The Wangyue City’s Wulei Sect’s manager Liao, as mentioned by Sha Hao, was none other than Yuan Ming in disguise.

At this moment, he was wandering around Sha Hao’s cave dwelling, seemingly in search of the entrance. Suddenly, his face showed a look of shock, his figure blurred slightly, and he transformed into a phantom, shooting forward.

No sooner had he dashed out than a black sword shadow shot out from nowhere, nailing the spot where he had just stood—a broad-bladed short sword.

The fierce sword qi burst forth explosively, and the ground collapsed with a thunderous crash, leaving a pit about ten feet across and thirty feet deep.

Sha Hao’s figure flickered into view near the pit, a cold smirk on his face. His spiritual consciousness had already locked onto Yuan Ming’s form. He muttered an incantation, seemingly casting some spell.

Yuan Ming had just darted out more than thirty feet when he paused slightly, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes, but he quickly recovered, activating his white jade belt to increase his speed and continue fleeing into the distance.

“Eh!” Sha Hao’s face showed surprise. The man before him had suddenly exhibited the aura of the Foundation Establishment stage and had easily broken through his illusion—a feat unprecedented in his past experiences.

And now, the intruder was nearing his cave dwelling—he could not be allowed to linger!

Sha Hao crushed a rune talisman, and a layer of cyan light immediately enveloped him, as he chased after Yuan Ming.

Yuan Ming wasn’t moving very fast, and each time Sha Hao felt he was about to catch up, Yuan Ming would suddenly accelerate or use other tactics to widen the gap, leaving Sha Hao grinding his teeth in frustration.

The two of them, one chasing and the other fleeing, soon arrived in a small mountain valley.

Sha Hao saw Yuan Ming heading towards a pond not far ahead. The pond water was clear to the bottom, and the shore was covered with pebbles. The environment was quite serene. However, he felt a subtle threat in this place and abruptly stopped his advance.

With such a distance, to still sense danger, Sha Hao’s combat instincts were indeed formidable. Yuan Ming, noticing the situation behind him, inwardly sighed. While communicating with Hua Zhi through his mind, he summoned the Stealing Heaven Cauldron, holding it in his palm, and quickly lit two sticks of spiritual incense within it—the Mist Incense and the newly made Seven Steps Down.

As Yuan Ming sprinted, wisps of white mist began to spread into the air, filling the valley and blending with the atmosphere.

Sha Hao, seeing this, showed a wary expression and turned to flee back. However, the ground at his feet suddenly exploded, and thick purple-black vines, like pythons, lunged at him, blocking all possible escape routes.

Deep underground, Hua Zhi lay in wait, draped in Yuan Ming’s gray cloak, concealing all traces of its presence.

“Ha Gong, it’s you!” Sha Hao recognized the purple-black vines and understood everything.

Yet, he didn’t panic. A talisman he had been clutching was slapped onto his body, and a thick yellow light shield appeared around him. The purple-black vines struck the shield and were repelled.

Sha Hao channeled his spiritual consciousness towards the ground, ready to subdue Hua Zhi with another illusion. However, the surrounding mist had grown denser, an invisible force pervading it, thick and unyielding. His spiritual consciousness couldn’t leave his body.

A sinking feeling hit Sha Hao’s heart, and he immediately summoned a silver orb. Four runes on the orb were activated, emitting a dazzling silver light that swept rapidly around his body. The black broad-bladed short sword was also summoned, revolving around him, slashing out more than a dozen fierce sword qi strikes at the surrounding vines.

Though Hua Zhi’s vines were tough, under the combined assault of the silver orb and the black short sword, they were cut down in the blink of an eye, leaving the area clear of vines.

Sha Hao knew the formidable skills of this Ha Gong and that he might have fallen into a trap. Not daring to linger, he cleared the vines and immediately flew back towards his cave dwelling.

At that moment, Vajra’s figure emerged from the mist ahead, his fists striking towards Sha Hao’s chest with the speed of thunder, rippling the air with visible waves.

Caught off guard, Sha Hao couldn’t summon his defensive artifact in time and had to rely on the silver orb and the black short sword to shield himself, his body suddenly shining with dazzling golden light.

With a loud “bang,” the silver orb and the black short sword were sent flying, the yellow light shield shattered, and an overwhelming force struck. Sha Hao was sent flying, crashing to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Before Sha Hao could rise, the ground split open again, and a dozen thick vines burst forth, wrapping tightly around his body, binding him like a rice dumpling.

Yuan Ming had already flown to the edge of the pond, activating the Thousand Knot Water Rope Array. Twenty or thirty translucent water ropes quickly solidified, shooting towards Sha Hao like arrows.

With Sha Hao bound by Hua Zhi’s vines, he couldn’t dodge the water ropes and was soon tightly bound, completely immobilized.

Vajra leaped high, taking out a staff, which glowed with a surge of yellow light, and struck towards Sha Hao’s head.

“Stinking monkey, don’t even think about stealing the credit!” Hua Zhi roared from underground, casting the Green Sword Technique. The tips of the vines binding Sha Hao transformed into green wooden swords, stabbing towards various parts of his body.

Faced with such peril, Sha Hao showed no sign of panic. A layer of blue light appeared on his arms, twisting like flexible snakes, and he broke free from the restraints of the vines and water ropes. His palms opened, revealing a flicker of blood light.

