Burning Blood to Break the Illusion, Lu Xuan Raises His Sword

Boom!

The echoes in Sunfire Cave were immense. The closer one got, the clearer they became.

This battleground had been deliberately chosen to remind both sides that their opponent was about to obtain the Sunfire Branch, forcing them to fight within the cave.

Thus, unless the gap in strength was enormous and one could rush to the cave's center at extreme speed, both parties could sense how far away the other was.

At this moment, the golden-furred Bright Ape had sensed Lu Xuan's distance.

It had believed that, with the mist from the Tiger Tendon Grass within the cave aiding it, its physical strength would be at its peak. Combined with its ability to command fire as Qi, uniting body and Qi, it should surely have been faster than that human.

Yet Lu Xuan had still beaten it by a step.

Roar!

With no time to think, it let out a howl. Its fur gleamed brilliantly, crimson-gold flames erupted beneath its feet, and its muscular body shot toward the center of the cave like an arrow loosed from a bow.

Its strength had never been weak to begin with. It was a rare variant within its clan, and now that it had activated the Qi-Burning Method, its speed surged drastically. Accompanied by deafening echoes, it closed the distance and charged into the center of Sunfire Cave.

Clang!

But the instant it entered the cave's center, a magnificent sword light carrying scorching fire Qi slashed toward it.

Not good!

Its expression changed at once. It had never expected that even after activating the Qi-Burning Method and greatly increasing its speed, it still could not surpass that human.

The human had entered Sunfire Cave first, yet rather than plucking the Sunfire Branch, he had immediately struck at it with his sword.

Had it been an ordinary spirit weapon, it would not have feared it at all and would have taken the blow with its body. But this sword shone with golden light, dazzling all over. One look was enough to tell that it was a metal weapon specifically effective against its flesh.

The attack had come too suddenly. It had no time to change direction, so it could only roar in fury. Golden light burst from its fur, sparks poured from its mouth and nose, and then a dense mass of "Qi" condensed into a shield before it.

Screech!

A piercing sound rang through the air. The tip of Lu Xuan's sword collided with empty space as though it had struck a shield of fire. Not only did it block his powerful blow, but the Red Crow Sword seemed to have been scorched by a thousand-degree heat, letting out a strange hiss.

When the strike failed, Lu Xuan immediately retreated, refusing to give the Bright Ape a chance to close in.

Yet that strike had already achieved the result he wanted.

"Golden-Fire Qi Shield, a defensive technique of the Bright Ape clan. It condenses Qi into a shield capable of resisting tremendous force and countless techniques..."

"This is an innate art of the Bright Ape clan, akin to a minor technique. Compared with my simple method of condensing Qi into a wall, it is slightly stronger."

"But the Bright Ape's Qi is inferior to mine to begin with. Once it brings out this shield and expends its Qi, it will fall even further behind me..."

Lu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the seven-foot-tall Bright Ape before him, its entire body covered in gleaming golden fur, as he silently analyzed the situation.

From the moment he entered the cave, he had activated the Life-Burning Talisman. This was a desperate technique of the Lin Household, yet he used it as though it were an ordinary method. Naturally, its effects were extraordinary.

Even though this Bright Ape had the aid of the Tiger Tendon Grass's spiritual mist and was itself a rare variant, it had still been two breaths slower than him.

But those two breaths were not enough for him to pluck the Sunfire Branch.

To harvest this spiritual object, he needed to carefully cut it off with a cold-patterned blade. At the very least, it would take four breaths.

Since he had no time to harvest it before the ape arrived, Lu Xuan directly turned his cloud Qi into light and activated the Heaven-Patrolling Sword Technique to battle the ape.

He had entered the cave first and seized the initiative. With a metal weapon in hand, he had caught the Bright Ape off guard and forced it to use the Golden-Fire Qi Shield once.

For someone who had only just begun refining Qi, Qi was limited. Once the shield was activated, Lu Xuan's Qi reserves completely surpassed those of the Bright Ape.

The slight advantage brought by the Tiger Tendon Grass's spiritual mist was wiped away at once.

"You are the guest, so I will give you some leeway. I will stand still within three feet. Come attack me. If you lose, I will leave this cave immediately and yield the Sunfire Branch to you."

After succeeding with his strike and pulling away at once, Lu Xuan saw that the Bright Ape did not pursue. Instead, it stood where it was, its eyes shifting as it challenged Lu Xuan.

"Since this is a contest, how can there be any distinction between host and guest..."

Lu Xuan smiled faintly but did not move.

The Bright Ape possessed boundless strength, and its body could withstand lightning and fire. Within three feet, in close combat, the ape would undoubtedly hold the advantage.

His earlier airborne slash had only succeeded because he had seized the initiative. Now that the Bright Ape had reacted, Lu Xuan naturally would not approach.

Controlling it with Qi was the path to victory.

However... standing still did not mean he had abandoned the attack.

