“Moreover…”
Wang Chong looked around at the tables, chairs, curtains, the rolls of silk, the chests containing wedding gifts, and the red candles burning in the corners of the room.
“How formidable! If my guess is right, all these things, this entire world, is an illusion that you created!”
“What did you say?”
‘Xu Qiqin’ appeared to tremble in shock at Wang Chong’s words. Soon, large tears began to emerge from her eyes and ‘Xu Qiqin’ shook her head, apparently despairing in sorrow.
“You’ve gone mad! You’ve truly gone mad! I was caring for you throughout your coma of seven days and nights. I told the madam and the doctor that you were fine, that you were okay. It’s one thing for you to think that I was a fake, but you even think that the entire world is fake, an illusion!”
“Stop pretending! I must admit that your Psychic Energy illusion is truly something I’ve never experienced before. Even the flowers, grass, and trees have shadows in this world, the wooden furniture is properly veined, and there’s even a sense of touch and warmth. It doesn’t seem like a world of illusion at all. If I hadn’t already figured things out, I really might have been fooled. Alas, this world still has a major flaw, and with this flaw, none of your silver-tongued words will be able to deceive me!”
Chapter 1459 - The Truth Revealed!
Chapter 1459: The Truth Revealed!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong, his expression cold, immediately thrust a palm forward, sending a surge of Stellar Energy at ‘Xu Qiqin’. Seeing that Wang Chong was insensible and unmoved, ‘Xu Qiqin’ finally scowled. Swish! Before Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy could connect, she slid her body backward.
“Wang Chong, I didn’t think that you would be so stubborn that my words would be of no use.”
‘Xu Qiqin’ put her back to the door, and her warm and virtuous demeanor completely vanished. Her voice became hoarse and brimming with hatred while her body erupted with a dreadful and frenzied killing intent.
The true Xu Qiqin would never have this sort of demeanor or be so terrifying. The identity of ‘Xu Qiqin’ collapsed into shambles.
“…But there’s one thing I don’t understand. This world is incredibly real, possessing everything the actual one does. There can’t be any flaw, so how did you realize that this world was fake?” Xu Qiqin asked somewhat hysterically, staring at Wang Chong. Her appearance was shifting more and more, and even the color of her eyes had shifted to a dark green.
“Heh, is that so?”
Wang Chong sneered.
“The distance between the Western Regions and the capital is incredibly vast, and the journey takes more than a month. But the time between Gao Xianzhi’s demotion and his arrival at the capital was a mere seven days. Not even if he flew would he be able to cover that distance, right?”
Buzz!
These words were like an arrow to the heart. ‘Xu Qiqin’, or rather the creator of this illusory world, was instantly struck dumb, rendered speechless and deflated like a punctured balloon.
While everything had a flaw, they had always firmly believed that their ‘world’ was so real that it was indistinguishable from reality.
But Wang Chong’s words had shattered their confidence. They had never imagined that the critical flaw in their world was in something like this.
“Real is real and fake is fake. The true world doesn’t merely have temperature, humidity, touch, smell, and taste. It also has things like space, distance, emotion, and reaction. No matter how real and complete you make it, there will inevitably be some flaw or gap. And a single flaw means that it’s not real. What’s fake will be fake forever!”
Wang Chong grinned.
Upon first awakening, he really had believed for a moment that he had fallen unconscious in his study for seven days and nights, and that his experience in the northwest had just been a dream. But in the end, Wang Chong still felt that something was wrong.
When Gao Xianzhi appeared with Cheng Qianli, Wang Chong instantly understood the truth.
It was just that such a realistic illusion was far too rare and incredible. It was so realistic that any formidable Psychic Energy practitioner, Wang Chong included, could only sigh in wonder and accept their inferiority. It was something that one could go an entire lifetime without encountering.
Moreover, even now, Wang Chong still did not know how his foe could lay down such a large-scale Psychic Energy Seal in the underground cave network. It was so powerful that it had even managed to pull as powerful a Psychic Energy expert as him into the illusory world.
His instinct made Wang Chong unwilling to miss out on this chance to learn and observe.
But once his assailant began to control his ‘mother’ and had him get married to Xu Qiqin, even disguising themselves as Xu Qiqin, he could no longer keep watching.
“…If my guess is right, my real body has been imprisoned by you and is still seventeen thousand meters beneath the earth in that underground cave network,” Wang Chong calmly remarked.
“To think it would be like this…”
‘Xu Qiqin’ was muttering to herself, oblivious to Wang Chong’s words, and as she spoke, the entire room began to shake.
Ping! A porcelain flower vase on the table suddenly exploded, and then the wooden walls started to break apart from the base, cracks traveling across them with breathtaking speed.
Bang! A black sandalwood table only three or four steps away from Wang Chong suddenly exploded and vanished like a wisp of smoke.
More and more bizarre events began to happen in the room.
The various festive silks and curtains melted away like snow in the sun, and the large red candles began to go out.
And even more transformations were taking place.
