Zhu Huairen stubbornly believed that everything happening before his eyes was an illusion cast by the Divine Lady. However, he had nearly worn out the pages of the ancient book in his hands, yet he still could not find any record of conjuring a behemoth like a Kun, let alone a way to dispel it.
“How... how can this be? Could this really not be an illusion, but a deity's celestial spell?”
He raised his head in a daze, looking up at the Divine Lady on the back of the giant fish, his eyes filled with terror.
Just as he was about to fall to his knees and beg for mercy, it was already too late.
Yun Shu could not be bothered to waste any more words on Zhu Huairen. She opened the System wardrobe and put on the headpiece of the Heavenly Balance Set.
Just now, to make a grand and impressive entrance, she had been wearing the Clear Void Crown, a headpiece from the Sword Sovereign of the Nine Heavens Set.
The Clear Void Crown's skill, to put it simply, allowed her to freeze water into ice over a wide area, which was highly practical.
However, it was no longer needed for the next act.
She gave the blue whale a meaningful look.
Having undergone training, the blue whale knew it was time for its performance the moment it received Yun Shu's signal.
With a gentle flick of its massive, starlight-covered tail, it kicked up a wave that stretched across the sea.
As the waves surged, one of the frozen sea beast ice sculptures on the shore was swept directly into the air.
The massive ice sculpture, carrying immense force, plummeted straight toward Zhu Huairen on the shore.
Zhu Huairen froze in place.
The icy shadow grew larger and larger in his eyes, and terror finally completely overwhelmed the resentment and confusion in his heart.
In the end, he did not even have time to scream.
Boom!
The ice sculpture crashed down, heavily crushing him into the sand. Shards of ice and sand splattered everywhere, kicking up a vast cloud of white mist.
The ancient book flew from his hand and landed on a reef a few zhang away, its pages rustling wildly in the sea breeze.
【Zhu Jingzhe Shock Value +100】
【Zhu Huairen Shock Value +100】
【Chen Chao Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 73,380,000】
Seeing that she was another big step closer to one hundred million Shock Value, Yun Shu felt much more satisfied. No one would complain about having too much money, just as she would never complain about having too much Shock Value.
Standing on the back of the blue whale, she activated the Eyes of Good and Evil. The goodness and wickedness of everyone on the beach were laid bare before her eyes.
“Tongzi, lock onto those who have committed heinous crimes. I'll let them test out the new trick I've been working on. I haven't encountered this many wicked people before, so I haven't had the chance to use it.”
“Host, give me five minutes!” After saying this, the little fox began clattering away on its keyboard.
On the other side, Zhu Jingzhe came to his senses.
He did not care at all whether Zhu Huairen was dead or alive; his eyes were glued to the ancient book on the reef.
The wind was too strong, lifting and dropping the pages of the ancient book. It was on the verge of sliding off the edge of the reef and falling into the sea.
Without any hesitation, he bolted toward it.
A freezing wave crashed down over his head.
The seawater instantly surged past his waist, submerging half of his body. He shivered violently from the cold, but he managed to snatch the ancient book from the reef before the wave could wash it away.
This ancient book of illusion arts was the heritage of the Zhu family.
Before his father died, his greatest regret was failing to fulfill his grandfather's dying wish: to reclaim the ancient book of illusion arts from his unfilial and traitorous second uncle, Zhu Huairen.
Before he could think further, a sudden chill washed over him.
It was likely due to the ice sculptures on the shore that the seawater was exceptionally cold, and his face grew increasingly pale.
Knowing he needed to get back to shore as quickly as possible, he caught a glimpse of what seemed to be cracks forming on the ice sculptures out of the corner of his eye.
On the surface of the icy shells, cracks gradually spread. Large chunks of ice peeled off and crashed onto the sand with dull thuds.
Zhu Jingzhe instinctively ran toward the shore.
Clutching the ancient book of secret arts tightly to his chest, he only looked back at the ice sculptures after he had scrambled onto dry land.
As the ice shattered completely, the terrifying sea beast—which had just been brandishing its claws and fangs with tentacles like giant logs—began to rapidly shrink, looking like a water skin being drained of its contents.
In moments, the sea beast shrank into a palm-sized clump, slumped wetly on the edge of a sandpit. Its eight slender tentacles curled limply, its entire body a dull purplish-gray.
He instantly recognized what it was. “So Zhu Huairen used an octopus as the medium for his illusion?”
At the same time, the beach fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop.
A Zhenbei Army soldier widened his eyes and gently nudged the small octopus at the bottom of the pit with the tip of his spear. It rolled over limply onto its belly, its tentacles hanging down without a shred of strength.
“We were fighting for our lives just now... and we were fighting this thing? No wonder our wounds don't even hurt!”
These words broke the dead silence.
“Yeah, I was sent flying by the sea beast's tentacle earlier. I thought I was going to die, but it didn't actually hurt that much.”
Another soldier chimed in.
“Wait, something's not right.”
“Why do my limbs feel a bit numb?”
“Me too!”
“The Divine Lady is on the back of the giant fish, so far away. Otherwise, we might have been able to ask her.”
“How could we trouble the Divine Lady with such a trivial matter?”
The crowd fell into a heated discussion.
Pei Du listening to the chatter of the soldiers around him, a look of contemplation flashed across his eyes.
This illusion art was even more insidious than he had imagined.
If used on a battlefield, it could easily throw an army into disarray. It seemed they needed to study this art as soon as possible, or at least ensure they wouldn't be caught so off guard the next time they encountered an illusionist.
Right at that moment, a white tiger walked over from not far away and, under the watchful eyes of everyone, transformed into a human.
It was the disheveled man.
He glanced at the crushed, lifeless body of Zhu Huairen in the sandpit, then turned to look at Pei Du and the rest of the Zhenbei Army, revealing the secrets of illusion arts to them. “Though illusions are mystical, all illusions leave traces. For an illusionist to cast an illusion, they usually require a medium. It can be themselves, someone else, or some other mechanical prop.”
“The numbness you feel in your limbs is likely because this man coated the octopus in poison. When you came into contact with the octopus, you were poisoned, which made you mistakenly believe you were injured by the sea beast, causing you to lose your will to fight and stop resisting.”
At this point, he could not help but marvel inwardly. These Zhenbei Army soldiers possessed the most unyielding willpower he had ever seen. They were not illusionists and knew nothing of the art, yet when faced with the sea beast conjured by Zhu Huairen, they chose to fight to the death to protect the commoners in the camp.
Such people were absolutely worthy of trust.
“This medicine should neutralize the poison in your systems.” He pulled a medicine bottle from his robes and handed it over.
Pei Du took the bottle and showed it to Physician Liu. Seeing her nod in approval, he finally let the soldiers take the medicine.
Afterward, he took a step forward and cupped his hands to the man. “The situation was urgent just now, so I have not yet had the honor of asking for your esteemed name, sir?”
The man fell silent for a moment.
“You can just call me Yao Sanyi.”
Just as Pei Du was about to ask further, a soldier suddenly shouted, “Oh no, that person is trying to escape!”
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