Luo Yu shook his head.
"Nine absolute clones can't be real, otherwise, what's the use of my 'One Qi Transforms into Three Clears'."
This Divine Power did exist in the Cyan Stone Lotus Space, but he hadn't learned it yet.
A golden light flickered in the depths of his eyes, piercing through the nine figures.
Great Sage Equal to Heaven's Supernatural Power, Eyes that Break Delusion, could pierce through all illusions.
Almost instantly, Luo Yu saw through Diao Lingluo's real body, ignoring the attacks of the other eight phantoms, and clashed with the real Diao Lingluo.
Just as Luo Yu's lips began to curve upward, he suddenly sensed something was amiss.
The palm he had struck out hit nothing but air, passing right through the figure.
The true body in front of him turned into an illusion in a flash, while Diao Lingluo's fierce palm strike had already come from behind.
"Miscalculation."
Luo Yu gritted his teeth, spun his feet on the ground, stirring up dust, the lumbar arch exerted force, abruptly turned around, and sent a skyward punch flying.
However, the figure behind him that had launched the fierce attack was punched through without any resistance, and it did not cause any harm to Luo Yu.
Not good.
Was he mistaken again?
Luo Yu was somewhat incredulous, his Fiery Eyes Golden Gaze was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's top Great Divine Power, and even though his current cultivation level meant he only grasped the basics, it shouldn't be that he was played twice by a young girl.
In his astonishment, an unthreatening delicate figure lightly floated a palm strike from the side.
But upon striking Luo Yu, a muffled sound was emitted.
"Bang."
Luo Yu staggered backward several steps, having been at a disadvantage from the very start of the exchange.
Diao Lingluo stood there where he had been, smiling at him: "Classmate, you have impressive horizontal training skills. Although you hit me, my hand really hurts from the shock."
Luo Yu didn't skimp on his praise, "Your technique must have been excavated from the Ancient Ruins, it's very impressive."
Diao Lingluo smiled and said,
"Then you'll have to show your true capabilities, otherwise, next time, I'll have to go all out against you."
Seeing Luo Yu at a disadvantage for the first time, the students below were all agape.
"This woman, what powerful techniques."
"Nine shadows, but which one is real, and which is fake?"
"Real and fake, truly elusive, impressive." Someone shook their heads, "I thought such beauty would just be a 'vase', but who knew she actually had real skills."
Li Zhenyue shook his head, "You won't lose to a woman before I make my move, will you? That would be too boring."
On the high platform, the black-haired female secretary Xinzhu and the other mentors expressed their amazement.
The short-haired female mentor said,
"This girl is not bad, she's been accepted under my tutelage."
Immediately, the voices of other mentors could be heard from beside her.
"What do you mean accepted under your tutelage? It still depends on who the students choose in the end."
"Exactly."
The short-haired female mentor snorted, "All of you shut up. The strongest female mentor in our school is undoubtedly me, right? What makes you bunch of smelly men think a girl would want to follow you?"
"Hua Yourong, you're too domineering." The other male mentors were about to speak.
"Domineering so what? If you're not convinced, let's settle it on the stage. Whoever wins gets to decide." The short-haired female mentor retorted hotly.
The white-haired elder Yang Cang ignored the squabbles among the younger generation, stepping beside Shi Kai.
"Xiao Shi, that kid's name is Xia Luo, right? What's his background? I can feel he's hiding a great deal of strength."
Shi Kai politely replied, "Elder Yang has keen perception; his strength is not as simple as it appears."
"Oh?" Yang Cang smiled and said, "Where did you uncover such a promising seedling?"
"I can't say, I can't say." Shi Kai shook his head, not willing to divulge Luo Yu's secrets even in front of this respected elder.
"Interesting." Yang Cang was not annoyed in the slightest, nodding with a smile, without any intention of pressing further: "Let's see then, what earth-shattering abilities this young fellow is hiding, that make you, Great Xia's top expert, keep secrets for him."
"You won't be disappointed, Elder. Just watch." Shi Kai said confidently, turning his gaze back to the ongoing battle in the arena.
On the stage, nine graceful figures, sometimes real, sometimes fake, kept launching attacks at Luo Yu.
