98: Chapter 98 Is it an illusion?

What exactly happened just now?

That was the question they most wanted answered at this moment.

Could it be an illusion?

But what kind of bizarre illusion in this world could silently draw experts of the Carefree Heaven Realm into it without them even noticing?

It was precisely because of this that they were so terrified.

Li Hanyi and the others walked to stand behind Su Rui, their expressions guarded as they watched the two men.

Earlier, within the illusion, they had personally experienced the strength of Cannot Be Bound.

They were definitely not opponents to be taken lightly!

If not fighting one-on-one, they probably wouldn't even have a chance to escape.

But now, with the teacher here, that single Move from before was enough to put them at ease.

"Why have you come here?" Su Rui spoke, his tone calm yet carrying an unquestionable pressure.

Cannot Be Bound exchanged a glance. Years oftacit agreement allowed them to reach a consensus instantly.

In the next moment, the two men abruptly turned and leaped into the air, streaking directly towards the martial arts hall's exit.

Clang!

A streak of cold light cut through the night sky.

Su Rui now held a long sword in his hand, yet he still had not risen from his seat.

The two men, still airborne and not yet landed, were forced back to their original spot by Sword Qi that appeared out of thin air.

Upon landing, they staggered back several steps before barely steadying themselves.

On their palms, a slender sword mark was clearly visible.

"Did I say you could leave?" Su Rui asked softly, his right hand turning as the Cheng Ying Sword returned to its sheath, inserted back onto the stone table.

The might of this single sword strike made Cannot Be Bound instantly realize they had encountered a true master!

The other party hadn't even moved completely, and they were already injured.

No wonder Mo Qixuan was injured by a single strand of Sword Qi.

Thinking of this, a fierce glint flashed in their eyes, and the True Qi within their bodies churned violently.

The scenes from the illusion surfaced again in their minds. With a single thought, the Body Integration technique was activated once more.

The rotating True Qi ball, glowing with a blazing red light, shot towards him.

Su Rui flicked a finger lightly. A thin blue line shot out from his fingertip.

The moment it touched the Qi ball, red and blue instantly merged, then completely transformed into an azure blue.

It turned into Sacred Heart Art Internal Energy, thoroughly absorbed by the Sea-Absorbing Sacred Heart Curse.

If it can be transformed internally, how much more so for released True Qi?

For the Sacred Heart Art, this was merely nourishment.

The Moves they continuously launched were all easily neutralized by Su Rui.

At this point, the two finally began to lose their composure.

These methods were more bizarre than any evil technique they had ever seen.

"Wandering Reaper Claims a Life!"

"Vengeful Ghost Hooks a Soul!"

With one Move unsuccessful, they ceased testing and directly unleashed their trump-card killing techniques.

A Yin wind suddenly rose, carrying ghostly wails that sent chills down the spine.

Their figures flickered in and out within the Yin wind, as if transforming into soul-claiming reapers, flanking Su Rui from both sides.

Their auras intertwined, and with their combined power, they faintly touched the threshold of the Divine Roaming Profound Realm.

Su Rui raised an eyebrow slightly.

Now this was somewhat interesting.

But still useless.

Another flash of sword light.

Before they could even react, they felt a chill at their throats, followed by intense pain.

Their hands clutched their throats, their eyes filled with terror as they stared fixedly at Su Rui.

The next moment, their consciousness plunged into darkness.

The women watched this scene, their hearts filled with shock.

Indeed, the teacher's unfathomable depth far exceeded their imagination.

Those two demonic sect experts, who seemed extremely difficult to deal with in their eyes, before Su Rui, didn't even have a chance to fight back.

As they were thinking this, the two fallen, dead bodies seemed to be erased, gradually dissipating.

When they opened their eyes again, the two men had reappeared under the wall of the martial arts hall's backyard.

"No Method" and "No Heaven" jolted awake, instinctively clutching their throats, only to find themselves completely unharmed.

The sensation of Sword Qi slicing their throats felt like nothing more than an illusion.

The two men, their souls still unsettled, stared at Su Rui.

"Why have you come?" Su Rui spoke indifferently.

Their eyes were vacant, momentarily unable to distinguish whether this was a dream or reality.

"Wandering Reaper Claims a Life..."

"Vengeful Ghost..."

Sword light flashed once more, and consciousness fell into darkness again.

A moment later, they opened their eyes again, still standing in the same spot, breathing rapidly, their thoughts in utter chaos.

That oppressive feeling of nearing death was too real.

They weren't even sure if that could really be considered death.

After all, they had never truly died before.

"Wandering Reaper..."

Sword light swept past again.

The two men completely broke down.

Upon regaining clarity, they instinctively took a step back, their backs against the wall, as if only this could slightly steady their minds.

The rough, real sensation of leaning against the wall offered them a faint sliver of security.

Boom!

The wall behind them cracked from the True Qi erupting within their bodies.

They turned and fled, disregarding everything behind them.

Pushing their lightness skills to the limit, they raced straight for the outskirts of Snow Moon City.

Many experts in the city sensed the disturbance along the way and gave chase.

But they could no longer care about that.

They headed straight for Heaven Beyond Heaven's secret stronghold—the place they had originally planned to use as a base.

All because the owner of that martial arts hall was too terrifying.

That kind of existence was simply not something they could hope to defeat.

Abandoning the plan for Snow Moon City was the only choice.

If they truly provoked such a powerful expert, they probably wouldn't even know how they died.

They disregarded the depletion of their Internal Energy, fleeing with all their might.

Nearly a hundred li, covered in less than a quarter of an hour.

"Greetings, Venerable Envoys!" The guards at the stronghold, seeing the two return, immediately bowed in salute.

