When Bing Xue plucked a string on her zither, Mo Tie's situation deteriorated even more.
Bing Xue had learned a secret technique of the Music Dao before the competition had started. What was unique about that secret technique was that it contained laws of the Illusion Dao as well. This naturally means that Mo Tie had been thrown into an illusion.
He found himself in a field of flowers. The grass was green and a huge mountain range surrounded the entire area. His Flame Rune Armor had been disabled and his storage ring was gone.
"Humph! Do you think a measly illusion can trap me?!"
He made a hand seal and tried to channel his qi.
"Huh?!"
As Mo Tie tried to channel his qi, he found that he couldn't sense anything. It was as if he had been turned into a powerless mortal.
Suddenly, the temperature dropped significantly and he finally started to panic.
Meanwhile, Bing Xue had dropped her icy domain and was merely making hand seals to maintain the illusion. Mo Tie stood like a lifeless doll and his eyes were devoid of any life. She made another hand seal and pointed at him with a cold expression.
Inside the illusion, the greenery around him slowly turned to ice. The originally colorful and vibrant paradise slowly transformed into an icy tundra. Ice lotuses bloomed and glaciers rose, slowly approaching Mo Tie.
"N-no! Ack!"
His eyes rolled to the back of his head as countless tons of ice covered him. Outside the illusion, the spectators could only see that Mo Tie was thrashing about as if suffering from a seizure.
Mo Ling Gu frowned at this but didn't comment any further. He still had nine other spots at his disposal. However, his frown deepened when he saw several figures step forward.
Xiao Hua, Tang Die Hua and Shang Yu Hong all stepped forward at once. They exchanged a glance and each went for a different platform. It seems like they were motivated by Bing Xue's display of power and felt that they couldn't fall behind.
Xiao Hua was sensible and chose the sixth platform. She was against a wood attributed cultivator and naturally had an advantage.
Tang Die Hua chose the fourth platform and was against the pale woman wielding a whip while Shang Yu Hong chose the fifth platform against a sickly looking man.
They immediately started fighting the moment the women stepped onto their respective platforms.
The wood cultivator wanted to eliminate Xiao Hua as soon as possible as he felt the dangerous aura of her fire attribute. He crouched on the ground with both his hands pressed against the platform.
Sinister looking branches covered in black barbs emerged from the ground. The barbs emitted a viscous purple liquid and was obviously poisonous.
He pointed at Xiao Hua and shouted "Go!"
The branches intertwined and formed one giant trunk before shooting towards Xiao Hua.
She replied in kind by letting her qi surge outward violently. The fire qi took the form of a ten meter tall phoenix and lunged towards the incoming attack. It made short work of the branches before surging towards her opponent.
The man grit his teeth and made several hand seals before blowing a purple mist out of his mouth. To his horror, the fire phoenix was not impeded by the purple mist at all. It burned all of the mist, causing his face to become several shades paler as he coughed out several mouthfuls of blood essence. His killing intent soared.
"Good! You dare to destroy my blood essence, I'll remember you"
And with that, he jumped off the platform, leaving it to Xiao Hua.
Seeing how fast Xiao Hua won, the other Sacred Children looked as if they took a huge blow to their confidence. The High Pillars merely watched and did nothing as they occupied the last three spots.
…
Tang Die Hua looked at Xiao Hua's platform and was inwardly shocked. Even with the elemental advantage, her swift actions had brought her an easy win.
An ear piercing voice interrupted her thoughts, "Do you think now is the time to be distracted?"
She jumped back just in time to dodge an attack aimed at her face. Her expression darkened when she looked at the pale woman. She looked almost like a dried corpse if not for her being alive and kicking.
"I hate beautiful women the most. You remind me of some unpleasant memories"
Tang Die Hua harrumphed. She didn't bother replying to the crazed woman who most definitely went through some tough shit.
She made a hand seal and a pair of vibrant butterfly wings appeared behind her back. A single flap brought her into the air, kicking up dust and sending it towards the woman. The woman split the dust apart with a single swing of her whip. The whip then transformed, turning into a thousand snakes that shot forward.
Tang Die Hua didn't panic and waved her hand and various colored butterflies appeared and met the snakes head on. The butterflies exploded into a white mist and corroded the snakes. The pale faced woman saw that her attack was ineffective and took back her whip.
The snakes withdrew, allowing the butterflies to advance forward. The pale face woman made several hand seals and a large serpent projection appeared behind her. It coiled around her as soon as the butterflies arrived.
Boom!
Tang Die Hua bombarded the serpent projection with all kinds of attacks. She paused for a second and looked at the coiled snake below.
Pristine black scales, not damaged in the slightest. She frowned and made a hand seal.
Her wings began to shine with increasing brilliance. Multicolored lights appeared in the surrounding area as she began to chant an incantation. The snake showed no signs of moving and she decided to take advantage of that.
A large peacock projection appeared behind her back, awing the audience with its beauty. The pressure and authority it emitted made the serpent tremble slightly.
Her cold voice bought everyone out of their revere, "Descent of the Peacock Goddess"
The peacock projection moved and soared into the sky. It cawed in a lifelike manner and swooped down beak first towards the serpent.
BOOM!
An ear piercing shriek was heard and the figure of the pale face woman could be seen flying backwards. She landed outside the platform and the platform glowed, signifying a change in ownership.