Manager Liao of the Five Thunders Pavilion in Wangyue City, mentioned by Sha Hao, was none other than Yuan Ming in disguise.

At this time, he was wandering around the entrance of Sha Hao's Cave Mansion, looking as if he was searching for the entrance when suddenly, his face showed a look of alarm, and his figure blurred slightly, transforming into an illusion as he shot forward.

The moment Yuan Ming darted out, a black Sword Shadow, resembling a Wide-blade Short Sword, shot out from nowhere and embedded itself in the spot where he had been standing just a moment before.

The fierce Sword Qi suddenly erupted, and the ground collapsed with a loud bang, creating a pit a zhang in diameter and three zhang deep.

Sha Hao's figure flashed near the deep pit as he sneered slightly, having already locked onto Yuan Ming with his Divine Sense. He muttered under his breath as if casting some Magic.

Yuan Ming had barely burst forth by a dozen zhang when his figure slightly staggered, a trace of confusion crossed his eyes, but it immediately returned to normal. He activated his White Jade Belt to increase his speed and continued to escape into the distance.

"Eh!" Sha Hao showed a look of surprise. The presence of the man in front of him had suddenly changed to that of the Foundation Establishment Stage, and he had easily broken through his own Illusion Technique—an unprecedented feat.

And the man had already gotten near his Cave Mansion, so he absolutely could not be left alive!

Sha Hao took out a talisman and crushed it, and a layer of blue light suddenly surrounded him, chasing after Yuan Ming at high speed.

Yuan Ming was not particularly fast, and each time when Sha Hao felt he was about to catch up, Yuan Ming would increase his speed or use some other method to widen the gap, which left Sha Hao grinding his teeth in frustration.

The two of them continued their chase and flight and soon came to a small mountain valley.

Sha Hao saw Yuan Ming heading towards a pond not far ahead. The pond water was clear, and the shores were covered with eggstones. It was an exceptionally serene environment. Nonetheless, he vaguely felt threatened by this place and suddenly stopped in his tracks,

Being able to sense danger from such a distance, Sha Hao's combat instincts were indeed powerful. Yuan Ming, noticing the situation behind him, sighed in his heart. While mentally communicating with Hua Zhi, he called out the Stealing Heaven Tripod, held it in his palm, and quickly lit two sticks of Spirit Incense inside—the Fog Incense and the newly made Seven-step Immovable.

As Yuan Ming sped along, wisps of white mist began lightly diffusing into the valley, blending into the air.

Upon seeing this, Sha Hao's face showed alertness. He turned and leaped back, but the ground beneath his feet suddenly exploded, and thick Purple-black Vines, like giant pythons, lunged at him, blocking every possible escape route.

Several zhang below the surface, Hua Zhi lay in ambush, draped in Yuan Ming's gray cloak, masking all its scents.

"Hagon, it's you!" Sha Hao recognized the Purple-black Vines and instantly understood everything.

He, however, did not panic; the talisman he had been holding in his hand was now slapped onto his body, and a thick yellow light shield appeared around him. The Purple-black Vines struck the yellow light shield and were vibrated back.

Sha Hao boosted his Divine Sense to probe beneath the ground, preparing to subdue Hua Zhi with an Illusion Technique once more. However, the surrounding mist had become thicker, and an invisible force filled it, making it dense and continuous, so that his Divine Sense could not extend outward.

Sha Hao felt a sinking feeling in his heart and quickly brought out the silver sphere. As soon as the four runes on the sphere were activated, it emitted a dazzling silver light and swiftly swept around his body. The black Wide-blade Short Sword he wielded spun around him, slashing out over a dozen fierce Sword Qi, aiming at the surrounding vines.

Though Hua Zhi's vines were tough, they were sliced through in the blink of an eye under the simultaneous attacks of the silver sphere and Short Sword, clearing away all the vines.

Knowing that Hagon was a formidable opponent and fearing that he might have fallen into a trap, Sha Hao did not dare to linger after clearing the vines, and immediately flew back towards his Cave Mansion.

At that moment, the figure of Vajra flashed out from the hazy mist ahead, his fists striking towards Sha Hao's chest with a speed like thunder, rippling the air with visible waves.

Taken by surprise, Sha Hao had no time to bring out his Defensive Magical Artifact and could only drive the silver sphere and black Short Sword in front of him while his body lit up with a bright Golden Light.

With a 'bang', the silver sphere and black Short Sword were sent flying far away, the yellow light shield shattered, and a mighty force like a landslide swept over him. Sha Hao's body was hurled through the air and smashed heavily into the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Without waiting for Sha Hao to leap up, the ground nearby cracked again, and over a dozen thick vines burst forth from the earth, winding tightly around his body and wrapping him up like a zongzi.

By this time, Yuan Ming had flitted to the side of the pond, activating the Thousand-Knot Water Rope Array. Two or three dozen transparent Water Ropes quickly condensed and shot towards Sha Hao like arrows.

Trapped by Hua Zhi's Vines, Sha Hao had no way to dodge the Water Ropes and was bound tightly by them, completely immobilized.

Vajra leaped into the air and took out the Earth Burying Mallet. The Mallet's yellow light surged, aiming for Sha Hao's head.

"You stinking monkey, don't think of stealing the credit!" Hua Zhi roared from beneath the earth, displaying its Green Sword Skill. The tips of the Vines holding Sha Hao turned into green wooden swords, stabbing towards various parts of Sha Hao's body.

Despite facing such peril, Sha Hao showed no sign of panic. His arms suddenly glowed with a blue light and with a snake-like twist, he wriggled free from the Vines and Water Rope. He opened his palms simultaneously, with a hint of Blood Light flickering within.

