The situation was far more serious than they had imagined.

"If the strangulation formation of the illusion cannot be broken, then we can only try to destroy the great formation that extracts spiritual energy. The illusion depends on the great formation for its existence. If the great formation disappears, the illusion will also disappear."

"Let's rescue them first, and once they're out, have them immediately go find the core of the great formation."

Shen Sangruo immediately arranged the next countermeasures.

With Lin Qianyin, who was skilled in illusions, they quickly discovered the location of the next illusion, which was not far from them.

"Sang Ruo, we found it!" Lin Qianyin exclaimed with delight.

The two of them worked together to tear the illusion apart.

This time, they clearly saw that the space in front of them seemed to have been torn open, revealing the illusory world below.

In the pure white space, Jiang Chu, who was punching the air repeatedly in an attempt to shatter the illusion, met their gaze.

Jiang Chu was completely bewildered; her outstretched fist remained suspended in mid-air, unsure whether to retract it or continue striking.

Jiang Chu:......

Shen Sangruo: ...

Lin Qianyin: ...

The scene immediately fell silent, and the already tense atmosphere became even more awkward.

"Ahem, isn't this an attempt to get out of the space?" Jiang Chu pretended to be nonchalant as she withdrew her hand, then leaped out through the torn opening.

His face showed no panic, but rather a sense of boredom, as if he had not encountered any strangulation formation.

Jiang Chu's next words proved this point: "Those evil cultivators are really sick. They just captured me and put me in that space, but did nothing. They just left me waiting there."

"Could it be that they're planning to wear me down and kill me in that space, just like they did with the previous passage?"

Compared to the life-or-death choices others faced in their illusions, Jiang Chu was unusually calm, as if she had been forgotten.

He'd been so bored he'd practiced several sets of boxing, and he was practically growing mushrooms on his head from staying in that space all day.

Seeing the tense atmosphere between the two, even if Jiang Chu was completely oblivious to the situation, she should have realized that something was wrong.

"Why do you all look so tense? Where are the others? Is our space different? Did something else happen in your space?" he hurriedly asked.

The two then briefly and quickly recounted what had happened in their illusion.

Jiang Chu was already bewildered in the wind. "Wait, wait, wait, why did so many things happen in your illusionary spaces, but my illusionary space didn't even have an illusion? It's been a blank space from beginning to end?"

He only realized now that it was actually an illusionary space.

"Although I'm not the strongest in the team, I shouldn't be looked down upon like this, right? I don't even qualify to have an illusion created for me?"

Shen Sangruo and Lin Qianyin exchanged a glance and understood why Jiang Chu hadn't been drawn into that choice.

Because they didn't have much of a connection with her, they were excluded from the group's hostile circle and were thus forgotten in a corner.

"In some ways, they are quite clear about their grudges and debts." She smiled, but her eyes were cold.

"What 'them'? What 'clear distinction between gratitude and resentment'?"

Because they had only given a rough outline of what had just happened, Jiang Chu was completely confused by what she was saying.

She concealed the coldness in her eyes and said to Jiang Chu, "It's nothing. It's a good thing that you weren't created into an illusion. You're not at risk of being hunted down by the strangulation formation, making you the best candidate to find the formation's core."

"Asane and I need to rescue the others from the illusion as soon as possible, so we can't get away. The task of finding the array's core is entrusted to you."

Jiang Chu knew the gravity of the situation; if they couldn't find and destroy the array's core in time, they might all perish.

“We are now inside the palace, and there shouldn’t be any other obstacles in finding the array’s core. You can rest assured and leave this matter to me,” Jiang Chu said earnestly.

Everyone's lives depend on him, and he is under immense pressure.

But there was no other way; no matter how much pressure he was under, he had to move forward.

Jiang Chu quickly disappeared from their sight.

With someone already searching for the array's core, Lin Qianyin's worries lessened considerably, and she focused her attention more intently on finding the illusion.

She gently closed her eyes, her delicate hands continuously plucking the strings of the guzheng in front of her, intently sensing the existence of the illusion.

The ethereal melody echoed in the empty palace, unhurried yet giving people a strange sense of illusion.

If one's mind is not firm, one will be unknowingly drawn into a dream by the music she plays.

For Lin Qianyin, who is at the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, to be able to use illusion techniques to this extent is quite remarkable.

Based on previous patterns, the two deduced that the illusions might all land in one place, since the three of them landed at adjacent points, so they continued to explore the vicinity.

The two searched the surrounding area but couldn't find any other people's illusionary locations.

“They might not be in the same place as us. Let’s look somewhere else,” Chen Sangruo said.

Instead of complaining or blaming others, they immediately adjusted their strategy and looked elsewhere.

I just hope they can hurry up, and that the people in the illusion can hold out longer.

Later, just like before, Shen Sanruo used her divine soul power to probe, hoping that her senior brothers, sisters and companions would respond to her like Lin Qianyin did.

Meanwhile, in various illusionary realms.

Almost half an hour has passed, and the worst off are Feng Heyun and Wen Xuan.

The two were being chased and killed by two strangulation formations at the same time. Their bodies were almost at their limit in every aspect. They could not even gather the spiritual power to protect themselves, and their life force was being lost extremely severely.

The sound of their heavy breathing was like that of a broken bellows; they might really be going to die in this illusion.

With only one thought in mind, she hoped that the illusion would keep its word and let Shen Sangri leave alive.

Secondly, there are Lu Shiqing and Luo Chu, two people who have trapped themselves in their own web.

At this moment, they didn't even have the energy to complain about each other, and their condition was equally poor.

Then there are Fang Yu and Ji Zicang, who are facing a difficult situation. Bai Ruoan is also in a difficult position because she has already been targeted by Lu Shiqing before making her choice.

Ye Huai, Song Weiyan, Su Xiyu, and Shi Zhili were in slightly better condition, but not by much.

While dodging the strangulation formation, they were all thinking about how to get out of the illusion, closely observing the changes in the illusion.

Since Chen Sangruo had already left the illusion, they knew she would definitely try to come and save them.

They also need to cooperate with her promptly; they can't just wait for her to come to them.

They kept a portion of their attention on it, and the six members of Ninghua Sect and Shi Zhili almost simultaneously discovered traces of Shen Sangruo's divine soul power.

"I've found the other people!"

"They responded to my divine power!"

Lin Qianyin and Shen Sangruo's voices rang out at the same time.

“But I only felt a response from the six members of our Ninghua Sect and Shi Zhili; the Feiyun Sect members did not respond,” Shen Sangruo added.

Lin Qianyin also said, "I have discovered ten points of revelation, so we are still missing two."

Second update! Thank you all for your support! *tweets*

(End of this chapter)