Chapter 395: The Illusion

Daoist Qingyu's gaze settled on the jade pillow in Li Musheng's hand.

At this moment, the jade pillow was radiating a soft seven-colored halo. Previously, it had been capable of rendering unconscious anyone who came near, even the Great Xuan Divine Constable had not been spared. Even the Sun and Moon Demonic Empress and the Ten Thousand Malice Demonic Sect Master would have found it nearly impossible to retrieve the Meng clan's divine treasure from the pool.

Yet now, in Li Musheng's hands, the divine treasure had lost all of its power, clearly suppressed by Li Musheng through some formidable means.

That alone spoke to how terrifying Li Musheng's strength truly was. After all, Dream of a Thousand Autumns and the other two families' divine treasures had been items capable of standing against a Martial God a thousand years ago, and even in its not fully awakened state, it was absolutely not to be underestimated.

"Dream of a Thousand Autumns is most powerful in its ability to create illusions that are indistinguishable from reality, bewildering the minds of those within. Even a Martial God would be overcome by Dream of a Thousand Autumns at full power."

Daoist Qingyu looked at the jade pillow in Li Musheng's hand and spoke slowly, her expression deeply complicated.

She seemed to hesitate briefly before continuing, "But to draw out the full power of Dream of a Thousand Autumns, an ordinary person cannot manage it. It requires the Meng clan's secret technique, the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns, to command it, and only then can the divine treasure's full ability be released."

As she said this, without waiting for Li Musheng to ask, Daoist Qingyu fixed her gaze on him and spoke with sudden gravity, "This poor nun is willing to pass on the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns, a technique passed down through the Meng clan for thousands of years, to the young master without condition."

At those words, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Daoist Qingyu with a thoughtful expression.

He had to admit, agreeing to Daoist Qingye's request and making this trip to the Great Xuan imperial capital had produced quite a haul.

Daoist Qingyu in particular had given him not only the Longevity Scripture they had agreed on in advance, but also the demonic text that could rightly be called the supreme heart method of the demonic path.

And now she was giving him her family's divine treasure, and even volunteering to pass on the secret technique of her lineage.

Anyone who did not know better might think this Daoist had taken a liking to him because of how handsome he was.

But Li Musheng understood clearly enough that Daoist Qingyu was far from simple.

She had had her foundation destroyed by his own hand, and yet she could endure the humiliation of it, showing not a trace of resentment on her face and handing over the clan's divine treasure without a word.

The only conclusion was that she was not only extremely intelligent but deeply ruthless, not only toward others but toward herself.

"I understand what you are thinking. But if you expect me to avenge your clan, I do not have the spare time for that."

Li Musheng shook his head slowly, then extended a hand directly, indicating for her to pass over the clan's secret technique, the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns.

Revenge was something he was absolutely not going to help with. What she was offering simply was not enough to make him act on someone else's behalf.

Even so, he still intended to study the technique itself.

At those words, Daoist Qingyu's gaze lowered slightly, and the expression in her eyes shifted through unspoken changes.

But in the end she said nothing more, and passed the clan's secret technique, the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns, to Li Musheng in full and without reservation.

The large black cat beside them watched this with its eyes narrowing at Daoist Qingyu. From its perspective, the Daoist was at least somewhat reasonable.

If she had refused to voluntarily hand over the secret method for controlling the treasure, it would have settled every old and new grievance at once and given her several hundred swipes of its claws.

At the same time, Li Musheng, having obtained the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns, immediately set to studying the jade pillow in hand.

According to the Meng clan's secret technique, the Dream of a Thousand Autumns, which was capable of creating illusions, was influenced by the martial cultivation of whoever commanded it through the technique.

The higher the commander's martial cultivation, the greater the power Dream of a Thousand Autumns could unleash, and the wider the range of illusions it could project.

Li Musheng looked at the jade pillow in his hand and rubbed his chin. Though the Meng clan's secret technique, the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns, was intricate and arcane, it posed no real difficulty for him.

After a brief period of study, he had fully grasped every key point of how it operated.

"Now let me see whether this ancient divine treasure's abilities are truly as formidable as claimed."

Li Musheng's thoughts stirred, and he circulated the Grand Dream of a Thousand Autumns.

As the jade pillow rose into the air, in a single instant the true qi of heaven and earth throughout the world suddenly hollowed out.

The jade pillow, radiating its seven-colored halo, was at first like fireflies in the night, but in barely a moment it blazed like the full moon ascending the sky, erupting with blinding seven-colored radiance.

Those seven-colored rays cast a hazy, dreamlike halo across the sky, dispersing the night above Taixuan City, and in an instant enveloped the entire city within it.

Daoist Qingyu's head snapped upward, clearly stunned by the sight.

But before she could even react, her eyes in the next moment rapidly lost their light, becoming dazed and unfocused.

At the same time, the scene before Daoist Qingyu's eyes shifted. She found herself, without knowing when, standing on Qishan from her blurry childhood memories.

And beneath her feet lay bodies everywhere. She turned her eyes to look at them, and the faces she saw were those she had seen in nightmares on countless nights over the years.

These were the people who had slaughtered her clanspeople, who had hunted her and the elder who had protected her with their lives.

And now every one of those people lay dead at her feet. Beyond them, as far as the eye could see, were the people of the other two ancient families, the ones she had longed to avenge herself on for every year of her life.

"Has this poor nun... finally had her revenge?"

Daoist Qingyu stared at the scene in stunned stillness, struggling with everything she had to determine whether what she was seeing was real or a dream.

But some force seemed to be working on her consciousness, preventing her from thinking clearly about any of it.

Just then, the Dream Jade in Daoist Qingyu's hand began emanating threads of soft, gentle radiance that wrapped around her entire body.

Very soon, Daoist Qingyu gradually came back to herself.

Looking again at the scene she had dreamed of her whole life, she understood clearly now that none of it was real.

Even so, though she could tell the difference, she still could not free herself from the illusion.

"What level has his strength actually reached? That even the Dream Jade has partly lost its protective function under the illusion he has driven."

Daoist Qingyu looked at the scene around her, and though she already knew Li Musheng's power was unfathomable, the shock in her heart was impossible to fully contain.

But at this moment she felt no particular desire to leave the illusion she was in. She stared at the scene below her feet with a distant expression and murmured quietly to herself, "This poor nun will likely never have the chance for revenge in this lifetime. But seeing the two families fallen, even if all of this is false, is enough to put to rest a longing this poor nun has carried for many years. Even if it is only... an illusion."

...

At the same time, Li Musheng withdrew his gaze from the murmuring Daoist Qingyu and looked at the large black cat beside him.

The large black cat was crouching on the ground, its round green eyes curved into happy crescents, and it was repeatedly pulling something toward itself with its paw.

It had the look of a creature overcome with greed, as though countless treasures had appeared before it and it was determined not to let a single one slip through its claws.