Chapter 3118: Illusion Users Are All Cunning! They Completely...

The final battle technique of the Mirage Fiends was finally absorbed, and the corresponding insights surged forth.

"An archery combat technique!"

Wang Teng's eyes widened slightly, a profound tremor rippling through his heart.

To think it would be an archery-based combat technique!

Excellent!

The Mirage Fiends truly knew how to deliver pleasant surprises!

Among the myriad elemental combat techniques, those of the archery variety were exceedingly rare.

Now that such a technique had emerged from the Mirage Fiends, it could be called nothing less than a grand surprise.

Without a moment's delay, Wang Teng began to absorb the realization.

A phantom silhouette of a Mirage Fiend materialized, holding a battle bow, its entire form erupting with black radiance that coalesced upon the bowstring.

It was a perfectly normal sight initially.

The black light condensed into a single arrow, with nothing extraordinary about it.

Yet, the moment that arrow was released, it splintered into countless overlapping afterimages.

Dense and closely packed, it seemed as though innumerable streaks of arrow light erupted simultaneously.

"Is this an illusion? Or is it reality?"

Wang Teng’s gaze filled with astonishment, watching the spectacle with a trace of awe.

Compared to the few archery techniques he had previously acquired, the one before him seemed exceptionally formidable.

That dense, overwhelming array was nearly comparable to the torrent of light unleashed by the Dawnlight Devastation.

Though their paths of development were clearly distinct.

One relied primarily on the power of light, specializing in wide-area strikes to purify all existence.

Meanwhile, this Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery before him seemed to be a unique technique that blended the virtual with the real, quite extraordinary in its own right.

Having fully absorbed the insights, Wang Teng finally attained complete understanding.

As he had suspected, the arrow light conjured by this technique existed precisely in the liminal space between illusion and reality.

Those densely packed arrows were not entirely physical.

How many manifested as solid entities depended entirely on the individual; one could condense more, or one could condense fewer.

In terms of flexibility, it was pushed to the absolute absolute maximum.

"Another technique for underhanded plots!"

"The Mirage Fiends truly are the foundational ancestors when it comes to backstabbing people."

Wang Teng could not help but sigh with emotion.

Those who played with illusions, how could they not be deceptive?

Normal! Perfectly normal! Entirely normal!

Important things deserved to be repeated three times.

Wang Teng expressed his deepest understanding.

"This technique is at the lower-tier Demon Venerable level, and it has even reached the mastery rank!"

Looking at the attributes displayed upon the panel, Wang Teng was thoroughly delighted.

An archery combat technique of the lower-tier Demon Venerable level was a rare find indeed.

At least, this held true within the ranks of the Dark Apparitions.

The Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow he had previously fused was merely at the peak of the upper-tier Demon Emperor level.

Even if it could rival a lower-tier Demon Venerable level technique,

it would undoubtedly possess certain limitations when compared to a genuine lower-tier Demon Venerable technique.

For instance, one would need to cultivate that peak upper-tier Demon Emperor technique to the proficient stage to even match a lower-tier Demon Venerable skill.

Alternatively, it might require the infusion of other forces—such as specialized flames or unique frost—to trigger a metamorphosis in its destructive power.

Unlike the Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery, which was inherently of the lower-tier Demon Venerable level; a standard execution was enough to unleash its proper might.

One was a top-tier configuration; the other was merely a baseline.

How could they be the same?

Therefore, seeing that the Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery stood at the lower-tier Demon Venerable level, Wang Teng's heart swelled with joy.

"By the way, can this technique be fused with the Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow?"

His impulses began to stir once more.

Since they were both dark-attribute combat techniques, surely, perhaps, probably... maybe it was possible?

One must always hypothesize boldly and experiment with caution.

In the next instant, the words "Fusible" appeared simultaneously behind both the Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery and the Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow.

A surge of joy touched Wang Teng's heart, and without hesitation, he chose to fuse them.

Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery + Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow = Thousand Phantoms Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow (Lower-tier Demon Venerable Level): 8600/15000 (Mastery);

"Hahaha..."

Catching sight of the newly fused technique's name, Wang Teng could not restrain the laughter bubbling up inside him.

Classic!

Utterly classic!

The name resulting from this fusion did not deviate from his expectations in the slightest.

"Thousand Phantoms Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow!"

He spoke the name aloud, finding it rolled off the tongue quite smoothly, and let it be.

A name, after all, was truly not that important.

Now, this new technique also resided at the lower-tier Demon Venerable level, and his comprehension of it remained at the mastery rank.

Exactly the same as the original Phantasmal Mirage Thousand-Fold Archery.

Though the attribute value had increased slightly.

Presumably, the insights from the Infernal Wind Demonic Bone Poison Arrow had played their part, given it was already at the proficient stage.

Wang Teng was already immensely satisfied with this outcome; after the fusion, he had gained an additional characteristic, so what more could he ask for?

