Chapter 1927: Reality within the Illusion

If one considers the Elf's methods to be mind-affecting spells, then there are generally only two ways for Xia Duo to cross that invisible boundary.

One is to start from within oneself to avoid interference from mind-affecting spells, and simply step across the invisible boundary set by the Elf.

The other is to observe the changes in the environment and find a path to reality within the illusion, even if that path to reality might appear highly absurd.

For Xia Duo, who has temporarily lost his ability to cast spells, the former is actually not reliable, because he has no way to confirm whether he has been affected by a spell or not.

Forcibly firming one's belief might be able to exempt one from the influence of mind-affecting spells, but this might just be a chain trap designed in advance by the Elf.

As for the latter, the changes in the environment might even come along with the thoughts of the person being interfered with, and interact with the state of mind of the person being interfered with.

Trying to discover a path to reality from within that is actually not very reliable either.

But by comparison, the latter might be slightly more reliable.

Without spellcasting ability, it is almost impossible to resist the Elf's spells; even for Xia Duo, there is only a sliver of hope. After all, the overwhelming advantage of spells is too obvious; if it were a real ordinary person here, they might not even have a sliver of hope.

However, compared to a proper Spellcaster, Xia Duo has a huge advantage, which is that he can trace his memories. As long as the scenes observed before and after are inconsistent, even if there is only the slightest difference, he can detect it.

Or rather, this is his greatest source of confidence.

The Elf might be able to interfere with his Perception or even the process of his memory, but it is very difficult to interfere with established results without being discovered by him.

And so-called "interference" is essentially an attempt to change Xia Duo's cognition of reality, but reality is vast, great, complex, and logical; it is difficult to construct a perfect reality Illusion just by imagination.

Especially when there are overly exaggerated scenes like "ghost hitting the wall," as long as one digs deep, there are bound to be loopholes; it is just that the means available to ordinary people for exploration are limited, and their analytical abilities are also limited.

Of course, the premise of all this is that the means used by the Elf are only mind-affecting spells; if they are spells that alter space, then there is no way.

Because such a "ghost hitting the wall" is reality itself, and an ordinary person who cannot cast spells, facing such a scene that can be called a miracle, even if they discover some abnormalities, what can they do besides sigh?

……

Although Xia Duo thinks that firming one's belief is not very reliable, and although he is physically and mentally exhausted and unbearable right now, he has not truly given up on this attempt—what if it works?

Wouldn't he just pass through directly!

After a moment of thought, Xia Duo knew what to do next.

He first continued forward until the marking loop appeared; only then did he temporarily stop his steps and enter a state of focus.

Before "Harar" actually crosses the threshold of Spellcasting, even in a state of focus, Xia Duo cannot cast spells, otherwise, it would cause a strong conflict with the historical trajectory of the Plane and he would be kicked out of the Projection Plane directly.

But in a state of high focus, Xia Duo's will is incomparably concentrated; for a moment, he could even be certain that he had not received any mind-affecting spell interference.

But that could also just be an illusion created by a spell.

In reality, Xia Duo's current situation is a bit like becoming a brain in a vat; in this situation, he can only trust his own thinking, as well as the complex and rigorous rules and logic of reality.

……

After entering the state of focus, Xia Duo temporarily blocked the dual exhaustion of his body and consciousness, leaned on his spear, and continued to walk forward, while observing everything around him, trying not to miss any detail.

Soon, he encountered the marks he had left before again. This time, his guess about the means used by the Elf added illusion spells, not just mind-affecting spells.

Illusion spells and mind-affecting spells belong to different Domains, but they overlap with each other. Xia Duo is still not sure what means the Elf actually used.

But whether it is illusion or mind-affecting, he is not particularly worried; what he is truly worried about is spells that alter space—that is a natural barrier that is difficult for him to overcome in a short time.

Next, Xia Duo maintained his previous state and walked again, and then sat down on the spot next to the big tree where he had left a mark, repeatedly comparing the various sensory information of experiencing the "ghost hitting the wall" several times in his consciousness.

"The change in smell is very coherent, as if in the same enclosed space, but it also shows a very obvious sequence. At first, there was only the most primitive forest scent, and later my own scent was added. Judging from the distribution of the smell alone, the path I just walked should be a continuous and straight space."

"The sound did not show any repetition, which means the possibility of it being a pure mind-affecting spell or pure illusion is smaller. To test this, I can maintain the same state and walk twice more. If it were a pure illusion or mind-affecting spell, it should also be the same or similar result."

"As for the scene, the change in sequence is even more obvious. Although the loop in the forest scene has almost no flaws, through the changes in light, shadow, and time, it is easy to find flaws."

After a simple analysis, Xia Duo already had a certain degree of certainty about how to break the situation. After resting under the tree for a while, he got up and continued forward.

When he walked under a thick, crooked-neck tree, Xia Duo stopped his steps. He did not bypass the tree as before, but walked straight toward the center of the trunk.

Just a few steps away from the original path, he felt something unusual under his feet. It was not anything else, but even though the ground was full of exposed tree roots blocking the way, when he walked over, it felt like stepping on thick moss, soft and squishy.

Whether it is an illusion or a space-altering spell, this is a key scene-changing Node.

As for which kind of spell it is, it depends on whether he enters a new scene next or bumps into it and gets a bump on his head.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo no longer hesitated. He opened his eyes and bumped into the big tree. The next moment, the imagined situation of the Elf descending from the sky or him bumping into it and getting a bump on his head did not appear.

Xia Duo successfully "unlocked" a new scene, a new forest he had never been to before, and when he looked back, as expected, the crooked-neck tree that had just let him "pass through" had already disappeared without a trace.

But through the gaps in the forest blocked by layers of obstacles, Xia Duo could vaguely see that behind him was indeed the loop scene he had walked through many times.

……

Next, Xia Duo identified the direction and continued to head toward the direction of Evereska. On the way, he encountered "ghost hitting the wall" twice more, but he successfully crossed them both.

Since then, Xia Duo had not encountered this situation again. Of course, no Elf had appeared to capture him either.

Perhaps the Elf was too conceited, or perhaps he had already entered the field of vision of the Elf observer, but the other party had not yet taken action.

Regardless, Xia Duo knew that he needed to speed up.