The semifinal arena felt different.

Smaller crowd, only the truly invested remained. The casual spectators had left after yesterday's upset, but those who stayed understood they were witnessing something unusual. A damaged Stage 8 who'd beaten a healthy Stage 9. Now facing another.

[AUDIENCE: 800 SERIOUS CULTIVATORS]

[ATMOSPHERE: TENSE ANTICIPATION]

[YOUR CONDITION: DETERIORATING]

[FOUNDATION DAMAGE: 31% → 34%]

[IT'S GETTING WORSE JUST FROM EXISTING]

Liu Mei stood across from me, serene and composed. Her Verdant Valley robes seemed to shimmer, suggesting techniques already active. Stage 9 cultivation radiated from her like subtle perfume, present but not aggressive.

"Lin Tian," she said pleasantly. "I watched your match yesterday. Impressive use of concentrated power. But I wonder, can you hit what you cannot see?"

[PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE: SOPHISTICATED]

[SHE'S ALREADY SETTING UP MENTAL GAMES]

The judge raised his hand. "Semifinal Match One. Begin!"

Liu Mei vanished.

Not Void Step or teleportation. She simply... faded. One moment present, the next transparent, then gone. Even my spiritual sense couldn't locate her precisely, just vague impressions scattered across the arena.

[ILLUSION TECHNIQUE: ADVANCED]

[VISUAL DECEPTION + QI SIGNATURE DISPERSION]

[SHE COULD BE ANYWHERE]

[OR EVERYWHERE]

[THIS IS PROBLEMATIC]

A blade materialized from thin air, aimed at my throat. I used Serpent's Flow to dodge, but the blade was illusion, it passed through where I'd been without substance.

Distraction. The real attack came from behind, a vine whip wreathed in poison Qi.

[REAL ATTACK: DETECTED 0.3 SECONDS LATE]

[VOID STEP: EMERGENCY]

I flickered away, the poison missing by inches. My foundation screamed at the spatial displacement.

[FOUNDATION DAMAGE: 34% → 36%]

[VOID STEP USES: 18 REMAINING]

[EACH ONE COSTS MORE NOW]

Liu Mei's voice echoed from multiple directions simultaneously. "You rely too much on that spatial technique. But can you dodge what you cannot predict?"

Five illusion copies appeared, all attacking simultaneously. Only one was real, but which?

[ANALYZING ATTACK PATTERNS...]

[REAL ATTACKER: NORTHEAST COPY]

[CONFIDENCE: 73%]

I trusted the system's analysis, blocking the northeast attack with my sword. The blade met solid resistance, real. The other four copies dissolved.

"Perceptive," Liu Mei acknowledged, her voice now coming from the south. "But perception only delays the inevitable."

The arena's floor rippled. Suddenly I was standing in a forest, trees, undergrowth, dappled sunlight. Complete sensory illusion.

[ILLUSION: ENVIRONMENTAL]

[DIFFICULTY: EXTREME]

[YOUR SPATIAL AWARENESS: COMPROMISED]

[SHE'S CONTROLLING THE BATTLEFIELD]

Vines erupted from the illusory ground, some real, some fake, impossible to distinguish until they struck. I dodged and weaved, Serpent's Flow keeping me mobile, but I was completely reactive. No openings. No counter-attacks.

[STRATEGY: FAILING]

[YOU'RE BEING TOYED WITH]

[NEED NEW APPROACH]

'System, can you filter illusion from reality?'

[PARTIALLY]

[BUT HER TECHNIQUE IS SOPHISTICATED]

[MIXES REAL AND FAKE SEAMLESSLY]

[I CAN'T GUARANTEE ACCURACY]

I needed to change the dynamic. Stop reacting. Force her to react to me.

Heaven's Judgment Palm was too risky with my damaged foundation. But I had other tools.

I closed my eyes.

"Giving up already?" Liu Mei's voice, amused.

No. Eliminating one sense to enhance others. If I couldn't trust sight in an illusion, I'd trust what illusions couldn't fully fake, Qi flow, air displacement, killing intent.

[SENSORY ADAPTATION: CREATIVE]

[BOLD STRATEGY]

[POSSIBLY STUPID]

[BUT INTERESTING]

The forest illusion continued, but with eyes closed, I felt it differently. The fake vines had no weight, no mass. Real attacks displaced air, created pressure waves. Liu Mei's presence, however dispersed, still existed somewhere.

There, a concentration of real Qi, northeast, fifteen meters.

I used Void Step, appearing directly at that location, sword striking in a wide arc.

Steel met flesh. Not a killing blow, tournament rules, but solid contact. Liu Mei appeared, visible for a moment, surprise on her face.

[SUCCESSFUL STRIKE]

[LIU MEI: FIRST BLOOD]

[PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE: GAINED]

She immediately vanished again, but I'd proven her technique wasn't perfect. Couldn't be. Even illusions had limits.

"Clever," her voice said, now genuinely impressed. "Sacrificing vision to enhance other senses. Unorthodox but effective."

The forest dissolved. New illusion, infinite darkness. No visual reference. No landmarks. Just void.

