Chen Yuan VS Luo Hai

Soon, Di Fan returned with two Consciousness Induction Helmets in his hands.

Chen Yuan took a helmet, put it on under Uncle Wei's guidance, and learned how to enter the Virtual Space.

On the other side, Luo Hai had already put on his helmet and said to Chen Yuan, "Are you ready?"

Chen Yuan nodded, and then both of their consciousnesses entered the Virtual Space.

Inside the Virtual Space lay an endless silver expanse, constructed entirely from some kind of alloy, looking like a silver-white mirror.

The figures of Chen Yuan and Luo Hai appeared on the ground one after the other.

"This is the Virtual Space?" Chen Yuan looked around. The sky was composed of the cosmic starry void, with twinkling stars reflecting off the silver ground, manifesting a dreamlike radiance.

"This belongs to the Earth Regional Network and isn't connected to the true Virtual Universe; it only has two functions." Luo Hai's figure appeared beside him, explaining, "One is the Trial Tower, which you don't need to worry about for now. The other function is the 'Battle Platform'—as the name suggests, it's used for combat within the Virtual Space."

"Uncle Wei should have told you that in the Virtual Space, everyone's physical fitness is standardized: 10,000 kilograms of strength, a speed of 150 meters per second, and a nerve reaction speed at the elite level of an Elementary War General!"

Chen Yuan nodded, "So it's very fair."

"Indeed, very fair." Luo Hai turned to look at Chen Yuan, "So, are you ready to fight me?"

"Of course." Chen Yuan smiled, "I can start at any time."

"Good." Luo Hai nodded and sent a battle invitation to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan clicked accept, and the next second, the entire scene shifted as a ring rose up at their location.

Chen Yuan made a rough estimate; the ring was quite large, about ten kilometers in length and width.

"Please select your weapon and combat suit."

A vast array of weapons and equipment appeared before Chen Yuan. With a light tap of his finger in the void, Chen Yuan chose his most familiar Streamer Battle Sword and a combat suit.

After equipping his gear, Luo Hai was also ready. He had chosen a Blood Shadow Battle Blade, a Hexagonal Shield, and a combat suit, clearly influenced by his father, Luo Feng.

"You aren't using a shield?" Seeing Chen Yuan holding his sword in one hand with the other empty, Luo Hai couldn't help but feel puzzled.

"I follow the high-speed style; a shield would add unnecessary weight, so I don't carry one." Chen Yuan shook his head.

"Fine, you choose the arena." Luo Hai waved his hand at Chen Yuan, ceding the right to select the venue.

"The ring is fine." Chen Yuan chose the default, which was the current arena.

The next second, the two appeared in the center of the ring, one hundred meters apart.

Simultaneously, a countdown projection appeared before them: three, two, one, start.

The moment the countdown ended, Luo Hai charged toward him, his movement technique fully unleashed, his speed instantly exceeding 600 meters per second.

The distance between them was only 100 meters; in the blink of an eye, Luo Hai was already in front of Chen Yuan, his Blood Shadow Battle Blade swinging down toward him.

Chen Yuan shifted his feet slightly, dodging the strike by a hair's breadth with a subtle movement. At the same time, he flicked his wrist, and his long sword thrust out like a bolt of lightning, straight as a line toward the center of Luo Hai's brow.

Luo Hai raised his left arm, and the Hexagonal Shield blocked the dangerous thrust. He immediately leaped backward, exiting Chen Yuan's attack range.

"You certainly have some tricks; I underestimated you." Luo Hai's gaze turned serious as he shouted to Chen Yuan, "If you won't attack, I'm going to use my full strength."

Chen Yuan gave a slight wave of his hand, signaling Luo Hai to proceed.

"Good, confident enough." Luo Hai laughed, "Regardless of whether I win or lose this match, I acknowledge you."

"Next, let me show you a blade technique that transcends the level of Earth, the Hundred Fierce Blades..."

"Hundred Fierce: Mountain Destroyer!"

