Chapter 199: Breaking Through the Illusion Domain
The special deployment squad consisted of seven members. They were the last remaining elite soldiers of the garrison, each having passed rigorous screening for their willpower and Sea of Consciousness resistance.
Each soldier wore a heavy anti-illusion helmet. Embedded within the inner lining were stabilization chips capable of filtering out a portion of the Illusion Ancient Being's psychic contamination, though they could not completely isolate it. Fixed to their waists were two directional neutralizing bombs, each as tall as a person. The bomb casings were coated with a substance designed to repel spore adhesion, and their immense weight grounded their footsteps.
The squad was led by a captain named Qin Kai, a Level 4 Sea of Consciousness cultivator with an old scar slashing diagonally from his brow bone to his jaw. He walked up to Old Zhou for a rapid briefing.
"After we go in, do your best to draw the beasts' attention from the breach. Do not charge into the fog on your own," Qin Kai said in a low voice. "Whether we can deliver the ammunition depends entirely on this run."
Old Zhou nodded, gripping his oscillation stinger with one hand. The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding. "I'll try to hold off the beasts in the front. Wishing you success."
After the brief instructions, Qin Kai raised his hand. The seven-man squad formed a staggered triangular formation and slowly walked toward the churning gray fog outside the main breach.
Inside the observation shed, Lin Yan held his breath, the fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness firmly locked onto the Illusion Ancient Being's elusive fluctuations.
The Illusion Ancient Being's consciousness was like a water snake, swimming back and forth within the illusion domain. One illusion array node after another lit up. These nodes were the cores of the distorted幻境 (illusions). Stepping into a node's range would instantly magnify the spiral illusions, causing the anti-illusion helmets' load to surge and the chips to easily overload and fail.
"Twelve meters to the front left, the first illusion node. Do not pass through the center; skirt around the right side," Lin Yan's voice arrived promptly on the squad's dedicated encrypted channel. "Auditory illusions are stacked inside the node. You will hear the calls of loved ones. Do not respond, and do not stop."
Qin Kai raised his hand in a signal, and the squad immediately adjusted their route, skirting horizontally along the edge of the gray fog.
Faint, seductive whispers were already drifting into the helmets. The chips were growing slightly warm. The team members clenched their jaws, their eyes fixed solely on the back of the teammate in front of them, absolutely refusing to look around.
Just as they bypassed the first node, the gray fog on both sides suddenly shifted.
The ambushing scaled beasts struck.
Three lean, second-tier scaled beasts, experts at ambushes, darted out from the shadows in the fog. Their claws gleamed with cold light as they lunged directly at the two members at the rear of the squad. "Engage!" Qin Kai barked. The two rear guards instantly spun around, their short-handle oscillation weapons glowing faintly as they met the attack in a hurried clash.
The oscillation energy detonated, forcing the scaled beasts back half a step under the impact. Yet, more ambushing beasts poured endlessly from the intersecting paths in the fog. The Beast Commander had arranged this ambush force long ago, coordinating with the Illusion Ancient Being's traps specifically to intercept and kill anyone attempting to approach the rift entrance.
"Do not get bogged down! Fight and advance! The target is the entrance to the main rift channel!" Lin Yan reminded them. "There is another illusion node on the right. The Illusion Ancient Being is diverting its power there. Do not let them force you toward it!"
The squad struggled forward while tangling with the pouncing scaled beasts. The blue light of their oscillation weapons flickered in the gray fog, and black blood splattered across the gravel-covered wasteland. One squadmate failed to dodge in time, and a scaled beast's bone spur plunged fiercely into his thigh. Suppressing a groan, he gritted his teeth, drew a short blade from his waist, and stabbed it back into the beast's eye. A comrade immediately stepped up to cover him as they pressed forward.
The temperature inside the anti-illusion helmets rose higher and higher, the chips continuously consuming energy to resist the illusion's erosion.
