Boom!
The sword energy lashed out in a streak of golden flame, hacking fiercely into the stone wall. However, the great hall seemed to have been built from some unknown material—the blade that could destroy mountains and seas did not even make a dent on the wall.
Gu Yu was not surprised at all. This Great Hall of Skills of Lüshan was said to be operated by Xu Xun, and refined instrument of the renowned Celestial Master of his time could only be out of the ordinary. Gu Yu was not planning to destroy the palace, either. He only wanted the thing hiding deep inside this place to open up a passageway for him.
Hence, he activated his energy, and raised his sword again.
Boom!
He exerted power several times stronger than the first strike's, and golden flames as dazzling as sunlight covered an entire wall with a whooshing sound. This was an effective strike. A few distinctive scratches were left on the wall by the blade, instantly destroying the integrity of the frescoes.
Gu Yu carried on with his attacks, using the hall as a training target. His sword slashed down continuously, hacking at the giant columns, stone walls, and even the dome overhead. It was a frantic rampage.
He was sure that whatever was hiding behind the curtains would not sit there watching an outsider ruining this place.
Hum!
After twelve successive strikes, he mustered all this power, at which the sword roared like a dragon, and he himself turned into a red sun, and finally… creak!
A stone gate suddenly opened on the foremost wall of the hall. Meanwhile, the whole place was lit up, and it finally looked like a normal building.
"..."
Preoccupied with Xiaozhai's well-being, Gu Yu did not even offer a sarcastic remark. He dashed through the stone gate like a flash of light.
Outside was another black hall with similar style, but this stone hall had passageways on all four sides, with open spaces leading to some unknown place.
Gu Yu didn't know where to go, and had to reach out with his mental force, searching every inch of the space like plowing a field.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The interior of Lüshan was boundless. Gu Yu searched one stone hall after another, but they just kept showing up. Some were completely empty, some had a few rush cushions, while others had tables, chairs, and low beds lying around, with teapots and cups on the tables. They felt so full of life.
However, he did not see a single person.
If anything in this world could make Gu Yu restless at this stage, it could only be Xiaozhai. The lengthy search came up empty, and Gu Yu stood there, getting worried. All of a sudden, the expression on his face changed, and he swerved to the left.
"Layman Gu!"
A figure hurried near, and was rejoiced to find him here. It turned out to be Shi Yunlai.
"Priest Shi, where did you come from?" asked Gu Yu immediately.
"After entering the mountain, I broke out of a dark place first, and was then hindered by an illusion. Once figuring that out, I ended up here."
"Have you seen Xiaozhai anywhere?"
"No, I'm sorry!"
'Tsk!' Gu Yu pursed his lips and calmed his mind, explaining, "The interior of Lüshan is separated into different small universes by some space-distorting method; these universes operate on individual basis without interfering with one another. This place should be the main section. Let's find the others first."
Hence, the two went on searching together. Before long, Lu Yuanqing and Bai Yunsheng also showed up with similar experiences as Shi Yunlai.
They were both very surprised, asking, "Has Laywoman Jiang not come out yet?"
"She's probably still trapped in the illusion."
'Huh? That's not good!'
Lu Yuanqing knew how fond the two were of each other, and tried to help. "How did you all break out of your illusion?"
"I ran into a version of me that was possessed by the obsession of sword. I broke out after killing it!" said Bai Yunsheng indifferently.
"Mine was similar to that," said Shi Yunlai.
"Mine too. It was also about letting go of obsessions, and defeating delusions to perfect my state of mind." Lu Yuanqing nodded, then added, "It seems that was the way to break out of the illusion: let go of the obsession or kill it—if it comes in the form of a person."
Kill it?
Gu Yu's brows furrowed into a knot as he sighed deeply in his head. He could guess exactly what Xiaozhai would be running into.
He could take out Xiao Qiu and Xiaojin without any hesitation, for he knew perfectly well that they were not real. But, more importantly, it was because that thing had made a wrong judgement in considering them as the objects of hidden desire in his subconsciousness.
But in Xiaozhai's case, she...
