World Area 44.
The same primeval forest.
Lu Yan'an was hurrying toward the agreed meeting place. The swamps and tangled traps of the wetlands seemed unable to show him their full menace; he strode past every obstacle the natural terrain put in his way.
"Whoosh!"
A wind wheel infused with a Controller's Spiritual Force tore through the air and shot toward him.
Lu Yan'an quickened his pace and vanished from his attacker's sight as if using Teleportation. Having seen this kind of ambush many times before, he immediately pinpointed the attacker's location.
The attacker had been about to flee the instant Lu Yan'an disappeared from view. But before he could even react, Lu Yan'an appeared behind him!
"Were you looking for me?" Lu Yan'an asked, eyeing the short, purple-skinned gnome before him with an amused expression. If he wasn't mistaken, this purple gnome was a member of the Zi Meng Race, one of the human races in the universe.
The Zi Meng Race were natural Controllers! They were short and physically weak, but every member was born with the Spiritual Force to control objects. They were one of the more famous Controller races in the universe.
"You're 'Nightmare'?" The attacker stared at him in disbelief!
"Didn't you leave World Area 44 to hunt in another World Zone?" His voice was full of confusion, as if he couldn't understand why Lu Yan'an was here.
"Let me ask you this: is it possible I finished hunting in another World Zone and came back?" Lu Yan'an looked at the attacker as if he were an idiot. "There's no rule saying that someone who leaves a World Zone can't return, is there? Besides, I still have a duel to fight in this World Zone!" Lu Yan'an shrugged and explained.
"But you don't need to ask anything else. The moment you tried to ambush me, your Genius Tournament was over! Still, making it to the final day of the preliminaries means you've had better luck than most." As he spoke, Lu Yan'an twisted the Zi Meng Controller's neck with a crack, to the man's horror.
"Next time you ambush someone, keep your eyes open!"
In the central region of the primeval forest, Lu Yan'an had arrived early and was meditating in midair. About two hours later, Illusion Dream finally arrived.
"You're finally here!" Lu Yan'an said with a sigh. He slowly descended from the air and landed in front of Illusion Dream.
"I dealt with a few minnows, so I was delayed a little." He was as carefree as ever, an inscrutable smile on his face.
"Shall we start now? Do you need time to get ready?" Lu Yan'an watched Illusion Dream, his gaze sharpening from its earlier nonchalance.
"No need. Dealing with a couple of minnows didn't affect me." Illusion Dream shook his head. "Let's start now!"
"I've been looking forward to this duel for a long time! I hope you, a fellow Illusionist, can give me something new to enjoy!" he said, his eyes practically shining.
"Then let's begin!"
The two of them attacked almost simultaneously! Wearing gray-black armor and carrying a long spear on his back, Illusion Dream let his smile vanish. His eyes turned cold, and the corner of one eye twitched.
"Buzz!"
An invisible wave of illusory Spiritual Force reached Lu Yan'an in an instant. It was simply too fast! It invaded his mind at once. As he unleashed his mental illusion, Illusion Dream pushed off with his toes and swiftly moved toward Lu Yan'an. The long spear that had been on his back appeared in his right hand. He intended to kill him outright!
This was the first time Illusion Dream had used a martial artist's techniques and an Illusionist's methods simultaneously. It was a sign of respect for a "kindred spirit"!
The invisible Spiritual Force slipped into Lu Yan'an's sea of consciousness and quickly enveloped his Spiritual Force. Since Spiritual Force contained an individual's consciousness, and the soul was essentially a collection of countless strands of spiritual energy, Lu Yan'an's consciousness fell into Illusion Dream's mental illusion in an instant!
A moment ago, he had been facing Illusion Dream in their duel. The next, his consciousness was trapped in another scene.
"Tsk, this illusion is pretty realistic. You can tell he put a lot of care into crafting it." Rather than feeling lost in the illusion, Lu Yan'an even sounded interested as he assessed it.
As an Orthodox Illusionist with a perfect state of mind, Lu Yan'an could basically resist illusions below the Immortal Level. He had deliberately entered Illusion Dream's illusory world this time to evaluate it.
Outside the illusion.
