Countless cracks appeared on the Ice Crystal Barrier.

Zhai Zidu grunted, a sharp pain stabbing through his brain.

He gritted his teeth and frantically channeled his Ice Soul Skills to mend the barrier, retreating rapidly to create distance.

But the Illusion wouldn’t give him a chance to breathe.

The spear shadowed its every move, thrusting forward a second time.

This thrust was faster and fiercer than the last!

The Spiritual Cold Radiance on the spear’s tip was even brighter, and the intention it contained was even clearer.

It was a brand-new power, born from the initial fusion of a mountain’s stability and a fire’s intensity!

Zhai Zidu’s pupils contracted.

He stopped retreating. With a low roar, he thrust out both fists!

Ice Soul Skills—Frost Shattering!

Ice-blue Power gathered frantically at his knuckles, solidifying into two tangible fist auras that brazenly shot toward the spear!

This was one of the killing moves from the Ice Soul Skills. It involved compressing icy Power to its limit before instantly unleashing it with enough force to freeze Qi and Blood and shatter metal and stone.

Zhai Zidu was confident that no matter how strong Xu Wuyi’s Illusion was, it couldn’t possibly ignore this attack.

However, in the next moment, he witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The instant the spear’s tip touched the fist auras, it trembled slightly.

Just a faint tremble.

And then, Zhai Zidu felt the Frost Shattering fist auras he had unleashed with all his might begin to disintegrate on their own, as if they had struck an invisible barrier!

Not shattered, but disintegrated.

Like ice and snow meeting the sun, they naturally melted and dissipated.

’This is... Mental Realm suppression?’ Zhai Zidu was horrified.

He had heard that when a Martial Artist’s True Intention reached a certain level of comprehension, they could form a Realm of Realm and, within this domain, suppress the use of an opponent’s True Intention.

’Xu Wuyi’s Illusion clearly just advanced to the Martial Artist stage not long ago, so how could it...?’

There was no time to think. The spear passed through the dissipating fist auras, and the Spiritual Cold Radiance on its tip suddenly erupted!

This time, Zhai Zidu’s mental barrier shattered completely.

He felt as if his brain had been struck by a Heavy Hammer. His vision went black, and his consciousness went blank for a moment.

By the time he came to his senses, the spear tip had already pierced his throat.

Countdown: [02:01]

From the start of the battle to its end, exactly fifty-nine seconds had passed.

Zhai Zidu froze in place, his entire body turning cold.

It wasn’t the chill of the Ice Soul Skills, but a coldness that came from deep within his heart.

He had lost.

A clean, decisive, and indisputable loss.

He even had the feeling that his opponent hadn’t used their full strength.

The Illusion was, after all, just a simulation. If it truly possessed all of Xu Wuyi’s power from that time, he probably wouldn’t have even lasted thirty seconds.

"Challenge complete."

The cold voice of the system notification sounded.

The Illusion retracted its spear, retreated in front of its pedestal, and returned to a stationary state.

Zhai Zidu, meanwhile, was teleported outside the induction zone.

He stood there for a long time without moving.

"How do you feel?" Fu Yun walked over to his side.

The injuries on Zhai Zidu’s virtual body were quickly repaired, but the mental shock wasn’t so easy to recover from.

"Very strong," he said slowly after a few seconds of silence. "It doesn’t have the same astonishing suppressive force as Senior Sister Hong’s Illusion, but... it’s still terrifyingly strong."

"Of course," Fu Yun said with a smile. "Junior Brother Xu was able to defeat Hong Nianyi’s Illusion by relying on the explosive power of his True Intent Fusion. The Illusion primarily recorded that aspect, while other areas are a bit vaguer."

"But even so, it’s far beyond what you can currently handle."

Zhai Zidu nodded without refuting him.

He looked up at Xu Wuyi’s Illusion and suddenly asked, "Senior Brother Fu, what... what level is Xu Wuyi at now?"

