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What was most astonishing was that this Evil Being was covered in countless thick metal chains. These chains were as thick as goose eggs. Li Hong had read through numerous refining materials but could not identify what kind of metal these chains were made from.
The shining silver color resembled the silver from the Mortal Realm, permeated with tiny, vibrant purple particles that made it look beautiful. The texture was clearly extremely tough and hard, which suggested that this Evil Being had been trying to break free from these chains for countless years, yet not a single chain had snapped; at most, some had stretched and slightly deformed.
All these strange and rare metal chains passed through every bone of this Evil Being, penetrating deep into the Black Jade Platform, continuing down into an unknown thickness of a peculiar yellowish hard soil layer. Li Hong's Divine Consciousness kept probing but could not see the end.
No wonder this Evil Being could not move at all; even knowing that Li Hong had entered, it could not turn its head.
Seeing the condition of this Evil Being, Li Hong realized that everyone, including himself, was wrong. The true mastermind behind everything was not the Demon Dragon before him but the person who had tethered this Demon Dragon here!
This person was the real puppet master. His cultivation and methods were undoubtedly extraordinary, capable of orchestrating such a grand scheme; even a powerful Demon Dragon that could control celestial palaces was merely his captive.
The question was, where was that person?
The Demon Dragon no longer strained to turn its head or claw at the Black Jade Platform beneath it; it calmed down, its two crimson eyes slightly squinting. The expression on its "face" was one of disdain, coldness, and ferocity, seemingly not taking Li Hong seriously at all. However, Li Hong could clearly sense the tremor deep within the soul of the Demon Dragon; it was actually very afraid and was desperately pretending to be unafraid of Li Hong.
Suddenly, the Demon Dragon began to speak human words. Its voice was deep and carried a distinct sense of authority. It said, "You insignificant being has some skill; considering you found my true form, I grant you the position of the next Immortal Emperor. You should know what an Immortal Emperor represents—immortality and mastery over the celestial realm with supreme authority. How about it? Are you satisfied? Now you may leave."
Li Hong remained silent as he listened but found it increasingly amusing. By the end, he couldn't help but burst into laughter: "You useless captive still think you can act like a boss here! Do you think being an Immortal Emperor is something special? By the way, didn't your creation Xu Da tell you that he died by my sword even after offering me the position of Immortal Emperor? Oh, I get it; Xu Da must have died too quickly to inform you about it! In that case, you're not much of a bargaining chip; no one cares about being an Immortal Emperor. Now tell me, who tied you up here? Where is that person? If you answer clearly, I might consider letting you live. Otherwise, I can't promise how many pieces I will reduce you to!"
The Demon Dragon became furious upon hearing this. It swung its flat Dragon Tail Whip, and an unexpected surge of black mist erupted from its mouth like a cloud of black smoke, fiercely charging toward Li Hong.
Li Hong had no idea what this was; upon contact with his Awareness, he realized it was non-toxic. Just as he intended to summon True Fire to burn away this strange black mist, he heard Heavenly Torch shout from behind: "I understand now; you are Shenlong! Brother, get out of the way!"
Heavenly Torch had taken on human form since entering but had remained silent until now. When Li Hong and the Demon Dragon were exchanging barbs earlier, Heavenly Torch did not intervene. Initially puzzled by his silence, Li Hong now understood that Heavenly Torch had been deep in thought all along.
Li Hong reacted quickly, immediately dodging the strange black mist.
This strange black mist did not hit Li Hong, but it did not dissipate either; instead, it slowly spread out, drifting through the narrow stone crevice above. Li Hong immediately understood that the malevolent aura he had sensed earlier was emanating from this black smoke.
But what exactly was this black mist? Why did Heavenly Torch sound somewhat nervous?
Heavenly Torch continued to shout, "Brother, step back! I'll handle this! It turns out to be a rare Shin Yao; I have my own way to deal with it!" His form shifted back into that of a dragon. The Cave Full of Crystals was instantly illuminated by the flames radiating from Heavenly Torch.
The Evil Being's eyes widened like copper bells as it watched Heavenly Torch flying before it, clearly feeling both envy and fear. It turned out that what it feared the most was fire.
Heavenly Torch communicated telepathically, "Brother? Do you know about Shenlong?"
Li Hong's heart stirred. He had heard of a type of dragon in the sea that could create mirages; could this type of dragon be Shenlong?
Heavenly Torch continued to convey, "Shenlong is actually a branch of the dragon clan, possessing the same bloodline as dragons. They are extremely rare, even rarer than our true Divine Dragon clan. All Shenlong possess a very rare ability: they can create illusions. This is not an ordinary illusion; everything in this illusion is real and exists because Shenlong uses its own cultivation and abilities to create it. As long as Shenlong does not retract it, everything within this illusion truly exists and can even consume resources to grow. Now do you understand?"
Li Hong's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you saying that the celestial palace and the hundreds of thousands of immortals we see are all illusions created by this Shenlong?!"
"That's right! That's exactly what I mean! But you need to know that Shenlong's illusions are fundamentally different from ordinary illusions; they are real and not false. Unless it retracts them, everything remains as it is."