A massive fissure cleaved across the room, sundering it and creating a massive gap between Wang Chong and Xu Qiqin.
This black fissure seemed bottomless, a giant maw that was opening wider and wider. The wooden planks and furniture tumbling into it became tiny specks.
At this moment, with Wang Chong’s room as the center, the capital and the entire world began to groan and rumble. This hardy world had suddenly begun to show signs of collapsing.
The first to crumble was the sun in the sky. With a massive boom, that blazing sun that illuminated the world became a simple white light source that grew dimmer and dimmer.
Booming and banging came from the edges of the world as the ground collapsed, and soon, the walls of the capital had crumbled.
A few moments after Wang Chong had spoken, the entire world had collapsed.
In front of Wang Chong, his room began to twist and distort into a motley of colors. ‘Xu Qiqin’ had vanished, replaced by a simple assortment of colored particles.
“I really didn’t think that there was someone who could undo my True Dream!”
Wang Chong heard the incredulous voice of ‘Xu Qiqin’, and a moment later, endless darkness surged into his eyes. At the same time, Wang Chong could smell the thin, cold, and foul air of the underground caves.
“Ah!”
Wang Chong also began to hear many shouts of pain.
These were sounds that he had not heard previously. Finally…
Wang Chong’s vision darkened as he was returned to the underground cave.
When he opened his eyes, Wang Chong did not see the narrow cave passage where he had seated himself. At some point, he had appeared in a massive karst cavern the size of six of seven ducal estates.
Wang Chong sensed that there were massive stalactites hanging down from the ceiling, and he saw piles of corpses under the stalactites.
These corpses apparently belonged to an earlier batch of martial artists. There were yellow spots on their bodies and many parts had already begun to turn black with rot. And above the corpses, Wang Chong saw three to four hundred living martial artists.
Some of these martial artists were lyin
g around on the ground while some of them were standing and muttering to themselves. Still others were waving around their weapons and shouting. They had a variety of emotions on their faces: crying, laughing, foolish, crazy. The only trait they shared was that their eyes were tightly shut as if they were entranced.
Swish!
Wang Chong also felt an ache at his abdomen. Looking down, he instantly grimaced.
“How could this be?”
The wound from a sword extended from his left shoulder to his right belly, and Wang Chong’s clothes had been torn along the path of the wound.
This was the same wound as the one inflicted on Wang Chong by the attack of the men in black in that illusory world.
“Could it be that if I was injured in the illusory world, I’m also injured in reality? How?!”
Wang Chong was a master when it came to Psychic Energy, and he had been able to construct a sun that was able to destroy Masil’s strongest technique, the Abyssal World. But Wang Chong had only been able to damage his foe through Psychic Energy, not actually take the injuries inflicted in the Psychic World and inflict them on the real body. What had happened here was not something he had ever believed possible.
At this moment, Wang Chong felt a familiar energy approaching.
Ten-some meters away, Wang Chong once more spotted ‘Xu Qiqin’.
No, at this point, he could no longer call it ‘Xu Qiqin’.
Although that person was still wearing the red gown and hair ornaments of the Xu Qiqin in the illusory world, after taking Wang Chong’s attack, they were clearly unable to maintain Xu Qiqin’s form.
Their face at this point was only thirty percent similar to Xu Qiqin, and the other parts of the body were savage and repulsive.
There was no longer even a passing resemblance to Xu Qiqin.
All was quiet, a strange mood settling in.
“Just who are you? No, I should be asking, ‘just what are you?’!”
Wang Chong’s eyes narrowed, a deep apprehension appearing in his eyes.
Ever since he had entered these underground caves, everything he had encountered had given him a very bizarre feeling.
No Psychic Energy practitioner in the world could do as this thing had done, reflecting injuries inflicted in the illusory world on the actual body. And that illusory world had been far too solid and real. No human Psychic Energy practitioner was capable of such a feat.
Moreover, from what he could see, this thing was simultaneously enthralling three to four hundred martial artists, entrapping their souls in the illusory world.
And now that he thought about it, the walls of that narrow passage he had ultimately chosen to sit down in had probably not been real, merely a disguise for this cave.
This would also explain why the Dragonbeast had not chased him. It wasn’t because the passage had been too small for them to get in, but because an even more terrifying and abnormal creature lived within.
Chapter 1460 - The Other Wang Chong!
Chapter 1460: The Other Wang Chong!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Wang Chong called it a ‘creature’ because he wasn’t sure what it was that he was facing. And Wang Chong was sure that this ‘Xu Qiqin’ was not real. Her crimson robe and the decorations on her head were the same as they had been in the illusory world, which was simply impossible.
In other words, even though he had heavily injured her, after returning to the real world, his foe’s Psychic Energy was still affecting him, just not as deeply.
“Haha, truly an absurd little ant. The real world has given up on you while the wonderful dreams of the illusory could let you have everything come true. Didn’t you like that girl? I let the two of you get together. Are you not satisfied by that?
