"Boom~"

Even with Venerable Spirit Butterfly speed, it was impossible to stop the tragedy from happening.

A huge hole was created beneath the feet of Venerable White's exploration team. In the next moment, the ground unexpectedly gave way, and a bottomless pit appeared underneath them!

Since they were caught off guard, they all fell into the bottomless pit.

"Aaaaah! Is our team going to get wiped out a second time?" the miss whose dao name was temporary 'Fairy Bright Star' called out.

Cave Lord Snow Wolf shouted, "What a horrible feeling!"

"..." Great Master Profound Principle.

True Monarch Fallout tried to use a flying sword to decrease his speed, but it was all useless. "I can't fly... it seems there are flight restricting runes in this place. Fellow Daoist White Crane, can you assume your true form and flap your wings to see if you can fly?"

True Monarch White Crane forced a smile and said, "I've already tried... but I wasn't even able to assume my true form!"

From the looks of it, it was a targeted trap!

Right at this time, Venerable White said suddenly, "Everyone, don't worry. The entity below doesn't seem to have evil intentions. Let's just allow things to take their natural course and reach the bottom of the pit."

"The entity below? There is someone below?" Venerable Spirit Butterfly asked in puzzlement. Why hadn't he felt anything? After all, his senses weren't inferior to that of Venerable White's!

"Bang, bang, bang~"

The members of the exploration team fell down as though they were stuffed dumplings and reached the bottom of the pit one after another.

Soon after, Venerable White calmly crawled out of the hole. He patted his clothes and used something akin to the 'clothes cleansing technique', restoring his clean and tidy appearance.

Then, he made a hand seal and activated the 'Ground Leveling Spell', filling and leveling up the hole he had created.

Venerable Spirit Butterfly came out of the hole while embracing Soft Feather. Soft Feather was the weakest person on the scene, and without Venerable Spirit Butterfly's help, she would get surely injured if she were to fall from such a height.

Next, Great Master Profound Principle, True Monarch Fallout, True Monarch White Crane, True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon, and Cave Lord Snow Wolf also came out of the holes they had created.

Cave Lord Snow Wolf asked, "What is this place?"

At this time, Venerable White suddenly gestured them not to speak. Venerable White was carefully looking ahead, trying to scrutinize something.

Venerable Spirit Butterfly and the others looked in the same direction as Venerable White, but they didn't see anything besides a stretch of charred black earth.

Venerable Spirit Butterfly said via secret sound transmission, "Fellow Daoist White, is there something ahead?"

Venerable White turned his head around and asked out of curiosity, "There is the picture of a powerful ancient cultivator holding a speech. It should be something akin to a video recording that this stretch of land recorded down. Can you really not see it?"

All the members of the group shook their heads.

In their hearts, they were clear about what was going on. It was likely something related to fate.

If there was fate, they would be able to see the scene. If there was none, they wouldn't be able to see anything no matter how close they were.

All the fellow daoists were really curious about the content of the scene. After all, it was the scene of a powerful ancient cultivator holding a speech! Although it was just a small scene that this stretch of land had recorded down, it was still something extremely valuable.

It was such a great opportunity to gain new knowledge, but the fact that they couldn't see anything even if they were close made them feel uncomfortable.

❄️❄️❄️

Venerable White pondered for a while and said, "So that's how it was. I understand now. Perhaps I can solve this problem."

Then, he turned his head around and added, "I ask all fellow daoists not to resist. I'm going to use a short-range 'illusory reality'."

After he had said this much, a thin dimensional layer started to spread out from Venerable White's body.

Venerable Spirit Butterfly though to himself, I didn't think I would be able to witness Fellow Daoist White's desert world in this place.

The other fellow daoists were also very curious about it. They already knew that the shape of Venerable White's illusory reality was that of a desert.

The powerhouses of the True Monarch rank were even more curious about the 'illusory reality' skill.

The 'illusory reality' was the signature skill of Seventh Stage Venerables, and experiencing the illusory reality firsthand would be of great help to them while breaking through the Seventh Stage Venerable Realm in the future.

The thin dimensional layer kept spreading, but the so-called 'desert world' didn't appear.

"?" All the fellow daoists were confused. They could clearly feel that they had entered the illusory reality, but why hadn't their surroundings changed?

"Is it possible that it's a 'transparent' illusory world?" Venerable Spirit Butterfly was very experienced and immediately guessed what was going on.

I didn't expect Fellow Daoist White to have such a deep understanding of the illusory reality already. It seems that the illusory reality he can summon is no longer restricted to the 'desert world' only...

However, what's the deal with this transparent world?

The illusory reality was a skill that could change the surrounding area and create an illusory version of real-world objects. But the transparent world hadn't changed anything about the surrounding area... in that case, what was its purpose?

Just as everyone was in deep thoughts, a figure slowly emerged from the group of people, sitting cross-legged.

The figure had gentle-looking features and seemed like a kindhearted person. If they wanted to play the role of a villain, they could only play the role of a gentle-looking black-hearted villain.

"Senior Song!" Fairy Bright Star (Soft Feather) called out in amazement.

How had little friend Shuhang suddenly appeared within Venerable White's illusory reality?

At this time, just after appearing, Song Shuhang revealed a bitter smile and said, "Hello, Senior True Monarch White. I'm right beside you!"

"?" Soft Feather.

"?" True Monarch White Crane.

"?" Cave Lord Snow Wolf.

"..." Great Master Profound Principle.

Venerable Spirit Butterfly, True Monarch Fallout, and True Monarch Tyrant Flood Dragon had, on the other hand, a pensive look on their faces.

