his fingers were finally able to move.

His fingernails dug deep into his palms, and the sharp pain allowed Qian Hongye to barely maintain his consciousness.

"These are all illusions, don't be afraid! Hold fast to your minds, it's all fake!"

Qian Hongye shouted in a deep voice.

But as soon as his voice fell, his nephew behind him suddenly let out a miserable scream and stumbled backward. Due to the interference of [Hibernation], his form was distorted, wriggling on the ground just like a maggot.

"Don't come over! Don't come over! Save me, save me!"

No one knew what he had seen; he screamed, threw his head back, widened his eyes, and collapsed straight onto the ground, devoid of breath!

The fear of death spread rapidly across the scene, and the psychological defenses of the remaining Qian Family disciples had been completely destroyed.

The damage brought by extreme fear was even more shattering than the pain caused by direct contact; the latter at least allowed one to know where the pain came from, while the former made it impossible to distinguish what was real and what was fake.

The Qian Family disciples fell one after another with screams, and although Qian Hongye had strong willpower, he had been constantly affected by [Hibernation], so he also gradually began to hallucinate.

Although he kept telling himself in his heart that those were all false, it was of little use.

On the other side, Li Xiuyuan, coiled around the spiritual cave spring, was absorbing the spiritual energy within it, while the Li Family clansmen on the bank were adjusting their breathing to rest and carefully picking spiritual plants.

Li Nianyu, who was picking spiritual herbs, would sneak a look towards Qian Hongye from time to time; she could only see a patch of mist, but she could vaguely hear the rising and falling screams, as well as the eerie sounds of crying and laughing.

Li Nianyu couldn't help but feel her scalp tingle; although she didn't know what was happening over there, it certainly wasn't anything good.

Li Chongyuan, who was helping his clansmen heal, looked at the surging Mirage Qi with a complex gaze; Qian Hongye's roars were getting quieter and quieter, and he didn't know if it was because he had run out of strength or something else.

He took a deep breath and whispered instructions to the Li Family disciples behind him: "Do not look, and do not ask."

The clansmen behind him lowered their heads and averted their eyes one after another.

I don't know how much time had passed, but the spiritual liquid in the spiritual cave spring was finally absorbed completely; he swam ashore, glanced at the thick mist, but did not remove it.

In the mist, there was no longer any movement; although Qian Hongye was still alive, he had already become simple-minded, his eyes unfocused.

Li Xiuyuan withdrew his gaze, continued to close his eyes, released his Spiritual Sense, and searched for the next spiritual cave.