LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 79 - Illusion and Reality
Chapter 79: Illusion and Reality
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Illusion and Reality
“!!!!”
Upon hearing Xiao Shengyun’s accusation, Zhou Mingrui’s expression changed. “Don’t f”cking talk nonsense. What do you mean ‘wrecked your body’?!”
Zhao Anqi and Yan Wuyue turned to Zhou Mingrui with a strange look, as if they were wondering: “When did you start to like men?”
“You bastard!”
Zhou Mingrui dashed towards Xiao Shengyun, grabbed his collar and said angrily, “If you have something to say, say it clearly. Don’t make weird and vague comments like that!”
“Please let go of me first,” Xiao Shengyun said helplessly. “I can’t breathe.”
Upon hearing that, Zhou Mingrui released his grip. “There. Now let’s talk it out.”
“From my perspective, you kind of look like those guilty jerks who are afraid of getting exposed for committing some unacceptable deeds.” Yan Wuyue covered her mouth and chuckled.
“Yeah, yeah, definitely!” Zhao Anqi chimed in.
Zhou Mingrui was dumbfounded. He glared at Xiao Shengyun with anger burning in his eyes.
Xiao Shengyun shivered under his death glare and quickly said, “Didn’t I fight with you before? After you pulled me into the Phantom Prison, I couldn’t even defend against your unpredictable attacks.”
“Every attack from you felt like a sharp knife stabbing into my heart, slowly pulling me into the hopeless darkness.”
“You completely crushed my confidence. I went back and kept trying to figure out how I should have countered those attacks, but even now, I have no idea.”
“When I saw you just now, I realized that I no longer have any fighting spirit left in me, and the energy in my body refuses to even budge now.”
After listening to Xiao Shengyun’s explanation, Zhou Mingrui fell silent. Yan Wuyue, who was present during the battle, gave him a deep look.
Zhao Anqi was confused but equally curious about what happened. However, she refrained from commenting anything due to the heavy atmosphere.
“Grandpa’s combat strategy is indeed impressive. The problem is, if this person had to become his teammate next, then things would get messy.”
In conclusion, Zhou Mingrui deduced that Xiao Shengyun had PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from their battle.
It seems like Xiao Shengyun’s PTSD was especially prominent when Zhou Mingrui was present. It made him feel like a loser, and his psychological cues prevented him from even gathering any of his energy, or worse still, any desire to fight.
Zhou Mingrui, who was just complaining that Yan Wuyue didn’t do a good job at handling her teammate, embarrassedly fell into deep thought.
The living room became quiet again.
About ten minutes later, Zhou Mingrui suddenly turned to Xiao Shengyun and said, “How about this, I can tell you the details of that move and how to defend against it. You should be able to get over your fear after that, right?”
It didn’t matter if Xiao Shengyun was faking his inability to combat. Zhou Mingrui knew that as long as he could suggest something that satisfied Xiao Shengyun, then the problem should be solved.
He believed there was no problem that couldn’t be solved. It just depended on the price one was willing to pay.
Xiao Shengyun hesitated at first, then agreed, “Let’s give it a try. I want to get over this problem as soon as possible too.”
“What about you two?” Zhou Mingrui looked at Yan Wuyue and Zhao Anqi.
“I want to experience it too.” Zhao Anqi said without hesitation. Yan Wuyue nodded in agreement.
“Alright,” he said.
As soon as he said that, the phantom energy in Zhou Mingrui’s body began to circulate. The vigorous energy swept out like heavy waves in an ocean and instantly filled the entire living room.
The space around the four of them began to twist and warp, and fragments of phantom flames condensed from phantom energy began to appear.
“First of all, the basis of the Phantom Prison is very simple. It uses phantom energy to ‘soak’ the surrounding space, and then turn it into closed-off realm, that is, a Phantom Prison. The energy inside can achieve things that can’t be done in the outside world.”
“Like this.”
When he said that, Zhou Mingrui’s voice rang in the three people’s ears.
“And like this.”
The next moment, three Zhou Mingrui’s appeared before of the three of them. It happened so abruptly that they did not even see how it happened.
“Wow, this is amazing!” Zhao Anqi couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration. The Zhou Mingrui in front of her almost looked as if he had a real tangible body.
Yan Wuyue’s eyes also twinkled. She understood that this ability would be very useful in a battle, as it could create opportunities for many kinds of tactical combinations.
“Why can’t I do this?” Xiao Shengyun asked with a frown.
“First, although you can copy other people’s skills, you are not familiar with the principle of the skill itself,” Zhou Mingrui commented indifferently.
“The principle?” Xiao Shengyun looked thoughtful.
Zhou Mingrui continued, “It’s like forging a blade. You’ve only learned how to forge the same blade after watching the ironsmith do it, but ironsmith knows the principle behind the forging of any blade. He can use this principle to create another blade, or even improve it to forge an even better blade.”
“To sum it up, you know how it is formed, but you don’t know why it is formed. This is the difference between us.”
“You only know the effects of the Phantom Prison, but you didn’t know that the energy in the Phantom Prison is also phantom energy, which is a power that you could have made use of.”
With a whoosh, the three Zhou Mingrui’s suddenly brandished their fists and attacked. The powerful stance made everyone except Yan Wuyue dodge subconsciously.
However, the fist turned into a semi-shadow halfway through the swing, and felt just like a cloud of mist blowing past. Nothing touched them at all.
“But at that time, you could clearly turn illusions into reality and directly shatter my bone armor.” Xiao Shengyun quickly followed up with another question.
“Like this?”
Zhou Mingrui appeared in front of Xiao Shengyun again. Just like before, he threw a punch at him.
The intense attack still prompted Xiao Shengyun to make a subconscious reaction. However, he suppressed his intuitive reactions and stared at Zhou Mingrui’s shadow.
In the split of a second, Xiao Shengyun felt a change in the shadow. It was no longer a shadow, but Zhou Mingrui’s actual body!
“Strictly speaking, this is just an elaborate smokescreen.”
The fist stopped in front of Xiao Shengyun. Zhou Mingrui retracted his hand and continued to explain, “While you concluded that my shadow was actually a shadow, my real body had already switched places with the shadow using the power of the Phantom Prison.”
Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Zhou Mingrui’s original position on the sofa. Sitting there, his figure was swaying slightly. Indeed, it was only a shadow on the sofa.
The real Zhou Mingrui leaned forward to flick Xiao Shengyun on his forehead.
However, when his finger was about to touch his forehead, it turned into a shadow again.
“This is the power of using illusion and reality interchangeably, a master’s manipulation of the advantages of the Phantom Prison.”
Zhou Mingrui, who was previously a shadow on the sofa, had reverted to his true form again. Under the astonished gazes of the other three, he coolly picked up his teacup and took a small sip.