Yun Heng rolled over and sat up, reaching down to grab the small bag at her waist—the one she had mistaken for a simple purse.
She extended her divine sense into the Qiankun Spirit-Storing Bag and quickly located a talisman.
A Barrier-Breaking Talisman.
Yun Heng withdrew the talisman and channeled her spiritual power through her fingertips into it. The runes on the paper rapidly lit up.
In the next instant, the Barrier-Breaking Talisman ignited without a breeze before her.
Crack.
A crisp shattering sound echoed from her surroundings, and the entire world before her eyes crumbled completely.
Yun Heng was standing back on the Martial Inquiry Platform, where the faint purple mist had not yet fully dispersed.
She held the Tianheng Broken Sword in her hand, the last remnants of ash from the burned Barrier-Breaking Talisman falling from between her fingers.
At the same time, the moment the illusion realm shattered, Yan Yi suffered backlash from the talisman. Blood churned in her chest, and she couldn't help but cough up a mouthful of blood.
Wiping the blood from the corner of her lips with her hand, she looked at Yun Heng with utter disbelief.
How could this be?
Yun Heng was clearly only at the late stage of Nascent Soul.
The Illusion Dream Talisman was one of the strongest illusion talismans in her possession. The illusion within the talisman could read the target's most familiar memories and weave truth and falsehood together.
Anyone trapped within the illusion would be completely unable to tell that everything they saw was fake.
Even an early-stage Soul Transformation cultivator without a soul-protecting artifact prepared in advance might not be able to break free in a short time.
Yet Yun Heng had not only awakened, but she had also broken through the entire illusion realm directly.
Yan Yi stared at the talisman ash falling from Yun Heng's fingers.
What was that talisman? Why could it break the Illusion Dream Talisman?
While Yan Yi was reeling with shock, Yun Heng tightened her grip on the Tianheng Broken Sword once more.
Traces of everything from the illusion realm still lingered in her mind; those scenes had been all too real.
Had the illusion not mixed the original host's memories with her own, she might not have noticed the anomaly so quickly.
Yun Heng suppressed her churning thoughts and looked up at Yan Yi.
“Now it's my turn.”
The moment her words fell, Yun Heng's figure vanished from where she stood.
So fast!
Yan Yi's pupils contracted slightly.
Yun Heng circulated the Void-Stepping Movement Technique, her body moving along the flow of spiritual energy on the Martial Inquiry Platform. Her speed was a notch faster than during their previous exchange, leaving behind barely a faint afterimage.
In the next instant, she appeared right before Yan Yi.
The frost-colored spiritual light on the Tianheng Broken Sword rapidly coalesced.
Yan Yi could feel the surrounding spiritual energy gathering toward that sword. Before the sword move even truly fell, a sharp sword intent had already locked onto her.
Yan Yi's mind raced. Now that her Floating Life Illusion Dream Talisman had been broken and she had suffered backlash, neither her spiritual power nor her divine sense had recovered. If she forcefully took this strike, even if she wasn't defeated, she would definitely be injured.
With the Qingming Secret Realm about to open, there was no need for her to damage her foundation here over a single win or loss on the Martial Inquiry Leaderboard.
Just as Yun Heng raised her sword, Yan Yi already spoke up.
“I surrender.”
As her voice fell, she did not hesitate for a second, leaping directly backward off the Martial Inquiry Platform.
Yun Heng glanced at Yan Yi, then slowly withdrew her spiritual power.
She naturally understood why Yan Yi chose to surrender at this moment. With the secret realm opening soon, preserving one's strength was what mattered most.
The fact that Yan Yi could make such a decision in such a short time was enough to prove she was not someone driven by pride or impulse.
Yun Heng offered a mental evaluation.
Indeed, a smart person.
She put away the Tianheng Broken Sword and jumped down from the Martial Inquiry Platform as well.
“Yan Yi surrenders.”
“Winner of this match: Yun Heng.”
The referee's voice was broadcast through the array across the entire Nascent Soul area.
