Chapter 1064
A New Height
Shi Ji also laughed and said, "This is all thanks to you, Brother Qingyang. If you hadn't discovered the weakness of the phantom beast, we would probably have had to go through a lot more trouble."
The two exchanged a smile, both feeling a sense of relief.
After this battle, their teamwork became more seamless, and they gained a better understanding of each other's strengths.
In their subsequent adventures, Shiji and Qingyangzi encountered many more dangers and challenges.
However, thanks to their exceptional skills and seamless teamwork, they managed to resolve each crisis.
They not only acquired abundant treasures and resources, but also made many like-minded friends and partners.
During this process, Shi Ji's cultivation level gradually rose to a whole new level.
His understanding of heaven and earth became more profound, and his control over true qi became more free and flexible.
Finally, during an in-depth exploration, Shiji and Qingyangzi found the core area of the Heavenly Illusion Secret Realm.
It holds countless precious opportunities and treasures, but it is also full of extreme dangers and challenges.
The two exchanged a smile, both understanding that they were ready to face the final test.
They joined hands and forged ahead, striving for their dreams and goals...
After a hard-fought battle, Shiji and Qingyangzi finally succeeded in passing the final challenge of the Heavenly Illusion Secret Realm and obtained the most precious opportunities and treasures in the realm.
Their cultivation level was thus greatly improved and leaped forward.
When they left the secret realm, they were already top experts renowned throughout the primordial world.
Shi Ji looked at Qing Yangzi gratefully and said, "Brother Qing Yang, thank you for your care and help all this time. Without you, I would not have achieved what I have today."
Qingyangzi smiled and patted Shiji on the shoulder, saying, "Brother Shi, you're too kind. We're all family, helping each other is only right. I believe you'll go further, higher, and stronger in the future!"
Shi Ji nodded firmly and said, "I will! Brother Qingyang, let's work together to become the strongest in the primordial world!"
Just as they were about to leave the Heavenly Illusion Secret Realm, a mysterious light descended from the sky and enveloped the two of them.
They felt a powerful force surge into their bodies and involuntarily closed their eyes.
When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in an unfamiliar place.
This is a vast grassland with a few white clouds floating in the sky, and a majestic mountain peak can be vaguely seen in the distance.
"Where is this?" Shi Ji asked in surprise.
Qingyangzi looked around, his brows furrowing slightly. "I don't know either. It seems we've been transported to another place by some mysterious force."
Shi Ji's heart skipped a beat as she recalled some legends mentioned in the cultivation methods taught by the mysterious man. She wondered, "Could it be that we have arrived in the legendary realm of gods?"
Qingyangzi was taken aback upon hearing this, then laughed and said, "The God Realm? That's not a place we can easily set foot in. But this place is indeed unusual, so let's proceed with caution."
Shiji and Qingyangzi began exploring this mysterious world, searching for their way home. They traveled along the edge of the grassland and soon came to a dense forest. The trees were towering, their branches and leaves so thick that they blocked out the sunlight, making the entire forest appear gloomy and eerie.
"Something's strange here, we need to be careful," Qingyangzi warned.
Shi Ji nodded, circulated her inner energy, and condensed a sword beam in front of her to protect herself. They carefully traversed the forest, constantly alert to any movement around them.
Suddenly, a deep roar came from ahead, shaking the leaves to their core. Immediately afterward, a huge beast charged out of the woods and pounced on the two.
"Watch out!" Shi Ji shouted, his figure flashing as he dodged the beast's pounce. A flash of light appeared in his sword as he slashed at the beast's neck.
However, this beast was even stronger than the previous mythical beast.
It was agile and dodged the stone's attack, then turned and swung its claw at the stone.
Seeing this, Qingyangzi swung his longsword, and a sharp sword aura slashed towards the beast's claws.
The sword energy was unstoppable, and in an instant, it severed the beast's claws and sent them to the ground.
The beast let out a miserable cry, turned around, and fled into the depths of the forest.
"That was close!" Shi Ji wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. "This beast is incredibly powerful."
Qingyangzi also sighed, "It seems we underestimated the dangers of this world. We must be more cautious from now on."
They continued onward, weaving through the dense forest.
