Traveling across the globe for the first time

Chapter 1077 Illusion
Seeing the Northern Empress's resolute decision, a hint of admiration flashed in Zhang Haoran's eyes. To be honest, he had also experienced the pain of being invaded by the power of deathly silence. It was something that ordinary people could not bear. Even the Northern Emperor would probably scream in agony if he were affected by it.

He couldn't ask for anything more from a woman who could do this much.

Zhang Haoran immediately threw himself into his work. The best way to alleviate the other person's pain now was to end it all as soon as possible.

Without the interference of sound, he immediately concentrated all his mental energy to control the power of deathly silence.

This time, he not only wanted to erode the other party's body, but also their spiritual power and even their life imprint. He wanted to peel all of these away from their soul bit by bit and find a relatively pure source. This was a delicate task that could not be done without the slightest mistake.

He desperately controlled the power of death, spreading it little by little downwards from her head, trying to cover all the injuries caused by the power of the rules, while also preventing her golden body from collapsing.

At the same time, it is also necessary to erode the opponent's mental body, while ensuring that all injuries are covered without collapsing.

As soon as the erosion of her spiritual body began, the Northern Imperial Consort's body arched and trembled violently.

Zhang Haoran knew that this was not intentional, but an instinctive reaction. He immediately slowed down the erosion speed, otherwise, if it continued like this, the opponent's golden body and spiritual body would be fine, but their consciousness would collapse first.

"This is really troublesome!"

Zhang Haoran frowned and said, "The Northern Imperial Consort's will is too weak. If this continues, she may really have a mental breakdown and become an idiot."

This isn't because the other party lacks determination, but rather because their willpower is too weak.

It's actually just like standing at attention in military service; a well-trained soldier can stand there for hours without any problem.

But if you ask an untrained ordinary person to do it, even if you put a gun to their head, they wouldn't be able to stand for an hour.

The Northern Empress had been pampered for too long and was simply unable to adapt to this level of suffering; no matter how resolute she was, it was useless.

Zhang Haoran thought to himself, "If I had known it would be this troublesome, I should have lowered the price and let the Northern Emperor exchange for the Undying Power. That would have saved me so much trouble!"

Although he thought that way, he could not actually lower the price because the power of immortality was too precious; he didn't even have enough for himself, so he couldn't sell it at a low price.

However, it's not good for the Northern Empress to continue like this. Such a strong reaction will not only affect the operation, but if something goes wrong and she dies, it will be difficult to explain. More importantly, it will be very embarrassing.

"Forget it, let's think of another way. Let's make sure she doesn't really lose consciousness. At worst, I'll just have to work harder and not have her cooperate."

It's already quite remarkable that the Northern Empress has been able to endure this much; we really can't ask for more.

The original intention of keeping the Northern Empress conscious was to assess whether her soul had been damaged by the power of death, and to make it easier to find the pure origin.

After all, the reaction to a wound to the soul is different from that to a wound to the body. If the soul is eroded by the power of death, you can stop in time when you see the other party's reaction. It's just a minor injury, and you can just replenish your soul power. There won't be any major problems.

But the Northern Empress is clearly not holding on any longer. If this continues, her consciousness will collapse before the treatment is even finished.

Zhang Haoran frowned.

"What a hassle! This woman's will is too weak. If she persists, something bad might happen. I might as well just knock her out."

"At worst, I'll just work a little harder."

Asking the Northern Princess to cooperate was just to be on the safe side, not because we couldn't do without her. Now that it seems we can't rely on her, we can only be more careful.

After all, Zhang Haoran could only use his soul power to nurture the sword soul, and he had never learned any soul-related skills, so performing such a delicate operation was quite difficult.

"boom!"

A surge of energy rushed into the Northern Imperial Consort's mind, causing her to fall into a coma. Her body, which had been curled up like a shrimp, slumped down and lay on the bed convulsing.

This scene startled the Northern Emperor, who was being struck by lightning, and he thought that the Northern Empress had died from the torment.

He couldn't care less about the psychological trauma now. He immediately turned around and saw that the Northern Empress was still convulsing. He breathed a sigh of relief and said apologetically, "That's good. She won't be in so much pain after she falls into a coma, and it will be easier to treat her."

He knew that the reason they had kept the Northern Princess Consort conscious was not to torture her, but for a specific purpose. Now that she was unconscious, it would definitely make treatment more difficult.