[SENSORY DEPRIVATION: TOTAL]

[SHE'S ESCALATING]

But I'd already adapted. Eyes closed or open made no difference now. I focused entirely on Qi flow, feeling the arena's dimensions, tracking the subtle disturbances that marked real attacks.

Another vine. Dodge. Counter-strike, miss, illusion.

Poison needle. Deflect. Counter, solid hit, Liu Mei's grunt confirming contact.

[BATTLE RHYTHM: SHIFTING]

[YOU'RE ADAPTING TO HER STYLE]

[SHE'S ADAPTING TO YOUR ADAPTATION]

[THIS IS HIGH-LEVEL COMBAT]

Minutes passed. Each exchange revealed more about her patterns. Illusions clustered around real attacks. Real attacks always came from angles that maximized surprise. She favored northeast positioning, slight preference, but exploitable.

'System, Void Step to her predicted location, then immediate Heaven's Judgment Palm, first form only.'

[THAT'S RISKY]

[FIRST FORM IS WEAKER BUT LESS FOUNDATION STRAIN]

[IF YOU MISS, SHE COUNTER-ATTACKS]

[IF YOU HIT... MIGHT WORK]

I waited for the right moment. Liu Mei preparing another major illusion, her Qi gathering, concentration focused on technique execution. Vulnerable.

Now.

Void Step. Northeast, ten meters, slight elevation.

My eyes snapped open. Liu Mei materialized directly ahead, mid-technique, exposed.

"Heaven's Judgment—"

She smiled.

Trap. This was bait. Her technique completed instantly, Poison Mist Cascade. The entire area flooded with toxic Qi designed to paralyze.

[POISON: STAGE 9 POTENCY]

[CONTACT: UNAVOIDABLE]

[PARALYSIS IN 3 SECONDS]

[COUNTER-ATTACK WINDOW: NOW OR NEVER]

No choice. I pushed through, completing my technique despite poison entering my system.

"—Palm!"

Storm-gray Qi erupted at point-blank range. Liu Mei's eyes widened, she'd expected the poison to stop me. It didn't. Not fast enough.

The strike connected.

[CRITICAL HIT: CLOSE RANGE]

[LIU MEI: SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE]

We both flew backward from the impact. I crashed into the arena barrier, my foundation screaming in protest. She landed hard, poison mist dissipating.

For three seconds, neither of us moved.

Then Liu Mei stood, wavering but conscious. "You... continued the attack... through poison?"

"Had to." My words slurred. The paralysis was taking effect. I tried to stand, failed. Muscles not responding.

[POISON: STAGE 9 PARALYTIC]

[FULL BODY PARALYSIS: 8 SECONDS]

[YOU CANNOT MOVE]

[SHE CAN]

Liu Mei approached slowly, clearly hurt but functional. "That strike should have knocked me unconscious. But Stage 9 body tempering absorbed most of the impact." She raised her hand, preparing a finishing technique. "You fought brilliantly. But this is over."

I couldn't move. Couldn't dodge. Couldn't activate techniques. Completely helpless.

[BOSS, I'M SORRY]

[I DON'T SEE A WAY OUT]

[YOU FOUGHT WELL]

'Not over yet.'

[WHAT?]

My Infinite Qi constitution, the thing that made me dangerous, that would eventually destroy the planet. It had one other property the system had mentioned but we'd never explored.

Accelerated adaptation to threats.

I'd been exposed to Stage 9 poison for ten seconds. My body, flooded with infinite Qi, was already developing resistance.

[ANALYZING...]

[POISON RESISTANCE: DEVELOPING]

[CURRENT: 13%]

[RATE: EXPONENTIAL]

[18%... 26%... 39%...]

Liu Mei's technique reached critical power. "I respect you, Lin Tian. But—"

I moved.

Not fully, paralysis still affected sixty percent of my body. But my right arm responded, my legs partially obeyed. Enough.

Void Step, clumsy, imprecise, but functional. I appeared beside her, inside her technique's formation.

Tsunami Fang, point-blank, with everything remaining.

[DESPERATE FINAL STRIKE]

[FOUNDATION DAMAGE: WHO CARES ANYMORE]

[WIN OR LOSE: RIGHT NOW]

The Qi spiral caught her completely unprepared. At this range, even Stage 9 defenses couldn't fully absorb the impact.

Liu Mei flew backward, unconscious before hitting the ground.

I collapsed immediately after, paralysis and exhaustion claiming me simultaneously.

The judge's voice seemed distant: "Liu Mei, unconscious. Lin Tian... also unconscious. Determining victor based on—"

Liu Mei hadn't gotten back up. I had moved, then collapsed. Technically, I'd outlasted her by three seconds.

"Winner: Lin Tian!"

[VICTORY]

[IMPOSSIBLE VICTORY]

[STAGE 8 DEFEATED TWO STAGE 9S]

[FOUNDATION DAMAGE: 36% → 47%]

[POISON DAMAGE: MODERATE]

[CONSCIOUSNESS: FADING]

[FINALS: TOMORROW]

[YOU'RE GOING TO DIE IF YOU FIGHT AGAIN]

[BUT YOU WON]

[YOU ACTUALLY WON]

Darkness claimed me.

The last thing I heard was cheering, Azure Peak disciples celebrating the impossible.

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