Lin Qianqian was confident

"Let's head out for some more training today."

Zhou Fan got up and soon arrived at the city gates.

There, however, he ran into a familiar face-Lin Qianqian.

They hadn't seen each other for several days since completing the Esper Bureau's mission.

As always, Lin Qianqian wore a short cloak over a white shirt, with a black pleated skirt below.

Beneath her long, shapely, snow-white legs was a pair of boots.

Her crisp, practical combat attire also carried a touch of innocent charm.

At her age, she was in the very bloom of youth.

Even without dressing herself up, she looked radiant and captivating.

She was the perfect embodiment of natural beauty!

Of beauty beyond compare!

Was she heading out of the city too?

This was the first time Zhou Fan had happened to catch Lin Qianqian leaving the city.

They had never run into each other at the gates before.

Last time, in the Chaos Secret Realm, she was already First Tier, 4 Stars. She must have reached First Tier, 5 Stars by now.

Maybe she's reached Second Tier, 1 Star, like me. She might even be stronger.

Zhou Fan had never underestimated Lin Qianqian.

After all, Lin Qianqian had an S-Rank Superpower.

Back in the Chaos Secret Realm, he had witnessed the power of her [Divine Paper Technique].

The fact that she could turn weightless sheets of white paper into such lethal weapons was enough to demonstrate how terrifying an S-Rank Superpower could be.

Although Zhou Fan had ultimately subdued Shukaku with Genjutsu in the Chaos Secret Realm,

that didn't mean Lin Qianqian was weak.

An S-Rank Superpower was no joke.

The gap might not be obvious at first, but over time, the benefits of an S-Rank Superpower would grow, and the gap would widen.

Of course.

Zhou Fan was still confident he could beat Lin Qianqian.

Lin Qianqian might have an S-Rank Superpower,

but he had cheats!

Everyone knew that geniuses couldn't beat cheaters.

Unless they had cheats too.

Zhou Fan walked over and greeted her. "What a coincidence. Are you heading out too?"

They weren't particularly close, but they weren't on bad terms either.

After all, they had fought side by side, which made them something like comrades.

It was perfectly normal to say hello when they met.

At Zhou Fan's greeting, Lin Qianqian calmly nodded. "Yes."

Well, then.

They really didn't have much to talk about.

After exchanging greetings, they fell silent.

That lasted until they had queued up and left the city.

They were headed to different places.

Zhou Fan went right.

Seeing him go right, Lin Qianqian chose to go left.

Her goal today was to practice [Paper Transformation], which she had only mastered yesterday, in actual combat.

Before long,

she reached the depths of the Beginner Mutant Beast Forest.

Several First Tier, 5-Star mutant beasts spotted her and immediately attacked.

"Roar!"

Faced with their combined assault, Lin Qianqian remained calm and made no attempt to defend herself.

Then the mutant beasts' attacks reached her.

Their sharp claws plunged into her body.

Yet there was neither blood nor pain.

The parts of Lin Qianqian's body torn by their claws turned straight into sheets of white paper.

A moment later, the paper flew back on its own, restoring her body.

Paper Transformation!

Immunity to all physical attacks!

The other mutant beasts attacked one after another.

Lin Qianqian's body was torn to pieces.

Yet no matter how her body was split apart, it always restored itself without suffering the slightest injury!

The only cost was the spiritual energy needed to restore herself with [Paper Transformation].

But that expenditure was small. If she only used it to maintain [Paper Transformation], she could keep it up for a very, very long time.

"So this is the power of [Paper Transformation]? It really does grant immunity to physical attacks..." Lin Qianqian's eyes shone.

It was a strange sensation.

Immunity to physical attacks meant she was practically unbeatable against enemies at her level, or even one or two stars above her!

"Paper Explosion Technique: Triple Blast!"

Lin Qianqian could still attack while using [Paper Transformation].

Countless sheets of white paper turned into explosive tags and flew toward the beasts.

Boom!!!

The successive explosions blasted every mutant beast away.

The power was astonishing!

"I have Paper Explosion Technique for offense and Paper Transformation for defense."

"I should be unbeatable at my tier now. Even challenging opponents above my level should be easy."

"My only weakness is Genjutsu."

"But the strength of Genjutsu depends on psychic power and spiritual energy. Ordinary Genjutsu won't do much against an S-Rank Esper like me."

"There's nothing to fear."

Lin Qianqian murmured softly,

"The comparison is tomorrow."

"Once I win, I'll receive a wealth of rewards from the system."

"Then my strength will keep soaring, creating a snowball effect."

"Zhou Fan... will only fall further and further behind me."

At that moment, her confidence reached its peak!

Meanwhile.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Surrounded by more than a dozen mutant beasts, Zhou Fan didn't panic in the slightest, handling them with composure.

"Roar!"

A mutant beast lunged at him from behind.

Zhou Fan grew a sharp wooden spike from his palm and drove it into the beast's body.

Then he formed hand seals.

"Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs!"

Squelch-!

In an instant,

more than a dozen crisscrossing wooden spikes sprouted from the original spike, piercing the mutant beast from the inside out until it resembled a hedgehog.

The sight was gruesome!

The Cutting Sprigs Technique could be called the bloodiest, most brutal Wood Release technique.

Many Wood Release techniques were stronger than the Cutting Sprigs Technique.

But none were bloodier or more brutal than the Cutting Sprigs Technique.

"Roar!"

Two more mutant beasts lunged at him.

Zhou Fan's eyes quietly transformed into the Sharingan.

The three jet-black tomoe rotated slowly, radiating a cold ocular power.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan!"

With a single glance, both mutant beasts fell under his Genjutsu and collapsed, unable to move.

Plenty of mutant beasts remained, and they continued attacking.

But not one could escape the Sharingan's Genjutsu.

A single glance was all it took!

Not a single mutant beast could withstand Zhou Fan's Sharingan Genjutsu.

Genjutsu was the bane of mutant beasts!

And Genjutsu was currently Zhou Fan's strongest weapon-even though he had mastered Wind Release, Fire Release, Water Release, and Wood Release.

So far, his strongest weapon was actually the Sharingan's Genjutsu.

Whether against mutant beasts or Espers,

anyone caught unprepared would struggle to withstand the Sharingan's Genjutsu.

"Genjutsu really is the most useful."

"I'll focus on honing my Genjutsu today."

The Sharingan's Genjutsu had an extremely high ceiling.

Uchiha Itachi was a perfect example.

By honing the Sharingan's Genjutsu to its utmost limits, one could achieve all sorts of incredible feats.

Enemies would also find it difficult to counter.

Fools could only remain trapped within the Sharingan's Genjutsu...