Chapter 431: Deception and Trickery

As he spoke, Xuan Ce gradually approached Su Che. She stopped only when they were about twenty zhang apart.
“Uncle Master, have you heard of the so-called ‘celestial-level insiders’ that the Illusion Demon Sect has planted within various sects?” Xuan Ce asked in a gentle voice.
“I have,” Su Che replied calmly, nodding.
“I am one of those celestial-level insiders lurking within Tianxuan Sect!”

Venerable Xuan Ce—no, it should be called Young Lord Linfeng—suddenly said this with the intention of launching a surprise attack while Su Che was shocked and stunned.
Twenty zhang was practically right in front of him. If he used his full strength to deliver a powerful strike, he could surely kill the unprepared Su Che on the spot.
Of course, such a killing would destroy his physical body but not erase his soul entirely.
Linfeng still wanted to capture Su Che’s soul and uncover his secrets.

But something unexpected happened…

Buzz…

Before he could act, an oval teleportation portal suddenly appeared in front of Su Che. Su Che himself darted into the portal and vanished.

“A teleportation portal?”

Linfeng was stunned. He couldn’t determine what kind of portal it was at all.

“How is this possible? How did he see through me?”

Furious and confused, Linfeng couldn’t figure out where he had revealed any weakness that led Su Che to suspect him and enable him to activate such a portal.

“Tianyu, come out!” Linfeng shouted at the portal. “If you don’t come out, I’ll kill everyone in Tianxuan Sect. I’m already inside the sect, without the protective mountain formation to block me—no one can stop me now!”

After making the threat, he waited for a few moments, but there was no response from Su Che. In the empty hall, aside from him, only that teleportation portal remained.

In truth, Linfeng knew his threats wouldn’t work. A true hero wouldn’t care about others’ lives and certainly wouldn’t be threatened by them.

“He doesn’t care about the hundreds of thousands of disciples in Tianxuan Sect,” Linfeng cursed inwardly. “Damn it! His entire family of hundreds has already been taken away by him. There’s really nothing left that can force him to show up.”

Through the previous soul-searching attempts, Linfeng already knew that all members of the Su family on Xuanyu Peak had been hidden away by Su Che somewhere unknown.

Since he had long guessed that the Spirit Realm would likely send messengers to deal with him, how could Su Che leave such weaknesses exposed to the enemy? All necessary preparations had already been made…
At this moment, Lin Feng hesitated, wanting to cross that teleportation portal to chase after Su Che on the other side; yet he was worried that the portal might lead directly to the huge cave in the Wind and Thunder Desolate Land of the Barren God Valley, where he would once again face that terrifying giant heart.
“Should I go or not?”
Various thoughts flashed through Lin Feng’s mind as he weighed the pros and cons: “If I don’t go, Tian Yu will escape and might never be caught again; but if I follow him there, could there be another deadly trap waiting for me, just like last time?”
Although Lin Feng was already at the mid-stage of the Refining Void cultivation level, the thought of facing that woman with immortal energy and that giant heart, seemingly belonging to an ancient demon god, took away his confidence.
No matter how important treasures were, they couldn’t compare to his own life!
After much deliberation, Lin Feng decided to give up. Even if he could never catch Su Che again, he didn’t want to fall into another trap.
“Damn it!”
Once full of confidence, Lin Feng hadn’t even had a chance to act when he first saw Su Che, who had already escaped. The anger and disappointment in his heart were beyond description.
Just as he was about to turn away, he saw Su Che stick his head out of the teleportation portal, glance at him mockingly, and then pull it back quickly.
“It’s not a teleportation portal!”
Lin Feng was immediately sure that a teleportation portal couldn’t behave like this, poking its head out as if it were a regular door. The powerful teleportation force would either send someone away directly or spit them out completely, not just reveal a head while the body remained hidden elsewhere.
“This isn’t a teleportation portal—it’s an entrance to a magic artifact space!”
Based on Su Che’s action of sticking his head out, Lin Feng quickly reached this conclusion. This meant Su Che hadn’t fled but had hidden in some invisible spatial magic artifact.
Lin Feng then spread his consciousness to search carefully for that invisible spatial magic artifact. If he could seize it, it would mean trapping Su Che inside, making it easy to catch him.
But after searching for a long time, he couldn’t find where the supposed spatial magic artifact was. It seemed the artifact itself had no connection to this entrance.

