“Rise!”

At the entrance of the Hundred Flowers Valley, Han Meimei stabbed a gray flag into a rock.

Immediately, some gray mist popped up from the flag and joined the mist that the other eleven same flags emitted some ten meters away.

In the end, the entrance of the valley was completely blocked.

“This is a fog array. The fog created by the flags makes it impossible for the intruders to break in easily, and it can block the regular ways of scouting.

“For example, it can prevent the transmission of the electromagnetic signals!”

Han Meimei wiped off the sweat on his forehead and declared proudly.

Although Han Meimei's talent was summoning, she had developed other skills just like Ji Ye did.

As a settlement with Mount Emei as the setting, she had welcomed not only the notable figures from wuxia novels but also the low-level disciples from certain xianxia sects.

The path she chose was exactly one of divinity cultivation. However, as a female player, Han Meimei didn't choose to be a fighting “sword deity”. Instead, she chose to be an “array master”.

Speaking of which, arrays existed in the world of The Return of the Condor Heroes too.

The Quanzhen Sect, Guo Jing, Huang Yaos.h.i.+, and even Aunt Ying and Little Dragon Maiden who were in the Hundred Flowers Valley, were all skilled at arrays!

However, Ji Ye hadn't planned to work on arrays just yet.

“These are the Emerald Bamboos that our settlement produced. One seed of such plants can quickly proliferate and block a large area. In such a case, it would be impossible for the outsiders to enter the Hundred Flowers Valley without using force or without our direction!”

After setting up the array at the entrance, Han Meimei took out a pocketful of green bamboo seeds and planted them at an opening in the valley. They quickly grew into a bamboo copse!

Clearly, they were the special resources that belonged to her settlement!

Of course, even though these two methods had been adopted, it would've been impossible to completely stop other players from entering the Hundred Flowers Valley.

After all, the Hundred Flowers Valley was too large to be completely locked down.

For example, the players who could fly were still able to barge in from the sky over the obstacles!

But of course, if someone really did that, the players from the Twin Dragon Mount fort would have a good reason to attack them.

More likely, Zhou Botong would've already shot them down from the sky as if they were birds before the players could do anything.

Another three people had come to the Hundred Flowers Valley.

It didn't really affect the players of the Twin Dragon Mount fort. If anything, it was in their favor!

For example, because Aunt Ying was rather bad at martial arts, the players had only been able to study from Reverend Yideng, Zhou Botong, Yang Guo, and Qiu Qianren.

The male players were okay with that, but it wasn't really suitable for the female players to practice the martial arts such as the Iron Fist Art, the Mystic Iron Sword Technique, and the Toad Art.

Those female players had new choices after the arrival of Little Dragon Maiden.

The martial arts of the Gumu Sect, such as Jade Girl Heart Sutra and Beauty's Fist, looked and sounded beautiful, and they could nourish the pract.i.tioner's skin!

Even Nie Xiaoqian, who had been on the path of Daoist cultivation, had tried some of those arts curiously.

On the other hand, she and Chu Yin exchanged their knowledge on music with Little Dragon Maiden.

Furthermore, Ji Ye also learned a fist technique named Dragnet Force from Little Dragon Maiden, who taught him that because he treated Yang Guo's arm.

According to her, that was an “entry-level” martial art of the Gumu Sect, but it didn't mean that the art wasn't subtle or advanced.

Actually, it was an Extraordinary art with a Superior rating. The focus of this art was fast.

In the original novel, Little Dragon Maiden was able to resist the attacks of dozens of swordsmen at the same time with this technique. After she gained Greater Mastery, she was even able to hold off the storm of arrows that the Mongolian army shot out with her fists and her True Qi.

If a martial art was fast enough, it could destroy anything.

Ji Ye was intrigued by the thought of that and attempted to improve the speed of the art to “Perfect” during the fusion!

However, he then realized that there was a creepy requirement for that—castration. So, he had to keep it in “Superior”, the original level, and spent quite some EXP to become Adept at the fist technique.

Naturally, he was making all the preparations for the trip to Xiangyang City.

It was also the last time Ji Ye had tried to fuse a martial art with his talent in the Hundred Flowers Valley.

Once the Fusion talent cooled down, Ji Ye decided to fuse items that contained Transcendent power!

The first item he chose was…

Inside the cottage in the Hundred Flowers Valley, Ji Ye sat cross-legged on the ground, and the Void Ring on his finger flashed.

A transparent ball the size of an egg appeared in his palm, and images of pavilions and dancing fish and dragons appeared in the fully-closed room.

Yes, he was going to fuse the Mirage Dragon Pearl!

With his Flood Dragon Bloodline, he was able to directly use this Transcendent item to some extent.

However, Ji Ye's guts told him that creating illusions couldn't have been the only ability of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

At the very least, it wouldn't have been qualified to be called “Transcendent” if that was its only ability!

After all, the Extraordinary Mirage Monsters could do the same thing with the mirage, except that the illusions they created weren't as large.

Another reason for Ji Ye's attempt was that the Mirage Dragon Pearl belonged to the Mirage Dragon which was a.s.sociated with dragons. Since he already had “dragon blood” and “Dragon Aura”, maybe he could get a “dragon ball” after the fusion?

“Let's fuse!”

Triggered by Ji Ye's thought, the Mirage Dragon Pearl in his hand gave off a white glow that was mixed with a flas.h.i.+ng silver light.

