Arriving at the attic, Zhang Ling circled the seven-story structure. The white light illuminating the attic was tightly packed; approaching within a hundred feet created a heavy pressure, preventing anyone from getting closer.
Zhang Ling expressionlessly flicked his hand, and two gold-white flying swords shot out. With two muffled thuds, the swords flew forward about twenty feet before being repelled by the white light.
The flying swords emitted a series of sword cries and were retrieved by him. He switched to the Earth Element Gourd, casting a spell upon it. A cloud of Heavenly Star Sand floated out.
"Go."
He uttered a low shout, and the sand cloud instantly formed a semi-circular sand sphere, enveloping everything except himself.
Zhang Ling swaggered towards the inside. As he entered the white light's range, the sand sphere emitted muffled popping sounds, withstanding the barrier.
Having released the flying swords earlier, he had roughly gauged the strength of the barrier, finding it not too strong.
With his current strength, breaking it directly would only require a bit of effort.
However, his current plan was to charge through, protected by the Heavenly Star Sand.
He slowly walked forward, and with each step, the external pressure increased threefold.
The sand sphere continuously flowed, emitting a yellow light that counteracted the white light's pressure.
After a dozen or so breaths, Zhang Ling passed through the white light and stood before the Morning Light Pavilion.
This pavilion was entirely constructed of redwood and stood over ten feet tall.
Zhang Ling waved his hand, and a gust of wind swept over, directly opening the first-floor door. Upon closer inspection, he was stunned.
Because the pavilion was filled with figures.
He had anticipated encountering danger upon opening the door, or perhaps darkness, or nothing at all.
But Zhang Ling never expected to see so many people upon opening the door.
Without a second thought, he immediately retreated twenty feet, summoning the Yellow Canopy Umbrella and transforming the Heavenly Star Sand into a sand wall in front of him.
But when no danger came, Zhang Ling relaxed and withdrew his defenses. He looked inside again carefully.
He discovered that the figures inside were the same illusions he had seen in the black cloud.
Opening the door hadn't disturbed the figures inside.
Some of the figures in the pavilion sat in groups of twos and threes at tables, conversing. Others were alone, pouring and drinking for themselves.
In the center of the pavilion was a jade platform over ten feet tall. Many colorful ribbons hung from above. Several gracefully shaped dancers were dancing.
He could hear the sounds of zithers, bells, and other instruments.
The scene inside the Morning Light Pavilion was much like a secular entertainment venue.
Zhang Ling scanned the interior with his divine sense, and when he detected no danger, he entered.
Upon entering, he noticed that several people's gazes swept over him, as if they had noticed him.
However, these people only glanced at him before ignoring him.
As if he were a new customer arriving at an ordinary inn.
"Welcome, esteemed guest, please come in," immediately a servant in rough clothing ran over with a beaming smile.
Seeing how lively the figures in the pavilion were, like living people, Zhang Ling couldn't help but sigh inwardly. This Divine Light Real Person was indeed proficient in illusion techniques.
If it weren't for the fact that these people had no vitality, he wouldn't have been able to tell if they were real or fake.
Under the servant's guidance, Zhang Ling sat down at an empty table. He casually ordered a few side dishes and dismissed the servant.
"Look, Miss Ruolan is coming out."
At that moment, a young man at the neighboring table, dressed like a wealthy young master, suddenly stood up, looking at the jade platform in the center with an excited expression.
With this shout, the other guests also cried out excitedly, their eyes all turned to the dancers on the jade platform.
Zhang Ling's gaze also swept over, and he saw a piece of colorful gauze hanging down from the top of the jade platform, obscuring the view. A figure appeared behind the gauze.
After one glance, Zhang Ling's brows furrowed slightly. Because when his divine sense scanned it, it was blocked by the thin layer of colorful gauze, and he couldn't see the person's face behind it clearly.
"Is this also an illusion technique, or is there something strange?" Zhang Ling pondered inwardly.
His divine sense was stronger than that of an average mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, and yet, after just one glance, it was blocked by something in the illusion.
"No, this gauze is not an illusion." He increased the strength of his divine sense slightly and immediately observed that the colorful gauze was not an illusion, but something that truly existed. There were traces of spiritual power fluctuations on it.
In that case, this gauze was similar to the giant stone in the cloud layer outside, something deliberately placed in the illusion.
Having real objects in an illusion is actually a type of illusion technique. Confusing the real with the fake, and the fake with the real.
