Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 263 Seizing the Body
Chen Ye is now extremely grateful that he has transformed into the form of a dragon.

Guixu was his home, and he sensed something was wrong even before entering the Illusionary Light Hall.

The Hall of Illusions does indeed contain many enormous creatures, but there are also many incongruous "points".

These were all people, but Chen Ye sensed that they didn't seem like living people; they were more like a large pile of corpses floating inside the Illusionary Light Hall.

This situation was very strange. Chen Ye's first reaction was that the Mirage Sect had arrived at the Illusionary Light Hall at some point and were preparing to wipe out all the mirage demons inside.

But why a corpse?

The Mirage Sect wouldn't be so foolish as to send their disciples to commit suicide in the deep sea.

Not to mention the various deep-sea monsters they encountered along the way, the endless water pressure alone would turn an ordinary cultivator into a lump of rotten flesh.

In Chen Ye's perception, most of the "people" floating inside the Illusionary Light Hall were corpses.

This is very strange. Where did so many people come from? How could they die in the territory of the mirage demon?

The mirage demons usually rely on seaweed and kelp growing in the Illusionary Light Palace to survive, or even eat sand directly, so it is impossible for the mirage demons to actively hunt the human race.

Where did these corpses come from?
Looking at his home right before him, Chen Guang suppressed the urge to rush in and asked, "Sect Master, what do we do now?"

"Let me think of a way."

Chen Ye had no intention of crashing into the Illusionary Light Hall; he could only wait and see if the Flood Dragon Body could exert more of its power.

Chen Ye wagged his tail and lay down in front of the entrance to the Illusionary Light Hall, his long body pressed tightly against the white jade railings.

Then, Chen Ye focused intently on resonating with the Void.

When this mysterious cave was intact, it must have been covered with runes and restrictions everywhere. The entire cave was a great array, and the dragon lived in it, able to obtain everything with just its will.

Chen Ye is now considered a dragon, but unfortunately, Guixu is already in ruins.

Most of the important formation structures were damaged, and Chen Ye could only utilize a small portion of them.

There should have been dozens of array formations and restrictions inside the Hall of Illusions. The dragon back then could have easily transformed the hall into something else with a mere thought, or mobilized the power of the array formations to destroy everything inside.

But Chen Ye can't do that now; these functions are no longer usable, and only some runes remain.

What Chen Ye needs to do now is to mobilize these remaining formations and recombine them to achieve the effect he desires.

This sounds like a far-fetched story. When cultivators explore ancient caves, they are all extremely cautious, afraid of touching these ancient formations. But Chen Ye is different; he has become the master of the cave directly.

Since the formation is damaged, let's make use of it and recombine it according to Chen Ye's wishes.

Setting up formations is precisely what Chen Ye excels at.

A moment later, a beam of light appeared in front of Chen Ye, illuminating everything in the Illusionary Light Hall.

Chen Guang exclaimed in surprise, "The Water Mirror Technique? When did you learn the secret technique of Tianxin Island, Sect Master?"

Although he doesn't usually go out, Chen Guang had encountered opponents from Tianxin Island when he fought in the arena for the Mirage Sect. This Water Mirror Technique has the effect of breaking illusions and revealing reality, and it is particularly effective against the illusions of the Mirage Sect, leaving a deep impression on Chen Guang.

What Chen Ye is using now seems to be no different from the Water Mirror Technique of Tianxin Island.

"I don't know the Water Mirror Technique. I only talked about it with the cultivators from Tianxin Island last time. They explained the general principles to me. The intricacies are definitely not something outsiders can know. I just borrowed the formation of Guixu. It seems to have the same effect as the Water Mirror Technique, but the underlying principles are definitely different."

Chen Ye originally intended to piece together the broken array into a formation that combined offense and defense, so that there would be a guarantee when entering the Illusionary Light Hall.

But after trying for a long time, he discovered that the formation of Guixu had been deliberately destroyed. The offensive and defensive structures were completely destroyed, and Chen Ye could not repair them in a short time. He could only piece together the effect of the Water Mirror Technique to see what was inside.

Chen Guang didn't bother to ask for details. He looked nervously at the water mirror and then said excitedly, "They...they have indeed grown up."

The water mirror slowly swept across, revealing nothing but giant white mirages. These mirages looked like enormous seashells, only slender in shape, resembling perfect oval white jade pieces.

At a glance, there were quite a few mirages, several thousand in total, large and small, and many crystal-clear mirage eggs piled up into tall towers, emitting a shimmering glow.

Chen Ye quickly found what he was looking for.

A large group of "corpses" floated on the egg towers of these mirages. Although they looked lifeless and their bodies were swollen like balls, they moved mechanically and tried to climb on the egg towers.

The other mirages weren't oblivious, but these monsters were extremely slow-moving and could only instinctively spew mirage energy in an attempt to prevent the corpses from getting close to their offspring.

However, the effect was minimal; the illusion seemed to have no effect on the corpses.

"What the hell is this?"

Chen Ye couldn't understand it. This swollen corpse couldn't possibly be a water ghost, could it?
Chen Guang suddenly shouted, "Sect Master, look! It's a disciple of the Mirage Sect!"

"Which one?"

Chen Ye hadn't looked that closely yet, because the water ghosts that had appeared earlier were all dressed in a very messy manner, and there was nothing particularly special about their clothing.

But when Chen Guang pointed, Chen Ye zoomed in in that direction and saw two corpses dressed in the attire of the Mirage Sect disciples.