This time, the fusion took as long as the fusion of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang arts did.

“I see!”

Several hours later, Ji Ye opened his eyes.

The Mirage Dragon Pearl in his hand looked the same, but Ji Ye had epiphany and excitement on his face.

“As I expected, you have new abilities…”

The moment Ji Ye thought about it, some translucent Mirage Dragon aura broke out of the Mirage Dragon Pearl.

Following that, it formed a vivid Golden Condor before him. Even the feathers on its wings and the pupils in its eyes were lifelike!

The ability of the Mirage Dragon Pearl after the fusion was that the creatures it created were more vivid?

Not exactly. The details were more vivid only because Ji Ye had practiced Left and Right Inter-fighting and could better control his spiritual power.

The real change of the Mirage Dragon Pearl was that…

Hum!

Dragon Aura appeared on Ji Ye's hand.

Then, it melted into the flying Golden Condor.

“Caw!”

The Golden Condor in the sky roared and then picked up the teapot on the table with its claw.

Then, it flew a circle in the room and placed it back on the table.

That's right. The illusion created by the Mirage Dragon Pearl now would have a real ent.i.ty if Dragon Aura was melted into it!

“Actually, I've already received hints of that before, but I didn't pay much attention to it…”

Ji Ye remembered how the Mirage Monsters revived the Mirage Dragon through a ritual back in the sea!

At that time, the “illusions” that the Mirage Dragon created had real ent.i.ties and could collide with the “Blood Flood Dragon Alpha Wolf”.

“However, because Dragon Aura is a prerequisite for real ent.i.ties, there is only a limited number of 'real illusions' that I can create!

“But that's good enough. If some of the illusions are real and some are just illusions, my enemies won't be able to tell them apart.”

Ji Ye's eyes glittered.

Earlier, what the Mirage Dragon Pearl created were pure illusions.

But now, with Dragon Aura, he could create a real creature that could fight. It was definitely a qualitative improvement.

After the fusion, this Mirage Dragon Pearl was bound to him in a similar way that the Soul Mask was. Theoretically speaking, he could activate it remotely without holding it in his hand.

“This involves its second ability.

“The Mirage Dragon Pearl is now able to 'record' a scene and then 'play' the same scene later.

“It can even 'play' the scene remotely and simultaneously, which means that I don't have to spend tremendous mental strength on reconstructing the scenes again!”

Ji Ye sensed his remote connection to the “dragon ball” in his hand.

“No wonder it's mentioned in its description that the Mirage Dragon is able to create a city that feels completely real on the sea.

“How much mental strength would that require? It's too challenging even for the Transcendent creatures. Perhaps… recording and replaying is the way those cities are built?”

Ji Ye seemed rather enlightened.

Of course, although it was a recorded scene, he could still control and alter it with his mental strength while it was playing because it was still made of mental power.

Furthermore, he could give the illusionary creatures real combat abilities by instilling Dragon Aura into them!

“Speaking of which, this Mirage Dragon Pearl is more and more like a high-tech hologram projector to me. Or rather, it's like a 3D printer that can create real ent.i.ties.”

Ji Ye smiled.

However, it wasn't too strange on second thought.

It was not unusual that different civilizations adopted different approaches while seeking the same goal.

For example, the telephones and TVs in the tech civilizations, the telepathic communication and mental projection in the cultivation civilizations, and the network of magic power in the magic civilizations were for the same purpose. They were all developed when the people in those civilizations needed it!

Perhaps all the civilizations on the Land of Inheritance would reach the same destination in the end?

Of course, it was pointless to consider that just yet. What interested Ji Ye more was…

“Well, after the Mirage Dragon Pearl's abilities are fully developed, it seems that I'm able to clone myself as I have always wanted to!”

Whoos.h.!.+

Ji Ye made up his mind and transmitted some Dragon Aura into the Mirage Dragon Pearl in his hand.

Then, the Golden Condor in the sky turned into a person who was identical to Ji Ye himself. Even his clothes and the Mirage Dragon Pearl in his hand were the same!

“Nice to meet you!”

This new “Ji Ye” smiled at the Ji Ye who was sitting cross-legged on the ground and nodded.

Of course, Ji Ye was only doing this for fun.

This Dragon Aura clone wasn't really capable of independent thinking. It must be controlled by Ji Ye's consciousness.

Besides, while he could make sounds by vibrating the Dragon Aura, it was way more difficult to simulate the human speech system than to simulate eagle roars.

Therefore, it would take time to polish the clone if he wanted to make it flawless.

Fortunately, that wasn't hard at all for someone who had enough Honor and EXP.

Ji Ye was exactly one of the people who were never short of EXP.

“Well, this should do now!”

Ji Ye spent the next hour modifying and adjusting the clone at the cost of his EXP.

He didn't stop until the clone was so similar to him both in terms of appearance and voice that even those from the Twin Dragon Mount fort couldn't tell that it was a counterfeit.

“Huh?”

When it was almost done, Ji Ye suddenly p.r.i.c.ked his ears and turned his head to the entrance of the Hundred Flowers Valley.

Several seconds later, Ji Ye walked out of the room and looked up at the sky.

White swirls appeared in his eyes, and then pictures in the sky popped up.

Then, they were replaced by the scenes on the floor from the sky perspective. Very soon, the scenes were focused on about a dozen riders outside of the Hundred Flowers Valley!

“More players are here?”