When Yu Chuhan stepped onto the stage and discovered her opponent was none other than f*cking He Guxia, her entire ghost-self was stupefied.
Th-this was completely different from what she had anticipated! How could this happen!?
Yu Chuhan had never fought He Guxia before. Although she had looked into He Guxia and watched her battle against Wan Jin, that intelligence held little practical value for her own fight.
A sword cultivator? A sword cultivator… Sword cultivators probably… aren't immune to illusions, right? Recalling He Guxia's fighting style from her match with Wan Jin, and watching He Guxia approach with sword in hand, Yu Chuhan couldn't help but wonder: Do all sword cultivators from the cultivation world have such a sharp, imposing aura? If everyone's aura could manifest physically, He Guxia's would undoubtedly be a drawn, sharp sword. That keen, murderous intent made Yu Chuhan suspect she might have inadvertently offended He Guxia at some point.
After all, during the fight with Wan Jin, He Guxia's fighting spirit didn't seem nearly this fervent.
On this point, Yu Chuhan was clearly mistaken. He Guxia's heightened battle spirit stemmed purely from the fact that they were now in the finals; the remaining opponents were all worthy, naturally deserving her full strength. In He Guxia's view, this was simply a form of respect for her opponent.
Stepping onto the stage, even though He Guxia knew her opponent from the Illusionary Dreamland was a master of illusion, she still chose to look directly into her opponent's eyes
Unfortunately, Yu Chuhan's talent in pupil-based techniques wasn't particularly remarkable. She sighed softly, and a folding fan appeared in her hand. With a sharp "snap," she opened it, covering half her face.
The match began!
With a resonant shing, as He Guxia drew her lifebound sword, a blade of sword light shot straight forth, instantly shattering Yu Chuhan's body—Of course, the moment Yu Chuhan's form exploded and dissipated like confetti, He Guxia realized it was merely an illusion.
But so what? Even if she remained under the effects of illusion the entire time, it didn't matter… because her attack range could cover the entire stage! No matter how powerful Yu Chuhan's illusions were, could she simply vanish into thin air?
In some battles, He Guxia focused on technique. But in a situation like this, wasn't using overwhelming force and saturating the area with attacks also a valid strategy?
Phantoms multiplied…
As Yu Chuhan's fan twirled and danced in her hand, Mu Anqi couldn't help but be drawn to the pattern on its surface. The moment she focused on it, the ink-wash landscape instantly twisted and distorted. In a flash, Mu Anqi looked up and seemed to see a towering mountain peak shrouded in mist and clouds, the sound of babbling streams murmuring in her ears. Before Mu Anqi could even process it, the protective shield from her fully-charged pendant shattered.
Mu Anqi: "???"
What the hell is this? How the f*ck can I, a mere spectator, get hit?!
Thankfully, her other mental protection charms were stored in her storage ring and not on her person as backups, otherwise the loss would have been huge. Mu Anqi never expected that just by watching the match, she'd…
"Is Yu Chuhan's ability tied to her fan?" Mu Anqi couldn't help but ask curiously. After all, she had only glanced at the fan.
"It's not that simple," Ji HuaiChu said. "Her illusions are everywhere. In what you see, what you hear, what you touch, what you perceive…"
Whatever you focus on, she manifests.
Thus, when Mu Anqi found her attention caught by the golden patterns on Yu Chuhan's robe, those patterns seemed to suddenly "come alive," slithering like little snakes. With a flick, one detached from Yu Chuhan's garment and glided sinuously towards her. Mu Anqi closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and looked again—everything was back to normal, unchanged.
If even a spectator could be affected this severely, what about He Guxia, who was actually fighting Yu Chuhan…?
Just as Mu Anqi was growing concerned, He Guxia demonstrated her formidable prowess. Countless sword rays were unleashed effortlessly with casual swings of her blade, her flowing sleeves creating an image of ethereal grace and unrestrained freedom. The massive phantom of a giant sword materialized behind He Guxia, rising from the ground. In the blink of an eye, the colossal sword shadow surpassed her, enveloped her, standing over the arena like a mountain that blotted out the sky.
And in that very instant, all the spectators realized: things had changed!
The arena had changed. The backdrop had changed. Even the stadium seemed altered. But in reality, nothing had changed at all. What they were witnessing now… was merely an illusion, a phantom projected by Yu Chuhan using her own power to amplify what He Guxia envisioned and desired.
Floating colossal mountains now hovered in the air, the entire arena transformed into a celestial paradise. The audience found themselves amidst clouds and mist, while He Guxia stood floating in the air, her gaze blazing intensely.
The next moment—a bolt from the blue, wind whipping through churning clouds. The sky darkened abruptly as if for doomsday, howling gales swept through, and massive dark clouds gathered overhead. Lightning churned and roiled between the cloud layers—a so-called thunder dragon tumbled and twisted within the black clouds. Accompanied by a piercing, earth-shattering dragon's roar, a colossal pillar of lightning, seemingly capable of annihilating heaven and earth, instantly crashed down, obliterating He Guxia on the spot!
Even knowing it was an illusion, who could resist the sheer awe of this moment?
Amidst the lightning, He Guxia stood firm, sword in hand. Countless purple lightning serpents danced across her body, and in an instant, her elegant sword robe was torn to tatters. Yet, her eyes burned even brighter, as if she were fully immersed in this illusory realm. Just as Yu Chuhan frowned slightly, observing the grand illusion she herself had created, He Guxia produced a white ribbon and blindfolded herself.
