Who said I practiced the exercises incorrectly?

Chapter 290: Mind Illusion
The scarlet blood flowed everywhere and soon spread in the thick water, gradually disappearing, leaving only a fishy smell that never completely dissipated.

The broken and majestic corpse in the middle slowly sank to the bottom of the water as if it had lost its strength.

One could vaguely see the anger and disbelief on the Dragonborn leader's face.

But what is particularly concerning is the lingering grin on the corner of his mouth.

It seemed that even death was not too unacceptable to him.

After killing this powerful enemy, Ning Yan, Ji Dinghuang and others felt relieved, but also a little uneasy.

The Dragonborn leader must have prepared some backup plan, but they could no longer torture him to get any results.

With a "chi" sound, Duan Haishan raised his hand and handed the magic sword that killed the Dragonborn leader back to Ji Dinghuang. He glanced at the sinking corpse and turned to look at the location of the mountain gap, and said in a deep voice:

"The culprit has been eliminated, and now it's time to eradicate the root of the problem."

He Qianyan asked:

"You mean the remaining dragonborn?"

Duan Haishan said in a sonorous tone:
"Yes, they must all be eliminated!"

"But they have already gone deep into the ruins. You should know how dangerous it is without me telling you. Is it necessary to take such a huge risk for these last few remnants?"

"Is necessary."

Duan Haishan replied with a firm look in his eyes:

"There were more than a hundred Dragonborn who died at the hands of the Sword Saint. Many of them were at the level of Huajin, or at least at the top level of Sijin. The rest were mostly killed by the masters surrounding the Sword Saint. Only a very small number of those at the level of Rujin or even the level of Baoqi escaped and survived in the ruins.

I thought they would be destroyed in the ruins sooner or later, but they have grown to their current size amid our repeated encirclement and suppression. Even if I delay any longer, there may be a strong man of the third realm among these dragon descendants in the future.

We have temporarily cut off this possibility now, but if we let the remaining remnants go, this situation will happen again in the future.

The battles that should be ended by us must be ended in our generation. There is no need to leave them for future generations to worry about. They should spend their time on more valuable things. "

After hearing this, everyone around fell silent for a moment.

Then, Qi Ruyue responded calmly:
"I am not opposed to killing all the Dragonborn, but it is necessary to consider the risks involved.

Just like Lao He said, those remnants have already entered the depths of the ruins. Their own strength may be insignificant, but the risks in the ruins should not be underestimated. They must be prepared accordingly before going deeper into them.

Besides, you also heard the threat that guy made before he died. This is the first time I've heard of the Star-Moon Divine Diagram. Do you know what it is?"

Duan Haishan shook his head:
"I haven't heard of it either."

"It looks like it should be some important weapon left by the Shinra Wanxiang Sect."

Ji Dinghuang speculated:

“Since he can hold it in his mouth, its power is probably even greater than the spiritual axe in my hand.”

"Perhaps we can search for some information, or find some relevant intelligence from the ruins?"

Ning Yan suggested.

Duan Haishan looked around at everyone, nodded and said:
"The war has just ended, and everyone needs some time to rest. Let's use this time to search the enemy's lair or other ruins, and try to find information related to the Star-Moon Divine Map, as well as the map information inside."

After everyone made up their minds, they no longer hesitated and immediately swam along the crevice in the mountains towards the dragonborn's lair.

Setting out on the road again, everyone seemed very comfortable. They quickly passed through the waters guarded by blue rays and entered the dry and gloomy cave through the pool.

After killing a few unlucky guys who stayed behind, everyone dispersed and searched around the cave.

This is the enemy's lair, and it is possible that there are traps there.

Rather, it would be abnormal if there were no traps.

But those who are able to take on the position of clan leader are all very shrewd.

As for Ning Yan, he had all the buffs stacked up, so even if he encountered a trap, he felt that he had a high probability of surviving.

After a thorough search, Ning Yan soon discovered that the color of a rock wall at the top was slightly different from the surrounding area.

To be honest, this difference, placed in such a dark environment, can be easily overlooked.

However, he had once learned a course called "Eye-Clairvoyance Technique", which came in handy at this moment.

