Ai Chen, who had ranked among the top five in the Universe Peak Genius Battle, was one of the most talented members of the human race in the universe. How had he managed to run into her in the Suonsai Secret Realm?
Luo Zhiyuan could only shake his head and marvel at the wonders of fate. He had gone all the way to another Universe Country and still managed to encounter someone from the original story.
As he looked again at the graceful, spirited beauty before him, he couldn't help wondering: Was he about to change someone's History Trajectory again?
The main reason he remembered the name Ai Chen was that the original story described her as a "peerlessly beautiful girl" and someone "untouched by the mundane world."
Ai Chen hadn't appeared many times in the original story, and there hadn't been any direct descriptions of her battles. He really couldn't remember how she had ended up.
If she hadn't reached Immortal Level, that was one thing. But what if she was an expert above Immortal Level? Then... should he keep his distance from her?
Ai Chen watched the man called Zhiyuan. His expression kept changing, and she couldn't tell what he meant. She tilted her head in puzzlement, and the crystal between her brows flashed twice.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Luo Zhiyuan snapped back to his senses and stammered, "Oh, no, it's nothing. I was just... um, right. Can you keep your mind clear in reality while logging into the Battle Space?"
Ai Chen nodded her little head as if it were obvious, then looked at Luo Zhiyuan suspiciously. "Of course. Can't you?"
He gave an awkward laugh and said nothing more. He logged directly into the Virtual Universe's Killing Field and challenged Ai Chen in the Battle Space. He discovered that, like his new identity, Ai Chen had no record of fighting in the Battle Space.
The two "complete newcomers" to the Battle Space appeared outside a ten-kilometer-square arena made of black metal. Luo Zhiyuan still chose the Lightning Shuttle and Tier 2 battle armor.
Seeing that Luo Zhiyuan had chosen a Tier 2 Telekinetic Weapon, Ai Chen put away the Tier 5 Force Weapon she had been holding and chose a Tier 2 Force Weapon and Tier 2 battle armor as well.
They each climbed onto one side of the arena. Luo Zhiyuan said to Ai Chen, "Careful. Since you want to experience the power of my Combat Secret Technique, don't lose too quickly."
At his words, Ai Chen turned sideways, raised her Tier 2 weapon in her right hand, and pointed the sword at him, her left hand held out in front. She took up a combat stance, then charged straight at him at tremendous speed without a word.
Luo Zhiyuan leaped lightly onto the Lightning Shuttle and used Godly Evasion. So as not to bully Ai Chen, he kept his Mental Power Amplitude within what he considered a reasonable range.
In an instant, a hundred versions of Luo Zhiyuan appeared across the arena, filling the entire space and launching a fierce assault on Ai Chen.
Each of the hundred figures adopted a different attack stance. Some controlled the Lightning Shuttle to split off a one-meter-long Light Shuttle and stab at her from a distance; others formed groups of three to block her path.
Luo Zhiyuan's true body moved freely among the figures, striking Ai Chen with precise attacks whenever he had an opening.
Ai Chen stopped her charge, held her sword, and released her Light Domain. The figures of Luo Zhiyuan around her scattered at once, unable to get close.
Holding her long sword, she looked around intently and quickly spotted Luo Zhiyuan's true body. Her comprehension of the Law of Light was no weak thing, and she could distinguish the illusions from reality, at least to some extent.
Ai Chen dashed back and forth across the arena, sometimes slashing, sometimes thrusting. Each strike rang with the sharp clash of weapons: she had either found Luo Zhiyuan's true body or blocked one of his Light Shuttles.
Light and shadow crossed over the arena, and the ringing of weapons never ceased. Bright flashes appeared and vanished in an instant—some were the Lightning Shuttle's trails, others the marks left by the long sword in Ai Chen's hand.
After several minutes, Ai Chen stopped at one side of the arena. She pouted and furrowed her brows as the crystal between them glowed with pulses of white light. She was getting annoyed.
"Hey, those tricks of yours don't work on me. This is a waste of time. Use the Combat Secret Technique you used outside just now!"
Luo Zhiyuan stopped on the other side of the arena and put away Godly Evasion.
He could see that movement techniques relying purely on the Law of Light couldn't overcome a genius like Ai Chen, so he decided to change tactics and continue the fight.
Luo Zhiyuan shifted to the side and used entry-level Time Flow. A Historical Phantom appeared beside him.
Seeing that Luo Zhiyuan had finally used this unfamiliar Combat Secret Technique, Ai Chen stared fixedly at the two figures with her big eyes. She still couldn't tell which one was real; both felt like his true body.
But she couldn't sense anything just by watching, so Ai Chen charged toward Luo Zhiyuan again.
Luo Zhiyuan controlled his true body and the Historical Phantom to use the Lightning Shuttle at the same time. Each formed a one-meter-long Light Shuttle and sent it flying forward.
Not knowing the details of this Combat Secret Technique, she had no way to tell which of the two figures was real. So as Ai Chen advanced at speed, she gripped her sword in her right hand and slashed once to either side.
A bright, semicircular white shield appeared on each side of her. She herself charged forward without slowing down at all.
Seeing the two white shields, Luo Zhiyuan guessed they were some kind of defensive Combat Secret Technique. He cautiously controlled his true body and the Historical Phantom to dodge to either side, while directing the two Light Shuttles to try to slip through gaps in the shields and attack Ai Chen's true body.
