Tying Up Loose Ends

"Come on, let's fight!" Illusion Dream seemed to transform into an Asura, completely shedding his previous elegant and refined demeanor. He roared, his eyes faintly glowing with a red light. In the blink of an eye, a series of stabs struck out like a violent storm.

Under the influence of his opponent, the stillness in Lu Yan'an's eyes was finally shattered, replaced by a fervent, frenzied intensity. It was the instinctive reaction of meeting a worthy adversary, as if he were a fierce beast that had been constantly suppressing its true nature.

"Clang!"

Illusion Dream coiled his spear, locking it against Lu Yan'an's gauntlets.

Seeing this, Lu Yan'an tapped his toes against the soft mire of the ground, retreating in a straight line to create distance and break free from the spear. He squeezed a single word through his teeth: "Kill!"

Without waiting for Illusion Dream to press his advantage, he took the initiative to close the distance at an incredible speed! The nature of a spear dictates that length is strength; within the optimal range, its lethality is terrifying. Lu Yan'an clearly realized this, and by forcing a close-quarters engagement, he neutralized the spear's advantage.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Illusion Dream held his spear horizontally, blocking Lu Yan'an's fists and producing crisp, ringing sounds.

At such close range, the momentum of offense and defense shifted entirely, and Lu Yan'an's fists forced Illusion Dream to retreat step by step!

"Boom!"

A golden fist-light struck toward Illusion Dream.

"Extinguish!!" Illusion Dream's expression was quite grave as he let out a low growl, thrusting his spear viciously toward the incoming golden light. Under the suppression of the cyan airflow surrounding him, the two direct, head-on attacks collided.

"Clang!"

Both sides retreated more than ten steps, ending in a complete stalemate! Lu Yan'an shook his fists to relieve the numbness, while Illusion Dream loosened his grip on the spear to dampen the recoil.

This guy's spear is truly heavy. This punch was the culmination of my insights into the Laws of Light, yet it couldn't achieve a breakthrough. Lu Yan'an looked at his numb hands, his expression shifting slightly.

Light can be this fierce? It feels like the impact is no less than the pure, rigid power of Gold! Illusion Dream gripped his spear tightly, looking somewhat incredulous.

Both sides seemed shocked by the depth of the other's insights into the Laws! As neither could make progress with their law comprehension, the situation on the field reached a stalemate once again...

In the luxurious and vast hall of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's spacecraft.

"Your Majesty, I have just received the latest intelligence—that Lu Yan'an has actually comprehended a trace of the Origin Laws!!!" The refined old man said to the Emperor, his voice trembling with shock.

"Reward him! Reward him! This Lu Yan'an is truly the greatest hero of our Black Dragon Mountain Empire!" The Emperor said with wild joy.

Having comprehended the Origin Laws and being a talented illusionist, he was a genius who did not lose out to 'Illusion Dream'! He was another seed candidate for the core layer of the Virtual Universe Company!

One had to realize that previously, Lu Yan'an was only a star-level genius by the standards of the Ganwu Universe Country, but now he had suddenly risen to the level of a universe-country-level genius by the standards of the Virtual Universe Company's core layer! This terrifying leap made the Black Dragon Mountain Emperor's heart grow increasingly fervent! Such a genius, as long as he did not fall, was destined to become a powerhouse of the Virtual Universe Company in the future!

"After he finishes the preliminary qualifiers, bestow his home star system and the ten adjacent star systems upon him as a reward!" The Emperor commanded his attendants.

On the field, the many dignitaries watched the Emperor's beaming face, and the atmosphere gradually became more unrestrained.

The Emperor had no intention of stopping the discussions below, instead beginning to imagine the rewards he would receive once Lu Yan'an entered the Virtual Universe Company...

On the field.

"Die!" Lu Yan'an's eyes were cold and sharp. With a cold snort, he suddenly accelerated again, turning into a streak of golden light as he attacked Illusion Dream.

Seeing Lu Yan'an charging over, this time he did not lose his composure; instead, he changed his footwork, consciously closing the distance while ensuring it wasn't too close!

His figure dodged in a bizarre manner, repeatedly creating distance to maintain the spear's optimal attack range.

No matter what, I cannot let him maintain the spear's lethal distance. Lu Yan'an also shifted his footwork, desperately trying to close in on his opponent.