But he had no other choice but to nod apologetically.

Zhang Haoran vented his anger by cursing, "Good my ass! Your wife isn't reacting at all right now, she doesn't even know where she's hurt. If she's left with any defects after being resurrected, that's not my responsibility."

The Northern Emperor could only sigh helplessly and say, "Alas! Young friend, do your best! If something unexpected happens, then you can only blame her bad luck."

Before the Northern Emperor could finish speaking, the Northern Empress, who had only been convulsing, bent over like a shrimp again, still emitting a silent roar.

"Holy crap! How did I wake up so quickly?"

Zhang Haoran was speechless. He had already given up on getting the other party to cooperate in knocking him out, but he didn't expect him to wake up so quickly.

He quickly understood what was going on.

Because the power of death has been constantly eroding the Northern Empress's spirit, this pain is no longer limited to the physical body, so simply knocking her unconscious is ineffective.

The Northern Emperor became anxious upon seeing this. The Northern Empress's reaction was too strong; if this continued, it was uncertain whether the treatment could be completed.

However, he was, after all, an emperor who had ruled the Three Realms for tens of thousands of years and had heard of and seen countless mysterious techniques, so he quickly came up with a solution.

He immediately transmitted excitedly, "Young friend, you can try illusion magic. Illusion magic can alleviate pain. Don't create an overly beautiful scene. Just set the scene as fighting in lava, so that she feels the pain comes from the surrounding environment."

When setting up the enemy, don't make them too strong, but you can make sure there are many of them. Make sure she sees hope of victory.

With hope, greater potential can be unleashed.

At this point, he thought that the Northern Empress had not experienced battle for tens of thousands of years. A life-or-death crisis alone would not be very effective. So he gritted his teeth and said ruthlessly, "You can set it up as her fighting to protect Ling'er. A mother is always the greatest, and she will definitely do everything in her power to protect her daughter."

Zhang Haoran was also invigorated when he heard about this idea. These old silver coins are full of clever ideas; they can even come up with such a method!

If it is an illusion, it can indeed alleviate pain, and it can also distract from fighting the enemy.

However, there was something wrong with the scenario designed by the other party. He couldn't help but complain, "Making her fight to protect her daughter is a good idea."

But I've never seen Yue Ling when she was a child! To create an illusion, you need materials; otherwise, it'll be obvious something's wrong at a glance.

The Northern Emperor excitedly said, "It's alright, I'll send you Ling'er's childhood appearance right away. Also, check if there are any other problems. Try to make it as meticulous as possible, and don't let her see any flaws. Once an illusion has a flaw, it's easy to get rid of it." Zhang Haoran immediately said, "There's a big problem. First of all, this scene is inappropriate. You're saying she's fighting in lava or a harsh environment, with a baby by her side. Is that reliable?"

Even descendants of emperors cannot survive in lava.

Even having him carry the baby on his back and protect it with his vital energy wouldn't be appropriate. A mother in this situation would instinctively try to escape with her child, not stay and foolishly fight to the death. If she discovers she can't fight her way out, she'll be even more desperate.

After thinking about it, the Northern Emperor felt that what he said made sense, so he said, "Then let's do it this way, let's fight in the lava, that way we can find a reasonable explanation for the pain she is in."

You've included me in this scenario, so I'm lying on the ground, pretending to be severely injured and on the verge of death, with Ling'er protecting me in my arms.

Letting her fight for us, father and daughter, will surely unleash her full potential.

Zhang Haoran said with satisfaction, "This is much more rigorous. Okay, let's do it this way."

In his opinion, that was good enough. Given the current state of the Northern Empress, she couldn't resist the illusion at all. Even if she saw through the flaw and woke up, it wouldn't matter. He could just do it again. In the illusion, it was possible to erase some of the other party's memories.

Although Zhang Haoran had never learned illusion techniques, it was no problem for him. It was just a matter of using some mental tricks. With his mental strength, even if the methods were a bit crude, he could easily trap his opponent in an illusion.

He acted on his thoughts immediately, beginning to weave a plot in his mind, while the speed at which the power of death eroded his hands slowed down.

This is called "sharpening your axe before chopping wood!"
Just as he finished writing the script and was about to launch it, the Northern Emperor suddenly reminded him: "Um... I'm sorry, I forgot that you were using the power of death to invade her spiritual body. This illusion is easily broken, so you still need to be careful."

