Lady of Illusion Flower could hardly believe her eyes!
Hong Lu, Huang Chu, and Lv Xin were her three hand-picked Direct Disciples. They were exceptionally talented, and under her tutelage, they had all surpassed the five-hundred-year threshold of Dao Practice.
They all possessed a Ghost God Body, absorbing Incense to condense their Divine Souls. Their Spiritual Cultivation surpassed that of other experts at the same level.
They also practiced Absorbing Yang and Nourishing Yin and Soul Refining and Soul Capturing. Their bodies overflowed with Yin Qi, and when they used their Illusion Flower Enchanting Soul Technique, not even women could resist its pull, let alone men.
But what was she seeing now?
Three Mages, whose Dao Practice was no higher than their own, had managed to severely injure them in such a short amount of time!
Lady of Illusion Flower’s first reaction was that it was impossible.
Then, she realized it wasn’t impossible at all.
After all, the reason she had turned back to call for her three disciples in the first place was that the strength of Taoist Gao Yue and Taoist Xu Xing had exceeded her expectations.
They were just two Mages with a Dao Practice of only a few hundred years, far weaker than her. Yet by combining their powers—one unleashing a Thunderbolt and the other displaying Sword Qi—they had broken her Seven-Colored Illusory Flower Secret Technique.
This Seven-Colored Illusory Flower Secret Technique was a Dharma Gate, both a treasure and a Technique, that she had created by collecting seven types of Spirit-Connected Flowers from Illusory Flower Valley, infusing them with the souls of seven beautiful women compatible with the flowers, and refining them for many years.
Normally, anyone caught by the Seven-Colored Illusory Flower Secret Technique would be trapped in an illusory dream, falling into a sea of flowers where the seven beauties would drain their lifeblood until their Divine Soul sank into oblivion and they died.
But Taoist Xu Xing was clearly unaffected. His Seven-Star Sword reflected the Big Dipper, shattering her Secret Technique from the inside out. Combined with the Thunderbolt, it had even injured the souls of the seven women.
Taoist Gao Yue hovered high in the sky. He formed the Celestial Thunder Seal with his left hand and the Qingwei Technique mudra with his right, executing the Qingwei Yuanjiang Great Method. A One Qi Divine Thunder condensed and shot straight toward Lady of Illusion Flower.
As a Thunder Technique often mentioned in the same breath as the Shenxiao Thunder Skill, the Qingwei Thunder Skill naturally had its own unique characteristics.
The Shenxiao Thunder Skill was known for its Five Thunders, while the Qingwei Thunder Skill was renowned more for its Celestial Thunder and Thunder Fire.
Primordial Qi Divine Thunder, Purple Sky One Divine Thunder, Profound City True Fire Divine Thunder, Shangqing Flame Divine Thunder...
The core principles were the same, but the variations were numerous. In terms of sheer variety, the Qingwei Thunder Skill offered even more types of Thunder Techniques than the Shenxiao Thunder Skill.
The One Qi Divine Thunder that Taoist Gao Yue had just unleashed was, in full, the Primordial Qi Divine Thunder. It contained Primordial Qi, connected to the purity of the nine heavens, and drew down Divine Thunder from above. It was a top-tier Thunder Technique that fused the mysteries of the Taoist Sect with the divine might of heaven and earth.
Even though Taoist Gao Yue’s Dao Practice was far inferior to her own, she could not ignore this Thunderbolt.
Surpassing the five-hundred-year threshold of Dao Practice was a qualitative leap not only for the Demons and Ghosts of this world but also for the veteran Daoists of Daluo Palace. For them, the change was even more significant!
As the One Qi Divine Thunder struck, Lady of Illusion Flower once again condensed a flower bud to block it.
Similar to the previous exchange, the Divine Thunder dissipated, and the flower was blasted apart.
For a great expert with a thousand years of Dao Practice, having her spell be annihilated along with an Attack from an opponent with only a few hundred years of practice was, in itself, a disgrace.
Seeing this, both Taoist Gao Yue and Taoist Xu Xing smiled.
After just a few simple exchanges, they had a rough measure of Lady of Illusion Flower’s strength. She wasn’t weak, but she wasn’t overwhelmingly strong either.
The two of them alone probably couldn’t defeat her, but if Taoist Huai Yi and the other two joined in, Lady of Illusion Flower might not be able to escape.
