Chapter 42 Illegal Intrusion into the Empress's Palace? Liu Ruyan's Despair

Jiang Chen's slap completely woke everyone up.

The subsequent matches seemed to turn into Jiang Chen's personal show.

In the second round, he faced an Earth-element ability user. The opponent tried to trap him with quicksand, but Jiang Chen walked the "Lingbo Micro-steps" on the quicksand with his eyes closed. Finally, finding the dust too much, he kicked the opponent flying.

In the third round, he faced a speed-type assassin. The opponent tried to sneak attack from behind, but Jiang Chen rolled over and strangled the assassin unconscious as if he were hugging a pillow.

"Sleep God! Sleep God!"

Some fans even appeared in the stands, holding up banners that read "Sleep God is Invincible" and cheering.

This made Mu Qingxue, who was sitting in the VIP stand, feel both amused and helpless, a blush appearing on her face. This guy really treated the Freshman Tournament as his bedroom.

As time passed, the competition entered the most intense quarter-finals.

This time, Jiang Chen's opponent was an external aid from the Wang family—a Mental Energy Genius known as the "Thousand-Faced Phantom Fox," Liu Ruyan.

Liu Ruyan wore a red dress, her eyes darting around with charming allure. She didn't adopt a fighting stance like other Martial Artists, but instead smiled sweetly at Jiang Chen.

"Brother Jiang, fighting and killing is so boring. Why don't we... have a nice dream?"

Her voice carried a strange magic, as if it could pierce through one's eardrums and reach the depths of the Soul.

Inside the Wang family's box, Wang Teng curled his lips into a cold smile.

"Physical attacks are useless. Liu Ruyan is a Mental Energy type, which perfectly counters Jiang Chen, who has no guardian. Once his consciousness is pulled into an illusion, no matter how strong his Physical Body is, he's just a sitting duck!"

On the arena, Jiang Chen's half-closed eyes shut completely.

To outsiders, he seemed to have been instantly mesmerized by Liu Ruyan's charm, standing there blankly with a foolish smile on his face.

"He's caught!"

A flash of cold triumph crossed Liu Ruyan's eyes.

"Mortal World Purgatory, open!"

Her Mental Energy, like a giant net, instantly enveloped Jiang Chen and confidently intruded into Jiang Chen's Sea of Consciousness.

She prepared to build a purgatory full of lust and fear there, to thoroughly torture Jiang Chen's spirit until he died, making him a slave under her skirt.

However.

When Liu Ruyan's spirit truly descended into Jiang Chen's Sea of Consciousness, her whole body froze.

This... where was this Sea of Consciousness?

This was clearly a boundless, breathtakingly magnificent palace of white bones!

The sky was a depressing deep purple, with nine blood moons hanging high. Beneath her feet were steps made of billions of withered bones, extending all the way to a giant throne that seemed to touch the stars.

The air was filled with a terrifying pressure that made her Soul tremble. It was an absolute suppression of status, just like an ant looking up at a Dragon.

"This... is this a freshman's mental world? How is this possible!"

Liu Ruyan wanted to retreat in horror, but found she couldn't move at all.

Just then, she saw the scene on the throne.

On that throne piled with the bones of gods and demons, a stunning figure lay on her side.

She wore purple-gold imperial robes, her three thousand strands of black hair cascading like a waterfall. Just a side profile was enough to make Liu Ruyan feel an urge to prostrate herself in worship.

And at the feet of that supreme Empress...

Liu Ruyan widened her eyes.

She saw that arrogant Jiang Chen from outside, currently squatting beside the throne with a fawning expression, his hands gently... massaging the Empress's slender, perfect calves?!

"A little to the left... yes, that's the right pressure."

The Empress's voice was cold yet lazy, as if she had just woken up.

Jiang Chen mumbled while massaging: "Your Majesty, this technique is something I just learned. Can you give me a good review? Even a small increase in my Mental Energy limit would be fine."

Liu Ruyan felt her worldview collapse.

This was Jiang Chen's mental world? He was massaging a woman? And it looked like he was enjoying it?

"Um..."

Liu Ruyan subconsciously made a sound, "Excuse me..."