“Ordinary spatial treasures in the mortal world simply can’t achieve such things; it’s very likely that tower!” At the thought of this, Lin Feng immediately became excited, eager to rush into that portal and claim that tower for himself. But after all, he was a Cultivator of the Void Realm who had lived for hundreds of years—he wasn’t a foolish idiot. Knowing the treasure was right there, he wouldn’t act on impulse and fall into Su Che’s trap again. So, Lin Feng calmed himself down, forcing himself to speak in an extremely slow pace while still maintaining a female voice, and asked loudly, “Tian Yu, how did you find me?” This time, Su Che responded. His voice echoed unevenly throughout the hall, making it impossible to pinpoint its source: “As soon as you stepped into the hall, I sensed something was off.” “Oh? What was wrong?” Lin Feng asked further. “The real Venerable Xuan Ce, though a woman, doesn’t walk with such a graceful and alluring posture as you do,” Su Che said, his tone carrying an inexplicable hint of amusement. “Your flaw is that you’re too feminine, quite different from Xuan Ce’s usual stern and orthodox demeanor. Especially when she comes to the main hall to see me, she would be serious and composed…” While saying this, Su Che had no idea that the person pretending to be Xuan Ce was actually a man, let alone that it was none other than Lin Feng from before. It could only be said that Lin Feng’s imitation of a woman was so convincing that itinstead revealed his flaw, allowing Su Che and Lao He to spot the problem almost at the same time. “I see.” Lin Feng nodded lightly, mocking himself inwardly: “Fine, making me pretend to be a woman is one thing, but playing the role of a stern old crone is indeed much harder…” “And you have another flaw,” Su Che’s voice came again. “Inside the Tianxuan Sect, aside from a few Core Formation senior brothers, no disciple dares to get within thirty zhang when coming here to see me. Yet you kept approaching as you spoke—clearly with ulterior motives.” “Well, I must admit, these two flaws are enough to arouse your suspicion.” Lin Feng acknowledged his mistakes but then changed tone: “Even so, Tian Yu, as long as I can find that spatial treasure you’re hiding in, you’re dead. Have you realized that?” “Hahaha…” Su Che laughed several times before replying, “I already guessed that the Spirit Realm would send an envoy to deal with me. But I didn’t flee Qiyuan Star in advance. If I had nothing to rely on, do you think I’d foolishly wait for you to catch me?”

“Perhaps it is your arrogance and overconfidence that have led you down the path of destruction.”
Lin Feng deliberately talked so much with Su Che in an attempt to use the sound as a means to locate the spatial magic artifact. However, Su Che saw through his plan. Hearing this, Su Che said with a smile, “You want to use my voice to find the location of the artifact, right? Actually, there’s no need for such trouble. Just go through this entrance, and you’ll be able to see me. I wonder if you have the courage to come in?”
Lin Feng’s eyes trembled slightly as he couldn’t determine whether Su Che’s words were a provocation or a decoy tactic. If it was a provocation, it meant Su Che wanted him to enter, with deadly traps already prepared inside; if it was a decoy, then Su Che was trying to sow doubt in him, aiming not to let him enter and capture him.
“It doesn’t matter!”
Su Che’s infuriating voice rang out again, “If you can’t decide right away, I can arrange for my sect disciples to bring you food and water, and set up a bed for you to stay here temporarily, allowing you time to think it over. We certainly don’t lack time, right?”
“Hmph…”
Lin Feng sneered, “To borrow your words from earlier—there’s no need for such trouble. I just need to report the current situation of Qi Yuan Star to the Spirit Realm, asking them to open a passage to the lower world immediately. Then, a large force will descend to eradicate you and your Tian Xuan Sect completely, leaving nothing behind!”
“Would you really do that?”
Su Che retorted instantly, “The more you say so, the more it proves you have no intention of doing it. Of course, if you really did, I would use this invisible spatial magic artifact to leave Qi Yuan Star right away. In the vast starry expanse, it’s impossible for you to find me, no matter how hard you try.”
Su Che’s words were indeed the truth from his heart. If a passage to the lower world were truly opened, he would have to abandon everything and leave immediately—any grand migration plan would become meaningless. Nothing was more important than his own life.
At this moment, Lin Feng deliberately kept talking to Su Che to find the hidden location of the spatial magic artifact. So why did Su Che talk so much?
Everything was ready—time to act!
Just as Lin Feng was about to speak, a clear danger signal came from behind him. With his extremely keen intuition, he immediately moved sideways about ten feet.

“It’s that woman! The one with the power of Immortal Essence, skilled in teleportation and invisibility…”
In that fraction of a second, such a thought flashed through Lin Feng’s mind.
But as he remained in mid-air, continuing to dodge swiftly sideways, he crashed headfirst into an invisible barrier.
“Damn it!” he cried inwardly.
Puf!
Lin Feng disappeared, just like Su Che and Fei Yun at that moment, seemingly entering a state of complete invisibility.
Inside the sect leader’s hall, not a soul was left, only that teleportation portal glowing with a milky white light, still standing there…