"Sigh!" Gu Yu closed his eyes slightly, then opened them. In that instant, a million ideas ran through his head. "Something unusual is hidden in this mountain. It is either an ancient immortal, or a treasure left behind by one that has become spiritual. It can control the divine mountain, and it is vital that we find it asap."
"Ancient immortal… treasure…"
"Are you not going to search for Laywoman Jiang anymore?"
There was too much information in one paragraph, and the other three were having a difficult time digesting it.
"She's trapped in her illusion, and there is no use in trying to find her. We can only wait until she see through it herself, or…" Gu Yu paused there and rose to his feet, speaking loudly at the dark stone dome high above. "Senior, since you've opened the gate for us, I think that's a sign of accepting the five of us. Could you give us a hint how to proceed from here?"
"..."
There was no response.
"Senior, you've let us in, but would not meet us. What it is that you want?"
"..."
Still no response.
Gu Yu's eyes turned dark as he went on, "I have no idea who you might be. All I want to say is: I have no time for this. Either you show yourself, or I'm going to chop this lousy mountain into pieces, even if that will cost the last bit of my energy!"
"You ignorant youngster! How dare you!"
The response finally came, though he could not tell from where. Right after that, there resounded a shoo!
A piercing shriek rang out beside their ears, short but unbroken, as if it was drilling into their brain.
Lu Yuanqing and the other two were petrified, and immediately activated their energy to ward it off. However, the shriek punctured their defense like an icepick, boring right into their minds.
"Aaaah!"
The three had to sit down cross-legged, mustering all their power to adjust their breathing to ease the pain.
Gu Yu was shocked all the same. It looked like a sound wave attack from wuxia novels, but was actually similar to the Shadow-switching Technique, which was a method to attack the mind directly.
As a Human Immortal, the strength of his mind was way beyond that of the innate state priests, yet even he could not help but be affected by that sound.
"Impressive!"
Activating his Void Air-controlling Technique, Gu Yu vanished in the air instantly, turning into an intangible form of himself. The two sides were now fighting directly with their minds, and could see each other's move much more clearly.
He followed the sound by covering his track, and arrived at a small hall. He then reappeared with a whoosh, with his sword striking out forcibly. Golden flames filled the air. Boom!
"Why, that's a very odd stance!"
The voice was surprised, but not panicked in the least. A great energy rose out of the hall, and easily caught the incoming blade.
'!!!'
Gu Yu was now genuinely shocked. That was a defensive shield consisting purely of the power of the mind, which had stopped the energy of the sword.
Had it been a refined instrument or some special skill, Gu Yu would find it much easier to accept. However, he was warded off by a mind's power alone, so exactly how powerful this mind had to be?
The shock it brought Gu Yu far exceeded that of meeting that female Druid. The difficulty between the two tasks were not of the same magnitude.
"Nice move!"
Gu Yu was not scared off, but was even encouraged by this. Striding forward, he struck out again.
"You ungrateful youngster! Do you have any idea what place this is?"
"Cut the crap!"
Boom!
"How arrogant! I have been merciful so far, so you'd better stop when you still have the chance!"
Boom!
Gu Yu ignored the voice, acting as if he had completely lost his mind, and was hacking down frantically at this only target. That was actually not the case. He chose to do so because he was worried about Xiaozhai, because his wrath had been woken up by this rare opponent, and because he had his own speculation.
Lüshan had been sleeping here for over five centuries, which meant even if the other party was an ancient immortal, he couldn't be too advanced in his cultivation state, or he would have long acted freely with his own power with no need for the sacrifice.
Moreover, if this one was really an Immortal or Earthly Immortal, Gu Yu would already been obliterated for his impertinent remarks, yet he was still lashing out with his sword, wasn't he?
"This is outrageous!
"You wanton yougster!
"You!
"All right! Stop! Stop!"
After a long while, Gu Yu was almost running out of his energy, while the other side still had strength to spare. However, whoever was inside was obviously not used to this type of mindless attacks, and called for a ceasefire.
'Phew…' Gu Yu rejoiced in secret. Fighting back the energy that was going wild inside him, he bowed at the hall. "I apologize for offending you just then, but my hands were tied. May I know the title of the senior inside, please? We'd appreciate it if you could come out and meet us."