Mo Tiange had her own considerations as to why she immediately used an Invisibility Talisman.
First of all, she was no longer the miserable little Aura Refining cultivator she was before. She had a school and a master, so a mere Invisibility Talisman wasn't something she felt distressed about.
Secondly, although pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger was an extremely effective move, there was no need for it if one was strong enough.
There were a total of five groups of people here, so it would be very good if these three Bixuan Court female disciples didn't drag them down. In terms of fighting strength, Mo Tiange didn't care at all.
The two male cultivators, Lu and Wang, both had relatively high cultivation levels and weren't weak. If they joined forces, Mo Tiange would have a hard time dealing with them. However, the two of them weren't united.
The Yao couple had great teamwork, but their cultivations were a little low.
Daoist Fangzheng's cultivation level was relatively high, and he was also strong in fights of magical powers. However, he didn't have many treasures, so Mo Tiange believed it wouldn't be difficult for her to deal with him if she went all out.
That being the case, she might as well show her strength. Others might not know, but Daoist Fangzheng was a smart man. Not only would he revere her, but he would also sincerely regard her as his companion.
In this illusory array, if there was no one to warn him, he would easily fall into the trap. Having an ally was better than being alone.
After giving Daoist Fangzheng an Invisibility Talisman, she casually chatted with him for a while then found a corner and sat cross-legged to meditate.
Because of that illusion just now, the two cultivators Lu and Wang couldn't be bothered to curry favor with Yun Hanyan anymore. Instead, they hid to the side and whispered to each other, seemingly discussing Mo Tiange's real identity.
She didn't care what these people thought of her. After they left this valley, they would go their separate ways. Who would know who was who?
Just like that, the night passed without any danger. There were several kinds of illusions in the middle. Fortunately, they reminded each other, so nothing serious happened.
The sky was bright and birds were chirping. The first ray of morning sunlight finally shone into the valley.
The valley was surrounded by steep cliffs, and the sun shone in at nine o'clock.
The six people present were all Foundation Building cultivators, so they didn't need to deliberately rest. It was just that after a night of fright, Yun and Liu were not in good spirits.
Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng glanced at each other. They both saw helplessness in each other's eyes.
These female cultivators were really unable to accomplish anything but were good at spoiling things!
He wanted to leave them behind, but he was afraid that it would affect him.
Even after the sky brightened, there were still no signs of activity. The two people, Wang and Lu, couldn't sit still anymore. After whispering to each other for a while, they walked towards Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng together. It hadn't even been a day since they were trapped inside the formation, but they already formed a small group.
Yun, Liu, Lu, and Wang were from the same cultivation group, so even if they had any conflicts, they were still together. Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng were both single people, and their habits were also quite similar, so they were naturally closer to each other.
"Fellow Daoists." The one speaking was the cultivator surnamed Lu.
Mo Tiange and Daoist Fangzheng opened their eyes and stared at them.
Lu and Wang also sat down cross-legged in front of them and said, "Fellow Daoists, we can't go on like this. High-level Illusory Formations usually consume the energy of those who enter the formation. The longer we stay here, the more disadvantageous it will be for us. Who knows, one day, we might run out of blood essence."
Daoist Fangzheng was taken aback. "Consume blood essence?"
The cultivator surnamed Wang answered, "Correct. We two martial brothers are disciples of Guigu School. Our Guigu School originated from Tianliang School. Now that Tianliang School has long been exterminated, our Guigu School is definitely the strongest in the field of formations."
It was only now that these two cultivators revealed their sect's inheritance.
Mo Tiange had indeed heard of Guigu School. Although what the cultivator surnamed Wang said was a bit exaggerated, it wasn't far from the truth. There weren't any big cultivation groups in the Celestial Pole that were proficient in formations. There were only several medium-sized cultivation groups that were proficient in formations, and Guigu School could be considered one of the best among them.
However —
The corners of Mo Tiange's mouth curved into a faint smile.
What the two people said was a bit too shocking. She had studied Illusory Formations before, and there was indeed a saying about consuming blood essence, but that only happened when one was bewitched.
Inside an Illusory Formation, if one was bewitched by the illusion, their blood essence would be absorbed by the formation. However, if one's mind was firm, they wouldn't be affected too much.
Upon seeing her expression, the two people surnamed Lu and Wang felt a bit restless. They didn't know what she meant, so they glanced at each other. The cultivator surnamed Lu then said with a smile, "Little Brother is Lu Xiangxin, and this is my Junior Martial Brother, Wang Xiangzhi. May I know how to address you two?"
She didn't know whether Daoist Fangzheng had greeted them or not, but the mechanism was activated the moment Mo Tiange entered the hall of the five-colored Five Elements Platform. She only heard their surnames from Shang Ruwan.
