The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu

Chapter 24: The Power of Illusions

This isn't the scariest part yet. If the illusionary realm is 100% real, then what about alchemy within the illusion?

If you're experimenting with a new pill recipe, would succeeding in the illusion mean you can replicate the steps in reality and succeed as well?

Consider that in the illusion, you can perform countless experiments without losing any real-world materials. This ability is truly extraordinary.

Of course, this ability is rather redundant for Long Xuan. He creates his own pill recipes without needing extensive experimentation. His methods are a hundred times more efficient, but for others, this ability is undoubtedly a top-tier skill.

Yet, alchemy isn't the only thing you can do in the illusion. Anything can be done within it. In a way, it’s akin to foreseeing the future.

You can take actions in the illusion that you wouldn't dare attempt in reality. If successful in the illusion, you are guaranteed to succeed in reality. This illusion is equivalent to foreseeing the future.

You can even foresee what treasures are in any household. Want to know what treasures a great Clan hides? Simply replicate their treasury in the illusion and explore it yourself.

Long Xuan was utterly terrified by this inconceivable ability. Even the most ordinary abilities, when filtered through his imagination, produce frightening results.

But this isn’t the scariest part. If the illusion is 100% real, what happens if you kill someone in it? The more Long Xuan thought about it, the more his scalp tingled.

He realized he couldn't develop this any further. If he pushed this illusion beyond its limits, it might be banned by the heavens.

After repeated experiments, Long Xuan finally understood the limitations of this illusion.

Although the original realm can replicate any scene, you must have seen the scene with your own eyes. Seeing the general outline is sufficient; there's no need for meticulous detail.

Additionally, the larger the scene, the longer it takes to replicate. If the scene contains high-level treasures, the replication time increases further.

Therefore, this technique is more useful for support than combat. In battle, it has significant limitations but is very useful against enemies who like to talk.

Moreover, the illusion can simulate any precious materials within the scene but does not include sentient beings or items carried by them, such as clothes and storage bags. The illusion hasn't developed artificial intelligence yet.

However, you can make the scene more realistic by pulling the consciousness of all living beings into the illusion.

In other words, the original realm can achieve 100% realism. Inanimate objects in the real world are unaffected, but the consciousness of living beings can be pulled into the illusion, leaving their bodies in a dazed state.

The scariest part is that the illusion perfectly replicates their real-world surroundings. The scene remains the same, with no abrupt transitions, so they won’t realize they've fallen into an illusion and will continue to move within it, unaware they are trapped.

Long Xuan wasn’t sure what would happen if he killed these beings within the illusion since he hadn't experimented with it yet.

He was eager to steal secrets from great families.

Long Xuan quickly packed his things and rushed to the market. After choosing a target, he rented a room on the second floor of an inn opposite his target, laughing sinisterly to himself in the quiet room.

His target was an old acquaintance, the Qian commerce Association, with whom he frequently dealt at the stone-gambling shop. He had already taken advantage of them numerous times, and now he wasn’t going to let them go again.

After the Qian commerce Association moved into the Far Western Market, they didn't just open the stone-gambling shop. They have shops in almost every industry.

True to their name, the Qian Clan commerce Association is indeed wealthy. They live up to their name.

Opposite the inn was the Qian Clan's Treasure Pavilion, filled with countless treasures, including cultivation techniques. Although the top techniques were not for sale, this was already enough for Long Xuan.

He immediately opened the window. From the window, he could see the entire Treasure Pavilion, meeting the conditions to activate his illusion.

He laughed again, then lay on the bed, preparing to activate the illusion immediately.

This was the downside of the illusion. The effects on others would apply to himself as well.

Once his consciousness was pulled into the illusion, his body would appear in a dazed state, just like others.

If someone attacked his body at that moment, it would be disastrous.

His body would be completely defenseless, and any attack could kill him. This was a deadly weakness he had to prepare for in advance.

Fortunately, there was an inn across from the Treasure Pavilion, perfect for hiding his body. Otherwise, he wouldn’t know what to do.

After closing his eyes, the Eye of Heavenly secret suddenly appeared on his forehead, emitting a bewitching light.

Under this eye, the opposite Treasure Pavilion was perfectly replicated into the illusion, with all its treasures. Of course, he couldn’t take anything out of it, but he could know what was inside.

He didn't rush in but conducted a small experiment first, trying to see if pulling someone into the illusion would go unnoticed.

He mischievously chose Qian Jinjin, the eldest daughter of the Qian Clan commerce Association. With a thought, he pulled her consciousness into the illusion.

The illusion now had a living person, bringing some vitality to the otherwise lifeless scene.

Since the scene remained the same, Qian Jinjin didn't realize she was in an illusion and continued reading quietly.

If she walked outside and found no one, she would notice something was wrong.

But now, she didn't sense anything amiss. The illusion was perfect, even the book she was reading, a highly confidential manual, was perfectly replicated without any flaws.

Long Xuan nodded in satisfaction. If Qian Jinjin, a peerless genius, couldn't detect the illusion, ordinary cultivators would be even less likely to.

As the Eye of Heavenly secret grew stronger, the area it could replicate would expand, potentially encompassing an entire region. If it could trap everyone in that region within the illusion, it would be marvelous.

Pleased with himself, Long Xuan was about to end this prank and exit when Qian Jinjin stood up.

Then, right in front of Long Xuan, she began undressing, finally stepping into a bath, leaving Long Xuan dumbfounded.

At that moment, he finally saw the perfect, peerless face hidden behind her veil, and he was mesmerized.

As expected, people who wear veils hide their stunning beauty, not ugliness.

In other words, veiled women are always beauties.

He couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

Being young and single for many years, Long Xuan couldn’t handle such a sight. To avoid bleeding out from a nosebleed, he quickly ended the illusion, swearing it was an accident and not intentional.

Who would have thought she would bathe at that exact moment, allowing him to feast his eyes?

As Qian Jinjin's consciousness returned to her body, her vision switched from bathing to reading. How could she not realize something was wrong?

"Who's there?"

She immediately stood up, her face pale with shock.

"Damn it! What kind of illusion is this? It's so terrifying, I couldn’t detect any flaws!"

Qian Jinjin slammed her book on the table, biting her lips in anger and embarrassment. Thinking about what she had just done, her eyes blazed with fury and her face turned red. She wanted to find and tear that scoundrel to pieces.

"Qian Shaoshao, immediately check which experts above the marrow cleansing stage have entered the market recently. I need it now!"

She angrily shouted toward the door, and a maid's voice responded, "Yes."

However, her choice of name was odd, "Qian Shaoshao." Who would dare use someone with such a name? The more they used her, the less money they’d have. Her parents, who gave her this name, were indeed quite talented.[1]

1. Qian shao shao (???) which basically translates to money Few Few lol.