1079 Dark Illusion
"I haven't gone after you, but you, little rats, dare to show yourself before me." Wang Wei's voice echoed between Heaven and Earth as a towering hand descended and caught the hooded individual. He tried to resist, but it was futile. People stopped to watch everything before focusing on their battle.
Ao Shen faced three opponents: Lightning Fist, Purple Dragon, and Divine Armament Body—a 3-meter-tall burly martial artist with ho hair (not a monk). However, despite being outnumbered, his eyes indicated he saw these people as only prey.
"Flower Blade is asking for help," said Lightning Fist through divine sense.
"Can't he hold any longer? I don't think we'll be able to deal with that dragon any time soon," Purple Dragon replied.
"He's holding two enemy Immortal Sovereigns; what do you think?"
"Tell him to sacrifice as many First Class Insurgents as he needs to buy us enough time."
"Let's see what his majesty has to say about this."
…
Huo Fenghuang had already activated her [Awakening] as she stared at the enemy.
'The Cult Leader's strength is only 3-Fold — an indication of his talent, but the ring boosted him to medium 4-Fold, and even later stage 4-Fold," she thought with a frown. 'The good news is Qian Heng's strength has weakened.'
Qian Heng was only 2-fold, and the ring pushed him to peak 3-fold. Now that he had handed over the Death Ring, his strength returned to its original level, but he improved during the 75,000 years of training and reached a lower 3-fold.
'The situation is not ideal to me,' summarized Huo Fenghuang. Although she did not want to admit it, she was currently no match for the Cult Leader unless she came up with a solution, not to mention an additional Qian Heng.
"Flower Blade is asking for assistance," communicated Qian Heng through divine sense, making the Cult Leader frown. He would prefer they fought together to ensure victory, but he also understood the need to protect their Eternal Powerhouses.
'You can leave. I'll be fine here alone.' His people told him to show off during this fight to increase prestige, and this was the perfect opportunity. Qian Heng teleported into the distance, and Huo Fenghuang squinted her eyes.
"What do I call you?" she asked.
"Why does that matter?"
"I want to know whether you'll be memorable or not."
"Hehe, what an interesting woman," chuckled the Cult Leader, who fully activated his [Awakening], who was a similar Vision-type as Wang Wei's. A black or ominous star appeared floating above his head.
"The title is Demon Star Eye Emperor."
"That's a mouthful," mused Huo Fenghuang while she chanted in her mind:
'By my noble blood, I, the matriarch of the Huo Clan, call upon all the Ancestors' Spirit to bless me in this upcoming war.'
Numerous spirits or phantoms manifested above her head before turning into golden motes of light and entering her body. With the blessing from the ancestors of the Ancient Clan, her aura drastically increased, reaching the same level as Xu Shi — 4-fold peak.
The Cult Leader's face changed, and he hurriedly mobilized more power from the Death Ring.
"No, you don't," said Huo Fenghuang. Wang Wei told them not to waste time and end this war as soon as possible. In other words, all powerhouses were instructed to go all out to finish this pointless war.
She appeared before him and decapitated his head with one swing of her White Tiger Divine Sword. However, his body did not shed blood and evaporated like it was nothing but clouds. Then, the world around her changed, turning into a hellscape.
She could feel the surging heat underneath her feet, followed by the intense smell of sulfur and the eerie atmosphere or aura in the surroundings.
'A new world? Domain? No, this is an illusion that ignores the boundaries between reality and fantasy,' analyzed Huo Fenghuang. Was this world an illusion? Yes. Will she die if the flame burns her flesh and soul? Still yes. That's the wonder of the pinnacle of Illusion Dao.
She swung her sword and destroyed this illusion with one attack. The world around her changed, turning into a world of darkness with little to no light.
'Illusion Layers?' thought Huo Fenghuang. The best illusionists will form layers upon layers of illusion, making their enemy unable to determine whether they have escaped the illusion or are still in the real world.