"My Daoist name is Fangzheng." Daoist Fangzheng nodded at the two people.
Mo Tiange then said, "Ye Xiaotian."
The two people surnamed Lu and Wang were only surprised for a moment, but they didn't care too much about why her name sounded different from last night.
The four of them greeted each other again. Lu Xiangxin then said, "Fellow Daoists, in short, if we stay in this Illusory Formation for another day, we'll suffer some injuries. It'd be better for us to leave as soon as possible."
Mo Tiange chuckled. "We've always wanted to leave, but we just couldn't find the direction.
Since Fellow Daoists said this, could it be that you've found a way? "
"This …" Lu Xiangxin hesitated for a moment.
Wang Xiangzhi took over the conversation. "Miss Ye, to be honest, this formation is indeed brilliant. We two martial brothers also can't figure it out, but we can't just sit and do nothing, can we?"
Daoist Fangzheng glanced at Mo Tiange's expression then asked, "Then what should we do in your opinion?"
Upon hearing Daoist Fangzheng's tone of relief, Lu Xiangxin's spirits were lifted. "According to our research on formations, no matter how brilliant a formation is, it's impossible for it to be flawless. This valley isn't big, but it's very complicated. If we look around a bit, we'll definitely be able to find it."
"You're right …" Mo Tiange cast a glance at the two people surnamed Yun and Liu. "There are six of us. Should we split up and look?"
The two people surnamed Lu and Wang noticed her meaningful glance. They were both smart people, so how could they not understand what she meant? They immediately became somewhat hesitant. "This …"
Mo Tiange put on a fake smile. "Fellow Daoists, we can't just eat and not work!"
Lu Xiangxin was fine, but Wang Xiangzhi's face instantly flushed upon hearing what she said.
Mo Tiange glanced at the two people surnamed Yun and Liu, meaning to ask whether they would be responsible for these two people. The two people surnamed Lu and Wang hesitated. After all, although they were trying to please them, their lives were still a bit more important.
Mo Tiange mocked them for wanting to take advantage of them but not wanting to take responsibility.
Wang Xiangzhi was thin-skinned. Seeing as Mo Tiange was also a beautiful woman, mocking him to his face inevitably made him lose face.
For a moment, the situation became awkward. Only the two people surnamed Yun and Liu were far away, so they didn't notice anything.
"Ahem!"
Daoist Fangzheng coughed then said, "Fellow Daoists, I'll tell you the truth. I'm already being polite by not taking their lives. I don't want to work for other people!"
Daoist Fangzheng was an individual cultivator. The world of individual cultivators was much crueler than that of cultivation group disciples.
Generally speaking, people who didn't show enough strength wouldn't be accepted if they went on an adventure together. Right now, he was already being polite by not making things difficult for these two Bixuan Court female cultivators. After all, this matter wasn't the same as agreeing to go on an adventure. The nine of them were inadvertently tied together.
Since Daoist Fangzheng already said this much, the two people surnamed Lu and Wang had nothing else to say. They glanced at each other then Lu Xiangxin said, "Alright, the four of us will continue to search. As for the others … we won't care about them.
Of course, we'll occupy the Five Elements Platforms separately, so it'd be best for us to take our lives into consideration. "
What he said gained the approval of the other three people.
After a brief discussion, Lu Xiangxin told the two people surnamed Yun and Liu.
Mo Tiange wasn't interested in what they had to say. She only saw from afar that Yun Hanyan lowered her head and wiped her tears as soon as she heard what Lu Xiangxin said. It was only after Lu Xiangxin comforted her that he returned with a bitter smile.
Mo Tiange didn't feel like caring about other people's business, and Daoist Fangzheng naturally didn't care about this kind of youngsters' pestering. The four of them were silent the whole way. They came down from the altar and slowly searched.
Not too far from the altar, Wang Xiangzhi suddenly called out.
Although the four of them were together, they were searching separately. At that moment, the other three people all raised their heads and looked at him.
Wang Xiangzhi's expression was heavy as he beckoned them over.
The three of them flew towards him.
Once they arrived at Wang Xiangzhi's location, Mo Tiange's expression immediately darkened.
It was Yan Ruoshu. Yan Ruoshu was currently lying on a Five Elements Platform. Her complexion was deathly pale and she wasn't breathing at all.
Mo Tiange crouched down and tried to inject her spiritual aura into Yan Ruoshu's body, but it was to no avail.
She stood up and shook her head. "There's no saving her."
They were trapped inside this Illusory Formation. Although they couldn't leave, they weren't in any danger. Now that someone died, the four of them had grave expressions on their faces.
Although this formation was an Illusory Formation, it could still kill people.
Among the four of them, Mo Tiange was the only woman, so she was naturally in charge of examining the corpse.