To the onlookers, Luo Yu seemed quite disheveled, consistently at a disadvantage, barely coping, worn out with defending.
Many students thought Luo Yu was on the verge of defeat, but sharp-eyed observers noticed that although Diao Lingluo seemed to have the upper hand, she was never able to break Luo Yu's defense, and they couldn't help but marvel that this guy was a monster, with such exceptional defensive power.
"Bang!"
Luo Yu's back took another palm strike, but he remained unmoved in his position, while it was Diao Lingluo who had to keep retreating, dissipating the force.
"Hmm?"
"What's going on?"
Everyone's eyes widened, unable to understand what had just happened.
How could this fellow be beaten up for so long and still act like nothing was going on, while the one doing the beating ended up panting and looking exhausted?
"Why didn't you fight back?" Diao Lingluo stood opposite him, drenched in fragrant sweat, with droplets seeping through her hair.
"Faced with such interesting tactics, of course, I had to take a closer look," Luo Yu smiled.
"So what did you observe?" Diao Lingluo asked.
Luo Yu said, "A normal person seeing your nine phantoms would subconsciously think one real and eight fakes."
"Without special means to spot your true form, you'd certainly have them at a total disadvantage."
"But even if they could see your true form, it wouldn't help, because if I'm not mistaken, you can switch between those nine phantoms at any time, anywhere."
"Nine phantoms, and if you will it, any of them could be the real one."
"The only drawback, though, might be that at any given time, only one of the nine phantoms can possess offensive power, the others are merely a bluff, to confuse the enemy."
Diao Lingluo's lips parted slightly, her eyes filled with astonishment as she looked at Luo Yu.
"You managed to see through my tactics in just a few minutes?"
Luo Yu shook his head.
"No, I should say your tactics are very formidable; it took me a few minutes to thoroughly comprehend them."
Diao Lingluo pursed her lips, unsure of how to respond to those words.
"Hiss—"
"Showing off, this guy is just showing off."
"Show-off or not, his analysis is comprehensive; he indeed has a sharp eye."
"What good is a comprehensive analysis if there are no means to deal with it? Seeing through the nature of the opponent's tactics is useless without a solution."
"Right, but analyzing someone's tactics to their face like this, isn't it a bit unethical? After all, she still has to go fight others later."
"Exactly."
The opinions about Luo Yu's actions were mixed among the crowd below the stage, but since Diao Lingluo was a strikingly beautiful woman, the hot-blooded young men tended to side with her.
"Now that you've seen through my tactics, what are you going to do about it?" Diao Lingluo blinked her Beautiful Eyes, full of confidence in the secret techniques passed down from the ancients.
Even if you know the theory, it's not certain that you can counter it.
"Oh?"
Luo Yu smiled.
"Then——"
"Allow me to show you."
"Whoosh!"
Luo Yu flashed from his spot, leaping into the air. As his figure flickered, it split into two.
"What the—!?"
"What's going on?"
"This..."
The crowd below erupted in astonishment, and Diao Lingluo's pupils contracted. But this was only the beginning.
As Luo Yu's figure touched down, the two shadows flickered and split into four. By the time they surged towards Diao Lingluo up close,
there were already eight figures of Luo Yu, each appearing as real as the other.
"How is that possible?"
Diao Lingluo's pretty face showed an indescribable shock.
Though shocked, she hadn't forgotten that this was a battle on the stage.
Diao Lingluo divided into nine figures to face Luo Yu, making the scene look more like a group battle rather than a duel, dazzling the spectators with the complexity.
"Bang!"
Diao Lingluo's shoulder was slapped, and she staggered backward.
She looked at Luo Yu incredulously:
"You... How do you know my Guanghan Immortal Technique?"
Luo Yu smiled and said, "I learn as I go, I've grasped it but it's still not perfect, I'm just a novice compared to you, Diao Lingluo, you're too kind."
"Learn as you go?" Diao Lingluo's mouth fell open in disbelief. The ace up her sleeve that she had practiced for so long, he learned it in a matter of minutes?
Below the stage, the faculty and the seniors watching the live broadcast were all stunned.
"He has such a skill, too?"
"He can learn opponent's moves during combat?"