Chapter 399: Illusion

Chapter 399: Illusion Realm

"What a perfect opportunity!"

Elfa seized the moment when the spatial mage's attention wavered.

He unleashed his killing blow!

"Phoenix Fire Line!"

A thick pillar of flame shot forth from the fire phoenix’s beak.

Boom!

The tremendous force sent the spatial mage flying backward, out of the arena’s boundaries.

Buzz!

The challenge ended—Elfa had emerged victorious.

From the very beginning, he had no intention of competing with the opponent in terms of magical power.

He had been waiting patiently for an opening to end the fight.

The other side conceding was one way to win.

Forcing the opponent out of the arena was another.

After being hurled off the stage, the spatial mage looked at Elfa with a grim expression.

His companion quickly approached him.

They glanced around at the others present and turned to leave without hesitation.

Including Levi, who had arrived later, there were now four members of the Elemental Tower atop the mountain peak.

They were only two—clearly outnumbered. It was best to retreat first.

The two vanished from their spot.

Levi took a casual glance but didn’t pay much attention.

He turned toward Elfa and pulled out the spatial spear. “Elfa, this is the spatial spear you wanted.”

Seeing the spear in Levi’s hand, Elfa smiled broadly.

“Hahaha, right on time!”

Levi tossed the spear over to Elfa.

It was merely a temporary item used during the competition—

impossible to take outside the secret realm.

Elfa caught it, familiarized himself briefly, then used it to place a spatial marker upon the mountaintop.

“A pity I can’t set a marker inside the arena,” he sighed.

The area within the arena seemed to prohibit the use of the spatial spear.

That meant he couldn’t teleport directly onto the battlefield.

This rule existed to prevent someone else from barging in while two people were dueling,

thus disrupting the match.

Elfa handed Levi a semi-transparent violet-blue chain made of void energy.

“You’re called Levi, right?” he asked as he passed it over.

Levi nodded. “Mm.”

As soon as he received the chain, Levi instinctively understood its usage.

The Tower of Space had inscribed instructions onto the artifact itself.

Once obtained, users naturally knew how to operate it.

Otherwise, handing someone an unfamiliar magical tool would render it useless.

Elfa chuckled and said, “So it’s you who’s been training every day atop Sunrise Peak?”

Levi looked puzzled. “Sunrise Peak?”

Elfa hesitated slightly—he hadn’t expected that this guy didn’t even know he’d taken over his training ground.

He shook his head lightly and sighed inwardly.

Forget it. No need to hold it against him.

“It’s fine if you don’t know,” Elfa said.

“Oh.”

Levi didn’t seem particularly bothered.

Thinking back, Elfa must have been referring to the mountain peak inside the Dawn Sky Domain.

What did that have to do with him?

“Someone’s coming,” one of them warned cautiously.

Instinctively, Levi turned his head to look.

Two members of the Phantom Spirit Tower climbed up the mountain.

Upon seeing the four individuals already gathered there—all belonging to the Elemental Tower—they froze in surprise.

They exchanged glances, seemingly discussing something silently.

Moments later, they turned and left.

Seeing this, Elfa grinned smugly.

Winning without fighting—what a satisfying feeling!

Levi glanced around and remarked, “Now that the item has been delivered, I’ll be going.”

Elfa gave a nod. “Alright, be careful on your way.”

Levi took flight and descended the mountainside.

Just as he lifted off, however, he sensed something odd.

Without thinking, he glanced behind him.

Everything appeared normal.

Yet why did he feel so strange?

Levi returned to the arena where Eris waited.

Flying through the air, he looked down below.

The island stood eerily quiet beneath him—as though he were the only soul remaining.

Li Wei halted in his tracks, casting a swift glance around him.

"What's going on? Where has everyone gone?"

He sensed something was amiss.

This isolated island had grown far too quiet.

When he first arrived, the sounds of battle echoed from time to time across the land.

Now, even soaring high in the sky yielded no sign of conflict.

Not a single person could be seen.

The figures of the two illusionists flashed through Li Wei’s mind.

He jolted awake with a start.

"Damn it, I’ve been tricked."

Frowning deeply, Li Wei began searching for flaws within the illusion.

Just moments ago, when those two illusionists turned and left, he and Elfa had let their guard down.

Seizing that brief moment of lowered vigilance, the enemy had silently cast an illusion spell to bewilder them all.

For a while, Li Wei hadn’t even realized what happened.

It wasn’t until he noticed a glaring inconsistency within the illusion that he understood—he was trapped inside one.

Yet even now, having recognized the trap, he still couldn’t find a way out.

Atop the Twin Peaks,

the two illusionists continuously released swirling mists of dazzling, prismatic light.

Li Wei, Elfa, and three others stood motionless, eyes closed, lost within the fabricated world conjured by the illusionists.

A faint ripple of elemental energy emanated from Li Wei’s body.

He was attempting to summon his own power to break free from the illusion.

The illusionists immediately detected his anomaly, and the radiant mist surrounding him instantly thickened.

Under their control, Elfa stepped off the arena floor of her own accord.

One of the illusionists strode forward onto the stage, claiming it as his own.

"Heh, so much for the mages of the Elemental Tower,"

the illusionist sneered triumphantly.

Within the illusion, Li Wei had already transformed into the form of the Flame Lord.

In reality, however, nothing had changed at all.

Nor did Li Wei notice anything unusual.

He tried every method he knew to shatter the illusion—

to no avail.

No matter what actions he took within the dreamlike realm, they exerted no influence upon the real world.

Li Wei furrowed his brow.

This felt strikingly similar to dreaming.

Whatever he did within dreams never affected the waking world.

Then perhaps… could he enter the dream world from within this illusion?

With this thought, Li Wei attempted to invoke the Great Dreamwalking Art, seeking entry into the dream realm.

"It worked!"

Surprise and delight flickered across his face.

He found himself standing in the safe little cottage nestled within his dreamscape.

Looking outward through the window, he saw thin veils of soft, iridescent mist drifting outside.

"Is this what entrapped me in the illusion?"

Staring intently at the shimmering fog beyond the glass, Li Wei pondered.

It seemed capable of affecting the very essence of the soul.

Even dreams were slightly influenced by its presence.

Only here, sheltered within the confines of the secure house, was he shielded from its effects.

Thanks to the eightfold difference in temporal flow,

even the shifting hues of the prismatic mist unfolded like slow-motion film.

Carefully, Li Wei gathered a small portion of the colored vapor and brought it into the safety of the cottage, beginning to analyze its nature and mechanism.

Within the dream world, he had ample time to seek a countermeasure.

After some study, although he had yet to fully grasp how exactly the mist induced illusions,

he had already discovered a means to resist it.

The prismatic mist was extraordinarily unique—it could directly interfere with the soul itself,

ensnaring minds without their awareness.

Its potency was immense.

But its effectiveness depended entirely on making contact with the soul.

Using the Art of Illusory Transformation, Li Wei constructed a barrier capable of blocking the hallucinogenic particles emitted by the mist.

Essentially, it mimicked and replicated the principles behind the illusion magic,

generating analogous particles to obstruct the soul-confounding influence of the radiant haze.

(End of Chapter)