Overwhelming Victory

Lin Yuan's willpower had already reached the World Lord level.

Every so often, Lin Yuan drank diluted Black Jade Venom to temper his mind and will, steadily strengthening his willpower.

Lin Yuan's mind and will were already strong. On top of that, after mastering the first layer of Ten Thousand Hearts Undying, a resilient halo had formed around his soul. Soul attacks and illusions from opponents of the same level couldn't affect him in the slightest.

Barry's illusion attack struck the halo around Lin Yuan's soul and immediately dissipated.

"Impossible!"

Barry could hardly believe it. Among the Universe Level students, only Brian had ever managed to avoid his illusion attacks. He'd never met anyone else who could withstand them.

Unwilling to believe it, Barry moved his lips and unleashed several more illusion attacks. A series of Formless waves entered Lin Yuan's mind.

But the result was the same. Every illusion attack dissipated as soon as it touched the halo, which merely trembled slightly around Lin Yuan's soul.

"So this is the illusion attack you're so proud of?"

Lin Yuan's tone was calm, but edged with mockery.

"You... Why is your Soul Will so strong?"

Barry's voice was clearly panicked.

"What else have you got? Use it all," Lin Yuan said.

"You won't get another chance in a moment."

Barry's face turned ashen. Gritting his teeth, he poured all his power into the Purple Shuttle beneath his feet. It transformed into a purple cone as the power of the Law of Lightning Origin instantly gathered at its tip.

Barry knew Lin Yuan's defenses were astonishingly strong. His only hope was to use the most powerful attack form of his Telepathic Weapon and try to break through them.

"Go!"

Barry sent the purple cone spinning at high speed toward Lin Yuan. It shot forward with an ear-piercing whine.

"Mountain Collapse!"

Lin Yuan swung the Thousand Mountain Axe to meet it. Empowered by his Domain and the Secret Technique "Earth Tremor," a dense stream of ocher energy gathered along the blade as he brought it down on the cone.

"Bang—!"

The tip of the purple cone collided with the axe blade, producing a deafening crash.

After the violent collision, the purple cone continued to spin furiously, but Lin Yuan's defense stood firm. It couldn't advance even an inch.

"Damn it! Why is he so tough?"

Barry felt the same helplessness Resk had experienced back then.

"I gave you your chance."

Lin Yuan stopped wasting words. With a sudden burst of strength, he swung his axe and knocked the purple cone aside.

At the same time, he activated Ten Shadow Steps. His figure blurred and vanished from where he stood.

Barry immediately retreated, but Lin Yuan was far faster. Leaving ten afterimages behind him, he reached Barry in the blink of an eye.

When an Illusionist's illusions didn't work, there was usually nothing left to do but take a beating.

"Rift Wave!"

A condensed ocher shockwave erupted at close range and struck Barry instantly.

"Pfft!"

Barry's body split in two and fell from the sky.

"Battle over. Winner—Lin Yuan!"

The mechanical voice rang out again.

"Student Lin Yuan, your current record is 170 wins and 0 losses."

Inside the Spectator Hall in the Virtual Universe.

"Hm? Lin Yuan was hit by Marquis Illusion Moon's disciple's illusion attack. Why wasn't he affected at all? Has his willpower increased again?"

Marquis Yuankun was puzzled. The last match of the Great Axe Life-Death Battle had shown that his young disciple had a strong mind and will. Of course, he had faith in Lin Yuan.

At first, Marquis Yuankun had thought Lin Yuan would struggle in the illusion for a while before regaining his senses on his own. He hadn't expected Lin Yuan to seem completely unaffected.

"Marquis Yuankun! You didn't tell me your disciple was also skilled in Secret Techniques involving Soul Will. Otherwise, why would I have made that bet with you?"

Marquis Illusion Moon was furious, convinced Marquis Yuankun had tricked him.

"Secret Techniques involving Soul Will?" Marquis Yuankun wondered. He'd assumed his young disciple had simply strengthened his willpower. He hadn't expected him to have learned some kind of Soul Will technique.

"When did that kid learn this?" Marquis Yuankun wondered to himself. There was no way he could tell Marquis Illusion Moon that he didn't even know what techniques his own disciple had.

"A bet's a bet. I'll have someone deliver that piece of Nether Black Jade to you later. You really made a killing this time."

Marquis Illusion Moon shook his head and accepted his bad luck.

All the battles on the seventeenth day came to an end.

Lin Yuan and Barry were both teleported out of the Battle Space and returned to the towering palace.

Barry looked grim. He vanished in a flash and logged out of the Virtual Universe.

Lin Yuan was about to leave when he spotted the chubby Cohen being teleported out of the Battle Space nearby. He walked over.

As soon as Cohen saw Lin Yuan approaching, he went to meet him.

"Hey, brother, that wasn't very fair of you. You're so strong, and you kept it from me the whole time," the chubby Cohen complained.

"I watched the recording of your duel with Resk. The moment you made your move, that big guy couldn't fight back at all. It was so satisfying to watch!" Cohen said excitedly.

"But Barry's not so easy to deal with. I got matched against him on the first day, and I fell for his illusion as soon as the battle began. By the time I came to, I'd already been teleported back to the palace. You haven't run into him yet, have you? You'd better think of a countermeasure in advance."

Cohen warned him.

"My opponent last round was Barry."

Lin Yuan spoke calmly.

"Your opponent last round? Then where is Barry?"

Cohen looked around.

"Knowing him, if he'd won, he'd definitely have come over to gloat."

"Wait..."

Cohen finally caught on.

"So you're saying you won?"

Lin Yuan nodded slightly.

"Holy crap! You're amazing, brother! Before this, no one in the entire Holy Land Universe's Universe Level had beaten Barry except Brian. Now you're the second." Cohen was thrilled.

"I just happen to counter him. What about you? How's your record now?"

Lin Yuan changed the subject.

"I'm at 167 wins and 3 losses. I lost to Brian, Bart, and Resk..."

Cohen sighed, then quickly rallied.

"Still, it's a good thing you beat those two. Otherwise, they'd probably keep coming after us."

"But brother, you won the bet this time, so you'll get a whopping 20 Hunyuan Units. I'm going to make you treat me to a big meal."

Cohen's eyes lit up.

"Sure. Once the Ranking Tournament is over," Lin Yuan said with a smile.

"You keep bragging about how good your bottle of Ye Hua Wine is, but I've never seen you bring it out."

"Uh... Next time for sure. Next time."

Cohen scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.

"Hey, brother, if we run into each other in the Battle Space next time, go easy on me, okay? My clan's old ancestor is watching. Leave me some face, haha."

Lin Yuan was speechless. Hadn't he always gone easy on Cohen?