"Long Yue may have gone berserk and lost his rationality, but that doesn't mean his willpower is weak," Gu Yue shook her head.
When someone is already in a frenzied state, they aren't afraid of mental attacks.
If they're already insane, further mental assaults won't knock them unconscious—it'll only make their madness worse. For Long Yue, it might have caused him to unleash even greater power than his body could handle, leading to his own collapse. But clearly, that wasn't the case here.
En Ci had simply provided a plausible explanation.
"The skill Xu Yuan used wasn't a direct mental attack—it was probably an illusion-type ability."
If a mental attack is a forceful assault on the mind, then illusions are more subtle. They rely on mental manipulation, luring the opponent's consciousness into a fabricated reality.
In a frenzied state, one's willpower becomes stronger, but their consciousness becomes weaker.
"I see!" Tang Wulin suddenly understood.
"Brother Xu's mental power is so monstrous—it's likely much stronger than Long Yue's. If he used a specialized illusion skill, defeating him instantly makes perfect sense!"
As Tang Wulin realized this, his heart sank once again.
The gap was even wider than he thought.
Yes, they had all overlooked one crucial point: Xu Yuan's terrifying talent in mental strength.
Among their group, there was no doubt that Xu Yuan was the strongest in terms of combat power. But as for who ranked second, that was debatable. Wu Siduo and Yuanen Yehui both possessed twin martial souls, and Le Zhengyu, with his single Holy Angel martial soul, came from the prestigious Angel Family. With the full backing of such a powerful clan, his overall abilities were top-tier.
And then there was Gu Yue.
Though Gu Yue's spiritual power hadn't yet reached the Spirit Abyss level before, her elemental control—derived from her spiritual power—was widely acknowledged as giving her a strong claim to being second strongest.
Moreover, according to what Xu Yuan had revealed, she had now undoubtedly broken through to the Spirit Abyss level, making her even stronger.
Gu Yue had just recently broken through to the Spirit Abyss level, and her spiritual power's manifestation as combat strength was already staggering. So what about Xu Yuan?
Xu Yuan's mental power was even more extraordinary. It seemed he had already reached the Spirit Abyss level when he first entered Shrek Academy's outer court!
Gu Yue excelled in elemental control—but what about Xu Yuan? Didn't he also possess a martial soul capable of controlling the five elements? Remembering the early matches after enrollment, he had demonstrated this ability, and his mastery over the five elements was undeniably top-tier.
And then there was his brain martial soul. Xu Yuan's spiritual power wasn't limited to elemental control—he could also launch direct mental attacks or perform other forms of psychic assaults.
"If I'm not mistaken, his main cultivation should be his brain martial soul," Ye Xinglan suddenly added.
Her words caused Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Yuanen Yehui, and Wu Siduo to visibly pale.
That's right—how had they not realized this before?
His primary martial soul wasn't the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear!
"Why the gloomy faces?" Xu Yuan returned to the viewing box, noticing the strange atmosphere and looking puzzled. "Are you feeling the pressure from Long Yue?"
"Class Leader, how exactly did you deal with Long Yue at the end?" Wu Siduo asked.
"I used an illusion."
Wu Siduo and the others nodded, taking a deep breath.
Of course.
Their class leader was still their class leader. His strongest weapon, it seemed, was his mastery of illusions.
The fact that he could take down Long Yue in an instant meant he could do the same to everyone else present.
Gu Yue's brow furrowed slightly.
Her guess had been correct, but that only made her feel even more pressure.
She had sensed it clearly: when Long Yue entered his peak state, she detected traces of his martial soul's will—a remnant of the Mountain Dragon King's will that hadn't been fully assimilated after he gained his inheritance.
Even as a residual soul, incapable of independent thought, that will should have been strong enough to dominate Long Yue's body and continue fighting.
If Xu Yuan's illusion merely pulled Long Yue's consciousness into the illusion, how could it instantly incapacitate him?
But pulling that residual soul into the illusion…
What kind of illusion could achieve such a feat?
Moreover, Long Yue's last three soul rings were black—granted by spirit souls—which meant his spiritual power had already reached the Spirit Abyss level!
There was no significant difference in spiritual realms between the two.
Gu Yue took a deep breath.
The more she understood, the more oppressive Xu Yuan's presence became.
His mastery of illusions was extraordinary.
Perhaps even greater than his spear techniques.
---
The day's matches ended.
The members of Shrek Academy left the viewing box and happened to encounter the Kings of the Heavenly Kings team.
At this moment, Long Yue appeared extremely weak, as if he had been severely drained. His gaze was fixed intently on Xu Yuan.
"I look forward to our upcoming team battle," Xu Yuan said with a smile.
Long Yue's eyes flickered, and after nodding, he led his team away.
"Big Brother Long, what exactly happened back there?"
Unlike the Shrek team, the Heavenly Kings didn't press Long Yue for details.
Since regaining consciousness, Long Yue had remained silent.
Dai Yun'er pouted and tugged at Long Yue's arm, persistently asking questions.
"For the team battles, do your best. Both he and I won't be able to fight for a while at the start," Long Yue said cryptically before leaving.
Dai Yun'er and the others were left confused.
---
Back at the hotel
Xu Yuan's eyes narrowed.
"Fluctuations in space?"
He had detected a faint ripple in space, originating from a nearby room.
"That's… Gu Yue's room?"
Xu Yuan didn't extend his mental power to investigate further, pretending he hadn't noticed the disturbance.
---
Inside Gu Yue's room
A middle-aged man with golden eyes and black hair knelt on one knee, speaking respectfully: "Master, Long Yue has a Limit Douluo guarding him, so we couldn't interrogate him directly. However, through multiple sources, we've confirmed that his bloodline isn't innate—it comes from a secret realm."
Gu Yue stared at Di Tian, waiting for him to continue.
The previous information was useless.
During today's matches, especially the one earlier in the day, she had personally sensed the residual will of the Mountain Dragon King when Xu Yuan pushed Long Yue to his limit.
"Master, the secret realm is controlled by the Tang Sect, and it's set to open again soon. There's a soul power level restriction for entry."
Di Tian relayed the information he had gathered.
"Is that all?" Gu Yue asked coldly.
Sweat began forming on Di Tian's forehead.
"Master, we're still locating the exact position of that secret realm. We've roughly pinpointed its general location."
"Roughly?" Gu Yue narrowed her eyes.
Di Tian wiped the sweat from his brow and continued: "We can confirm that the small world belongs to our dragon race. I'm using my bloodline resonance to locate it, but due to the layers of spatial barriers, the sensations are unclear. We'll need to wait until the Tang Sect sends people inside before we can fully pinpoint its location."
Considering the need to remain hidden and avoid exposing their existence, the information they had gathered was actually quite impressive.
But Gu Yue remained unsatisfied.
Today, the pressure she felt from Xu Yuan was immense—far greater than ever before.
At this moment, even if she completely removed all her self-imposed seals, she doubted she could catch up to Xu Yuan in a short time.
Unless… she could obtain that thing.