The skull ox was a spirit beast of formidable size and power. They were known for their incredibly tough shield-like horns that could take an attack from a creature two small stages above it and not even be scratched! Skull oxen were frequently hunted for these valuable horns to use as materials for weapons but besides that they didn't have much value. Their meat was tough and not very tasty, they hated everything that wasn't another skull ox, and temperaments were too violent to be domesticated.
Ying channeled her qi within her legs and stomped on the ground, shattering the earth in front of her. The skull oxen tripped from the uneven ground and Ying innocently laughed as they started mooing in distress. She walked over towards them and finished each one off with a single slash of her blade. The spirit beasts were cut in half and Ying looked back at the group as if she was asking, "What are you guys waiting for?"
"What is that?" Bing squinted his eyes, gathering everyone's attention.
Up ahead, Ying could see a lot of people standing around on top of a large hill. None of them could see anything but the backs of the other disciples whose attention were captured by something on the other side of the hill. If something could catch that many peoples' eyes then that means treasure was nearby! Ying excitedly picked up her pace unconsciously.
"Something good has to be ahead!" She exclaimed.
"You mean something dangerous has to be ahead." Bing corrected.
"Where there is danger, there is opportunity as well." Lei Zhi said just as excited as Ying.
It was the first time he could explore the Treasured Plains with confidence in himself. All the other times, he was forced to group up with others like him just to survive the oxen. Very rarely, did he ever gain anything from the Treasured Plains and was allowed to keep it on his way out. He never even made it out of the Plains as he was too weak to explore anywhere else but this time would be different. Lei Zhi promised to explore the volcano, mountain, and even the tower this time around!
"Let's go see for ourselves." Wan Qing smiled.
"That was the plan!" Ying told them.
They started to climb up the mound expecting some great treasure on the other side. Maybe it was mutant spirit beast, maybe it was a magical treasure, or maybe it was a valuable plant that could only be grown within the Treasured Plains. All of their imaginations went wild at the possibilities. Ying doubted it could be anything she needed but that doubt was miniscule in comparison to how much she wanted it to be something she needed.
They arrived at the peak of the hill alongside the other cultivators and couldn't believe their eyes. This couldn't be true... How could something like this be here? It doesn't make any sense! Just before they started climbing up the mound, they could clearly see that there was something behind it! They couldn't all be going insane, could they?!
"How is there is a cliff right here?!"
"I'm pretty sure this place is called the Great Plains not the Great Cliff!"
"If anyone fell down from here, there wouldn't be a single chance of them living."
"I doubt even the Elders could survive a fall from this height."
"My legs are paralyzed in fear, can someone push me back down the hill please?"
"What hill?"
"What do you mean what hill? The hill right behind us!"
"There is no hill behind us..."
"What the h.e.l.l is going on here!? Where did the hill we climbed up go!?"
"Why are we trapped on a floating piece of rock above treacherous waters!?"
"What's going on Qing?" Ying asked just as confused as everyone else.
"We're trapped in an illusion array." She explained.
"An illusion array?"
"Someone is messing with us?!"
"A spellmaster planted a trap for us! How do we get out!?"
"Well, it might not be a spellmaster that created this illusion formation. It could be naturally occurring... But that'd be worst case scenario if it was true."
"What even is an illusion array?!"
A fellow disciple scoffed at his peer's ignorance, "An illusion array is a formation that traps someone in an illusionary world while their real body is defenseless in the real world. Getting out is impossible if the person doesn't even realize they're trapped in the first place."
"How do we get out then?" Someone asked.
"We have to find the base of the formation within the illusion and destroy it."
"Or we could get lucky and hope someone that isn't trapped jolts our body from the outside world, that could free us as well."
"Wait Qing, why would it be worst case scenario if it was naturally occurring?" Bing asked.
"That's because if it is, then we would need to find the spirit tool that was causing this and destroy it." Qing explained.
"What's so bad about that? We just got to break it right?"
"I wish it was as simple as it seemed but getting our way to that spirit tool is going to be harder than you think."
"Why is that?"
