Outside Baiyun Temple, dozens of figures in black robes blocked the streets and alleys, trying their best to prevent the surrounding commoners from going to the temple that had become a place of evil.
No matter how they explained, even putting on a fierce demeanor and threatening to break the legs of those who deliberately caused trouble, they still found it difficult to stop these pilgrims.
Seeing the increasing number of pilgrims gathering around Baiyun Temple, a hall master from the Three Blades Gang had no choice but to send word to the surrounding gangs to help out.
At the same time, Zhao Yuansong and the others had already entered the temple. As soon as they crossed the threshold, their vision spun and they found themselves on a plain.
Vast grasslands stretched in all directions, and white clouds drifted slowly in the sky.
However, after a glance, the few of them knew they were trapped in an illusion, not teleported by some great divine power.
The reason was simple: although everything here looked very real, even the feel of the green grass under their hands was the same as they remembered.
But the entire world was silent, without even a trace of a breeze, giving no sense of life.
Although they knew in their hearts that this must be an illusion, whether it was Zhao Yuansong and his junior disciples, or Shen Lang and the constables, after a few attempts, none of them could break free.
"It must be a formation. If it were a divine ability, unless it's a cultivator of the third realm, it would be impossible."
Zhao Yuansong mused, confirming they were indeed in an illusion formation.
Otherwise, only a third-realm cultivator could trap a dozen people in the same illusion with their divine abilities.
However, in that case, there would be no need for them to trouble themselves. A third-realm cultivator could easily annihilate everyone here with a single gesture, and they wouldn't even have the power to resist.
"Every formation must have an eye. Once found, the formation can be broken."
Xu Qiqi frowned, "Although the formation eye is hard to hide and will show clues within the formation, finding it is still extremely difficult."
If it were that easy to find the formation eye for those who entered, then formations would not be so sought after by cultivators and would not be a nearly mandatory subject on the path of cultivation.
Any cultivator who reached the second realm could not avoid studying alchemy, artifact crafting, talismans, and formations. Depending on their talent, their achievements would vary. They might only understand the basics, but they absolutely could not be ignorant of them.
"To find the formation eye, one must move within the illusion. But doing so will also fall into the opponent's scheme."
Shen Lang said with a grim expression.
It wasn't just him; everyone trapped in the illusion looked grim.
They didn't fear fighting for their lives, but they greatly disliked the feeling of helplessness, waiting to die in despair.
"Who?"
Suddenly, Zhao Yuansong's expression shifted. Without any visible movement, the long sword behind him unsheathed itself, hovering beside him, its tip pointing behind the group.
As his shout fell, a ripple appeared out of nowhere, and two figures, one large and one small, emerged from the ripple.
The newcomers were none other than Ji Yuan and Su Hongzhu. After leaving the Zhao family mansion, they had rushed back and arrived outside Baiyun Temple half an hour ago.
Upon learning that Zhao Yuansong and the others had been in the temple for a long time with no sound from within, Ji Yuan led Su Hongzhu into the temple gates together.
However, with a dizzying spin, they did not enter Baiyun Temple but found themselves on this grassland.
As soon as their vision cleared, they saw a group of people with wary and murderous expressions.
"What are you doing?"
Ji Yuan asked with a frown.
The only response he received was a long sword hovering in mid-air. With a flash, it appeared between them, its tip exuding sharp sword energy, aimed directly at his brow.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan casually suppressed the surging lake of sword energy in his Purple Mansion, then looked past the sword with confusion at Zhao Yuansong's cold face.
"How can you prove you are not part of the illusion created by the formation master?"
Zhao Yuansong pondered for a moment, deciding to clarify things before resorting to action, to avoid any misunderstandings.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan immediately realized that this was an illusion, and judging by Zhao Yuansong's group, they seemed to have encountered a similar situation before.
With a thought, a white jade flying sword shot out from his brow. After circling in the air a few times, it returned to his Purple Mansion.
The moment they saw the white jade flying sword, Xu Qiqi and Jiang He immediately looked at Zhao Yuansong beside them.
The latter nodded slightly and then recalled the long sword before him, allowing it to return to its sheath.
Perhaps in this illusion, many things could be conjured out of thin air, but the heavy sword energy emanating from Ji Yuan's white jade flying sword could not be faked.
That sword energy contained Ji Yuan's essence, spirit, and energy, his origin aura.
If even this could be faked, then the quality of this illusion formation would be comparable to the great defensive formations set up by major sects that occupied entire prefectures.
Setting aside the value of such formations, their power alone would be enough to withstand the combined attacks of several powerful individuals.
Zhao Yuansong did not believe that anyone would set up such a formation here, as the cost of its operation was beyond the means of a second-realm cultivator.
"What's going on?"
Ji Yuan took a few steps forward and asked.
The few of them exchanged glances and then recounted their experiences, which were similar to what Ji Yuan had imagined. Zhao Yuansong's group had indeed encountered familiar people conjured by the illusion after entering.
In the beginning, it had caused them some trouble and nearly led to losses.
"But why are you here?"
Zhao Yuansong looked at him with a hint of confusion.
Although they had been trapped in the illusion for a while, the Zhao family's location was further away. This amount of time was only enough for a round trip, perhaps with a little more time.
