Chapter 1009: The Illusory World Mirror
Chapter 1009: The Illusory World Mirror
"How can the Yuanli Secret Realm's power be so formidable?"
The formation spirit had naturally seen Earth Immortals before, but one so powerful, capable of even contending with the Yuanli Secret Realm's power, was exceedingly rare.
This Earth Immortal seemed to be far from simple?
Just as the formation spirit hastily attempted to employ other divine abilities and restrictions, the sky above was suddenly engulfed by a golden light.
That was precisely the Shushan School's sect-guarding formation — the 'Two Modes One Qi Nine Palaces Sumeru Grand Array'!
This formation encompassed the Dao of creation, destruction, truth, and illusion. Countless small worlds seemed to be born and annihilated within the golden light. . .
Unbeknownst to anyone, it had already spread throughout the entire cave-heaven.
"Eight swords flying in unison, go!"
"Oh no! That's. . ."
The formation spirit's eyes nearly burst, no longer able to maintain its composure.
Whoosh!
The void was first cleaved open by the Taiyi Formless Sword, followed by the All-Heaven Scorching Fire, the Sixth Generation Qing He. . .
Endless sword light surged into the void fissure, the unleashed sword qi transforming into a long dragon that suddenly roared, tearing fiercely with its two dragon claws.
This void fissure was completely torn open, vaguely revealing the deepest secret of the cave-heaven.
It was an ordinary cave-mansion.
Only a single dark and blurry mirror hung above the entrance of the cave-mansion.
On the mirror's surface, the formation spirit 'Fang Xi's' silhouette appeared, his expression grim: "I underestimated you. I never expected you to be an immortal formation master!"
If Fang Xi had relied on the Eight Gates Sword Array to wantonly destroy the arrangements within the cave-heaven, it would have been delighted.
Because that would also be equivalent to releasing the shackles on its own body.
Yet, it hadn't anticipated that Fang Xi was an immortal formation master with formidable attainments in the Dao of formations, who had directly found its true body!
"Hmm?"
Upon seeing this mirror, Fang Xi's face, however, revealed a look of shock.
That mirror hung above the cave-mansion, glowing faintly, though its light was quite weak.
Now, upon seeing the newcomer, it rotated.
The ethereal silhouette of the formation spirit within the mirror still bore Fang Xi's appearance, its grim expression now settling: "You cunning thief! To think you could find my true body!"
Fang Xi's gaze was stern as he stared at the mirror: "You are not a formation spirit, but an artifact spirit? The aura of this treasure has already surpassed that of an immortal artifact. . . It seems Celestial Immortal Yuanli truly did obtain a Dao Monarch's inheritance."
"Indeed, I am the 'Illusory World Mirror,' a Dao Artifact!"
The Void Mirror's artifact spirit shouted: "A Dao Artifact is a Dao Monarch's vessel of the Dao; even a Dao Monarch possesses only one, and some Dao Monarchs cannot even refine one in their entire lives. . . Now that you have heard this, you can die without regrets. You've made me waste the magic power I painstakingly accumulated through blood sacrifice, you deserve to die!"
Amidst its soft cry, the mirror surface flipped again.
A streak of Law power spilled forth, transforming into a Dao Seed!
That was not an illusory seed, but a real, tangible Dao Seed!
If a Heavenly Immortal had perfected their magic power and cultivated a true Dao Seed, they could attempt to 'Merge with the Dao' and ascend to the position of a Dao Monarch!
This Dao Seed was imbued with the essence of 'illusionary annihilation'; with just a slight movement, a faint, almost imperceptible ray of light shot out.
The Eight Gates Sword Array crumbled with a crash!
The sword dragon formed by the eight immortal flying swords suddenly let out a mournful cry, and all the myriad sword lights turned illusory.
The golden light of the 'Two Modes One Qi Nine Palaces Sumeru Grand Array' also became illusory, revealing a fissure.
That ray of light immediately passed through the fissure, shining upon Fang Xi's forehead.
His face blanked, and then his figure suddenly turned illusory.
It was as if his presence here had always been an illusion.
Now that the illusion had dissipated, there was not a single trace left.