"Because from what I can tell... this spirit tool is at the very least earth-rank if it can trap this many cultivators inside. And an earth-rank spirit tool that can create a formation as powerful as this one, has to be protected by a powerful spirit beast."
"Even a cultivator at your realm has to be careful?"
"Oh no. I'll be fine, it's just going to be a ha.s.sle to figure out where the magical treasure is. You all might lose your lives though." Qing said leisurely.
"Lose our lives!?"
"I don't wanna die yet!"
"How the h.e.l.l can an illusion kill someone? You really are just a crazy freak. Watch me get out of this without even trying." A 7th stage Qi Gatherer scoffed.
The confident disciple hopped off the cliff down into the raging waters and sharp giant rocks below. Since it's just an illusion, none of this is real. Even if his body was skewered and torn apart by the waters below, it wouldn't matter at all. It was just an illusion like that sissy said. By the time he hits the water, he'll definitely be out of this dumb illusion.
Unfortunately, that wasn't how illusion formations worked. Wan Qing rolled her eyes as the screams of the disciple were quickly drowned out by the sounds of the crashing waves. She looked towards the others. Now they should heed her words carefully.
The strength of a formation varies depending on how much qi is fueling it and what rank the talisman slips used in the creation of the formation. A mortal-ranked illusion formation can't recreate the sense of pain. A stellar-ranked one can't trap more than 5 people. An earth-rank illusion array can trap anyone who walks into it and recreate the sense of pain. So, that disciple that just jumped down to his death, felt everything on his way out. He's most likely brain dead and turned into a cripple by now. Unless his pain tolerance is extremely strong, then he should be fine and coming back any moment.
Wan Qing immediately pinched herself once she realized she was trapped here to find out the rank of this formation. Now she just had to find out if it really was just an earth-rank illusion before deciding to get out of here. If it was a sky-ranked illusion, it's going to be more tedious to escape and she's definitely going to take this spirit tool for herself. She could only wait until she found the magical treasure in person before she could figure out what rank this was.
"Anyone else want to go for a swim?" Qing smiled as the disciple who just jumped off reappeared back at the top of the cliff.
His body was mangled horribly with pieces of his bone jutting out from his body. Blood raced out of the sizeable holes from his torso made by the rocks below. He groaned in horrible pain. Some of the disciples nearly threw up at the sight of the mutilated still living corpse. This was one of the fates of being trapped in an illusion array with your sense of pain intact.
"What the h.e.l.l!?"
"Disgusting!!!"
"Why isn't he dead!?"
"Because it's an illusion," Qing spoke before adding more, "Since it's an illusion whatever happens here is not what happens to his body in the real world. Although whatever happens here can affect your real body in other ways."
"This is p.i.s.sing me off! So, all we have to do is find this magic treasure, right?!" Ying asked frustrated.
"I believe so." Lei Zhi said.
"Fine! Follow me and shut up!" Ying fed her sword a spirit stone directly into the mouth behind its eye.
The sword started to transform right in front of everyone's eyes. The previously large shiny silver blade blinded anyone that was directly staring at it. The sword started to take on a sleeker look while growing even longer. One swing with her sword like that and even if you were standing 5 meters away, you could still find yourself cut by it! Seeing the strange transformation of the weapon caused everyone to gasp in shock and envy.
"What kind of spirit weapon is that...?"
"Just who is that girl and why haven't I ever heard of her before!?"
"Just what is that weapon and why haven't I ever seen IT before!?"
Ying looked around the cliff in deep focus. She could see far more now that her sword has taken on a new form. This new form for her blade would allow Ying to find out where the d.a.m.n spirit tool was hiding. Then she could get out of here and actually find some real magical treasures!
"So that's where you're hiding..." Ying softly said as she looked over the edge of the cliff.
She gathered strength in her legs and vanished from the top of the cliff. She was diving straight down into the waters!
"Is she crazy!?"
"Did she not see what happened to him!?"
"Oh G.o.d, our only hope is gone..."
"Why did our savior have to be a crazy suicidal b.i.t.c.h? Now there is no hope for us getting out..."
