Ranking

Night. This desert has both day and night.

Wind howls past, whipping up particles of sand from the ground. Gradually, the particles gather, and combined with the temperature difference between day and night, the desert enters a violent mode—a sandstorm!

At this moment, a figure walks through the sandstorm, completely ignoring the terrifying natural phenomenon. The newcomer is Lu Yan'an. His combat boots step onto the soft quicksand, yet his form does not sink, as steady as if he were walking on flat ground! The environment cannot exert any negative influence on him; even the gravity, which is thirty thousand times stronger than on Yuan Planet, cannot make him lose perfect control over his body!

Lu Yan'an walks forward silently. Suddenly, he stops, his ears twitching slightly. He can faintly hear the sounds of battle in the distance, distinct from the howling wind. This causes a hint of excitement to finally appear in Lu Yan'an's calm eyes: "Those who dare to fight in such an environment must be experts confident in their own strength. Killing such experts is far more efficient!"

Whoosh!

Lu Yan'an taps his toes, turning into a blur as he swiftly moves toward the sound. In just a moment, he arrives before a sand dune.

"Hmm?" Lu Yan'an looks up and ahead. Even in the night sandstorm, his spiritual force and dynamic vision are exceptionally formidable. The sand and the night cannot hinder his sight in the slightest; he can see objects thousands of meters away at a glance. If it were daytime and the view were unobstructed, seeing a hundred kilometers away would be simple and easy for him.

"That is..."

On the quicksand in the distance, an asymmetric battle is taking place. One person is chasing and slaughtering a group of others!

"Boom!" A warrior, unable to dodge in time, chooses to take the attack head-on. A spear pierces through the Tier 2 combat armor he used for defense, running completely through his chest and killing him on the spot.

The one holding the spear is a little giant standing five meters tall. He has sturdy legs and arms, and his skin is dark red. Despite his massive size, his movement is extremely agile. Every time he swings his spear, he claims another life on the field!

Seeing this person's appearance and attack style, Lu Yan'an on the sand dune feels a stir in his heart: "A heroic warrior's posture, proficient with the spear, agile footwork—he is Gui Qiang!" As one of the super experts in this cross-world area, since entering this desert, Lu Yan'an has gained some understanding of the renowned powerhouses in World Area 45.

"Gui Qiang" is exactly such an existence! His bizarre and nimble spear technique is completely at odds with his heroic temperament!

"Interesting." A flash of excitement crosses Lu Yan'an's eyes, and he flies directly toward the distant "Gui Qiang."

The giant warrior holding the spear, after killing an opponent, immediately strides to chase the next. His unpredictable footwork is a perfect match for his spear technique; every attack and every movement is like a wild horse running through the sky, full of imagination. Just as the last warrior on the field is about to be taken down, his attack stops...

The giant warrior suddenly ceases his assault, his eyes fixed on the sand dune ahead.

The sandstorm is raging, and with no light source at night, visibility is mostly blocked. But Gui Qiang still senses something unusual through his superhuman sixth sense!

A figure walks silently out of the sand. Compared to the giant-like powerhouse "Gui Qiang," he appears exceptionally weak and thin, his frame only about 1.7 meters tall. He carries no weapons, only a pair of alloy gauntlets worn on his hands. He walks step by step, heading toward the battlefield ahead...

The heroic giant warrior "Gui Qiang" stares intently at Lu Yan'an, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Lu Yan'an also watches his opponent, his eyes remaining as calm as a stagnant well.

"Nightmare?" Gui Qiang's voice is quite excited and cold.

"Gui Qiang?" Lu Yan'an's gaze is calm, looking at no one else.

On the field, one side is the most outstanding genius warrior in this world area, and the other is a genius illusionist from another world area. Under the witness of the raging sandstorm, they have finally met! Generally, top-tier experts try to accumulate points in the early stages, and only when they have enough points do they engage in life-and-death battles with peers of the same level, such as the one who challenged Lu Yan'an earlier, Illusion Dream.

"Fight now?" Gui Qiang stares at Lu Yan'an, his eyes incredibly sharp.

