298: Chapter 298 Mirage

Ling Hao's figure had just fallen into the entrance of that illusory palace complex when he felt the surrounding space suddenly sink.

"Hmm?"

Ling Hao frowned slightly, closed his eyes, and swept his Divine Thought across the surrounding Void Realm. A moment later, he opened his eyes, a trace of surprise flashing in them.

The Formation here was extremely ancient and ingenious; its core was not merely a trap, but rather more like a setup... to "lure the enemy into the trap"?

What was more troublesome was that this Formation seemed to have been tainted by an Aura where extinction and immortality coexisted, causing its structure to undergo a mutation.

With his keen eye, he could understand the basic operating principles of the Formation, yet he could not easily break the nodes, because this strange force acted like a protective layer covering the keys to the Formation.

To get out, it seemed the only path remaining was to forcibly blast it open with absolute power.

The frustrating part was, his power didn't seem sufficient?

Ling Hao's expression grew a bit more serious. This time... it seemed he had really played too big?

"Could this really have something to do with an Immortal?" he pondered to himself.

"Forget it, finding Su Fengyi is the priority."

Even when one thinks there is no way out, a new path may yet reveal itself.

Whether he could get out or not could be set aside for now; finding the person was what mattered first.

Ling Hao gathered his focus and swept his gaze around.

The scene before him made him frown again. Where were the palace complexes? What met his eyes was actually an endless desert!

Yellow sand filled the sky, heat waves distorted his vision, and only a few heavily weathered, massive stone pillar ruins stood scattered about.

"A mirage?"

Ling Hao understood instantly that this desert scene was merely an illusion derived from the Formation; the true palace complex must be hidden in some spatial interlayer or a deeper node nearby.

Tch, this is truly a headache!

"Who is it?!"

"Someone has broken in!"

A few sharp, feminine shouts accompanied by the sound of wind breaking reached him. Ling Hao looked in the direction of the sound and saw several figures flash out from behind a few stone pillars, vigilantly surrounding him.

Upon seeing the appearance of the newcomers, a trace of surprise flashed in Ling Hao's eyes.

The women before him were all charming and alluring. They each had a pair of furry, pointed ears atop their heads and fluffy, soft tails behind them.

The leading woman was particularly outstanding, with an exquisite, graceful figure. A fiery orange dress outlined her beautiful curves, and from her flame-like red hair poked out equally fiery red fox ears. As her eyes swept across him, they carried a natural allure, as well as... wariness.

Foxes? Fox-girls?!

Ling Hao spoke:

"Everyone, there is no need to panic. This seat has come here to find the Empress of the Wutong Divine Dynasty, Su Fengyi, and bears no ill will."

Upon hearing "Empress Su Fengyi," a ripple flashed through the eyes of the few fox-kin women, but their wariness did not diminish.

The leading red-haired fox-girl grasped her Magic Treasure and warned:

"There is no Empress here. Our Clan Chief is a Tribulation Transcendence Heavenly Venerable, please leave immediately!"

Just as Ling Hao was feeling helpless, one of the fox-kin maidens, who had snow-white fox ears and appeared the youngest, stared at Ling Hao's face with infatuation and whispered to the red-haired fox-girl:

"Sister Hongye, he... he is so handsome, he definitely isn't a bad person!" As she said this, she even wanted to take a step forward.

"Axue! Stop talking nonsense!"

The red-haired fox-girl, addressed as Sister Hongye, sternly stopped her, two flushes of red rising on her pretty face as her eyes darted away from Ling Hao's gaze in a panic.

"Hmm?!"

Ling Hao noticed that the Qi within her body was somewhat chaotic; it seemed... she was trying hard to suppress something.

However, Ling Hao did not have time to waste with them now; Su Fengyi's situation was unclear, and this place was eerie.

"Hmph! Since you refuse to lead the way, don't blame this seat for using force! Hehehe..."

Ling Hao deliberately let out a villainous laugh and took a step forward!

"You... what are you doing?!"

The few fox-kin women were shocked and terrified, one after another erupting with the Aura of Body Integration or Soul Transformation Stage. Demon power surged, and their Magic Treasures instantly attacked Ling Hao.

However, in the face of an absolute difference in strength, their resistance was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

Ling Hao's Aura condensed slightly, and the few fox-kin women felt their entire body's demon power instantly solidify; their bodies were pressed firmly in place by a force, unable to move.

Ling Hao walked up to the red-haired fox-girl, looking at her flushed cheeks, her alluring face, and that pair of slightly trembling, fiery red fox ears.

His heart stirred, and acting on an impulse, he reached out his hand and gently pinched that furry ear tip.

"Ah—!"

A charming, delicate cry suddenly spilled from Tushan Hongye's lips.

As if all her strength had been instantly drained, she felt a numbing electric current instantly spread from that touched ear tip throughout her entire body.

The bodily reaction she had been forcibly suppressing surged out like a bursting flood. Her legs went weak, her whole body became scorching hot, and she uncontrollably tilted forward, falling softly into Ling Hao's arms.

Her delicate body was flushed pink like a cooked shrimp, her rapid breathing carried a scorching, sweet fragrance, and her eyes were so dazed they seemed as if they could drip water.

"...?"

Ling Hao froze, looking at the red-haired fox-girl in his arms who had gone limp as mud and was radiating allure, feeling a bit bewildered himself.

He had only... ruffled her fox ears a little, right? Was this reaction too exaggerated?

...

After passing through a layer of spatial ripples that undulated like water waves, the scene before him suddenly opened up.

It was no longer the desolate desert illusion, but a real palace complex! The building materials emitted a soft halo; although many places were dilapidated, one could still feel its former glory and sanctity.

In the inner hall of a relatively well-preserved palace, under the "reluctant" guidance of Tushan Hongye, Ling Hao finally saw Su Fengyi.

She was sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat, regulating her breathing, dressed in a simple, elegant white dress of an unknown material, replacing the crimson Phoenix palace attire he had seen before.

Although her face was pale, her Qi was completely stable, and it even faintly revealed a power fluctuation several times stronger than before.

She had reached the fifth level of Undergoing Tribulation!

Beside Su Fengyi stood another woman.

If Ayue was like a fiery, passionate allure, the woman before him was an existence that blended mature charm with an allure that went deep into the bone marrow.

Her figure was curvaceous and graceful, wearing a nearly transparent silver thin gauze dress, with a moon-white tube top and undergarments inside, her faintly visible, snowy skin soul-stirring and captivating.

A waterfall of silver hair was lazily draped to her waist, adorned with a few small, exquisite fox-tail flowers. Her features were exquisitely perfect, and as her soul-stirring fox eyes swept across, they seemed capable of sucking a person's soul right in.

The corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, naturally carrying endless charm.

She just stood there quietly, like a vivid and fragrant painting, radiating an irresistible charm.