A creature that seemed to be the embodiment of death itself rushed from the darkness toward Huo Fenghuang, and it burned before even approaching her. She blessed her eyes with her Dao Will and Will Manifestation, which she achieved after the terrible Heavenly Tribulation during the transition. Unfortunately, even her Heavenly Eye could not see through this illusion.
"Yin-Yang Reversal."
With a thought, she constantly reversed the Yin-Yang polarity of this illusion, turning from real to unreal in the hope the turmoil would collapse it. However, she underestimated the complexity of the Cult Leader's Illusion. His illusion was perfectly created to follow the philosophy of Yin-Yang, so her actions did not have any effect on it.
Huo Fenghuang felt anger rushing into her mind, but she controlled herself. She released a terrifying heat that overwhelmed this illusion and a hundred more layers. She found herself in a layer with a black hole with a terrifying attractive force, and a dark aura of corruption. As she resists the attribute of this Illusion Layer, Huo Fenghuang frowned.
She added a Phoenix Will as a third boost to her Heavenly Eye, but she failed to find her opponent even then.
[Lucky Find]
Huo Fenghuang closed her eyes, relying purely on luck to navigate this infinite layer of illusion/worlds. She appeared in front of the Cult Leader and cut off his head. She was not happy as the man smiled: "Don't you know even luck is an illusion?' He disappeared like he was nothing but vapor.
'This is getting annoying,' thought Huo Fenghuang, who immediately used her Yin-Yang Dao to control Light and Darkness. She noticed her opponent's Dao was not only an Illusion but a Dark Illusion, so she tried the opposite of his element. A brilliant light enveloped this layer and hundreds of thousands more until Huo Fenghuang found herself back in the Martial Hegemony World.
"I didn't think you would successfully escape," said the Cult Leader. "You should be proud, but this fight has just started." His star-shaped pupil moved around as he prepared for another attack.
"This is another illusion layer," declared Huo Fenghuang as she looked around.
"Are my illusions that powerful?" smiled Cult Leader, showing pride at the fact that his opponent could not distinguish between reality and illusion.
"It's very real, and my Heavenly Eye cannot differentiate it," said Huo Fenghuang calmly. "However, you made one mistake." Her eyes shifted to the distance. "There is no way that damn dragon would not have killed a few of these people while we were fighting."
The Cult Leader's smile faltered before slowly changing to his naturally cold demeanor. "Yes, it was my mistake."
"Hehe," suddenly said a voice. "At least you're not stupid. Do you want my help? If you ask nicely, I won't mind?"
"In your dream," sneered Huo Fenghuang, and the Cult Leader immediately changed his Illusion to prevent outside interference. "Okay, let's continue our little game." He disappeared, and the illusion changed to something else.
Huo Fenghuang remained calm as she knew how to win this fight. She mobilized her Slaughter Dao to its full power, along with her senses. Her white sword turned red as she closed her eyes. A colossal creature that can only be described as the stuff of nightmares existed in this Illusion Layer, but she ignored it. As the abominable creature opened its mouth to swallow Huo Fenghuang, she suddenly disappeared.
Her blade pierced through flesh as blood oozed out. Huo Fenghuang's demeanor was calm, but the Cult Leader was shocked. He looked at the blade through his body before looking at her: "How?"
"I must give you credit," she said. You have unparalleled mastery of the Illusion Dao. However, the Death Ring is not your power, so you could not completely hide the Death Aura it released."
"So, that's how it is," he muttered. The ring gave him the strength to be on par with his enemy, but it's also why he would die. And yes, he knew he would not survive this injury because his opponent had used all its power—including Dao Will and Will Manifestation—to destroy his soul.
"Can you do me a favor?" the Cult Leader asked, knowing he wouldn't have much time to live. "Can you…"
Huo Fenghuang listened quietly with a frown. Once the latter's soul was annihilated, she collected the Death Ring before summoning a talisman that absorbed all the Concept in his flesh to make pills, and then the Cult Leader's body disintegrated.
'What should I do now?' thought Huo Fenghuang, as the latter's last words gave her a small conundrum. He did not trust his words, but there was also the possibility of benefiting her.