With this, the combat technique attributes of the Mirage Fiends were entirely absorbed, and he immediately turned his attention to the techniques of the next dark race.

The Darkscale Tribe!

Wang Teng's eyes flashed; it seemed he hadn't obtained many combat techniques from this particular dark race previously.

...

[Demon Scale Scythe] (Upper Demon Emperor Level): 3300/15000 (Grand Mastery);

[Dark Scale Tail] (Upper Demon Emperor Level): 7500/15000 (Grand Mastery);

[Demon Scale Fist] (Upper Demon Emperor Peak Level): 4200/12000 (Minor Mastery);

[Dark Myriad Scale Whip] (Lower Demon Venerable Level): 5600/15000 (Proficient);

[Gloom Scale Demon Meteor Hammer] (Lower Demon Venerable Level): 6200/15000 (Proficient);

...

Several strands of combat technique insights manifested within Wang Teng's mind.

Merely five techniques in total.

He remained remarkably serene this time; with the precedent

"This whip technique actually bears a striking resemblance to the [Dark Scaled Tail]!"

Wang Teng had only just absorbed a great deal of insights regarding the [Dark Scaled Tail], pushing it to the grandmaster level, so he was naturally well aware of the similarities between the two battle techniques.

That method of condensing giant serpents for an attack was practically cut from the exact same cloth.

He suddenly began to understand why most members of the Dark Scale Race relied primarily on these two battle techniques, the [Demonic Scaled Sickle] and the [Dark Scaled Tail].

Looking at this newly created technique, it was so similar to the [Dark Scaled Tail] and simultaneously tied directly to their natural talent.

Indeed, the tails of the Dark Scale Race could be considered a part of their innate talent.

Under such circumstances, why would they ever bother to create new battle techniques? It would be entirely redundant.

"Strictly speaking, there really is no need for them to create new techniques."

"They are completely unable to break free from the constraints of their own innate talent."

Wang Teng reflected silently in his heart.

Granted, many dark races—and even martial artists of the Light Cosmos—utilized their own natural talents to complement their battle techniques, which made them highly specialized.

Yet, despite existing for countless ages, the dark races had still failed to create a wider variety of distinct techniques; if that was not being constrained, what was?

At times, Wang Teng looked down upon those dark apparitions rather contemptuously; they truly seemed to possess very little intelligence.

Their massive heads grew in vain.

They had spent so many years eating for absolutely nothing.

"However, this might also be related to the uniformity of the dark races' innate talents."

Wang Teng suddenly thought of something, and the notion flashed through his mind.

These races of dark apparitions were quite similar to certain special races in the Light Cosmos; an entire race basically shared a single type of talent, with new mutated talents appearing only on rare occasions.

Under these conditions, it was only natural that the battle techniques they used would exhibit a high degree of uniformity.

Since they all shared the same talent, the techniques they employed would bound to be nearly identical.

It was unlike the Light Cosmos, where there were countless races and a vast number of ordinary martial artists who did not belong to any special race.

This led to a single result...

A hundred flowers blooming in unison!

Even ordinary martial artists had the potential to reach the summit, and they would ultimately create the battle techniques that suited them best.

Over time, the number of battle techniques naturally grew, becoming bizarre and varied, containing numerous different artistic conceptions.

At this very moment, Wang Teng felt as though he had discovered a flaw within the dark races.

Belonging to a single, monolithic race was not necessarily a good thing.

Furthermore, the impact of the class system among the dark apparitions was severely deeply entrenched; low-tier dark apparitions stood absolutely no chance of rising to prominence.

Because their innate talent was simply inadequate!

Martial artists, and even dark apparitions, placed the ultimate emphasis on talent.

Only with high talent could one cultivate greater strength and attain a higher status.

And the reason low-tier dark apparitions were low-tier was precisely because their talent was too low; it was a relationship of cause and effect.

Except, the latter was the cause, and the former was the effect.

Therefore, the high-tier dark apparitions Wang Teng encountered were invariably filled with arrogance and conceit.

They never took the low-tier dark apparitions seriously.

This arrogance and conceit would only cause the dark apparitions to stagnate in many aspects.

This was by no means an exaggeration!

Wang Teng could easily imagine that these battle techniques of the dark apparitions had likely been created a very long time ago, making them ancient relics of the past.

Otherwise, there would not be so many dark apparitions cultivating them!

"The dark apparitions have done nothing more than capitalize on the bizarre and eerie nature of the dark force."

Wang Teng's eyes flickered, and he let out a cold snort in his heart.

Just then, the insights within his mind suddenly underwent a drastic transformation.

Those giant serpents condensed from the long whips abruptly exploded, and countless beams of black light shot out in all directions before converging once more toward the Light Cosmos martial artists ahead.

"This is..."

Wang Teng was somewhat surprised; wasn't this the exact same explosive method used in the [Demonic Scaled Fist] earlier? This battle technique could do it as well?