Illusion within Illusion

At the rooftop of the Immortal Ancestral Hall,

Lu Ze sat leisurely, squinting his eyes against the flickering blue-purple lightning in the sky.

"When will it be my turn to act?" The voice of the Heavenly Dao's remnant spirit echoed in Lu Ze's ears.

"Not yet... wait a little longer." Lu Ze shook his head, watching the events unfolding in the Celestial Valley with keen interest.

The battle between legitimate players and cheaters was a classic spectacle in the online games of his past life. The scene before him reminded him of the legendary moment when dozens of players joined forces to slay an immortal.

Except...

The cheating Buddha's ability to bend its palm mid-attack was downright ridiculous.

That earlier move, reminiscent of JOJO's "Muda Muda Muda," had been absurdly flashy.

The difficulty of slaying an immortal here was far greater than in his past life.

Yet, Lu Ze was more than happy to see the players accomplish this feat with their own hands.

What were the Buddha and Hutao's true goals?

To make the cultivators question whether limiting their cultivation was the right path.

If he or the Heavenly Dao's remnant spirit intervened to suppress them, this debate would linger indefinitely.

But if the players took down these two themselves, the meaning would be entirely different.

That was why Lu Ze wasn't in a hurry to let the remnant spirit act.

When he saw a player step in front of Li Moran, taking the Buddha's grab attack head-on, Lu Ze raised an eyebrow.

"Well, damn. This is way more hype than any computer game..."

......

Behind Li Moran, a group of people moved in parallel formation.

Every time the Buddha reached out to grab, someone would actively use a grappling hook to intercept the attack, shielding Li Moran.

This was a countermeasure Zhong Yi had devised before the battle.

If they couldn't dodge, they would take the hit willingly!

Du Cheng struck repeatedly, but without exception, every attack was blocked by nameless cultivators sacrificing their lives.

Li Moran steadied her breathing.

The distance between her and the Buddha was closing.

Every step forward came at the cost of a stranger's life, their bodies reduced to soul tombstones.

Gripping her golden longsword, she suddenly felt its weight grow heavier.

Closing her eyes, she recalled the words Lu Ze had spoken during their duel not long ago.

"Freezing the Buddha as Gu Qinghan?"

"Easy. You can freeze it during the skill's cooldown."

With that memory, Li Moran reopened her eyes, sharp determination blazing within them.

The phantom of Gu Qinghan materialized behind her.

"Primordial Frost, the Biting Gale!"

As her ultimate ability activated, a surge of icy energy enveloped her.

The instant the corrupted Buddha grabbed its second victim, Li Moran swung her sword without hesitation!

Her figure transformed into a streak of glacial cold, piercing through the Buddha in a flash—

Leaving it frozen solid as an ice sculpture.

"Hah..."

Li Moran exhaled.

While her ultimate was active, her basic skills could freeze enemies.

Those crucial three seconds were enough for everyone to target the Buddha's weak point and finish it off.

Without pause, she spun around and charged back toward the fight.

But then—

The golden runes covering the corrupted Buddha's blackened body suddenly flared to life.

In the next moment, the ice encasing it shattered.

Releasing the two people in its grip, the Buddha swung its arm downward at terrifying speed.

Caught off guard, Li Moran was seized in its massive palm.

"Hahaha..."

Du Cheng laughed triumphantly.

"Let's see who can save you now!"

......

At the rooftop of the Immortal Ancestral Hall,

Lu Ze frowned slightly.

These two were pushing their cheats a bit too far.

Immunity to freeze, infinite attack speed...

Even Li Moran and Zhou Yue were now at a crushing disadvantage.

"My turn yet? My turn yet?" The Heavenly Dao's remnant spirit urged impatiently.

It was itching to smack these two into oblivion with a single slap.

Seeing Lu Ze still deep in thought, as if waiting for something, the remnant spirit snorted.

"They've already lost."

"No... this time, they must end it themselves," Lu Ze replied, shaking his head.