His fists struck out at Illusion Dream time and again.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sound of the spear colliding with the gauntlets was incessant, as if the earth were shaking. Both sides were maintaining their optimal attack ranges through repeated collisions!

One must know that at their level, a single dash covers hundreds or thousands of meters. However, both were clearly top-tier among star-level martial artists, and their combat zone never exceeded one hundred meters.

Between the two, Lu Yan'an excelled at close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, while Illusion Dream excelled at mid-to-short-range spear combat. Both were doing their best to play to their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, trying not to reveal any flaws!

"Terrifying footwork." Lu Yan'an tried to close in again and again, but Illusion Dream was able to borrow force and dodge within a square inch, perfectly neutralizing his offensive.

This Nightmare's burst speed is so fast. Illusion Dream felt incredibly anxious inside. He is simply not in the same league as the guys I took down before! And... this guy is very good at catching flaws; he's a formidable enemy!

Of these two opponents, one had elegant footwork and bizarre steps, wielding his spear as if it were invincible, attacking Lu Yan'an repeatedly.

The other was like a master strategist, calculating and dodging to avoid his opponent, then closing in again and again, adept at seizing the slightest flaw to snowball his advantage.

After the series of skirmishes, both Lu Yan'an and Illusion Dream understood how difficult their opponent was.

They had completely different styles, and those styles were extremely distinct!

One was an elegant martial artist!

The other was a master strategist!

They exchanged blows like lightning.

After ten minutes of continuous combat, they paused. Lu Yan'an stood on the mire, silently watching Illusion Dream in the distance, while Illusion Dream also stopped without continuing his attack.

Is the recoil from the gauntlets this strong? Without a weapon, I'm at a huge disadvantage! Lu Yan'an's expression darkened. Even with the dampening effect of his cosmic energy, his hands were completely numb! He finally realized the advantage of having a weapon; relying solely on his fists put him at a severe disadvantage in this situation!

Hard collision after hard collision!

Each impact was terrifying. If it were an ordinary genius, a single head-on clash would have shattered their arms! Moreover, Lu Yan'an had almost no way to mitigate the impact force with just his gauntlets, forcing him to take the full brunt of every attack. This was even more painful; once or twice might be fine, but after dozens or hundreds of times, even Lu Yan'an would be worn down to a serious injury!

Illusion Dream's martial foundation was clearly not as strong as Lu Yan'an's, and even with the spear acting as a buffer, the recoil was enough to make him suffer! It was clear that between the paths of a martial artist and an illusionist, Illusion Dream leaned more toward the path of an illusionist.

The situation had become quite awkward.

Lu Yan'an's right hand could no longer withstand the recoil from their collisions, and he dared not continue to trade blows head-on.

As a martial artist following the path of an illusionist, Illusion Dream's body could not endure a direct slugfest either.

How should they proceed like this? The development of the situation had reached a stalemate!

After more than ten seconds of silence, Illusion Dream proposed a solution.

"I believe you, Nightmare, must still be holding onto your final trump card, right?" Illusion Dream asked.

Seeing Lu Yan'an remain silent, he nodded and continued, "I am also holding onto my final trump card, intending to use it in the upcoming finals to compete for the number one spot in the universe!"

"With our strength, both of us are certain to qualify. The difference lies in the few years of training during the Reincarnation Battle; I wonder if you have any thoughts on that?" Illusion Dream laid his cards on the table, shaking the screen on his right hand; the words "Rank One" were very eye-catching.

"Reincarnation Battle? Not interested!" Lu Yan'an replied with quite a bit of disdain. He did not lack experience; what he lacked was time—time to comprehend the laws!

"Then the matter is easily resolved. I will let you take half of my points so you can rank first in the world sector and qualify directly! When the cosmic finals arrive, we can compete against each other then, how about that?"

After speaking, Illusion Dream retracted his aura, turning back into the dashing Son of Wind he had been before.

Seeing Lu Yan'an wearing a silent expression again, he immediately added, "It is just a matter of getting what we each need; there is no need for any other baggage! Besides, I was planning to just find some random guy to give half my points to at the last moment anyway. Giving them to a guy like you isn't shameful; at the very least, I acknowledge your strength!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he thrust his spear into his own heart, not even giving Lu Yan'an time to react!

At this moment, the information on the screen on Lu Yan's wrist had changed.

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

Points:

Rank: 1