NOVGO.NET Chapter 425 - 425: Ch 425 - It's an illusion technique!
Sorry for the delays.
I’ve noticed that many people are going to other websites to read the chapters.As I mentioned before, this ruins the daily release schedule and slows down the uploads.
From now on, we won’t be changing chapters after uploading them—we’ll just publish directly.
So please support us by only reading on and not on any other sites.
Thank you again, and enjoy the mass release!
——
Most of the time, with his cultivation advanced now, Yino viewed these original protagonists like kittens and puppies.
Without realizing it, he had reached the Nascent Soul stage.
Take Lin Ze for example, a villain who could match Xumo blow for blow in the game. Now Yino didn’t even need his ultimate moves. The instinctive reactions from his innate Sword Dao Holy Physique alone were enough to toy with him one-handed.
Even setting cultivation levels aside, Lin Ze’s technique still fell short.
Two days before coming to the Jiangnan, Yino had been sparring with Yuyan in the outskirts of Wave City.
Yuyan was a swordwomen, true, but in her second stage, that Frost Chant sword could grow thick and long like a spear.
In comparison, Yuyan’s spear technique was far more fierce than Lin Ze’s.
After experiencing Yuyan’s spearmanship, Yino now felt Lin Ze’s Azure Dragon spear spinning around looked like circus tricks.
All these flashy moves couldn’t match Yuyan’s simple and brutal Descending Great Whirlwind…
Besides, Yuyan had incredible stamina. During the day, she could leave Yino sore and aching from training at the training grounds, then at night tie up her hair and still be fired up for another decisive battle.
But Lin Ze…
How was this kid already panting after less than ten minutes of going all out?
So young and already this weak?
“Bro, you really need more practice.”
Yino dodged another Azure Dragon sweep with a sidestep, then slapped Lin Ze’s back hard. While taunting, he secretly let the Abyssal Curse seep into Lin Ze’s body.
During his fight with Lin Ze, Yino appeared relaxed, but he was constantly seeking opportunities to plant setups on Lin Ze.
Stringing along an opponent during a one-on-one fight—that was professional skill right there.
Right now, for instance, Yino couldn’t be too harsh, or Lin Ze would lose too quickly. With his pride crushed, he’d get angry and have the nearby elders step in.
But Yino also couldn’t just dodge without attacking, or his dog-walking would be too obvious. If Lin Ze kept missing, he’d easily tilt and give up.
So while walking the dog, Yino had to pretend Lin Ze landed some heavy hits, while keeping up verbal taunts to build Lin Ze’s rage.
Yino needed to create the illusion that victory was just within Lin Ze’s reach!
Meanwhile, every one of Yino’s attacks slipped evil curses into Lin Ze’s body. Once enough curses stacked up inside Lin Ze, Yino could stop pretending and drive a palm straight through Lin Ze’s soul.
By then, Yino’s evil curses would have already corroded Lin Ze’s body, leaving him defenseless as Yino broke through his inner defenses.
This way, Yino could maximize extraction of high-purity dragon blood from Lin Ze’s body before anyone could react.
Azure Dragon bloodline…
One of the top-tier dragon bloodlines in the game!
Forget alchemy, even drinking high-purity dragon blood directly worked like a stimulant, dramatically boosting a cultivator’s realm and even restructuring bones and meridians!
And Lin Ze was far more useful than those pure phoenix crystals from the Western Region.
Pure phoenix crystals were minerals requiring slow refinement to extract tiny amounts. But Lin Ze was a living person, no extraction needed, just crack open and drink. His character’s basic bloodline attribute would show +1+1+1 notifications.
This was exactly why Yino had made a special trip to the Liu Mansion.
Ruoning’s heart belonged to Yino, he could steal her away anytime. But Lin Ze wasn’t a walking treasure you could scam just anywhere!
“Damn it!”
“What the hell are you pretending for!”
On the battlefield’s other side, Lin Ze felt Yino’s mocking gaze, his mind replaying those “bro, bro” taunts over and over as shame and rage gradually consumed him.
He burst out with his cultivation again, swinging his spear in fierce assault.
Hard work paid off, this time Lin Ze finally landed a hit on Yino, though the latter blocked with his sword. Still, Lin Ze used brute force to send him flying.
“Cough! Cough cough—!”
Yino got knocked back, but Lin Ze suddenly coughed up blood while standing in place.
Lin Ze looked down, his cold eyes filled with Azure Dragon bloodline gradually focusing.
Actually, Lin Ze knew damn well he’d been running on empty for five minutes now.
This fight had lasted fifteen minutes total. From the moment Lin Ze pulled out his eight-foot spear, awakened his Azure Dragon bloodline, and activated unparalleled mode, his cultivation had broken through from Core Formation to the Nascent Soul threshold.
Unprecedented desire for victory had pushed every move and technique to his lifetime’s peak.
Even so, every one of Lin Ze’s attacks still felt like punching cotton. No matter how hard he tried, he was always just short of defeating this white-robed youth with maxed-out taunt skills.
For ten minutes, Lin Ze’s peak period had been worn down by one “almost” after another.
Normally, Lin Ze could fight an opponent for hours.
But now he’d chosen to activate Azure Dragon bloodline for decisive battle. With only one-seventh Azure Dragon blood, activation as a human naturally put tremendous strain on Lin Ze’s body.
Now… With his ten-minute peak over, the Azure Dragon bloodline’s heavy burden was gradually becoming too much for Lin Ze’s body.
The last five minutes, Lin Ze had basically been forcing himself through.