"And they might just pull it off."

With that, he conjured a Netherworld Talisman in his hand, grinning at the remnant spirit hidden within the thunderclouds.

"Provided..."

"We give them a little help."

......

Above the Celestial Valley,

Zhou Yue was locked in a desperate struggle.

Hutao's speed was simply inhuman!

Zhong Yi's strategy for him had been to exploit the Blazing Swordsman's ultimate for its insane mobility, chaining infinite aerial combos.

The plan was to launch the opponent with an uppercut, then use the ultimate's speed to loop successive strikes, keeping them airborne indefinitely.

He had practiced this relentlessly in the training grounds, mastering the technique.

If he could land the first hit, Zhou Yue was confident he could execute the infinite combo flawlessly.

But the problem was...

Against Hutao's infinite attack speed, he couldn't even land that initial uppercut!

Every time he swung his blade, Hutao countered with her own, triggering a blade clash.

Not a single opening to strike!

The corrupted Hutao seemed to be taunting him deliberately.

After each clash, instead of finishing him off, she targeted the other cultivators around him.

Watching them fall one by one, Zhou Yue's eyes burned with fury.

By now, the golden armor Zhou Qiaoling had scavenged for him was broken, its durability depleted.

His health bar was down to half.

"Well then, genius of the Lingxiao Sect... ready to die?"

Jiang Lingfeng smirked, tossing aside his shattered blade and drawing a pristine Tang sword.

Just as he prepared to deliver the killing blow—

A monstrous serpent's head emerged from the sky.

The divine being of the illusionary realm, the Torch Dragon.

Its appearance signaled one thing: someone had activated a Netherworld Talisman here!

Sure enough, swirling purple sigils materialized beneath Zhou Yue and Jiang Lingfeng—

The precursor to the Netherworld's eruption.

"Tch. Lucky bastard."

Jiang Lingfeng canceled his charged strike, slashing Zhou Yue with a light attack before retreating hastily.

He had no fear of trading blows, but the Netherworld Talisman's power within the illusionary realm was another matter.

If luck wasn't on his side, even the grand formation couldn't guarantee his safety.

After all, its damage was absolute.

Zhou Yue struggled to his feet, staring hopelessly at the encroaching purple sigils.

In his memory,

His survival rate within the Netherworld Talisman's range was...

Zero.

Trapped at the center, surrounded by the sigils, there was no escape.

As another sigil flared beneath his feet, Zhou Yue closed his eyes, resigning himself to fate.

A murky surge of energy shot down from the Torch Dragon's maw, striking Zhou Yue's head—

But instead of death,

He found himself in a vast, white void.

"Where... is this?"

Zhou Yue rubbed his eyes.

"An illusion within the illusion?!"

Scanning the emptiness, he spotted a distant silhouette.

As he drew closer, the figure's movements became clearer.

It was Ji Canghai himself.

Cloaked in raging flames, locked in fierce combat against an unseen foe.

With a lightning-fast elbow strike followed by a charging punch, Ji Canghai unleashed a relentless barrage of rising dragons—one after another—before finally seizing the moment as his enemy began to fall. A hookshot lashed out, and in its wake came the buildup of his Tang blade: the Hundred Cuts Slash.

Zhou Yue watched, entranced, his body mirroring the movements almost unconsciously.

In that fleeting moment, enlightenment struck him.

A charging punch to tear open the opponent’s guard, then an endless chain of rising dragons—effortless, inevitable.

And that final masterstroke—the charged technique unleashed in tandem with the hookshot—was nothing short of brilliance.

The next instant,

Ji Canghai’s figure vanished.

Zhou Yue’s consciousness snapped back to the Gathering Cave Prefecture, just as the Earth Fiend Talisman beneath his feet exhaled its final second of spouting.

“Heretical tricks…”

Zhou Yue’s gaze turned icy as he faced the arrogant evil cultivator, Hutao. His Tang blade slid free once more.

“Time to meet your end.”