Chapter 310: Illusion

Roar~~~!

A thunderous roar, shaking the heavens, echoed from the north. At the same time, two terrifying auras spread across the land!

The roar was deep and majestic, like the thunder of ancient times, causing the earth to tremble. For a thousand miles around, every demon beast that heard it collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

In the dense forest, flocks of birds took flight from the treetops, as if desperate to escape, wanting to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the source of the roar.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t flown far before they all plummeted back down, one after another.

Gu Ning’an gazed toward the source of the roar, the corners of his mouth curling into a slight smile.

“Two Great Demon auras… Even the Void Emperor has emerged?”

As he pondered whether to join the excitement, a figure stepped out into the sky above Half-Moon Lake—an ethereal immortal fairy.

It was Daoist Ling Xi.

She cast a glance at Gu Ning’an and transmitted her voice to him:

“The Void Emperor is revealing his aura so blatantly—he clearly wants to lure me over. This is an open scheme; I have no choice but to go. My Senior Brother alone cannot hold back two Great Demons…”

“My reckless disciple… I must trouble Mr. Gu to watch over her.”

“Just make sure she doesn’t lose her life…”

Hearing this, Gu Ning’an nodded and replied via voice transmission,

“Go, Daoist Lingxi. Leave this place to me.”

“Many thanks!”

With that, Daoist Ling Xi cast one last glance at her disciple before taking a single step—her figure instantly shooting a thousand zhang into the distance…

Northern Huangtian

The emergence of two Great Demon auras signaled an opportunity to the Red Plum Tree Demon.

However, when she saw Daoist Ling Xi step forward, glance around at everyone present, and then leave, her heart leapt to her throat.

The gap between them was as vast as the clouds and the mud—she wouldn’t survive even a casual strike from the immortal!

So, even after Daoist Ling Xi departed, she didn’t dare to make any reckless moves.

Who knew if the immortal might return at any moment and obliterate her with a flick of the wrist?

Before long, the Fifth Prince, who had been momentarily distracted by Daoist Ling Xi’s departure, turned back and met the furious gaze of his cousin.

He smiled.

“Royal Sister, there’s no need to look at your brother with such murderous eyes. Hongmei is blunt and speaks rashly—when she said she wanted to kill your father, it was simply because your father harbored murderous intent toward me first.”

“A killer must be prepared to be killed. I believe you understand this principle, do you not?”

“However…”

“If you are willing to take Uncle away, find a place for him to live out his twilight years, and ensure that he never sets foot in the court again, then I am willing to spare him this time.”

Hearing these words, Ye Zhiqing’s anger only grew.

Her crimson lips parted as she coldly rebuked him:

“Ye Kunxing, do you even know how many commoners perish at the hands of demon beasts each year in this Great Wu Empire?”

“Do you understand how much time and effort my Master and Martial Uncle, the two True Immortals, have spent guarding this place, keeping the two demon emperors contained within Northern Huangtian?”

Faced with such accusations, the Fifth Prince’s expression remained unchanged.

Instead, he chuckled with amusement.

“Royal Sister, you must be truly angry. You’ve even thrown away etiquette and addressed your elder brother by name.”

“What you’ve said—I already know all of it.”

“But so what?”

“As long as Great Wu remains without an emperor, chaos will reign!”

“If the people must suffer for a time, then so be it. Once I ascend the throne, I will ensure that every citizen of Great Wu enjoys a prosperous and abundant life.”

“You?” Ye Zhiqing narrowed her eyes, both hands now shrouded in a verdant glow of spiritual energy.

“I have no interest in arguing with you.”

“I only came here to slay this tree demon. As for your deeds, my Third Royal Brother and my father will see to it that the world knows the truth.”

Nearby, the Red Plum Tree Demon, whose entire form was a deep purple-black, with a few eerie red plum blossoms blooming at her treetop, let out a chilling laugh.

“Zhiqing, your master has been lured away by the two Demon Emperors, and you still dare to talk about killing me?”

