Su Hao found himself in a thick fog, feeling somewhat dazed.
But in the blink of an eye, the surrounding mist dissipated completely. Blinding sunlight poured down, and he instinctively raised a hand to shield his forehead.
"Where is this..."
Su Hao's eyes widened.
Before him was no longer that crystal-forged room, but an endless prairie.
Wind bent the grass, white clouds drifted lazily.
A breeze swept by, gently ruffling his hair.
Su Hao was stunned.
He could feel that his perception was exceptionally clear at this moment, with not a trace of drowsiness.
It was a completely different sensation from when Die Xiaodie had pulled him into an illusion.
One word described it: real.
No hint of falseness.
Su Hao crouched down and caught the scent of grass and soil.
He reached out, grasped a blade of grass, and yanked it up.
Pulling it out by the roots.
Still incredibly real.
The four spirits were equally astonished.
Shui Lin Beast recovered quickly, letting out a "whinny" as it gleefully galloped across the prairie.
Huo Shen Crow stood dumbly, head tilted.
Dian Guang Bear grabbed a clump of grass mixed with dirt, shoved it into its mouth, then spat it out with a "pfft."
Tastes bad, rawr~!
"This dumb bear -_-||"
Su Hao looked at Die Xiaodie, who hovered in midair, deep in thought.
It was using the hand-under-chin pose.
But its tiny arms were so short that you couldn't really tell unless you looked closely.
Su Hao walked over and poked it.
"Found any traces of illusion?"
"Gu nuo~!"
It flew over and sat on Su Hao's head.
It was saying that when the thick fog had enveloped them, there were some traces of 'illusion,' but now they couldn't be seen, gu nuo~.
If they kept entering, exiting, entering, exiting, they might spot something, gu nuo~!
Su Hao recalled the moment he had stepped into the illusion.
Dazed and hazy.
It seemed like only an instant, but he couldn't be sure how long it actually lasted.
He had only opened the illusion experience for half an hour.
"Let's try something else first."
He said, then turned to Huo Shen Crow and ordered, "Blast it with your highest-power Blazing Sun form. Let me see your destructive power now."
"Caw? Caw caw!"
Huo Shen Crow spread its wings and shot into the sky in an instant.
A dark red great bird soared, and suddenly, fiery feathers appeared on its body, with flames blooming beyond them.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a small, orange-red blazing sun beneath the real sun.
"Caw—"
It paused for a moment, then dove straight down.
The flames on its body grew fiercer, and within the dazzling orange-red glow, a faint hint of pale gold could be seen.
It poured out a massive amount of spiritual energy, fully unleashing the might of its Blazing Sun form.
A blazing orb crashed directly onto the prairie.
Boom—!!!
A blinding light exploded.
Even from hundreds of meters away, waves of wind swept over.
Su Hao shielded his eyes with his hand and looked ahead. Dust and smoke billowed, and Huo Shen Crow, having shed its Blazing Sun form, flew up.
"Let's go check it out."
Shui Lin Beast had run too far, so he decided to run over himself.
But as he ran, he found it too slow and had Die Xiaodie lift him with telekinesis.
"Gu nuo?"
Su Hao nodded.
The next moment, a force enveloped him. His feet left the ground, and he swayed and wobbled forward through the air.
Sometimes he rose to three or four meters high, other times his legs nearly dragged across the grass.
Die Xiaodie's carrying ability was clearly lacking.
But they made it to the crater without incident.
"Gu nuo~"
Die Xiaodie wiped its sweat.
Su Hao shook his legs.
Never again. No next time.
Riding the Shui Lin Beast was much more reliable.
He looked ahead.
Before him was a circular crater about four or five meters in diameter on the grass.
Everything inside had been melted away, with only faint traces of flames and smoke visible.
Around it, the scorched grass covered an area of about twenty meters in radius.
Su Hao also noticed two cracks extending outward from the front of the crater—marks left by a blade.
It was his first time seeing the full destructive power of Huo Shen Crow's strongest attack.
In the past, even in the training area, he hadn't dared to cause such destruction.
"No wonder they say real illusions are important. If Huo Shen Crow is already this strong, those Transcendent-level spirits testing their killing moves could probably devastate dozens or even hundreds of meters around them.
