"That's right. Illusion Barrier must be used together with Catkin Step to bring out its full effect."
"Your body is like willow fluff. When you move, you make no sound at all, as light as willow fluff."
Tang Jiaren's figure appeared. He was standing in front of Qin Qi as he spoke.
"Mm."
Qin Qi nodded. He realized that the Tang Sect's techniques were mostly designed to work together, complementing and enhancing one another.
"Granduncle..."
Looking at Tang Jiaren in front of him, Qin Qi suddenly struck out. His Instant Strike passed straight through Tang Jiaren, who then disappeared.
"That's the second stage of Illusion Barrier, Illusion Body, right?"
Qin Qi looked at where Tang Jiaren had vanished and spoke.
"That's right. That Illusion Body gives off the same aura as I do. It's impressive that you noticed."
Tang Jiaren's figure appeared again. He smiled as he spoke.
"I didn't notice. I just felt you wouldn't show yourself so easily, so I followed the principle of better safe than sorry."
"Then I attacked. It's not as if I'd die either way."
Qin Qi really hadn't noticed anything. In his eyes, that phantom had looked just like the real thing.
He had completely guessed right by instinct.
"Guessing right is a skill in its own way. You have to learn to trust your instincts. They're important to us!"
Tang Jiaren's voice suddenly came from behind Qin Qi, and his figure appeared there as well.
"Huh? You tricked me again."
Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren in front of him, then at Tang Jiaren behind him. He realized he'd been fooled again.
"I never said there could only be one Illusion Body, did I?"
Tang Jiaren smiled. "You just assumed that yourself, then let your guard down, didn't you?"
"Ah, you can never guard against everything."
Qin Qi shook his head. Normally, once the illusion had been seen through, the person would show himself, right? Especially when teaching—wouldn't he appear in person?
Everything about it had looked like he'd really come out.
"That's exactly what makes it impossible to guard against. Normally, an Illusion Body can't speak."
"But we can make up for that with other techniques. Back then, among the three hundred and sixty trades, there was a sect that taught people how to speak."
"The technique I'm using is theirs."
Tang Jiaren continued.
"Granduncle, I want to learn it!"
Qin Qi said.
"Don't worry. Sooner or later, I'll pass all my skills on to you. For now, you should learn Invisibility and Heart Concealment first."
"Heart Concealment is especially important. You'll use it in everyday life, even when you're not using Illusion Barrier."
Tang Jiaren said.
After that, Qin Qi began learning the first stage of Illusion Barrier: Invisibility and Heart Concealment.
It took him a full month to get the hang of this stage.
[ Ding! Congratulations, you have learned Illusion Barrier. Achievement Points +1, Credits +100 ]
But once he had learned the basics, he could disappear perfectly. He no longer turned half-transparent and looked like a ghost.
"You're too slow at turning invisible. Standing still is passable, but you're not very good once you start moving."
"Overall, your proficiency is still too low. You're nowhere near ready to learn the second stage."
Tang Jiaren said after watching Qin Qi use Illusion Barrier.
"Mm."
Qin Qi looked at his Proficiency Panel.
[Illusion Barrier (Beginner): Proficiency, 1%]
"Granduncle, I have a question. With your mastery of Illusion Barrier, how were you discovered back then?"
Qin Qi looked at Tang Jiaren and asked, puzzled.
Back when he went to attack the Shinobi Head, if his Illusion Barrier hadn't been seen through, then with Tang Jiaren's abilities,
he could have killed his target and still escaped calmly. In fact, he could have run away even then.
But to kill the Shinobi Head, he had chosen to trade his life for the other man's!
"That's a good question. Back then, I couldn't figure out how I'd been discovered either."
"But now I've worked it out. I'll explain it to you properly, so listen carefully."
Tang Jiaren was about to tell Qin Qi what had happened, so he could avoid making the same mistake.
"Back then, the Shinobi Head used a technique I'd never seen before. At the time, I couldn't figure out how it worked."
"But after thinking back on it over and over, I remembered a faint ripple seemed to have swept across my body."
"It must have been an extremely faint energy wave. The ninja used this energy wave"
"to treat the ground or the air like a body of water. When the energy touched something, it sent ripples back."
"By reading those ripples, they could understand what was happening around them."
Tang Jiaren didn't know what ultrasonic detection was, but after years of experience, he had still figured out why he'd been discovered.
"Mm."
Qin Qi nodded. He knew about ultrasonic detection, but was there a way to counter it?
"Although our Illusion Barrier makes us invisible, we still really exist."
"When that faint energy touches us, it still sends back a ripple. If a blank space suddenly starts rippling,"
"then of course we'll be discovered. But I've already figured out how to deal with it."
Tang Jiaren suddenly smiled with complete confidence. When it came to Illusion Barrier, he was one of the best in the Tang Sect.
"What's the method?"
Qin Qi asked.
"Illusion Barrier isn't just about becoming invisible. The illusion is important too. If you ever face an opponent with this kind of ability,"
"then when they use their technique, you can use illusions to send back false ripples."
"That way, they won't be able to find you. You can even create a false position and make them misjudge where you are."
"Then you can seize the chance to strike from the shadows."
Tang Jiaren explained the solution in just a few words. But putting it into practice required a high level of mastery over Illusion Barrier.
Qin Qi wasn't capable of that yet.
"Why does this feel a bit..."
Qin Qi suddenly thought of Spiritual Detection. If what Granduncle said was true, then ultrasonic waves could be fooled by sending back false signals.
Could Spiritual Detection be fooled the same way? If he could pull it off, then Illusion Barrier would really make someone disappear completely!
After that, Tang Jiaren taught Qin Qi a few more little tricks related to Illusion Barrier.
Qin Qi committed them all to memory, ready to practice and learn them gradually.
When the lesson was over, the two of them started chatting.
"Granduncle, you just told me to run if I couldn't kill the target, then wait for another chance."
"But why didn't you run back then? Was there no chance to escape?"
Qin Qi asked curiously.
"There was a chance. If I'd wanted to run, no one could have stopped me."
"But if I ran, the Shinobi Head would be spooked and go into hiding. After that, it would have been impossible to kill him."
"But if he survived, who knew how many more of our Yanhuang Sect's soldiers would die?"
"So... I could only trade my life for his."
Tang Jiaren scratched his head and smiled as he spoke.
"Ah, it was an information gap. If you'd figured out the other side's ninjutsu sooner, the battle could have ended completely differently."
Qin Qi couldn't help sighing. If they'd learned about the Shinobi Head's ninjutsu earlier, things might have turned out differently.