Even if Ji Yuan himself was not weak, and with the assistance of the powerful ghost, Su Hongzhu, it was not easy for a second-realm cultivator to be killed. Fifteen minutes was clearly too short; normally, it would be difficult to even decide a winner.
"Huh? Where's that uncle and the other four people?"
Xu Qiqi glanced behind Ji Yuan. Apart from Su Hongzhu, there was no one else.
As soon as she said this, Ji Yuan's expression darkened, and he then recounted the events at the Zhao family mansion to everyone.
"Where did Huixin go?"
Shen Lang frowned. According to Ji Yuan's account, Huixin was not in any danger, nor did he escort Zhao Yuebai back to Xuantian Temple. He entered Baiyun Temple with them.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan and Su Hongzhu froze and immediately looked around. The place where Huixin should have been standing was now empty.
And before Shen Lang spoke, they had not noticed Huixin's absence, as if they had instinctively forgotten his presence.
"Master Wuhai must have made a move and taken Huixin away."
Zhao Yuansong said with a grim expression.
Since the person was the master of this illusion formation, it was not difficult for him to do so. He only needed to use the illusion to blind the perception of others.
Although he didn't know why Wuhai would take Huixin away, it was unlikely to be a good thing, as Ji Yuan felt a sense of anxiety.
"Is there any way to break the formation?"
He asked subconsciously, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn't help but shake his head.
If they had a way to break the formation, they wouldn't be here now. In fact, the illusion formation would have been broken long ago, and Wuhai would not have had the opportunity to quietly take Huixin away without them noticing.
"If only Huixin were here. His Buddhist true words can counteract illusions."
Shen Lang sighed, "Although it might not directly break the illusion, it could at least cause fluctuations and expose the formation eye."
Among the various cultivation sects in the world, Buddhist cultivators are the least afraid of illusionary techniques. Buddhist true words can break through all illusions in the world.
However, there was no point in saying more now. The only Buddhist cultivator among them had been abducted by the master of this illusion formation, and his safety was unknown.
"It might not necessarily require a Buddhist cultivator."
Su Hongzhu suddenly spoke, her expression becoming somewhat strange.
Everyone looked at her. Then, they saw her walk to a spot with a complicated expression, tilting her head and looking curiously at the empty space in front of her.
As everyone was racking their brains, she slowly raised an arm. The flesh and blood on it melted away like ice and snow, revealing white, crystalline bones.
"Break!"
Su Hongzhu let out a soft cry, and her glowing bone fist smashed heavily into the air.
The next moment, with a 'bang,' her fist actually hit something. The air in front of her suddenly cracked, and strands of ethereal light shone through.
Su Hongzhu's eyes lit up, and she then punched repeatedly, forcefully creating a passage filled with ethereal light in front of her.
Seeing this, everyone present secretly gasped, marveling at her brute strength and the scene that had appeared before them.
"It is said that Rouge Skeleton, in addition to possessing innate seductive powers and brute strength far exceeding that of cultivators of the same realm, is also immune to all forms of magic in its true form."
Zhao Yuansong's eyes flickered as he said thoughtfully.
Hearing this, the group finally understood. Su Hongzhu was likely relying on the immunity to all magic of her true form, combined with her own formidable brute strength, to forcibly create a passage without finding the formation eye.
"Why are you still standing there? Let's go!"
She glanced back at the group, the flesh and blood on her arm having seemingly recovered at some point.
Su Hongzhu turned and walked into the passage without hesitation, her figure immediately swallowed by the ethereal light.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan pondered for a moment, then walked forward with Zhao Yuansong. The rest of the group followed closely behind, all stepping into the passage filled with ethereal light.
Upon entering the passage, the ethereal light before their eyes receded like a tide in just a moment. A ruined divine hall appeared before them.
The entire divine hall was roughly tens of feet in size. What should have been a majestic and solemn scene was now filled with rubble, with even the heads of some broken small divine statues and countless mud statues and golden bodies scattered everywhere.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan and the others could only sigh inwardly, with no other emotions.
Only Shen Lang's expression changed drastically upon seeing the scene here, and a look of deep apprehension appeared in his eyes.
"Be careful, everyone!"
He suddenly shouted, scanning his surroundings vigilantly.
The group, who were about to spread out to investigate, immediately stopped upon hearing this, turning back in confusion.
Feeling all eyes on him, Shen Lang pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "When I came to Baiyun Temple to find Huixin before, I had entered this place. These mud statues and golden bodies were smashed during my battle."
He pointed to the ground covered with mud statues and golden bodies, and then told everyone present that these were originally statues enshrined on the altar. They could speak and use distorted Buddhist teachings to mislead people.
If one was not careful and fell into their trap, they would believe the distorted heresy and fall into the path of demons, even being controlled by those lurking in the shadows, which was extremely sinister.
As Shen Lang spoke, he took out a book. The righteous qi within it was more active than ever, flowing back and forth across the pages.
As his words fell, a Sanskrit chant suddenly echoed through the quiet divine hall, as if many monks were chanting scriptures together.
However, this sound of Buddhist scriptures, which usually brought peace of mind, instead stirred a sense of inexplicability and restlessness in their hearts, and a killing intent silently emerged within them.
At the same time, amidst the chanting of Buddhist scriptures, the mud statues and golden bodies on the ground suddenly emitted a dark golden glow. Then, under the solemn gaze of everyone, they actually began to move, bit by bit.