AGM 553 – Superstrong Illusion
A gentle gust of wind breezes by, fluttering the long hair of the gentle and fragile-looking maiden. Lin Xian`er was completely different from what Qin Wentian had expected. Before this, he had heard the evaluations of others towards the Celestial Maiden Sect, Qin Wentian initially thought that as a woman proficient in the art of charm, she would definitely be more than what he was currently seeing. Maybe a pair of soul-stirring eyes or a sultry laughter that causes people to sink within.
Yet the truth completely contrasted with Qin Wentian’s imaginations. Lin Xian`er’s zither melody was so pure, clear and elegant, like the smooth flowing of water in a stream seeping in the hearts of people, stirring their very souls. There were totally no hints of intentional charm in her music, her eyes were as clear as still water, so clear as though one could see right into the curtains of her soul, seeing her strength and fragileness in the depths of her heart.
This was the first time Qin Wentian met a maiden like this, as though she was completely different from the other females in this world. In her eyes, although her gaze reflected weakness, there was a sense of perseverance there as well.
Not only Qin Wentian, the others were all affected by the intense contrast they felt in their hearts. Among them were many Heaven Chosen from major powers who had extraordinary status and came here with a heart filled with pride and arrogance initially only wanting to see what capabilities does this fairy from the Celestial Maiden Sect possessed exactly that she was rumored to be able to bedazzle even Heaven Chosen, walking into their already resolute hearts.
All of them thought that their hearts were completely resolute, their wills were iron. How could a mere beautiful woman able to tempt them and shake their hearts? Hence, these Heaven Chosen all came here with a daring attitude wanting to see how this supposed number one beauty in the world would be able to charm them.
In the end, undoubtedly, they have all been completely defeated and it was a miserable defeat. Right from the beginning till the end, Lin Xian`er didn’t even show the slightest bit of interest of wanting to mesmerize them. Within her gentle fragileness, there was a sense of pride as well.
“Hu…” Drawing in a deep breath, the geniuses all felt a feeling of being ashamed. Qin Wentian felt the same as well, just a single glance at Lin Xian`er caused such emotions to birth in his heart.
“Everyone came from afar to visit me, Xian`er feels really grateful for the kindness.” Lin Xian`er smiled lightly, her smile was extremely pure and clean, causing people to feel a sense of loneliness when looking at it.
“The flawless countenance of Fairy Xian`er has truly broadened my horizons. Just a single glance already made the trip here worthwhile.” Shang Tong sighed, feeling deeply impressed in his heart. His words involuntarily contained a true reverence to them.
“Lin Xian`er you are truly powerful. Just showing your face already caused these Heaven Chosen to be totally smitten.” A voice drifted over from afar followed by an overwhelming surge of demonic qi. Only to see that in a certain direction, a terrifying crimson-eyed demonic wolf was pulling along an air-carriage whistling through the air, before appearing fully in the sight of the crowd.
A rumbling sound thundered out as that air-carriage directly exploded into pieces. After which, an incomparable demonic-looking and tyrannical silhouette of a young man slowly walked out, standing on the back of the crimson-eyed demonic wolf, exuding an imposing aura.
“Saint Child of the Supreme Demon Sect.” The hearts of the spectators trembled as they glanced at the young man. The Saint Child of the Supreme Demon Sect could be considered an extremely powerful figure even among geniuses.
Lin Xian`er merely cast a casual glance at him before slowly replying, “So many Heaven Chosen have given Xian`er face today. If all of you don’t mind, let me return this gratitude with a zither melody.”
As the sound of her voice faded, Lin Xian’er’s aura abruptly changed, from a gentle fragileness to an aura filled with extreme confidence. Her fingers lightly rested on the strings of her zither as she continued, “For those who have no business to be here, please depart immediately… Xian`er might inadvertently injure you.”
“What big words.” Another silhouette stood up. The gazes of the crowd turned to the rooftop of a nearby building only to see a young man standing there with his hair fluttering in the wind. From his bearing, it was obvious he was an extraordinary character that hailed from a certain major power in the Royal Sacred Region.
“Xian`er is really interested to see that of all the geniuses present here today, who among you would be ranked among the top few when in the Immortal Martial Realm.” Lin Xian`er gently spoke, as sounds of her zither suddenly rang out. A soft glow flowed around her fingers before it spread outwards. The instant the music notes of the zither echoed out, silence suddenly descended on this entire space causing people to feel as though they have instantly stepped into a marvelous space of perception.
Quiet and harmony, leading people to a marvelous place in their minds. As Qin Wentian immersed himself in the music, an illusion abruptly birthed. In that marvelous space in his mind, he found himself alone with Lin Xian`er.
Lin Xian`er sat there playing the zither while he sat right in front of her, admiring the music. It felt as though in this world, only the two of them existed.
