Chapter 8

Water Moon Grotto, once the top school of illusionary arts. However, after Purple Sun Immortal founded the Great Void Dao Sect, the "Illusionary Supreme" among the Three Great Void Absolutes directly overshadowed the glory of Water Moon Grotto. Purple Sun Immortal, the first among Daoists, easily claimed the title of the strongest in illusionary arts.

Rivals in the same field, the current patriarch of Water Moon Grotto, Illusionary Moon Immortal, in a fit of anger, ascended Purple Sun Peak to spar with the founding patriarch of the Great Void Dao Sect.

The two agreed to each manifest a spiritual mountain to compare their authenticity. Then, Illusionary Moon Immortal invited three high-ranking figures from three famous mountains to serve as judges. But when Illusionary Moon Immortal used his illusionary arts to transform the White Sun Mountain into a convincing illusion, the three high-ranking figures suddenly declared Purple Sun Immortal the winner.

Clearly, Purple Sun Immortal hadn't even made a move, and the three declared his victory. Illusionary Moon Immortal, of course, was not convinced and began to argue with the three he had invited. It wasn't until a day later that Illusionary Moon Immortal realized something was amiss. He then suddenly understood that the so-called three high-ranking figures were actually manifestations of Purple Sun Immortal. During their duel, Illusionary Moon Immortal had unknowingly fallen into the Great Void Illusionary Realm. Everything he experienced, from visiting the three mountains to the various landscapes he saw along the way, was all a creation of Purple Sun Immortal.

In the end, Illusionary Moon Immortal, having lost face, left and set a hundred-year agreement. Every hundred years, Water Moon Grotto would send a disciple to compete in illusionary arts with the Great Void Dao Sect. This tradition has been passed down for nearly two thousand years.

After Li Jian and Jiang Yu Chen explained, they heard the old man in the Water Moon robe say loudly:

"Which of the Great Void Dao Sect's Golden Core Daoists is here?" As he spoke, a Golden Core aura emanated from him, dispersing the dark clouds in the sky.

"Old Liu, don't you recognize the young master of the Chen family?" The dark clouds dissipated, revealing a young man of seventeen or eighteen standing on a cloud. His body radiated divine light, and he wore a water-patterned mystic robe. Liu Wuji and Li Jian's expressions turned grim.

"Chen Hao? You actually switched to the divine path?" Liu Wuji was surprised and uncertain. Although he knew that the recent attack by the three major demonic sects on White Sun Mountain had severely weakened the Great Void Dao Sect, for Chen Hao, one of the eighth-generation true disciples, to switch to the divine path was unexpected. Could it be that the Reincarnation Pill in the Great Void Dao Sect is gone?

Liu Wuji's mind raced, realizing that the Great Void Dao Sect was currently in a vulnerable state.

"Old man, stop thinking about those illusions! Quickly state your purpose!" Chen Hao coldly snorted, his sword intent firmly locking onto Liu Wuji.

Liu Wuji lightly coughed, "This poor Daoist is here on behalf of the Grotto Master to deliver a challenge to the Great Void Dao Sect. A duel will take place between the two sects in ten years."

Cave, palace, sect, and hall, each term has its specific meaning. The Great Void Dao Sect is considered a sect, primarily based on the master-disciple lineage. Palaces and halls have their own masters, who may not necessarily be passed down through the master-disciple lineage but could be inherited by their descendants. As for caves, they are merely gathering places for forces, not permanent sects for the transmission of Dao. Liu Wuji is a guest elder of Water Moon Grotto, sent by the current Grotto Master to investigate the Great Void Dao Sect and deliver the challenge.

"Is that all?" Chen Hao sat cross-legged on the cloud, his sharp sword qi firmly locking onto Liu Wuji. "Our sects have been dueling every hundred years, so why the need to inform us in advance? I suspect you are here on behalf of others to investigate our sect's weaknesses." Chen Hao brandished a treasure sword. "Do you think you and your group of grave-keepers are worthy of being used as pawns?"

Without another word, a fierce sword qi slashed down at the tavern.

"This senior's killing intent is still so strong!" Li Jian, realizing the situation was bad, quickly instructed Duan Yan to have the earth deities protect the safety of Luocheng. He and the Great Void Guardian Deity joined forces to set up a barrier to protect the tavern. Fortunately, the mortals in the tavern had already been driven away by Jiang Yu Chen, so there was no risk of innocent casualties.

