“This is… This is…”
The sunlight cast a shadow on the ground, and the illusion was shattered in his perception. Wang Banxia suddenly shuddered, facing the direction of the sound, and his body was shaking with excitement.
"Master—"
He shouted "Wow", took two slow steps, passed Ibtihaji, and started running.
"Master, you are finally here! I have changed my previous decadent self. I was alone against three people, and I was almost trapped by these three foreign monsters."
The steady old man ignored the three people over there, knelt down on the ground, and hugged Lu Liangsheng's trouser legs.
Ibti Haji: “…”
Buddha Lianzun: "..."
Anas: “…”
The three of them swallowed their saliva and dared not breathe. With those thunderous shouts just now, how could they not know that the figure in the black cloak over there was the Imperial Master of the Sui Dynasty.
Fo Lianzun looked at the old man kneeling on the ground, his mouth twitching: "So, the one fighting with us is just that person's disciple?"
The other two did not answer, but just looked at the scholar who helped the old man up in horror. The more casual the other party was, the more nervous they felt. What's more, there was a majestic strange beast following him, which was exactly what a mysterious master should look like.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng helped Wang Banxia up. Although the other party was also a disciple, he was too old and it was inappropriate for him to kneel down. He helped him up and said a few words of comfort. Then he turned his eyes to the three people. Naturally, he would not give a good face to outsiders, especially those who came here to cause trouble.
However, he still maintained the proper etiquette of a superior state, bowed to the three people, and walked towards the Baiyan Imperial Steps as his voice was cold and clear.
"You three have come to our Great Sui to pay tribute, so you should have maintained a respectful attitude, but you are smiling but hiding a dagger, openly paying tribute, but secretly trying to undermine the prestige of our dynasty. Isn't it too easy for you to think so?"
He walked past the three men with his hands behind his back, came to the foot of the Baiyan Imperial Steps, shook out his sleeves, and bowed to Yang Guang who was sitting in front of the Daxing Hall.
"Your Majesty, I, Lu Liangsheng, pay my respects to you."
"Master, no need to be so polite. Someone, please find a seat!" Yang Guang stood up and put his hands in the air. He quickly ordered the eunuchs to bring a soft chair that was always ready. "Put it next to my dragon throne and sit with me!"
Duke of Yue Yang Su frowned slightly and was about to speak to stop him, but Lu Liangsheng spoke first from the stone steps: "Your Majesty, you can't do that." He lowered his sleeves and cast his eyes over to the three foreign state masters. "Let me discuss cultivation with these three state masters first, and then it won't be too late to sit down."
He turned and walked to the square, reached out and patted the nose of the unicorn with its head down, and asked it to wait a little further away. The unicorn with a majestic posture nodded intelligently, and when it turned around, it looked at Fo Lianzun and the other two with its bright yellow tiger eyes, especially Ibuti Haji who was standing in the front, and suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart.
The woman immediately turned her face away, and was greeted by Lu Pan and his eight companions who were standing majestically in a row at the edge of the square. Their tall and bulging muscles kept throbbing in her eyes, making her feel upset.
I couldn't catch my breath, and the previous fear was suppressed.
"Master Lu, the three of us followed the envoys to the Shangbang only because we admire the culture of the Central Plains and are quite curious about the Taoists in the Central Plains. To be able to become a national master, his cultivation skills must be very advanced, so we followed him to discuss with Master Lu. It has nothing to do with the three countries behind us."
Lu Liangsheng had a faint smile on his face. He listened to her quietly until she finished speaking and simply made a "please" gesture.
"Since you have come to our Great Sui, you are a guest. You should make the first move, or let our national teacher make the first move. Girl, you make the choice."
Ding-a-ling…
The bell rang gently on the wrist of the Western Region woman. Ibutihaji looked hesitantly at the young but mature-spoken young man opposite him. He had heard the saint of the religion say before that the cultivation in the Central Plains was different from theirs. When one cultivated to a high level, one's appearance aged very slowly. Some could even achieve immortality and possibly live as long as the heaven and the earth.
"This man is very skilled in Taoism. If he strikes first, I will have no hope... If I use all my secret techniques, I might be able to win for a while."
Having made up her mind, the woman took a breath and took two steps forward.
"Then Master Lu, let's see if I can break this illusion."
The words that were passed on were responded to by Lu Liangsheng stretching out his hand and saying, "Please."
In front of the Daxing Palace, a group of civil and military officials stood on tiptoe, and those sitting at the back stretched their heads to look. They had seen generals fighting on the battlefield and feuds in the martial arts world, but they had never seen cultivators fighting each other. At this time, Yang Guang was sitting on the dragon throne with a clear view. Seeing the indifferent expression on Mr. Lu's face, he felt at ease.
He even turned his head, showing interest, and asked Yang Su, who was standing beside him: "Duke Yue, how long do you think it will take for the Imperial Master to break the spell of this foreign woman?"
The old man was also interested and squinted his eyes to look around.
"Less than ten breaths."
As he finished speaking, the vertical hem of his robe suddenly began to flutter gently. The old man raised his face, and the sun above his head had become bright and dazzling without him knowing when. The civil and military officials around him raised their sleeves to wipe their foreheads.
"Why has the weather suddenly become hot?"