After seeing the abnormality of the rock wall, Ning Yan didn't say anything and smashed the stone tablet with the word "Yu" down directly.

The stone tablet fell on the top of the rock wall and went straight into it, as if it was an illusion of water waves.

And at the moment when the stone tablet penetrated, a series of sharp whistling sounds suddenly came from above.

A cloud of thick purple smoke burst out on the spot and quickly spread in all directions.

Smelling the highly corrosive smoke, Ning Yan spat a few times, and immediately corroded the ground into pits and holes like an alien spitting.

When the poisonous fog was dispersed by him, dozens of bottomless holes were seen on the ground.

Each one is about the thickness of a finger.

Obviously, in addition to releasing poisonous fog, the previous wave of traps also contained sinister crossbows.

Just looking at the depth of the hole in the ground, I'm afraid that even an expert in Hua Jin would be seriously injured if he was hit by it.

Ning Yan clicked his tongue a few times and looked upwards. The solid rock wall had disappeared without a trace, revealing a cave nearly eight feet wide.

When I jumped in, I saw that it was actually a not very spacious stone chamber.

There are many kinds of precious materials piled up in the room, such as burnt iron, dragon whisker crystal, etc.

It's obvious that these materials were picked up by the dragonborn in the ruins.

Although most of these materials were extremely precious and each one could be sold at a sky-high price, Ning Yan was very disappointed.

What he wanted was not these precious metals that could be used as raw materials for spiritual weapons.

He then picked up some precious materials that were small and easy to carry, and Ning Yan swept the rest into the stone path along the cave entrance, preparing to ask others later if they needed them.

Just as we finished our work here and were about to continue exploring, we heard He Qianyan's cry faintly coming from deep in the cave:

"You all come over here and take a look."

Ning Yan did not delay and quickly followed the direction of the sound and soon arrived at a quiet stone chamber.

The stone chamber is not big, estimated to be only about three meters square. Traces of cutting can be vaguely seen everywhere. The furnishings inside are extremely simple, with only a stone bench, a stone bed, and a stone table.

The air inside did not seem stale, and there was little dust on the ground, so it looked like someone was living there.

And referring to some things placed on the stone table, it is very likely that this is the residence of the dragon leader.

"No, this is not the Dragonborn's residence!"

Duan Haishan, who also followed, took a look and his face suddenly became solemn.

Ji Dinghuang and Qi Ruyue's eyes darkened slightly. Ning Yan also noticed something was wrong.

Indeed, just as Duan Haishan said, the aura here is completely different from that of the dragon leader.

If you say that his aura revealed a sense of bestiality and brutality, it was like that of a raging wild beast.

Then the remaining aura in this stone chamber seems extremely pure and ethereal, like the residence left behind by a great and virtuous person.

"This is the residence of a third-level expert!"

Duan Haishan asserted.

Compared to the second realm, the third realm has a most obvious characteristic, which is that their mental power is extremely condensed, far from the loose and thin power of the second realm.

Take Lian Huiyi's "Xuanshui Mie Shenshu" for example. The "Xuanshui" condensed by her is at least dozens of times more powerful than Ning Yan.

This is a qualitative difference and also a huge difference between realms.

In other words, she had already become a dead body and did not have the so-called mental strength to allow them to jump around in front of her.

Otherwise, even if they didn't condense the [Xuan Shui], a random mental collision would kill everyone, including Ning Yan.

At this moment, the same atmosphere remained at the scene.

That is the aura of the mind that has been dissipating for many years, permeating the surrounding objects, so that even after the person leaves, a strong personal aura remains.

This ability is definitely not something that an ordinary dragon descendant can achieve.

Even Ning Yan had some doubts. Even an ordinary third-level cultivator like Lian Huiyi might not be able to do it.

It is estimated that only an extremely powerful third-level swordsman like the Shenluo Sword Master can achieve this level.

Could this be the place where one of them practices in seclusion?

While he was thinking, his eyes couldn't help but fall on the things placed on the stone table along with everyone else.

There were only three thin jade slips on the stone table.

Each jade slip is extremely thin and light, and one can faintly see mosquito-like and fly-like handwriting moving inside it.

But when he looked carefully, the words seemed to come alive and flew everywhere in the jade slip.