Before she could finish, the air on the throne suddenly solidified.

The Empress, who was enjoying the massage, paused slightly. She slowly turned her head, and those purple eyes, which seemed to contain mountains of corpses and seas of blood, fell coldly on Liu Ruyan.

What kind of look was that?

There was no anger, only an extreme coldness from being disturbed in a private moment, and... disgust at seeing a dirty thing intrude into her private chamber.

"Where did this ant come from, daring to spy on my private affairs?"

The Empress's voice wasn't loud, but to Liu Ruyan, it sounded like thunder from the Nine Heavens.

She glanced at Jiang Chen, then at Liu Ruyan, a trace of disdain flashing in her eyes.

"Is this the entertainment you found for me? Too ugly."

Jiang Chen stopped what he was doing and spread his hands innocently: "Your Majesty, don't blame me. She insisted on breaking in, saying she wanted me to have a 'nice dream'."

"A nice dream?"

The Empress curled her lips into a cruel arc, "Since she's here, let her stay as fertilizer."

"Extinguish."

Just one word.

Boom!

Liu Ruyan only felt darkness before her eyes, and her spirit was instantly swallowed by countless purple flames.

In the dream, she couldn't even scream before she was kicked out of the Sea of Consciousness by this supreme will.

And at the very last moment before being kicked out, she saw a scene she would never forget—

That high and mighty Empress actually stretched out her foot and gently kicked Jiang Chen, seemingly blaming him for attracting such dirty things, but that action... how did it look so doting?

...

Real world.

"Ah—!"

Liu Ruyan, who had been full of confidence, suddenly let out a shrill, miserable scream.

She covered her eyes tightly with both hands, and blood gushed out frantically between her fingers.

"I won't look! I don't dare look anymore! Spare me, Your Majesty! Don't dig out my eyes!"

Liu Ruyan rolled on the arena like a madwoman, even starting to tear at her own clothes and hair, as if something terrible had contaminated her.

"It's too scary... that's a taboo... that's a god..."

The whole audience was in an uproar.

What happened?

It was clearly Liu Ruyan who used an illusion, so why did she go crazy while Jiang Chen didn't even move?

"Backlash! This is a high-level mental backlash!"

In the Wang family's box, that Elder stood up in horror, "What exactly is in this kid's mental Sea of Consciousness? How could it make Liu Ruyan collapse instantly?!"

The teacup in Wang Teng's hand shattered completely, his face as pale as paper. His greatest reliance, the Mental Energy attack, had actually failed?

On the arena, Jiang Chen "woke up" at the right time.

He looked at the crazy Liu Ruyan on the ground and scratched his head in confusion.

"Um... beauty, are you performing some kind of new dance? Although it's very creative, but... can you not roll on the ground? It's quite dirty."

"Also, I was just dreaming that I was getting a foot massage, your shouting almost made me go limp."

Pfft!

Hearing this, Liu Ruyan, who was already mentally broken, spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted directly.

The referee stepped onto the stage tremblingly, looked at Jiang Chen, who looked like nothing had happened, and then at the half-dead Liu Ruyan, and swallowed his saliva.

"The... the winner, Jiang Chen!"

Meanwhile, on the high-end forum of the Virtual Combat Network, a post quietly became popular and was instantly pushed to the hot search.

《Shock! Freshman Tournament reveals the signature technique of the mysterious ID "Nightmare"! Mental counter-kill!》

The post detailed the eerie situation of Jiang Chen's match, which was exactly the same as "Nightmare," who had been sweeping the virtual network recently.

"It's confirmed! Jiang Chen is 'Nightmare'!"

"So he's not just invincible in his Physical Body, his Mental Energy is also at a taboo level!"

"Sleep God is awesome! I'm going back to sleep and Cultivate too!"

For a time, Jiang Chen went from a "lucky Sleep God" to an unfathomable "Dual Cultivation monster."

And for all this, Jiang Chen didn't care. He just picked up his pillow, patted the dust off it, and a faint, imperceptible smile hung on the corner of his mouth.

"Those few massages earlier, it seems the favorability went up a bit? It looks like there's hope to unlock the 'lap pillow' perk tonight..."