Yang Guang also had a face full of sweat. He asked the palace maids on both sides to fan him vigorously with large cattail-leaf fans to wipe away the sweat beads rolling down his cheeks. He probably guessed in his heart that the foreign woman was casting a spell.
The hot wind was blowing. In the square, Lu Liangsheng turned his head slightly to look at his shoulder. A grain of sand fell on his shoulder between the fluttering strands of black hair. Suddenly, there were series of loud rumbling noises from the surrounding palaces. Amidst someone's exclamations, countless yellow sands surged out from the doors and windows, spreading rapidly along the ground. The rolling sand and gravel covered everything around like a huge wave. In an instant, all that was seen was the endless and undulating sea of sand.
The sun was scorching and the gravel was hot. Lu Pan and his eight men, who were standing a little further away, were soaked in sweat and kept changing feet on the ground with Wang Banxia. The guards around them had chapped lips and were suffering from the heat. Some of them staggered and fainted. The only one who was not affected was the old donkey, who spread his hooves, swung his lion's mane, stepped on the hot gravel, and ran around excitedly.
"Master Lu, what do you think of Ibtihaji's Burning Hell Sea?" Ibtihaji seldom used this kind of illusion that could make living beings feel pain, but for now she was still satisfied. She finally regained some confidence, raised her chin slightly, and asked the Master of the Great Sui Dynasty opposite her.
However, looking at the opposite side, the woman's smile froze, and the flowing sand sea was about to cover the man's feet and bypassed him. "Why is this happening?"
The woman murmured in confusion. Lu Liangsheng on the other side didn't even look at the yellow sand flowing under his feet, and gently blew away the gravel on his shoulder.
"The girl's bell can make people enter a fantasy world, people's words can also produce hallucinations, smells, and lights can all be used... There are many ways to perform illusions, but they all end up in one way, and many of them are connected."
The moment the blown sand and gravel fell into the sand sea below, a cool breeze suddenly blew between heaven and earth, blowing over the people who were sitting on the ground due to the heat. The scorching heat all over their bodies was immediately taken away by the cool breeze, and the dense sweat stains on their faces gradually dried up and smoothed out.
When Ibtihaji felt the sudden cool breeze, he looked around in panic. The rolling sea of sand stopped and slowly flowed back with the breeze.
Ding-ling-ling~~~
The bell was shaking vigorously, and the woman from the Western Regions opened and closed her mouth to chant a spell. The backward flowing sand sea did not stop, but instead accelerated and drilled back into the surrounding palaces. When the last grain of sand flew in, the open doors and windows closed with a bang.
Outside the Daxing Palace, the sun became bright again, no longer scorching and dazzling. In the silence, bursts of cicadas' chirping could be heard from the nearby tree cages, and everything became real again.
Know... Know...
Amid the annoying sound of cicadas, Ibudihaji stood there with a dazed look on her face. She had a very high talent for illusion since she was a child, and had never failed to use the bell, which she was best at. For a moment, she could not understand how the man opposite her could have thought of depriving her of the illusion she could control without letting her know.
"How...how did you do that?"
Lu Liangsheng smiled and stretched out his hand to sweep around, "Take a closer look."
The girl followed the direction the scholar's finger was pointing, and the voices of the emperor, ministers, Fu Lianzun, and Anashi on the imperial steps seemed to be cut off. They opened their mouths, but no sound could be heard.
"... Illusions are extremely difficult to break. The best way is to see who can cast an illusion first... Girl, your illusion has always been within my illusion."
puff-
Ibtihaji's eyes almost popped out and he stumbled back two steps. His throat was filled with a fishy taste and he couldn't hold it back, so he spat out a mouthful of blood and sat down on the ground.
"You are extremely talented in illusion, but it does require skills."
Lu Liangsheng swung his wide sleeves to dispel the illusion, and suddenly a light began to twist on the body of the Western Region woman. Folianzun and Ana Shishi went forward to support her.
"Ibti Haji..."
As soon as the name was called out, the two of them stopped walking and saw that the woman who was slumped on the ground had lost her jet-black hair and turned snow-white. Her delicate skin had shriveled up and wrinkles covered her face like knife cuts. She looked dozens of years older in an instant.
Even Lu Liangsheng was stunned. How could such a young and beautiful woman suddenly become old
"What are you...standing there for? Come and help me."
Ibtihaji raised his hand and saw the back of it was covered with age spots. He was shocked and quickly took out a glass mirror to look at his face.
In an instant, a sharp and hoarse scream of "Ah!!! Who is she--" resounded throughout the square, and the glass mirror fell to the ground and shattered. The old woman sitting on the ground fell backwards with her eyes wide open and her mouth wide open, still holding the mirror.
There was total silence on the imperial steps. It took a long time for the civil and military officials and the emperor to react and understand what was going on.
"I scared myself to death, haha... This is the first time I've seen such a thing!"
"But how did she get older?"
"Humph... I don't even know. She must have used magic to make herself look younger and more beautiful. As the saying goes, who doesn't love beauty?"
Feeling the dissipating breath, Lu Liangsheng opened his mouth and looked at the dead old woman opposite him in disbelief. It was not difficult to guess the reason. Perhaps it was as someone in the civil and military circles said, she cared too much about her beauty, so she kept using magic to make herself look good, living in a false illusion, and finally unable to accept the truest self.