Chapter 627

Chapter 627: Layered Phantoms

The instant the light and shadow flashed, Ye Yun spotted several figures ahead. One looked vaguely familiar.

As his vision cleared and hearing returned, he saw the group approaching with thunderous footsteps.

Ye Yun froze, then cracked an incredulous smile.

“Brother Wuqing? Is that you?”

The man approaching was Murong Wuqing, whom Ye Yun had last seen when they parted on the first layer. After entering the Ice Tower, Ye Yun hadn’t encountered him again—never expecting to meet him here, in the Ethereal Void Breaking Array of the final layer.

Murong Wuqing seemed equally startled. After a pause, a rare smile tugged at his lips.

Despite his name, Murong Wuqing wasn’t heartless. A hidden fire burned beneath his icy exterior, visible only to those he valued. Since leaving the Jin Kingdom, his interactions with Ye Yun had kindled a flicker of regard.

“Ye Yun. You reached the Ice Tower… even this layer.” Murong Wuqing strode forward, smile widening.

Ye Yun laughed. “Brother Wuqing! I thought you hadn’t entered. I saw hundreds of cultivators earlier, but not you.”

Murong Wuqing snorted. “Master Hei Xu’s pack? Cowards, all. They cower before stronger opponents—how can such weaklings cultivate? Even if they survive, their achievements will stagnate without courage.”

Ye Yun nodded. “United, they might’ve defeated Master Hei Xu despite losses. But divided minds can’t unite. He exploited that fear to dominate them.”

“Exactly why I avoid their ilk.” Murong Wuqing gestured to the two men behind him.

Ye Yun’s gaze shifted. The pair stood half a step behind Murong Wuqing—subordinates, clearly. Yet their auras pulsed at the Fourth Level of the Nascent Soul stage, bordering on Fifth Level. Astonishing, that such experts would follow another.

Reassessing Murong Wuqing, Ye Yun’s eyes narrowed. In mere days, Murong Wuqing had broken through to the First Level of the Nascent Soul stage. With his talent, his combat power now dwarfed most below the Fifth Level. No wonder these two followed willingly.

“Who are these brothers?” Ye Yun asked.

Murong Wuqing gestured. “Lu Yun and Lu Cheng—half-brothers I met in this secret realm. Peak Fourth Level Nascent Soul experts. Wandering cultivators.”

A glimmer of excitement flashed in Ye Yun’s eyes. Under thirty, yet already at this level? Even sect prodigies rarely achieved this. For wandering cultivators—lacking resources and techniques—this bordered on miraculous.

Ye Yun clasped his hands. “Greetings, brothers.”

Lu Yun returned the gesture. “No formalities. We bonded with Brother Wuqing through battle. His brother is ours.”

“Call on us anytime,” Lu Cheng added.

Murong Wuqing suddenly stared at Ye Yun. “You reached the sixth level of the Golden Core stage? Did you undergo heavenly tribulation?”

Lu Yun and Lu Cheng exchanged puzzled glances. Sixth level Golden Core? They’d surpassed that before twenty. Why the awe?

Murong Wuqing explained, “Brother Ye isn’t ordinary. At the fourth-level Golden Core stage, he could hold his own against early Nascent Soul experts—escape unscathed if needed.”

The brothers gaped. A Golden Core cultivator rivaling Nascent Soul ancestors? Unless using divine artifacts… but if this was raw power—

Their minds reeled at the implication.

“Big brother, when you were at the fourth-level Golden Core stage, you could hold your own against First Level Nascent Soul experts, right?” Lu Yun asked curiously.

Murong Wuqing shook his head. “I could barely last a few moments. Yet this brother of mine tangled with a Second Layer Nascent Soul expert while still at the fourth-level Golden Core stage and escaped unharmed. What does that say about his cultivation?”

“You’re joking! Throughout history, only a handful could challenge early Nascent Soul experts from the Golden Core stage. Those rare cases relied on supreme artifacts. Brother Ye Yun must’ve used treasures too,” Lu Cheng said skeptically.

Murong Wuqing laughed. “Treasures? He only owns a decent purple longsword. His power comes from comprehending heavenly laws. Do you know what technique he practices?”

“What technique?” the Lu brothers chorused.

“The Cleansing Immortal Heart Technique!” Murong Wuqing emphasized each word.

Lu Yun and Lu Cheng exchanged shocked glances. The Cleansing Immortal Heart Technique wasn’t rare—major sects and even street vendors sold copies for spirit stones.

Yet in ten thousand years, fewer than twenty recorded cultivators reached the Golden Core stage using it. Nascent Soul practitioners were rarer than phoenix feathers. How could this technique let a fourth-level Golden Core cultivator challenge Nascent Soul experts?

“If you doubt me, spar with him yourselves,” Murong Wuqing suggested.

Lu Yun brightened. “I’d like that!”

Ye Yun finally cut in, “We’ll spar later. Right now, we must escape before this light fades.”

Murong Wuqing blinked. “Escape? What light?”

“You didn’t experience the void’s darkness?” Ye Yun pressed.

“No,” Murong Wuqing replied. “We entered normally. Saw Master Hei Xu’s group vanish in black light, then found you.”

Ye Yun frowned. If the Ethereal Void Breaking Array could selectively trap people, why weren’t they affected? The light would last only an incense stick’s burning time—they needed answers fast.

“When the black light flashed, did you notice anything unusual?” Ye Yun asked.

Murong Wuqing shook his head. Ye Yun’s mind raced. The Ancestor of the Sword Path had said vision took a day to recover in the array, yet here everything happened in moments.

“The array must be flawed,” Ye Yun muttered. “Ancestor, can you still sense that object?”

“It’s nearby but shifting,” the Ancestor’s voice echoed.

Ye Yun tried expanding his spirit perception but failed. Yet he’d clearly sensed Murong Wuqing’s First Level Nascent Soul cultivation and the Lu brothers’ Fourth Level. How?

“Big brother, is your spirit perception restricted here?” Ye Yun asked abruptly.

As Murong Wuqing opened his mouth to reply, all three figures dissolved into sparkling motes.

“Illusions!” Ye Yun gasped. The array had perfectly mimicked human presence, exploiting his trust.

“Now you see,” the Ancestor said grimly. “The Lord of the Ethereal Void’s tricks make reality itself untrustworthy.”

Ye Yun glanced around. Half the incense time remained. “We need to find that treasure before darkness returns.”

He slammed fists against empty air. The spatial crystal wall rippled but held. After hundreds of blows, the Ancestor sighed, “Useless. Not even peak Nascent Soul experts could break this without special artifacts.”

As Ye Yun paused, ghostly figures materialized—Master Hei Xu leading hundreds in black robes.

“You?!” The illusionary Master Hei Xu glared furiously.

Ye Yun sneered at the perfect mimicry. Another test from the array—but this time, he wouldn’t be fooled.