Chapter 29 – Illusion

Chi Qiong himself couldn’t understand it, so naturally, Yun Xiguang was even more perplexed.

Fortunately, they didn’t need to fully comprehend it.

All they needed to know was that Chi Qiong was immensely powerful — powerful enough for the Heavenly Law to utilize his strength for some purpose, powerful enough for the Heavenly Law to use rules to segment his power, preventing him from reclaiming it.

The Heavenly Law’s objective, Chi Qiong’s identity — these weren’t the top priorities right now. Urgently, there were three issues to address: how to hide the phoenix feather, how to conceal the Crimson Chi, and how to explain the events here to the outside world.

Yun Xiguang hadn’t wasted time at the genuine “Spirit Beast Codex.” From deciding to enter until leaving, he spent no more than ten minutes.

He pondered many things, but these thoughts flashed through his mind swiftly, consuming little time.

And entering the confidential archive room and dealing with Ruan Shu took no more than half an hour in total.

Even if they had triggered the confidential archive room’s alarm, the outside world would know someone had intruded, but gathering personnel would take time.

The entire confidential archive room was filled with illusions created by The Mirage, possibly guarded by arrays, and the Special Affairs Bureau would never send people in immediately.

Yun Xiguang guessed the sequence of events would be as follows: the little spirit bird, he, or Ruan Shu triggering the confidential archive room’s alarm, the outside world discovering an intrusion, and Director Li Zheng leading people over in the first instance.

Outside the archive room, there was a barrier created by Ruan Shu.

Li Zheng would first open the barrier outside the archive room, meet up with Zhao Yu and others, understand the situation, report to his superiors, and request reinforcements.

Li Zheng was a D-grade Spiritbond Master, and the strength Ruan Shu displayed inside the archive room clearly exceeded Li Zheng’s capabilities. Considering the numerous secrets preserved within the confidential archive room, any mishap could damage the records here. Li Zheng couldn’t engage in a fierce battle here.

Therefore, the best course of action was to request reinforcements, find a Spiritbond Master of The Mirage to protect the “illusionary reality,” separate the records from the confidential archive room, and then Li Zheng could lead people to apprehend Ruan Shu.

Discovering the problem, breaking the outer barrier, understanding the situation, reporting for reinforcements, finding a Spiritbond Master of The Mirage, reinforcements arriving…

Completing this series of procedures, even without wasting any time during the process, reinforcements wouldn’t arrive for at least forty to fifty minutes.

In other words, he still had time to clean up the scene and extricate himself.

“Crimson Chi, you have the ability to sense. Help me sense if there’s any surveillance here? Is there anyone who can use skills similar to ‘illusionary reality’ to recreate what happened here?” asked Yun Xiguang.

He had already recognized this as Mother’s spirit beast, Crimson Chi, and guessed that the little spirit bird had rescued the Crimson Chi from the “Spirit Beast Codex,” but this wasn’t the time for reminiscing. They needed to solve the problem first.

The Crimson Chi was an extremely powerful spirit beast, almost divine, capable of sensing the heavens and earth. If there was any surveillance, it would surely detect it.

The small red snake coiled into a ball, listened to Yun Xiguang’s question, and wriggled its body to crawl in front of the phoenix feather, flicking its tongue at it twice.

How astute Yun Xiguang was. With just this gesture, he deduced what the Crimson Chi meant.

The Crimson Chi wanted to tell him that even if there was surveillance or recording capability here, as long as the phoenix feather was present, nobody could see what happened.

That made sense. The Heavenly Law’s rules wouldn’t wish for too many people to know about the little spirit bird’s existence. Even in the exclusive contract space for spirit beasts and Spiritbond Masters, there would be pixelation. Shielding what happened here would be far too easy.

Yun Xiguang calmed down and straightened out the logic.

The crux of the matter was the phoenix feather.

After obtaining the phoenix feather, the bookworm manipulated Ruan Shu into committing such vile acts. The true power lay in the phoenix feather, not the bookworm.

After the little spirit bird regained consciousness, his presence suppressed the phoenix feather’s power, weakening Ruan Shu and the bookworm. They lost to Yun Xiguang and the Crimson Chi, with Ruan Shu frozen into an ice block and the bookworm burned by heavenly fire.

Throughout this process, the little spirit bird and the phoenix feather were one, inevitably pixelated. And since Yun Xiguang and the little spirit bird were bound by a pact, exposing the little spirit bird would expose Yun Xiguang as well, subjecting him to pixelation.

