No sooner had Xu Zhao finished speaking than the crowd erupted.
“What about the others? Where are Senior Brother Qi and the rest?”
“Are they in danger? We have to go save them right now!”
Several disciples from Baicao Peak who were close to Qi Heyang could no longer restrain themselves and rushed straight into the mist.
“Stop.”
Lu Fengmian’s voice was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone’s heads.
The disciples halted and turned back to look at him.
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother Qi is still inside…”
“I know.” Lu Fengmian looked at the crowd. “But have you thought about how to pass through this forest?”
Everyone froze.
He continued, “This forest is the only path leading to the depths of the secret realm. Even if we rescue them now, we will still have to go in again later. What will we do then? Go in to save them every single ti?”
No one spoke.
“Zhou Wu.”
Zhou Wu stepped forward.
“Distribute the Qingxin Pills to everyone,” Lu Fengmian said. “One each. Take it before entering the forest.”
Zhou Wu nodded, took out a large gourd from his storage ring, and began handing out the pills.
Among the crowd, several young disciples were visibly frightened. They gripped the Qingxin Pills tightly in their hands, exchanging uneasy glances, yet none dared to move first.
“I know you’re afraid.”
Looking at those clearly shaken faces, Lu Fengmian’s voice softened slightly.
“As for the illusionary realm, I haven’t entered it either, so I don’t know what lies inside. But I can guarantee one thing.”
The crowd quieted. All eyes turned toward him.
His gaze swept across the young faces.
“Since I’m leading this team, I will bring every one of you out.”
“Not a single one will be left behind.”
He turned and faced the gray-white mist.
“Once you enter, do your best to resist the illusions. If you truly cannot endure it, take the antidote pill.”
“I’ll be waiting ahead.”
With that, he stepped into the mist.
The more than one hundred people behind him fell silent for a mont.
Then the first person followed.
The second, the third…
Xiao Jin stood at the back of the crowd, watching that figure disappear into the fog.
He also placed the pill into his mouth and followed.
The mist surged forward and swallowed everyone in an instant.
The mont Lu Fengmian stepped into the forest, a thought rose in his mind.
True Insight Spiritual Eye technique, activate.
His vision cleared at once.
The gray-white mist before him seed to be gently parted by an invisible hand, dispersing layer by layer. The outlines of tree trunks gradually appeared, branches crisscrossed overhead, and the ground was thickly covered with fallen leaves.
This mass of fog was indeed only a visual obstruction.
He glanced back.
The disciples behind him were still walking forward. So had taken only a few steps before their footing beca unsteady and their eyes turned unfocused.
They had fallen into illusions.
Those who had taken the Qingxin Pills managed to go a little farther, but as they continued onward, vacant smiles gradually appeared on their faces.
Not far away stood three figures.
They were the disciples previously sent to investigate.
They stood motionless, their faces wearing intoxicated expressions, as though imrsed in a beautiful dream.
Lu Fengmian walked over and stopped beside them.
Qi Heyang’s eyes were shut, the corners of his lips slightly raised, and he was muttering things like “thousand-year nine-leaf mystic ginseng” and “celebration banquet.”
Lu Fengmian did not wake him.
He first circled the forest once, confirming that aside from the illusions there were no other dangers, and only then continued forward.
Unexpectedly, the forest was not deep.
Before the ti it took for a single stick of incense to burn out, the mist ahead suddenly thinned, and his view opened up.
Lu Fengmian stopped.
Before him lay an open clearing. At the far end stood a towering stone wall that reached into the clouds. In the center of the wall, a massive gate could vaguely be seen, its fra carved with exquisite patterns.
A stone palace?
No—it was the entrance to a stone palace.
But now was not the ti to investigate it.
He waited at the edge of the forest for half an hour.
The first person erged.
It was Xiao Jin.
When the youth stepped out of the mist, his gait was still sowhat unsteady. He stood at the forest’s edge and shook his head, as though he had not fully awakened from the illusion.
Then he looked up and saw Lu Fengmian.
That figure stood not far away, quietly watching him.
Xiao Jin froze.
In that instant, he felt sowhat dazed.
In the illusion just now, he had seen his family.
His parents had surrounded him, their faces full of pride. The clan elders had patted his shoulder, saying he was the future hope of the Xiao family. He had even seen many people specially visiting the Xiao family just to et this “genius.”
It had truly been a beautiful dream.
Xiao Jin had stood in the crowd, surrounded by others, receiving praise, everyone looking at him with envy.
So what had he seen?
A blurry, moonlight-pale figure.
Standing at the edge of the crowd, watching him from afar.
He could not see that person’s face clearly, but he knew exactly who it was.
Senior Brother.
Xiao Jin was stunned.
Then he suddenly rembered that he was still inside the secret realm.
He still had to pass through that forest.
And now, that person was standing right in front of him.
“Xiao Jin.”
Lu Fengmian’s voice pulled him back to reality.
Xiao Jin opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing.
Lu Fengmian did not ask further. He only nodded at him.
“It’s good that you made it out. Wait to the side. Once everyone is here, we’ll leave.”
Xiao Jin nodded obediently and stood aside.
The second to erge was Zhou Wu.
When he stepped out of the forest, his complexion was several shades paler than usual, but his steps were steady. Upon seeing Lu Fengmian, he revealed a wry smile.
“That illusion was truly astonishing.”
Lu Fengmian nodded. “Were the Qingxin Pills effective?”
“They are effective, but they have their limits,” Zhou Wu said quietly as he walked over. “The deeper one goes, the stronger the illusions beco. In the end, even the Qingxin Pills can no longer suppress them.”
Lu Fengmian glanced at him thoughtfully.
Zhou Wu was already at the Golden Core realm, and his ntal fortitude was extrely stable. Even so, the illusions in this forest were by no ans easy to deal with.
Next, the disciples erged one after another.
So were pale-faced and, after coming out, said nothing, rely squatting on the ground and gasping for breath. So had red eyes, as if they had just been crying. Others were completely shaken and took a long ti to regain their senses.
Lu Fengmian counted them one by one.
After half an hour, more than thirty had co out.
After an hour, over sixty.
After an hour and a half, the number stopped at seventy-eight.
Twenty-two people had yet to erge.
Lu Fengmian stood up and brushed off his robe.
“I’ll go look for the others,” he said. “Wait here. Don’t wander off.”
Zhou Wu rose to his feet. “Senior Brother, I’ll go with you.”
“No need.” Lu Fengmian waved a hand. “Stay here and watch over them.”
His figure quickly disappeared into the mist.
Activating his eye technique, Lu Fengmian swiftly located those who had not yet co out.
They were scattered throughout the forest; so standing, so sitting, so lying down—all seemingly deeply imrsed in their illusions.
Lu Fengmian walked over, grabbed one, and dragged him out.
As he was being dragged, the man was still muttering, “…This general will follow the great king until death! Great king! You cannot treat this general this way!”
Lu Fengmian: “…”
He dragged the man to the edge of the mist, set him down, and turned to find the next.
The second was a female cultivator. When he lifted her up, she clung tightly to his arm and refused to let go.
“Husband!” Her eyes were still closed, her face blissful. “Husband, you sll so good!”
Lu Fengmian withdrew his arm and, expressionless, dragged her out.
The third was even more absurd.
When that person was pulled up, he was still wildly waving his arms and shouting things like, “I’m rich! I’m rich!” After being dragged for a while, he suddenly began struggling, trying to run back into the forest.
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