"Where is Mo Qixuan?" The two asked, their gazes fierce.

The Disciple pointed in a direction, trembling.

They immediately rushed over, stopping before a temporarily built hut, kicked the door open, and charged inside.

"Abandon the plan for Snow Moon City! There's a peerless expert in the city!" They shouted as soon as they burst in.

"Oh? The expert you speak of, it wouldn't be me, would it?"

A familiar voice came.

The two had just charged in and were still unsteady on their feet. Hearing this, their entire bodies stiffened.

Slowly raising their heads, where was Mo Qixuan in the room?

Su Rui was sitting behind the table, holding a blank booklet in his hand.

Their eyes instantly glazed over with confusion.

With a furious roar, they fled through the door.

In the next instant, the scene before their eyes changed abruptly, and they were back in the martial arts hall's backyard.

The same wall, the same posture of leaning against it.

Their hands were still pressed firmly against the wall, eyes wide, expressions vacant, Qi in disarray, their minds completely shattered.

Su Rui shook his head lightly.

Their psychological resilience was far too fragile.

With a slight movement of thought, he planted a suggestion deep within their minds.

Their bodies shuddered, then they abruptly leaped over the courtyard wall, disappearing into the distance amid the sound of parting wind.

"Teacher, what happened to those two?" Li Hanyi's eyes were full of astonishment.

Su Rui had only brought her and her companions in twice, yet those two had already cycled through the illusion over a hundred times.

Within the illusion, they had experienced dozens of different ways to die—pain, despair, fear, none omitted.

And Su Rui's gain was—the "Heavenly Palace Illusion" becoming increasingly refined, even capable of constructing realistic illusions using their memories.

Yue Qing, meanwhile, had her eyes wide open the entire time.

She understood better than anyone the status these two held within Heaven Beyond Heaven.

Not only were their identities noble and their strength formidable, they were also figures that struck fear into hearts, the kind even children in Heaven Beyond Heaven wouldn't dare cry in front of.

But now, the other party merely sat quietly, and the two were driven nearly insane.

"It's nothing, just a few clowns making a scene.

There are still a few spies arranged by the demonic sect outside the martial arts hall. Go and subdue them. When the people from Snow Moon City arrive, hand them over for handling!"

Su Rui rose from his seat, his gaze suddenly falling on the old peach tree not far away.

"Remember to be careful with your movements. Don't damage my tree."

"Yes, sir!"

Recalling the words they had spoken earlier under the circumstances arranged by Su Rui, Mu Liangyue, the Su Sisters, and Wang Yuyan all blushed.

"We'll discuss matters tomorrow."

With these words, Su Rui turned and went back to his room.

Cannot Be Bound had truly met with great misfortune this time.

In the past, Su Rui would have acted long ago, giving them a quick death.

But this time, he happened to want to test his newly comprehended "Heavenly Palace Illusion."

Outside Snow Moon City, Cannot Be Bound, expressions vacant, their figures cut through the night sky accompanied by deafening sonic booms.

The True Qi within their bodies churned madly, seemingly completely disregarding depletion.

A quarter of an hour later, the two arrived outside a secret Heaven Beyond Heaven stronghold.

"Greetings, Venerable Envoys!"

The night watch, seeing them suddenly appear, was startled and hurriedly saluted.

However, the two paid no heed, charging straight inside.

"Huh? What's wrong with these two? They don't look right."

One guard muttered quietly.

The companion beside him immediately reached out to cover his mouth, whispering, "Do you have a death wish? Are these people you can casually discuss?"

That guard instantly broke out in a cold sweat, shooting a grateful look.

After the two barged into the stronghold, they immediately drew everyone's attention.

But at this moment, they paid no mind to the gazes cast their way, heading straight for Mo Qixuan's location.

The Yin Gui Sect's Elder Yun and Elder Xia were discussing follow-up plans with Mo Qixuan when they suddenly saw the two burst in. They immediately stood up alertly, adopting defensive stances.

Mo Qixuan, seeing them, immediately rose and cupped his hands.

"Greetings, Venerable Envoys. Was the mission successful?"

He naturally knew the purpose of their trip was to eliminate the obstacle posed by that martial arts hall.

Since they had returned, had they truly completed the task?

But the anomaly of the Sword Qi was real.

Puzzled, he opened his mouth to probe.

However, Cannot Be Bound showed no reaction.

Mo Qixuan looked up in surprise, meeting their hollow gazes. His heart immediately tightened, sensing something was wrong.

"Dare to provoke me? This is just the interest!"

The two suddenly spoke in unison.

Hearing this sentence, Mo Qixuan first froze, then his expression changed drastically. He abruptly retreated, striking through the wall behind him with a palm.

The two Yin Gui Sect Elders also looked bewildered, not understanding.

Immediately after, they saw the bodies of Cannot Be Bound begin to rapidly swell, their abdomens bulging high as if about to burst.

An intense aura of death instantly enveloped the entire area.

Mo Qixuan, having just passed through the wall, loudly ordered, "Retreat! Retreat immediately!"

Boom! Boom!

But it was already too late.

Two earth-shattering explosions rang out, instantly reducing the entire meeting hall to powder.

Fragments of stone and wood scattered like a torrential rain, engulfing all the Heaven Beyond Heaven Disciples who had rushed over.

Screams and explosions mingled into one.

Immediately after, violent shockwaves swept through the entire camp.

Temporarily built huts, disguised shelters—all were annihilated in an instant.

Wanwan scrambled out from a pile of broken wood, her jet-black long hair covered in dust and debris.

She stared in horror towards the direction of the explosion.

That was precisely the location where the demonic sect's person-in-charge had received them when they first arrived here.