The scattered province. One of the Thirteen Pillars, in a rented apartment. The Lady Zhi-Sha, in a crimson dress with a silver mask, gazing at a woman with flawless features, said calmly: "Has the Third Elder been active recently?" The beautiful woman stared blankly, her gaze hollow, and replied without hesitation: "No activity at all! The Third Elder stated that the Primordial Sovereign has returned, and we should remain discreet. That's all." Upon hearing this, the Lady Zhi-Sha turned her head and glanced at her three companions sharing the same room. Zhang Yuanqing, wearing a small red hat, spoke calmly: "Given our longstanding grievances with the Southern School, it's entirely foreseeable that the Third Elder will seek retribution upon the Sovereign's return. It's entirely natural that the Southern School's leadership would be on guard. With so many Sovereigns in the Southern School, the Ling-Tuo forces can only act effectively if they accurately predict which of us they will target. They won't be able to deploy Sovereign-level allies to remain permanently stationed among the Southern School's elders. However, they must have a means of swift communication among themselves. I therefore recommend a swift, decisive campaign." "Master of the Mystic Eyes," nodded firmly, "if he isn't killed within three minutes, we shall abandon the mission to avoid affecting ordinary people." With that, according to plan, the Sovereign of the Cease-Combat Cries the beautiful woman into a trance, retrieves the miniature compass for entering the dream world, and casts the incantation. Zhang Yuanqing, without hesitation, takes over the compass and turns to his three companions, saying, "If I show no movement within ten seconds, you shall abandon the mission." With those words, deep vortexes form in his pupils, and he leaps into the unknown realm of dreams. Upon seeing a stranger appear within the estate, both gardeners instantly turned their heads, their gaze hollow and fixed upon him. Zhang Yuanqing felt a powerful spiritual force scanning him, attempting to stir the fear deep within his heart. When that fear failed to respond, the two gardeners suddenly transformed—their bodies twisted and shattered, bloodied, their eyes now pale and eerie—into two spectral demons. Though they appeared unsteady, they moved with astonishing speed, rushing toward Zhang Yuanqing. Ghosts are rooted in the human genome as a primal terror. Even when a phenomenon fails to awaken the target’s inner fear, the manifestation of ghostly forms can still instill fear—though the effect is somewhat weaker. "Everything that is composed of action is like a dream, a mirage, a bubble, or a shadow." With a gentle gesture, Zhang Yuanqing brushed his hand, and the two spectral demons dissolved into nothingness. Witnessing this, the entire estate trembled violently, then receded from him as if retreating into the distance. Upon realizing the intruder possessed comparable abilities, the Ninth Elder made an immediate decision and took off with the dream. Zhang Yuanqing hummed softly, puffed out his cheeks, and blew with force. "Whoa—!" A fierce wind surged, sweeping toward the distant manor and scattering it into fragments. The very next moment, Zhang Yuanqing tumbled from his dream and returned to reality, accompanied by a delicate woman whose face was pale. She wore a robe formed of condensed black smoke, her body itself seeming to have turned into smoke, floating mid-air—her lower body no longer legs, but instead waves of shimmering, undulating mist. Yet as the Night-Wanderer, Zhang Yuanqing knew she was not in a spirit state. He glanced around and noticed this was a factory district, filled with green-roofed buildings and several administrative and dormitory buildings. Hmm—ever since the factory operates three shifts, people are always sleeping, so it makes sense that dreams could persist over time. Zhang Yuanqing suddenly understood. At that moment, he heard the woman, now partially vaporized, expressing a clear sense of greed, and cried out, "Master Yuan-Shi, you've truly come to exact your revenge! The legendary items of the Phantom Deity, which vanish without trace, are indeed upon you!" Zhang Yuanqing said nothing, opened his inventory, and with one hand he pulled out a stone platform two meters in diameter and half a person's height, then slammed it down hard on the ground. This was the one provided by the head of the