During the Glory Festival, even though the venue is chosen to be vast and expansive, cramming so many beasts and belligerent individuals together means any sense of spaciousness is only relative.

Therefore, the Glory Festival is always incredibly noisy—no matter where you are, you can always hear the distant roars and sounds of collisions echoing from afar.

But at this moment…

As Fern and Twenty stood in confrontation, a rare moment of silence descended upon the space.

It was as if this belligerent world of Black Marsh had intentionally offered a moment of blank space and tribute for the battle about to erupt.

This fleeting tranquility, lasting only a single breath, was naturally captured by both Fern and Twenty.

The instant this silence vanished, both of them moved simultaneously!

"Whoosh!"

Seventeen sharp blades flew towards Twenty in a staggered, unsynchronized formation.

Around Twenty, an even denser, more profound darkness manifested.

It seemed like an upgraded version of the black substance he had summoned earlier.

This ink-splatter-like darkness swirled around his body, actually deflecting those "flying swords" one by one.

Moreover, that ink-like darkness began to coil around the flying swords, seemingly vying with Fern for control over them.

This wasn't the first time Lin Yu had witnessed a duel and the deployment of techniques between "high-level players."

But compared to the previous two instances—peeking from afar in Zheng City, Henan Province, and experiencing things from Fluoxetine's perspective at the Banquet God's table…

This time, Lin Yu had an unparalleled advantage.

In the past two instances, Lin Yu was mostly just watching the spectacle.

After all, while he had memorized most of the [Advancement Items] for various 『Classes』, his knowledge was basically limited to the 『First Tier』.

Regarding the common item-based techniques within the "Ten Realms," Lin Yu's understanding was also insufficient.

But now…

Lin Yu had Old Zheng as his commentator!

The saying "having an elder at home is like having a treasure" was never more concretely realized than at this moment.

"To think it's Sword Control Art! This little girl is indeed no ordinary 『Second Tier』… Did you catch what that 『Detective』 said earlier? This is a technique from the Gray Domain!"

"Surviving a [dungeon] in the Gray Domain and returning alive is a feat in itself, let alone bringing back a skill from there!"

"But this kid named Twenty isn't bad either. That 'Nightmare Materialization' technique is quite impressive… The black cat perched on his shoulder is probably an adult member of the Nightmare clan."

"His main area of activity should be in Night Valley, and he likely has good relations with the Nightmares and the Alchemy Witches. So, this guy probably still has quite a few trump cards related to Night Valley up his sleeve."

Listening to Old Zheng's commentary, Lin Yu gained a basic understanding of both combatants' methods.

"The Gray Domain… So, she's actually connected to such a mysterious realm?"

According to the Ten Realms information obtained not long ago, other realms had more or less some introduction.

But there was almost no information about the Gray Domain!

The reason seemed to be that the "Gray Domain" was to players what the 『Death Game』 was to ordinary people.

Players who hadn't been there couldn't remember or comprehend information about the Gray Domain, even if told.

"Still, how did you determine that this 'Sword Control Art' is related to the Gray Domain?"

"Simple. Any technique or item that, after process of elimination, doesn't belong to any other realm can be automatically attributed to the Gray Domain."

Old Zheng answered casually.

"Then I guess this Fern must be quite troublesome for Twenty as well."

Lin Yu said somewhat optimistically.

"Yes, but merely troublesome," Old Zheng said calmly. "Right now, neither side has used their respective 『Second Tier』 abilities… The [Advancement Items] haven't appeared yet, which means the truly tense moment hasn't arrived."

"After all, the [Advancement Items] for most 『Classes』 are basically strategic-level tools. They either have high consumption, long cooldowns, or significant costs—usually one of these traits…"

"And once they reach the point of using [Advancement Items], it won't be far from Twenty pulling out his [Exclusive Item]."

"No matter how bizarre and hard-to-guard-against the techniques of the Gray Domain are, they ultimately can't compare to each person's unique [Exclusive Item]."

"At that point, the battle will become one-sided—though, if they can force Twenty to use his [Exclusive Item], that wouldn't be bad either."

"If you take him as your target and hypothetical enemy, that would be extremely valuable intelligence: it's equivalent to revealing the biggest trump card of a 『Third Tier』 player."

"Most 『Third Tier』 players rarely use their own [Exclusive Items] unless they are absolutely certain."

"And here, 'certain' means being able to silence everyone who witnesses it."

As Old Zheng spoke, Lin Yu grew curious.

"Hey? So, what was your [Exclusive Item]? Since you don't have it now anyway, why not just tell me."

Lin Yu said this, and Old Zheng chuckled awkwardly.

"It's a bit inconvenient… the name is somewhat embarrassing… So, I'll tell you another time."

"Is that so? Then we'll talk about it when there's a chance later."

Lin Yu didn't mind Old Zheng's sudden shyness too much and then shifted his gaze back to the scene.

The entangled fight had been going on for a while now. In Lin Yu's intuition…

The moment Old Zheng mentioned—where the situation would escalate—should be about to arrive.

And the instant this thought surfaced in Lin Yu's mind, Fern also took action.

She pulled from her bosom a seemingly very dull, lifeless eyeball and something that looked like a Penrose triangle—something that shouldn't exist in "reality."

Old Zheng immediately spoke up: "[Fish Eye] and [Penrose Shape]. A very good 『Fraudster』 [item] combination, and it pairs well with her abilities… She really is a promising uncut jade. I estimate her potential rating starts at B+ at least."

Lin Yu knew the function of [Fish Eye].

The two [Class Items] for a 『Fraudster』 at First Tier were [Fish Eye] and [Passing Off Inferior as Superior].

The effect of [Passing Off Inferior as Superior] was that it could swap the functions of one [item] with another [item].

The effect of [Fish Eye] was to create a temporary copy of an existing [item] and use both simultaneously. However, if someone identified which one was the fake copy, [Fish Eye] would become ineffective.

To Lin Yu, [Fish Eye] seemed like a version of [Counterfeit] with greater restrictions but a higher baseline effectiveness.

"So, what does the [Penrose Shape] do?"

Lin Yu asked.

"It creates illusions, overlaying them onto different objects. Increasing the number, volume, or mass of the objects will also increase the mental energy consumption. It makes those objects appear in illusionary forms that defy 'common sense,' thereby interfering with people's judgment."

Old Zheng explained calmly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yu saw the blades surrounding Twenty begin to twist and distort.

Some connected head-to-tail, others turned inside out—in short, they looked extremely disorienting.

"Using this on flying swords is indeed nauseating…"

"Hey, it's not over yet," Old Zheng chuckled softly. "She's using [Fish Eye] specifically to employ [Penrose Shape] a second time."

The next moment, Lin Yu saw those blades, already existing as "illusions" in his vision, become even more distorted.

To the point where trying to focus and see them clearly was enough to make one dizzy!