There weren't any injuries on Yan Ruoshu's body. Her clothes were intact and there were no signs of a struggle. It was as if she suddenly died here.
Mo Tiange examined her carefully. In the end, she discovered that Yan Ruoshu's posture was a bit strange. Her hand was stretched to one side as if she wanted to grab something.
"How is it?" Wang Xiangzhi asked anxiously.
Mo Tiange didn't answer. She once again used her spiritual aura to strike the top of Yan Ruoshu's head.
After a person died, their meridians became rigid and spiritual aura couldn't be injected into them. However, the top of the head was a shortcut to the dantian, so spiritual aura could still be injected into it.
Several breaths later, Mo Tiange let go of her hand and stood up with a grave expression.
"Fellow Daoist Ye, how is it?" Daoist Fangzheng also asked with concern.
Mo Tiange sighed and said, "All of her blood essence was exhausted. Apparently, she was blinded by the illusion and couldn't struggle free in the end."
Judging from Yan Ruoshu's posture, she was obviously trying to grab something, but there was nothing in front of her. That thing should be her illusion. Once she died, the illusion naturally disappeared.
"…" The other three people were once again silent.
Lu Xiangxin and Wang Xiangzhi glanced at each other. Both of them saw a hint of astonishment in each other's eyes.
They previously said they would die from exhaustion of their blood essence just to scare these two people. They never expected that such a thing would actually happen; how could they not panic?
Mo Tiange muttered to herself for a while then said, "Fellow Daoist, it seems Fellow Daoist Yan's death happened last night, but we didn't feel anything at all …"
Daoist Fangzheng was dumbfounded. "Fellow Daoist, are you saying our lives won't be affected by other people?"
"That's not necessarily the case."
Mo Tiange took out an empty Qiankun Bag then waved her hand to put Yan Ruoshu's corpse away. "After all, the three of them were on the same stone platform. Maybe it's enough as long as one of them is alive."
Seeing her putting Yan Ruoshu's corpse away made the other three people rather envious.
Of course, it wasn't because they had strange hobbies; they were just envious of the things on Yan Ruoshu's body.
However, they also didn't dare to offend Mo Tiange because of this. She didn't directly take the Qiankun Bag; she put the corpse away instead, most likely to give it to the other two female cultivators.
"However, this already proves that if we're confused by the illusion, it's indeed possible that we'll die from exhaustion of our blood essence …"
The three people once again fell into silence.
"Alright, let's not waste time here. Let's keep looking."
Daoist Fangzheng nodded. "We … should be more careful. Let's search in pairs."
Although they didn't split up, they searched separately. Now, they didn't dare to split up anymore. They formed a team of two and slowly searched along the way. The atmosphere was depressing.
Perhaps it was lucky or unlucky, but right after they searched that intersection, they suddenly heard a cry of alarm.
The four of them looked at each other to make sure it wasn't an illusion then they flew towards the source of the sound.
They didn't fly far before Mo Tiange's sharp eyes saw Shang Ruwan's figure on a Five Elements Platform.
She was delighted, but she was immediately alarmed.
That was indeed Shang Ruwan, but there was another person not far from her!
"Ah!"
Wang Xiangzhi cried out in surprise. He said in astonishment, "That's … That's Fellow Daoist Yao, but why … why …"
Mo Tiange also frowned deeply.
Judging from his figure, that was indeed Yao Zixiu. But the strange thing was, his cultivation level was actually in the Core Formation realm!
How was that possible?!
She couldn't rule out the possibility that there were some fated chances inside this Illusory Formation, but there was no way it could allow a cultivator to directly jump from the early stage of the Foundation Building realm to the Core Formation realm!
Foundation Building cultivators' dantians and meridians could only hold so much spiritual aura, but the spiritual aura of a Core Formation realm cultivator would increase by a thousand times, and their dantians and meridians would need to be reshaped.
Even if they had enough spiritual aura to allow a cultivator to directly jump from the early stage of the Foundation Building realm to the Core Formation realm, it would still take them one to three years to remold their bodies!
Could it be an illusion?
But judging from Shang Ruwan's expression, it didn't seem like it …
The other three people were hesitant about whether they should approach her or not. After all, the spiritual aura pressure of a Core Formation cultivator was real, and they didn't dare to clash with a Core Formation cultivator.
At that moment, Mo Tiange was already flying towards Shang Ruwan.
"Fellow Daoist Ye!" Daoist Fangzheng called out but didn't stop her. He helplessly continued to hesitate.
When he turned around, he saw that Lu Xiangxin and Wang Xiangzhi both had restless expressions on their faces.
Daoist Fangzheng knew the situation wasn't good, so he hastily said, "Fellow Daoists, do you really believe there's a way to allow someone to directly jump from the early stage of the Foundation Building realm to the Core Formation realm?"
