"Feng'er, be careful!"
Lu Xichan attempted to contact the outside world for the first time, only to find that she couldn't connect at all.
"Young ones, why do you fail to kneel before the Immortal Ancestor!"
Four voices thundered in their ears.
In the dim sky, the figure of the Heavenly Lord seemed to appear, staring down without anger or authority.
Boom!
A huge, invisible pressure suddenly fell, pulverizing the bamboo building instantly.
The ground sank several feet amid the roar.
Xuan Sushang and the others were locked by the pressure for a moment, unable to move.
Before they could struggle, the five-round blood moon appeared in the shadowed sky.
"Take the silk!"
A cold, emotionless voice sounded from above.
Thousands of threads hung from the blood moon, like countless tentacles, silently wrapping around them.
The threads seemed invisible, but the moment they touched their bodies, an overwhelming weakness surged in their hearts.
"Xichan!" Xuan Sushang and Shuo Feng's armors appeared outside their bodies—but even they could not block the invisible threads.
Lu Xichan fared worse. Silver symbols representing formations flickered around her, only to vanish instantly.
Cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Her eyes first widened in shock, then filled with horror.
The battle was chaotic; others unfamiliar with formations might not have realized what was happening.
But Lu Xichan knew too well: every formation she set up was instantly disrupted by an inexplicable force.
Even before the formation was complete, it was cracked.
It was as if the opponent already knew her plans, breaking her formations with unbelievable speed.
At first, Lu Xichan suspected a traitor in her Formation Hall had leaked her secrets.
But even when she retrieved formations from the deepest reserves, the same thing happened: instant failure.
Fear gradually overtook Lu Xichan.
She felt as if she had returned to the first time she saw her Immortal Ancestor.
Her master's display of powerful formations had once left her in awe, intoxicated, obsessed—her own talents paled before him.
Yet now, the surrounding forces exceeded even her master's level.
A realm beyond her imagination.
"Who… is it?"
Lu Xichan's pride as chief of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's Formation Hall shattered. She could only envision countless Immortal Ancestors Zhang in the shadows around her.
"Xichan, you have disappointed me so much!"
"Do not tell anyone you are my disciple from now on. I cannot bear this disgrace!"
"Lu Xichan, you shall never die in peace!"
…
"No, that's not true. Immortal Ancestor…" Lu Xichan trembled, powerless under the hallucinations.
The thick shadows enveloped her, and she disappeared into the sea of bamboo.
Xuan Sushang turned pale witnessing this.
But under the looming image of the Heavenly Lord and the siege of countless silk threads, she had already reached her limit.
"Brother Xingwang, I have temporarily sealed Lu Xichan. But just now…" Mo Rubin's voice, tinged with confusion, came.
"Haha, it just broke her spiritual defenses. Who would have thought the world-famous chief of Cezhen Hall would be so afraid of her master…" Li Fan responded with a wry smile.
"I see." The war was not over, and Mo Rubin did not linger on the matter.
"My remaining strength is fading fast. I may not have enough to seal Xuan Sushang and Shuo Feng…"
"It doesn't matter—they are doomed."
While they communicated briefly, the offensive continued relentlessly.
The three Dao Integration cultivators presided over the formation. Even with armor protecting her body, Xuan Sushang was as fragile as duckweed in the wind.
Crimson light shielded her mind, but the Heavenly Lord's gaze pressed continuously.
She reached the limits of endurance.
Xuan Sushang also realized that the shadow above her was not actually the image of the Dharma-transmitting Heavenly Venerable.
It was merely the most terrifying manifestation capable of immediately shocking her mind.
After all, helping the Tianxuan Mirror separate human clones violated the system established by the Heavenly Ancestors of Chuanfa.
Though not the deity of the Tianzun Dharmaxiang, the pressure on Xuan Sushang was immense.
Coupled with hallucinations from surrounding shadows and strange laughter, Xuan Sushang found it nearly impossible to resist.
The gray threads wrapping her body accumulated, slowing her thoughts and movements.
"Who is he?"
Before losing consciousness, countless confusing thoughts flashed through her mind.
The two were already bound, leaving no suspense for the next battle.
Shuo Feng's incarnation → Soul Transformation power had long been beyond his control.
Under the mental pressure of the four Dao Integration formations, he had fainted long ago.
After all remaining cultivators in Zhuhai Cave were suppressed, Li Fan looked at the two unconscious Dao Integration female cultivators before him.
Both were strikingly beautiful—Lu Xichan luxurious in demeanor, Xuan Sushang youthful and playful, as if her childishness had not vanished.
"Brother Xingwang, my power is about to dissipate. I leave this place to you."
The boundless shadow covering the bamboo sea coalesced into a blurry figure.
It looked at Li Fan and spoke slowly:
"If there is any news about the Xuantian Baojing clone, contact me immediately."
"The body it occupied has been completely destroyed. Next time we meet, bring the equipment with you."
"Same as last time. Hidden in the cave."
The voice faded along with the shadows.
"This battle went smoothly, and Mo Rubin's shadow covering the sky was indispensable."
Even without hostility, it carried a faint pressure. In a daze, Li Fan glimpsed the faces of the Heavenly Doctor and the Immortal of Immortal Ruins in the darkness.
"The Xuantian Sect… is indeed extraordinary."
Li Fan refocused on Xuan Sushang and the two cultivators.
"Envoy, evacuate now?" Daoist Baihua asked cautiously.
Li Fan pondered briefly, shaking his head: "You stay at the bamboo sea entrance to guard it. I want to gather information on the Xuantian Baojing clone on site."
The three followed orders and departed.
Li Fan took out two [True Lure Fruits].
"There are only these two left. It seems time to request more from the Five Elders Association."
He narrowed his eyes, slowly weaving a delicate deception.
After the real lure fruits emitted bursts of bright light, Li Fan fed them the two fruits.