"Your mindset is good," Qiao Tongyu nodded. "Go on. General Wu will be here shortly."
Xu Wuyi walked toward the specialized, silver-white Virtual Cabin.
Circuits of light flowed across the cabin’s surface. Technicians had completed a full inspection and Energy recharge last night, and it was now in optimal condition.
He lay down inside. The gel-lined interior molded to his body, and the neural contacts lit up one by one.
[Identity verification successful.]
[Neural link establishing...]
In the final moment before the cabin lid closed, he saw Wu Dingbo walk into the basement, his military uniform crisp and his expression stern.
A pure white space unfolded.
The Illusion materialized a hundred meters away, clad in gray with its Cyan Sword. Its eyes were as calm as ever.
Xu Wuyi did not move immediately.
He stood his ground, first spreading his Spiritual Power out like a fine net to feel the "texture" of the space—a habit he had developed after the success of his Gravity Swamp strategy yesterday.
Then, he began to plant the Gravity Seeds.
His thoughts were like threads, breaking down the breath of the great, dark-gold marsh into countless fine particles and silently scattering them along the space’s ley lines.
Ten meters in front of him, along the flanking routes to his left and right, and covering his path of retreat... each seed contained only an extremely faint Gravity-altering command.
This time, he planted them more meticulously than yesterday, covering a wider area with a thirty-five-meter radius.
Only after finishing all this did Xu Wuyi slowly open his eyes.
The Illusion moved.
It was the same terrifying speed, one that almost seemed to achieve Compression of time.
Xu Wuyi focused completely, using the feedback network from his Gravity Seeds to track the Illusion’s movements.
’It’s coming.’
The Illusion entered the area fifteen meters in front of him.
The Gravity Seeds sensed the external Energy Fluctuation and began to "sprout."
A five-percent increase in Gravity, a three-degree directional shift, frequency interference... an invisible field of stagnation quietly formed.
But this time, the Illusion’s figure only faltered for an extremely brief moment—less than five-thousandths of a second.
Xu Wuyi’s heart sank.
He sensed something was wrong.
The Illusion’s trajectory was more erratic than yesterday. Using a subtle Body Technique, it preemptively avoided half of the gravity-altering points that should have hindered it.
Although the other half were triggered, the Illusion seemed to have already adapted to this level of interference, its adjustment speed shockingly fast.
The sword tip lunged.
Xu Wuyi sidestepped as a long spear materialized in his hand, its tip tapping against the flat of the sword’s blade.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
The Illusion’s sword paused for a split second before whipping around at an even more treacherous angle, thrusting toward Xu Wuyi’s right ribs.
Xu Wuyi retreated, simultaneously activating the three Gravity Seeds in front of his right side.
Increased Gravity, directional shift.
The sword’s path deviated, scraping past his Battle Armor.
But just as Xu Wuyi prepared to counterattack, the Illusion’s figure suddenly vanished.
It wasn’t that it moved too fast to be seen—it truly "disappeared." It used Space Folding to instantly reappear three meters to Xu Wuyi’s left.
This position was right on the edge of the area covered by his Gravity Seeds.
Xu Wuyi’s reaction was a split second too slow.
In that instant, the cyan blade was already at his chest.
He twisted his body to the absolute limit, pushing his Quicksand Step to its peak as his form slid backward like scattering grains of sand.
SHHINK!
The sword pierced his left chest, only two inches from his heart.
A sharp pain shot through him.
Xu Wuyi let out a muffled grunt, forcing the Illusion back with a horizontal sweep of his spear.
Fresh blood scattered through the pure white space.
The Illusion retreated ten meters, its eyes still calm, as if that nearly fatal strike had been nothing but a casual motion.
Xu Wuyi clutched his wound as the Power of his Heart Image surged, temporarily staunching the flow of blood.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
’Something’s wrong.’
’Is today’s Illusion stronger than yesterday’s? No, it’s not that its power has increased... its methods have changed.’
After he had successfully used the Gravity Swamp strategy yesterday, the Illusion seemed to have "learned" his tactics. Today, it was specifically targeting the weaker points of his gravity field and adapting to the interference far faster than he had anticipated.
’Is this a pre-programmed response, or...?’
Xu Wuyi had no time to ponder it further.
The Illusion moved again.
This time, its movement was even more unpredictable. It would skirt the edges of the high-gravity zones, then suddenly cut into the core area only to quickly retreat, like an impossibly slippery fish.
Xu Wuyi tried to adjust the distribution of his Gravity Seeds, but shifting his focus took time, and the Illusion was too fast.
The seventh move.
The Illusion’s sword pierced Xu Wuyi’s right shoulder.
The eleventh move.
The blade slashed open his left leg, deep enough to reveal bone.
The fifteenth move.
Xu Wuyi finally seized an opportunity, his spear striking the Illusion’s left arm and leaving a shallow gash.
But that was all he could manage.
The twenty-third move.
The light from the Illusion’s sword rained down like a torrential storm, completely tearing apart Xu Wuyi’s Gravity Swamp.
The sword pierced his throat.
[Match Over]
[Result: Defeat]
[Duration: Thirty-seven seconds]
[Attacks Endured: Twenty-three moves]
[Effective Counterattacks: One]
The system prompts echoed coldly.
The lid of the Virtual Cabin opened.
Xu Wuyi sat up, his face pale.
This time, he hadn’t even managed a draw. He had only managed to injure the Illusion once before being swiftly defeated.
"What happened?" Wu Dingbo walked to the side of the cabin, frowning at the data on the screen. "Your performance today was worse than yesterday’s."
Helped by the medical staff, Xu Wuyi stepped out of the cabin and sat down in a chair.
He was silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly, "It adapted to my tactics."
"Adapted?" Qiao Tongyu came over.
"Yes." Xu Wuyi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Yesterday, I used the Gravity Swamp to interfere with it, and it worked. Today, it specifically targeted the weaker points in my gravity field, and its adjustment speed to the interference was much faster than before."
Wu Dingbo pulled up the combat recording and quickly scanned through it.
On the screen, the Illusion’s movements were indeed more treacherous. It always skirted the edges of the Gravity Seeds, and whenever it entered a dense area, it always managed to escape quickly with minimal cost.
"It’s the program’s learning function," Wu Dingbo said in a low voice.
"This combat system adjusts the Illusion’s response strategy based on the challenger’s tactical performance. You used the Gravity Swamp yesterday, so the system recorded it. Today, the Illusion was specifically adjusted to counter that tactic."
Xu Wuyi gave a bitter smile. "So, you’re saying every time I use a new tactic, it will be even harder the next time?"
"Correct." Wu Dingbo nodded. "So, it’s not hard to win once with a ’trick move,’ but to defeat it consistently, you must possess true, solid, raw power that surpasses its adaptive limits."
Qiao Tongyu patted Xu Wuyi’s shoulder. "Don’t be discouraged. At least yesterday you proved this path is the right one. Today just shows that the path is harder than you imagined."
Xu Wuyi said nothing.
He closed his eyes, replaying every detail of the fight in his mind.
The Illusion’s trajectory, the angle of the sword, the feedback from the Gravity Seeds... all the information flashed through his mind.
Gradually, he pinpointed the problem.
"I was too hasty today," Xu Wuyi said as he opened his eyes, his voice now calm.
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