As soon as Liu Haotian finished speaking, a long, jet-black staff appeared in Yun Xi's hand. She didn't even need to channel her spiritual power into it. The body of the Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff crackled with flickering purple lightning, radiating a chilling aura that made the surrounding members of the Yin family instinctively retreat, even though they had been ganging up on her moments before.
Yun Xi gripped the staff in one hand and slammed it into the ground. The force of the strike surged outward like a shockwave, tearing apart everything in its path. The seemingly tranquil and idyllic Taoyuan Village instantly revealed its true, dilapidated face beneath the illusion.
Yu Qingcheng sneered and turned to the village chief.
"Do you see it now? This is the real Taoyuan Village. It's already a dead village. Your stubborn denial has let an evil artifact take control here. No one has been able to see the truth. I'm guessing every person who wandered in here was sacrificed by you, turned into part of this illusion."
The village chief stared at the crumbling walls and the exposed white bones littering the ground. It was only now, as if waking from a long nightmare, that his expression shifted. Clutching his head, he spoke in anguish:
"I tried to stop them, but they all went mad. They kept making wishes to that bronze mirror... and then they died, one by one. In the end, no one could leave Taoyuan Village. As village chief, I failed. I sacrificed myself to bring the village back to how it used to be... but it was all a lie. All of it!!"
His desperate cries revealed the true horror behind Taoyuan Village. The villagers who had been crying moments ago were now translucent soul forms, drifting above the ruins like lost memories suddenly recalled.
Liu Haotian raised his sword. A beam of golden sword light slashed through the air and shattered the village chief's soul. That one motion triggered panic in the other drifting souls. Frightened they would suffer the same fate, they scattered in all directions.
At that moment, a bronze mirror slowly rose from beneath the ground. It began sucking in the fleeing souls one after another. A beam of golden light then shot out from the mirror, enveloping Yun Xi and the others, trying to pull them into its surface.
Xia You's body tensed.
"The mirror's trying to extract our souls!"
"Hmph. In your dreams."
Yun Xi let out a cold snort. She loathed soul-extracting artifacts more than anything.
In the next instant, she lifted off the ground. The Seven Stars Soul-Shattering Staff in her hand flared with intense purple lightning as she poured thunder spirit power into it. The weapon glowed like a blazing beacon. Holding it in a forward thrust, she drove it straight at the bronze mirror's surface.
A faint cracking sound echoed in her ears. Fissures reappeared across the surface of the mirror, and its luster dimmed rapidly. Then, it dropped from midair and sank into the earth, vanishing from sight.
Yun Xi landed, still gripping the staff. The other three immediately gathered around. Though the clash had been brief, it was clear Yun Xi had come out on top.
Xia You extended her divine sense, scanning the area. Her brow furrowed.
"The mirror escaped. I can't find any trace of it."
Yu Qingcheng pointed suddenly. "Look!"
At her cue, the scene around them seemed to rearrange itself like puzzle pieces snapping into place. Once again, they stood in Taoyuan Village, right where they had first arrived. But this time, the entire village was steeped in an eerie silence. The four of them were the only ones left.
Liu Haotian frowned. "We're still inside the bronze mirror."
"But we didn't get pulled in just now," Xia You said with certainty.
Yun Xi spoke slowly, piecing it together. "I think we were already inside the mirror the moment we entered Taoyuan Village. It used those devoured souls to stage a play for us, trying to keep us here for good, so it could drain our strength little by little."
Liu Haotian added, "What emerged just now must have been the mirror's spirit. By devouring the souls of the villagers, it was able to repair itself partially. But it still can't fully leave this space.
We cultivators have far stronger souls than mortals. That's why, after being forced back by Wei Daoyou, it tried to trap us here. Given time, it could wear us down and consume us."
Yu Qingcheng's eyes sharpened. "Then let's destroy this place. If we break this space, the bronze mirror will suffer as well. Let's see how it plans to trap us then."
Xia You agreed, and Yun Xi struck the ground hard with her staff. When it came to destruction, she had no reservations.
Just then, the flower-shaped immortal artifact embedded in Yun Xi's forehead began to shimmer faintly. In the next breath, a panicked voice rang out in her mind.
"Sister, please wait! I'll let you out, just don't destroy my body!"
Yun Xi had already sensed the artifact's reaction. She knew the mirror spirit had been secretly draining their soul power. The flower-shaped artifact wouldn't have activated on its own otherwise.
Her voice turned cold.
"Have you heard the saying...?"
The mirror spirit, confused by her sudden question, asked hesitantly, "What saying?"
"Easy to invite the gods, hard to send them away."
As she finished speaking, she activated the flower-shaped artifact. It emerged fully from her forehead, glowing brightly.
A powerful surge of pressure erupted from it, ripping apart the constructed illusion around them piece by piece.
"No! Spare me!!!"
Another crackling sound rang out. The four of them felt darkness close in—and the next thing they knew, they were standing in Taoyuan Village once again.
It was the middle of the night. Stars glittered overhead, and the distant cries of wild beasts echoed through the nearby forest. The faint spiritual energy in the air confirmed that they had returned to the real world.
Yun Xi stood with the now palm-sized bronze mirror in her hand, examining it closely. The flower-shaped artifact on her forehead had already faded from view.
Yu Qingcheng and Xia You leaned in, staring at the damaged bronze mirror. They both seemed eager to figure out where it had come from.
Yu Qingcheng spoke first.
"This mirror's been severely damaged. Do you think the mirror spirit is dead?"
Xia You replied, "Even if it's not, it must be in deep slumber. That's what it gets for scheming against us. Only after leaving the mirror's space did I realize our souls had been gradually pulled from our bodies. We just couldn't sense it at the time."
Liu Haotian turned to Yun Xi. "Luckily Wei Zhēnrén had a protective treasure. The longer we stayed in that space, the more danger we were in."
Yun Xi nodded. "It was a gift from my master. That mirror spirit must've tried to quietly siphon our souls, which triggered the artifact's protective response."
She didn't elaborate further. Likely only the mirror spirit knew that it had been destroyed by an immortal artifact—something that shouldn't have existed in the mortal realm.
With the mirror spirit gone, the trapped mortal souls drifted out from the bronze mirror.
They floated in place, confused, unsure of where they were.
Liu Haotian frowned.
"These souls can't stay here. They need to be sent on to the next life."
Yun Xi hesitated. "How do we do that? Take them to a temple and have monks chant for them?"
Liu Haotian's brow twitched slightly.
"No need. The ones in charge of that are already here."
The sky above Taoyuan Village suddenly split open. A black vortex formed, and from it descended two figures—one in black robes, the other in white.
The man in black scowled and barked, "Who dares to interfere with soul collection without permission?"
The man in white, by contrast, seemed unbothered. He pulled out a small booklet from his belt and began flipping through it slowly.
"Still within lifespan, but the souls have been separated from the flesh for too long. The bodies are already decomposed. They can't return to the living world."