Chapter 1234: Section 1235: A Friendly Reunion
Angel leaped on his feet, soaring through the gusty snowfall.
Soon, he arrived at the entrance of Ice Valley.
Surrounded by eerie silence, Angel saw no one around. After a moment’s thought, he rubbed the crimson drop of blood in his hand, and slowly, the blood drop began to heat up.
Just then, a shadow flashed across the sky, there and gone in an instant.
Angel heard the cracking sound of leaves being stepped on behind him. He spun around sharply, only to see the shadow emerging slowly from the forest.
A black hat, a black cane, a white bow tie, white gloves; an impeccably dressed figure with a handsome yet cold demeanor.
It was Sanders!
“Mentor!” Angel’s eyes lit up as he approached.
But no sooner had he taken a step forward than Sanders turned into a shadow enveloped in a fierce gust. The shadow lunged towards Angel’s face.
Startled, Angel quickly leaped backward just as the fierce wind was about to reach his face, landing atop a lush, tall tree ten meters away.
Seeing this, a glint flashed in Sanders’ eyes: his attack was meant to test the strength of Angel’s blood energy, yet he hadn’t hit Angel. It seemed his reaction speed had improved a lot.
Angel was about to ask Sanders what was happening when, without a word, Sanders struck again. This strike was faster and from a more cunning angle than before.
With no other choice, Angel raised his hand to defend.
As Sanders’ cane struck his arm, a surge of force entered Angel’s body. The strength wasn’t intense at first, but as Angel showed no reaction, it gradually increased.
Angel hesitated for a moment, then realized Sanders’ attack, though fearsome in appearance, seemed to be a test.
With this thought, Angel swung his hand vigorously, no longer dodging but gathering his strength to smash down on the cane.
Angel’s attack was so forceful that Sanders almost lost grip of his cane.
A look of surprise flashed in Sanders’ eyes. With a leap back, he skillfully deflected the terrifying force.
Meanwhile, Angel had charged forward. Although his speed wasn’t as elusive as when using the Gravity Meridian, it was still much faster than before. Quickly, he closed in on Sanders, who, due to his backward leap, was in mid-air and defenseless. Angel’s eyes glinted with delight, and he didn’t hesitate to throw punches and kicks.
Angel’s intention was not defiance, but since Sanders was testing him, he had to give it his all and rise to the challenge!
Moreover, since his body had been strengthened, he hadn’t had a proper, exhilarating fight. The encounter with Zefara hadn’t been satisfying either.
With this mindset, Angel happily engaged in combat with Sanders.
Watching his fists and feet about to connect with Sanders, Angel couldn’t help feeling a bit smug, thinking he would gain the upper hand in this first exchange.
However, his punches and kicks ended up hitting nothing but air.
The figure before him had turned into an illusion!
“When did you set up the Illusion Node?!” Angel’s eyes widened in shock. He had been following Sanders closely during the response period and hadn’t seen any Illusion Nodes, had he?
As Angel stood there stunned, a cold huff sounded from behind him.
Sanders’ towering figure was almost upon him, pressing against his back. A wave of great force hit, and like a mortar shell, Angel was shot out, crashing through more than a dozen large trees before he finally came to a halt.
Sanders arched his eyebrows, the gloom in his eyes intensifying. Although Angel was somewhat disheveled now, his body was completely unscathed!
Indeed, as Belus had said, his blood energy was robust, his physical strength extraordinary.
Angel shook his slightly groggy head, about to push himself off the ground when he suddenly saw a shadow looming in front of him. Sanders, somehow, had moved in front of him and was launching an attack at his chest.
Angel swiftly braced on his hands, gathering his strength in his feet, and kicked out fiercely. Using the feedback from the impact, he recoiled several steps back, landing nearby and adopting a combat stance.
Sanders clicked his tongue but didn’t swing forward. Instead, he suddenly spun around.
His face was now directly aimed at Angel, who was attempting a stealth attack from behind. The “Angel” that had assumed an offensive position turned out to be another illusion!
Angel was taken aback, not expecting his own Illusion to be so easily seen through. But with no time to hesitate, he kept throwing his punches.
When he made contact with Sanders, Angel’s expression darkened instantly.
Another illusion!
A sigh echoed from behind, and Angel immediately returned the blow. But the illusion that had been before him turned back to reality, and a massive force hit Angel’s chest, knocking him to the ground uncontrollably.
Sanders had used the same trick twice, altering it slightly, and Angel had fallen for it again.
Subsequently, it became a one-man show for Sanders.
From beginning to end, Angel never touched Sanders, not even his hem; all were illusions.
Most importantly, Angel gradually realized Sanders wasn’t employing high-level illusions. It was all Basic Sorcery from various factions: from the Basic Illusion Technique to Basic Sound Illusion, then to Basic True Illusion and Basic Heart Illusion… Sanders was using Illusion Techniques masterfully. He was not just exploiting Angel’s visual blind spots but also the external changes in weather, the rustle of the wind in the grass, even the sound of stepping on dry leaves—all served as mediums for Sanders to cast illusions.