“Stop fighting and let your Psychic Energy fuse into my body! Just like rain joining with the ocean, you, I, and all the other martial artists will link together to create a new world. In this new world, we can create anything you desire. Have you not already seen the truth of that world? I can have you defeat the Confucian Sect, destroy all the other human empires, and crush your enemies into dust. Is it not great to live out a life in this beautiful dream?”
That existence that had an appearance thirty percent similar to Xu Qiqin spoke in a voice tinged with a charming power.
“Hmph, that’s your dream, but it’s not mine. You’ve enthralled so many martial artists and killed so many of them. No matter what you are, only death awaits you!” Wang Chong coldly said.
Bzzz! Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy rumbled as he locked onto the bizarre existence across from him.
From what he could see, all the other martial artists in the cave were immersed in a dream. He was the only one that could deal with this creature.
Moreover, as he had just destroyed the illusory world, that creature was probably badly injured and could not draw him back into its Psychic World. This was the perfect chance to kill it.
As expected, the creature clearly became fearful when it saw that Wang Chong was about to attack.
“Hmph, as expected!”
Wang Chong sneered. There was an extremely high chance that a Psychic Energy practitioner was not skilled in close combat. Masil, for example, possessed enormous amounts of Psychic Energy, but he was nothing in actual combat.
Although this creature before him was an incredibly powerful Psychic Energy practitioner, possessing more Psychic Energy than anyone Wang Chong knew about, it was clear that its combat abilities were lacking.
“Ant, your way of thinking is too simple! What does it matter that you exposed my illusory world? Do you really think I can’t deal with you?! Since you are not willing to cooperate, I will devour your Psychic Energy and force the fusion!”
Before Wang Chong could attack, that creature attacked first.
Rumble!
In a flash of light, halos rumbled and Stellar Energy flowed. Wang Chong saw the martial artists behind that creature open their eyes, but their eyes were unfocused, showing that they were being controlled.
Bang!
Seven martial artists stomped forward and rushed at Wang Chong from all sides. Clangclangclang! They pulled out their weapons and slashed them at Wang Chong.
“Ah!”
As these weapons slashed, a martial artist of thirty-some years gave an inhuman roar. The veins on his arm bulged, and suddenly, the Stellar Energy around it took the form of a massive steel fist. If he were struck directly by this fist, Wang Chong’s death was assured.
At the same time, another seven or eight martial artists roared and charged up from behind Wang Chong. In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded.
That creature could pull people into the illusory world, making truth difficult to distinguish from falsehood. In the real world, it could control others, even have martial artists use their supreme techniques. This was something that Wang Chong had not expected, but he was quick to take countermeasures.
Bang! His body exploded forward, agilely making its way through the tiny cracks in the encirclement, and the escape of their target immediately caused the attacks of the martial artists to produce an entirely different result.
Bangbangbang! Caught off guard, the martial artists slammed into each other, instantly creating chaos.
Just as expected!
Wang Chong was completely unsurprised by the result.
That creature could create illusory worlds and control people with Psychic Energy, even use their abilities. It naturally could comprehend the various martial arts these people used and have their bodies display their full power.
But understanding someone’s martial arts was completely different from proficiently grasping their techniques and using them when needed on the battlefield. This difference might have been irrelevant when facing another martial artist, but when facing a top-class experienced martial artist like Wang Chong, this minor difference led to a vast chasm in results.
“It’s your turn!”
A cold light in his eyes, Wang Chong took up a sword and shot forward like a bolt of lightning.
Clang! A sword flew up from below and accurately struck the tip of Wang Chong’s sword.
The energies colliding were actually of equal level, neither able to gain the advantage, and the impact sent both Wang Chong and his assailant flying backward.
Bang! Wang Chong landed and swayed for a moment.
“How could this be!?”
Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil and he suddenly felt immense shock. Even though he was weakened, he still had the experience and reaction speed of an expert at his level. Striking the tip of his sword was not a problem that could be solved with Psychic Energy.
Not only that, while the two of them had only seemed to exchange one strike, in reality, the Stellar Energy in their bodies had traveled along their swords and clashed several dozen times at the moment of impact.
But when Wang Chong raised his head, he became even more shocked.
Ten-some meters away from Wang Chong, a figure stood. ‘Xu Qiqin’ had vanished, replaced by ‘Wang Chong’.
It had the same face, same clothes, and same bearing as Wang Chong, but it was lacking in stability and solidity. Even though Wang Chong had experienced his foe’s abilities and had somewhat prepared himself for what he might see, he was still startled by this sight.
“You think I can’t do anything to you? Now, I will use your abilities to thoroughly vanquish you!”
The ‘Wang Chong’ on the other side eerily smiled.
Bang!
Before Wang Chong could do anything, ‘Wang Chong’ lunged forward. Swish! Sword Qi preceded him as ‘Wang Chong’ flicked out bolts of God and Demon Obliteration Sword Qi from his fingers.
Those vicious, milky-white bolts of Sword Qi shot toward various weak points on Wang Chong’s body. Although their color was slightly dimmer, these bolts of Sword Qi had the same character, strength, and sharpness as Wang Chong’s own.
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