A new world appeared before Iris and Chase, completely different from the last one they had just been in. Instead of a fog-filled swamp, a paradisiacal view appeared before them. In the distance, an incredibly vibrant and beautiful mountain range spanned the horizon. The mountains were covered in lush vegetation of various colors, making it look like a piece of art. In the sky above flew majestic looking birds and creatures, while directly in front of them was a sprawling city.
The city appeared ancient in design, but was incredibly clean and luxurious. It rivaled any city they had ever seen, and was filled to the brim with people going about their daily lives. People streamed in and out of the city each minute, walking by Iris and Chase who stood there gazing at the city.
"What's going on?" Chase spoke up as he took in the sight before him. "Did we return to the real world?"
"No," Iris replied, her eyes slightly narrowed. "This city is an illusion, and an incredibly high level one at that."
"An illusion? All of this is an illusion?" Chase replied, slightly surprised. "It seems incredibly real to me. What a profound illusion."
"Profound indeed," Iris replied. "It's enough to almost perfectly fool me, even while using my eye abilities. I can only tell it's an illusion based on incredibly small discrepancies when using my normal vision and altered vision. This illusion before us must be due to an incredible illusion formation, and it's already invaded our souls, otherwise it would not be able to fool my eyes."
Chase frowned upon hearing this, as he could not tell it was an illusion at all, and didn't know what to do next.
"What now?" Chase asked, as he defaulted to Iris to lead the way through such a trial.
"I don't know. I guess we proceed into the city, and keep our guard up. Illusion formations seep into the soul and slowly alter both perception and mood. Don't get whisked away by this illusion without even realizing it," Iris replied, her voice slightly heavy. "Also, although there's are illusions, they have physical form. They are capable of hurting you, so be careful."
Chase nodded his head at Iris's words and flared his soul power to the maximum to defend against the illusion. "Lead the way."
After a brief pause, Iris walked towards and into the ancient city, Chase following closely behind.
…
In the hallowed out sphere, both John and Kirii floated in the empty space as they cultivated before the lightning sphere. John grit his teeth through the excruciating pain as the lightning from the sphere flayed and burnt his body, which he allowed it to do so.
The burnt flesh, muscle, and bone slowly but surely transformed in nature to do John channeling the Celestial Lightning Script, although each second was hellish torture. At the same time, John focused his mind on the lightning he was feeling, which slowly increased his comprehensions as well.
Through the excruciating pain, John opened one eye to glance at Kirii who floated next to him. Lightning crashed onto Kirii's body as well, although Kirii did not display any signs of pain. In fact, it was as if Kirii was bathing beneath the warm sun, completely relaxed.
"Must be nice," John grumbled through the pain as he saw this.
Kirii was a lightning beast, and one that stood at the absolute peak of lightning talents. His body was already the highest grade lightning body possible, and all he had to do was strengthen it by absorbing lightning. As such, such a thing was not painful, and was instead enjoyable.
John closed his one eye and focused back on the task at hand. After a moment longer, he took a deep breath and rushed forward a dozen yards, once again increasing the lightning burden on his body as he aimed to shatter the shackles of his lightning attribute body and enhance it as much as possible.
…
"I'm finally out of that miserable place," Adam exclaimed happily as he left the fog world and found himself in a new place. He quickly took in the sight before him, and a large smile appeared on his face.
"This place is much more like it! It's much better than that damn fog world," Adam cheered as he noticed the ancient city before him. He quickly rushed forward into the city without a care, and started exploring its interior.
Merchant's selling various items hawked their wares, while guild halls, trade shops, and taverns lined the large streets, making the city feel incredibly alive. Adam dashed from one place to the next with a large grin on his face as he enjoyed the upbeat atmosphere of the city.
"Hehe, this is so much better," Adam once again exclaimed as he dashed through the city, exploring everything he could.
The other people in the city seemed to mostly ignore his presence, which Adam didn't mind. While he took in the various sights of the city, he explored with a purpose, as if looking for a particular thing.
Music suddenly filled his ears, followed by the sound of soft laughter. Adam's ears perked up as he turned to look towards the source of the sound, and his eyes lit up with elation upon seeing what was before him.
"Hahaha, just what I was looking for!" Adam exclaimed happily as he dashed forward. "I'll just relax here until this damn Thunder Realm closes. This will be far more enjoyable than nearly dying over and over."
As he finished saying this, Adam dashed into a luxurious building before him. The entrance of the building was covered with strips of fabric which he brushed aside as he entered. Before him, a bevy of beautiful women came into his view, all laying about the large room before him.
They all wore revealing outfits, and each was beautiful enough to topple nations with their looks. They all stopped their entrancing laughter to look at Adam as he entered, and smiles appeared on their faces as they stood up and walked up to him.
"Oh? Who's this strapping young man," one of the women said as she ran her lithe fingers over his arm. Another grabbed his other arm and dragged him deeper into the room, much to the delight of Adam.
A lecherous look appeared on his face as he allowed himself to be dragged onto one of the soft couches of the room, and he happily fell into the embrace of several of the women lying there.
"Hehee, this truly is life," Adam exclaimed with a look of absolute bliss on his face.