Hua Zhi, lurking underground, was dazzled. Suddenly, an endless sea of fire enveloped it, freezing all its vines in place.

Vajra, too, fell into the illusion, his body stiffening, and he collapsed to the ground with a “thud.”

From the moment Sha Hao sensed something amiss and stopped the chase, to the moment he subdued Hua Zhi and Vajra, only a few breaths had passed.

Behind a nearby boulder, a black crow’s head peeked out.

Under the cover of the Mist Incense, Sha Hao couldn’t spread his spiritual consciousness. How he cast the illusion was a mystery to Yuan Ming, who showed a look of astonishment. Then, through the crow’s vision, he spotted the anomaly.

In the palms of Sha Hao’s hands, two faint blood-colored ripples shot out, extremely subtle and invisible from a distance.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming took out an Earth Escape Talisman and disappeared into the ground.

After subduing Vajra and Hua Zhi with his illusion, Sha Hao quickly chanted a spell, a layer of blue light appearing on his body as he broke free from the vines and water ropes.

At the same time, two blood bats flew out from his sleeves, circling nearby as if on alert.

Sha Hao’s landing was noticeably staggered, a hint of green appearing on his face, but he forcefully swallowed a blood-red elixir and raised a hand towards his cave dwelling, a complex incantation resounding from his mouth.

Inside Sha Hao’s cave dwelling, the black strange sword within the array suddenly surged with sword qi, violently breaking free from the array’s constraints and shooting outwards.

The ground in front of the cave dwelling flashed with yellow light, and a yellow giant python, over thirty feet long, emerged. Its body was covered with palm-sized yellow scales, and several thick yellow bone spurs grew on its forehead and neck, making it look extremely ferocious.

The yellow python twisted its body rapidly, also heading towards where Sha Hao was.

The blood-red elixir Sha Hao had taken was unknown, but a surge of blood color flushed his face, dispelling much of the green.

He breathed a sigh of relief and made a hand gesture.

The silver orb flew back, the four runes inside lighting up, and a dazzling silver light shot out, striking Vajra’s head.

Having previously fought with Ha Gong and failed to kill the white ape after trapping it with an illusion, suffering for it, he would not make the same mistake again.

Just then, a golden shadow flashed, and a golden shield appeared in front of Vajra.

With a loud “clang,” the sound was ear-piercingly loud, echoing in all directions.

The Dragon Scale Shield’s surface flashed with golden light, showing a significant dent, but it managed to block the silver light.

A green light shone from underground, enveloping Vajra and the Dragon Scale Shield, and both disappeared in a flash—it was Yuan Ming who had been lurking there, saving Vajra at the critical moment.

Sha Hao’s illusion was tricky, and he dared not linger. He immediately fled towards where Hua Zhi was.

Seeing this, Sha Hao felt not dismay but elation. He directed the two blood bats towards the ground and opened his mouth as if to spew something. Suddenly, two peals of thunder rang out above, and two purple lightning bolts tore through the mist, striking at the blood bats.

Blood bats, being soul cultivation illusion techniques of Sha Hao, were extremely wary of lightning. Sha Hao quickly maneuvered the bats to dodge the purple lightning.

He looked up to the sky and saw the shadow of a black winged bird flitting through the mist, wrapped in purple lightning, moving at an incredible speed.

Sha Hao knew it was Yuan Ming’s spiritual bird and snorted coldly, whistling sharply. A white eagle swooped down from the sky nearby, attacking the thunderous winged bird.

Sha Hao silently channeled his soul power, his brow flashing with blood light, and eight blood bats flew out, all opening their mouths to spray towards Yuan Ming’s location.

A vast wave of blood-colored ripples surged out, flooding into the ground.

With the winged bird’s surprise attack buying time, Yuan Ming was about to reach Hua Zhi. Just as he was about to arrive, he collided with the blood-colored ripples spewed by the blood bats.

At that moment, Yuan Ming’s vision blurred, and he found himself in a fiery red world.

Indeed, once touched by the blood-colored ripples, one would fall into an illusion. Unlike the last illusion, in this one, Yuan Ming lost his freedom, bound to a ten-foot-high cross, his limbs locked in chains, unable to move. Tentacle-like flames swept in from all directions, licking at his body.

Yuan Ming’s skin was instantly burned, turning charred and sending waves of bone-deep pain, eroding his will, his soul power rapidly weakening.

Yuan Ming knew he had to escape the illusion quickly, or his soul would suffer greatly. With a thought, a black shadow suspended in his sea of consciousness suddenly pounced towards his soul—a soul crow.

He planned to use the Soul Collision technique on himself.

Among the books he had purchased, besides explaining the principles and methods of casting illusions, there were also some tips for breaking them.

Once trapped in an illusion, all five senses were under the control of the caster. To break free, one needed to apply sufficient stimulation to oneself.

Yuan Ming had previously bitten his tongue and used the piercing pain to break free from Sha Hao’s illusion, which was one method.

However, physical stimulation was not very effective in breaking illusions and could only counteract common illusions. Against powerful illusions, it was ineffective, and a more intense influence was needed, such as a stimulus targeting the soul.

And the only method he had at the moment to shake his soul was the Soul Collision technique.