Chapter 1168: Truth and Illusion
The escape of a few individuals did have an impact on Yang Haoran at that moment, but it was not significant, and moreover, it wasn't a negative impact, as his strength was clearly evident.
For those who did not escape, the impact was considerable. On one hand, their morale was affected; already not high, it naturally sank even lower with the flight of these individuals. They understood perfectly why those who chose to flee at the first opportunity did so.
On the other hand, the escape of some also weakened the firepower besieging Yang Haoran to a certain extent. As a result, the pressure on those who hadn't fled naturally intensified.
Among those who hadn't yet fled, some were bound by the orders of their respective factions, thus not daring to flee privately, lest they be branded with the crime of desertion on the battlefield.
A portion were simply stubbornly defiant. This type of person did not value life highly, be it their own life or the lives of others. In their eyes, life was merely life; compared to their beliefs and their target to be slain, life counted for nothing. However, such individuals were few.
There were also some who believed that the final victory of this brutal struggle would belong to their side. Although this thought in their minds had no basis, and from the current situation, this idea was quite unrealistic, they still harbored this notion. It was precisely because of this belief that they did not flee. However, such individuals were exceedingly rare.
Besides these types of people, there was another kind: those who actually wanted to escape but, for numerous reasons, did not flee at the first opportunity. Some were due to hesitation, others because their reactions were too slow.
Yang Haoran did not pursue those who fled at the first instant. Instead, he continued to slaughter those who remained. Meanwhile, on Big Sister's side, as the blood-red barrier was shattered, Shang Yuanqi, who had been preparing all along, immediately made his move, launching a fatal blow against Wan Wu Yi.
When consuming the same amount of Communication Power, this method certainly couldn't compare to a Spiritual Art. However, Spiritual Arts required time to form hand seals, whereas this method required none at all. In the current situation, what Shang Yuanqi needed most was time. If he were to form hand seals and unleash a Spiritual Art, he would miss the best opportunity to slay Wan Wu Yi. Therefore, to prevent Wan Wu Yi from having a moment to breathe, Shang Yuanqi preferred to expend more Communication Power to achieve his desired destructive force, rather than forming hand seals for a Spiritual Art.
A massive amount of Communication Power was unleashed, surging towards Wan Wu Yi like a black dragon. It wasn't just Shang Yuanqi who acted; the Guardian Spirit hovering in the air behind him, and Big Sister's Guardian Spirit, also simultaneously launched an attack on Wan Wu Yi at this moment.
However, these two Guardian Spirits did not directly use Yin Qi against Wan Wu Yi, nor did they choose to manipulate other objects. Instead, they simultaneously cast illusions on Wan Wu Yi, creating an illusionary realm to confuse him.
The instant the blood-red barrier shattered, Wan Wu Yi realized something was amiss. Without even a moment's thought, he immediately dodged, because he knew very well that once the blood-red barrier protecting him was broken, Shang Yuanqi, who had been waiting like a tiger eyeing its prey, would undoubtedly deliver a fatal blow. If he didn't dodge immediately, he would be gravely wounded, even if he didn't die.
Just as his body surged forward, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed. The cries of pain vanished, the explosions from the battle also disappeared; the people present, the corpses strewn everywhere, all disappeared in that instant.
At this moment, he found himself in a city that felt both familiar and somewhat strange. The reason for this complex feeling was that some parts of the city struck him as very familiar, yet other parts he had never seen before.
He only froze for a split second, when his expression drastically changed. He knew that the sudden change in the scene before him must be because he had fallen victim to a spirit's illusion. Therefore, without the slightest hesitation, he immediately made his body move rapidly, without any ultimate destination, merely moving quickly in circles.
Whether this method could evade attacks from reality depended on luck. Because, trapped in the illusion, he couldn't know the opponent's location, nor could he predict the trajectory of their attacks. Thus, this could only be considered a clumsy method, which would leave him very passive. To escape this passivity, he absolutely had to break through the illusion.
Wan Wu Yi understood this principle. Therefore, in addition to rapidly moving his body, he was simultaneously doing something else. He swiftly formed hand seals, as a large amount of power surged towards his eyes. In less than a single breath's time, his hand seals ceased, and his eyes at that moment turned blood-red, with a thick mist of blood rising from them.
The change in his eyes at this moment was strikingly similar to when a Heart Demon is awakened. From the surface, they looked identical. But the two had a fundamental difference; he had not awakened his own Heart Demon. Rather, this transformation occurred because a vast amount of power had been channeled into his eyes.
He didn't understand eye techniques, so he could only resort to this clumsy method, by channeling a massive amount of power into his eyes, forcefully breaking open the illusion that trapped him. However, this approach was far inferior to eye techniques capable of shattering illusions.
“Break! ! ! ”
A mighty force erupted from Wan Wu Yi's body, a furious roar escaping his lips. The world that had felt both familiar and strange to him shattered with a crash. The scene before his eyes once again became familiar.
The familiar cries of agony, the familiar corpses strewn everywhere, the familiar explosions, the familiar figures, and the familiar Spirit Aspect.
Wan Wu Yi believed he had successfully broken the illusion, but no smile appeared on his face, because a powerful surge of Communication Power, transformed into a ferocious ghost head, was lunging towards him. And the colossal Spirit Aspect had once again raised its arms. It was clear without a doubt that he was the target of the attack.
Faced with this situation, he cast aside the boastful words he had previously uttered before the Corpse King. As his body dodged again, he anxiously roared at the Corpse King.
“What are you waiting for? ! Hurry and kill that old hag! ! ! ”
As his roar faded, an explosive crash immediately followed. The Spirit Aspect's single strike landed, smashing a bottomless pit into the ground. A massive amount of dirt and rock sprayed. The entire Ancient City violently trembled under that single blow.
He used all his strength and narrowly, perilously dodged that strike. However, the ghost head formed from Communication Power relentlessly pursued him from behind. Before he could even catch his breath, he could only forcefully mobilize more power, to meet this ghost head head-on. Because in his view, if he didn't destroy this ghost head, it would continue to pursue him until it struck his body.
Another thunderous crash. The ghost head exploded under his counterattack, dissipating into strands of Yin Qi. He gasped for breath, his gaze sweeping to where the Corpse King was. He saw that the Corpse King had not ignored his command and was indeed attacking Big Sister.
This sight brought a sigh of relief to Wan Wu Yi's heart. But precisely at that moment, an unprecedented sense of crisis suddenly arose within him. This sense of crisis was incredibly potent, causing the hair on his entire body to stand on end!
He turned his head to look around, finding that there were no attacks incoming from any direction. At the same time, he didn't sense any power rapidly approaching him. But this sense of crisis was undeniably real.
Before he could even ponder what this sense of crisis was about, or react, his body was struck by a terrifying force. Without sensing any power fluctuations, his body was inexplicably hit like that, instantly leaving him dumbfounded.
*Pfft! ! ! *
A large mouthful of fresh blood spurted from his mouth. This force dealt him a devastating blow. Not only were his internal organs severely damaged, but his physical body, unable to withstand such crushing power, developed numerous cracks. Blood continuously seeped from the fissures.
At this moment, he was like a porcelain figure struck by a heavy blow, his entire body cracking!
His consciousness blurred for a moment, his body swayed a few times before collapsing to the ground with a thud. The instant his body hit the ground, the world that had already blurred before his eyes shattered once more.
This scene made him understand. The world he had just been in was not the real world at all; it was also an illusory world created by the ghostly entity. And everything he had just experienced was fake. Only the fatal blow that struck his body was real.
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