Zhang Ling stared at the gauze, observing it carefully for a while. No matter how much he increased the strength of his divine sense, he still couldn't penetrate the layer of gauze. It seemed that the material of this gauze was very special.
It was indeed a good treasure, Zhang Ling thought to himself. He didn't immediately take action to take away this gauze.
He wanted to see what other oddities there were in this illusion.
While he was pondering, a melodious flute sound entered his ears. At the same time, the sounds of zithers, bells, and other instruments accompanied it.
Listening to it, it was like celestial music, making people feel somewhat entranced.
Looking around at the illusionary figures, these people were indeed in a state of infatuation.
Autumn wind everywhere, zithers and harps soft, flute sounds faint.
Bells and drums echo around the beams, a kindred spirit hard to meet.
Autumn waters leisurely...
As the figure behind the gauze danced, beautiful singing came.
The piece of gauze also opened to the left and right, and Zhang Ling saw the figure behind it clearly.
It was a woman wearing blue and cyan-colored gorgeous clothing. This woman's figure and appearance could be described as first-class.
Zhang Ling didn't pay too much attention to this, but instead discovered that this woman possessed spiritual power. She was a cultivator. However, her spiritual power was only around the third level of Qi Refining.
However, this woman's singing seemed to have a certain charm, causing his state of mind to change slightly.
This change was immediately noticed by Zhang Ling, and he immediately circulated the Nine Yuan Refining Spirit Art, offsetting this feeling.
Being in an illusion, especially not an ordinary illusion, he naturally wouldn't truly fall into it. That would be very dangerous.
After a song was finished, the figures in the illusion were still immersed in it, as if savoring it endlessly.
Just then, with a loud bang, the two windows on the right were shattered by flames. Instantly, everyone was awakened.
This scene was naturally not real, the pavilion was not really damaged.
Zhang Ling's gaze also swept over. He saw two people walking in through the flames. A bald burly man rushed in. A gray-haired old man followed beside him.
These two figures also possessed spiritual power, they were two cultivators, one at the sixth level of Qi Refining, and one at the seventh level of Qi Refining.
The gray-haired old man's sinister eyes swept over everyone. He fixed his gaze on the woman on the jade platform and asked with a glint in his eyes, "You are that brat with the surname Gu's lover, Miss Ruolan, right?"
When Miss Ruolan saw these two people, she couldn't help but tremble, her face turning pale. But she didn't answer.
"Tell us where Gu Chen is, and we will let you go," the old man's icy voice entered her ears.
"Haha, big brother, why waste words? This girl's behavior is so low, we can use some means to get that brat's whereabouts from her mouth," the bald burly man laughed wildly, and with a flick of his hand, he threw out a handful of black flying knives.
A look of ferocity appeared on the burly man's face, the black flying knives flickered in front of him and turned into a black light, instantly killing three or four people.
Immediately, there was a scream.
Many of the figures in the illusion were frightened, collapsing to the ground, while others screamed.
"Murder! Run!"
The black light flashed continuously, the black flying knives shuttled through the crowd like flying fish, and in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen people were killed. The remaining people fled in panic.
Miss Ruolan also took advantage of the chaos and hurriedly slapped a green spiritual talisman on her body. Turning into a streak of green light, she wanted to escape.
Zhang Ling recognized at a glance that it was just an ordinary Wind Control Talisman. If what was happening in this illusion was real, this woman would not be able to escape at all.
After all, this gray-haired old man had a Foundation Establishment cultivation base, the chances of a third level Qi Refining cultivator escaping were too small.
Even if he were in the same situation, it would be difficult to escape death.
Sure enough, the next moment, the gray-haired old man took out a red copper pot. He released a cloud of red mist from it, directly capturing Miss Ruolan alive.
The remaining people in the pavilion fled even more frantically, but they were all killed by the burly man, and no one escaped.
The scene was extremely bloody, the only one sitting still was Zhang Ling. He also discovered that the two cultivators who broke in seemed unable to see him.
After the scene became silent, the two cultivators interrogated Ruolan, as they seemed to be looking for a cultivator named Gu Chen.
This name reminded Zhang Ling of the boy named Chen'er he saw in the illusion in the black cloud earlier.
That boy claimed to be the Divine Light Real Person. If that was the case, these two illusions were likely things that the Divine Light Real Person had experienced. The name Gu Chen might be the Divine Light Real Person's secular name.
Then this Miss Ruolan, could she be the Divine Light Real Person's Dao companion?
This thought popped into Zhang Ling's mind.
