Chapter 543: Illusion Mist Stones
"Always expecting the best outcome, aren’t you?" Marcus said with a chuckle as he gently pinched Jade’s delicate nose. "What if there’s a high-level boss waiting for us in there?"
Even as he teased her, his arms instinctively tightened around her slender waist, drawing her a little closer. She settled comfortably against him, warm and soft, and Marcus couldn’t help feeling strangely content.
Jade, naturally, wasn’t worried in the slightest. She leaned into his embrace without the slightest hesitation, resting her smooth hands lightly on his arm as she looked up at him with sparkling eyes full of trust, and pouting her perfect lips, she smiled mischievously.
’This little devil...’ She was practically inviting him to tease her. Marcus smiled helplessly before giving her nose another light flick.
Putting the moment behind him, he activated Eagle’s Vision once more and carefully guided everyone toward the center of the formation.
Unfortunately, reaching it proved far more difficult than spotting it. He had first seen the formation’s core nearly eighty meters to their right hours earlier, yet after two full hours of winding through the Illusion Mist Palace, constantly doubling back through twisting passages and dead ends, they still hadn’t arrived.
Several times, the maze forced them so far off course that the core disappeared beyond the range of Eagle’s Vision altogether, making it feel as though they were moving away from their destination instead of toward it.
Fortunately, nobody minded. The girls chatted and laughed as they traveled, casually clearing every group of monsters they encountered along the way. The atmosphere remained relaxed enough that, when lunchtime arrived in the real world, no one wanted to log out. They simply took a quick break and hurried back, eager to continue exploring together.
Somehow, the maze no longer felt like a frustrating trap. It had become part of the adventure.
By the time everyone returned from lunch and spent another three hours making their way through the winding passages, they finally emerged before a broad stone entrance. Beyond it lay a square clearing, the heart of the Illusion Mist Palace.
"Marcus, I don’t see a boss anywhere," Amber called after having Amethyst fly above the doorway for a better look. The entire chamber was clearly visible from above, yet apart from the three enormous pillars constantly releasing white mist, it appeared completely empty.
"Let me check." Marcus finished off the last few monsters nearby before walking toward the entrance. Without stepping inside, he activated Insight and examined the three pillars.
—
Illusion Mist Array: While traveling through Cloud Mist Mountain, Lamp-Lighter Daoist discovered three naturally formed Mist Stones capable of endlessly producing dense mist. He carved them into rune-covered stone pillars, infused them with illusion techniques, and arranged them into the Illusion Mist Array, allowing them to generate an endless sea of mist that could confuse and mislead intruders. He later combined the array with the surrounding maze, creating the Illusion Mist Palace. Only weapons or skills possessing the Destroy property can directly break this formation.
A pity. Had Lamp-Lighter Daoist possessed nine Mist Stones instead of three, he could have created the legendary Nine-Labyrinth Palace, an Immortal-tier formation capable of trapping even gods.
—
So this really was the core of the formation. Marcus remained cautious, ordering his two Sea Demon Souls into the clearing first.
Nothing happened. No monsters emerged, no hidden traps activated.
To be absolutely certain, he had Goldie, the Shadow-stained Gryphon King, soar into the chamber before unleashing a powerful Dark Storm at the three stone pillars. The violent winds scattered the thick white mist in every direction, causing it to churn wildly throughout the chamber, but even so, nothing else happened.
Only then did Marcus finally relax. "Looks safe. Let’s go."
The group stepped through the stone doorway together.
The clearing was completely silent. Apart from the constant stream of mist pouring from the three pillars, there wasn’t another living thing in sight, and Marcus quickly understood why.
According to Insight, only attacks or weapons possessing the rare Destroy property could actually damage the formation itself. Abilities like that were extraordinarily uncommon, so Lamp-Lighter Daoist had probably never felt the need to station guardians here. After all, if no one could destroy the array, there was nothing to protect.
Which also meant... there probably wasn’t any treasure hidden here, either.
Marcus was just about to suggest leaving when he noticed Anya and the ever-curious Firebrand wandering around the ancient pillars, admiring the intricate runes carved into their surfaces.
Firebrand, in particular, had become fascinated by the fist-sized triangular white crystals slowly orbiting each pillar like tiny clouds given solid form.
Unable to resist her curiosity, she reached out and lightly touched one. The instant her fingers made contact, the crystal flashed with brilliant white light, detached from the pillar, and floated gently into Firebrand’s hand as though it had always belonged there.
"Stone... I..."
Firebrand froze on the spot. Holding the triangular crystal with both hands as though it might explode at any second, she looked toward Marcus with wide, slightly panicked eyes.
"Nobody touch the other two!" Marcus reacted instantly, his voice sharp as he swept his gaze across the clearing, his body tensing. Every instinct screamed that this was exactly the sort of moment a hidden boss would appear to ambush them.
One second passed, then another, and nothing happened. The chamber remained perfectly still.
Marcus frowned. ’What does this mean?’
His mind raced through several possibilities. Would removing all three crystals summon a boss? Open a hidden chamber? Reveal a secret passage? Or perhaps it would trigger something else entirely.
Remaining on guard, he walked toward Firebrand to inspect the crystal in her hands while simultaneously activating Insight on one of the two remaining orbiting crystals.
—
Illusion Mist Stone: While the Mist Stone pillars continuously produced white mist to sustain the Illusion Mist Palace, they also spent thousands of years absorbing moonlight from Crescent Island and the immense energy contained within the surrounding sea. Five hundred years ago, the accumulated energy finally condensed into three Artifacts: the Illusion Mist Stones.
—
Marcus blinked. ’...Damn.’ He had completely overlooked them.
From the beginning, he had assumed the triangular crystals were simply decorative parts of the pillars rather than separate objects. Because of that mistaken assumption, he’d never even thought to inspect them individually with Insight. That was an embarrassing oversight.
For a brief moment, he’d actually wondered whether Firebrand possessed some absurd hidden ability with the Destroy property and had accidentally broken one of the pillars in a single touch. Instead, she had simply picked up a genuine Artifact.