The live - broadcast screen flickered like an old TV with no signal and finally went completely dark.
The audience at the scene erupted in an uproar, buzzing with discussions.
"Why is the picture gone? Did something go wrong with the competition again?"
"When will the screen be fixed? Are we just supposed to wait here?"
The host forced out a couple of awkward laughs and quickly tried to smooth things over and soothe the emotions of the crowd.
The chief director, Chen Fang, cursed under his breath. He took off his earpiece and rushed straight to the backstage. Grabbing the person in charge of the technical department, he demanded, "What's going on?"
The technical staff looked a bit panicked. "Director, it's not the screen's problem. We just used the walkie - talkie to urgently call the staff, but there was no response. We suspect there's a malfunction in the secret realm itself..."
Before he could finish, Chen Fang collapsed and threw the script in his hand to the ground. "This is a live broadcast! And you're telling me there's a malfunction now? How can we fix it?!"
The Xuanmen competition this time was extremely popular. Any little thing would attract wide - spread attention from the outside world, not to mention such a huge flaw in the competition itself. He'd be drowned in the netizens' spittle!
The technical department was also innocent. They had prepared for this metaphysics competition very seriously. Each level had been checked several times by dedicated people. Logically, such an oversight should never have happened! But now, a brute force of spiritual power had forcibly pulled all the contestants into an illusion formed by resentment.
The assistant director's face also looked grim. "Director Chen, in this situation, the contestants have to break out on their own. We can't interrupt."
Chen Fang slumped into a chair. His clothes were already soaked with sweat. This illusion was different from the secret realm. In the secret realm, when a contestant was defeated, they would only be eliminated, without any life - threatening danger.
But this illusion came out of nowhere. No one knew what the contestants would encounter inside!
Chen Fang could only silently pray that all the contestants would return safely without any life - threatening danger.
To calm the on - site audience, the program team had to activate the emergency plan and use the shadow - recording stones in the dojo to show the pictures.
What came into view was a blinding white.
The contestants huddled together on an open ground, looking at the surrounding scenery in a daze.
"If I remember correctly, it should be autumn now, right? Is that... snow in the sky?!"
Yu Nian frowned and surveyed the surrounding scenery. Goose - feather - like snowflakes were floating. In the distance, the dead branches were intertwined, looking like many ghostly figures with claws outstretched. The air was shrouded in a depressing gray mist, making it hard to breathe.
There were no buildings here except for a bunch of bare old trees. It was all white as far as the eye could see.
The cold wind howled. The contestants were still wearing the thin shirts they had worn for the competition and immediately started shivering from the cold.
The contestants lit up fire talismans one after another, trying to get a bit of warmth from them.
A strong man wiped his face, his voice trembling. "Have we encountered a ghost wall?"
His teammate immediately rolled his eyes. "Are the ghosts crazy? Would they waste their time trapping over twenty Taoist priests like us?"
"I think there must be some evil monster at work!"
Everyone was talking at once. The more they talked, the more anxious they became. No one was willing to give in to others. Some hot - tempered people even rolled up their sleeves, ready to fight.
Amid the hubbub, a clear voice came slowly. "It's an illusion."
Everyone was stunned and looked in the direction of the voice.
Yu Nian was standing shoulder - to - shoulder with Feng Chengyuan. Her hand was in his pocket to keep warm. Her expression was calm as she explained unhurriedly, "We've entered an illusion deliberately created by someone. Only by breaking this illusion can we get out."
Someone scratched his head in confusion. "What if we don't break it?"
Yu Nian gave him a cold glance, and her words shocked everyone.
"Then we'll be trapped in this illusion forever until we die."
As soon as her words fell, the contestants got a bit panicked. Some took out their jade tablets to try to contact the outside world, but found that all the jade tablets were blacked out.
Their only connection with the outside world had been cut off!
At this moment, the eliminated contestants sitting in the waiting room started gloating.
Most of the contestants had been defeated by Yu Nian and Yan Qing. They were just waiting for these "cheaters" to be buried in the illusion!
Among the contestants was a sixteen - or seventeen - year - old boy named Tian Qi. He rummaged in his bosom for a while and took out a compass. He mumbled something as he tried to find a direction.
But soon his face fell, and he said embarrassedly, "The compass doesn't work here."
His teammate, a girl named Cui Wan, covered her face and cried hysterically, "What the hell is this place? I came here to participate in the competition, not to die. I want to withdraw! Let me out!"
The contestants were already in a low mood. After Cui Wan's outburst, they also got restless and started to form groups to look for a way out.
Amid the bustling figures, Yu Nian still stood steadily in place.
Qi Rongsheng raised an eyebrow. "Aren't we going to look for a way out?"
Yu Nian said, "They'll come back."
As soon as her words fell, the first group of contestants who had left came running back crying from afar. They all looked terrified, and their bodies were stained with several bloodstains.
As soon as she saw Yu Nian, Cui Wan pointed shakily behind her, looking terrified. "There... there are monsters!"
Everyone was a bit confused. With so many Taoist priests gathered here, what was there to be afraid of?
Xue Yi'er casually looked behind Cui Wan. When she saw the things approaching like a dark cloud, she couldn't help but curse, "Damn it!"
Hundreds of human - shaped monsters were crawling on the ground. Their faces were hideous, and their limbs were misaligned. They were coming in groups!
The contestants looked at each other and then joined the battle one after another.
By this stage of the competition, those who remained were all truly talented people.
For a moment, magic tools flew everywhere, and sword lights kept flashing over their heads. The spiritual power hitting the monsters was like chopping Chinese cabbages!
But no matter how fast the contestants killed them, the monsters kept emerging wave after wave like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.
Gradually, everyone was starting to run out of energy, but the monsters still kept pestering them as if they didn't feel pain.
Xue Yi'er staggered and cursed, "These monsters can never be killed off! If we keep fighting, we'll surely die from exhaustion!"
Yu Nian's eyes flashed with a fierce light for a moment. She waved her hand and threw out several red threads.
The red threads passed through the sword lights and nimbly formed a circle full of spiritual power around the monsters.
Yu Nian didn't even blink. "Strangle."
The thin red threads suddenly thickened. With two "whooshing" sounds, all the monsters in the front row were killed!
Just before the next wave of monsters appeared, a bus drifted slowly from afar and stopped right in front of them.