"Even with an earth-type construction team, you couldn't do that."
...
Huo Shen Crow wreaked havoc.
Die Xiaodie conducted research.
Shui Lin Beast did... its thing.
Dian...
Su Hao experimented in the real illusion for a while, then stopped.
"Time's tight. Let's see what this 'Challenge Mode' is all about."
The guidebook mentioned how to activate 'Challenge Mode.'
Su Hao recalled his spirits and had them stay alert. Then, he looked up at the sky.
He shouted, "I want to challenge—"
His voice echoed far into the distance.
The spirits looked at him.
Su Hao felt a tiny bit embarrassed!
Who came up with this activation method?!
But he had no time to dwell on it.
As soon as he spoke, wolf howls rang out in the distance.
"Awoo—"
Several sturdy Earthshaker Wolves appeared in his field of vision.
They charged straight at him, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Scout them out," Su Hao ordered, then added, "Don't charge in blindly."
Huo Shen Crow took to the sky.
The next moment,
It sent a message through their contract.
"Five Earthshaker Wolves, five Horned Beetles."
"How strong?" he asked again.
Huo Shen Crow couldn't answer.
After all, it was just a crow.
Su Hao: "..."
He was expecting too much.
At that moment, inside the illusion, he couldn't use the panel to check.
Su Hao thought for 0.3 seconds, then pressed his index and middle fingers together.
Four clock hands appeared with a ding-ding-ding-ding before his fingers, and he wiped them across his eyes.
The next moment,
Two different scenes appeared in his vision.
One was what he saw himself, and the other was what Huo Shen Crow saw.
Five Earthshaker Wolves were encircling them.
Five Horned Beetles had also closed in.
Su Hao observed, his brow gradually furrowing.
"Though they look a bit stiff in form...
"In terms of color, body, and the glow of spiritual energy, these Earthshaker Wolves and Horned Beetles are probably... Elite-level at their peak!"
Holy crap!
The enemy spirits were closing in.
He had no time to overthink and quickly issued orders.
"Huo Shen, attack the Horned Beetles in the rear.
"We'll hold off these Earthshaker Wolves."
He mounted Shui Lin Beast, bringing Dian Guang Bear and Die Xiaodie along, planning to outmaneuver the wolves.
Exploiting their stiffness!
Su Hao was deep in thought.
Suddenly,
Saplings sprouted from the grass, rapidly growing and cracking the ground around them.
The saplings grew into vines, climbing up Shui Lin Beast's hooves.
It let out a "whinny," broke free from the vines, and leaped into the air.
But Dian Guang Bear was directly bound.
Even as electricity flared across its body, thorns grew from the vines, piercing its fur.
Wood-type moves: Entangle, Tree Growth!
At the same time, three Earthshaker Wolves pounced, unleashing gravity on Die Xiaodie and Shui Lin Beast.
Su Hao felt a heavy weight.
It was suffocating, as if his internal organs were being crushed by the overwhelming gravity.
The next moment,
A protective barrier appeared on him, and that extreme discomfort vanished.
Su Hao gasped for air.
But then...
Whoosh!
Several vines lashed out like whips. Shui Lin Beast dodged with a step, but vines had already coiled around its body.
They tightened suddenly.
It froze.
An Earthshaker Wolf leaped and bit into it.
The two spirits fell from the low altitude.
Su Hao tumbled off the beast's back, crashing onto the grass with a thud.
Vines sprouted all around him.
Not far away, Die Xiaodie tried to fly over in panic but was trapped in a cage of vines, with Earthshaker Wolves lying in wait.
The situation grew more dangerous.
Huo Shen Crow swooped toward the Horned Beetles in the rear.
A dazzling light burst forth, burning countless vines, but Earthshaker Wolves used the vines as bridges, charging through the flames to knock it down.
The skirmish didn't last long.
Before Su Hao, the protective barrier shattered.
An Earthshaker Wolf's gaping maw grew larger in his vision.
"Whoosh~~~!"
He sat up abruptly, like waking from a nightmare.
Beneath him was the hard crystal floor.
He glanced at the time on his spirit-taming wristband.
"Only eleven minutes have passed.
"I died that fast?!"