104: Chapter 104 Illusionary Array: A Deadly Trap! Thunder Lock Breaks Through Nine Layers, Sword Waterfall Slams Down, Life Hangs by a Thread!

Behind the door was a straight corridor, about three zhang wide.

Luminous ore was embedded in the ceiling, illuminating the entire passage.

Both sides of the corridor were filled with broken swords.

The layout was identical to the sword path of the first trial, but several times larger in scale.

The broken swords were arranged in rows, extending from the entrance to the end of one's line of sight.

Several skeletons were scattered in the gaps of the sword array.

The bones were yellowed, some still maintaining the posture of curling up with their hands over their heads in death.

Ling Qingmeng stopped.

"The first trial was a deadlock, and now we've entered another sword array?"

You didn't rush to a conclusion.

You swept your gaze across the entire corridor, scrutinizing it.

Something was wrong.

The first trial was a choice between two paths, testing one's judgment.

The sword array in that trial was real, becoming denser the deeper one went.

But this level didn't even have any side paths.

It was just a dead end filled with a sword array.

A Nascent Soul expert setting up a secret realm wouldn't logically present two identical test questions in a row.

You crouched down and pulled out a thread from the Spider Web Array.

Channeling spiritual power, you shot the thread into the sword array.

Dozens of sword auras suddenly shot out from the broken swords, slicing through the thread.

You flicked your finger, retracting it.

It was completely undamaged.

There were no cut marks, and no residual Sword Intent.

If it were a real sword array, a Grade 4 sword aura would definitely leave traces of spiritual power on the cut.

But this thread was perfectly clean.

"An illusion array." You stood up.

Ling Qingmeng looked over.

"These sword auras were conjured by the Nascent Soul expert using divine sense."

"You can see them, hear them, and even feel the killing intent, but they don't harm the physical body."

You pointed to the skeletons on the ground.

"If your mental fortitude isn't strong enough and you force your way in, once your divine sense is thrown into chaos, you'll be finished here."

Ling Qingmeng took two pale cyan pills out of her storage bag.

"Truth-Seeing Pills."

You took one and swallowed it.

Cool medicinal power surged directly to your brow, clearing your divine sense.

"Let's go."

You stepped into the sword array first.

White light exploded in your vision.

Hundreds of sword auras shot out violently from both sides.

They wove into a pale, deadly net within the corridor.

The sound of air being torn was ear-piercing, and violent killing intent pressed down upon your head.

The skeletons on the ground rattled from the sword wind.

You didn't stop your pace.

Every sword aura that passed through your body had no physical sensation and caused no pain.

Ling Qingmeng followed behind.

With the protection of the Truth-Seeing Pill, the first ten zhang were walked very steadily.

By the middle section, the density of the sword array doubled.

The broken swords vibrated violently, emitting a sharp screeching sound.

The sword auras surged, filling the entire corridor.

Your vision was filled with blinding, pale light.

The ground beneath your feet was completely submerged by the sword radiance.

The powerful pressure of the divine sense pierced through the medicinal power, striking directly at your consciousness.

Your wrist tightened.

Ling Qingmeng gripped your wrist bone.

Your wrist bone ached.

You turned your head to look at her.

She stared fixedly at the sword radiance ahead, her face tense.

You turned your hand to grasp her palm, closing your fingers.

Your palm pressed against her cool fingertips.

The two of you walked side by side, forcing your way through the final stretch of the intense light zone.

The sword auras dissipated.

The metallic screeching faded away.

The light from the end of the corridor shone upon the two of you.

Ling Qingmeng let go of your hand, her expression normal, and brushed the bone dust off her cuffs.

"Without you, I would have had to endure this level by force."

She stepped forward.

"I don't have the patience to test it; I likely would have just unleashed lightning directly."

You didn't respond.

Being able to sit firmly as a prodigy of Fenglei Hall, she was naturally not stupid; it was just that she was accustomed to bulldozing through everything with lightning arts in her bones.

At the end of the corridor, the space opened up.

A great hall lay across the path ahead.

The ore on the ceiling illuminated the surroundings brightly.

On a white jade pedestal sat a black sword case.

The inscriptions on the surface of the sword case were dim, and purple-gold sword aura leaked from the gaps.

The Supreme Sword Bone within you hummed in response.

On the shelves on both sides of the hall were jade bottles, jade slips, and ores.

Ling Qingmeng examined the stone tiles in the hall.

"There are restrictions."

You nodded and stepped into the hall with your right foot.

Ripples appeared in the space at the center of the hall.

A grey-robed phantom gathered and formed out of thin air.

The phantom clutched a translucent longsword, and the pressure of the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment descended upon you.

There was no opening stance.

The sword light slashed directly at your face.

You channeled the First Rainbow Sword Intent into the jinhong sword and collided with it head-on.

Clang!

The webbing between your thumb and forefinger split open immediately.

The powerful recoil forced its way into your arm bone along the sword hilt.

You pushed off the stone tiles with both feet and retreated eight zhang, carving out two white marks.

The light screen of the Black Tortoise Heavy Light Shield flickered three times, barely dissipating the impact.

A heavy taste of rust rose in your mouth.

With a full four-layer difference in cultivation realm, this phantom's sword was ridiculously heavy.

The sound of thunder roared in your ears.

A purple lightning bolt struck past your shoulder.

Ling Qingmeng was in mid-air, her fingertips weaving lightning into a dense net.

"Thousand-Thread Thunder Net!"

Hundreds of fine purple lightning bolts turned into a large net, covering the phantom.

The phantom raised its sword, snapping most of the net threads.

"Thunder-Binding Lock!"

Four thick lightning chains tore through the air, locking onto the phantom's limbs and forcefully pinning it in place.

Purple light illuminated the hall, and the circulation of spiritual energy in the phantom's chest stalled briefly.

A flaw.

Phantom Raid.

Your figure vanished from where you stood.

Under the cover of the lightning, you appeared right in front of the phantom.

The Army-Breaking Explosive Killing Array activated, twelve gang patterns lit up, and golden light flooded into the jinhong sword.

You stabbed your sword into the stalled spiritual energy node in the phantom's chest.

You exerted force with your wrist and gave it a vicious twist.

You withdrew your sword.

Using Greased Soles, you retreated rapidly.

The phantom's spiritual energy node shattered, and the light on its body flickered unsteadily.

"Thunderstorm Stomp!"

Ling Qingmeng descended from the sky.

Violent thunder coiled around the soles of her boots as she stomped heavily onto the phantom's head.

The manic thunder struck directly through it, penetrating its entire body.

The thunderstorm surged.

The phantom shattered, dissolving into spots of light filling the sky.

Ling Qingmeng landed, her breathing heavy.

You shook the residual spiritual power off your sword blade and walked toward the center of the hall.

The humming of the Supreme Sword Bone grew stronger.

You reached out your hand.

Just as your fingertips touched the edge of the sword case.

Under the pull of the energy, a crisis descended directly upon your crown.

Light and shadow intertwined on the left and right sides of the hall.

On the left, a male cultivator phantom materialized.

On the right, a female cultivator phantom appeared.

Both phantoms drew their swords without warning.

Their swords crossed, emitting a piercing, resonant sound.

The pressure surged, directly crushing the previous ninth-layer phantom.

Two translucent sword radiances locked together in mid-air.

Turning into a sword waterfall several zhang wide.

The sword pressure crushed the airflow above your head on the spot.

It crashed down upon you.