Lu Xuan already sensed something was wrong. He felt a faint sense of invasion coming from his mind. But what was frightening was that he could only vaguely sense it through some subconscious intuition. The direct feedback was that nothing in front of him had changed.
This feeling is terrifying. It's like you're being operated on, but you're completely anesthetized and can't feel any pain.
“I have studied the world of the gods. Do you know what surprised me the most? The gods knew that different worlds existed, and could even interfere with multiple worlds. But that was the realm of the gods; no human has ever crossed between two worlds. No matter how you did it, I will soon master this secret.”
"To be honest, I don't think you can handle it," Lu Xuan said. The evil god opposite him felt the scene before his eyes change. An absolute darkness enveloped the two of them.
No, it wasn't actually darkness, because they could both see each other clearly. It was just that the entire space, apart from their two figures, was endless nothingness. Therefore, it appeared as if they were in boundless darkness.
Lu Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The power of the serpent god, remaining in the spiritual world within the imaginary space, ultimately took effect.
For a long time, Lu Xuan had hardly ever attempted to explore the imaginary space remaining in his spiritual world. This was because the power of the evil gods in the Ghost Blows Out the Light world was exceptionally dangerous. The more he grew, the more he felt this power was far too dangerous, so he remained inactive, keeping it as a last resort. Now, he was once again forced to confront this power.
"Interesting. You've indeed been hiding many secrets. I sense a divine aura here. Were you once a god?"
Lu Xuan remained silent, concentrating on mobilizing the limited access he had to the imaginary space, attempting to regain control.
7017k
------------
Chapter 325 Provocation
Lu Xuan had no idea how vast the imaginary space truly was. His limited access was merely enough to keep himself from getting lost within it.
What Lu Xuan needs to do is simple. The imaginary space has a unique characteristic: once you lose your frame of reference, you become completely lost. Now, the two are facing each other, essentially serving as each other's reference points. If Lu Xuan can escape, he can trap the other person here.
In reality, Daenerys also sensed something was wrong. Although it was only for a moment, based on her understanding of Lu Xuan, she knew he would never be stunned in this situation.
Almost instantly, Daenerys made her move. A ball of fire struck the fleshy mass opposite her. But just as the flame approached the iron cage, those familiar runes reappeared. Her fireball vanished without a trace.
"Damn it." Daenerys drew her sword without thinking. However, she didn't rush forward but instead threw the black fire in her hand.
The longsword struck the fleshy mass. But nothing happened; even with the sharpness of Valyrian steel, it caused no damage whatsoever. The tough flesh and skin simply bounced off.
"That girl reacted quickly; she noticed something was wrong with you and started trying to save you."
In his mental world, the other person reverted to having the exact same face as Lu Xuan. However, their words were sarcastic and mocking, causing Lu Xuan's forehead veins to throb.
Has anyone ever told you that the way you talk is really annoying?
"...Has the outside world forgotten the elegance of the Valyrian Dragon King? That was the standard template."
Lu Xuan had a roguish streak at heart and despised pretentious posturing more than anything else. He preferred a more practical approach. Even after nearly a century as emperor, he hadn't developed this so-called 'aristocratic' air. Or rather, Lu Xuan's aristocratic bearing was completely different from this superficial style.
However, the other party's words just now made Lu Xuan's heart stir slightly. A weapon naturally shouldn't possess self-awareness. Nor should it exhibit the so-called elegance of Valyrian nobility. This thing before him moved indistinguishably from a human, even its speech and actions were adept at setting traps. This made Lu Xuan suspect that this thing might be a mutated form of some Valyrian wizard. But that fleshy ball made him a little unsure; nothing more than the feeling that the mutation was a bit too exaggerated...
But the conversation he had just heard made him think of a possibility. Perhaps this thing was originally unconscious, but later it devoured the researchers here, and thus gained consciousness.
This idea quickly clarified some of the discrepancies. It also gave Lu Xuan a new perspective: What kind of weapon could truly be called the ultimate weapon?
This thing was initially described as a super-life form capable of containing the power of all laws. Lu Xuan initially thought this made sense. Such a body, if controlled by Valyrian shapeshifters, could definitely be considered the ultimate weapon. But now, he realized that seemed impossible. Because concentrating all the rules into one body wasn't very meaningful; wouldn't it be easier to find several people? Moreover, they could restrain each other, making it more convenient and safer.
Moreover, if the Valyrians had truly mastered the power of the laws, the so-called Cataclysm could never have wiped them out completely. Therefore, this line of thinking was flawed from the start. Just now, Lu Xuan thought of a completely new direction.
No one can create a weapon that is perfect from the start. You can only refine and improve it little by little through a lot of time and experimentation, eventually bringing it closer to perfection.
"After spending so much time and delaying for so long, it seems you still haven't succeeded. Such powerful mental strength, perfectly suppressing all my resistance. Given this disparity, why can't you end all of this?"
Lu Xuan's sudden words caused the expression on the other side of 'himself' to change slightly.
"I'm so sorry, but I promise it will be over soon."
"Really? Now that I think about it, I've been perfectly suppressed by you the whole time. I've never really fought back. That makes me a little resentful."
“You have no chance. You can’t even sense how far I’ve progressed. You…” Before he could finish speaking, Lu Xuan had already pressed his fist against his face.
"Compared to a battle in the spiritual realm, I actually prefer this method of determining a winner. Come on, let me see what you've gained from the memories of those Valyrian dragon kings?"
Theoretically, what stood before Lu Xuan was merely a mental projection. Even Lu Xuan in this state was a mental projection of himself. Both were spiritual entities projected into imaginary space. Such physical combat wouldn't be very meaningful. However, Lu Xuan's punch still undeniably struck his opponent.
"It seems your skills are quite limited. Why can't you even withstand a single punch? Your mental strength is so powerful; you could easily amplify your projection and crush me on every level. Why don't you fight back?"
Lu Xuan threw another punch, this time sending it flying. His expression turned furious.
"You'll regret this!" it shouted, only to be met with another punch from Lu Xuan.
But a strange thing happened. Even though its opponent was clearly much stronger than Lu Xuan, it never fought back. Or rather, it did fight back, but neither its strength nor its skill could match Lu Xuan's. It was pinned to the ground and brutally beaten by Lu Xuan.
"I'm going to kill you..." 'Lu Xuan's' form began to twist, countless faces frantically switching back and forth. At the same time, Lu Xuan also felt the opponent's aura suddenly intensify. At this moment, the opponent finally displayed the power that had always overwhelmed Lu Xuan. Or rather, it withdrew its power, just as Lu Xuan had said, and entered the imaginary space to torture Lu Xuan.
But at this moment, Lu Xuan chuckled softly.
"It seems I was wrong. My initial guess was that you were just bluffing and that your true strength wasn't actually that great. But now it seems I was wrong."
“You’re mistaken. You know what? I’ve learned a lot from these Valyrians. I must say, it’s taken me hundreds of years to fully comprehend the human mind. But that’s alright, I’ll apply everything I’ve learned from those memories to you. Of course, that will be after I’ve obtained the secrets within you.”
“You’re starting to look like a villain now. You know what? The way you spoke to me when you were pretending to be a Valyrian nobleman really made me uncomfortable. This way, it feels like I’m fighting a boss. I do have a lot of secrets. For example, your current state is one of my biggest secrets. You really shouldn’t have come in here on your own.”
7017k
------------
Chapter 326 A Narrow Victory