In reality, he had been affected by the Dao Seed's power, transforming from reality into nothingness.
At this moment, Fang Xi had perished!
...
The Earth Immortal World.
Beneath the demonic tree.
Fang Xi's main body picked up his wine gourd and took a swig.
"A Dao Artifact? A Dao Monarch's artifact?"
"I never thought Celestial Immortal Yuanli's secret realm would hide such a grand treasure. . . And its artifact spirit harbored malicious intentions, not passing on the inheritance to its successors, but instead frantically collecting blood sacrifices to accumulate magic power. . . It must have been for freedom, right?"
Magical treasures in the cultivation world had always been extremely pragmatic; without magic power, they were like dead objects, difficult to move.
On the Shushan School's side, it was rumored that some pure yang supreme treasures could even transform into human forms and actively attack enemies, with some artifact spirits even shedding their shells to reincarnate as humans!
The Dao Artifacts in the True Immortal World seemed to follow the same lineage; though they possessed artifact spirits, without magic power, they still couldn't accomplish anything.
"This is my opportunity then."
"How could a Heavenly Immortal's inheritance compare to a Dao Monarch's?"
"Now, with my main body situated in the Earth Immortal World, as long as the tiger doesn't leave its den, not even a Dao Monarch can kill me. . ."
Fang Xi smiled faintly, raising a hand.
The essence of heaven and earth converged, summoning forth the External Avatar that had just been destroyed.
"Go!"
With a flash of silver light, the External Avatar vanished without a trace!
...
The Yuanli Secret Realm.
With a flash of silver light, Fang Xi reappeared in his original spot.
In the void, the eight immortal flying swords instantly hummed, converging into the Eight Gates Sword Array.
The 'Innate One Qi Taiji Diagram' also burst forth with dazzling light.
"Formation diagram merge!"
Fang Xi performed a sword art, and the eight flying swords entered the 'Two Modes One Qi Nine Palaces Sumeru Grand Array'. The two layers of formations merged, their power seemingly surpassing their previous limits.
"Taste my sword!"
He declared in a deep voice, and the sword formation, augmented by the 'Innate One Qi Taiji Diagram', rumbled as it crashed into the cave-mansion.
In an instant, the cave-mansion shattered, leaving only a faint glow enveloping the 'Illusory World Mirror'. Above it, the artifact spirit's silhouette appeared, looking somewhat exasperated: "How is this possible? Even if you are an External Avatar. . . I attacked your true body with a secret art earlier, how can you be completely fine? And you immediately sent an External Avatar to break through the cave-mansion's restrictions and come here?"
The artifact spirit was utterly bewildered.
To Fang Xi, this was actually quite simple.
His main body was protected by the 'All-Heavens Precious Mirror', so it was naturally impossible for secret arts like the Seven Emotions Sword to harm it.
Even if a Dao Monarch were to act and cause his main body's demise, he could still revive in the Earth Immortal World using the 'Earth Immortal Undying Art'!
As for what the artifact spirit had said earlier, Fang Xi's true body had felt nothing at all.
And reconstituting an External Avatar, as well as using the power of the All-Heavens Precious Mirror to teleport to a pre-arranged spatial coordinate, was an incredibly easy task.
Even if this External Avatar died, Fang Xi could immediately send another one.
His tactic was also very simple: to exploit the fact that the Dao Artifact could not cultivate on its own to generate magic power, and to grind it down until it perished!
"Slash!"
Fang Xi flicked his fingers repeatedly, controlling the two merged formations to continuously deplete the 'Illusory World Mirror's' magic power.
The 'Illusory World Mirror' transformed into a ball of light, frantically fleeing within the secret realm.
"Damn it, you forced my hand."
From within the 'Illusory World Mirror', the artifact spirit's somewhat exasperated voice rang out.
Immediately after, Fang Xi felt the surrounding void shift.
He was actually repelled from the Yuanli Secret Realm, appearing above the lake outside!
"It can forcibly repel me?"
"Why didn't it do this before? Was it trying to deceive me into offering blood sacrifices. . . or would doing so incur a greater backlash?"
Fang Xi's mind was clear, and he paid no heed, waving his hand again.
