"So what if he has opened the spirit divine repository? He is still just a crude martial artist," the man said, shaking his head with disdain.

If the opponent were an immortal cultivator, the man would have to worry about their many strange and complex dharma artifacts and secret arts. After all, his illusory dream realm only took effect after one was caught in it. Powerful immortal cultivators had many methods to avoid or reduce their influence.

But the person before him was just a brute martial artist who relied only on raw strength. He was completely suppressed by the illusory dream realm. Even if he possessed a dharma treasure, a martial artist could not wield it flexibly or unleash its full power. How crude.

The man reached into his robes with his right hand and pulled out the dried corpse of a ferocious beast no bigger than his palm. "Go!"

A dim light flickered in his hand as he tossed the beast corpse outward.

"Awoo!"

The palm-sized beast corpse expanded in the wind, transforming into a terrifying yao that let out a deafening roar toward Lin Zheyu. The moment it appeared, Lin Zheyu noticed it. Its strength was not great, roughly at the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.

The beast roared and lunged forward, opening its massive, blood-soaked maw as it bit down toward Lin Zheyu. Just as its ferocious jaws were about to clamp onto his head, a faint but chilling killing intent suddenly flashed within Lin Zheyu's seemingly vacant eyes.

A flash of cold light streaked past. The sharp blade sank into the beast's neck, and its massive, ferocious head crashed to the ground. At the same time, Lin Zheyu staggered and fell awkwardly to the ground. His chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily. His right hand gripped the long blade tightly, and within his vacant gaze flickered traces of struggle, panic, and fear.

Damn it, he's still not taking the bait?

He could feel that as time passed, the distortion in his perception was gradually weakening. The opponent's ability was fading. Even so, Lin Zheyu still could not sense the opponent's presence. This ability was extremely strange, similar to Hu Xuefei's innate divine ability in how it concealed one's presence. With his perception, unless the opponent came close, it was very difficult to locate him.

Lin Zheyu could not help but wonder what an immortal cultivator would do in such a situation.

Would they use some kind of special dharma treasure? Talismans? Or some secret arts?

In truth, Lin Zheyu was overestimating immortal cultivators. Only a handful of top geniuses were truly powerful. Lei Yongtao was considered strong among those at the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm, yet when he faced Hu Xuefei, he still had no good way to locate her true position. Fighting her had been extremely frustrating. If their positions were reversed and Lei Yongtao were trapped in this shaman's special illusory dream realm, he might not be able to escape easily.

The illusory dream realm only affects his perception. It has not fully drawn his spirit into the illusion. Otherwise, he would not be able to perform like this. It seems the illusory dream realm still needs further refinement.

The shaman was still not fully satisfied with his current illusory dream realm.

A martial artist who has opened the spirit divine repository is a good test subject. There are too many eyes watching. I cannot reveal too much of my strength. I will plant the shamanic divine seed first, and when the rule fragments descend, I will take the opportunity to plant the slave mark.

The so-called shamanic divine seed was a seed of enslavement. As their strength increased, every shaman of the barbarian tribes could use such seeds to control servants. He currently had only two slots, and he intended to use one to control a martial artist with a powerful physique.

The indifferent voice sounded again. "Condense!"

The man's figure slowly emerged from the darkness. With a casual wave of his right hand, he scattered a large swath of dim light that enveloped Lin Zheyu. He walked forward as if strolling through a courtyard, swaying leisurely. With each step he took, he would inexplicably appear more than ten meters away, his movements erratic and impossible to predict.

The moment Lin Zheyu heard the man's voice, his heart stirred slightly.

Here it comes!

He felt an invisible force descend, as if his entire body had been bound. Lin Zheyu tested it with some difficulty. It felt manageable. The restraint was strong, but that depended on who it was used against. With a light exertion, he could break free. In truth, after fighting the barbarian shaman for this long, aside from that strange illusion ability, the opponent had not caused him any real trouble. Even the illusion could not completely deceive his perception. With the help of his Perception Domain, he could still clearly sense everything within a radius of five hundred meters.

"As expected, he came!"

Suddenly, Lin Zheyu sensed a figure casually stepping into the five-hundred-meter range around him. The man moved with complete ease, strolling as if on a leisurely walk, clearly not taking Lin Zheyu seriously at all.

"This is bad! Should we go help Fellow Daoist Xiao?" Shi Mulan said gravely as she watched the man draw closer and closer to Lin Zheyu.

She wanted to act, but she could sense many hidden figures in the darkness waiting for an opportunity. If she moved, others would definitely interfere.

