Thus, through trials unnumbered, he invoked the Spell of Stillness, ensnaring their spirits, holding thought in abeyance, or perhaps, more truly, sealing his own mind against intrusion.

In that fleeting moment, a storm of calculation raged within his skull, yielding a single, stark result.

Wang Lin dared not linger in that mental realm, lest his foe glean his secrets. In a breath, he swept his mind clean, a void where no thoughts stirred.

As they plunged downward, poised to strike the earth, the Spell of Stillness shattered, and in that instant of dissolution, both moved as one. No retreat, but eyes ablaze with a glacial fire, they unleashed a torrent of savage blows.

Thunderous roars echoed as, in a span scarcely measurable, they wove a dozen identical spells: sorceries of Bai Fan, incantations of Clear Stream, and the very essence of Wang Lin’s self-forged Dao.

These spells clashed in a cataclysmic maelstrom, shaking the heavens, reverberating through the eight directions, drowning the dim sky in ceaseless thunder.

Even the primal powers of Fire and Lightning were invoked with desperate strength, yet the end was but a brutal stalemate. Both coughed forth crimson, their faces etched with deepening shadows and the pallor of exhaustion.

With a final, earth-shattering crash, Wang Lin stumbled backward, panting. The brief, savage battle had been an ordeal, and he tasted, with bitter irony, the frustration he himself often evoked in others.

He was a God of the Ancient, and so was the white-haired youth. He stood at the midpoint of the third step, the Emptiness Realm, and so did his twin.

Wang Lin had even called forth arcane treasures, only to be stunned as the white-haired youth mirrored the act. Then, he cast aside all artifice, realizing with chilling clarity that his own actions were the genesis of this foe’s power.

“It is futile. I am you, and you cannot slay yourself!” the white-haired youth crowed, halting his retreat and wiping blood from his lips, a ghastly, triumphant grin on his face.

Wang Lin said nothing, his eyes burning with a colder, deadlier intent. He steeled his weary limbs and charged anew, a comet of wrath.

The white-haired youth met his advance with a sneer, his every step mirroring Wang Lin’s, hurtling towards a renewed clash.

Another deafening impact, another exchange of spells, another dance of wounds traded in equal measure. Yet, scarcely had they been hurled apart than Wang Lin, with a guttural roar, hurled himself back into the fray.

Again and again, the cycle repeated, until thoughts themselves were swept away by the tide of bloodlust. Wang Lin’s eyes burned crimson, a mirror to the madness that consumed his foe.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!” Wang Lin bellowed, his hands weaving arcane signs. The primal essence of lightning surged, transforming into a storm of deafening, crackling bolts.

The white-haired youth echoed the cry, his own hands mimicking the motions, unleashing an identical barrage.

In a flash, they collided for the nineteenth time. The air crackled and burned, and the sheer force of the impact threatened to shatter their very eyes.

Staggering back, Wang Lin roared to the heavens, his eyes snapping shut. The Dao of Truth and Illusion enveloped him, and with the closing of his eyes, all existence became as falsehood.

The white-haired youth followed, his eyes darkening into the same void, the same embrace of duality.

But in the instant his eyes closed, Wang Lin’s snapped open. The madness had vanished, replaced by a chilling serenity. It was as if all that had come before – even the frenzy – had been nothing but a carefully crafted illusion.

The white-haired youth felt a jolt, a tremor in his very soul. For the first time, his face contorted in horror, his movements diverging from Wang Lin’s. He recoiled, desperately trying to force his eyes open.

But Wang Lin had waited an age for this moment. He would not let it slip. In a single stride, he closed the gap, his right hand a blade slicing through the air, slamming into the youth’s chest, then clenching, tearing outward.

“Mark of Causality!”

With the extraction of that vital essence, the white-haired youth screamed in agony, spewing crimson. He wrestled his eyes open, but in that agonizing moment, Wang Lin’s left hand, brimming with the vitality of life, slammed into his brow.

As it landed, his right hand, having absorbed the extracted essence, followed suit, a blow of utter annihilation, the essence of death itself!

“Life and Death Imprint!”

“Impossible!” The white-haired youth gasped, his face ashen, disbelief etched upon his features. He stumbled backward, his form fracturing, threatening to dissolve into nothingness.

All this unfolded in a blink. As the twin seals of Causality and Life and Death savaged the youth, Wang Lin snapped his eyes shut, then, in the next step of chase, forced them open again. His gaze held a coldness that cut to the bone.

His gaze met the white-haired youth’s. A shudder ran through the youth. Hesitation filled his mind. Should he close his eyes and risk fading from Wang Lin’s senses, or face the searing wound of the Truth and Illusion if Wang Lin’s opening was genuine?

In that moment of indecision, Wang Lin slammed his eyes shut, the world became an illusion in his mind and he whipped his hand in front of him.

The white-haired youth screamed, his body torn apart in the Dao of Truth and Illusion, fading like mist, but he clenched his teeth, his face a mask of agony.

“It cannot be! You cannot deceive me! I am you! You are me! I can copy anything you do, your very memories are an open book! Unless…” He paused, his eyes lighting with horror, “Unless you deceive yourself… The Way of Deception!”

“Damn you, Liu Jinbiao!” he roared, but his scream did nothing to slow his flight toward the shimmering barrier. Once within its embrace, he would be safe. Wang Lin could never follow, not unless he killed him outright.

Indeed, everything Wang Lin had done from the beginning was the Way of Deception! He had exchanged countless blows for a single, seemingly innocent use of the Spell of Stillness, and used the brief time to rapidly consider the situation.

The importance of this was that, during the brief window he bought himself, Wang Lin secretly cast a Dream Dao spell. With this, he deceived himself into feeling asleep after the Spell of Stillness broke.

In order to keep up the act, Wang Lin had to split his consciousness. While one Wang Lin was locked in a bitter, ferocious struggle with the duplicate, the real Wang Lin was calmly waiting for the perfect opportunity to end the battle.

This opportunity arose when the white-haired youth believed Wang Lin was preparing to use the Dao of Truth and Illusion.

If he had not put so much work into fooling his foe, then the battle would have been all the more difficult. Wang Lin found it extremely uncomfortable fighting a being with equal strength to his.

Now, the youth had unravelled his deceit, Wang Lin could see the horror on his face as the youth raced towards the shimmering wall that separated them from safety.

If his foe stepped beyond the wall, then he would be all the more difficult to fight! Once deceived, the youth would not fall for the same trick twice.

Wang Lin knew that he had to eliminate his foe!

With a growl, he channelled all of his power into his right hand and slammed it into his right thigh, the impact was so brutal that his bone cracked and muscle burst. As if Wang Lin’s hand struck the youth instead, the same thing befell his leg.

“I can’t believe you understood it so fast!” the white-haired youth gasped in disbelief, his voice barely a whisper. His injuries, coupled with the recent damage, finally slowed him down.

In that instant, Wang Lin charged forward, he struck the youth at such speed that he went straight through, tearing his body apart.

With a resounding boom, the youth was reduced to nothing.

Wang Lin did not follow, instead, he closed his eyes and began healing. Slowly, his wounded thigh began to mend and the cracked bone healed.

Then, he opened his eyes and stepped through the threshold. However, just as he was about to cross, he froze.

He, had seen something.