Before the words had even faded, Luo Hai's figure closed the distance instantly. His long blade carried the momentum of a collapsing mountain, descending with the added force of gravity. As the blade edge drew closer, it felt like facing the heaven-shaking power of a mountain collapse.

Facing this strike, even Chen Yuan's expression shifted. He didn't dare to be arrogant and rely on Micro Level dodging techniques; instead, he retreated instantly, narrowly avoiding the mountain-destroying blade.

BOOM!

After a thunderous roar, Chen Yuan looked at his previous position. The metal ring floor had cracked inch by inch, and the area within a ten-meter radius had completely collapsed.

Chen Yuan was secretly shocked. He could imagine that if he hadn't retreated in time, he would have perished under the blade by now.

This strike was actually an area-of-effect attack!

"How did that strike feel?" Luo Hai didn't press the attack, instead laughing, "No martial artist of the same rank dares to face that strike head-on. However, you were actually able to avoid the blade's gravitational pull; your movement technique is indeed impressive."

"Blade gravitational pull?" Chen Yuan understood a little more why his intuition had told him to get away as quickly as possible; otherwise, once caught by the blade's pull, his body would have been drawn toward the edge against his will.

"But I also have speed-burst secret techniques. You'd better be careful."

"Hundred Fierce: Instant Shadow!"

Luo Hai's figure seemed to transform into a ray of light, arriving in front of Chen Yuan in an instant as if teleporting. The long blade crossed the distance silently, instantly sweeping across Chen Yuan's neck. A flash of joy appeared in Luo Hai's eyes, believing victory was within his grasp.

"Wrong, it's an afterimage!" Luo Hai reacted quickly, but the tactile feedback was off—the blade hadn't touched anything.

The next moment, Chen Yuan's figure appeared behind him. His long sword moved like lightning, silent and without even stirring the wind, piercing into Luo Hai's heart.

"Battle over. Chen Yuan wins."

On the empty ring, the two stood facing each other.

"I actually lost." There was still a trace of disbelief in Luo Hai's eyes, "How did you pull off that final strike?"

"Just a few small tricks regarding hypnosis." Chen Yuan snapped his fingers.

"Hypnosis?" Luo Hai was puzzled, but when he looked toward Chen Yuan again, he discovered that his figure had already vanished.

"By influencing your consciousness, I can make you briefly fall into a hallucination, causing you to misjudge my position." Chen Yuan's voice came from the other side. Luo Hai turned his head, only to find that Chen Yuan had somehow moved to the opposite side of his body.

"I call this style of combat the 'Illusion Martial Artist Style.' By exerting high-intensity influence on an opponent's consciousness, I cause their attacks to misalign, thereby creating opportunities for my own finishing blow," Chen Yuan explained. "Of course, I only just pioneered this method of attack; it can only be considered a prototype and still requires a great deal of time to perfect."

This combat style was indeed something Chen Yuan had created only recently.

The reason lay in his Deep Sleep having entered the third stage.

At this stage, if one were a character from Star River Emperor, they could learn the "Hypnosis Technique," which allows one to influence others through consciousness.

After studying this Hypnosis Technique, Chen Yuan discovered that it was essentially the Illusion Technique from Swallowed Star.

This discovery reminded Chen Yuan of the "Illusion Martial Artist Style" that appeared in the original work—a path extremely rare among martial artists, requiring one to possess a powerful consciousness and high resistance to illusions.

High self-resistance to illusions meant that the illusions one cast were even more powerful.

It was only at this moment that Chen Yuan realized that as his Meditation Method reached the Great Completion level, his consciousness strength had become comparable to that of a Planetary Level.

Thus, after several rounds of research, Chen Yuan created a set of illusions based on his own ideas; it could not even be considered a skill, merely the addition of a few hypnotic tricks to his attacks.

The duel with Luo Hai was the first test of this technique, as well as the trump card he had prepared for this battle.

The result was clear: he had successfully defeated Luo Hai, which also meant the Wood Bud Crystal was his.

Once he reached the eighth rank of the Apprentice level, which was the Intermediate War God level, he would be able to consume the Wood Bud Crystal and advance to the Planetary Level!