Chapter 121: Application of Illusion Arts

The disciples near the arena also felt the intense heat and stepped back one after another, lest they be affected.

Song Yi and Li Mengxi exchanged a glance, their expressions solemn. They hadn't expected Ye Liuyun's first opponent to be so troublesome.

Everyone else knew Ye Liuyun would have four battles today, and each opponent was stronger than the last. So they cared not whether Ye Liuyun would win, but how many rounds he could endure.

From the current situation, Long Yue in the first round had already exceeded their expectations.

"Hehe, perhaps none of us will get a chance to fight!" Chu Li sneered from the audience.

The strength Long Yue displayed was certainly not much weaker than theirs.

Ye Liuyun on the arena was remarkably calm at this moment.

Long Yue's strength was observed clearly by his Illusion Pupil. Ye Liuyun could even see the flow lines of his technique.

"There are three more ahead; I must conserve my strength and finish quickly."

He silently calculated his tactics in his mind.

"Ye Liuyun, your challenge today ends here!"

Long Yue threw a punch at Ye Liuyun, like a flaming giant dragon, accompanied by a dragon's roar, and even the air it passed through was warped by the scorching heat.

"Long Yue's strength has improved a lot since he first arrived; no wonder he dares to challenge me!"

Ye Liuyun felt the intensely bright and fierce aura and praised Long Yue's rapid progress in his heart.

Facing that explosive punch, Ye Liuyun appeared motionless to the onlookers, as if stunned.

"Quick, dodge!" Song Yi, from the stands, anxiously urged Ye Liuyun.

"Hoo"— Long Yue's punch struck Ye Liuyun, yet the crowd heard no impact, only the whoosh of a heat wave.

"It hit? Why is there no sound?" someone who didn't understand asked aloud.

"Melted instantly?" another guessed wildly.

At that moment, Ye Liuyun appeared at the spot where Long Yue had originally stood.

What Long Yue struck was only Ye Liuyun's illusionary image.

The crowd saw Long Yue punch but failed to discern Ye Liuyun's movement. Long Yue hurriedly turned and attacked again.

Ye Liuyun's figure flashed and vanished again.

Moreover, his figure was sometimes solid, sometimes insubstantial, sometimes illusory, weaving back and forth through the gaps of Long Yue's fire dragon.

The arena rang with dragon roars, yet none could even brush his garment's edge.

Most of the audience were merely watching the spectacle, while the disciples of the True Essence Ninth Layer Summit and the nearby Stewards wore solemn expressions.

Ye Liuyun's movement was too bizarre and illusory, full of variables, leaving no trace. Even some Stewards at the Sea Transformation realm often could not locate Ye Liuyun's true form.

Long Yue's attacks were strong, but if they couldn't hit Ye Liuyun, failure was inevitable.

In fact, his speed wasn't lacking, yet he could not glimpse Ye Liuyun's true form, repeatedly deceived by the illusion.

Each time he thought he had found Ye Liuyun's true body, it turned out to be a miss.

"This movement seems to contain an Illusion technique secret; could the Mystic Sage have instructed him?"

Steward Yue also stared in astonishment at Ye Liuyun's figure on the field, considering this possibility.

But he immediately shook his head, dismissed the idea, and blamed everything solely on Ye Liuyun's unusually strange movement.

After a brief clash on the stage, Long Yue had already thrown dozens of punches, fully displaying the power of the Dragon Yang Fist, yet he still couldn't land a hit on Ye Liuyun.

At this moment Long Yue was extremely restless; if he kept this up, his True Essence would be drained.

He then used the Fire Dragon Sky-Cover technique, attempting a wide-area attack to harm Ye Liuyun.

His whole body shimmered with red light, flames erupting like a fire cloud, covering the sky and sun, surging in all directions.

"Break!"

At this point Ye Liuyun finally made a move.

He fully activated his Illusion Eye Technique, slowing Long Yue's attack and weaving through the released flames, while raising a finger to point.

That finger, indeterminate between real and illusory, shot through the air; more than twenty strands of bright and dark aerial finger force, from various bizarre angles, assaulted Long Yue.

Long Yue was startled but helpless. He sensed the approaching danger and realized Ye Liuyun was striking him.

Yet Ye Liuyun's strike completely defied normal logic, making truth and illusion indistinguishable.

He only heard the whistling of finger winds, rising and falling; listening with his ears, he couldn't tell the difference—every sound was a genuine attack.

Ye Liuyun's movement and finger technique had been refined to the point of deceiving the senses; at least a Martial Cultivator of Long Yue's level could not discern them.

Eyes, ears, and other senses can sometimes be deceived by false images. This is the deeper essence of illusion that Ye Liuyun has grasped.

"Puff, puff, puff"— three light sounds.

Long Yue's left shoulder, right upper arm, and three small bones in his left leg were successively pierced with three tiny holes.

The single finger Ye Liuyun just used actually emitted nine strands of finger force; six of them blocked several flame attacks, while the others were illusory.

Long Yue was suddenly struck, and it was a triple hit. Though none were severe, they were enough to make his stance stagger and his complexion turn pale.

Two illusory figures overlapped before Long Yue, revealing Ye Liuyun's true form.

Ye Liuyun had shown mercy, not using a single finger to take Long Yue's life.

But at this moment Long Yue harbored a surge of anger. After the battle, he hadn't even brushed Ye Liuyun's garment.

His fury had already driven him to madness.

"Fire Dragon Flash Strike!"

Long Yue's palm flushed red, and a swift red ray struck the nearby Ye Liuyun.

"Ah!" Li Mengxi and Qi Tianyue shouted simultaneously, privately blaming Ye Liuyun for overreaching.

To everyone's surprise, the struck Ye Liuyun shattered like a broken mirror and then vanished.

Long Yue thought it was bad, but before he could react, a purple lightning bolt crackled, leaving a shallow scorch mark on his neck.

Ye Liuyun wielded the Purple Lightning Whip as if it were a sword.

Long Yue instinctively covered his neck with both hands, his heart turned ice‑cold!

"Will I die just like this?"

He forced himself to turn his head and saw Ye Liuyun's icy gaze.

At that moment Long Yue stood dumb as a wooden chicken, his mind only recalling the words Ye Liuyun had said at the start.

"I've never taken you as an opponent!"

Thump!

Ye Liuyun lifted his foot and kicked Long Yue off the arena, sending him crashing to the ground.

Wow!

The crowd below let out a chorus of gasps, staring at the boy onstage in disbelief.

The whole fight was a mere trifle for him. From start to finish Long Yue never even brushed his hem, being toyed with at his fingertips.

If Ye Liuyun had intended to kill Long Yue, that one move would have already taken his life!

What does high cultivation matter? What does strong attack power matter? In real combat he's helpless. Some disciples now understand why Ye Liuyun can, at a lower realm, leapfrog opponents. His combat power is simply overwhelming!

Ye Liuyun's training purpose is real combat. He always puts the realm level last.

"First match, Long Yue's challenge failed!"

Steward Yue immediately announced.

With Long Yue's defeat, Yuan Meng's group also wore solemn expressions.

In the previous battle, Ye Liuyun's footwork and finger techniques were too bizarre for them to decipher.

It can be inferred that Ye Liuyun's strength, compared with Chu Li and Xu Lang, is only stronger, never weaker.

But now that things have come to this, they cannot stay offstage. They can only try to wear Ye Liuyun down, creating chances for the others!