Every object in the world, every sound, became part of the Illusionary Realm.
Angel was completely outplayed.
After a long while, he collapsed on the ground, unable to move, and with his eyes pleaded Sanders, indicating surrender.
Sanders had enjoyed hitting the human sandbag and had also let out steam from the past few days, so he finally slowly walked over.
However, just as Sanders was about to approach, he suddenly felt something was off. The pleading look in Angel’s eyes turned into a sly one.
Immediately afterwards, a breeze blew. The lock of hair covering Angel’s right eye was lifted.
His eyes twinkled, and the green pattern danced!
Sanders looked at the change before his eyes with surprise. Behind Angel, a person’s silhouette seemed to emerge. Although the figure was very blurry… Sanders still recognized it. He had seen this figure in the Nightmare Witch Town in the Nightmare Realm.
This was Angel’s projection in the Nightmare Realm!
As Sanders was thinking this, the blurry silhouette’s eyes merged with Angel’s right eye as if they became one. Amidst the flickering of lights, a terrifying oppressive force suddenly assaulted him.
Even Sanders felt immobilized by this pressure.
Seizing the opportunity, Angel sprung up from the ground and swung his fist towards the frozen Sanders.
“At least I landed one punch!” muttered Angel to himself.
However, when his fist touched Sanders, his eyes revealed shock… it was, yet again, an illusion!
Meanwhile, the oppressive force from the eye’s luminescence had dissipated, and the silhouette behind Angel had vanished.
Trembling, Angel turned his head and saw Sanders behind him, his hand slicing down fiercely… but as the blade hand was about to touch Angel’s neck, it suddenly changed direction, pushing backwards.
What was in front of him was actually Angel’s illusion, and Angel’s figure was behind him.
Just as Sanders was about to strike at the figure behind him, he suddenly realized that it, too, was an illusion.
Upon closer inspection, he saw Angel perched atop a tree some dozens of meters away. As Sanders flew towards him, Angel was holding a withered leaf like a white flag, waving it pitifully at Sanders.
Sanders’ mouth twitched: “You set up that whole scenario, creating several linked illusions, just to run away?”
“Since the mentor’s real body isn’t here, what’s the point of me exerting myself?” Angel pursed his lips.
Sanders was stunned for a moment and then a faint smile curled at the edge of his lips, a flash of admiration in his eyes, followed by his figure slowly dissolving into points of light and disappearing.
Angel inwardly sighed: As expected, he had felt something was amiss halfway through the fight.
If the world was turned into an Illusionary Realm, why keep using ordinary illusions? Directly creating an Illusionary Realm would make it easier for him to fall for it.
Then he thought, “Could it be that I’m trapped in an Illusionary Realm?”
The facts proved that this was indeed the case!
Moreover, as Sanders’ figure turned into points of light, Angel also realized the level of this Illusionary Realm… Basic Sorcery again!
From beginning to end, Sanders had not used any power beyond Basic Sorcery.
Angel had once naively thought that his power had completely surpassed that of an apprentice. Now he realized that being more powerful wasn’t much use if he couldn’t open up his vision and perspective; he was still outplayed.
As Angel lamented, the real Sanders finally came from a distant place, leisurely approaching.
While Angel was lamenting his inadequacy, Sanders was actually surprised by Angel’s performance as well.
He hadn’t used any power other than Illusion Technique and physical skills, and neither had Angel. In this “fair fight” created by illusions, it was not difficult for Sanders, with his years of experience immersed in Illusions, to win. However, not only did Angel discover the truth at the end, he also managed to escape from the illusion, which Sanders had not anticipated.
Moreover, Angel’s display of physical strength and the unexpected flash from his right eye both surprised Sanders.
“Mentor,” Angel looked somewhat defeated.
“You did well,” Sanders, breaking his usual reticence, praised Angel.
He paused and then pointed at Angel’s right eye: “Projected Bloodline?”
“Yes, a couple of days ago…” Angel nodded and was about to recount the events of the past few days, but Sanders cut him off.
“We’ll talk about it another time.” Although Sanders was curious about what had happened, since the affairs of that day involved the Demon God, it was better to not speak of it for the time being. Besides, some things, once spoken, might not be heard by anyone nearby, but they always evoke ripples in the world lines, which could alert the Prophet Wizard if they were detected.
Besides, it’s sufficient to know the outcome; after all, the Projected Bloodline was currently a secret between them, master and apprentice.
“Was the Alchemy successful?” Since they were not discussing the past days’ events, Sanders went on to ask about the message Angel had transmitted through his essence blood.
“It was successful, but it will take a week or two before I can remove the curse from Toby.” Odeclass had said, ‘He will not take more than half a month to recover the strength to lift the curse,’ but he was unclear about the specifics.
Sanders nodded, then suddenly, as if he just realized, he asked with surprise, “Last time you said you were going to craft the Fire Transmission Stone. Don’t tell me the Alchemy you mentioned is…”
“That’s right, it’s the Fire Transmission Stone.”