“Illusion-scape.” Qin Wentian’s heart was as clear as a mirror. The zither music had led him into an illusion-scape. He didn’t intentionally try to escape from it immediately because from the words Lin Xian`er had spoken earlier, it seemed as though she was intending to contend against the geniuses present here today. In that case, Qin Wentian wanted to see what methods she possessed.
The sound of the music rising in spirals, how soul-stirring is it? Qin Wentian continued sitting there accompanying her while admiring her music. After a long period of time passed, he felt himself knowing her heart through her music while she understood him as well. This feeling was extremely simple with no hints of complexity within, and strangely after that, the music brought him into a world of tranquility where all worries and disputes have been left behind, leaving behind only Lin Xian`er and her zither, soothing his heart, providing his spirit a space to release, and causing him to relax.
Qin Wentian himself felt that he had accompanied Lin Xian`er already for an extremely long period of time. The two of them didn’t speak yet he found themselves mutually understanding each other. Just the sound of her zither was sufficient to bring him into such a state.
“Would Sir deign to speak with me? I can hear the voice of your heart.” Lin Xian`er smiled as she inclined her head, staring at Qin Wentian. Her actions caused Qin Wentian’s heart to pound violently as he stared at that flawless countenance.
“What a powerful illusion-scape, Fairy’s proficiency in the illusion techniques must have already reached a very high level.” Qin Wentian replied while still feeling badly shocked in his heart. Back then in the Royal Tomb of Grand Xia, he had experienced a dreamscape that total erased the line between illusion and reality. Right now, this illusion-scape gave him a similar feeling. This was already a very good indication of how powerful it was.
“However, isn’t it true that Sir wouldn’t find it difficult to extricate yourself from it should you wish it?” Lin Xian`er smiled as she continued, “Might I have the honor of knowing Sir’s name?”
“Qin Wentian.”
“Ah so the person who broke the grass hut record in the Battle Sword Sect is none other than Sir Qin. Not only that, Sir Qin also have the Holy Maiden as your wife, No wonder Xian`er couldn’t feel any sense of love towards me in the depths of your heart and considering how unshakable your resolve still is despite being in my illusion, I guess Sir must have experienced a similar situation before.” Lin Xian`er stated, giving the feeling as though she could see through Qin Wentian completely.
“I once experienced a dream before, the power of that dreamscape is even stronger compared to Fairy Lin’s illusion-scape.” Qin Wentian didn’t conceal anything.
“I see. Sir Qin’s name has never been heard of before in the Royal Sacred Region yet all of a sudden you caused so many storms of commotion that many noticed your name, even winning the heart of the Holy Maiden. I surmise that you must have come from a land faraway and you must have gone through many hardships to arrive here at this step today. It’s no wonder that your heart is so resolute. How can these other geniuses even be compared to you?” Lin Xian`er’s words were laced with her sincerity as though she was hating the fact that she met him too late.
“Fairy is praising me too much. There are countless geniuses in this vast Royal Sacred Region. Although I, Qin know my worth, I wouldn’t look down on the heroes in the world as well. For example, a good example is Fairy Lin yourself. You have truly broadened my perspectives.” Qin Wentian replied in a heartfelt manner.
“Among these people, Sir Qin can be considered someone which Xian`er really wished to be acquainted with. However, I wonder if one day when we meet again amidst the sounds of ringing weapons in battle, how would I bear to hurt you?” As the sound of Lin Xian`er’s voice faded away, the tranquil atmosphere instantly melted as her zither melody changed. Waves of killing intent permeated the air, as though they’ve transformed from soul mates into mortal enemies and had no choice but to swing their weapons at one another, causing a powerful sense of helplessness to permeate the air.
“Fairy Lin’s words are truly confident. Are you that sure that you will be able to win against me for certain?” Qin Wentian spoke. From Lin Xian`er’s words, she already said that she couldn’t bear to hurt him. This meant that she was confident she had the ability to injure him. Such words didn’t seem something a gentle and fragile maiden would utter.
Lin Xian`er didn’t reply but the zither melody got increasingly frantic, resembling a violent storm of rain and wind and the hurried gallop of a mounted steed. This entire space was suddenly engulfed by killing intent while that weak-looking maiden still sat there quietly, calmly playing a tune of death.
“Sir Qin, please be careful,” Lin Xian`er softly spoke. Instantly within the sounds of her music, a blade manifested without presence and erupted outwards with blinding speed, piercing towards Qin Wentian.
Qin Wentian’s aura erupted outwards, his bearing instantly changed. He lifted his palms and slammed out a dragon imprint causing the roars of an angered dragon to thunder out so loudly that the manifested sound blade became distorted.
At the same time Qin Wentian stepped out, causing sword qi to be instantly birthed. Terrifying waves of sword might permeated this entire space as he continued moving towards Lin Xian`er. He was also an extremely decisive person and since Lin Xian`er wanted to probe him, he would respond with his full force and hold nothing back.