The only one left exposed would be the Crimson Chi.

And the Crimson Chi had emerged from the “Spirit Beast Codex.”

If Yun Xiguang, the little spirit bird, and the phoenix feather were removed from the equation, the incident would appear as Ruan Shu entering the confidential archive room, venturing into the “illusionary reality” of the “Spirit Beast Codex,” getting caught in the spatial tunnel between illusion and reality, and struggling to bring the Crimson Chi out from within the “Spirit Beast Codex.”

The Crimson Chi, unaware of the power it gained within the “Spirit Beast Codex,” unleashed its own strength without a Spiritbond Master, killing the bookworm and freezing Ruan Shu.

It could also conceal the owner of the “Spirit Beast Codex,” making others believe that Ruan Shu, not Yun Xiguang, had entered his room through the “illusionary reality” and taken the Crimson Chi out of the “Spirit Beast Codex.”

The Crimson Chi could shoulder the blame for defeating Ruan Shu, while Ruan Shu could take responsibility for releasing the Crimson Chi. Together, they could form a perfect logical loop.

As for Yun Xiguang, all he needed to do was take the little spirit bird and the phoenix feather to another room, feigning unconsciousness. When questioned later, he could claim ignorance, pretending he hadn’t encountered Ruan Shu, thus evading investigation.

However, this would leave the Crimson Chi facing pursuit from the Spiritbond Master Association and the Special Affairs Bureau. He might even attract the attention of the hidden owner of the “Spirit Beast Codex,” placing himself in danger. Yun Xiguang couldn’t abandon the Crimson Chi.

How could he help the Crimson Chi escape? Yun Xiguang felt troubled.

“If only I had the ability of ‘illusionary reality’,” sighed Yun Xiguang, “Before we flee, we could leave behind an ‘illusionary reality’ of the Crimson Chi, creating the illusion that we escaped when they opened the confidential archive room. This would successfully cover up the Crimson Chi’s whereabouts.”

The real Crimson Chi, transforming into a tiny red snake coiling around the phoenix feather, would remain invisible to everyone. The World Law would help them pixelate the Crimson Chi.

Of course, in this process, the Crimson Chi would inevitably be influenced by the rules on the phoenix feather, becoming somewhat more irritable. But with the little spirit bird present to suppress the rules on the phoenix feather, the Crimson Chi wouldn’t lose control like the bookworm did.

Yun Xiguang explained his plan of utilizing the rule-induced pixelation to the little spirit bird and the Crimson Chi.

The Crimson Chi tilted his head as he listened to Yun Xiguang’s concise plan, secretly nodding in approval. A mere human could utilize the Heavenly Law’s rules to this extent; his spirit servant truly inherited his intelligence.

“Chirp,” chirped Chi Qiong , praising Yun Xiguang.

Yun Xiguang didn’t catch the praise in his tone and rubbed the little spirit bird’s chin mournfully, saying, “Without the Crimson Chi’s phantom as a decoy to conceal our involvement, this logical loop cannot be formed.”

As the key character in this story, the Crimson Chi had to make an appearance before everyone.

Yun Xiguang continued, “I’m being overly optimistic. This time, The Mirage must be present among the reinforcements. Even if I create a fake Crimson Chi using ‘illusionary reality,’ it wouldn’t deceive The Mirage’s eyes.”

In this case, Yun Xiguang would become the prime suspect for taking the Crimson Chi away, impossible to conceal by claiming ignorance.

But for the Crimson Chi’s safety, he had no choice but to do this. They couldn’t let the Crimson Chi truly reveal himself before the reinforcements; otherwise, he would have no chance of escape.

Yun Xiguang clenched his teeth, tied the Crimson Chi to his wrist and used the same hand to scoop up the little spirit bird, planning to lead everyone out of the room.

Unexpectedly, the little spirit bird pecked at the little red snake, removing a scale.

The Crimson Chi recoiled his tail in pain.

The little spirit bird didn’t jump onto Yun Xiguang’s hand but placed the scale in his palm instead.

For a moment, Yun Xiguang didn’t understand the little spirit bird’s intention.

The little spirit bird then picked up the phoenix feather from the ground, laboriously dragging it and placing it in Yun Xiguang’s hand as well.

Yun Xiguang was an exceedingly intelligent individual. He immediately grasped the little spirit bird’s intent and asked, “Can I harness the power of the phoenix feather to create a substitute for the Crimson Chi using this scale?”