"Chen Hao! Don't go too far!" Liu Wuji, seeing the situation was not good, pulled out a mirror from his sleeve. The mirror emitted a cloud of spiritual light that blocked the sword qi. "Do you dare to be so arrogant with your current Yin Spirit body?"

Liu Wuji and Chen Hao were old rivals. In the past, Chen Hao had pursued Liu Wuji for a thousand miles with his sword, forcing Liu Wuji to join Water Moon Grotto to escape. The enmity between them was significant.

Chen Hao sneered and circled his golden flying sword, then thrust it at Liu Wuji again. "Even if I switched to the divine path, I am not a waste like you! If you can withstand my three strikes, I will personally deliver the challenge to Purple Sun Peak and bow to you in apology for the past incident. If you cannot, then leave the Great Void Dao Sect's territory and let Water Moon Grotto send someone else to deliver the challenge."

The cultivation of refining essence into qi has six minor stages, and the Golden Core stage of refining qi into spirit also has six stages. Depending on the formation of the Golden Core, the future cultivation speed and combat power can vary greatly.

In the past, Chen Hao used the secret method from the Great Void Purple Sun Scripture to form a third-grade Golden Core, entering the second minor stage of refining qi into spirit. Liu Wuji, on the other hand, refined the Dragon Tiger Yin-Yang Great Pill, barely forming a fifth-grade Golden Core. The gap between the two Golden Core cultivators was evident from the start.

Don't think that Chen Hao, now a divine path cultivator due to the destruction of his physical body, has lost his strength. Seven-tenths of his cultivation is still in his life-bound flying sword. After condensing a water spirit body through the position of Water Deity, he can still maintain seventy percent of his combat power. In contrast, Liu Wuji, who has just condensed his Golden Core, is not a match for Chen Hao. Otherwise, Chen Hao wouldn't have set the three-strike agreement if he didn't have the confidence to win.

"Hmph! Three strikes? If you were to use your full strength, I might fear you, but just three strikes, how can I not withstand them?" The old man waved his duster, riding a cloud to engage Chen Hao in battle.

"This senior is still as impressive as ever." Li Jian, seeing the situation spiraling out of control, couldn't help but smile bitterly. Li Jian could be considered a failure in the immortal path, far behind the eighth-generation true disciple. True disciples in the Great Void Dao Sect are all Golden Core cultivators, and even if they switch to the divine path, they are still equivalent to Golden Core divine lords, not ordinary minor deities.

While Liu Wuji was engaged with Chen Hao, Jiang Yu Chen also focused on the Confucian-capped man left behind, calculating his next move. Even though Jiang Yu Chen was just an outer sect disciple with limited knowledge of the cultivation world, he was aware of the Great Void Dao Sect's three major rivals.

Water Moon Grotto, which has been entangled with the Great Void Dao Sect for thousands of years over the title of the best in illusionary arts. The Jingyang Dao Sect and the Blood Sun Demon Sect, both inheritors of the Heavenly Sun Immortal, have also been hostile to the Great Void Dao Sect due to the competition for the fundamental scriptures. These three forces are the greatest opponents of the Great Void Dao Sect. The recent attack on White Sun Mountain was led by the Blood Sun Demon Sect.

If he could defeat this Confucian-capped man, would it improve his standing in the sect? Jiang Yu Chen assessed the gap between them.

If Liu Wuji had used his illusionary arts to deceive them, how could he have detected it? He might have already unknowingly eaten the turtle soup. Moreover, Liu Wuji was just a guest elder of Water Moon Grotto, not a direct descendant, and his proficiency in illusionary arts might not be that high.

In other words, the one who almost made him and Li Wen break their vows was this Confucian-capped man? Based on the situation, his illusionary arts were not much higher than Jiang Yu Chen's. He merely used the illusion of fragrance to transform the turtle soup's aroma into the scent of tofu and used the illusion of sight to cover it. His cultivation in refining qi should be at the stage of full qi cultivation and just beginning to form a foundation.

After analyzing the situation, Jiang Yu Chen snapped his fingers, and a green snake appeared at the Confucian-capped man's feet, winding its way up his body.

"Huh?" The Confucian-capped man, who was watching the battle between the two Golden Core cultivators, sensed an illusionary fluctuation and smiled, waving his fan to dissipate the green snake.

