Chapter 128: All Techniques Rely on Imagination

“Elder, are you there? It’s time to get to work.” Chen Fan cleared his throat. The game was about to end, and he needed to make a decisive move—if it didn’t work, he had to force it.

“Have you grasped the secret yet?” The elder lay back on the couch, lazily rising while holding a plate of peanuts.

“Are you talking about frozen dumplings?” Chen Fan asked.

The elder shot him a sharp glance. “You haven’t even started cultivating the Way, have you?”

Chen Fan nodded sheepishly. “Wasn’t it said that just imagining it would suffice? Why worry so much?”

“But you still need to focus. I’m worried you’ll get distracted, start thinking about things you shouldn’t, and lose your composure,” the elder said with a face full of concern.

“Don’t worry, watch closely. I’ll demonstrate for you now.”

Confident as ever in his imagination, Chen Fan recalled how, back in middle school, when a girl he liked spoke to him, he had already imagined their burial place together. Unfortunately, philosophy had gotten in the way—if only he had said less back then, maybe things would’ve turned out differently. Every time he thought about it, regret gnawed at him.

“Ice Palm.”

Chen Fan stepped forward, raising his palm, feeding himself the idea repeatedly in his mind—“I am a refrigerator. As I focus, the surrounding air cools rapidly.” The elder, huddled nearby, shivered involuntarily from the chill.

“Not bad, but nowhere near the effect of Left Alliance Leader. Your temperature isn’t low enough.”

“Not low enough? Let me think again.” Chen Fan stopped concentrating, and the cold dissipated. Speaking of cold, the first thing that came to mind was this.

“Hmph, you say it’s not cold enough? I’ll give you something fierce, prepare yourself.”

“Absolute zero.”

In an instant, water vapor in the air froze solid. Both of them became ice sculptures, standing frozen in place.

“Should I call you an idiot or a fool? Why use such a low temperature? Over two hundred degrees below zero, man!” The elder, trapped inside the ice, muttered curses only he could hear. Exhausted, he raised his middle finger at Chen Fan.

Chen Fan was both amused and annoyed. “Weren’t you the one who said it wasn’t cold enough? I went all out, and now it’s my fault. Good thing this is a virtual world, or I’d have risked my life.”

“Star Absorption Technique.”

Chen Fan thought that if he could release cold energy, he should naturally be able to absorb it back—provided his imagination was strong enough...

“I am a black hole, a black hole from which light cannot escape. Everything shall be devoured by me.”

Using his extraordinary mental prowess, Chen Fan broke free from the ice, flicked his bangs, and helped the elder out of his frozen prison.

“Not bad, but pay attention to your strength,” the elder sneezed repeatedly, warning him.

“Hahaha, I never expected you to steal my secret techniques. Your progress is truly impressive.”

A hearty laugh came from outside the door as Left Alliance Leader stepped through the falling snow toward them.

“This time, I won’t go easy on you, you despicable thieves.” The Left Alliance Leader’s smile vanished, revealing the villain’s true aura. With two swift palms, he struck Chen Fan heavily.

“Ah... Am I going to die?” Chen Fan staggered back, mumbling to himself.

The elder encouraged him, “You’re not that fragile. As long as your will doesn’t break, no one in this martial world can defeat you.”

Before Chen Fan could recover, his head slammed into the wall, pain jolting him fully awake.

“Hearing you say that, I finally feel like the protagonist. Play the battle anthem—I’m going to take this guy down.” Chen Fan fixed his messy hair, brimming with determination. No one could match him when it came to imagination.

“All right.” The elder agreed, and the background music ignited—the elder’s favorite tune, featuring gold chains, cigars, and sunglasses.

“Geez, makes me feel like I’m collecting protection fees.” Chen Fan pretended to hold a cigarette, puffing it with style before calmly extinguishing a wisp of air.

“Bang—clap!”

“Elder, damn it, this isn’t how we agreed! Why am I the one getting knocked down?” Chen Fan lay on the ground, shakily raising his middle finger.

“I told you to use your imagination for your moves. Get up!”

Chen Fan got to his feet, wiping blood from his lip. “Too many moves. I was deciding which one would look cooler to defeat him when I got smacked right in the chest.”

“Are you an idiot? Just use the Eastern Leader’s signature move. A few simple strikes from the Sunflower Manual would put him down. So much nonsense... damn it!” The elder was lecturing passionately but was suddenly blasted away by the force of a palm strike. He disappeared from sight, his voice trailing off.

“Good heavens, that’s so powerful. I better give it my all...” Fortunately, Chen Fan was prepared and only crashed heavily against the wall.

“Could you at least... before you start fighting—”

This time Chen Fan was blasted even further, carrying several chunks of dirt and bricks, tumbling into the bamboo forest in the backyard.

“Damn it, I’m gonna—”

Before he could get up, another palm struck his back, the shockwave leaving a huge crater in the ground, burying Chen Fan at its center.

“I’m your father, son! Come on!” Chen Fan roared fiercely.

Boom!

The pit sank another three feet.

“Still cocky?” Left Lengchan stood at the edge of the ring, a triumphant smirk on his face. “I don’t have a father like you.”

“Wasn’t it said no one could beat me? Was that all a lie?” Chen Fan’s words came out in rapid-fire as he endured blow after blow. It was finally time for him to fight back.

“Star Absorption Technique.” Chen Fan raised his palm, chanting silently.

“Finally decided to make a move? Too bad, it’s too late.” The Left Alliance Leader smiled faintly, showing no intention of escaping. Instead, he stood his ground, as if deliberately waiting for Chen Fan.

“Damn it, surrender now.” Chen Fan pushed all his strength, trying to drain the other’s power.

“Wait, wait, why are my arms freezing? You old immortal, how dare you ambush me!” Halfway through absorbing, Chen Fan realized something was wrong—he was sucking in only cold energy and was about to become an ice sculpture again.

“Ideas and power alone aren’t enough; you need brains too.” The Left Alliance Leader exerted force with both hands, freezing Chen Fan solid in the pit.

“Maybe I should make the pit a bit shallower, so you can understand that there are gods three feet above your head.” Left Lengchan shrugged and turned to leave.

“Game over. Yesterday, Player 6 has died. Player 6, please hand over your badge.”

Chen Fan looked full of grievance. He was forcibly ejected from the martial arts dungeon with no chance to stay. Selecting Player 12, Li Peijun, he transferred the badge and returned to the main game interface.

“What? I can’t even use the spectator mode?” Chen Fan checked all the rooms. Only the martial arts world forbade it—spectator mode was disabled.

“Doesn’t this mean I can’t focus on recovering cards?”

After the battle atop Mount Hua, Chen Fan came to a clear realization: he’d rather spend time recovering ten cards in the real world than deal with the alliance leader again. This NPC was simply unbeatable.

“Where’s the ‘invincible loneliness’ they promised? Why am I the one getting beaten up...”