"Yes," Lu Yan'an nods, "right now!"

"Then I must see if you, who bear the title of 'Nightmare,' can truly live up to such an arrogant name!"

Having said that, he slams his right leg into the quicksand. The sand is soft, but it does not hinder his leverage at all. In a flash, his entire body lunges before Lu Yan'an, his spear striking like a dragon, thrusting at Lu Yan'an in rapid succession. It seems he knows the intelligence on Lu Yan'an and wants to launch a surprise attack, hoping to kill him before his illusion technique can be deployed!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The spear strikes Lu Yan'an's gauntlets, producing crisp clashing sounds and sparks flying everywhere!

"Haha, is that all the strength the 'Nightmare' has?" Gui Qiang lets out a mocking laugh, seemingly trying to exert psychological pressure on Lu Yan'an.

But Lu Yan'an remains steady and solid. No matter how tricky Gui Qiang's attack angles are or how unpredictable his footwork becomes, every single attack is successfully blocked by the gauntlets in Lu Yan'an's hands! In this confrontation of offense and defense, the initiative gradually shifts from the attacker to the defender! One burst of energy, then a second, then a third, and then it is exhausted!

Finally, Lu Yan'an seizes a momentary stiffness in Gui Qiang's attack and retreats rapidly. While retreating, the secret technique "Huo Shen" is successfully constructed, and the spiritual illusion instantly sweeps over, surrounding Gui Qiang!

As expected, although warriors have slightly higher resistance to illusions than controllers of the same level, they are basically helpless against an illusion of this caliber from Lu Yan'an! He easily falls into the illusion constructed for him.

At this moment, Lu Yan'an is not relaxed. When facing the will of these true genius warriors, his illusions can no longer achieve an instant kill; they can only restrict their movements for a few seconds. Seizing the opportunity, Lu Yan'an suddenly switches from defense to offense, throwing a charged punch toward Gui Qiang's head.

The moment the fist nears, Gui Qiang suddenly breaks free from the illusion! Seeing the fist right before his eyes, he can only tilt his head, and his Earth-type Level 8 domain instantly erupts, attempting to take Lu Yan'an's charged blow head-on!

"Boom!" Everything is in vain. Even though his consciousness returned at the last moment and he triggered his Earth-type domain to increase his defense, all struggles are futile against Lu Yan'an's charged punch! Gui Qiang's head is shattered by the powerful impact like a watermelon.

"You were quite strong, it's just a pity you ran into me!" Lu Yan'an says with a hint of pride.

However, his words are not entirely empty talk. At least in the ten-plus days since arriving in World Area 45, Gui Qiang is the only warrior who was not taken out by a single illusion in a duel with Lu Yan'an, and the only expert who could continue to struggle after breaking free from an illusion!

Standing beside Gui Qiang's corpse, Lu Yan'an looks down at the screen on his right wrist.

The screen has changed.

Participant: Lu Yan'an (Black Dragon Mountain Empire)

Points:

Ranking: 2

"This Gui Qiang is worthy of being a super expert in this desert world area, and he appeared right from the start. After such a long time, he actually provided me with over ten million points," Lu Yan'an thinks to himself.

Killing one Gui Qiang added over ten million points, meaning Gui Qiang himself likely had around twenty million points. This strength is enough to qualify in the Ganwu Universe Country. Although it is still far from the geniuses in the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company, it is enough to join the "Ganwu Dojo" in the Ganwu Universe Country. He is indeed a genius with a Level 8 domain!

"Since the points are almost enough, the duel should be prepared for! Tsk, it's my first time fighting a traditional illusionist; I'm really looking forward to it!" Although under the guidance of Lord Shen, a "Orthodox Illusionist," Lu Yan'an understands how strong his path is, he has never had a standard for judgment! This duel with Illusion Dream will be more helpful for him to determine his own standing as an illusionist.

"Don't let me down, Illusion Dream!" A hint of anticipation flickers in Lu Yan'an's eyes. He turns back to head toward World Area 44; he can't wait to fight Illusion Dream!