Bing, Lei Zhi, and Wan Qing focused on Ying as she was falling down the cliff. Bing knew that Ying wouldn't kill herself. She must have found a way out of here just like she said, but was it down the cliff? There wasn't any other explanation for her behavior. Bing and Lei Zhi trusted Ying's judgement, they followed after her and jumped off the cliff as well, following her exact path down.
"Ah?! Hey, wait for me! If you were going to do something you guys need to tell me too! I just joined remember!?" Wan Qing grabbed Ni Xong and followed behind Bing and Zhi.
"Is today the holiday to commit suicide? Did they not see the horrible outcome that happened to the first guy that jumped down?"
"Maybe they couldn't take it anymore. They were mumbling like crazy people before jumping off."
"Or maybe they figured out a way to leave this illusion formation!"
"What? Why would the way out be by committing suicide?"
"I don't know but it's better than staying up here till I starve to death!" The disciple jumped off the cliff and followed after Wan Qing's figure.
"What if they really did find the way out?"
"Well we could just wait and see if they come back in the same way the first guy did."
"That's true, and if they did find the way out then they would be back up here and be like that guy."
The scared disciples stood and waited till the girl hit the frenzied waters. Some couldn't bear to watch her kill herself and reappear back up here in a terrible state. Others watched with precision focus as this could be there only means of escape if she was right and wasn't just a suicidal nutcase.
"She really was right..." Ying didn't reappear at the top of the cliff.
"They found it! They found it!" The joyful cultivator hopped off the cliff in his excitement but didn't take care to look exactly where he was jumping, resulting in him missing the spot where he needed to land and reappearing back at the top of the cliff with his body terribly deformed.
"Haha! Don't be like that f.u.c.king idiot and make sure you land where they landed. Or you can say goodbye to your life."
The rest made sure to land exactly where the girl splashed when they jumped off. They didn't want to turn out like those two and have their lives ruined by a stupid inanimate object. Could you imagine dying to something that doesn't even have a thinking mind? As a cultivator, it would be most embarra.s.sing to die due to such stupidity.
Ying and her allies entered some sort of sea cave. After jumping down into the hazardous sea, she was swallowed up by a whirlpool within the water that dragged her deep down into the water. Being swallowed up by the sea should be a painful experience but Ying could breathe just fine in the waters. She had little control over her body because of the whirlpool but she didn't feel any discomfort. She found herself washed up on some beach inside a dark cave.
Bing, Lei Zhi and his spirit beasts, and Wan Qing and her spirit cub showed up moments later. Ying ignited her hand on fire and illuminated their surroundings. There was a narrow hole in the rocky wall in front of them. Besides that, there was just the incredibly soft sand and glistening water from where they came.
"I can feel the spirit tool up ahead. I can't sense anything else near it." Ying took the lead.
"Let me go first. Just in case..." Bing said walking in front of Ying.
"I said there was nothing but the spirit tool nearby. What are you worrying about?" Ying asked slightly irritated.
"Well, I believe it's better to be safe than sorry. What if there was something that could hide its qi and attacked you? I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night if you got killed when I could've prevented it." Bing stated calmly.
Ying's cheeks slightly flushed at the concern the Fata.s.s was showing to her. How could he say something so embarra.s.sing like that in front of everyone? Is his skin really that thick that he can say words like that to just anyone? Stupid Fata.s.s...
"Do whatever you want idiot... I wouldn't get killed by something thing like that in the first place."
"I don't think that was called for but-"
"Shut up and move!" Ying kicked him in the b.u.t.t, pushing him forwards the narrow opening. He had trouble fitting his round figure inside but with another kick from Ying, he managed to squeeze himself in.
Quon completely wrapped himself around Lei Zhi so that he could fit through the hole. His body was mostly squishy and soft but still quite large. Lei Zhi decided to go in last so that Quon's tentacles doesn't get in anyone's way. Everyone else agreed and they entered through the cave opening. Bing going first, Wan Qing and Ni Xong next, Ying fourth, and Lei Zhi and his pets last.