Sensing that Qin Kai had anticipated their route with Lin Yan's help, the Illusion Ancient Being stopped guarding the original nodes and began actively manipulating the flow of the illusions. The previously stable gray fog scenery distorted ceaselessly. The wasteland beneath their feet transformed into a bottomless abyss one moment, and familiar city alleys the next. The whispers in their ears constantly shifted their content, assaulting the team's minds in waves.
"The illusions have shifted! Your vision straight ahead will briefly distort. Look at the rock strata crack markers on the ground. Do not trust what your eyes see!" Lin Yan detected the change in the Illusion Ancient Being's flow of consciousness and reported urgently.
Qin Kai lowered his head, spotting a natural stone crevice extending directly toward the rift opening. Using it as a reference axis, he led the entire squad forward along the crack.
Another scaled beast leaped down from a protruding rock block above, diving straight for Qin Kai. He dropped his shoulder, sidestepped the attack, and thrust his short oscillation stinger in a reverse grip into the beast's lower jaw. Foul-smelling fluid sprayed across his helmet visor, instantly obscuring his vision. Unflustered, he wiped away the grime and continued leading the team forward.
Behind them, at the main breach, Old Zhou and his three remaining men fought with all their might against the charging scaled beasts. Their oscillation stingers roared continuously, creating a massive commotion to draw the attention of the beast herd directly in front of the rift. But their ability to distract was ultimately limited. The Beast Commander diverted a portion of its beast soldiers, quietly sending reinforcements toward the illusion domain.
"Another batch of scaled beasts is coming from the intersecting paths to support the ambush! Over a dozen of them! Speed up! You are only twenty-seven meters from the rift entrance!" Lin Yan tracked the Beast Commander's newly issued deployment signal, his heart filled with anxiety.
The squad had already lost one member. The soldier with the leg wound had his helmet chip overload first. The illusion took advantage of the opening, and his eyes instantly glazed over. His footsteps, completely out of his control, carried him toward the adjacent intersecting path. A nearby teammate reached out to grab him but was blocked by a suddenly darting scaled beast. In a matter of mere breaths, he vanished into the depths of the thick gray fog, and his communication signal went completely dead.
"One lost. Keep pushing forward!" Qin Kai's voice was hoarse. He didn't look back. He knew that if anyone stopped to search and rescue, the entire squad would be trapped and killed here.
The remaining six gritted their teeth. The pain of their wounds, the seduction of the illusions, and the relentless ambushes by the scaled beasts pressed down on them simultaneously. The heavy neutralizing bombs hanging at their waists were the last hope of the entire bastion.
Deep within the cavern in the middle of the rift, the harmonious resonance of the five ancient beings remained perfectly steady.
The Beast Commander continued to输送 (deploy) ambush forces; the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being diverted a few fragmented psychic blades, occasionally grazing the squad from afar to increase the burden on their helmets; the Spiderweb Ancient Being monitored the city's anchor points while keeping an eye on the main breach and the northern defense line. The supreme ruler sat in the center, quietly watching this struggling squad break through. It did not intervene to intercept them, as if watching a hunt whose outcome it had long foreknown.
The Illusion Ancient Being's fluctuations grew increasingly excited. It continuously wove more realistic illusions, stacking them layer upon layer to block the path to the entrance.
"Fifteen meters left! The outline of the rift entrance is visible! But at the entrance archway, it has set up the final core illusion array. It is a multi-layered, deep illusion. Once you step in, the anti-illusion helmets will most likely overload and burn out directly!" Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness fissure throbbed with pain as he reported the location of the final, fatal trap.
Qin Kai stopped. Through his visor, he stared at the dark cave entrance. The gray fog swirled and coiled around the opening, like a mouth waiting to snap shut.
He raised his hand and patted the two neutralizing bombs at his waist. Speaking calmly into the channel, he said, "Everyone, focus your minds. We are breaking through the final checkpoint. Even if we fall here, we must get the ammunition inside."
The gray fog churned as the illusions closed in, layer upon layer.
The ambushers were still closing in endlessly, and the final illusion array stood just out of reach. This squad, gambling their lives, was only a short distance from their target. Yet, every single step forward was a walk along the edge of life and death.