"..." Venerable White.

Venerable White was also at a loss right now. He had just tried to summon his illusory reality, but contrary to his expectations, the desert world didn't appear. Instead, another completely different illusory world made its appearance.

Moreover, what was the deal with Song Shuhang suddenly making his appearance in this place?

Anyway, just as Song Shuhang said 'Senior True Monarch White' earlier... the scene felt rather familiar for some reason.

Right at this time, Song Shuhang's expression turned into one of shock as he screamed, "The brakes, quickly press the brake! ...Senior, this is not what I meant! There is a cliff ahead!!"

After hearing these words, Venerable White's expression turned awkward. He remembered this scene. It should be from that time he drove a car for the first time and fell from a cliff together with Song Shuhang.

But why had this scene suddenly appeared in the 'illusory reality'?

When the other fellow daoists saw Song Shuhang's panic-stricken face, they couldn't help but feel guilty... it seemed that little friend Shuhang suffered a lot when he was taking care of Senior White back then!

Then, around twenty seconds later, Song Shuhang's expression suddenly became blank as he said, "Memories such as... Little White, when your—"

"Bang!"

Blood spurted out!

Senior White had b*tch-slapped away this 'little friend Shuhang' born from the illusory reality, with fresh blood spurting all over.

All the fellow daoists were dumbfounded and had yet to react to what was happening.

But right at this time, the slapped little friend Shuhang tenaciously crawled up and continued his sentence, "Little White, when your hair reaches—"

But before he could finish the sentence...

Venerable White's body flickered and immediately appeared next to 'little friend Shuhang'. Then, he gently patted his body and said calmly, "Turn into sand."

"Aaaah~" little friend Shuhang screamed in pain and turned into golden sand.

The golden sand quietly fell to the ground.

It was such a fearsome scene... Senior White had just silenced a witness! Although this little friend Shuhang was only an illusion, the gentle Senior White had unexpectedly killed him to prevent him from speaking.

The volume of information transmitted to the brains of the people here present was simply too much to process!

All the fellow daoists felt their hearts tremble. They felt as though they had inadvertently witnessed something terrifying.

But what was little friend Shuhang trying to say in the end?

Something related to hair apparently...

'When your hair reaches'... reaches what?

It was simply impossible to make out the full contents of the sentence!

They were all really curious as to what little friend Shuhang would have said if he hadn't been mercilessly murdered!

Sometimes, curiosity got the best of people. They clearly knew that little friend Shuhang might have revealed a shocking secret if he hadn't been stopped in time—a secret so shocking that Senior White might have to kill them too or beat them until they had forgotten everything!

But the more dangerous the secret, the more people felt like uncovering it.

After all, the more dangerous it was to obtain a fruit, the sweeter it would taste!

Unfortunately, little friend Shuhang was killed so fast that he was unable to spill the beans.

❄️❄️❄️

Just as the various fellow daoists were in deep thoughts and 'Little friend Shuhang No. 1' was turned into sand, another little friend Shuhang suddenly appeared within the illusory reality.

After appearing on stage, 'Little friend Shuhang No. 2' revealed a bitter smile and said, "Hello, Senior True Monarch White. I'm right beside you!"

Venerable White was speechless. ...It's not over yet?

The eyes of the various fellow daoists immediately lit up. It wasn't over yet!

The corner of Venerable White's mouth twitched. Immediately after, he stretched out his finger and pointed at 'Little friend Shuhang No. 2', saying, "Silence!"

At this time, they were inside Venerable White's illusory reality.

Therefore, Senior White could control everything there. When he told the newly spawned 'Little friend Shuhang No. 2' to shut up, the latter immediately shut his mouth and didn't dare to speak.

At the same time, a regretful expression appeared on the faces of the various fellow daoists.

❄️❄️❄️

Venerable White clapped his hands and attracted the attention of the various fellow daoists.

Then, he pointed his finger toward a distant place and said, "Try to look in that direction again."

The other fellow daoists raised their heads and watched in the direction Senior White pointed.

Soon after, their eyes lit up. The originally charred black earth had now been replaced by an ancient forest with towering trees that were tall enough to reach the sky, green grass, small streams, and a huge place reserved for ceremonies and discussions.

After the illusory reality covered the whole area, they were unexpectedly able to see the scene of the ancient cultivator holding a speech through Venerable White?

An illusory reality could be used in such a way? Even Venerable Spirit Butterfly felt that he had learned something new today.

The fellow daoists had temporarily forgotten about the matter related to Song Shuhang's unfinished sentence. Their attention was now concentrated on the scene before their eyes.

Above the ceremonial place was the partly visible silhouette of a powerful ancient cultivator. They were wearing the same cap daoist priests used to wear in ancient times, as well as a daoist robe with golden patterns. The cultivator was currently sitting cross-legged on a jade white lotus throne.

Above the head of the ancient cultivator was a full moon-shaped halo that concealed their appearance, making the onlookers unable to see their face clearly.

When the various fellow daoists saw the full moon-shaped halo on the head of the figure, several sudden realizations welled up in their hearts.

The radiant full moon-shaped halo implied the person they were seeing was an 'Immortal' that had found their own 'way' to immortality.

The halo was like a mirror, and regardless of the level of the cultivator looking at it, they would come to different realizations after the radiance stemming from the 'way' shone onto their body.

At this time, the ancient cultivator made a seal with one hand and used the other one to gently sway the fly-whisk. All of this while discussing a very famous religious text—the Daoist Canon.

This religious text was circulating in the world of cultivators even up to this day, and even a buddhist such as Great Master Profound Principle had some understanding of the Daoist Canon.