But when the Light Shuttles reached Ai Chen, the two shields suddenly spun rapidly. With two sharp clangs, they not only knocked the Light Shuttles away but also gave Ai Chen an opening to swing her long sword and shatter the shields into eight white fragments, which flew toward Luo Zhiyuan's two figures.
This turned out to be a Combat Secret Technique that combined offense and defense, not merely a defensive technique. It opened Luo Zhiyuan's eyes.
Luo Zhiyuan had dodged in advance and wasn't affected by the eight white fragments. Instead, he brought the Lightning Shuttle to its third form. Two enormous three-meter Light Shuttles, each accompanied by eighteen guard blades, attacked Ai Chen one after the other.
In fact, after fighting Luo Zhiyuan's hundred figures earlier, Ai Chen had already sensed the immense power carried by the white Light Shuttles.
Their power far exceeded the attacks she had faced from Spirit Readers of the same level during her clan's training. Yet those attacks had been made with Tier 3 Telekinetic Weapons, while these white Light Shuttles were clearly only Tier 2.
She realized that it must be because the man called Zhiyuan had an exceptionally high Mental Power Amplitude.
If she hadn't mastered this Combat Secret Technique based on the Law of Light, she might not even have been able to deflect those two Light Shuttles just now.
So when she saw two even larger Light Shuttles coming at her, Ai Chen immediately used the strongest movement technique she could currently manage. She didn't dare take the attack from those enormous Light Shuttles head-on.
When the Lightning Shuttle came within fifty meters of Ai Chen, Luo Zhiyuan felt interference from the Law of Time, and his control of the Lightning Shuttle became somewhat unstable.
If his comprehension of the Law of Time hadn't improved so much in the Time Chamber, and he weren't so familiar with interference from the Law of Time, the Lightning Shuttle would have veered off course and become uncontrollable.
Even so, he couldn't carry out his planned attack effectively. Luo Zhiyuan had no choice but to control the guard blades, splitting them off from the tips of the Light Shuttles and sending them at Ai Chen in a wide-area attack to restrict her movement.
The two enormous Light Shuttles repeatedly swept back and forth around Ai Chen, while the thirty-six guard blades attacked from different angles in one unexpected assault after another. Before long, a white cocoon of light had completely enveloped Ai Chen.
A dense clanging rang out from inside the white cocoon. Ai Chen was repeatedly knocking away the Light Shuttles and blades that came at her. Gradually, faint, breathless gasps could be heard from within.
Ai Chen knew that unless she found a way to break out of the cocoon, she would soon lose. The Light Shuttles were too powerful, too fast, and attacked from too many unpredictable angles.
Ai Chen deeply regretted her choice.
If she hadn't been so proud when choosing her weapon at the start—insisting on using a Tier 2 weapon of the same tier as her opponent's, instead of the Tier 5 Force Weapon she had mastered—she could have broken through the encirclement with ease. The Tier 2 weapon had greatly limited her strength.
No, she couldn't drag this out any longer!
Ai Chen knitted her brows, and the crystal between them released a pale red light. Then she unleashed the full extent of her Law Comprehension, abruptly expanding her domain as she rapidly thrust and jabbed with her Tier 2 Force Weapon.
After a continuous series of sharp clangs, Ai Chen knocked away all the guard blades and broke out of the Lightning Shuttle's attack range.
Her battle armor was now damaged in several places, and sweat beaded on her forehead. The light from the crystal between her brows gradually dimmed, and a few short strands of hair swayed gently beside her ears.
A blade had nearly struck her head just now. At the last moment, she had managed to knock it away and retreated as fast as she could, escaping the white cocoon.
Stopping about two kilometers away from Luo Zhiyuan, Ai Chen began to calmly consider how she could overcome the distance and attack her opponent.
Seeing that even controlling two enormous three-meter Light Shuttles hadn't been enough to completely suppress Ai Chen, Luo Zhiyuan couldn't help but marvel. She truly was a genius ranked among the best of the human race in the universe, far beyond ordinary adventurers.
Luo Zhiyuan put away his Historical Phantom and said to Ai Chen, "Beautiful, you're the strongest opponent I've ever faced. Neither of us can do anything to the other for now, so how about we end the match here?"
Ai Chen furrowed her brows slightly and stared at Luo Zhiyuan. "Call me Ai Chen. And bring out your full strength. Didn't you say you were more talented than me? Then beat me. I want to see exactly how much stronger you are!"
Seeing how serious Ai Chen was, Luo Zhiyuan couldn't help feeling a measure of respect for her. She wasn't some pretty face—she was a warrior with tremendous pride!
It seemed he would have to show her some respect.
Luo Zhiyuan nodded and said solemnly, "All right, Ai Chen. I can't defeat you with ordinary methods. And using a Soul Secret Technique wouldn't help much, since I'm sure you have a soul-defense technique too."
"But to show you my respect, I'll give it my all and defeat you—even if that's a little unfair, haha."
"The Combat Secret Technique you saw just now is called Time Flow. Be careful. You're about to see a higher level of this technique!"
With that, Luo Zhiyuan quickly took nine steps forward. After each step, another Historical Phantom appeared behind him.
Then all ten Luo Zhiyuans faced Ai Chen at once, each summoning a three-meter-long Light Shuttle.
Ai Chen's eyes widened instantly as she stared in disbelief at the ten figures across from her.
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