Tao Yaoye's Golden Core

On the sparring grounds, Lu Yang stood with his hands behind his back. The red tassel pendant on his sword hilt fluttered in the breeze, and a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth, as if the direction and outcome of the fight were already entirely within his grasp. In stark contrast to Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye looked as though she were facing a mortal enemy. Forming a Golden Core had given her the confidence to challenge Lu Yang, but it was only confidence. Whether her core could overcome him was something she had no certainty of herself. "Invincible Core, how do I defeat Tao Yaoye?" Lu Yang felt it necessary to show her the might of his Golden Core. The Invincible Core promptly gave a brief and effective reply: "Use the Arhat Fist." A flash of realization struck Lu Yang as he remembered he possessed such a supreme technique. The Lu-style Arhat Fist—one strike, one bald head. It had an extraordinary effect against women. Seeing Lu Yang flash a smile of absolute victory, Tao Yaoye seemed to realize something, and her face went utterly pale. "Senior Brother Lu, we are fellow disciples! You must never, ever use the Arhat Fist!" "...Fine then." Lu Yang considered it and agreed. They were disciples of the same sect, after all; there was no need to be so ruthless. "The Arhat Fist? Is that the Buddhist Arhat Fist where mastering it lets you manifest as an arhat?" Below the stage, the senior brothers and sisters whispered among themselves, baffled as to why Tao Yaoye feared the Arhat Fist so deeply. "It ought to be. As far as I know, there is no second Arhat Fist in this world." "Even if the Arhat Fist possesses extraordinary power, Junior Sister Tao's talent shouldn't leave her this terrified, right?" "No idea." No matter how knowledgeable and experienced the senior disciples were, they remained in the dark about the inside story. Qin Yanyan was just as mystified, so she asked Eldest Senior Sister, "Elder Sister, do you know why?" She and Li Haoran had been father and daughter in a past life, and since her mother had not yet wed him in this life, she and Li Haoran were of the same generation. Since Yun Zhi was Li Haoran's senior sister, calling her "Elder Sister" should be perfectly fine. Whether it was an illusion or not, Qin Yanyan could swear a faint smile flickered across Yun Zhi's lips. "Compared to an ordinary Arhat Fist, the one Lu Yang uses makes people lose their hair." "What?" Qin Yanyan blinked, thinking her ears had played tricks on her. She had never heard of a fist technique like that. Was this the special talent of the foremost genius of the younger generation? Up on the arena stage, Lu Yang gripped his longsword. Sword light flickered like flowing stars. Tao Yaoye unfurled her red paper umbrella, giving it a gentle twirl that rippled through the surrounding space. To Lu Yang's surprise, the spectators vanished, and the stage beneath his feet expanded infinitely without a boundary in sight. His heart tightened as he realized he had fallen into Tao Yaoye's illusion. If he truly believed the arena was boundless and fought without restraint, a single careless step could send him tumbling off the edge, forfeiting the match. Lu Yang pressed forward with his sword toward Tao Yaoye, simultaneously circulating the Art of Illuminating the Heart and Seeing Nature to shatter the illusion. The red paper umbrella snapped shut and blocked in front of Tao Yaoye. Feeling the immense force transmitted from Lu Yang through the Green Blade Sword, she knew better than to clash head-on with him. With light, graceful steps, she retreated. Lu Yang had no intention of letting this chance slip and pursued her relentlessly. He had no idea what material the red paper umbrella was crafted from, but it actually managed to withstand the continuous strikes of his Green Blade Sword. Tao Yaoye tried every trick to maneuver around Lu Yang, hoping he would accidentally step off the stage. Yet no matter how she tried, Lu Yang hovered right at the edge of the arena without ever taking that fatal step outside. "You saw through my illusion again!" Tao Yaoye gritted her teeth. She had always been confident in her illusions; ordinary Golden Core cultivators couldn't see through them even if they knew they were trapped. Only Lu Yang managed to pierce through them in an instant. "You've improved plenty, Junior Sister Tao. In the past, my cultivation art would circulate automatically to break your illusions, but this time I had to activate it myself." Though Lu Yang praised her with his words, his