Volume 4: Hidden Battles – Chapter 205: A Critical Moment

The group finally saw the true nature of this so-called Illusion Flame. Upon witnessing it, Liu Xiangshi’s worries grew even deeper. Though he had seemed relaxed earlier, that was because he had planned to launch an ambush as soon as they reached the pond, intending to use Xue Feifei’s Cosmic Sound to attack at the moment the Illusion Flame emerged from the water. This was because, when it came out of the water, the flame would be covered by a layer of water that prevented its heat from being exposed—lasting about five seconds.

Although that time wasn’t long, it was more than enough for Xue Feifei to launch a surprise attack. She could freeze it with ice in an instant, then use the Cosmic Silk Net to secure it, giving them a success rate far beyond the 51% she had mentioned!

But unexpectedly, over the decades, the Illusion Flame had evolved to such an extent that it had developed its own consciousness. It could not only control a certain area but also move freely within it. Thus, upon detecting intruders on its territory, it could instantly sense them, issue a warning, and finally appear before them.

This caught them off guard. What surprised Liu Xiangshi even more was Chu Tianyu’s reaction—he didn’t retreat but advanced instead. It seemed the energy within him was filled with hostility and fighting spirit toward this Illusion Flame. Even more astonishingly, Xue Feifei rushed in despite the danger, which worried him even more.

At that moment, Chu Tianyu let out a fierce roar. His figure flashed like a meteor, and he delivered a full-force punch at the Illusion Flame. There was no expected collision sound, nor any intense energy ripple. As Chu Tianyu’s fist approached, it seemed as though the resistance of the entire space suddenly multiplied countless times, causing his fist to stop just short of its target, as if he had only pretended to strike there.

Chu Tianyu remained calm. Missing the target was within his expectations. If he had hit it, he might have been surprised instead. So, after his punch missed and his momentum stopped, he lifted his toes and stamped hard on the rock. With a nearly 90-degree rotation, he used the force of the spin to retract his fist, curling his arms around his chest. Then, using his bent elbow, he drew a perfect semi-circular trajectory and struck the other side of the Illusion Flame.

At the same time, infinite force erupted from within his body, causing a intense yellow glow to appear outside. After emitting a dazzling light, he used the power of his elbow to break through the spatial barrier in front of the Illusory Flame. It was as if he had pierced through paper; there was no further obstruction, and his elbow struck the Illusory Flame with force.

Before Chu Tianyu could feel even a hint of satisfaction, the moment of contact caused his punch to lose its momentum, as if nothing was in front of him. His momentum drove him forward uncontrollably. But once his elbow passed through the spatial barrier, Chu Tianyu’s body was blocked outside, colliding violently with that invisible barrier. Combined with the loss of momentum from his previous strike, the combined forces of forward momentum and resistance caused him extreme pain—his internal organs seemed to be in chaos, and blood almost gushed from his mouth instantly…

Xue Feifei watched Chu Tianyu’s condition with concern. Without hesitation, she used the effect of the Jade Condensation to direct the white mist surrounding her straight at the Illusory Flame.

That Illusory Flame was originally a lifeless entity. Although it had some degree of autonomous awareness, it could be considered merely an instinctive reaction or subconscious behavior. Thus, in response to Chu Tianyu’s attack, it only reacted instinctively. The illusory blue flames immediately expanded outward, enveloping Chu Tianyu instantly, ready to burn his essence—his water and blood…

Yet what puzzled it was that this mere creature should have turned into ashes long before approaching it. Now that it had been enveloped, it saw no change in this invading creature, which continued to strike at its illusory spatial barrier!

Faced with this bold intruder, the Illusory Flame immediately retracted its outer layers of scorching flames and focused all its firepower on Chu Tianyu. Soon, the illusory blue flames collided violently with the yellow glow on Chu Tianyu’s body, sparking and producing a “zzz~ crackling” sound, quickly burning away the outermost layer of yellow light.

At that moment, Chu Tianyu also felt a surge in heat, his body temperature rising abruptly, as if he were submerged in boiling water. His breathing became difficult, and the blood in his brain seemed to explode, nearly knocking him unconscious.

Chu Tianyu was also aware of the danger at hand, so he immediately focused on protecting his spiritual core and bit down hard on the tip of his tongue. The intense pain snapped his nearly unconscious mind back to clarity. Then, with great effort, he gathered the moon energy throughout his body, reorganizing it before releasing it outward. At the same time, the Ink Dragon pattern on his chest began to glow faintly, continuously releasing the vast amount of energy it had stored to resist the scorching flames of the Illusory Flame.

The continuous energy output finally allowed Chu Tianyu to ease the pressure somewhat. However, there was a limit to the energy in his body. He could sense that the external energy was being gradually absorbed again. Moreover, the illusory figure before him seemed to suffer no depletion or weakening in its attacks, persistently clinging to Chu Tianyu’s yellow light, determined not to stop until it had consumed it.

Fortunately, just as Chu Tianyu felt the pressure intensify, Xue Feifei abandoned most of her own defenses and directed the icy mist she had created toward the Illusory Flame. As expected, the Illusory Flame, as Senior Liu Xiangshi had predicted, was extremely wary of this substance and had to divert some of its energy to counter Xue Feifei’s attacks.

Yet Xue Feifei’s attacks using the rhythms of the Cosmic Melody had little effect. From the moment she entered the Illusory Flame’s domain, she sent waves of musical rhythms at it—ranging from intense and high-pitched to calm and soothing, even to gentle, flowing sounds—all of which had no impact on the Illusory Flame.

That’s why, upon seeing the increasing pressure on Chu Tianyu, she risked everything and pushed the icy mist created by the Jade Condensation toward the Illusory Flame.