End of Chapter.
Each soldier wore a heavy anti-illusion helmet. Embedded within the inner lining were stabilization chips capable of filtering out a portion of the Illusion Ancient Being's psychic contamination, though they could not completely isolate it. Fixed to their waists were two directional neutralizing bombs, each as tall as a person. The bomb casings were coated with a substance designed to repel spore adhesion, and their immense weight grounded their footsteps.
The squad was led by a captain named Qin Kai, a Level 4 Sea of Consciousness cultivator with an old scar slashing diagonally from his brow bone to his jaw. He walked up to Old Zhou for a rapid briefing.
"After we go in, do your best to draw the beasts' attention from the breach. Do not charge into the fog on your own," Qin Kai said in a low voice. "Whether we can deliver the ammunition depends entirely on this run."
Old Zhou nodded, gripping his oscillation stinger with one hand. The wound on his shoulder was still bleeding. "I'll try to hold off the beasts in the front. Wishing you success."
After the brief instructions, Qin Kai raised his hand. The seven-man squad formed a staggered triangular formation and slowly walked toward the churning gray fog outside the main breach.
Inside the observation shed, Lin Yan held his breath, the fine threads of his Sea of Consciousness firmly locked onto the Illusion Ancient Being's elusive fluctuations.
The Illusion Ancient Being's consciousness was like a water snake, swimming back and forth within the illusion domain. One illusion array node after another lit up. These nodes were the cores of the distorted幻境 (illusions). Stepping into a node's range would instantly magnify the spiral illusions, causing the anti-illusion helmets' load to surge and the chips to easily overload and fail.
"Twelve meters to the front left, the first illusion node. Do not pass through the center; skirt around the right side," Lin Yan's voice arrived promptly on the squad's dedicated encrypted channel. "Auditory illusions are stacked inside the node. You will hear the calls of loved ones. Do not respond, and do not stop."
Qin Kai raised his hand in a signal, and the squad immediately adjusted their route, skirting horizontally along the edge of the gray fog.
Faint, seductive whispers were already drifting into the helmets. The chips were growing slightly warm. The team members clenched their jaws, their eyes fixed solely on the back of the teammate in front of them, absolutely refusing to look around.
Just as they bypassed the first node, the gray fog on both sides suddenly shifted.
The ambushing scaled beasts struck.
Three lean, second-tier scaled beasts, experts at ambushes, darted out from the shadows in the fog. Their claws gleamed with cold light as they lunged directly at the two members at the rear of the squad. "Engage!" Qin Kai barked. The two rear guards instantly spun around, their short-handle oscillation weapons glowing faintly as they met the attack in a hurried clash.
The oscillation energy detonated, forcing the scaled beasts back half a step under the impact. Yet, more ambushing beasts poured endlessly from the intersecting paths in the fog. The Beast Commander had arranged this ambush force long ago, coordinating with the Illusion Ancient Being's traps specifically to intercept and kill anyone attempting to approach the rift entrance.
"Do not get bogged down! Fight and advance! The target is the entrance to the main rift channel!" Lin Yan reminded them. "There is another illusion node on the right. The Illusion Ancient Being is diverting its power there. Do not let them force you toward it!"
The squad struggled forward while tangling with the pouncing scaled beasts. The blue light of their oscillation weapons flickered in the gray fog, and black blood splattered across the gravel-covered wasteland. One squadmate failed to dodge in time, and a scaled beast's bone spur plunged fiercely into his thigh. Suppressing a groan, he gritted his teeth, drew a short blade from his waist, and stabbed it back into the beast's eye. A comrade immediately stepped up to cover him as they pressed forward.
The temperature inside the anti-illusion helmets rose higher and higher, the chips continuously consuming energy to resist the illusion's erosion.
Sensing that Qin Kai had anticipated their route with Lin Yan's help, the Illusion Ancient Being stopped guarding the original nodes and began actively manipulating the flow of the illusions. The previously stable gray fog scenery distorted ceaselessly. The wasteland beneath their feet transformed into a bottomless abyss one moment, and familiar city alleys the next. The whispers in their ears constantly shifted their content, assaulting the team's minds in waves.
