Luo Hua was as fast as lightning, but Mu Gong's divine sense clone was even faster.
A beam of green light flashed in his hand, and a treasure pagoda instantly enveloped his body, radiating a verdant radiance. At the same time, he raised one hand, drawing a trace of Dao power from the Primordial Mu Gong's true form into the wooden pagoda.
The wooden pagoda grew ten thousand zhang tall, resisting Luo Hua's myriad needle-like crimson light.
"I knew you weren't honest, little girl," the Mu Gong clone chuckled. "Since this is the last round, I don't need to hide my strength anymore."
As his voice faded, Mu Gong pointed a finger to the sky. Azure clouds descended, and the Great Dao of Wood laws integrated into his body. His aura instantly merged with the Dao, approaching that of a Great Luo.
Luo Hua's face turned ashen and bloodless. She immediately unleashed a ball of bloody auspicious clouds to condense above her head, like a glorious canopy. It absorbed the blood from the surrounding corpses, gathering it into a sea to shield her.
Mu Gong sneered and flicked a finger.
Sixteen innate divine restrictions were superimposed on the body of the Azure Radiance Treasure Pagoda. The pagoda stood between heaven and earth, slowly descending to suppress Luo Hua. The heavy blood sea, however, could barely withstand the pagoda's immense weight.
The blood sea gradually sank, and the treasure pagoda pressed down. Azure radiance filled the sky, as if a deity was suppressing a demon. The colossal divine pagoda slowly bore down on Luo Hua, sealing off ten thousand li of void. The boundless weight was imposed upon Luo Hua, gradually crushing the Taiyi cultivator toward the earth.
For every inch Luo Hua retreated downwards, the treasure pagoda pressed down by a zhang.
Seeing this, Qing Ling knew she could not stand idly by and waved her hand without hesitation.
From her wide sleeves, Bai Fu flew out, transforming into a ten-thousand-zhang bat with wings spread across the sky. Instead of retreating, it circled the Mu Gong clone.
The Mu Gong clone chuckled, not expecting another innate deity.
But then, an arrow of ultimate destruction shot out. The arrow was three chi long, its edge spitting cold light that pierced the heart. The startling arrow carried Qing Ling's myriad killing intents, primarily powered by the chaotic four-elemental virtual force, supplemented by Qing Ling's blood scales, and using the Fusang ancient wood as its shaft, all combined into a force of destruction.
"Boom—"
A thunderous roar shook the heavens. Amidst the rising dust and smoke, the Mu Gong clone's right palm felt slightly numb. The arrow shot back, and Qing Ling surged forward.
A thousand bells chimed in unison, and ten thousand threads flew together, forming a cocoon of azure threads that encompassed ten thousand li, like a silkworm's embrace.
Qing Ling stepped barefoot on the threads, the azure threads surging. Her black hair fluttered, and a thousand illusory sounds resonated, layer upon layer. Within the myriad azure threads, the bell sounds rebounded, collided, and merged again, one sound joining another.
The bells chimed, then stopped, the "ding-dong" sound echoing incessantly.
The illusory sounds, which permeated the void, eroded the Mu Gong clone's primordial spirit. Ten thousand bell sounds surrounded him, and the world changed.
This ten-thousand-li world dispersed, replaced by a tapestry of interweaving colors. The Mu Gong clone found himself in a stretch of ocean.
On Purple Mansion Divine Island, ten thousand cultivators prostrated in worship, all beings submitted, and an imposing elder wearing a crown and holding a scepter stood on a high platform.
The Mu Gong clone couldn't help but smile. Playing illusion with him was akin to courting death.
Outside the illusion, Qing Ling stood on the azure threads, each step she took causing the golden bells hanging from the threads to emit different rhythms.
The Mu Gong clone gazed at the magnificent scene of ten thousand cultivators worshipping and lamented, "Though it is an illusion, such supreme power is truly tempting."
As he spoke, he waved his sleeve, and the myriad worshippers turned to dust.
Outside the illusion, Qing Ling grunted, but her posture and movements remained undisturbed. The thousand bells vibrated, and illusory sounds arose again.
