At present, Evan Chu still can't directly manifest light-element particles. Although he possesses light element in his body, he hasn't yet cultivated Light Transformation, so this will take some time.
It's like someone getting a martial arts manual—they might read it over and over, but if they haven't learned the technique, it's impossible to use it. The only way is to actually cultivate it.
Evan Chu sat in front of the Emerald Gate, took out the Light Spirit Pearl, and continued to slowly absorb the light energy inside. Soon, he slipped into a selfless, meditative state, just like an old monk entering deep trance.
Meanwhile, outside the barrier, thousands of people had gathered. Zane Zuo of Coldshroud Imperial Palace was among them, but faced with this invisible light barrier, he was completely helpless. Everyone was burning with impatience, desperate to get inside and see what the Immortal Emperor’s Treasure was really like.
Quite a few people started attacking the barrier, but the result was either death or serious injury. The light element’s powerful offensive force was far beyond what they could resist.
Zane Zuo felt frustrated, but since he couldn’t get inside, he simply gave up and left without lingering. In his heart, he muttered, “Even if you all get the Immortal Emperor’s Treasure, so what? As long as I master Demonic Sevenfold Slaughter, none of you will be my match. Whether I get the treasure or not doesn’t matter.”
If Nolan Nangong knew Zane Zuo was cultivating Demonic Sevenfold Slaughter, he would be utterly shocked—and would stop at nothing to kill him. This martial art is insanely defiant and cruel, originally created by a powerful fiend from the Demonic Realm. After the war between the Demonic and Immortal Realms, it somehow appeared in the Immortal Realm.
To cultivate Demonic Sevenfold Slaughter, you must kill forty-nine virgin girls every day and absorb their blood for forty-nine days straight. Only then does the process stop, and at that point, you need to ‘harvest’ adult women—not by killing, but by intercourse, draining all their yin qi until they die as dried corpses, with even their Immortal Spirit Force disappearing completely.
The further you progress in cultivating this art, the greater your need for women—absorbing dozens a day becomes normal. Such a vicious technique is hated by gods and men alike, but if mastered, its attack power is terrifying. When the original fiend reached only the fifth slash, there were few Immortal Emperors who could stand against him.
If someone were to reach the sixth or even seventh slash, there might not be anyone in the Immortal Realm who could be their match. Demonic Sevenfold Slaughter’s power is about equal to Evan Chu’s Sevenfold Absolute Cleave—if Zane Zuo really masters the sixth slash, Evan will gain a true mortal rival.
All of this was unfolding in secret. Evan Chu kept absorbing the light energy from the Light Spirit Pearl, while Yvonne Xuan and the others, after entering their separate stone gates, each faced their own challenges.
Nolan Nangong entered the first stone gate. At first everything went dark, but in an instant the surroundings lit up—he found himself in a scene filled with birdsong and blooming flowers.
His first thought was that this must be an illusion. He hadn’t expected to enter an illusion realm, but to claim the Emerald Immortal Empress’s treasure, the first step was to break through this illusion. The more beautiful the illusion, the greater the hidden danger—making it even harder to guard against.
As a late-stage Immortal Emperor, Nolan Nangong had seen his share of illusion realms and had some experience breaking them. He stood still and released his divine sense, enveloping the entire illusion space—something even Evan Chu couldn’t do yet.
He quietly sensed every change in the grass, trees, and energy fluctuations around him. After standing there for more than an hour, Nolan noticed a white stone about twenty meters ahead. This stone occasionally emitted faint energy ripples—so subtle that only someone with his powerful divine sense could detect them.
Noticing this, Nolan immediately sent out a burst of sword-qi from his hand, striking the white stone with a loud "bang!"—the stone shattered instantly.
Right away, eight more white stones appeared around him. Nolan quickly smashed each one in turn, and at this point he realized what kind of illusion he was trapped in—it wasn’t really an illusion, but a formation.
This formation was called the Nine‑Palace Blossom Fairy Array. Although it wasn’t dangerous, if you couldn’t break it, you’d be trapped inside forever. The white stone Nolan found was the core of the Nine‑Palace Blossom Fairy Array; once you destroy that core, the other eight array eyes appear.
But when the array eyes appear, you have to smash them as quickly as possible—otherwise, who knows when they’ll show up again. The most terrifying part of the Nine‑Palace Blossom Fairy Array is that it can morph into other formations.
If you break the first stone but don’t shatter the other array eyes in time, the array will quickly transform into the Eight‑Trigram Heaven‑Shrouding Array. If you fail to destroy that array’s core, it will become the Big‑Dipper Seven‑Star Array, then the Six‑Harmony Heavenly Origin Array, the Five‑Element Dragon‑Binding Array, the Four‑Symbol Tiger‑Subduing Array, the Three‑Talent Spirit‑Void Array, and finally the Yin–Yang Taiji Array.
Every one of these formations is extremely complex, and the further they go, the more dangerous they get. Nolan Nangong had read about the Nine‑Palace Blossom Fairy Array in an ancient text and knew how formidable it was, so he frantically shattered the eight array eyes—otherwise, if the array morphed into another formation, escaping would be nearly impossible.
By now, his face was drenched in sweat, but at least he made it through safely. After breaking the formation, the scene reverted to what it looked like after entering the stone gate. White beads embedded in the stone walls glowed with silvery light all around him.
In another stone gate, the Martial Spirit Dominion’s Grand Elder faced a similar challenge to Nolan Nangong’s—his trial was the Big‑Dipper Seven‑Star Array. To break the formation, he also had to find the array eye, but the Grand Elder was an expert in formations. It didn’t take him long to recognize the Big‑Dipper Seven‑Star Array.
He broke the array in less than the time it takes for half a stick of incense to burn—easily the quickest of the five. Meanwhile, Lara Luo (Fairy Luoxia) didn’t encounter a formation, but a true illusion realm. A massive river appeared before her, its surface burning with flames. The fire was so intense that she didn’t dare approach.
She had to cross the river to reach the other side, but the flames made it nearly impossible. The river and fire felt so real that it was hard to tell whether this was an illusion or not. The flames weren’t quite as hot as Heavenfire, but they were close.
If she fell into the flames, she’d be reduced to ashes. At this moment, Lara Luo hesitated, unsure whether she should risk forcing her way across the river.