Chapter 95 - 94: Shatter Illusion, See Truth!
The morning sun cast a brilliant glow over the emerald valley, filtering through the high windows of the grand main hall and illuminating the floorboards.
And Inside the expansive main hall, the atmosphere was light, domestic, and filled with a joyful anticipation.
Lin Yuan sat comfortably in a chair, sipping a cup of freshly brewed morning tea. Across the room, Bai Qingyue was seated in her wheelchair, her eyes wide with overwhelming emotion.
The heavy doors had opened moments earlier to admit Bai Chen, who was proudly escorting two older women into the hall. These women were not cultivators; they were master garment sellers, mortal weavers hailing from the most exclusive, high-end tailoring district of Azure Cloud City. They moved with extreme caution, their eyes darting nervously around the immortal architecture of the estate, completely awestruck by everything.
Yet, despite their fear of the immortal world, their professional pride shone through. In their hands, they carried several large, meticulously wrapped wooden boxes.
"Cousin, look!" Bai Chen announced, his youthful face beaming with excitement. "Brother-in-law instructed me early this morning to fetch the finest tailors in the city! He said a proper wedding requires the proper attire!"
The two female garment sellers quickly bowed deeply, nearly pressing their foreheads to the floor, before hastily opening the wooden boxes.
A collective gasp seemed to echo in the hall as the fabrics were revealed. Inside were wedding dresses of such breathtaking craftsmanship that they seemed to capture the very essence of fire and dawn. There were layers of the finest crimson silk, embroidered with astonishingly detailed motifs of soaring phoenixes, blooming lotuses, and sweeping clouds, all stitched seamlessly with gold thread.
"My Lord, My Lady," the head tailor spoke, her voice trembling slightly. "These are the absolute pinnacle of our life’s work. The silk was woven by masters in the southern provinces, and the gold threading took three years to complete. They are garments fit for an empress."
Bai Qingyue’s hands flew to her mouth, her eyes instantly brimming with tears. When she had been exiled to the outer city, stripped of her Saintess title and her status, the idea of a wedding was an impossible fantasy. Now, she was surrounded by opulence, being presented with bridal gowns that outshone the ceremonial robes of the Bai Clan’s patriarch.
She looked at Lin Yuan, her heart swelling with gratitude. Lin Yuan simply offered her a warm, encouraging smile, gesturing for her to make her choice.
With exciting fingers, Bai Qingyue carefully examined the dresses. She brushed her hands over the rich, crimson silk, marveling at the sheer weight and perfection of the embroidery. After several minutes of deliberation, her eyes locked onto a specific gown. It was elegant, incredibly regal, yet slightly understated compared to the others—featuring a sweeping train and a beautifully embroidered golden phoenix that seemed to dance perfectly along the hemline.
"This one," Bai Qingyue whispered softly, a radiant smile blooming across her flawless face. "I choose this one."
Lin Yuan stood up from his chair. He walked over to the merchants. With a casual flick of his wrist, he materialized a heavy pouch bursting with mortal gold coins.
He placed the heavy pouch into the trembling hands of the head tailor. It was a sum so astronomically large it could purchase a lifetime of her work.
"You have done well," Lin Yuan said smoothly. "Leave the dress. You are dismissed."
The women kowtowed furiously, thanking the Heavens and the Immortal for their boundless fortune, before hastily scrambling out of the main hall.
As the heavy doors clicked shut behind them, the familiar, chime of the system resonated within Lin Yuan’s mind.
[Ding!]
[System Prompt: Spent resources buying Dao companion cloth. Demonstrating absolute commitment and material provision to Dao Companion.]
[Triggering 750,000X Investment Return...]
[Reward generated: The spell "Shatter Illusion, See Truth!"]
Instantly, a profound knowledge flooded Lin Yuan’s mind, integrating perfectly into his understanding of the Great Dao. The system interface then materialized in his vision,
[Spell: Shatter Illusion, See Truth!]
[Description: A supreme illusion-breaking spell that allows the user to instantly perceive and shatter illusions of any grade. Regardless of whether the illusion is created by a formation, treasure, technique, bloodline, or even a cultivator of a higher realm, all falsehoods are powerless before this spell. Once activated, the user’s perception pierces through layers of deception, revealing the true nature of everything concealed beneath the illusion.]
[Effect: All illusions within the user’s perception are automatically dispelled, regardless of their grade or origin.]
Lin Yuan’s inner gaze widened in shock. The power of this spell was truly heaven-defying.
In the cultivation world, high-tier illusions were among the most lethal and inescapable traps in existence. A powerful formation could trap a Nascent Soul expert within a fabricated reality for centuries, while a Spirit Severing master could weave an illusion so profound that it could overwrite a victim’s memories and make falsehood indistinguishable from truth.
Yet this spell completely bypassed the conventional rules of realm disparity.
It did not matter whether the illusion had been created by a Qi Condensation cultivator or a supreme god from the upper realms. It did not matter how profound the formation, how ancient the treasure, or how terrifying the cultivator behind the deception was.
All illusions were falsehoods.
And before Shatter Illusion, See Truth!, all falsehoods would shatter.
"Husband," Bai Qingyue’s voice pulled him from his internal shock. She was clutching the crimson silk to her chest, her eyes shining with excitement. "I... I want to go to the master pavilion right now. I wish to try this on and see how it fits."
Lin Yuan smiled, the warmth returning instantly to his deep purple eyes. "Of course. Allow me to carry you—"
Lin Yuan’s words were violently, abruptly cut off.
Without a single moment of warning, the ambient atmosphere of the grand main hall was completely annihilated.
BOOOOOM!
A terrifying, and suffocating aura descended from the heavens, violently enveloping the entire estate. It crashed down with the force of a falling meteor. The ambient spiritual qi within the valley instantly froze, completely paralyzed by the sheer weight of a supreme expert’s domain. The temperature in the room plummeted, and the very air became as thick and suffocating as liquid iron.
Lin Yuan immediately stood perfectly straight, the warm smile vanishing from his face, instantly replaced by a cold expression.
CRACK-SPLINTER!
The grand doors of the main hall, which had just been closed by the merchants, violently snapped open. The door was physically blown off its iron hinges by the sheer pressure of the encroaching aura, shattering into hundreds of lethal wooden splinters that tore through the air like shrapnel.
"Get behind me!" Lin Yuan roared.
With a rapid wave of his arm, Lin Yuan instantly cast a massive barrier of over Bai Qingyue and Bai Chen. The wooden shrapnel harmlessly bounced off the barrier surface, turning into fine dust.
Lin Yuan stepped forward, positioning his physical body directly between his family and the ruined entrance. He did not hold back. He violently unleashed the full might of his Nascent Soul realm, instantly detonating his own aura to push back the encroaching pressure.
KRA-KOOM!
The two colossal auras violently clashed in the center of the main hall. The resulting shockwave tore the intricate silk tapestries off the walls and deeply fractured the floorboards. The invisible collision of domains created a literal tempest of conflicting spiritual energy, tearing the room apart.
As his aura pushed back against the suffocating, aura flooding through the doorway, Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed into razor-thin slits.
He recognized that aura instantly. It was the exact same signature that had attempted to crush him atop the Peak of Golden Wisdom.
So, he came himself, Lin Yuan thought.
Through the swirling dust and the shattered remains of the grand doorway, a figure slowly stepped into the main hall. He was clad in a silver-threaded black robes that seemed to passively devour the surrounding light, his face twisted into a cold mask of authority.
It was the Middle Stage Nascent Soul expert of the Zhao Province.
The person that stepped through the door was Envoy Zhao Wuhen!