As the Dream Flower fully bloomed, the Derivation Spirit Taiqing Sword, which had been flashing and resisting, suddenly grew still.
Faced with the Dream Flower whose intelligence was unclear and somewhat sinister, Wang Lin had already spared no expense, using all the protective treasures he carried on him. He didn't even hesitate to use his expensive one-time artifacts.
Regardless of whether they were useful or not, the more protective layers he had, the more reassured he felt.
Li Xingtian was also pressed against Wang Lin's side, taking advantage of these layers of shields.
He had to admit... it was great to be wealthy. No wonder the Eighteen Immortal Sects were known for their extravagance. Who wouldn't be extravagant with this kind of backing?
At least Li Xingtian felt much more reassured.
Wang Lin's expression remained calm. He didn't question why the intelligence had been wrong; after all, nothing in the world was perfectly accurate.
Deviations were normal. What mattered was to minimize the impending losses.
The most important thing was that they were safe.
"Brother Li, the situation has changed. Our mission objective needs to shift. We'll first search for my two teammates, then wait for reinforcements from the sect."
Wang Lin's gaze fell upon the Dream Flower as he continued speaking to Li Xingtian beside him,
"We have backup. As long as we can hold them off, time is on our side."
Li Xingtian nodded in agreement: "That makes sense. Better to be cautious."
Wang Lin gave a slight nod. As long as Li Xingtian wasn't a reckless fool and they could communicate, that was all that mattered.
Li Xingtian frowned, looking at the illusory form of the Dream Flower ahead: "Although it's called the Dream Flower, it actually has a physical form. It shouldn't feel so ethereal."
Wang Lin understood: "You're saying its current state isn't its complete form?"
Li Xingtian's gaze fell on the approaching Dream Flower and the purple territory it was about to form:
"If I'm not mistaken, it is. We're about to enter its area of influence. I don't know if it will affect you, but if you get pulled into a dream, you're at the Nascent Soul realm and can rely on your Nascent Soul..."
Wang Lin interrupted: "I've got that covered. What about you?"
"I have my own methods," Li Xingtian replied casually.
The two of them, protected by multiple barriers, crashed into the formation together.
Li Xingtian's expression tightened as he looked at the seven-colored petals dancing freely in the sky, the ground covered in endless flowers, and a towering tree in the distance, entirely made of flowers, seeming to pierce the heavens.
There was no sun, only a strange, warm, gentle light.
Compared to the bloody and horrifying dream they had experienced before, this place was unbelievably pleasant.
But the sweeter it was, the more dangerous it could be.
Li Xingtian could rely on controlling his own blood qi to understand the situation and avoid confusing reality with dreams.
But this time, something felt off.
Was this a dream... or an illusion?
Li Xingtang glanced at Wang Lin beside him, only to see him equally grave.
"The intelligence might still be wrong... my Nascent Soul indicates this isn't a dream," Wang Lin said, looking at Li Xingtian, "Could it be an illusion?"
Li Xingtian reached out and lightly touched the barrier formed by artifacts in front of him; the spiritual power feedback was normal.
After a brief hesitation, he still reached his hand past the barrier. A strange spiritual fluctuation came from his fingertips, beginning to affect his blood qi.
Li Xingtian was momentarily speechless:
"It might be an illusion. The spiritual energy flow outside is strange, but because your protective treasures are too powerful, they can only affect us visually at a basic level. Perhaps our consciousness is also somewhat affected, but I doubt they can do much more than that."
This was the first time Li Xingtian had felt the pleasure of having spirit stones... even if he was leeching off someone else's.
Wang Lin breathed a slight sigh of relief: "In that case, it's perfect. My teammates have similar protective treasures. According to what you said, if they've activated their defenses, we should be able to see them."
This meant the danger level was within manageable limits.
There was plenty of room for a waiting-for-reinforcements tactic.
Li Xingtian's gaze turned to that stunningly beautiful tree. Even he had to admit... it was too beautiful.
Flowers of all colors extended freely from the branches, yet they didn't clash. Instead, there was a sense of nearly perfect fusion.
It seemed a slight breeze could cause a sea of flowers to dance.
Beautiful, but also dangerous...
Without a doubt, that tree was the core of the illusion. To find the disciples of the Tianyan Sect, they would have to go in that direction.
After all, you wouldn't want to throw a wide-area attack and hit the wrong spot during a fight, would you?
Li Xingtian glanced at Wang Lin, and they exchanged a look, confirming their general idea.
Without further words, they flew straight toward the flower tree.
Since their consciousness might be interfered with, their eyes were the best option for now unless it was unnecessary.
The flower tree was massive, with spreading branches.
Li Xingtian watched their surroundings vigilantly.
But the flowers that kept floating up often blocked most of their view.
They were pretty, but annoying right now.
The flower tree wasn't far away. In a moment, they were beside it, but both of them stopped advancing in perfect unison.
With the intelligence being wrong and the illusion's core being unclear, rashly entering it wouldn't be rescuing anyone—it would be delivering them all to be captured.
However, after watching for a while, they didn't see any Tianyan Sect disciples.
Wang Lin's expression remained calm as he summoned his spirit sword and spoke to Li Xingtian beside him:
"What do you think about me striking this tree first?"
Li Xingtian nodded slightly: "Let's try it first. If it doesn't work, we can set it on fire."
Wang Lin looked at Li Xingtian with slight surprise. Although this was their first time working together, they seemed to share the same mindset.
With that, Wang Lin's spirit sword flashed with cold light.
But before he could strike, a clear, feminine voice echoed from deep within the tree.
"Are you here to fight too?"
Wang Lin paused slightly, his gaze locking on the direction of the voice.
He saw a branch slowly extend toward him, and petals automatically flew over, quickly forming into a human shape.
A woman with fair skin and an exceptionally gentle face, wearing light red gauze, asked with a puzzled expression.
Her figure was graceful, and her tone was also very convincing.
There was a strange combination of enchantment and youthful eeriness, just like the current illusion.
It was a face that could capture a man's attention.
However...
Li Xingtan's brow quickly furrowed, an expression of disgust undisguised—how could this demonic woman have the same repulsive aura as that one from his past life?
Wang Lin's expression didn't change either. What use was being pretty? Could it be so beautiful that it would lead to enlightenment and the Great Dao?
Was it as if the Tianyan Sect couldn't find pretty female cultivators if they wanted to?
Besides, no matter how tempting, could it be more tempting than the supreme truth of the Great Dao?
Honestly, Wang Lin still really wanted to swing his spirit sword and slash this demonic woman and the demonic tree behind her to test the situation.
But... since they could communicate, it wasn't a bad idea to stall for a while and see if Li Xingtan could observe the situation further.
"Definitely not here to fight."
Wang Lin's expression was slightly awkward, as if he didn't know how to speak to a beautiful woman.
At the same time, he subtly glanced at Li Xingtian.
Li Xingtan recognized the meaning of that glance at once—it was the same look as his!
It was the gaze of a comrade-in-arms who treated feminine beauty as worthless, a kindred spirit!
Excellent!
The Tianyan Sect truly deserved to be one of the Eighteen Immortal Sects!
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