With the exit in sight and no further trouble cropping up, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief and subconsciously quickened their pace.

But as they drew closer to the exit, the four of them began to sense that something was wrong.

At the exit, vast and boundless waves of Sword Qi were clearly, continuously rippling outward.

The Sword Qi fluctuations were terrifyingly sharp, giving them all the feeling that if they stepped outside, they would likely be swept into an unstoppable Sword Blade Storm.

"Is Jing Huaisong out there?" Wang Guquan asked, his brow deeply furrowed and his expression turning grim.

’He figured Jing Huaisong must have fallen for a trick and was now on a killing spree outside.’

’If that were true, the situation would be far worse than just unpleasant.’

Although Wang Guquan was also a First Grade Powerhouse, he admitted to himself that he stood no chance against the current Sword Saint of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect.

If they were to truly fight, even if he gave it his all, he wouldn’t even be able to give Jing Huaisong a proper challenge.

Zou Feng, for his part, was also naturally a little panicked.

’If even the Sword Saint had been ensnared, then this Glazed Immortal Palace wasn’t just a Pseudo-Immortal Palace that relied on flashy tricks, but a place that could truly toy with them as it pleased.’

’But that made no sense...’

’He had crossed paths with Jing Huaisong earlier and could tell the man was extremely vigilant; his willpower was beyond question.’

"Perhaps... Jing Huaisong is fighting someone else?" Lu Wei ventured cautiously.

Hearing this, the color returned to Wang Guquan’s face slightly.

That was indeed a possibility, but he still couldn’t completely relax.

After all, any entity capable of fighting Jing Huaisong was clearly sided with the Glazed Immortal Palace, which was an equally terrible situation.

"We’ll know once we go out and see!"

The group couldn’t just stay in the Fate Hall forever.

It was worth noting that even though they had successfully passed the trial, it didn’t mean the bizarre forces within the Fate Hall were completely ineffective against them.

If they lingered too long, they might fall back into the Illusion Realm.

If they were tormented by the Illusion Realm repeatedly and without end, even Zou Feng would quickly be drained to the point of exhaustion.

At that point, they would no longer be able to escape the Illusion Realm and would become nothing more than sustenance for the Fate Hall.

So they had no choice. No matter what lay outside, they had to leave first and deal with it later.

Wang Guquan lived up to his status as a First Grade Expert, always taking the lead when trouble arose.

But Zou Feng wasn’t one to shy away, and he immediately quickened his pace to follow.

After emerging from the other side of the Marriage Hall, they were met with the sight of a Sword Blade Storm so blinding they could hardly keep their eyes open.

Although this didn’t appear to be the phenomenon caused by the Twenty-Third Sword, its sheer intensity was proof enough that Jing Huaisong had made a move.

Outside the Fate Hall, they had clearly arrived at the mountain summit where the Glazed Immortal Palace was located.

The summit’s terrain was flat, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

All around stood a great number of humanoid statues.

These humanoid statues all had different faces, but they shared a common feature: an ethereal, otherworldly bearing. Each one possessed the look of an Immortal.

As Zou Feng’s group emerged, people also began to trickle out from the exits of the other Fate Halls, having successfully overcome their respective Illusion Realms.

However, the number of people emerging from each Fate Hall was clearly lower than the number who had entered; there had certainly been casualties. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Evidently, quite a few Martial Artists had inevitably become sustenance for the Glazed Immortal Palace.

"Brother Feng!"

A barefoot woman drifted over excitedly. It was Teng County, the one who had previously chosen to enter the Celestial Time Hall.

When Zou Feng’s group first emerged, Teng County was already standing outside the exit of the Celestial Time Hall.

Apparently, she had cleared her trial faster than Zou Feng and his companions.

This was actually quite normal. After all, while sufficient combat power was indispensable within an Illusion Realm, the ability to see through the illusion was what truly mattered.

Unexpectedly, just as Teng County drew near, something shot out from the "Sword Blade Storm" at extreme speed.

It then flashed with incredible speed between Zou Feng and Teng County before slamming heavily into a pillar of the Fate Hall.

In fact, Zou Feng had already seen clearly that the "cannonball" that had just flown past was a person.

"PWAAAH—"

After slamming into the pillar, the person violently spat out a mouthful of blood, then began to slide uncontrollably down its length.

At the same time, the terrifyingly powerful Sword Blade Storm up ahead began to rapidly dissipate.

"Jing Huaisong!?"

Wang Guquan was the first to cry out in astonishment.

That was right. The one who had been slammed into the pillar was none other than the current Sword Saint, Jing Huaisong—the very person they had feared was possessed or controlled.

However, the Jing Huaisong at this moment bore not a single trace of his former dignity as the Sword Saint.

He was covered in injuries, his hair was a mess, and his eyes were filled with disbelief and... dejection?

Seeing such a look of dejection in the Sword Saint’s eyes made everyone present wonder if they were, in fact, still trapped in an Illusion Realm...

Zou Feng, too, was completely baffled.

’Just moments ago, when I felt that incomparably sharp surge of Sword Qi, I had prepared myself for the possibility that Jing Huaisong had been compromised and turned into a pawn for the Glazed Immortal Palace.’

’Or that Jing Huaisong was fighting a powerful Immortal Slave.’

’But I had never imagined that the current Sword Saint, Jing Huaisong, would be taken down just like that!?’

’Although he wasn’t dead, a single glance at his injuries told me that Jing Huaisong would have trouble even standing up for some time...’

"Tch, and they call him the Sword Saint? Is that all you’ve got?"

A Martial Artist who had just emerged from another Fate Hall, someone who probably held a personal grudge against Jing Huaisong, saw his miserable state and immediately came over to mock him.

If it weren’t for the presence of others and the fact that they were all currently on the same side, the man probably would have rushed forward to kick Jing Huaisong while he was down.