The sunlight was blocked by layers of branches and leaves, with only dappled light and shadow falling on the ground.
The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the occasional chirping of birds and the sounds of insects.
"Something doesn't seem right here." Shi Ji suddenly stopped, her brows furrowed.
"What's wrong?" Qingyangzi asked, while also stopping to observe.
“Have you noticed how quiet it is here?” Shi Ji looked around. “Apart from that beast just now, we don’t seem to have encountered any other living creatures.”
Upon hearing this, Qingyangzi also noticed something amiss.
He released his spiritual senses to investigate the surrounding situation.
However, his spiritual awareness seemed to be suppressed in this forest, unable to extend very far.
“It is indeed a bit strange.” Qingyangzi withdrew his spiritual sense. “My spiritual sense is limited here and cannot explore too far.”
Shi Ji nodded: "I feel the same way. There seems to be some mysterious force interfering with our senses here."
The two exchanged a glance, both seeing wariness in each other's eyes.
They knew that some kind of secret must be hidden in this forest.
Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, rustling the leaves.
Immediately afterwards, a dark figure darted out from the depths of the woods and pounced on the two.
"Watch out!" Shi Ji shouted, and dodged the attack from the dark figure.
His sword flashed, and he thrust it towards the shadowy figure.
However, the dark figure was incredibly fast, dodging Shi Ji's attack and turning around to grab at him with a claw.
Shi Ji retreated rapidly, simultaneously circulating her inner energy to condense a sword aura that slashed towards the dark figure.
The sword energy was incredibly sharp, instantly cleaving the dark figure in two.
But the dark figure did not bleed; instead, it turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated into the air.
"This is..." Shi Ji was stunned, not expecting the black shadow to turn into black smoke and disappear.
“This is an illusion.” Qingyangzi frowned. “The ferocious beast we encountered earlier was also an illusion.”
Upon hearing this, Shi Ji suddenly realized: "No wonder we thought they were so powerful, they were all illusions."
Qingyangzi nodded and said, "There must be some kind of mysterious power hidden in this forest that can create these illusions to confuse us."
Shi Ji took a deep breath, composed herself, and said, "We cannot be deceived by these illusions. We must remain clear-headed and find the source of that mysterious power."
Qingyangzi agreed: "That's right. We must be vigilant at all times and not be distracted by these illusions. At the same time, we must find the source of that power as soon as possible, otherwise we may be trapped and die in this forest."
The two continued on, carefully navigating through the woods.
They kept a close watch on their surroundings, fearing another phantom attack.
At the same time, they are also searching for the source of that mysterious power.
However, they found no clues.
This forest was like a giant maze, leaving them unable to find their way out.
They could only keep moving forward, hoping to find some clues. Just then, a faint light came from ahead.
The two followed the light and soon arrived at a wide open space.
In the center of the open space stood an ancient stone tablet, covered with ancient runes and patterns.
The runic patterns emitted a faint glow, illuminating the entire open space.
"Is this the source of that mysterious power?" Shi Ji asked, looking at the stone tablet.
Qingyangzi carefully examined the runes on the stone tablet, then nodded and said, "That's right, this stone tablet is the source of the mysterious power in this forest. These runes form a complex array that is continuously releasing mysterious power."
Shi Ji stepped forward and reached out to touch the runes on the stone tablet.
He could sense the powerful force contained within these rune patterns.
That power filled him with awe and reverence.
“We must destroy this stone tablet in order to leave this forest,” Qingyangzi said.
Shi Ji nodded in agreement.
He knew that destroying the stone tablet would not be easy.
The runes on the stone tablet form a powerful array, and it would take considerable strength and skill to destroy it.
So the two began to discuss countermeasures.
They decided to join forces to attack the array on the stone tablet, hoping to destroy it.
Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi stood in front of the stone tablet, gazing at the rune patterns that emitted a faint light.
They knew that the powerful energy contained within these runic patterns was the key to their escape from the forest.
"We must proceed with caution; the array on this stone tablet is no ordinary formation," Qingyangzi cautioned.
Shi Ji nodded, circulating his inner energy in preparation for an attack.