sword strikes grew ever sharper. Even if the red paper umbrella was made of an extraordinary material, Tao Yaoye's physical body could not endure such high-intensity clashes. Every impact left her arms numb with shock. "Slash!" The sword light gathered and detonated in an instant, carving an arc through the air. Unable to withstand the strike, Tao Yaoye was sent flying backward. Taking advantage of the distance between them, Tao Yaoye snapped open the red paper umbrella and twirled it before herself—producing another Tao Yaoye out of nowhere. Two Tao Yaoyes now stood on the stage, each holding a red paper umbrella and smiling enchantingly, utterly indistinguishable from one another. "Senior Brother Lu, didn't you want to know what Golden Core I formed? Then please, don't use your cultivation art." Tao Yaoye felt helpless. This trick should have given her the upper hand against anyone, but Lu Yang's cultivation art naturally countered her. Her profound mastery of illusions seemed like child's play before him. "Deal!" True to his word, Lu Yang produced a seed of the Twin Conjoined Lotus. Using Shrinking the Earth, he executed the Tree Planting Art. The conjoined lotus bloomed, and two Lu Yangs appeared. A stir swept through the audience below. It was the first time the senior disciples had ever witnessed an avatar technique like this. The younger disciples looked up with admiration shining in their eyes. As expected of Senior Brother Lu—even the arts he used were unlike anyone else's. The two Lu Yangs attacked the two Tao Yaoyes simultaneously. One of the two Tao Yaoyes had to be an illusion avatar. An illusion avatar could cast spells, but it could not sustain physical impact. The moment they traded blows, Lu Yang would know which one was the real Tao Yaoye and which was the fake. *Bang!* *Bang!* Two heavy impacts resounded. Lu Yang was slightly startled—both Tao Yaoyes could actually engage in close-quarters combat. Could Junior Sister Tao have learned a genuine cloning technique? No, what she used was definitely an illusion; otherwise, she wouldn't have asked him to refrain from circulating his art. Yet if it were an illusion, how could both clashes feel so tangible? Watching from the sidelines, Eldest Senior Sister nodded slightly. Tao Yaoye's Golden Core was truly fascinating—another core that had never existed in history. "One of them must be fake!" Lu Yang made his judgment. His sword danced, the blade light surging like a dragon as it thrust toward one of the Tao Yaoyes. Lu Yang's avatar moved at the same time, attacking the other Tao Yaoye. "Break!" Lu Yang let out a shout and unleashed the Break Formula. A flash of white light exploded before the eyes of both Tao Yaoyes, followed by an icy touch against their necks. The Green Blade Sword rested at their throats. Lu Yang furrowed his brows. Even as the fight ended, he still couldn't tell which one was the real Tao Yaoye. Left with no alternative, he had simply relied on absolute strength to defeat both of them together. A daring conjecture quietly formed in Lu Yang's mind. "Well, Senior Brother Lu? Did you figure it out?" Tao Yaoye wasn't upset over losing. With Lu Yang's cultivation art in play, she had never expected to beat him anyway. "A Golden Core that can switch between illusion and reality?" Tao Yaoye's lips parted slightly, surprised that Lu Yang had guessed the general idea. "Close enough. It's a completely new kind of Golden Core. "When I cast illusions, the greatest problem has always been having the opponent test out which one is real and which is fake. "My Golden Core eliminates that problem. "Take just now, for instance. Both avatars could be real, and both could be fake. The key lies in how the opponent perceives them. "If you believe both are real, then both are real. If you believe both are fake, then both are fake. "Senior Brother Lu, you were uncertain which was real and which was fake just now, constantly testing them. Because your mind hadn't reached a verdict, both of them were truly me. "The only way to break the illusion is to firmly decide that one is real and the other is fake, and then pour everything into attacking the one you believe is real. "This is my Golden Core—the As-You-Wish Void-Reality Core." "Little Junior Brother." Lu Yang looked up and only then realized Eldest Senior Sister was also watching the spar. He hopped off the arena stage and stood obediently before her, wearing a flattering smile. "Eldest Senior Sister, you're back." Qin Yanyan watched in astonishment. It was the first time she had ever seen Lu Yang behave so submissively.