Communicating with a wise spirit servant was indeed effortless. The Crimson Chi nodded in pleasure.

“But how do I…”

Before Yun Xiguang could finish his sentence, he saw the little spirit bird flapping its wings and colliding with his head.

He hastily reached out to embrace the little spirit bird, pulling him closer.

The little spirit bird struggled to move close to Yun Xiguang’s face and pecked his forehead gently.

A drop of blood flowed from Yun Xiguang’s forehead.

The Crimson Chi lowered his head, pressing it against Yun Xiguang’s forehead.

Suddenly, Yun Xiguang’s mind was flooded with knowledge he had never possessed — the Three Thousand Illusions.

Deities boasted of having three thousand incarnations, and Chi Qiong possessed this ability as well.

Once upon a time, stories of Chi Qiong were widespread across the vast lands of ancient desolation. Such a vast area couldn’t be covered by Chi Qiong alone, spreading tales to every corner.

The reason why all spirit beasts knew of his existence and countless creatures had received Chi Qiong’s spiritual energy was because he had once transformed into myriad forms. His illusions had traversed every corner of the world.

Chi Qiong imparted this ability to Yun Xiguang through the blood bond.

Foreheads touching, blood connecting as a witness to the pact, linking souls, this method was used to convey abilities to the contractor.

Bai Ze had taught Qin Shu how to use divine beast powers in this manner.

This was the first time Chi Qiong actively used the blood bond to teach Yun Xiguang some abilities.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to teach before, but he had been in slumber, lacking strength. More importantly, he lacked spiritual energy. Even if Yun Xiguang learned abilities, he wouldn’t have the spiritual power to execute them.

Now, however, the phoenix feather was in Yun Xiguang’s possession.

Chi Qiong, bound by the world’s rules, couldn’t reclaim the phoenix feather, but humans and spirit beasts could use the phoenix feather. That was the rule.

The Heavenly Law wouldn’t specifically target someone or a particular spirit beast; it only established rules. Since the rules didn’t exclude Yun Xiguang, he could borrow the power within the phoenix feather.

Yun Xiguang rapidly absorbed the “Three Thousand Illusions” imparted by Chi Qiong. Regaining consciousness, he said, “But once I utilize the spiritual energy within the phoenix feather, my mind will be influenced by the rules. I harbor hatred and endless desires. I will certainly be controlled.”

The little spirit bird gave a cold “chirp,” leaped down and stepped on the phoenix feather with one claw, raising his head proudly.

It was as if he was saying, “Just go ahead and use it. Let’s see if it dares to control you!”

How imposing!

Yun Xiguang found the little spirit bird utterly adorable.

Resisting the urge to kiss the little spirit bird’s plump body, he placed the hand holding the scale on the phoenix feather.

An enormous surge of spiritual energy from the phoenix feather poured into Yun Xiguang’s body. Suddenly endowed with such immense power, it was similar to a drought-stricken field finally receiving a downpour. Both his body and mind yearned for this power.

Greed stirred in his heart, igniting the impulse to seize and occupy the phoenix feather.

At that moment, a clear and melodious “chirp” resonated, awakening his senses.

Seizing this opportunity, Yun Xiguang, following Chi Qiong’s teachings, used spiritual energy as a brush to inscribe an ancient rune in the air.

With a single stroke, Yun Xiguang completed the rune. Using spiritual energy, he pushed the scale into the center of the rune.

The rune radiated golden light, absorbing the crimson scale and transforming into a the Crimson Chi, several meters long, coiling in the air.

The Three Thousand Illusions were complete!

It was Yun Xiguang’s first time wielding such formidable power. Looking up at the illusory Crimson Chi, he marveled inwardly at the terrifying strength of spirit beasts.

An ordinary person in control of such power would undoubtedly crave more, longing for power and wealth.

The Spirit Contract seemed to be a mutually beneficial relationship between spirit beasts and humans, but in reality, this power was a severe test of human nature.

After crafting the illusion, Yun Xiguang scooped up the little spirit bird and the Crimson Chi, wrapped the phoenix feather around himself, and ran out through a random door.

He didn’t bother checking what was inside this space but quickly found the door leading to the next space and rushed through.

Running through several spaces, Yun Xiguang felt they were sufficiently far from the “Spirit Beast Codex” space. He chose a space where a bunch of tentacles were devouring food and collapsed on the ground.

The recorded spirit beast in this space was quite disgusting. He could pretend to have been frightened into unconsciousness.

Everything was prepared. The rest was left to the rules to unfold.