The eight flying swords and the Innate One Qi Taiji Diagram circled his body. With a flash of silver light, he once again entered the Yuanli Secret Realm.
"Impossible. . ."
The Illusory World Mirror's artifact spirit's eyes bulged, utterly incredulous.
It had paid a huge price and barely managed to banish this person, so why could he immediately return?
"Could it be that you are the true successor chosen by old man Yuanli?"
The Illusory World Mirror's artifact spirit shrieked: "The more so, the more you must die!"
It manipulated the Dao Artifact with a flip, and all the sword lights in the sky were sucked into the mirror's surface, then reflected back!
Not only that, those sword lights were even sharper than before!
Fang Xi held the Taiji Diagram, his face devoid of emotion.
The strategy was set; all that remained was execution.
He extended his five fingers, and a streak of five-element sword light converged on each finger, suddenly transforming into a massive five-colored sword lotus.
The five-colored lotus slowly rotated, continuously eroding the sword qi reflected back by the Illusory World Mirror.
"This is bad!"
The Illusory World Mirror's artifact spirit's heart trembled upon seeing this.
As a magical treasure, even a Dao Monarch's Dao Artifact, it could not cultivate on its own to generate magic power.
Otherwise, it would have long since fled to some carefree place, not remained in this secret realm.
However, in its early years, it was skilled at disguise, deceiving the Celestial Immortal Yuanli who refined it. After being placed as the core of the cave-heaven, it immediately began to exert a backlash, allowing it to slightly break free from the original secret realm's restraints.
It even went so far as to devour the secret realm's true formation spirit!
Through the occasional opening of the Celestial Immortal's secret realm, it continuously lured people in to help it break its seals and offer many blood sacrifices.
This time, 'Dugu Fang' had been very close to its goal.
Alas, in the end, its plans were ruined by this Earth Immortal who appeared from who knew where.
"I'd like to see how many External Avatars you have!"
The Illusory World Mirror's artifact spirit roared, flipping its mirror surface.
The previously brutal illusionary annihilation light reappeared, hitting Fang Xi in an instant!
This External Avatar instantly turned illusory.
But in the next instant, another Fang Xi appeared: "Sword formation, rotate!"
The rotation of life and death, light and shadow, followed!
The entire secret realm boomed, and fine, golden-thread-like restrictions interconnected on the Illusory World Mirror.
The Illusory World Mirror's artifact spirit saw this, and a trace of panic flashed across its face. . .
...
The Earth Immortal World.
Fang Xi's expression was somewhat odd, and he waved his hand to generate another External Avatar, sending it into the secret realm.
"You want to outlast me? I have an entire Earth Immortal World as my backing."
"However, this was also part of the plan. . ."
A hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes, and he began to wholeheartedly focus on the battle.
"The Mountain Pearl avatar is still in the Black Marsh Market. . . 'A Sword in Shu' is still in Shushan. . ."
"If necessary, even if I have to send all of them, I must ensure I capture the 'Illusory World Mirror'! It is a Dao Artifact, after all!"
"A Dao Artifact, a Dao Monarch's vessel of the Dao? To possess the power of a Dao Seed, it is truly extraordinary. . ."
The higher one cultivates, the more terrifying the gap between each realm becomes.
Upon reaching the Dao Monarch realm, killing an ordinary immortal indeed takes only a single move.
One can glimpse this power from the might of a Dao Artifact, which is an inanimate object.
...
Time passed, though its duration was unknown.
Within the Yuanli Secret Realm.
"Go!"
Fang Xi controlled the eight flying swords, trapping a mirror that looked like it was made of black jade in the void.
The mirror still seemed to struggle, but it had little strength left.
Fang Xi did not hesitate, grabbing the mirror in his hand.
His previous External Avatar had been counter-attacked by the 'Illusory World Mirror' at this very point, dying a miserable death.
But Fang Xi utterly ignored that lesson, pressing on with a strong, direct assault. Now that he had succeeded, he paid no mind to the artifact spirit's clamor on the mirror's surface, directly flipping it to its backside.
After infusing it with magic power and stroking it with his hand, dense, fine seal characters emerged, making his eyes light up!
No update tomorrow morning.
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