Moreover, Chen Ye could even recognize one of them.

"Qin Ze of the Mirage Sect... how could he be here, and die so tragically?"

Although his face was swollen, it wasn't completely unrecognizable. Chen Ye wouldn't mistake him; this was Qin Ze, the one who had fought him on the arena. As for the other disciple of the Mirage Sect, Chen Ye couldn't recognize him.

The water mirror continued to reflect elsewhere, and Chen Ye and Chen Guang found even more disciples of the Mirage Sect, totaling twenty or thirty.

There were several hundred human corpses inside the Hall of Illusions, and the disciples of the Mirage Sect only accounted for a small proportion, but Chen Ye still couldn't help but associate them with the Mirage Sect.

Chen Guang thought so too. Only the Mirage Sect would have designs on these mirage demons. However, Chen Guang couldn't understand what these corpses were doing.
After careful observation, Chen Ye came to a conclusion that disgusted him.

"They are possessing someone else's body."

"Seize the body?"

Chen Guang looked shocked and couldn't react for a moment.

Chen Ye could only explain, "The souls of these water ghosts are sealed within their corpses. We don't know how they were sent to the Illusionary Light Palace, but they are currently possessing the eggs of those mirage demons and merging their own souls into them."

These corpses are possessing bodies in a very strange way, a method that only someone like Chen Ye, who comes from the Demonic Sect, could recognize.

This method of possession is very clever; it is not the corpse's own ability.

To successfully possess another's body, one's soul needs to be of a certain strength; the Profound Realm is considered a threshold. Before reaching the Profound Realm, the success rate of possession is extremely low.

However, it's impossible that all of these hundreds of corpses were at the Tongxuan Realm, especially Qin Ze, who was defeated by Chen Ye and never recovered, stopping at the Gangsha Realm.

Moreover, he died, whether he died after being sent into the deep sea or before being sent into the sea. In any case, it is much more difficult for a dead person to possess another body than when they are alive.

Chen Ye didn't understand the mystery, but he could guess that there must be external help involved.

Or perhaps, it wasn't assistance, but coercion.

Something killed these cultivators and then sent them into the Hall of Illusions, forcing their souls to possess the eggs of the mirage demon.

In this way, when these eggs grow into mirages, they will not be mindless beasts, but a group of mirages with human-like intelligence.

Just look at the morning light to see how high the talent of this mirage demon is.

If she hadn't met Su Chunyi back then, she would have been the number one person in the Tongxuan Realm.

"Sect Master, do you mean that the Mirage Sect manipulated these cultivators, turning them into puppets, and then possessed my clansmen so that they would serve the Mirage Sect once they grew up?"

When Chen Guang said this, his tone was extremely cold, as if he were gritting his teeth.

This was the first time Chen Ye had seen her so angry, but he did not agree with her guess.

"If it's the Mirage Sect, then the only ones possessing bodies here should be disciples of the Mirage Sect. Where did the extra few hundred people come from?"

No matter how ruthless the Mirage Sect is, it's impossible for them to keep the killing of several hundred cultivators in such a short time a secret. It's impossible for the Yellow Springs Sect to have no information about it at all.

"No matter who it is, Sect Master, I cannot watch my people be possessed. Please help me."

Chen Guang could no longer bear it. He had gone through so much trouble to return to his homeland, only to see his people being possessed by a group of corpses.
Chen Ye nodded. There was nothing more to say now; saving Chenguang's people was the most important thing.

Under Chen Ye's control, the water flow transformed into a tornado, carrying Chen Ye's dragon body into the Illusionary Light Palace.

A dragon's roar reverberated throughout the Hall of Illusions.

Chen Ye's dragon might spread out, frightening all the mirage demons into hiding inside their shells, no longer daring to spew out mirage energy.

That's perfect, Chen Ye isn't immune to illusions.

Taking advantage of the mirage demon's inability to react, Chen Ye manipulated the water flow to gather all the corpses in front of him.

Whether the body has already been possessed or the soul is still trapped in the corpse, dragging these remains over first is definitely the right thing to do.

Under Chen Ye's control, the water flowed like an invisible net, binding the hundreds of corpses tightly and pulling them towards him.

Although the corpses were still struggling, they seemed to be able only to paddle with their hands and feet, and had no other means of maneuvering.

The person behind this must have used some means to seal their spiritual energy, otherwise Chen Ye wouldn't have been able to succeed so easily.

After a while, Chen Ye successfully retrieved all the corpses and gathered them into a ball of flesh in front of him.

However, Chen Ye couldn't figure out how many corpses had been possessed, or which mirage demon eggs had already been possessed.

Meanwhile, Chen Guang had transformed into a giant mirage and was communicating with his people in a voice that Chen Ye couldn't understand, probably trying to figure out what had happened during this time.

Chen Ye intended to wait patiently, but the ball of flesh formed from the corpses in front of him suddenly began to vibrate, and a voice that seemed familiar to him came.

"It's you again! Why is it always you?!"

The voice sounded somewhat exasperated, yet also carried a hint of coquettishness, sending shivers down Chen Ye's spine.

"What a powerful charm!" Chen Ye quickly rang the bronze bell several times to clear his mind of any distracting thoughts before replying, "Who exactly are you? Were you the one who sowed discord back in Pearl Harbor?"

"It's me. You recognized me? It seems you remember my voice very well. It's not a good thing if word gets out that the Yellow Springs Sect Master is still hung up on a witch like me."

(End of this chapter)