However, at that moment, he suddenly noticed that the runes on the stone tablet began to flicker, as if a mysterious power was flowing within them.
"Wait! Something's happened!" Shi Ji shouted hurriedly.
Qingyangzi also sensed the abnormality and quickly released his spiritual sense to investigate the surrounding situation.
However, his spiritual awareness seemed to be suppressed in this open space, unable to extend too far.
"What's going on?" Qingyangzi asked, frowning.
Shi Ji did not answer; he stared intently at the runes on the stone tablet.
The runes flashed faster and faster, eventually transforming into beams of light that shot into their bodies.
"Ah!" Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi exclaimed at the same time, feeling a powerful force erupt within their bodies.
That force instantly impacted their meridians and acupoints, causing them excruciating pain.
However, just as this force was about to destroy their bodies, it suddenly disappeared.
Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
They felt as if their bodies had been reforged, becoming stronger and more resilient.
"What's going on?" Qingyangzi asked, his face full of confusion and fear.
Shi Ji took a deep breath, trying to calm the shock in his heart. He slowly said, "I don't know exactly what happened, but that power didn't seem to be malicious. On the contrary, it strengthened our bodies in some way."
Qingyangzi remained silent for a moment after hearing this, then nodded: "I feel the same way. Although the process was painful, I feel that my spiritual awareness and true energy have been significantly improved."
The two exchanged a smile, both seeing relief in each other's eyes. They knew this was a gift from the mysterious power of the forest, a recognition of their courage and wisdom.
Shi Ji stood up, dusted herself off, and said, "Now that we have obtained this power, we should strike while the iron is hot, destroy the stone tablet in one fell swoop, and leave this forest."
Qingyangzi agreed: "That's right, our current strength should be enough to deal with the formation on the stone tablet."
So the two of them stood in front of the stone tablet again, gazing at the rune patterns.
They circulated their internal energy and spiritual awareness, preparing to unleash their strongest attack.
Shi Ji swung her longsword, and a sword aura condensed and slashed at the formation on the stone tablet.
At the same time, Qingyangzi also released a powerful sword aura, which merged with Shiji's sword aura to form an even more fierce force.
"boom!"
Two sword energies slammed into the stone tablet, unleashing a deafening roar.
The runes on the stone tablet instantly lit up with a dazzling light, as if resisting their attack.
However, under the powerful force of the two sword energies, the light gradually dimmed.
"Crack!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out, and a rune on the stone tablet split open.
Immediately afterwards, more rune patterns began to crack.
Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi were overjoyed to see this, knowing they had found a way to destroy the stone tablet.
So they continued their attack, sword energies slashing at the stone tablet, destroying the runes and patterns one by one.
As the last rune cracked, the entire stone tablet lost its light.
It began to sway, as if it might collapse at any moment.
Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi took a few steps back, looking at the stone tablet warily.
They knew that the collapse of the stone tablet might release powerful energy fluctuations, and they had to be careful.
As expected, when the stone tablet completely collapsed, a powerful energy burst forth from it and spread outwards.
That energy was full of destructive power, as if it wanted to devour everything around it.
However, Shi Ji and Qing Yangzi were prepared. They circulated their internal energy and spiritual sense to form a protective shield around their bodies, isolating that energy from the outside.
The energy fluctuations lasted for a moment before gradually dissipating into the air.
When everything returned to calm, Shiji and Qingyangzi saw that a bottomless cave had appeared on the open space that had been occupied by the stone tablet.
The cave was pitch black, as if it led to an unknown abyss.
"It seems this is the road to the outside world," Shi Ji said, looking at the cave.
Qingyangzi nodded: "That's right. We've finally found a way out."
The two looked at each other and smiled, both letting out a sigh of relief.
They knew they had successfully escaped the Phantom Forest and were about to embark on a new adventure.
After a short rest, they entered the cave hand in hand, stepping into the unknown world...
The cave was pitch black, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The two of them could only rely on their spiritual senses to perceive their surroundings.
They discovered that the cave was not as simple as it seemed; it was like a maze, winding and confusing, making it difficult to find one's way.
"We seem to be trapped in a huge maze," Qingyangzi said, frowning. "The structure of this cave is too complex; we can't find the exit directly." (End of Chapter)