Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 255: A Layer of Illusions. (Second Update!)

Wanshan Temple

main hall.

The statue of the deity with the twelve-tassel crown sat quietly high. Beneath the offering table, the lotus-shaped prayer cushion remained empty. A nun in black robes stood in the corner, holding a whisk, her gaze filled with a veiled malice that seemed almost tangible.

Seeing that he had returned to the main hall, Chen Zhentao's expression changed. This "strange" thing was affecting his five senses!
In a flash, he dared not hesitate and immediately took out a paper figure.

This paper figure is made of pale yellow paper folded into shape, about the size of a palm. It is simply outlined as a human figure, without facial features, clothing, or any characteristics such as gender or age.

This is a [substitute paper doll], which he specially purchased from the Heavenly Artifact Sect at a high price for this trial mission.

Chen Zhentao's eyes showed pain, but his movements were swift. He immediately threw the paper figure out. As soon as the paper figure left his palm, it swelled up in the wind, instantly becoming the size of a normal person, and emanating a dense aura of yin energy.

Swish, swish, swish... Chen Zhentao quickly cut his palm and used his spiritual blood to write his birth date and name on the paper figure.

As he wrote, the paper figure quickly wriggled and changed, soon becoming exactly like him in appearance, decoration, and even aura!
At this moment, Abbot Yao swiftly reached out and grabbed at Chen Zhentao.

brush……

The next moment, the body resembling Chen Zhentao was torn to shreds, turning into a rain of blood that scattered all over the ground.

After dealing with Chen Zhentao, Abbess Yao suddenly turned in one direction, as if she had discovered something interesting. In the darkness, a slight smile appeared on her lips, and with a flick of her whisk, she quickly left the main hall.

The spacious hall was suddenly empty and deathly silent.

In a moment, the fresh flesh and blood on the ground swayed slightly and turned into a dense mass of paper scraps, each of which was stained with dark red blood.

Chen Zhentao, his expression grim, slowly emerged from the shadows in the corner. His eyes were filled with seriousness; this Wanshan Temple was far more dangerous than he had anticipated!
Fortunately, he made ample preparations before coming here this time.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out two pitch-black talismans from his storage bag.

These two talismans are 【Illusion-Breaking Talismans】 drawn by a Foundation Establishment cultivator himself, which allow him to break through illusions and see the true scene around him.

In this Wanshan Temple, illusions abound. Without this [Illusion-Dispelling Talisman], he has no way of knowing whether what he sees before him is real or not...

While pondering, Chen Zhentao affixed the two [Dispelling Illusion Talismans] below his eyes. As soon as the talismans were affixed, a blazing white flame ignited, dispelling the confusion in the hall.

In the field of vision illuminated by the white flames, the surrounding scenery immediately changed. The location of the main entrance of the hall, which was clearly in front of him just a moment ago, suddenly became behind him.

Without hesitation, Chen Zhentao immediately walked towards the palace gate behind him.

Soon, he walked out of the gate and arrived outside the main hall.

Not daring to linger here, he quickened his pace and headed towards the location of the Crane Rest Hall.

As he walked, Chen Zhentao suddenly noticed that the two [Dispelling Illusion Talismans] were burning at an unusually fast speed. They were about to burn out after he hadn't gone very far.

This time, he didn't dare to tear off the talisman directly. Instead, he opened his storage bag and prepared to take out a new [Illusion-Breaking Talisman].

But the next moment, his movement to take the talisman stopped abruptly, and he stiffened slightly.

He brought a total of ten [Dispelling Illusions Talismans] with him for this visit to Wanshan Temple.

Two have already been used.

But right now, he still has ten [Illusion-Dispelling Talismans] in his storage bag!
Chen Zhentao was startled. Even the [Illusion-Breaking Talisman] drawn by the Foundation Establishment stage senior brother in this pavilion couldn't break the illusion of this [Scissors Prison]? Just as he was wondering, he suddenly felt something was wrong with his surroundings. He looked up and saw that the shrine in front of him was still the same as before, and the figure of the twelve-tassel crown was still sitting majestically. Under the offering table, there was an exquisite lotus-shaped futon, with candles flickering on both sides and the fragrance of incense lingering around.

This is still the main hall!

He just walked so far, and he was just circling around in the hall the whole time.

What he had stuck to his eyes was not the so-called "Dispelling Illusion Talisman" at all, but two useless pieces of paper!

In the shadows not far away, the abbot of Yao Temple held a whisk in his arm, a slight upturn at the corner of his mouth, and a hint of mockery in his eyes as he leisurely watched him.

Chen Zhentao frowned, suddenly realizing that he had made a mistake from the very beginning!
From the moment the Yao Guan Master appeared, he should have immediately used his trump card to escape.

But now, he has lost the initiative!
Everything he does right now, every card he plays, could be an illusion created by the other side.

Even the [Illusion-Dispelling Talisman], which is specifically designed to combat illusions, is now questionable to him – is it real or fake?
If this continues, his death will come when he runs out of all his trump cards.

With this thought in mind, Chen Zhentao immediately made a decision. He looked directly at Abbot Yao and calmly said, "Abbot Yao, you have miscalculated."

"I won't live past the time of Foundation Establishment."

"Because I am about to establish my foundation!"

Before he finished speaking, his aura suddenly changed, as if some kind of restraint had been broken, and began to rise steadily.

The intense yet pure energy slowly spread out, instantly suppressing the thick yin energy in the hall and causing it to recede continuously.

As Chen Zhentao's robes fluttered without wind, he took out a pale blue pill from his storage bag. The pill was water-colored, with vine-like patterns, and emitted wisps of pure spiritual energy.

This is a Foundation Establishment Pill!
For ordinary rogue cultivators, a Foundation Establishment Pill is something that most low-level rogue cultivators can only dream of. Even the best among them would need to serve the imperial court for fifty or even a hundred years, working hard, overcoming obstacles, and even risking their lives frequently, and still might not be able to obtain one.

However, for a disciple of a major sect like Chen Zhentao, it was not a particularly rare item.

The next moment, he swallowed the Foundation Establishment Pill in one gulp. Its taste seemed a bit strange compared to the description in the ancient books, but the situation was critical, and he couldn't care less about such a trivial matter. He immediately circulated his cultivation technique and began to establish his foundation...

※※※

Wanshan Temple, side courtyard.

As Shu Yunying's wide sleeves fluttered, she pointed a finger at the shadow behind Zhang Guitu. With her movement, a condensed black aura shot out from her fingertip and struck the dark shadow on the ground.

The sudden appearance of this black mist was chilling and sharp, moving with lightning speed, and it shot into the shadows almost in the blink of an eye.

However, just as the black mist was about to strike Zhang Guitu's shadow, the dark shadow on the ground suddenly twisted rapidly...

boom! ! !
Tiles, mud, sand, short fences, grass and trees... all exploded and scattered in a loud bang.

At the critical moment, Zhang Guitu's shadow narrowly avoided the black energy shot out by Shu Yunying in an extremely bizarre and twisted posture.

Seeing this scene, Zheng Que was stunned. Before he could react, Zhang Guitu's shadow suddenly changed, and lifelike human faces appeared!
These people had faces of varying sizes, their complexions shifting between pale and bluish, covered in various wounds, blood, and tears, their expressions filled with pain and distortion, brimming with malice, hatred, and resentment towards the living...

In an instant, Zheng Que felt that what he was facing was not a ghost, but countless resentments, which were intertwined and mixed together, vaguely resembling a mountain.

This is a "weird" animal!
(End of this chapter)