Zhang Haoran immediately retorted angrily, "Damn it, how can you be so unreliable? You made me happy for nothing."

Then he realized that he couldn't create an illusion with his mental power, but he could use his willpower!

The Northern Empress's willpower is so weak that once she is attacked, she will never wake up.

Moreover, using willpower to invade has another advantage: it can isolate the opponent's consciousness from their body, thus not affecting their mental state.

"Alright, leave everything here to me. You go and collect the Life Fish!"

A flash of silver light appeared in Zhang Haoran's eyes, and an invisible wave crashed into the Northern Imperial Concubine's sea of ​​consciousness. This time it was a pure attack of will, without the use of sword intent.

This trick worked perfectly. The Northern Empress's body stopped trembling, only twitching occasionally. Her consciousness had been pulled into the illusion.

Zhang Haoran breathed a sigh of relief and immediately increased the rate of erosion. The Northern Imperial Concubine had absorbed too much essence and was restricted by the rules, so her injuries could not be healed.

He is now using the power of death to fill the void in the opponent's body, which will basically cover up the injuries.

Finding the pure source isn't too difficult. Uninjured parts will definitely have strong resistance, and the rate of erosion will also be different. As long as you are careful, you will definitely be able to find it.

He was certain that there was definitely a trace of pure essence, otherwise the opponent's golden body would have already collapsed.

As the power of death intensified, the Northern Empress's skin turned grayish-white, and cracks appeared, as if it would crumble and fall off at any moment, making her look more and more like a dried corpse.

This scene filled the Northern Emperor with worry. If the Northern Empress were to perish in this state, she might truly be unable to be resurrected.

Zhang Haoran suddenly asked, "You have extended the life of the Northern Empress many times, so you should know where she finally collapsed when she dissipated."

He asked this question because searching bit by bit was too troublesome.

If we can first pinpoint the location and find that source, then the speed of the invasion can be increased.

He originally wanted to solve these problems himself, but with an old silver coin who knew the situation better by his side, it would be foolish not to ask, especially since he was also saving his wife.

Upon hearing this question, the Northern Emperor immediately fell into deep thought. Indeed, over the years, the projection of the Northern Empress had collapsed in front of him many times.

However, he was already heartbroken as he watched the Northern Empress dissipate, so he had no time to care about these details. He had no idea where the final point of collapse would be.

Fortunately, martial artists have strong mental power, and once they have seen something, they will never forget it. He carefully recalled for a while and said somewhat uncertainly, "It may be the location of the heart. I am not so sure about this. The projection will dissipate in an instant."

Moreover, I didn't use my spiritual power to investigate at that time, so I don't know what was going on inside her body.

"I remember when the Imperial Consort perished, it was the last bit of blood and energy in her chest that dissipated."

"Oh, let's try it!"

In Zhang Haoran's view, it doesn't matter where he erodes first, since trying it won't cost him anything.

Having a clear goal is always better than figuring things out on your own.

He carefully controlled the power of deathly stillness, wrapping it around the Northern Empress's heart and gradually eroding it inwards. Soon he noticed that the erosion was slowing down, and he was overjoyed. After carefully sensing for a while, he indeed discovered a relatively pure source.

In fact, even if the Northern Empress were revived using only this wisp of essence, the situation wouldn't be any better than it is now.

After all, her demise was due to the rules, and was almost inevitable.

However, if this source is processed and its causal relationship with the main body is severed, there should be no problem.

With a thought, he immediately separated this wisp of essence and threw it directly into the system space.

Then, by spending 100,000 value points, the Myriad Realms Tower was purified. The Northern Imperial Consort's current strength is only at the True God level, and her origin is equivalent to a fourth-tier item.

The current state of this wisp of origin is very special. It has severed the causal relationship with the Northern Empress and will no longer be tracked by the power of the rules, yet it still contains the life imprint of the other party.

From the perspective of this world, this is equivalent to just one of the other party's personal belongings.

Then, Zhang Haoran immediately threw that wisp of origin towards the Northern Emperor and said, "This wisp of origin has been purified by me."

To ensure that the life imprint within does not disappear, you need to wrap it with your spiritual power and then reinsert it into the body of the Northern Empress.

You must be careful not to have any real contact with her blood and vitality, nor to leave the body of the Northern Imperial Consort. You must control this balance very well.

Otherwise, if the life imprint disappears or becomes contaminated, the Northern Empress will be unable to be resurrected.

(End of this chapter)