“Should I call you foolish… or commend your courage?”

Hmph!

Ye Zhiqing let out a cold snort, raising her jade-like hand. With a flick of her fingers, two streaks of emerald light plunged into the surface of Half-Moon Lake.

The next moment—

The once-tranquil waters suddenly erupted into towering waves, and the mist above roiled violently!

The fog condensed, forming cloud tigers, their ethereal forms exuding fierce power.

The lake water churned, coalescing into coiling water dragons, their serpentine bodies rippling with formidable energy.

In the blink of an eye—

A vast horde of water dragons and cloud tigers charged toward the Red Plum Tree Demon, roaring as they attacked!

Faced with such a spectacular display, the Fifth Prince’s expression grew serious.

He had underestimated his cousin.

She hadn’t cultivated for long, yet she could already wield such formidable spells!

And when he glanced back at the Red Plum Tree Demon, who had just moments ago exuded an air of unrestrained confidence, he noticed something.

Her aura seemed significantly weaker in comparison.

A troubling thought crossed his mind—

If the Red Plum Tree Demon couldn’t withstand Ye Zhiqing’s spell… what then?

But this very thought only confirmed a simple truth:

“Amateurs watch the excitement. Experts see the reality.”

In the eyes of ordinary folk, Ye Zhiqing’s spell was grand and awe-inspiring—dragons and tigers charging together, embodying divine beasts vanquishing evil.

However, in Gu Ning’an’s eyes, these so-called dragons and tigers were nothing more than “paper tigers.”

Don’t get the wrong idea—this wasn’t to say that Ye Zhiqing’s spell was weak compared to Gu Ning’an. It was meant in the most literal sense.

The seemingly endless tide of “water dragons and cloud tigers” was, in reality, an illusion—a mere spectacle without real substance.

Within Ye Zhiqing’s spell, the true killing blow was hidden among the stampeding “water dragons and cloud tigers.” A single pair of dragons and tigers were the only ones that possessed actual lethality, concealed within the illusion to mislead the opponent and ensure a decisive strike.

Looking past the surface, the spellcasting techniques of the Hunling Immortal Sect were fundamentally built upon the concept of “illusion.”

The word illusion might not seem particularly dangerous, but as the saying goes, when falsehood seems real, reality itself becomes uncertain.

Between truth and illusion, the two could sometimes seamlessly interchange.

Gu Ning’an was certain that if this same spell were cast by Daoist Ling Xi, the endless tide of “cloud tigers and water dragons” might be intangible one second, allowing one to pass through unscathed—

—But the next second, they could all suddenly become real, tearing the opponent to shreds before they had any chance to react.

As the onlookers contemplated this, the countless “cloud tigers and water dragons” had already swallowed the Red Plum Tree Demon whole!

A deafening roar erupted from the battlefield, sending grass, wood, and stone flying in all directions.

Unable to discern which of the dragons and tigers were real, the Red Plum Tree Demon had no choice but to defend itself indiscriminately. Yet, each time it struck, its attacks found only empty illusions—while the concealed real ones took advantage of the openings to sink their fangs into its form!

Fortunately for the tree demon, its bark was tough enough. Ye Zhiqing, after all, was still relatively inexperienced in cultivation, and the power of her spell wasn’t sufficient to cause significant harm.

Despite their ferocious appearance, the dragons and tigers could only tear through the tree demon’s extending roots and branches—they weren’t strong enough to deal real damage to its main trunk.

“Zhiqing, my dear sister!”

“You cultivators and your so-called spells—aren’t they nothing more than cheap tricks, no different from the sleight-of-hand tricks performed by street performers?”

Frustrated by the relentless assault, the Red Plum Tree Demon let out a cold snort. The eerie red flowers adorning its trunk suddenly bloomed in full.

In an instant, scarlet light flared—wherever the crimson radiance spread, the cloud tigers and water dragons dissolved at a speed visible to the naked eye!