The Sword Light from Taoist Xu Xing’s Seven-Star Sword flickered. After breaking through the Seven-Colored Illusory Flower Secret Technique, the seven streams of Sword Qi did not dissipate. Instead, they transformed into seven streams of Starlight Sword Qi, forming a Beidou Seven Stars Array that descended upon Lady of Illusion Flower.
"How dare you!" Lady of Illusion Flower was both shocked and furious.
She hadn’t made a move from Illusory Flower Valley before, not because she thought she couldn’t beat the few from the Daluo Palace branch, but because she was worried that experts from the main Daluo Palace in Jiangzhou would arrive as reinforcements.
In her mind, she was the one keeping the Daluo Palace Elders occupied, planning to use her external forces to kill the Daluo Palace disciples first. Then, she would concentrate her power to kill the senior experts, finishing everything in one decisive battle.
But things had gone completely against her plan. The experts she had placed such high hopes in had all been killed by those ordinary Daluo Palace Mages!
Lady of Illusion Flower couldn’t restrain herself any longer. She charged out of Illusory Flower Valley with her three disciples, intending to kill all the Elders from the Daluo Palace branch with lightning speed.
’Kill the old ones first, then the young ones—it’s all the same!’
But the result was once again the opposite of what she expected. Her opponents’ strength far exceeded her predictions. Not only had they turned from defense to offense, but they even dared to attack a stronger foe, attempting to turn the tables and kill her!
Lady of Illusion Flower finally understood how her disciples and allies outside the valley had died.
This group of Mages from Daluo Palace had indestructible Divine Souls and incredibly profound Magical Power.
They could practically dominate experts at their own level and even fight opponents a level above them.
’This is terrifying!’
Lady of Illusion Flower recalled the scene at the banquet on Rainbow Mountain. Gu Zhao had presented the Red Centipede Ganoderma Pill, becoming the man of the hour. He was surrounded by figures like Bai Fei of White Spirit Mountain and Ye Yunsheng of the Holy Union Sect, looking truly majestic and renowned.
"Spirit Realm Upper Gods... Dream Transmission," Lady of Illusion Flower muttered in terror. "What a truly profound Dharma Gate!"
She couldn’t even gain the upper hand against a few old Daoists with only a few hundred years of Dao Practice. She dared not imagine what it would be like if the master of Daluo Palace himself took action.
At this moment, she no longer cared about her foundation, nor did she want to continue making an enemy of Daluo Palace.
’No matter how good my foundation is, it’s not as important as my life,’ she thought. ’I have a Ghost God Body, and I even have a lover in the Western Divine Country. As long as I lay low, my life won’t be in danger.’
With that, Lady of Illusion Flower channeled her Magical Power. Seven flowers of different colors and shapes appeared beneath the seven streams of Starlight Sword Qi. Their petals opened and swallowed the seven streams of Sword Qi whole.
BOOM!
The Beidou Seven Stars Array exploded, and Lady of Illusion Flower broke free.
Immediately after, she formed her hands into the shape of a lotus. A pure white jade lotus bloomed above her head, blocking two bolts of Purple Sky One Divine Thunder that Taoist Gao Yue had hurled down.
The Divine Thunder dissipated, and the jade lotus withered.
Lady of Illusion Flower’s figure flashed as she tried to flee.
The sound of a drum echoed into Lady of Illusion Flower’s Sea of Consciousness, shaking her Divine Soul.
A wisp of mist materialized into an Immortal Crane, which spread its wings and blocked her path.
A stream of Sword Qi arrived in a flash, interrupting her escape.
Taoist Tai Xian, Taoist Huai Yi, and Taoist Xuan Yong took their positions in a Three Talents formation, having already surrounded Lady of Illusion Flower.
Lady of Illusion Flower’s expression turned grim, for the auras of her three disciples had vanished.
"Blessed Infinite Celestial Venerable!"
The three old Daoists chanted the honorific in unison.
Taoist Gao Yue and Taoist Xu Xing also moved to their side. One formed a Thunder Spell mudra while the other held his longsword, both looking at Lady of Illusion Flower with faint, knowing smiles.
Lady of Illusion Flower’s face turned deathly pale. Daring to stay no longer, she tried to break through the encirclement toward the West.
The five old Daoists all unleashed their Divine Techniques, swarming her at once, determined not to let her escape.
BOOM!
...
Just as the Five Thunders Order in Gu Zhao’s Sea of Consciousness harvested another large amount of Evil Qi, he was at Daluo Palace, welcoming a returning wedding procession.