"I understand!"
Li Hong never expected that the entire celestial palace was actually an illusion! All these scenes were fabricated by Shenlong based on the imaginations of ascended immortals! However, this also answered many of Li Hong's questions about why the Celestial Palace of Leisure and Xu Yang Immortal Palace looked so similar, and why after severely injuring the Demon Dragon beneath the Celestial Palace of Leisure... now Li Hong was certain that it was also a Shin Yao. The restrictions suddenly vanished, and the great river disappeared as well.
Li Hong turned to Shenlong and shouted, "You are now caught by me and my brother! You can retract the celestial palace if you want, but if you dare to retract the outer city where mortals live and that great river, I will make a hundred cuts on your body right now!" Li Hong threatened fiercely, fearing that Shenlong might not believe him. He immediately summoned Yue Que, holding it in his hand and coldly stating, "If you dare to move recklessly, I'll let you taste its effects again!"
Shenlong squinted his two red demon eyes, various thoughts swirling within. After a while, he finally spoke, his tone sincere and understated, sounding much more pleasant. He said, "Those mortals are merely products of **; it's strange that you care about them. But if you want them to live, then keep them; I won't take back that river. What I want to know now is, since you already know my secret, what do you intend to do with me? You probably also see that I am being used as a pawn by someone else; I am just as much a pitiful being as you are, no, a pitiful dragon."
Li Hong looked at Heavenly Torch.
Seeing Shin Yao signal, Heavenly Torch transformed back into human form and made a slight nod that was almost imperceptible, only noticeable to Li Hong.
Li Hong Ask the Way: "It's actually quite simple. Just tell the one who tied you here that we have disrupted his plans. All you need to do is lure him out and bring him before us."
Unexpectedly, Shenlong flatly refused: "I can't help you with that."
Li Hong immediately became annoyed. "Are you really not afraid that we will kill you with a single sword strike?"
"You can kill me, but I still wouldn't know," Shenlong replied stiffly.
"What exactly do you know?"
"Why should I tell you?" Shenlong grew impatient, his gaze turning fierce again.
"Heh, you really don't have to tell us, but don't forget that your life is still in our hands," Li Hong warned.
"You can't kill me; even if you destroy my true form, it won't matter. Don't say I didn't warn you—if you truly destroy my true form, those mortals outside won't stand a chance of surviving," Shenlong said slowly.
Li Hong immediately communicated with Heavenly Torch. Heavenly Torch straightforwardly replied: "What he said is correct. He retracted the Celestial Palace Illusion mainly because he was injured by us and needed to recover his Celestial Essence. You see, this has indeed worked; he doesn't have a single wound on him. However, if we were to destroy his true form, that great river outside would definitely vanish immediately; we truly cannot kill him. Moreover, Shenlong is very difficult to truly kill. The reason he currently cannot escape the Demon Baby is because he was injured by us. But if we destroy his true form, his Demon Baby would easily be able to escape. It's very hard for anyone to eliminate Shenlong's Demon Baby, as it is constructed from a very mysterious energy of his own making, existing between reality and illusion. Therefore, Shenlong is practically immortal; even our true Divine Dragon does not possess this ability."
Li Hong, scratching his head in frustration, realized why the mastermind chose Shenlong as a henchman—it was obvious due to all of Shenlong's remarkable abilities.
Thinking of this, Li Hong shouted, "I can't do anything to you! But I hope we can have a good talk. If we can't come to an agreement, I have my ways to deal with you. I hope you won't regret provoking me then!"
Li Hong's fierce demeanor was evident. Shin Yao fell silent for a moment before softening his stance. He lowered his eyelids and said, "You want me to hand over the person I brought here? I really can't do that. Since I can remember, I've been locked up here, and I don't even know who the person in charge of me is. How can I hand him over to you?"
Li Hong scratched his head in frustration and could only ask the Way, "So do you know how many of your companions are in this immortal realm? Hmph, I killed one in Xiaoyao City; are there actually four of you?"
A flicker of unusual color flashed in Shenlong's eyes. After a long while, he finally spoke, "Yes, I did sense that there were three companions besides me at the beginning, but now I can only feel one. Also, do you know why you ascend to the Northern Immortal Palace instead of coming here?"
"Does it have anything to do with you?" Li Hong asked skeptically.
"Of course," Shin Yao replied confidently. "Actually, a long time ago, when I could occasionally communicate with my companions through sensing, we three established an unwritten rule: if a dragon ascended, it must ascend to the Northern Immortal Palace. There is no Immortal Emperor there, so we wouldn't be caught and absorbed by the Immortal Emperor, which helps preserve a bit of our dragon lineage. Now you two understand why you were so lucky to ascend to the Northern Immortal Palace, right?"
"Are you saying we should thank you?" Li Hong said leisurely.
"I didn't mean that; I just wanted to prove that I'm not a bad dragon, especially when it comes to my own kind." When he said this, Shin Yao's gaze was almost sincere.
Li Hong was almost convinced but calmly replied, "You really are cunning."
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