Chapter 140: Spiritual Duel

She found herself trapped in an endless abyss of darkness, with nothingness beneath her feet and eternal silence all around, while countless twisted, agonizing spectral souls wailed and thrashed nearby, reaching out with icy hands to drag her into the abyss!

An overwhelming sense of utter loneliness, coldness, and despair enveloped her, as if seeking to freeze and assimilate her very consciousness.

This was a hallucination directly targeting the depths of the mind—far more dangerous than any physical attack!

Outside, everyone could only see Su Wan standing motionless, her eyes vacant, her body trembling slightly as if consumed by unbearable pain, her mental field chaotic and unstable.

“Su Wan has fallen into a hallucination!”

“What do we do? We can’t interfere in a battle of the mind!”

“Trust her! Su Wan’s mental cultivation is the strongest among us!”

The human faction held their breath, hearts pounding in their throats.

Jiang Xia’s Sharingan locked onto Su Wan—he could see her mental energy fiercely battling a chilling, twisted external force, the soul fluctuations in that area utterly chaotic.

“Wake up!” Jiang Xia couldn’t help but project his mental voice, trying to awaken her—but his call vanished into silence, unable to pierce the deep veil of the hallucination.

Within the hallucination, Su Wan felt the all-pervading cold and despair, her consciousness sinking deeper into darkness.

The wails of the dead souls amplified in her ears, transforming into the cries of fallen comrades from her memories—the blinding flash of Li Jiuyuan’s self-destruction, Qin Qianjue’s final, furious roar…

“No… I won’t succumb…” Su Wan’s will fought back; she bit down hard on her tongue, the sharp pain granting her a sliver of clarity.

“If the heart is as pure as ice, even heaven’s collapse brings no shock. Amidst all change, the spirit remains calm and still!”

She silently recited the tranquilizing mantra passed down to her, and her scattered mental energy instantly coalesced—like a lantern igniting in the darkness!

“Open, the Eye of Discernment!”

Deep within her clear eyes, starry rivers swirled as a purer, vaster wave of mental force erupted, piercing through the surrounding darkness like a blade!

“Crack!”

A sound like shattering glass echoed across her soul—the endless abyss of darkness shattered into fragments, the wails of the dead souls silenced instantly!

Su Wan returned to the Fallen God Altar, her gaze clear once more; though her face was paler and her breath erratic, she had shattered the nightmare’s sinking illusion through sheer will and mental cultivation.

“How could she break my Sinking Illusion?!”

The Nightmare’s crimson glow flickered violently, betraying its shock—it hadn’t expected Su Wan’s mental strength and willpower to be so unyielding.

“Your illusion is merely a crude imitation of negative emotions.”

Su Wan’s voice remained soft, yet carried a chill: “True mental power lies in mastery and creation—not in surrender and destruction.”

No longer passive, she launched a counterattack!

“Mental Force—Stellar Chessboard!”

Su Wan’s hands moved through the air, her immense mental energy surging forth to engulf the entire arena.

In an instant, the arena transformed into a miniature cosmos—countless stars, forged from mental energy, moved along intricate, sacred paths, radiating brilliant, orderly light!

Su Wan stood at the heart of the starry river, like a celestial deity commanding the cosmic game!

The Nightmare, however, felt as if it had become a pawn trapped on the board—the ever-shifting star paths sealed off every possible escape route.

A crushing mental pressure surged from all directions, aiming to imprison and crush it utterly!

This was Su Wan’s own creation—a mental domain forged from her unique ability and knowledge of formations!

Using the stars as the board and mental energy as the pieces, she trapped, suppressed, and annihilated her enemy without a single sound.

The Nightmare’s mist-like body writhed violently within the Stellar Chessboard, feeling intense restraint and threat—the moving star paths not only sealed space but continuously battered and eroded its spiritual essence.

“Roar! Do Itachi think this pitiful domain can contain me?!” The Nightmare unleashed a piercing mental scream, its twin crimson lights blazing with bloody radiance!

“Nightmare Manifestation!”

It channeled even greater, more twisted mental energy, forcibly warping Su Wan’s Stellar Chessboard!

Within the board, monstrous nightmares began to emerge beside the brilliant stars: gaping maws devouring celestial bodies, grotesque monsters oozing pus and blood, eerie whispers capable of tearing souls apart…

These nightmares collided with the stars, attempting to corrupt and dismantle the entire Stellar Chessboard!

The mental battle reached its fever pitch!

Two utterly opposing forces clashed and annihilated each other in midair!

No deafening explosions, no dazzling energy flares—but the silent, soul-crushing danger left every spectator feeling as if their very spirits were being crushed.

Su Wan’s lips bled again—maintaining the Stellar Chessboard against the Nightmare’s Nightmare Manifestation drained her mental energy mercilessly, and her soul bore unbearable pressure.

Yet her gaze remained resolute; her ten fingers danced like a pianist’s across the void, precisely guiding each star’s trajectory, repairing areas corrupted by nightmares, and searching for the Nightmare’s core vulnerability.

The Nightmare suffered too—its spiritual essence was steadily eroded by the Stellar Chessboard’s pressure and star-path impacts, its crimson glow dimming noticeably.

It realized Su Wan’s mental energy wasn’t just vast—it was of extraordinary purity; its nightmare corruption struggled to penetrate her core.

“I can’t afford to prolong this!” The Nightmare realized prolonged combat would be fatal—it abruptly retracted all scattered nightmares, condensing them into its twin crimson lights!

The twin crimson lights exploded in size, transforming into two blood-red moons—a far more terrifying, despairing mental wave erupted!

“Innate Technique—Eternal Night of Sinking!”

Beneath the blood-moon’s glow, Su Wan’s Stellar Chessboard instantly dimmed, as if smothered under a thick veil of crimson shadow!

All star paths grew chaotic!

An isolation and despair a hundredfold stronger than the previous “Sinking Illusion” surged like a tidal wave toward Su Wan’s soul core!

This time, it wasn’t a hallucination—it was a direct assault on the deepest, primal fears within the soul: the terror of eternal darkness, absolute solitude, and the meaninglessness of existence—a strike at the very foundation of her Dao!

Su Wan was struck as if by a thunderbolt, her body reeling; her vision blurred, the mournful cry of the universe’s end echoed in her ears, her consciousness dragged toward the eternal, lightless “Eternal Night.”

Her mental energy began to leak uncontrollably; the Stellar Chessboard trembled, on the verge of collapse.

“Su Wan!”

“Hold on!”

The human faction erupted in frantic cries.

Hold on!

He longed to rush onto the arena—but the rules forbade it; he was powerless.

Is this the end…?

Su Wan’s consciousness hovered on the edge of Eternal Night—she glimpsed her parents’ gentle smiles, the laughter of her sisters, and then… Li Jiuyuan’s resolute, dying back, Qin Qianjue’s final, bitter roar…

Is it ending...?

Su Wan's consciousness drifted at the edge of eternal night, as if seeing her parents' loving smiles, the playful antics of the Su sisters, and also... Li Jiuyuan's resolute back as he marched to his death, Qin Qianjue's final defiance...