Hua Zhi, lurking beneath the ground, saw the scenery change abruptly as an Endless sea of Fire enveloped it, immobilizing all its Vines as if by an immobilization spell.

Vajra was also instantly trapped in an illusion, becoming rigid, and his leaping body slumped, falling to the ground with a 'thud'.

From the moment Sha Hao noticed something amiss and stopped the chase, to quickly subduing Hua Zhi and Vajra, only a few breaths of time had passed.

Behind a nearby large rock, a black Soul Crow's head peeked out.

With the Fog Incense concealing him, Sha Hao should not have been able to extend his Divine Sense. Yuan Ming wore a look of astonishment as he recognized something was amiss through the sight of the Soul Crow.

In the palms of Sha Hao's hands, two faint blood-colored patterns emerged, extremely fine, and almost invisible from a distance.

Upon seeing this, Yuan Ming flipped his hand and took out an Earth Tunneling Talisman, and his figure disappeared into the ground.

After Sha Hao used an Illusion Technique to trap Vajra and Hua Zhi, he quickly chanted a spell and a layer of blue light appeared on his body, which he twisted to break free from the vines and Water Rope.

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

Sha Hao's footsteps as he landed were noticeably staggered, and a trace of green appeared on his face. He forced himself to keep going, took out a blood-red elixir, swallowed it, and raised a hand to summon something from the direction of his Cave Mansion, while an obscure spell could be heard from his mouth.

Inside Sha Hao's Cave Mansion, the Black Strange Sword within the array burst with Sword Qi, suddenly breaking free from the Array's constraint, and shot outwards at high speed.

The ground in front of the Cave Mansion flashed with a yellow glow, and a yellow giant python emerged; it was over a dozen zhang long, covered with palm-sized yellow scales, and had several thick yellow bone spurs growing on its forehead and neck, making it look extremely ferocious.

The yellow python twisted its body, quickly wriggling towards the direction of Sha Hao.

...

Whatever the blood-red elixir Sha Hao ingested was, it caused a surge of blood-colored energy to spread across his face, dispelling much of the green.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief and formed a hand seal with his right hand.

The silver sphere shot back towards him; the four runes inside it lit up, and a dazzling silver light burst out, aiming viciously at the head of Vajra.

Previously, when he fought against Hagon, he trapped this White Ape with an Illusion Technique but did not kill it in time, which backfired on him. This time, he would not repeat the mistake.

At that moment, a Golden Shadow flashed by, and a golden shield appeared in front of Vajra.

A harsh, ear-piercing sound of a tremendous collision, "clang", echoed in all directions.

The Dragon Scale Shield's surface flickered with Golden Light, and the face of the shield showed a distinct dent, but it managed to block the silver light.

A burst of green light emerged from the ground, enveloping Vajra and the Dragon Scale Shield, and with a flicker, both disappeared, revealed to be Yuan Ming who had been lurking underground to save Vajra in the nick of time.

Sha Hao, wary of Yuan Ming's mystifying Illusion Technique, did not dare to hesitate and immediately moved towards Hua Zhi's location.

Seeing this, Sha Hao was not alarmed but rather seemed pleased, directing the two Blood Bats toward the ground; he opened his mouth as if to spit out something, but at that moment, two rumbles of thunder sounded overhead, and two bolts of Purple Thunder tore through the fog and struck towards the two Blood Bats.

The Blood Bats, manifestations of Sha Hao's Divine Soul Transformation, were extremely wary of the power of thunder and lightning; Sha Hao quickly maneuvered them to evade the purple lightning strikes.

He looked up to the sky and saw the shadow of a black bird flitting through the mist, surrounded by strands of purple thunder and lightning, moving with exceptional speed.

Sha Hao recognized it as Yuan Ming's spiritual bird. He snorted coldly, whistled sharply, and from not far away, a White Eagle rushed in from the sky, plunging towards the Winged Bird wrapped in thunder and lightning.

Sha Hao circulated his Soul Power in silence, and blood light flashed from his forehead, sending out eight Blood Bats in rapid succession, all opening their mouths to spray at Yuan Ming's location.

Great waves of blood-colored patterns gushed out and surged into the ground.

With the Winged Bird's diversion buying time, Yuan Ming was nearly at Hua Zhi's side, and just as he was about to arrive, he hit the blood-colored patterns sprayed by the Blood Bats.

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

Indeed, the moment the blood-colored patterns touched his body, he fell into an illusion. Unlike the last Illusion Technique, in this illusion, Yuan Ming lost his freedom, tied to a cross of about a zhang high, with chains locking his limbs down tightly, unable to budge. From all directions, tendrils of flames swept in, licking at his body.

Yuan Ming's skin was instantly scorched, turning charred and sending waves of intense pain that attacked his will, causing his Divine Soul Power to quickly weaken.

Yuan Ming knew he had to break free from the illusion soon, or his Divine Soul would suffer greatly, and his mind quickly focused.

Suspended in his Sea of Consciousness was a shadow that suddenly pounced toward his Divine Soul, clearly, it was a soul crow.

He was planning to use the Soul Collision Divine Ability on himself.

Among the Classics he had purchased, in addition to explaining the principles and methods of casting Illusion Techniques, some also provided insights into breaking illusions.

Once trapped in an illusion, all five senses are under the control of the opponent. To break free, one needs to apply sufficient stimulus to oneself.

Yuan Ming had previously bitten his tongue and used the penetrating pain to break free from Sha Hao's illusion—that was one method.

However, physical stimuli are not very effective for breaking illusions and can only counteract common illusions. Against strong illusions, they don't work, and more intense influences are needed—for instance, a stimulus targeting the Divine Soul.

At the moment, the only method that could shake his Divine Soul was the Soul Collision Divine Ability.

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