Chapter 16: Breaking the Illusion!

Lin Tianhao furrowed his brow slightly.

He didn't even need to think about it — this was clearly an illusion.

Of course, anyone without a sufficiently resolute mind could easily sink into such a fantasy.

The key was to hold firm to one's true self and break through the illusion.

And there was actually a very simple way to do it.

That was... imagination!

He just had to mentally overlay the graceful, long-legged beauty standing before him with the image of that yellow-furred weasel demon — over three meters tall, covered head to toe in coarse fur, with a hideously twisted face.

That would perfectly explain everything happening right now.

Lin Tianhao looked at the alluring beauty again, and his mind involuntarily conjured the image of that weasel demon striking seductive poses in front of him.

Blech~

Lin Tianhao nearly gagged. Just the thought of it made his stomach churn. It was absolutely revolting.

The graceful beauty froze for a moment at his reaction.

"Does this guy... like men?"

The illusion shifted immediately.

A pretty-boy appeared before Lin Tianhao, playing basketball — movements smooth and practiced, body rising and falling rhythmically...

Blech~

Lin Tianhao felt like the weasel demon was personally insulting him.

Whoosh!

An arrow split the air, piercing straight through.

-1028.

A massive damage number appeared, and the illusion shattered along with it.

However, what surprised Lin Tianhao was that Shadow Kill had already broken free of the illusion before him.

He watched as Shadow Kill executed a sliding step, gliding almost flat against the ground and slipping between the weasel demon's legs, then drove a blade straight upward.

Aooo~

The weasel demon's legs snapped shut instantly as it let out a wretched howl.

It wasn't much damage, but the humiliation was immense.

Lin Tianhao understood — Shadow Kill was drawing aggro for him, trying to buy time for the weasel demon's Superarmor to expire.

Sure enough, after letting out that pained cry, the weasel demon spun around and charged straight after Shadow Kill.

Whoosh!

With the weasel demon chasing Shadow Kill, Lin Tianhao maxed out his attack speed and unleashed a relentless barrage without holding back.

Every arrow struck the back of the weasel demon's skull, dealing massive critical hit damage.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!!"

The weasel demon let out an enraged howl.

It knew it had been played.

Watching its Superarmor timer dwindling, it didn't hesitate — it activated its Berserk skill.

Its speed surged dramatically.

Shadow Kill's reactions were already fast, but the weasel demon raised its hand and unleashed Soul Seize, instantly killing Shadow Kill outright.

Lin Tianhao pressed a hand to his forehead.

This was already Shadow Kill's third death today.

Two of those had been at his own hands — and now this third one was from being killed while trying to save him.

After taking down Shadow Kill, the weasel demon turned its gaze toward Lin Tianhao and hurled a Soul Control technique straight at him.

Lin Tianhao felt his soul seize up, a cold and sinister energy beginning to invade his very being.

In the next instant, his control over his own body began to slip away, piece by piece.

In that critical moment, Lin Tianhao swapped his equipment.

He switched from the Thunderstrike Bow to a shield.

If he couldn't withstand the incoming attacks, he could be killed in an instant. And he was also worried the weasel demon might use Soul Control to force him to hurt himself — so the shield was clearly the best choice.

The moment it had Lin Tianhao under control, the weasel demon came sprinting toward him.

Then it slammed a palm down hard onto Lin Tianhao's helmet.

Critical hit...

-1512!

A massive damage number appeared, followed immediately by a storm of blows raining down on Lin Tianhao.

Slash!

The weasel demon raked its claws across Lin Tianhao's throat, and another enormous damage number appeared.

-1626.

Bleeding...

-300.

-300.

That attack had inflicted a bleeding debuff on Lin Tianhao.

Lin Tianhao was already fighting back with everything he had, desperately trying to break free of the control.

Even so, he had taken a full twenty thousand points of damage before he finally managed to shake off the Soul Control.

The moment he broke free, Lin Tianhao kicked the weasel demon in the knee, used the momentum to flip backward, and narrowly dodged the weasel demon's follow-up attack.

Twisting String Arrow Technique!

Whoosh!

At that very moment, the weasel demon's Superarmor finally ran out. Lin Tianhao's powerful, forceful Twisting String Arrow Technique flew straight for the weasel demon's throat.

However, the weasel demon in its Berserk state had gained a significant speed boost — it actually caught Lin Tianhao's arrow with its bare hand.

Lin Tianhao was inwardly stunned, but he didn't let it throw him off.

Arrows flew out one after another.

Without Superarmor, the weasel demon was far easier to deal with — the difficulty dropped sharply.

Lin Tianhao kept firing with the Twisting String Arrow Technique. At first, the weasel demon managed to deflect a few.

But Lin Tianhao's attack angles grew increasingly unpredictable. One small slip, and the tremendous impact force carried by the Twisting String Arrow Technique sent the weasel demon stumbling backward again and again.

"Now."

A cold gleam flashed in Lin Tianhao's eyes. He loosed another arrow, striking the weasel demon's left leg. The weasel demon lost its footing and pitched forward.

Immediately after, Lin Tianhao's second arrow hit the weasel demon squarely between the eyes. The combined force of both impacts sent the weasel demon briefly airborne.

"That's exactly what I needed."

A cold light flickered in Lin Tianhao's gaze. Now that the weasel demon was airborne, everything that followed would be much simpler.

No Superarmor.

Under Lin Tianhao's aerial juggling technique, the weasel demon simply couldn't come back down.

* * *

Not far away, a player was making his way toward this spot.

He was streaming live, grinning as he spoke: "Hey guys, you're all probably off grinding the Twisted Jungle by now — I bet you don't know there's a Bard over here, do you?"

"My guess is that this Bard definitely has some incredible quest. If I can complete it, maybe I'll get as powerful as the legendary Snow Emperor."

As he talked, Brother Hu — the Jiangcheng streamer — strolled toward Lin Tianhao's location.

But the moment he arrived, he froze.

"Holy shit. Holy shit holy shit holy shit."

Since his stream camera was pointed at himself, his viewers were all a bit confused by his reaction.

"What did the streamer see? Don't tell me two players are having a real brawl out in the open?"

"Heh, I heard a certain club owner around here was saying he wanted to move his business into the game — but apparently you need your own shop or territory to do that kind of thing, otherwise you get penalized."

"Streamer, show us! Is it some kind of beast thing? Who's that depraved?"

Brother Hu swallowed hard a few times, then finally turned his stream camera toward Lin Tianhao's side.

The stream went dead silent for a brief moment.

A moment later...

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit...

Brother Hu's stream chat exploded into a wall of "Holy shit" after "Holy shit."

"What am I looking at?! That's a boss, right?! And that archer has it completely stuck in the air?!"

"I remember archers have hit-chance mechanics — I play an archer myself and my arrows miss sometimes even against regular mobs. But this guy..."

"My mom asked me why I was watching streams on my knees. She came to look, and now she's kneeling beside me."

The stream chat erupted instantly. There was no other explanation — they had all just witnessed Lin Tianhao using the Twisting String Arrow Technique to keep the weasel demon endlessly juggled in midair.

Just as Brother Hu's stream was hitting its peak excitement, the very next instant — the screen went black. He died on the spot.

And behind him, an assassin had appeared.