Fu Yun thought for a moment before saying, "I don’t know. He’s been keeping a low profile lately, so there’s been almost no news about him. Last month, he finished the inter-departmental tournament at Star Martial, but you can probably guess the results."

"At Star Martial’s level, there wasn’t a single person who could make him use a second thrust."

"Does he usually come to Red Star?" Zhai Zidu asked again. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Occasionally," Fu Yun said. "Junior Brother Xu is a very diligent cultivator, but he does often browse the cultivation discussion forums on Red Star and will sometimes post questions."

"Why? Want to get to know him?"

Zhai Zidu shook his head, then nodded.

"I want to fight him," he said in a low voice. "Not the Illusion, the real person."

"Even if I lose horribly, I want to experience firsthand just how big the gap truly is."

Fu Yun clapped him on the shoulder and smiled. "Ambitious. But I have to remind you, the missions Junior Brother Xu takes on now are all very difficult."

"If you want to fight him, you’d better raise your strength first. At the very least... you have to pass Red Star’s Entry Level test."

Zhai Zidu clenched his fists.

"I will."

...

「Meanwhile, at Star Martial University.」

Inside a Cultivation Room, Xu Wuyi slowly opened his eyes.

A fist-sized Crystal Stone floated before him. It was translucent, with a faint golden halo flowing within.

It was the "Concentrated Spirit Crystal Soul" he had redeemed from the academy.

By now, the Crystal Soul’s light had dimmed considerably, and the number of cracks on its surface had increased.

’The consumption rate is faster than expected,’ Xu Wuyi calculated internally. ’At this rate, one Crystal Soul can only sustain a high-concentration Spiritual Energy environment for sixty hours at most, not the projected seventy-two.’

’It seems the demand Heart Fire Refining Spirit has for Spiritual Energy is much greater than that of an ordinary Visualization Method.’

However, the results were also significant.

Xu Wuyi performed Introspection, looking into his sea of consciousness. There, the degree of fusion between his two True Intentions, "Mountain" and "Blaze," had deepened further.

If before they were merely two streams beginning to converge, now a small vortex had formed at their confluence.

Although there was still a long way to go before they completely merged, at least he was on the right path.

He glanced at the data panel on the console.

[Life Energy Level: 34.1]

[Spiritual Strength: 35.6]

Nearly a month had passed since the last tournament. His Life Energy Level had increased by 1.1, and his Spiritual Strength had increased by 1.5.

At the Martial Master Stage, this speed was nothing short of terrifying.

The role of resources in this was undeniable.

’At this rate, reaching close to Level 35 by early February shouldn’t be a problem,’ Xu Wuyi thought.

He closed the data panel and walked over to the window.

Outside, the night was deep, and only a few scattered lights dotted the campus.

It was already the end of January. Winter had not yet passed, and the temperature at night was very low.

But Xu Wuyi felt a warmth suffusing his body.

The Body Refining effects of the Hundred Refinements Melting Furnace had long since made his physique impervious to heat and cold.

Combined with the initial fusion of his "Mountain" and "Blaze" True Intentions, the Qi and Blood in his body was in a constant state of activity, like magma flowing beneath layers of rock.

’Time to check out Red Star.’

He lay down in the connection pod, and his consciousness sank into the Battle Network.

...

「Red Star Network, Cultivation Discussion Forums.」

Xu Wuyi’s consciousness appeared in a private reading room. He pulled up the interface and browsed the recent posts.

"Discussion on the Difficulties of Converting Ice Soul True Intention into a Frost Domain"

"A Comparison of the Pros and Cons of Seventeen Common Methods for Condensing Spiritual Power at the Martial Master Stage"

"Summary of Recent Battle Conditions in the Star Realm Battlefield’s Seventh Defense Zone (Internal Reference Version)"

"Second Exploration Report on the Ancient Civilization Ruins of ’Luoxing Lake’ (Partially Public)"

"..."