Lu Xuan lowered his sword until its tip touched the ground. Blood-red color spread through his eyes, as though blood had flowed into his eye sockets.

In the distance, the Bright Ape's eyes darted about as it continued thinking of ways to trick Lu Xuan into attacking. But in the next instant, its expression changed.

Whoosh!

Lu Xuan swept his sword horizontally. A streak of crimson sword light flew from the tip, swift as lightning, slashing toward it in an instant.

Damn it, is this a technique of the Heaven-Gazing Sect?

The Bright Ape was horrified, but it had no time to curse. Golden light burst from its fur as Qi surged frantically through its body.

Buzz, buzz!

A buzzing seemed to fill the air. Countless motes of light swirled, gathering with fire Qi to form an invisible shield.

The Golden-Fire Qi Shield, activated a second time.

Clang!

But this time was unlike before. The blood-red sword light was tyrannical and razor-sharp, piercing through the shield and flames in an instant before continuing toward the Bright Ape like a streak of crimson lightning.

Pulling back was not because Lu Xuan feared the Bright Ape's physical body, but because he needed to gather strength briefly to activate the Marrow-Burning technique.

The Bright Ape's face filled with shock.

Though cunning, it had grown up within the territory of an immortal sect and still retained a measure of innocence.

This was only an ordinary trial contest within a demon territory. How could it have imagined that someone would activate such a brutal art, the Tiger-Wolf Sword Formula, the moment they met?

Still, it forced itself to calm down.

Yah!!

In an instant, every strand of fur on its body stood on end as if set ablaze. A massive golden staff appeared in its hand at some unknown moment. Fire Qi circulated wildly around it, its full strength was pushed to the limit, and the fiery wheels in its eyes flashed repeatedly as it desperately tried to see the incoming Sword Qi clearly.

Then, with a furious roar, it swung the giant staff as though splitting a mountain.

Not only that, clouds of Qi suddenly dispersed from its body.

Clang!!

This golden staff was also a spirit weapon, forged from a Spirit-Severing Iron Ingot. It possessed no special ability, only the power to sever lesser techniques.

The Bright Ape knew that disciples of the Heaven-Gazing Sect would surely excel in Qi and techniques, and they would certainly use metal weapons to break through its flesh. Since that was difficult to guard against, it had decided that it would be better to find a spirit weapon capable of severing techniques and fight fiercely with its fire Qi and physical strength.

A tremendous roar reverberated through the cave. The Bright Ape's tiger's mouth shook violently, nearly causing it to lose its grip on the spirit weapon, but the blood-red Sword Qi also shattered and dispersed.

Bang!

Yet the Bright Ape felt no joy at all. Without time to think, it immediately activated the vast clouds of Qi around its body.

The clouds met fire and instantly steamed like water, spreading into a blanket of white mist.

Within the white mist, the Bright Ape's body split into three, becoming three identical figures.

All three bared their fangs, their tiger's mouths numb, like mirror images that made it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood.

Senior Sister Jiang had been right.

This Bright Ape was a rare variant capable of wielding illusions.

It was precisely because Lu Xuan knew this that he had pulled away and abruptly activated the Marrow-Burning Sword Fiend, not wanting the Bright Ape to use this technique.

Yet he had not expected the Bright Ape to be so clever. The instant it blocked the Sword Qi, it had already begun activating its illusion technique.

At this moment, his second strand of Sword Fiend still rested at his sword tip, but he could no longer distinguish the target.

The three duplicates even had identical blood vitality.

Still too slow...

Lu Xuan felt helpless. Though the Marrow-Burning Sword Fiend Formula was a fierce Tiger-Wolf art, activating two strands at once still required time.

"Senior Sister once said that our orthodox Qi is profound. By widening the distance and using Qi to sense heaven and earth, one can seek changes in an illusion. That which responds is real; that which does not is false."

"But this method can only deal with illusions of the surrounding landscape. This ape is clever. It only transformed itself, and it will not approach me, giving me no chance to use Qi to sense its body and identify the changes between real and false..."

"Right now, it is using its illusory bodies to recover its strength while waiting for my Sword Qi to miss."

"But what I rely on in entering this cave today is not the orthodox methods of the mysterious sects!"

Lu Xuan smiled inwardly, raised his sword before him, and spat.

Pfft!

In an instant, scalding blood sprayed forth like a cloud of blood mist, scattering through the cave.

He had acquired Dawn Radiance True Qi. Once Qi entered his body, even his essence blood gained a trace of mystery, carrying a hint of Dawn Radiance True Intent capable of breaking illusion arts.

Most importantly, he activated the Life-Burning Talisman once more.

His blood burned, amplifying both Qi and body in every aspect. The essence blood he spat out became incomparably scorching, like a blood sun as it fell upon the Bright Ape's illusory bodies.

When the morning sun rose, clouds and mist dispersed.

All three illusory bodies revealed startled expressions. Then, as they dissipated, the two on the left vanished, leaving only one behind.

The true body!

Lu Xuan raised his sword.