The Martial Inquiry Arena fell silent for a moment, followed immediately by an uproar bursting out all around.
“Yun Heng won?”
“That was an Illusion Dream Talisman—how on earth did she break it?”
“I've seen Yan Yi use that talisman before. Last time, a peak Nascent Soul cultivator caught in the illusion didn't even wake up until after the referee declared his defeat.”
More and more people gathered around the Martial Inquiry Platform.
Yan Yi had comfortably held the tenth spot on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard for years. After coming to Tianque City, she had also fought against many cultivators of the same realm.
Everyone knew her level of strength.
The Illusion Dream Talisman was one of Yan Yi's deadly trump cards.
Once a cultivator of the same realm was struck by the talisman, almost no one could break the illusion on their own. Even if someone possessed a higher cultivation than Yan Yi, if their divine sense was not stable enough, they could still lose all ability to resist within the illusion.
Yet today, Yun Heng, at the late stage of Nascent Soul, had been hit by the Floating Life Illusion Dream Talisman, only to wake up from the illusion and cause a direct backlash against Yan Yi.
From beginning to end, Yun Heng had not even been injured.
Such a result had far exceeded everyone's expectations.
Standing below the platform, Yan Yi regulated her breath for a moment before suppressing the blood churning inside her body.
She showed no annoyance over her defeat, instead walking up to Yun Heng on her own initiative.
“Fellow Cultivator Yun is formidable indeed.”
“The rumors outside are true.”
Yun Heng looked at her.
“Fellow Cultivator Yan flatters me.”
“A loss is a loss.”
Yan Yi's tone was calm and frank: “That illusion just now was one of my best methods. Since Fellow Cultivator Yun was able to break it so quickly, I wouldn't have much chance of winning even if we continued fighting.”
She retrieved her Transmission Jade Slip.
“You'll be going to the Qingming Secret Realm as well, right?”
“Yes.”
Yan Yi gave a light smile.
“Then I look forward to seeing you in the secret realm.”
Yun Heng also pulled out her Transmission Jade Slip.
The two jade slips lightly touched, and with a flash of spiritual light, their respective spiritual breaths were recorded.
In the jade slip held by Yun Heng, a new name quickly appeared:
【Yan Yi.】
Having just suffered backlash from the Illusion Dream Talisman, Yan Yi's divine sense was still somewhat unstable. After bidding Yun Heng farewell, she was led to a resting room by an attendant of the Martial Inquiry Arena to heal.
At the same time, the spiritual light on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard began to shift.
Yan Yi's name dimmed from the tenth spot, while a new name vanished from the twenty-first position and surged upward.
Finally, the spiritual light came to a stop at the fifth spot.
【Fifth Place: Yun Heng.】
Gasps erupted from the surrounding crowd once more.
The top five on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard were all truly top-tier figures among the Eastern Region's younger generation.
Yet Yun Heng had used only three matches to go from unranked to fifth on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard.
Such speed was extremely rare even in the past records of the Martial Inquiry Arena.
In a distant corner, Su Mingyuan stood frozen, completely unable to accept what she had just witnessed.
Yun Heng had actually beaten Yan Yi.
What was even harder for her to accept was Yun Heng's current cultivation.
Late-stage Nascent Soul! Half a month ago, Yun Heng was only at the mid-stage Nascent Soul. In just half a month, she had actually broken through again.
She would never admit that her talent was inferior to Yun Heng's.
She was the Heavenly Destiny Spiritual Root, the female lead of the original book.
The opportunities of this world belonged to her in the first place.
So what if Yun Heng was formidable now? Xie Wujiu was the true number one prodigy of the Eastern Region.
Born with a natural sword bone, he had risen to fame in his youth, and his position as first on the Nascent Soul Leaderboard had never been shaken. Even if Yun Heng had entered the top five, there was no way she could defeat Xie Wujiu.
As long as she obtained the Qingming Spirit Seed in the Qingming Secret Realm according to the original plot and saved Xie Wujiu, everything would still be within her grasp.
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