Chapter 0491: Illusion Formation
Li Luo and the others moved swiftly across the crimson sea.
He himself took point, eyes constantly flicking around them to scan for danger, his resonant power at the ready on his fingertips to deal with any sudden changes.
The others were equally alert.
Pssht.
Hisses of vapor and geysers of fire and magma punctuated their advance, and they avoided them prudently. Although the anima dew was supposed to be able to negate the effects of the fire in the Dragon's Belly, the water membrane was also constantly being worn down just by the environment.
They had no intention of letting it wear out too liberally.
The group pressed on, tension in their movements. They came across other schools along the way, but they moved either singly or in pairs. Seeing a group of six made them fearful enough to give the Astral Sage students a wide berth, afraid that Li Luo and the others would attack them.
Which meant that they had a smooth journey.
Before they knew it, they had already spent six hours in the Dragon's Belly.
According to the information they had gathered, they had to be in the middle zone of the Dragon's Belly by now. They should be out of Dragon's Belly in another 10 hours, and on Dragonbone Island.
Li Luo heaved a sigh of relief.
Just at this moment, Lu Qing'er sped up until she was beside him. Her fragrance tickled his nose before he turned to see her.
"Li Luo, there's something odd."
"Odd?" Li Luo said tensely. "I don't like odd. I like smooth and uneventful things."
"I think the anima dew membrane is evaporating at a faster rate than before."
Li Luo stared at her in alarm. "You can detect that?" He had just taken it for granted that the membrane would be gradually evaporating as they moved on, and had not paid much attention to its condition.
"It used to take 80 breaths of time before one tick of evaporation would happen. But 10 minutes ago, the rate doubled to 40 breaths of time."
Li Luo was amazed. "You actually kept track?"
Lu Qing'er blushed. "I can't be of too much help here, so I thought I'd better pay more attention to the details that I can manage. But nothing changed around us... why would the evaporation rate suddenly double?"
Li Luo nodded. He quickly raised his fist in a sign.
The group halted, looking at him doubtfully.
Li Luo did not say anything yet. He counted 40 breaths silently to himself, and then saw a tiny shimmer on the water membrane.
His face grew serious.
"What's wrong, Li Luo?" Bai Doudou asked impatiently.
"Something's not right. The evaporation rate of our anima dew membrane has doubled, but nothing seems to have changed. That's not normal."
Lu Qing'er explained her calculations to the rest, who quickly tested it out for themselves and confirmed the situation.
"Could this be a normal thing?" Wang Hejiu asked cautiously.
"It's possible," Li Luo agreed. "But what if it's not?"
Wang Hejiu's expression was sober. If it were not a normal phenomenon, they were in trouble. Li Luo's prudence was reasonable. In such a dangerous environment, such an insidious difference could see them all eliminated.
None of them wanted to be eliminated in such an unsatisfying manner after all their efforts.
"But there's nothing unusual around us. The anima dew not only separates us from the heat of the Dragon's Belly, it also dulls our senses." Bai Doudou frowned.
And yet they could not let the anima dew membrane evaporate. That was death.
"I feel uneasy about it also," Qin Zhulu said in a low voice. "Could there be some invisible danger around us?"
Li Luo felt a chill run down his spine.
"Maybe it is our eyes that are not seeing reality," he said slowly.
"You mean... we're in an illusion?" Yi Lisha said, startled.
Li Luo formed a seal with water resonant power, creating a drop of dark-blue energy.
He dabbed it on his eyes.
"Water resonance art, Clear Eyes!"
This was a basic resonance art with not much use besides its ability to see through some illusions.
The cool liquid spread across his eyes, and suddenly the world was clearer. Li Luo looked around him, and his eyes widened dramatically.
Bai Doudou, Qin Zhulu, and the others' hearts sank. Trouble.
Without them asking, Li Luo quickly flicked several drops of the same liquid towards their eyes.
They allowed the liquid to settle, then they could alsosee the situation around them clearly.
Despite the heat, they all turned pale.
The sea that they were supposed to be above was now boiling like crazy. It was a flaming sea.
Even with the anima dew's protection, they flinched at the fury of the flames beneath them.
They knew that without the dew, they would have been incinerated to a crisp long ago.
And now they knew why the anima dew membranes were evaporating so quickly. Without knowing it, they had walked right into a flaming sea.
But how had they come in without realizing it?
An illusion?
But whose?
And why?
"This isn't an ordinary illusion, it's a powerful illusion formation," Li Luo said. "And someone created one so advanced that all of us walked in without knowing. I think there's only one person in the Hall-level competition who can achieve that."
Bai Doudou gritted her teeth. "Lu Ming?"
Lu Ming was nicknamed the Illusory Thunderbolt, and illusions were said to be her specialty.
Lu Qing'er frowned. "Why would she attack us?"
Li Luo looked up. "Jing Taixu," he called out sternly. "Is this your doing?"
The others jumped, looking around them in alarm. And then a person materialized out of thin air. Jing Taixu!