"That is not possible! Fellow Daoist Xiao's perception is so strong. How could he remain trapped in the illusory dream realm for so long?" Bai Lin said with suspicion.

He was also getting the urge to act. If this continued, Fellow Daoist Xiao might truly fall at the hands of that shaman. In that case, before the rule fragments even descended, their group would already lose a powerful ally.

"We cannot wait any longer. Move!" Bai Lin gritted his teeth and said in a low voice when he saw Lin Zheyu seemingly completely restrained by the man's divine art. He exchanged a glance with Shi Mulan and nodded slightly. In the next instant, both of them vanished from their spots.

However, the moment they acted, a massive fist shot out from the darkness toward Bai Lin's back. Bai Lin quickly turned, shifting his body sideways as he threw out a powerful punch.

A tremendous force erupted between them. Blood-colored waves of energy collided with purple ghostly light, forming a powerful shockwave that sent sand and stones flying in all directions.

A burly man clad in beast hide stepped out from the darkness with a savage grin. "Heh, your opponent is me!"

At the same time, Shi Mulan, who was about to act, was also intercepted by another barbarian warrior. Bai Lin's expression turned extremely grim. He could not help but turn to look at Lin Zheyu, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Hm?" Bai Lin let out a startled sound.

The barbarian expert facing him found it strange and glanced over. All he saw was the shaman already walking toward Lin Zheyu, within about a hundred meters.

The barbarian warrior felt a sharp gust of force approaching and instantly realized he had been deceived. He hurriedly stepped back to avoid the attack, only to discover in shock that Bai Lin had feinted and was charging straight toward Lin Zheyu.

"Damn it!" the burly man cursed angrily. A dark glow flared from his body as he kicked off the ground and shot forward.

"You dare trick me? Fuck... Sar!"

The burly man chased after Bai Lin. As his eyes flicked toward Lin Zheyu's direction, his expression changed drastically in an instant.

*** 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Not far away, as the shaman drew closer to Lin Zheyu, the smile on his lips grew more pronounced. He stopped at a distance of about one hundred meters and did not advance rashly. His figure flickered in and out of sight, appearing in different positions each time, but never entering within a hundred meters of Lin Zheyu. This distance was the safety boundary he had set for himself.

Even if this martial artist was hiding something, he was confident that the distance would serve as a buffer and allow him to escape instantly. After observing for a moment, he tapped his storage pouch and took out a rope refined from the sinew of some unknown exotic beast. Though he had great confidence in his shamanic divine art, he remained cautious and planned to bind Lin Zheyu with a dharma artifact before moving closer.

"Go!" The man flicked his right hand, and the rope shot toward Lin Zheyu.

At the same time, Lin Zheyu finally moved. The man before him was far too cautious. If he kept waiting, he would be bound by that dharma artifact. Even if he wanted to conceal his strength, he had no choice. If he continued to hold back, the man would likely escape.

A terrifying roar erupted. Lin Zheyu kicked off with both legs, and the entire ground thundered. His speed surged in an instant, reaching an astonishing eight times the speed of sound. Even the shaman had not anticipated such terrifying acceleration. His vision blurred. The martial artist who had been trapped in the illusory dream realm and bound by his divine art vanished in an instant.

The man's figure flickered as he retreated rapidly, muttering, "Not good! He was not affected by the illusory dream realm! How is this possible?"

He was utterly shocked. This was an illusory dream realm enhanced through the blessing of the Barbarian God. Even weaker Golden Core realm experts with insufficient spiritual strength could fall into it if they were careless.

Seeing the man vanish into the darkness again, Lin Zheyu shouted, "Where do you think you are going? Die!"

He hated these strange and elusive abilities the most.

There! Lin Zheyu's eyes sharpened.

Though the shaman had been extremely cautious, Lin Zheyu's sudden burst caught him off guard. He failed to escape Lin Zheyu's perception range in time. In that instant, Lin Zheyu locked onto his position. He ignored the flickering afterimages in the darkness, whether they appeared briefly or dissolved like bubbles.

Lin Zheyu stepped sharply forward with his right foot. His long blade slashed through empty space, and a spray of crimson blood burst out from the darkness.

"Ahh!"

A scream rang out. The figure of a middle-aged man fell from the darkness, clutching the wound on his right arm, his face deathly pale.

"Confuse!"

Gritting his teeth, the man frantically mobilized his spirit, intending to risk everything to use the illusory dream realm once more. But just as the words left his mouth, Lin Zheyu's blade had already swept across his neck.

A head rolled onto the ground, its eyes filled with shock, unwillingness, and venom.