With a bang, Lu Yan'an raised his right arm to block Illusion Dream's attack. Seeing Illusion Dream's surprise, he said:
"Your illusion is quite well constructed. At least from my perspective, it isn't crude at all. It has plenty of merits!" As he spoke, he exerted force with his right arm. Illusion Dream, still gripping the spear, suddenly felt an immense force transmitted from the other end.
Illusion Dream didn't lose his temper. He took the result calmly, as if he'd expected it. Using Lu Yan'an's force, he swiftly retreated and opened up some distance between them. "You broke my illusion so quickly? I have to hand it to you!" Illusion Dream said with a sigh. He had attacked with the intention of killing Lu Yan'an in one blow, but it was obvious his illusion hadn't achieved the result he'd expected.
"Your illusion shows that you've worked hard to refine it. Few people at your level could break free. Even against a Universe Level expert, you could use the time it takes them to escape the illusion to close in with your martial arts and kill them!" Lu Yan'an praised him. Illusion Dream was like a weaker version of himself—even their attack styles were so similar!
"Then it's my turn, right?" Lu Yan'an said, waving his hand. His illusion technique, Huo Shen, activated at once, and his Spiritual Force enveloped Illusion Dream.
But to Lu Yan'an's surprise, Illusion Dream showed no sign of faltering after taking his illusion technique. He still wore a faint smile, without a hint of a flaw!
"Surprised, aren't you? Wondering why your illusion didn't affect me?" Illusion Dream said smugly. "I can tell you haven't been an Illusionist for long—so little time that you haven't even learned a Soul Defense Secret Technique!" he warned. "When fighting someone who isn't an Illusionist, an offensive secret technique is usually the key to victory. You did a good job with that!"
"But if your opponent is also an Illusionist, a Soul Defense Secret Technique is crucial! Train it to a certain level, and you can completely defend against the secret techniques of Illusionists at the same level or even higher! You'll be virtually invincible!"
Seeing Lu Yan'an's thoughtful expression, he continued:
"We can both break each other's illusions easily, so shall we start round two?"
Before Lu Yan'an could answer, green domain energy surged around Illusion Dream, and he charged toward him.
"You really are an impatient one!" Lu Yan'an said with a smile as he unfolded his Light Domain. The Wind Domain and the Light Domain clashed. Both were at the ninth level, so neither could gain the upper hand in a short time! Within their domains, the two fought fiercely.
A glint of cold light came first, followed by a spear thrust like a dragon. Illusion Dream's spear technique fully deserved that description! With the speed boost from his wind domain, his thrusts were even faster. Lu Yan'an dodged at top speed. The Light Domain not only increased his speed, but also made him seem to flicker between reality and illusion. From time to time, he seized an opening in Illusion Dream's attacks and countered!
For a while, neither could gain the upper hand! As they traded blows, both seized an opening and swiftly retreated to create some distance.
"Not bad! It's been a long time since anyone pushed me this far!" Illusion Dream smiled. "Illusions, domains—we've both reached the limits of Star Level life. If we keep fighting like this, we'll only waste time! Now for round three. I hope you can keep up."
As he spoke, Illusion Dream's aura grew even more fierce. He seemed like a god of wind, pressing down on Lu Yan'an with the force of a hurricane! He walked toward him one step at a time.
"I never cared about the selection within Ganwu Universe Country! Before you, I hadn't even revealed my martial arts strength." Illusion Dream continued building up his power. "I've had a great time fighting you today! Hahaha, I'll let myself get fired up for once!"
He laughed freely, his entire demeanor changing. If his earlier fighting style had been as elusive as a breeze, now he was as violent as a sweeping hurricane! His spear technique had already been formidable, but compared to the current one, which contained a trace of the Origin Law of Wind, it had been child's play! When his aura peaked, he had reached Lu Yan'an.
"Good luck!" he said, then thrust out with the spear, its wind-law power driving it to the peak of his momentum.
"So you're using laws? You think I can't?" As Lu Yan'an spoke, a ripple of the Law of Light appeared on his gauntlet! Under Illusion Dream's stunned gaze, the two laws collided!
With a bang, the force of the collision ravaged everything within twenty meters, leaving the area in ruins!
The Origin Law of Wind versus the Origin Law of Light! The battle was on!
Before you continue