Chapter 283: Shadow of Radiance

“Fairy of the mortal realm! Jiangjiang is here! Evil can never prevail! Jiangjiang will win!”

“I will carry the banner for Jiangjiang! Who would dare fight her?”

"The most beautiful Jiang Yuebai! The most talented Jiang Yuebai! Love of my life Jiang Yuebai!"

"My wifey!"

"..."

If there were ten thousand people watching this match, probably nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine of them were rooting for Jiang Yuebai. The cheers that echoed from the spectator stands were almost one-sided.

As the wave of excitement surged, flags embroidered with the character Jiang[1] were being waved all over the hill.

When Chu Liang won the fight with Xu Ziyang, his reputation received a positive boost, and some people started to have a good impression of him. However, even if these people found themselves starting to like Chu Liang, these positive feelings would need time to build before they could become genuine fans.

Plus, Jiang Yuebai was incredibly popular. Even those who liked Chu Liang would remain neutral the moment they saw that his opponent was Jiang Yuebai.

As a result, Chu Liang had almost no supporters.

In fact, even the few people on the team from Silver Sword Peak were pondering on the side.

"Should we cheer for Chu Liang or Senior Sister Jiang? This is such a difficult choice," Lin Bei said, rubbing his chin.

"What's so hard to choose?" Lackey A whispered. "Brothers are like your limbs, but women are like your clothes... you can leave the house without a limb, but can you go out on the street without clothes?”

“

Hmm...

” Lin Bei fell into a deep contemplation.

On the other hand, Shang Ziliang said, “Big Bro saved my life. He is the one who gave me a second chance. How can I not support him?”

With that, he took out a small flag with the word Chu embroidered on it from his sleeve and gently waved it.

Lin Bei glanced at the huge banner with the word Jiang set up behind Shang Ziliang and fell silent.

The members of Chu Liang’s team were torn, not to mention those who didn't know Chu Liang. Competing with Jiang Yuebai and her overwhelming popularity would be daunting for anyone.

Yet Chu Liang remained calm.

Even though it seemed like he was in Jiang Yuebai’s territory, he didn’t feel nervous.

Being so close to Senior Sister Jiang, he didn't think in terms of ownership.

If we're this close, aren’t her fans my fans too?

With this thought, the resounding cheers felt more supportive.

But then he saw Jiang Yuebai flying toward him. At first, he was as confused as the spectators. Based on the skills and abilities Jiang Yuebai had previously shown, it didn't seem like she had refined her body to such an extent.

Her physical resilience and strength were nowhere near Ling Ao's level.

What is her intention?

Obviously, Chu Liang didn’t think she intended to let him win. Immediately, he became more vigilant, paying close attention to the divine techniques Jiang Yuebai might employ and the surroundings.

Just as he expected, he sensed a wave of foundational qi spreading out gently.

She was indeed executing a divine technique!

In the next instant, Jiang Yuebai charged forward with a brilliant sword light.

The beam of sword light charged forth. Instead of dodging, Chu Liang stepped toward the sword light and executed the Turbulent Stream Movement Art. With a twist of his wrist, he swung the Dustless Sword at Jiang Yuebai!

Swish!

The sword qi pierced the wind and was about to slash Jiang Yuebai when her figure disappeared in front of Chu Liang in a flash.

Eh?

Chu Liang was stunned as he saw Senior Sister Jiang reappear on the other side of the stage, dashing toward him again in the exact same posture as before.

What’s going on?

He twisted his body and clashed forward again, but just as his sword qi was about to touch Jiang Yuebai, she suddenly disappeared again.

She reappeared on the other side of the stage, dashing toward him once more in the exact same posture!

Something’s wrong!

Chu Liang could hear the warning sirens within his mind. He knew he had fallen into the trap of a divine technique.

But what was the abnormality? He couldn't tell! No!

He had spread out his divine sense and secretly extended it beyond the stage. One of the audience members in the spectator stand had repeated the same cheer three times.

As Chu Liang extended his divine sense further, he realized that everyone was repeating the exact same cheer!

Jiang Yuebai dashed forward again. As Chu Liang swung his sword, she disappeared once more.

An illusory technique!

This thought crossed Chu Liang’s mind.

Only illusory techniques could create such a scene, but this was definitely not a simple illusion.

This was a type of attack he had never experienced before.

What should I do?

Chu Liang felt his mind spinning wildly. While he didn’t know much about illusory techniques, there was only one solution to cracking this illusion.

The solution was to attack with his strongest divine technique. As long as his attack was strong enough to break through the limits of the illusion, the illusion would naturally disappear.