A sword cultivator's path remains unwavering.
No one knew if He Guxia still remembered this was a match, or if she had been transported back to her tribulation-crossing days. Hovering in the air, "cleansed" repeatedly by the heavenly lightning, the thunder dragon peered out from the clouds. After another bolt of tribulation lightning struck, it let out another deafening roar and dove down from the heights, charging straight at He Guxia—
"Rise."
The massive phantom of an ancient sword erupted from the ground.
Though blindfolded, He Guxia instantly surged forward to meet the thunder dragon. Her lifebound sword thrust straight out, erupting with a brilliant, crystalline sword light. He Guxia advanced relentlessly against the tribulation lightning, forcing the unfinished calamity into retreat.
"Sever."
Moving in perfect sync with her was the colossal phantom of the ancient sword behind her!
Compared to the thunder dragon, the human form seemed minuscule. Yet, when their powers collided, He Guxia did not retreat a single step.
—The gigantic ancient sword descended upon the dragon's head. Countless intricate lightning serpents swarmed over it, gnawing and constricting. Thunder patterns shimmered across the scene, yet He Guxia's expression remained utterly unchanged.
It was as if this sword cultivator had never wavered.
The thunder dragon was severed inch by inch, dissolving into a torrential downpour. He Guxia did not stop. She shot straight through the clouds, her sword slashing through the firmament, shearing away the thunderclouds. The dense black clouds were cleaved in half, the remnants scattering rapidly as if truly "fearing" her.
As if myth had become reality, the rain ceased, and the sky cleared.
"Ten Thousand Swords, Form the Array." Hovering mid-air, He Guxia cast out her lifebound sword. In an instant, one became two, two became three… a single sword multiplied endlessly, replacing the dense thunderstorm with countless sword phantoms filling the sky. When her lifebound sword returned to her hand, He Guxia simply swung it downward with detached indifference, releasing a single, effortless sword ray—this seemed not an attack itself, but merely the signal for the ten thousand swords to fall.
"Wh-what?!" When the sword ray grazed past her feet, Yu Chuhan was utterly stunned. Within this illusion, how could He Guxia possibly know her exact location? She hadn't broken free from the illusion!
But He Guxia offered no explanation. The only response was the rain of countless swords.
In that moment, every sword was cloaked in sword light. They fell in unison, their range completely enveloping the entire arena! Yu Chuhan threw out her folding fan, knocking aside a few of the overhead swords. But the sound of something cutting through the air arrived instantly—He Guxia, gripping her lifebound sword, closed the distance in a flash!
"I surrender."
The sword halted an inch from her neck, yet a numbing sensation spread across Yu Chuhan's skin. She raised a hand to touch it and came away with fresh red—not a fatal wound, of course, merely a broken layer of skin.
Looking at the sword cultivator before her, whose eyes remained blindfolded, Yu Chuhan sighed in frustration and admitted defeat.
Her illusions were potent, of course. But faced with such an opponent, how could she possibly resist? It was similar to when she had once dragged Ji HuaiChu into an illusion. Had she trapped Ji HuaiChu? Had she disrupted her? Certainly.
—But it had also provoked Ji HuaiChu's wrath.
Whether facing a rain of swords or a "Night Parade of a Hundred Demons," on this "confined" arena stage, there was almost no safe place for Yu Chuhan to hide.
"Your mastery of illusion is quite remarkable." Retrieving her lifebound sword, He Guxia used one hand to remove the blindfold. She looked at this ghost king from Illusionary Dreamland. Though her emotions were restrained, it wasn't hard to see she was somewhat pleased.
Even if it was an illusion, being able to shatter the heavenly tribulation had delighted He Guxia immensely. In the cultivation world of her past life, there seemed to have been experts skilled in illusions, but compared to Yu Chuhan, they seemed slightly lacking.
"Thank you for the praise. You are quite remarkable yourself," Yu Chuhan replied.
He Guxia offered a faint smile, then turned and left the arena.
For some reason, though He Guxia looked utterly disheveled at this moment, Yu Chuhan felt she carried even more imposing presence than when she had first entered the arena.
Is this what a sword cultivator is?
…
Inside the private box, Xia Yun's jaw had remained dropped throughout the entire match.
She never could have imagined her master could be this insanely formidable. This was—was this even real? She knew the thunderclouds, the thunder dragon, and the celestial paradise backdrop were all illusions. But Yu Chuhan's illusion was constructed from He Guxia's own resolve and memories. That meant the heavenly tribulation her master had faced back then was truly this terrifying, likely even more shocking and dreadful than the illusion portrayed.
And as a player, or rather, as a human, Xia Yun felt… all this "watch closely and learn" stuff? She could certainly watch closely, but learn this? Sorry, that seemed utterly impossible!
"Hey… if I cultivate in the Shattered Mirror Continent for a thousand years, do you think I'd have a chance…" Xia Yun paused tactically, swallowing hard as the image of her master charging the thunder dragon replayed in her mind, "…a chance to slay a thunder dragon too?"
"Uh." Mu Anqi blinked. "Believe in yourself, you can definitely do it!" Although, it seemed the Shattered Mirror Continent didn't really have heavenly tribulations like that?