Lu Xiangxin and Wang Xiangzhi glanced at each other then smiled perfunctorily. "How could we? We're just … curious!
Aren't you curious? "
"This …" Daoist Fangzheng's gaze wavered. How could he not be curious?
As an individual cultivator, how much effort did it take for him to cultivate to the middle stage of the Foundation Building realm?
He didn't have much time left in his lifespan, so he was eager to find fated chances to advance to the late stage and advance to the Core Formation realm. However …
"Fellow Daoists, you'd better calm down!
I'm curious, but how could there be such a shortcut in this world?
Yesterday, we were almost deceived by that White Jade Snow Lotus. Do you two still remember? "
What he said stunned the two of them, but they soon calmed down a bit.
Daoist Fangzheng said, "There's no harm in watching. If there's anything wrong, it won't be too late to leave."
On the other side, Mo Tiange flew to Shang Ruwan's side then called out softly, "Big Sister Shang, are you alright?"
Shang Ruwan was so distracted that she actually didn't notice someone was coming. Now that she saw Mo Tiange, she immediately grabbed Mo Tiange's hand and said with a panicked expression, "Little Sister Ye, I …"
"Big Sister, don't panic."
Seeing that Shang Ruwan couldn't even speak properly, Mo Tiange hastily comforted her. "Tell me what happened first.
Was that … your husband? "
Shang Ruwan nodded absent-mindedly. After taking a deep breath, she was finally able to speak smoothly. "Yes, that was Big Brother Xiu."
"What happened to you in the end?
We looked for you for a whole day yesterday, but we couldn't find you. Why did Fellow Daoist Yao suddenly advance to the Core Formation realm? "
Shang Ruwan was sitting on the stone platform. Her forehead and cheeks were covered in sweat, but what Mo Tiange said astonished her. "Yesterday?
Little Sister Ye, when did we arrive here? "
Mo Tiange wrinkled her brows slightly. "Yesterday."
"Yesterday …" Shang Ruwan muttered to herself. Gradually, fear appeared on her face. "No, Big Brother Xiu and I … we've been living here for three years!"
Mo Tiange was also terrified when she heard what he said.
Three years!
The six of them had indeed only spent one night together, but why did Shang Ruwan feel like three years had passed?
"Big Sister Shang, calm down. Tell me slowly — what happened to you?"
Under Mo Tiange's reassurance, Shang Ruwan finally calmed down a bit. She said slowly, "After the Five Elements Platforms were activated, Big Brother Xiu and I came here.
We discovered that this place was full of spiritual aura and was very suitable for cultivation. It was also as beautiful as a fairyland and there was no one to disturb us. Although we couldn't go out, this place was no different from a paradise, so I suggested we stay here … "
"At first, I felt very happy. There was no one to disturb us, we didn't need to wander around, and we didn't need to hide from other people … But Big Brother Xiu became more and more irritable. He said he'd reached a bottleneck in his cultivation. Although this place was full of spiritual aura, it wasn't helpful to his cultivation. He said he wanted to enter Closed Door Meditation because he wanted to become stronger … We had an argument. In a fit of anger, I ran out, but when I came back, I saw …" Shang Ruwan grabbed Mo Tiange's sleeve. Her tears started to fall. "Little Sister Ye, Big Brother Xiu must've been possessed by the devil. No, this really isn't right … Look at him …"
Mo Tiange raised her head and stared at Yao Zixiu, who wasn't too far from her.
Yao Zixiu seemed to be cultivating some kind of secret technique. He was flying in midair, and his whole body was wrapped in a black substance. Sounds of wind and thunder could be faintly heard inside …
One day, three years.
Mo Tiange could roughly guess what happened.
This life is eternal. She finally guessed a little about the meaning of the words "this life is eternal."
This life is eternal, and eternity is only one day.
This was the most frightening aspect of this Illusory Formation!
Shang Ruwan always fantasized about peaceful days. This place was like a fairyland, which triggered this thought in her. Therefore, in the beginning, they were living in Shang Ruwan's fantasy.
The two of them lived without anyone to disturb them, which was why they couldn't find each other.
However, although it was only three years, the actual time wasn't like that, which was why he didn't make any progress in his cultivation.
Shang Ruwan didn't care about it, but Yao Zixiu was unwilling, which led to this unforeseen event.
But what was going on with Yao Zixiu?
Mo Tiange couldn't figure this out.
She herself obtained a great fated chance, whether it was the Deification great ancestor or the Virtual Sky World.
But she didn't believe there was any fated chance in this world that could allow someone to advance from the early stage of the Foundation Building realm to the Core Formation realm overnight!
"Big Sister Shang," after a long time, Mo Tiange said slowly, "I don't think your husband has been possessed by the devil."