"Illusionary arts, we of Water Moon Grotto are not inferior." A swarm of bees then flew out of the fan, buzzing towards Jiang Yu Chen's forehead.

Illusionary arts! In the past, Water Moon Grotto was known as the top school of illusionary arts. Although the Great Void Dao Sect took the lead, Water Moon Grotto did not always lose in their duels. They would never avoid a challenge in illusionary arts. Jiang Yu Chen was aware of this and deliberately used illusionary arts to confront him.

"But unfortunately, the Great Void Dao Sect's illusionary arts are unique. Even your sect's former Grotto Master was defeated by our founding patriarch." Jiang Yu Chen, unhurried, formed a lotus shape with his left hand, and a misty pink fragrance appeared, attracting the bees. At the same time, Li Jian and the others also smelled the floral fragrance.

"Illusionary fragrance?" Duan Yan was surprised and asked Li Jian, "Senior, how proficient is this Jiang boy in illusionary arts? How many of the five senses has he mastered?"

Illusionary arts, at their most basic level, are known as illusions, similar to what outer sect disciples like Li Wen, who do not specialize in illusionary arts, can achieve.

If one specializes in illusionary arts, they will understand the next level—deception of the five senses. Illusionary arts involve using illusions to deceive the senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. As long as these five senses are thoroughly deceived, it is difficult to escape the illusionary net unless one uses divine consciousness. However, the use of divine consciousness is not something that can be easily achieved at the stage of refining essence into qi. At the foundation stage, one has the spiritual sense to open the mud pill palace, but to freely use spiritual sense requires reaching the心动stage. Even at the心动玉液stage, one cannot use spiritual sense without limit. Only by condensing a Golden Core and forming a Yin Spirit can one truly transcend the ordinary and fully control the sixth sense.

Therefore, the stage of refining essence into qi is also known as the stage of transcending the ordinary. One still relies on the five senses for help, but only a Golden Core marks the completion of transcending the ordinary, allowing one to truly roam the world in a Yin Spirit form and then transcend the元神stage to form a Yang Spirit.

"Although this boy is proficient in illusionary arts, there are few duels in the outer sect, and I am not an outer sect instructor, so I don't know the specifics." Li Jian sighed, "But this boy has come to the right place by joining the Great Void Dao Sect. If he had joined another sect, no one would value his proficiency in illusionary arts as much as we do."

Any cultivation technique that has been passed down to this day has its unique qualities, but illusionary arts have many disadvantages compared to sword techniques, array techniques, and talismans. Additionally, it is difficult to master at the beginning, so among the nine major sects, only the Great Void Dao Sect specializes in this path.

"Visual deception is the basic skill of illusionary arts. Senior has already mastered the illusion of sight and is now practicing the senses of smell and hearing, right?" Li Wen interjected.

Among the five senses, visual and tactile senses are the most difficult to master. In battle, as long as one's visual and tactile senses are deceived, the balance of victory will tilt greatly in one's favor.

"Is it impossible to use illusionary arts to deceive two senses simultaneously?" The Confucian-capped man, seeing that Jiang Yu Chen's illusionary fragrance was merely an illusion of scent and could not form a real flower, secretly smiled.

This boy can only deceive one sense, so he cannot harm me even if I am fully on guard!

The Confucian-capped man, fully focused, watched as Jiang Yu Chen transformed the bees into a white cat that scratched at him.

The white cat bared its teeth and claws but made no sound, and there was no cat odor.

"The illusion of sight and the illusion of scent cannot coexist, and the illusion of sound seems not to have been mastered. From the clumsy illusionary techniques, it seems this guy's proficiency in illusionary arts is not high." The Confucian-capped man's guard dropped.

He waved his fan, and a black dog leaped out to bite the white cat.

"Is this level of skill enough to use me as a stepping stone?" The Confucian-capped man was not stupid. After a while, he realized that Jiang Yu Chen was trying to improve his standing in the Great Void Dao Sect by defeating him.

The black dog killed the white cat, and then a gray wolf leaped out from Jiang Yu Chen's feet. The two engaged in illusionary battles for nearly half an hour.

"Unfortunately, that man's treasure fan is an illusionary artifact, and he has already formed a foundation. Jiang boy is likely to..." Seeing Jiang Yu Chen gradually fall behind, Duan Yan's expression changed.

Li Jian's face also showed concern. After all, Jiang Yu Chen's cultivation was not as high as the other man's, and if the battle continued, he would not last as long.

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