No other reason, Yino was just too annoying. Not only did he keep calling Lin Ze “bro” with cheap taunts, he also liked patting Lin Ze’s head when he wasn’t paying attention during fights.
Every time his head got patted, Lin Ze would immediately tilt and burst out with Azure Dragon bloodline again to fight.
Just now, Lin Ze’s body had overextended to the point of coughing blood.
No matter how emotional he’d been before, Lin Ze was forced to calm down.
Damn…
At this rate, Azure Dragon bloodline backlash will kill me before I can kill him!
Thinking this, Lin Ze suddenly felt that victory didn’t matter so much anymore.
At this life-or-death moment, he probably truly recognized the gap in their abilities.
Right then, the spirit ring on Lin Ze’s hand glowed, and that familiar aged voice entered his mind again:
[Young master, this old man awaits your command at any time.]
Hearing Elder Ming’s voice, Lin Ze’s last bit of unwillingness finally found an outlet.
He seemed to think of something, suddenly laughing coldly with relief, then looked up toward Yino in the distance.
“Where is he?”
Lin Ze was about to taunt, planning to have Old Ming strike when Yino attacked. But strangely, when Lin Ze looked up, Yino had vanished.
Confused, Lin Ze looked around, only to find the crowd that should have been watching nearby had also become blurry and unclear under night’s shroud.
For miles around, everything seemed to have turned into a pitch-black, silent graveyard.
Instantly, unprecedented fear and unease swept over Lin Ze’s heart.
Something’s wrong… something’s not right!
[Elder Ming, save me quickly]
Lin Ze reacted fast, urgently calling for help through his ring.
But this time, instead of that familiar aged voice, a cold arm guard covered in black-red scales suddenly pierced through Lin Ze’s chest from behind.
“Now, the elders outside can’t exactly hear your voice.”
Overlapping voices of fox demon and a young man rang simultaneously in Lin Ze’s ear.
Almost instantly, black-red evil curses appeared across Lin Ze’s entire body, and desperate screams echoed throughout the Liu Mansion.
…
…
…
“Why did they… suddenly stop fighting?”
In the Liu Mansion’s front courtyard, everyone looked confused at the two young men who seemed frozen mid-action, staring at each other with wide eyes.
About ten minutes ago, Lin Ze had been gaining the upper hand with constant attacks.
Back then, Ruoxin and the Lin family were smugly getting their swagger back.
Though Ruoning couldn’t understand what the hell Yino was up to, being alone in enemy headquarters still left her fuming.
But the tables had turned.
As time passed minute by minute, Lin Ze’s Azure Dragon bloodline proved like a flash in the pan, lasting less than ten minutes before gradually falling behind against Yino’s effortless dodging.
The Lin family stopped celebrating, and Liu Ruoxin and Li Shauna both shut up.
Even so, Ruoning still didn’t feel happy.
In her view, Yino and Lin Ze weren’t even in the same league. Yino could totally beat the crap out of Lin Ze, but from start to finish, he’d been playing house with Lin Ze in a way that confused her.
At first, Ruoning was genuinely anxious, she almost wanted to shout for Yino to stop holding back.
But after ten minutes, Ruoning gradually noticed some clues.
She realized Yino seemed to have other plans. He usually attacked with his sword, but today during the duel with Lin Ze, he kept using palm strikes on Lin Ze’s shoulders, back, and chest…
This skilled technique, maybe the elders from the Liu and Lin mansions didn’t recognize it, but Ruoning, as someone who personally experienced the Azure Forest, was very familiar with it!
Yino wasn’t a body cultivator at all. He only used palm strikes in one situation, back in the Azure Forest when he planted curse marks on Yuebai and Liuli!
Realizing this, Ruoning suddenly felt like she’d discovered some huge secret, her heart starting to pound.
Ruoning looked around, but among everyone present, it seemed no one except her had noticed anything unusual. They all seemed to assume it was normal for Yino, as a body cultivator, to attack with fists and palms.
But the fact that no one else noticed made Ruoning even more nervous.
Originally, Ruoning had just hoped Yino could beat up Lin Ze to help her save face, but Yino seemed to be going even further—he was probably planning to give Lin Ze the evil curse combo meal too!
And…
Just before the scene paused, Ruoning thought she glimpsed a familiar figure in the shadows!
That crimson phantom flashed by, but Ruoning was certain it was absolutely the red fox demoness who had once saved her life from the evil cult saintess in the Azure Forest!
[We agreed he was just coming to the Liu Mansion as a guest for dinner, how did he bring Jinyue along too!]
Thinking this, Ruoning’s heart pounded even harder.
Right then, after several seconds of the frozen scene, a Lin Mansion elder finally noticed something was wrong and cried out in alarm.
“Something’s wrong!”
“This is an illusion technique! Someone cast an illusion in the middle of the battle!!!”
…
…
…
…
In the Liu Mansion’s front courtyard, the Lin family elder was shocked and alarmed.
Meanwhile, in the Liu Mansion’s back courtyard, the two Dragon princesses Yune and Hua were watching the big screen with great interest.
From their perspective, the duel had never been paused by illusion techniques. The true faces of the red fox girl from the Western Region and the white-robed young man were completely visible.
“That’s the Void witch!”
Seeing the witch figure who had once been active in the Western Region, Yune’s pupils dilated in shock.
Hearing this, the Silver Dragon princess sitting on the long chair and sipping tea became even more curious:
“Yune don’t rush. We’ve waited this long, let’s see how many more secrets he has!”