With a 'thump,' Nine Serenity Venerable felt his knees buckle, and he fell to the ground.

It was a pressure that could not be refused.

It was a thousand, a hundred times more intense than the two Ghost Heads encountered by the red-and-white calamity earlier!

Black Death Qi burst forth from the Ghost Buddha's body, as if it were solid.

He had cultivated the Soul Dao for hundreds of years, yet he had never seen such terrifying Death Qi.

Since you have seen the future, why do you not bow?

Nine Serenity Venerable couldn't help but recall the Illusion he had seen just seconds before—

He was trembling, kneeling before the Ghost Buddha, knocking his head on the ground, begging for a sliver of life.

Is this his future?

Is he going to die?

Can he only cling to life like this?

Innumerable thoughts arose in Nine Serenity Venerable's mind.

At this moment, he almost forgot that he was in an Illusion Realm; his mind was filled with only two words—

Live.

Out of his survival instinct, he slowly bent down, his body trembling uncontrollably.

His sanity value rapidly decreased.

30...

20...

10...

0!

Just as it dropped to 0.

The barrage appeared again.

But it appeared in a very eerie way...

Sinister whispers, like the wailing of ghosts, continuously echoed in his ears.

【He knelt! The old man really knelt!】

【Is he going to submit to the Ghost Buddha?】

【Oh my goodness... This Illusion Realm really drives people crazy!!】

【This time, he's really made a fool of himself!】

【No one will dare to attempt the Ghost Immortal difficulty after this, right?】

...

These delirious whispers, like auditory hallucinations, instead caused Nine Serenity Venerable to suddenly clear his mind.

His back, which was halfway bent, suddenly stopped.

"Illusion Realm... This is an Illusion Realm!"

Nine Serenity Venerable awoke as if from a dream, trying his best to control the fear in his heart.

"It's all fake... It's all fake! You want to trick me!!!"

He raised his voice, seemingly trying to alleviate his fear.

"This Immortal... Why would I need to trick you?"

The Ghost Buddha narrowed his eyes, propped up one palm, and said mockingly.

"You can't kill me, it's all that kid's trick... He wants to ruin my reputation! Haha, hahaha! I've seen through it!!!"

Nine Serenity Venerable laughed hysterically, his appearance somewhat deranged.

The Ghost Buddha's mouth stretched to his ears, revealing an evil smile.

His body suddenly became incredibly massive, crushing Nine Serenity Venerable in «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» his palm.

No matter how the latter struggled, he couldn't break free in the slightest.

The Ghost Buddha showed a twisted expression of toying with its prey, slowly crushing Nine Serenity Venerable's limbs one by one.

The latter screamed miserably while roaring:

"Kill me! Hurry and kill me!! You're nothing more than a phantom in an Illusion Realm!!!"

"Hahaha... I know! You're not a Water Ghost, not a Ghost Bride..."

"You're a Vicious Ghost! You must be a Vicious Ghost!!"

"I've found the answer... I won, I won!"

"You can't kill me, you can't kill me!!"

...

Hearing Nine Serenity Venerable, who was reduced to just a head, still shouting like that,

The Ghost Buddha's smile at the corner of his mouth became even more sinister:

"What if..."

"I could kill you?"

The next second, in Nine Serenity Venerable's despairing eyes, a giant finger crushed his head!

...

【Match Settlement:】

【Evil Creature Type: Vicious Ghost (+1000)】

【Evade a Ghost hunt (Failed)】

【Witness a strange perspective and survive (Failed)】

...

Nine Serenity Venerable looked at the settlement interface in front of him, then at the brightly lit safe house around him, and immediately burst into tears.

At this moment, the long-unseen barrage finally filled his entire field of vision.

【Nine Serenity Venerable is awesome!】

【The Big Shot is so amazing!】

【As expected of the number one Soul Cultivator!】

【I'm sorry, I apologize to you】

【Lu Ze? Come out and apologize to Old Man Liu!】

【Too strong, as expected of a Venerable!】

...

The style was completely different from when the broadcast first started.

The screen full of praise made Nine Serenity Venerable very proud.

"Haha, hahaha! This old man has traversed the Soul Dao for hundreds of years; such an Illusion Realm naturally can't stump me!"

"What if there's no evidence to determine the ghost? This old man knows evil creatures like the back of his hand!"

"Shameless brat, prepare to come out and apologize to me!"

Just thinking about the torment he endured in the Illusion Realm made Nine Serenity Venerable gnash his teeth in anger. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He clasped his hands behind his back and proudly exited the Illusion Realm.

Nine Serenity Venerable slowly opened his eyes, looking at his hands with lingering fear, then circulated his Cultivation Technique.

The abundant Spiritual Qi surrounding him finally gave him some peace of mind.

Although he had spoken confidently just now, he was actually greatly startled.

Many times in the middle, he even wanted to forcefully use Spiritual Qi to break through the Illusion Tower's restrictions, but for some reason, he didn't succeed.

Just then, he suddenly felt something was amiss.

In the air...

There was a smell of blood.

Although he was in Lingxiao Sect, he felt a strange yet familiar Death Qi...

With a 'bang,'

His room door was pushed open.

Nangong Yuan, distraught, pushed the door open and entered, covered in wounds.

"Elder Nangong? This is...?"

Nine Serenity Venerable's heart trembled.

"Hurry..."

Nangong Yuan desperately stretched out his hand towards him.

"Run..."

The next moment,

He was crushed into bloody fragments by the seemingly solid Death Qi behind him.

"!!!"

Nine Serenity Venerable's breathing instantly froze.

"Pat-a-tap"...

"Pat-a-tap"...

"Pat-a-tap"...

Footsteps on the scattered chunks of flesh grew closer.

Nine Serenity Venerable's teeth chattered wildly, and tears streamed from his wide-open eyes.

Because...

The figure that emerged from behind the door was none other than the Ghost Buddha from the Illusion Realm!

At this moment, although Nine Serenity Venerable had his cultivation, making him countless times stronger than when he was unarmed in the Illusion Realm,

He was even more terrified than he had been in the Illusion Realm.

This was a crushing pressure that obliterated sanity.

He didn't know why the Ghost Buddha could leave the Illusion Realm and come to Lingxiao Sect...

But he didn't doubt for a moment that the Ghost Buddha could do it.

Because this pressure...

Was too powerful! Too intense!

Nine Serenity Venerable suddenly understood.

What he had seen earlier in the underground of that ancestral hall was not an Illusion...

But the future!

The real, true future!

No wonder he had knelt before the Ghost Buddha amidst countless mutilated limbs and chunks of flesh...

This was real!

All of this was real!

The Ghost Buddha's smile at the corner of his mouth grew even more sinister, and his eyes were filled with a scarlet hue.

His lips moved slightly.

It was still that familiar line:

"Since you have seen the future..."

"Why do you not bow?"