"The illusions have shifted! Your vision straight ahead will briefly distort. Look at the rock strata crack markers on the ground. Do not trust what your eyes see!" Lin Yan detected the change in the Illusion Ancient Being's flow of consciousness and reported urgently.
Qin Kai lowered his head, spotting a natural stone crevice extending directly toward the rift opening. Using it as a reference axis, he led the entire squad forward along the crack.
Another scaled beast leaped down from a protruding rock block above, diving straight for Qin Kai. He dropped his shoulder, sidestepped the attack, and thrust his short oscillation stinger in a reverse grip into the beast's lower jaw. Foul-smelling fluid sprayed across his helmet visor, instantly obscuring his vision. Unflustered, he wiped away the grime and continued leading the team forward.
Behind them, at the main breach, Old Zhou and his three remaining men fought with all their might against the charging scaled beasts. Their oscillation stingers roared continuously, creating a massive commotion to draw the attention of the beast herd directly in front of the rift. But their ability to distract was ultimately limited. The Beast Commander diverted a portion of its beast soldiers, quietly sending reinforcements toward the illusion domain.
"Another batch of scaled beasts is coming from the intersecting paths to support the ambush! Over a dozen of them! Speed up! You are only twenty-seven meters from the rift entrance!" Lin Yan tracked the Beast Commander's newly issued deployment signal, his heart filled with anxiety.
The squad had already lost one member. The soldier with the leg wound had his helmet chip overload first. The illusion took advantage of the opening, and his eyes instantly glazed over. His footsteps, completely out of his control, carried him toward the adjacent intersecting path. A nearby teammate reached out to grab him but was blocked by a suddenly darting scaled beast. In a matter of mere breaths, he vanished into the depths of the thick gray fog, and his communication signal went completely dead.
"One lost. Keep pushing forward!" Qin Kai's voice was hoarse. He didn't look back. He knew that if anyone stopped to search and rescue, the entire squad would be trapped and killed here.
The remaining six gritted their teeth. The pain of their wounds, the seduction of the illusions, and the relentless ambushes by the scaled beasts pressed down on them simultaneously. The heavy neutralizing bombs hanging at their waists were the last hope of the entire bastion.
Deep within the cavern in the middle of the rift, the harmonious resonance of the five ancient beings remained perfectly steady.
The Beast Commander continued to输送 (deploy) ambush forces; the Sharp-Sense Ancient Being diverted a few fragmented psychic blades, occasionally grazing the squad from afar to increase the burden on their helmets; the Spiderweb Ancient Being monitored the city's anchor points while keeping an eye on the main breach and the northern defense line. The supreme ruler sat in the center, quietly watching this struggling squad break through. It did not intervene to intercept them, as if watching a hunt whose outcome it had long foreknown.
The Illusion Ancient Being's fluctuations grew increasingly excited. It continuously wove more realistic illusions, stacking them layer upon layer to block the path to the entrance.
"Fifteen meters left! The outline of the rift entrance is visible! But at the entrance archway, it has set up the final core illusion array. It is a multi-layered, deep illusion. Once you step in, the anti-illusion helmets will most likely overload and burn out directly!" Lin Yan's Sea of Consciousness fissure throbbed with pain as he reported the location of the final, fatal trap.
Qin Kai stopped. Through his visor, he stared at the dark cave entrance. The gray fog swirled and coiled around the opening, like a mouth waiting to snap shut.
He raised his hand and patted the two neutralizing bombs at his waist. Speaking calmly into the channel, he said, "Everyone, focus your minds. We are breaking through the final checkpoint. Even if we fall here, we must get the ammunition inside."
The gray fog churned as the illusions closed in, layer upon layer.
The ambushers were still closing in endlessly, and the final illusion array stood just out of reach. This squad, gambling their lives, was only a short distance from their target. Yet, every single step forward was a walk along the edge of life and death.
End of Chapter.