A Battle of Wits and Courage

Brain Genesis. This was the creation-type skill possessed by the player who had traded skills with Chen Kun. Put simply, the user visualized an object inside their brain and then pulled it out from their head. In this process, the larger an object was, the more difficult it became to extract; forcibly pulling something out would trigger side effects such as severe headaches. Before he acquired Stubborn Creation, large objects could still be extracted with some effort, at most becoming slightly deformed. But once he gained that skill, the player discovered that many items could no longer be drawn out at all. Their hardness was simply too high, causing them to get stuck. Because this player had a habit of preparing in advance, he had visualized numerous objects in his mind beforehand. As a result, the moment the new skill awakened, none of them could be pulled out. To make matters worse, brain capacity was finite. Those objects took up a massive portion of his mental space, leaving him with no choice but to trade the skill away. Of course, he knew it was a god-tier skill, but for him, its disadvantages had come to outweigh its benefits. Besides, you couldn't catch a wolf cub without risking the bait. By trading the skill away, he could obtain another in return, so he wasn't really losing out. *** Returning to the match at hand. With the Stubborn Creation passive in his possession, Chen Kun's defense had become terrifyingly formidable. Unless an opponent possessed the power to shatter the glass in a single blow, the more times he was attacked, the higher the glass's defense climbed—making him all the safer. At that moment, he activated his ability, Glass Control, and the deep crater gouged out by the water droplet was swiftly restored. Looking at Yu Xian with a relaxed smile, he said, "Yu Xian, surrender. You can't pierce my defense, and once I go on the offensive, you won't stand a chance. As a powerhouse known throughout the world, I think bowing out gracefully would be much better for you!" "Since you can see me, that means your glass shouldn't be able to defend against light-based attacks, right?" Yu Xian didn't engage in bickering; instead, he pondered aloud. Chen Kun laughed. "True, but with a slight modification, glass can become a mirror. And mirrors... reflect light!" He retrieved a metal bucket from his inventory, dipped a brush into the liquid inside, and lightly coated the surrounding glass. In an instant, the glass transformed into mirrors. "..." Yu Xian was left speechless at the sight. It wasn't that he hadn't considered using Time Stop to launch a light attack before Chen Kun could completely turn the surrounding glass into mirrors. The problem was that he couldn't pull it off. Time Stop itself consumed a massive amount of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena power, and enhancing light enough to inflict meaningful damage on Chen Kun likewise required a huge amount of Grand Dao Myriad Phenomena power. Simply put, he couldn't have both. Well aware of this, Yu Xian hadn't squandered his strength in vain. Besides, he already had an idea in mind; he just needed a bit of testing to confirm whether his hunch was correct. "I thought you'd take this chance to stop time and ambush me with that light attack of yours. It seems... you can't manage it." Chen Kun had only coated the glass on both flanks before stowing the bucket and brush back into his inventory, looking at Yu Xian. Yu Xian smiled faintly. "What if I've already figured out a way to deal with you?" "Heh, whatever. Let's stop feeling each other out and let our skills do the talking." Chen Kun gave a cool smile and pressed his hand against the glass. Countless sharp spikes instantly sprouted from the hexagonal glass crystal, shooting toward Yu Xian in a barrage under the command of Glass Control. Yet Yu Xian didn't dodge either, letting the glass strike the Forward Light Shield. Upon impacting the light shield, the glass instantly pulverized into countless specks of powder. The corners of Yu Xian's lips curved upward slightly, while Chen Kun frowned at the sight. Chen Kun's glass was immune to Rule Branch effects, which was why the ramming impact of Yu Xian's Forward Light Shield hadn't blown Chen Kun to pieces earlier. However, the Forward Light Shield's inherent hardness was sufficiently high, which was why the glass shattered on contact. *Just as I thought...* Seeing the glass powder, Yu Xian understood. In truth, he had made a mistake right at the start; he shouldn't have taken the easy route and attacked Chen Kun with water droplets. His initial strikes had given Chen Kun's glass the opportunity to stack defensive layers. That was why the Forward Light Shield had failed to smash through Chen Kun's glass barrier; had he slammed into it with the Forward Light Shield from the very beginning, the outcome would certainly have been different. Having figured this out, all he needed to do now was wait. With the vast majority of stacking-buff abilities, once the attacks or conditions that triggered the stacks ceased, the accumulated stacks would gradually decay until they returned to zero. Yu Xian didn't know how long Chen Kun's skill would take to decay. Still, he could afford to bide his time. After all, he didn't want to lose a Level 1 skill to Chen Kun. On the other side, Chen Kun frowned, likewise realizing something was amiss. Reason dictated that since Yu Xian couldn't breach his defense, the tables should have turned, putting him on the attack. His own attacks should have been able to break Yu Xian's light shield. Yet that wasn't what happened. When his glass struck Yu Xian's light shield, the glass was the one that shattered. This meant that his glass couldn't actually withstand the impact of Yu Xian's light shield. Yet Yu Xian hadn't managed to defeat him during Time Stop. So where had things gone wrong? Suddenly, a memory flashed through his mind—the sight of his glass covered in fractures the moment Time Stop ended. The crack down the middle had clearly been caused by the light shield's ramming, but there was also a crater next to it—a crater left by another attack! *Oh no!* Yu Xian had definitely deduced the effect of Stubborn Creation! In a flash, Chen Kun realized disaster was looming. At the same time, he immediately checked the status of the glass—sure enough, the effect of Stubborn Creation was fading. Only 50 stacks remained! Once the stacks ran out, the glass's defense would revert to its baseline state, and the glass shield wouldn't be able to withstand the Forward Light Shield's impact. *I have to end this quickly!* Realizing that if he couldn't defeat Yu Xian before all 50 stacks expired, he would very likely lose the match, Chen Kun immediately commanded even more glass to attack Yu Xian. Furthermore, under the effects of Glass Control, these glass projectiles could curve in flight. Shards of glass swerved around the Forward Light Shield, relentlessly pursuing Yu Xian, who was forced to move at high speed with glass raining down right behind him. "Go!" Chen Kun calculated Yu Xian's trajectory. He continuously ramped up the assault. The arena was large, but it was still a finite oval space. Soon, glass surged in front of Yu Xian as well as behind him. Chen Kun had even timed the incoming projectiles from the front to curve around the shield and strike Yu Xian directly from behind it. Had Yu Xian lacked Water Control, he really would have been done for. However, equipped with Water Control, he conjured a stream of water linking himself to the light shield. Every time an attack approached, he leaped away, undulating in midair. Guided by the water stream, he revolved around the light shield, evading shard after shard of glass. It was an exceptionally dazzling spectacle. Yu Xian moved like a precision automaton, weaving flawlessly between shards of glass and dodging every razor-sharp assault. Finally, as the water retracted and pulled him back, he landed squarely atop the light shield in an instant, riding it as he surged forward. The longer the battle dragged on, the more anxious Chen Kun grew, checking every so often to see how many stacks of Stubborn Creation remained. And now, only 30 stacks were left!