Above Purple Mansion Divine Island, wind and clouds churned. Myriad clouds gathered, gale-force winds arose, and rain followed. A tall figure stood high in the void, with wind, clouds, and rain converging behind him like a celestial being, his divine might like a prison.
An arrogant and noble voice descended from the nine heavens: "A mere wood spirit, where can you escape?"
The Mu Gong clone's previously smiling face froze instantly, and he exclaimed, "Primordial Azure Dragon! How is this possible?"
His usually calm and placid state of mind rippled like a lake, his focus momentarily fractured by the shock of the visual.
Because the Primordial Azure Dragon Qing Ling had conjured in the illusion was identical to the Azure Dragon in Mu Gong's memory, in terms of divine bearing, appearance, and aura, it was incredibly lifelike!
He was born on Purple Mansion Divine Island but had to leave due to the overwhelming power of the Dragon Clan, becoming a fugitive. He harbored deep resentment and fear towards the dragons.
Bai Fu, circling in the sky, suddenly approached the cocoon of illusion. The strange, deathly gray aura emanating from it ignored Mu Gong's defenses and entered, hovering above his head.
A sense of impending, strange calamity befell the Mu Gong clone.
Simultaneously, on the heavenly dome, Mu Gong's true form, merged with heaven and earth, had its fortune above its head being consumed by a deathly gray, bat-like entity. A peculiar sensation caused a slight disturbance in Mu Gong's heart, his focus wavering. His control over the Great Dao of life and death in heaven and earth weakened by a thread, being eroded and encroached upon.
Within the cocoon of illusion, the Mu Gong clone's heart trembled. He then realized it was an illusion and relaxed, calming his mind. He struck the sky with his palm, dispelling the illusory scene.
But then, the illusion around him shifted again. He found himself seated on a long chair in a grand hall, with Luo Hua lying beside him, scantily clad, at some unknown time. The soft touch and snow-white visuals made him ponder. Even though he knew it was an illusion, he still reached out and grabbed her large, soft breasts a few times. Reluctantly, he waved his hand, and the illusion dissipated.
The scene shifted again, and he was back in the world where Mu Gong and Venerable Shi were fighting. Mu Gong suffered a crushing defeat, and he saw himself being killed with a single palm strike.
After experiencing emotions like "shock, fear, desire, dread, greed," the Mu Gong clone began to anticipate the next illusion.
A torrent of blood rained from the sky. The immensely powerful Myriad Dragons fell to the earth, and the noble, proud Phoenix had its wings broken, its soul extinguished.
Heaven and earth were in chaos and terror, filled with endless killing intent. Mu Gong was shocked. In this world ruled by Dragons, Phoenixes, and Qilin, who dared to desecrate the Dragon Clan in such a manner? Who could slaughter dragons so cruelly?
He saw that person was himself, clad in a green robe, with an immortal demeanor, standing tall above the thirty-third heaven, with the world submitting to him.
...
Layer upon layer of illusions, repeated countless times. Although he knew it was false, he began to anticipate the feelings of encountering, obtaining, and enjoying within these illusions.
Driven by lifelong desire, the void infinite, illusions endless, Qing Ling traversed a thousand layers. Her ten thousand threads stepped over them, and the thousand accumulated illusions finally trapped the Mu Gong clone.
Meanwhile, the innate divine pagoda suppressing Luo Hua gradually dimmed, its power waning, and it hovered motionlessly in the air. Luo Hua quickly struggled to escape.
Qing Ling stepped over layer upon layer of azure threads. The Sky-Encompassing Net enveloped Mu Gong's body. As the illusions deepened, the Sky-Encompassing Net would bind the Mu Gong clone ever tighter!
However, Qing Ling's primordial spirit could do no more. Even though the other party was merely a sliver of a Great Luo Golden Immortal's divine sense, not a true independent clone, with extremely weak soul power, it was still not something she could destroy.
Qing Ling had only managed to trap him, or rather, lull him into slumber. If disturbed, Mu Gong would awaken from the illusion and unleash his thunderous might.
Even with him in slumber, Qing Ling was not confident of destroying him instantaneously, so she could not act, and he would not awaken for the time being.