association—a targeted teleportation array. It didn’t require him to mentally visualize scenes from past visits; all that was needed was for his companions to break the jade talismans they held. The talismans and the array could sense each other. After retrieving the array, Zhang Yuanqing was about to launch an attack on the graceful woman when he suddenly noticed her also pulling out a scroll from her inventory and unfolding it with a flick of her hand. The scroll depicted intricate, arcane patterns—special incantations for the illusionist profession. One by one, these patterns lit up, and a powerful pressure emanated from a high-tier presence, transforming the night sky into a dazzling, surreal spectacle. The spectacle gradually coalesced into a translucent figure draped in a long robe. Heavens! A peak-level master?! Zhang Yuanqing’s heart leapt. Even with his divine heart of the Phantom God, the moment he saw that figure in the sky, a cascade of vivid illusions surged … Xiao Yuan, Mago King, and Zhi-Sha Palace Master waited for a full twenty seconds, about to give up, when finally the jade scroll clenched in their hands warmed up and emitted a soft glow. It was the Yuan-Shi's duplicate summoning them. "Success!" Mago King smiled, instantly shattering the jade scroll. Xiao Yuan, Zhi-Sha Palace Master, and JOJO Lady on duty outside the compound also shattered or gently tapped their scrolls with their claws. "Splish-splash…" Before them, the three and the cat now saw a downpour pouring over an empty city. The sky was overcast, the rain blurring the world, tall buildings standing silently in the storm, streets deserted, the entire world hushed. Amid the vast, open streets, they spotted Yuan-Shi wearing a small red hat, facing off against his adversaries. There were four enemies. Two wore black robes, while the other two—one a thin, stern woman with prominent cheekbones, and the other a plain middle-aged man—stood out. The only one truly distinct was the one whose expression was wildly frantic, his eyes rapidly darting left and right, clearly as if his mind had failed. The Mage-Eyed King maintained a composed demeanor and recited the names of the adversaries: "Third Elder, Fourth Guardian of the Night Rose, the King of Extinction..." The plain middle-aged man was unfamiliar to him. "Ah, he's the Master of Pure Yang. Remarkable—just a few months ago, he'd already recovered to the stage of dominance," said Zhang Yuanqing's duplicate. "Where are we?" asked Xiao Yuan, frowning. "This is a mirror realm created by the Rain Sovereign. I thought our combined strength wasn't inferior to theirs, so I summoned you all to engage them," Zhang Yuanqing explained. As soon as he entered the dream world, he was attacked by the four, and immediately tore through the dream to return to reality—only to find himself in the mirror realm that the enemies had already prepared. "Lin Tu indeed anticipated that we would target the Third Elder, yet he didn't send a Peak Sovereign—probably unwilling to waste them, given that we have a half-divine presence on standby." Zhang Yuanqing found this entirely unsurprising. Everything was as expected. He added, "The Peak Sovereigns likely remain to face the main body. Poor kid. However, my continued existence indicates the main body hasn't yet perished. 'From this point of view, Lin Tu hadn't anticipated that we would target a specific Southern Sect Elder.' If Lin Tu had observed our intent to attack the Ninth Elder, then the main body would face the Peak Sovereign's true form. Should the main body be instantly eliminated by the Peak Sovereign, he would vanish. Operating in secrecy indeed allows them to bypass Lin Tu's observations—finally uncovering the vulnerability of Taiyin's Sovereign. ... In the workshop, the illusion is reborn. Without hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing immediately activated the 'Fierce Yang War God' and 'Sunrise' skills. A brilliant golden sun rose from behind his head, casting a golden solar mark on his forehead; his short hair stood upright, wrapped in golden flames, his skin radiating a golden luster, and his pupils transforming into molten gold. The golden light spread everywhere, causing the characters on the scroll to lose their luster and become ordinary. Before the ethereal figure in the sky had fully solidified, it vanished. Meanwhile, the teleportation array he summoned also lost its magical aura.