Chu Liang immediately retrieved the Dustless Sword and activated the Heavenly Sword Seal!

In terms of divine technique combinations, the Heavenly Sword Seal was the strongest.

This was the most powerful divine technique he had purchased from the Hall of Conservation and learned on his own.

Techniques of greater power than the Heavenly Sword Seal would be considered immortal arts, which were impossible to learn on his own.

Rumble!

As the massive sword light unleashed explosive power toward the sky, waves of energy rippled through the air.

Chu Liang infused the Heavenly Sword Seal with foundational qi to the maximum!

Rumble!

With a tremendous exertion of force, the sword light broke through the void, and all light around it instantly darkened!

It was still the same scene. Senior Sister Jiang appeared before him again, and the surroundings remained the same—the public square.

It was as though nothing had changed.

At the same time, it felt as though something had changed.

A burst of light emanated from the Ten Thousand Swords Seal executed by Jiang Yuebai.

Countless beams of sword light approached with blinding speed.

The short moment in the illusion had only lasted about a second in reality.

Chu Liang quickly snapped back to reality. At this point, Jiang Yuebai’s attack had yet to reach his body, and there was still enough time for him to save himself.

As Chu Liang watched the beams of sword light crashing on his body soon, he instantly demonstrated the Dimension Compression and moved ten zhang back in a flash.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The beams of sword light missed.

This was the beauty of Dimension Compression: it allowed the user to instantly move as if the destination was right next to them, regardless of the actual distance.

As long as he used it before the attack reached him, it would never touch him.

When Jiang Yuebai saw that Chu Liang had dodged, she did not seem disappointed.

Instead, she smiled.

"Shadow of Radiance?"

Scholar Sun, who was at the spectator stand, felt a little surprised as he said, "There are very few illusory-technique experts on Mount Shu. I have no idea where she learned this technique. She doesn't seem to be very skilled at it yet. Otherwise, her opponent, who has a lower cultivation level, would have had no chance of escaping."

Shadow of Radiance was an immortal art with illusory effect. It could record an entire scene and later recreate an illusion based on that scene. Compared to other techniques that create illusions, Shadow of Radiance felt incredibly real, like a world constructed inside a mirror.

If someone suddenly found themselves in a strange location during a fight, even a fool would know they had fallen into an illusion. However, if the scene remained unchanged, it would be difficult to detect without careful observation.

If it weren't for Chu Liang's sharp reflexes, he might have been confused for some time, and his true self would have been eliminated.

"Using Shadow of Radiance is undoubtedly impressive, but Chu Liang's ability to escape so quickly is equally remarkable," Elder Huang said. "Had he been trapped even a moment longer, the outcome of the fight would have been decided."

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"Eh?" Scholar Sun looked at him curiously, "Why are you suddenly speaking up for Chu Liang? Weren't you always supporting Jiang Yuebai?"

Elder Huang hesitated for a moment and said, "Old Sun, haven't you noticed that... whatever I say, the opposite tends to happen? I'm worried that if I keep supporting Jiang Yuebai, she'll end up losing."

Scholar Sun gave him an insightful look and nodded, saying, "I realized that a hundred years ago."

"What?"

As the two of them conversed, the situation on the stage changed once again.

After escaping from the illusion, Chu Liang realized that Senior Sister Jiang possessed too many divine abilities and immortal arts. Dragging the fight out any longer would not be in his favor.

And so, he immediately threw out four Puppet Pills and executed the Army of Beans

These four puppet pills served as auxiliary gadgets for performing divine abilities. Replacing them with four beans would achieve the same effect, but the pills were more effective. This was also why the pills did not count as enchanted tools and did not take up a slot for enchanted tools in the fight.

When the four puppets appeared again, Chu Liang, as everyone had expected, set up the Celestial Trap formation diagram!

Unlike the previous fight against Xu Ziyang, where he frequently used surprising moves, Chu Liang had now exhausted most of his techniques. There were no more surprises left. On the other hand, Jiang Yuebai still seemed to have countless hidden techniques.

Boom!

Regardless of how many divine techniques she possessed, she would still struggle when facing absolute power. Chu Liang activated the Celestial Trap with his four puppets, pushing the vortex of chaotic energy generated by the formation towards Jiang Yuebai. The powerful vortex was about to engulf her!

At this critical moment, Jiang Yuebai raised her right hand in a gentle motion.

A flying sword soared into the sky, unleashing a terrifying power.

Heavenly Sword Seal?

Chu Liang thought the sword qi felt familiar

He quickly dismissed his initial thought.

No!

This is the Heaven-Raising Sword!

1. Jiang is written as 姜 ☜