Every step he took caused the sword qi to surge up into the skies. However, the zither melody of Lin Xian`er got increasingly frantic, causing a mysterious energy to permeate out while Qin Wentian felt that energy enveloping his entire body, causing him to be in extreme agony. Yet his eyes were still as resolute as ever and continued stepping forward with an unstoppable momentum.
Lin Xian`er stood up, her body glowing with a mystical light before her silhouette turned blurry. A moment later, she actually became two, and then four and so on and so forth. In the blink of an eye, this entire space was covered with Lin Xian`er’s silhouettes. Every silhouette of Lin Xian`er had a zither in their hands as they strung the same tune together. Qin Wentian instantly felt his mind growing blurry and his will about to collapse, causing him to sink within the music.
“How strong.” Qin Wentian’s bloodline started thrumming as light glimmered from the center of his brows. Stretching his arms out, a blood-colored halberd appeared that exuded an overwhelming blood-might.
“Bzz!” At this exact moment, the silhouettes of Lin Xian’er strummed the strings of her zither. Needle-thin strands of light slaughtered their way through the haze of sword qi right towards Qin Wentian, giving him no space to evade.
“DIE!” Qin Wentian executed his Seven Annihilation Swordplay to the limits. And as he took the final step forward, the sword melody of countless swords humming filled the entire space. The vast majority of Lin Xian`er’s silhouettes got torn apart. But at this moment in the air above Qin Wentian, a shadow flashed and zoomed towards him. Somehow, it was as though Qin Wentian had eyes on the top of his head, he took another step out and swung his blood-colored halberd upwards. His halberd strike struck out with no sound nor presence with a speed as fast as lightning.
“Pu…” Lin Xian`er’s body was directly penetrated through but at this exact moment, an intense feeling of impending doom instantly flooded the keen senses of Qin Wentian. Behind him, a palm imprint directly blasted towards him.
A flood of astral light inundated the area as he executed Stellar Transposition. Qin Wentian’s silhouette instantly disappeared before transforming into a blurry shadow that rushed ahead. The halberd in his hands also stabbed outwards with indomitable might and the target of his attack was none other than the location where the original Lin Xian`er sat at when she was playing her zither. However right now so far as the eyes could see, that spot was totally empty.
Behind the location where Qin Wentian was at just an instant ago, Lin Xian`er stood there with a startled expression on her face as her beautiful eyes flashed with sharpness.
“Bzz!” Abruptly, fluctuations of energy suddenly appeared in that original spot where Lin Xian`er sat as the true body of Lin Xian`er’s appeared there. Yet this time, the instant she appeared, her face paled and she instantly retreated with explosive speed. The ancient halberd that was well on its way to that location abruptly vanished while a crisp sound suddenly rang out. The silhouette of Lin Xian`er that struck out with her palm directly vanished into thin air while up ahead, in the position where Lin Xian`er’s heart was, a blood-colored ancient halberd could be seen embedded within.
Lin Xian`er only inclined her head and stared at Qin Wentian, “When did Sir Qin discover this?”
“Fairy’s illusionary techniques are simply too shocking.” Qin Wentian sighed in admiration, yet he didn’t directly reply to Lin Xian`er’s words. How monstrously powerful is his perception? Back then when he was still in Yuanfu he could already spy on Luo He yet right now he was narrowly deceived by Lin Xian`er. The instant when Lin Xian`er stood up earlier, she had already been using her illusionary techniques to confuse his perception with his eyes.
“But ultimately, I’m still the one defeated.” Lin Xian`er laughed. Abruptly, everything in this world vanished. Qin Wentian realized that he still stood on his original location while Lin Xian`er was still sitting in her Immortal Ripple Pavilion. It was as though everything that happened earlier was nothing but a dream.
Not only Qin Wentian, everybody woke up soon after, leaving that world of illusions. They were all deeply shocked in their hearts. There were even some Heaven Chosen with blood leaking from the corners of their lips as their countenance were as pale as a sheet of paper. Even for the members of the Battle Sword Sect, there were many whose countenance were devoid of any color as an ashamed look flashed past their faces. Qin Wentian understood that earlier, Lin Xian`er simultaneously dueled with all the geniuses present at the same instant.
“Victory and defeat isn’t clear yet, why did Fairy Lin suddenly pull me out from the illusion-scape?” The Saint Child of the Supreme Demon Sect was radiating an intense intent to battle as though he hadn’t fought enough yet.
“Xian`er has already been defeated.” Lin Xian`er replied. After which, her gaze landed on Qin Wentian as she continued, “The judgement of the Immortal Martial Realm’s envoys is truly not to be questioned. Despite so many people present here, the position of number one among geniuses belongs to none other than Sir Qin.”
Note that the word ‘Xian’ in Lin Xian`er stands for Celestial/Immortal