This was followed by a strong feeling of nausea, just like the 3D dizziness in a game.

Ning Yan quickly collected his attention and looked elsewhere, and saw that Qi Ruyue and the others also had expressions as if they had eaten shit.

The only one who asked them to come over was He Qianyan, who had a look of gloating, and it was obvious that he had been cheated by this thing before.

"Humph, a mere jade slip is used to play such a trick!"

The hot-tempered Qi Ruyue snorted coldly and reached out to take the jade slip on the far left.

"Wait a minute—"

Duan Haishan just finished speaking.

Qi Ruyue's hand had already touched the jade slip, and her expression immediately became stiff.

The next second, as if he was knocked away by someone, he suddenly retreated and crashed into the stone wall on the other side before stopping. There was even a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. His breath dropped instantly and his eyes became extremely terrified:

"Monster! There's a monster in here!!"

Seeing the panicked Qi Ruyue, Duan Haishan casually threw a calming pill into his mouth.

He swallowed it with a gulp, and after a moment, his panicked and scattered look gradually returned to normal, but a trace of horror still remained on his face.

Seeing everyone, Qi Ruyue calmed down and said:
"As soon as I touched the jade slip, I saw a giant monster with three snake heads rushing towards me. It was so big, and its bloody mouth seemed to cover the entire sky. I was no better than an ant in front of it. If I hadn't retreated in time, I would have been swallowed up by it in one bite."

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but look at each other.

"This should be some kind of mental illusion."

After a while, He Qianyan hesitated and gave an answer:
"Some kind of illusion created by pure mental power, usually used in hostile attacks."

"When using internal energy to deal with violent energy, even if there is a huge gap in realm, close combat is often required to completely establish a chance of victory."

“But when you reach the third realm, there’s no need to go through so much trouble to deal with people like us who are in the second realm.

He would just use his mental power to condense a terrifying illusion and release it to the surroundings at will. All the second-level warriors with weak mental power and weak will would be slaughtered on the spot.

Even if some people have tempered their minds by chance, or have accumulated a large amount of mental power, they will still be severely damaged by the impact of mental illusions, and in slightly more serious cases, they may even become idiots. "

Having said this, he paused for a moment, looked at the jade slip on the table, and said in confusion:
"But mental illusions often require a third-level expert to release them. I have never heard of a mental illusion that can be formed without the warrior himself. If even the source of the mind disappears, how can the illusion exist?"

"Not necessarily."

Duan Haishan immediately answered:
“Not to mention that our understanding of the third realm is already very limited, perhaps there are corresponding secret techniques or even treasures that can produce such effects.

And judging from the current situation, the mental illusion is most likely lodged in the jade slip and was deliberately placed there by humans."

"Then what does it mean that the other party arranged the mental illusion in the jade slip?"

Ning Yan asked curiously.

"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a trial."

Duan Haishan stared at the jade slip on the table, his eyes darkening:
"Under normal circumstances, if a trap is deliberately set to harm outsiders, the mental illusion set by the other party will never be so weak. Even if it is consumed over time, Lao Qi must have been severely injured by the impact of the illusion after being exposed to it just now.

But in fact, he was just confused and his breath was falling. Although such injuries would take some time to recover, it can be seen that the opponent actually held back, otherwise the injury would not be so light. "

After hearing this, everyone's eyes changed when they looked at the jade slip.

Qi Ruyue coughed twice and said:

"If this is really a trial, then the dragonborn who used this cave as their home base most likely failed to successfully pass it and obtain the information left in the jade slip."

The logic behind this is actually very simple.

If the other party really succeeded in passing the level, then the jade slip would definitely not still be here.

If the other party wants to get the jade slip, he must accept the test of mental illusion.

If you pass the trial, you can naturally take the jade slip away. Only if you fail, the jade slip will remain far away.

This is good news for them.

But what’s frustrating is that just because the Dragonborn cannot pass the trial, it doesn’t mean they can successfully pass the trial.

Just look at Qi Ruyue's performance to know how difficult this is.

Just as everyone was thinking about how to pass the level, Ji Dinghuang, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up:
"I think I know who left this jade slip."

(End of this chapter)