And the illusion in front of him had not ended. Although the two cultivators could not use soul-searching techniques, they could still use some bewitchment techniques and other means.
After some interrogation, these two people seemed to know the whereabouts of that Gu Chen. They directly grabbed Ruolan and left.
However, just as Zhang Ling thought the illusion was over, the scene in the entire pavilion flickered, and in an instant, a cold wind blew, and it became dark and lightless.
After a few breaths, the entire pavilion became dilapidated. It looked as if it had experienced a lot of time.
Afterwards, Zhang Ling heard a clear cough, and a figure staggered in from the door.
He scanned it with his divine sense and found that the person who came was a young man in his twenties.
This person was wearing black clothes, but they were tattered. There was also a layer of bloody aura on him. It seemed that he had experienced a great battle.
This person was naturally also an illusion, but he also had spiritual power, a Foundation Establishment initial stage cultivation base. As soon as he came in, he collapsed to the ground and fainted.
Zhang Ling specifically identified this person's appearance, and sure enough, he found that this person was the boy named Chen'er.
Not long after, this person woke up again. He staggered to the wooden platform where Ruolan Fairy had danced before, and took out a cold and chilling ice coffin.
"Ruolan, I brought you back to the place where we met. Why haven't you woken up yet?" The young man looked madly at the person in the ice coffin, constantly repeating this sentence.
Zhang Ling watched this scene like a passerby, although he could well deduce the cause and effect. Ruolan might have died.
As the young man kept repeating his words, the environment in the entire pavilion changed again.
The pavilion kept decaying and crumbling, and in a moment it turned into ruins. Only the wooden platform did not change much.
But this young man's cultivation was skyrocketing, originally at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, in the blink of an eye he had the spiritual pressure of a Golden Core. It rose all the way to the False Core realm before stopping.
The young man's voice also became ecstatic. "Ruolan, this time I traveled and obtained the ancient cultivation inheritance, when my cultivation is greatly improved, I will definitely be able to find a way to reverse life and death, I will definitely not let your last trace of primordial spirit dissipate."
With the young man's laughter, the young man's figure gradually disappeared.
The entire pavilion returned to normal, and the illusions all dissipated.
Zhang Ling scanned the space inside the pavilion. This pavilion only had many tables and chairs, as if it was a restoration of the pavilion where Ruolan Fairy had been before.
However, with a sweep of his gaze, he saw that the ice coffin on the wooden platform in the center was also real. However, there was no Ruolan inside, but there were several other things placed inside.
Zhang Ling walked towards it, intending to open it and take a look.
Walking to the wooden platform in the center, Zhang Ling first made a single-handed gesture and tore off the layer of gauze hanging down in front of the wooden platform.
This piece of gauze was only five or six feet long, and it felt light and fluttery in his hand, but his divine sense could not penetrate it, so it was obviously made of a special material.
After putting away the gauze, he walked to the ice coffin and looked at it carefully.
The ice coffin was covered with a layer of white spiritual light, which looked the same as the barrier outside the pavilion. But it was not that kind of heavy pressure barrier.
It was much more sophisticated.
Zhang Ling's mind moved, and the Earth Element Gourd released countless grains of sand, which hit it with a bang. When the white light on the ice coffin encountered danger, it suddenly became dazzling.
After half a cup of tea, with a clear sound, this layer of white light shattered like a bubble. A cold air floated out from inside.
Zhang Ling couldn't help but shudder, feeling a bit cold. It had been a long time since he had felt this way after condensing the Nascent Soul.
He stared at the ice coffin that was emitting cold air and searched it, and he recognized the material used for the ice coffin, it was actually Ten Thousand Year Ice Jade.
This was a famous extremely cold spirit jade, a piece the size of a palm could be used to refine a cold attribute magic weapon with good power.
The value of the ice coffin in front of him was conceivable.
Moreover, he also saw that this piece of ice jade had not been refined, it was just simply carved into the shape of an ice coffin. Apart from the icy jade's own dark blue patterns, there were no other spiritual patterns.
A cloud of yellow sand was attached to the lid of the ice coffin, and Zhang Ling's mind moved, wanting to directly lift the lid, but the ice coffin did not move at all, the lid was already stuck together, without any gaps.
This little thing naturally couldn't stump him, using divine stones to carefully control the kind of sand, constantly rubbing the lid of the ice coffin.
He only heard a rustling sound, and after grinding for a full quarter of an hour, the ice lid was opened.