With Xue Feifei’s assistance, Chu Tianyu’s energy could finally withstand the scorching flames of the Illusory Flame, no longer at a disadvantage. They reached a state of parity. But Chu Tianyu no longer had the ease of movement he once had; he was tightly surrounded by the spatial barrier created by the Illusory Flame. All his energy was now focused on resisting its flames, leaving him without the strength to break through that invisible barrier with his fists as before.

Though trapped, Chu Tianyu had nothing much to do other than hold his ground against the Illusory Flame for now. He took the time to check on Xue Feifei and his senior.

Needless to say, Feifei, in order to maintain her offensive stance and keep the defensive cold energy around her at a low level, was now struggling greatly under the intense heat radiated by the Illusory Flame. Her forehead was covered in sweat, her face was red, and her body began to tremble slightly—all signs that she too was in a desperate struggle to hold on.

As for his senior brother, Liu Xiangshi, with his skills, even if he were outside the range of the Illusory Flame, he should have been unable to hold on. Yet now he held his palms out flat, with a network of white light appearing in the palms—presumably what he called the “Sky Silkworm Cold Net.” Even so, judging by his appearance, he was also struggling immensely. His entire body was surrounded by a white mist, but it wasn’t defensive cold fog—it was the sweat evaporating from his body…

Continuing like this was no solution. Not to mention that they all had ordinary human bodies; no matter how strong their energy might be, it would eventually run out. But this Illusory Flame seemed like an inexhaustible source of energy, drawing power from the geothermal heat of the entire mountain range, constantly replenishing itself. It only grew stronger, never weaker. It seemed that even if they fought against it for a year or two, it wouldn’t have any problems!

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Chu Tianyu had a sudden realization: Right! His senior brother had said it was born from geothermal heat and relied on the entire mountain range. The mountain itself was its domain. So what were its roots, its connection to the entire mountain structure…?

Following this line of thought, Chu Tianyu began to observe the Illusory Flame carefully. It still maintained that illusory blue form, like a faint flame flickering in and out of sight. But this time, instead of looking at it head-on, Chu Tianyu examined every detail of it from top to bottom. Although it had no head or tail and could at most be described as a long strip, when Chu Tianyu looked in the direction where the Illusory Flame appeared, he noticed a nearly transparent thin line connecting it from afar. In fact, it was more like the Illusory Flame itself! The closer it got, the harder it was to discern. The reason Chu Tianyu could detect it was because the high temperature generated by this line created spatial ripples in the distance, giving off an obviously illusory feeling that didn’t match the surrounding environment. Up close, however, due to being near the core of the Illusory Flame, such energy changes were completely imperceptible.

Chu Tianyu had now boldly deduced that this illusory thread must extend from the pond mentioned by his senior brother, and the Illusory Flame relied on this connection to obtain the continuous energy supplied by the mountain. In other words, the Illusory Flame itself could not exist without this connection; perhaps it would vanish as soon as the connection was severed…
“It seems its weakness, or rather our only chance, is this slender thread. Unfortunately, I can’t move at all right now, and even if I could, my punches wouldn’t be enough to deal with it. Our only hope is the Ice Soul in Xue Feifei’s hands. It seems this is our only chance—hoping that the cold energy can successfully freeze this thread of the Illusory Flame so we can escape this predicament. Maybe we can even turn the situation around!” Chu Tianyu’s mind raced.
With this thought, he immediately came up with a plan. Time was pressing, so he didn’t hesitate further. He shouted at Xue Feifei several times, trying to get her to stop attacking, switch to defensive punches, and move closer to seize the opportunity to target the thread behind the Illusory Flame. Unfortunately, all of Chu Tianyu’s shouts were blocked by the space, so Xue Feifei couldn’t hear a thing. Moreover, the air distorted by the high temperature made it impossible for her to see Chu Tianyu clearly, let alone his anxious expression or his moving lips from his shouts!
After struggling for a while, Chu Tianyu realized this problem and calmed down. It seemed better to rely on himself for now—find a way out or method, either by breaking through the obstacles himself or getting Xue Feifei to understand his intentions and move closer.
But before Chu Tianyu could take any action, he saw Xue Feifei’s body shaking. Her normally rosy complexion now appeared clearly abnormal, the cold mist around her fading, while the moisture around her body increased. Just like his senior brother Liu Xiangshi, she was showing signs of dehydration.
At that moment, Chu Tianyu suddenly felt the burning pressure from outside lessen. The yellow glow emanating from his body surged outward, releasing the pent-up strain.
Chu Tianyu immediately thought, “Oh no!” As he had predicted, the Illusory Flame had temporarily reduced its pressure on him and turned its attention to Xue Feifei, who was already exhausted.

“Pfft~~~” Under the suddenly increased pressure, Xue Feifei immediately spat out a large mouthful of blood. The bright red blood turned into a cloud of blood mist the moment it was ejected, drifting in the air.
Facing Xue Feifei’s plight, Chu Tianyu’s eyes turned red. Watching her gradually fading gaze and trembling body, he couldn’t help but roar loudly to the sky, “Ah~~~” At the same time, he unleashed all his strength. Veins in his arms bulged as he fought against the pressure of the Illusory Flame. As if the accumulated energy couldn’t be released, veins across Chu Tianyu’s body began to seep blood due to the strain. If anyone could see him now—covered in blood with a twisted face—it would be truly unbearable to look at!
With a “Boom~~~”, driven by his final burst of strength, Chu Tianyu finally broke free from all constraints. His body soared upward, along with a cloud of blood mist that resembled a blooming snow lotus, spreading in all directions…
Chu Tianyu didn’t care about his injuries. At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind—a persistent thought: he must, at all costs, break that damn bond!