Chapter 130: Illusions Play with Hearts

Zhao Er shivered, instinctively wanting to resist.

But after considering the opponent's unfathomable strength, he still submitted.

Feeling the cold gaze moving over him, Zhao Er said with a mournful face, "Alright, Senior!"

Then he formed a hand seal.

Rock pillars rumbled up from the seabed, and Zhao Er said dejectedly, "Senior, please!"

Saying that, he walked in along the stairs in the center of the rock pillar.

Li Fan's Divine Sense swept around.

Having studied Jade Slips for over a year, he was no longer ignorant of Formations.

Inside this rock pillar, there were only a few simple water-controlling and dust-cleansing Formations, with no trace of offensive Formations.

However, Li Fan did not lower his guard, still activating a protective Talisman before following him in.

Clearly, Li Fan had worried too much.

The interior of this rock pillar was extremely crude.

Most of it consisted of storage rooms for collected items.

Zhao Er led Li Fan to a relatively spacious room.

In the center was a large table, on which seemed to be a miniature model of the Congyun Sea.

"Senior, please sit."

Zhao Er stammered, speaking with difficulty.

Li Fan leisurely sat down, looked at the ashen-faced Zhao Er, and said, "Shall I ask you one by one, or will you honestly confess yourself?"

Zhao Er opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only managed a smile uglier than crying: "Senior, I don't know what to confess?"

Li Fan snorted, and the Insect Binding Divine Ability was activated again.

Zhao Er was immediately restrained once more.

Controlling the Azure Flame Illusion Spirit, a visible cold Qi spread from the ground, like an ice-blue venomous snake, slowly crawling onto Zhao Er.

In an instant, Zhao Er's lower limbs were frozen by blue ice crystals.

"I wonder, with your cultivation, if your body can recover after shattering into ice shards," Li Fan said with some curiosity.

A trace of fear appeared in Zhao Er's eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.

There was no sign of begging for mercy, showing a spirit of rather die than submit.

Li Fan also saw that Zhao Er didn't seem to be faking it.

"Interesting." Li Fan smiled, grabbing Zhao Er, and together they went to the adjacent storage room.

Zhao Er's eyes suddenly filled with terror.

"Oh, the things here seem really good. You must have put in a lot of effort to collect them," Li Fan said, gently running his hand over these seemingly ancient objects.

"Bang!"

He threw a porcelain bowl to the ground as he touched it.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I'm so sorry. I accidentally broke it," Li Fan said with regret.

"Bang!"

Another piece of porcelain shattered.

Zhao Er's eyes burned with towering rage, staring fixedly at Li Fan.

As if he wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces.

However, as the fragile ancient artifacts in the room were destroyed one by one.

Zhao Er's eyes gradually changed from fierce to heartbroken, from heartbroken to panicked.

And from panicked to begging for mercy.

Li Fan, however, showed no intention of stopping.

He took him through all the rooms in the rock pillar, destroying years of Zhao Er's collection in an instant, right before his eyes.

Looking at the fragments scattered on the ground, Zhao Er's eyes were filled with despair.

His body loosened, regaining control, and Zhao Er pounced forward, wailing loudly.

His cries shook the heavens, his heartbroken appearance truly unbearable to witness.

As Zhao Er cried, he suddenly found that the fragments in his hand were gone.

He was still being controlled, in the original room.

It turned out that everything that had just happened was nothing but an illusion!

With such extreme emotional reversal, from great joy to great sorrow, Zhao Er almost couldn't catch his breath.

The restraints on his body disappeared, and Zhao Er fell to the ground.

He felt weak all over, but he struggled to rush to the adjacent storage room and saw his beloved collections still intact.

He couldn't help but cry tears of joy, yet he cried even more bitterly.

In Zhao Er's eyes, the illusion he just experienced was ten thousand times more terrifying than the most dreadful nightmare.

He never wanted to experience it again!

"Do you know what to confess now?" The nightmarish voice sounded in his ear, and Zhao Er trembled all over, feeling that the opponent's trickery in manipulating people's hearts was truly too terrifying!

"Speak, I'll tell you everything!" He shivered, speaking repeatedly.

He was afraid that Li Fan would really destroy all his collections.

The two returned, one after the other, Li Fan sitting, and Zhao Er obediently standing beside him.

Zhao Er opened his mouth, then hesitated.

After a long while, Zhao Er timidly began, "Junior Zhao Erbao, a local Cultivator of Congyun Sea. I am sixty-eight years old this year…"

Li Fan's face darkened, and he quickly interrupted him: "Who wants you to confess that? I'm asking you what use are these things you've collected."

"And where is that place you mentioned?"

"Why don't you use a Storage Ring for transport, but insist on personally moving them up and down with a flying boat?"

With each question, Zhao Erbao's body trembled.

After Li Fan finished asking, Zhao Erbao said with a bitter face, "Senior is truly omnipotent; nothing can be hidden from you."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

A moment later, he stammered again, "The reason Junior has spent a lifetime collecting these ancient artifacts is because of a secret I discovered when I was still a Mortal."

"A secret?" Li Fan looked at Zhao Erbao with interest, waiting for him to continue.

Zhao Erbao nodded: "Junior's Family has dealt in antiques for generations. Having been exposed to it since childhood, I also developed a strong interest in these ancient artifacts salvaged from the deep sea."

"Perhaps because of my talent, I could always easily distinguish between genuine ancient artifacts and imitations."

"So, the Family gradually let me take over all the appraisal work. I was able to come into contact with a large number of ancient artifacts every day."

"It was also because of this that I vaguely discovered this secret hidden in the dust of history."

"The Congyun Sea seems to have once harbored a lost civilization."

Zhao Erbao's expression became serious, his eyes narrowed, as if recalling something.

"The style of artifacts belonging to this civilization is extremely unique, with clear distinctions from those of other eras in the Congyun Sea."

"The ancient artifacts stored in Junior's base here all belong to this civilization."

Li Fan slowly nodded: "What is special about this civilization? I see that although these items are quite old, they seem to be mere Mortal objects. They shouldn't be of much use to you, a Qi Refining Cultivator."

"These items themselves are indeed not very valuable. What is truly precious are the things attached to them," Zhao Erbao said.

"Senior, do you know that the bottom of the Congyun Sea is full of architectural ruins?"

Zhao Erbao changed the subject, suddenly asking.