novelraw Chapter 226 : Unfortunately, You Can't Defeat Me Either
Chapter 226 : Unfortunately, You Can't Defeat Me Either
"You're right, I indeed can't defeat you or kill you," Chu Sang withdrew her bow and arrow, sheathing the black sword. She let out a soft sigh, seemingly no longer intending to continue fighting.
The mirror image smiled smugly, thinking she was about to surrender. However, in the next moment, the young woman raised her eyes and smiled leisurely at it,
"However, you can't defeat me either~"
This tone, this lingering tail of the sentence, had somewhat of a mischievous cadence to it.
Full of provocation!
The mirror image was stunned for a few seconds, seemingly never imagining she would say such a thing. What shocked it even more in the next moment was that the young woman really did lazily sit down cross-legged, no longer continuing to fight. She stopped, as if setting up a chess game to chat over tea with it.
A vein throbbed at the mirror image's temple, the corner of its lips curling into an extremely cold smile, anger dancing in the depths of its eyes, "Are you looking down on me? Trying to provoke me?!"
Fine, since she voluntarily gave up attacking, don't blame it for being ruthless!
The mirror image immediately seized this opportunity, charging forward with its sword, only to encounter a barrier. The sword in its hand was deflected outwards as if blocked by some soft yet hard giant wall. With a "zila" sound, it emitted a sharp sword cry, even sparks appeared!
"Whoosh—"
A terrifying sword energy slashed over. The mirror image hurriedly turned to avoid and tried to run. The Primordial Soul-Chaser sword spirit materialized, blocking it.
The mirror image coldly curled its lips, releasing the black sword from its hand, simultaneously conjuring a mirror version of the sword spirit to face the Primordial Soul-Chaser.
It flew up again, summoning a bow and arrow, intending to shoot through the strange yet particularly solid barrier in front of Chu Sang. Karma Burns the Three Realms also materialized, fingers condensing arrows, "Your opponent is me, you fake!"
Damn it, the mirror image's face turned ashen. This person really had many protectors...
The mirror image began to grow angry from embarrassment, but fortunately, whatever Chu Sang had, it had exactly the same!
It immediately brought out all its resources, successfully keeping Hong Niang and Karma Burns the Three Realms' beast spirits at bay. The mirror image then threw another fierce punch at the barrier,
Boom—
Besides being a talisman cultivator and sword cultivator, Chu Sang actually had another little-known identity—a body cultivator.
This punch from the mirror image carried the force of a Nascent Soul late stage, enough to easily break through most barriers.
But it barely left any mark on this barrier.
How... how is this possible?!
A hint of panic finally arose in the mirror image's heart. It finally realized what Chu Sang meant by her earlier words.
Indeed, the mirror image had replicated all her abilities one-to-one. The two were exactly the same in every aspect, absolutely evenly matched. Even if Chu Sang had more tricks up her sleeve, she couldn't defeat herself.
But similarly, in reverse, the mirror image couldn't defeat her either.
Chu Sang indeed couldn't kill it, but it couldn't kill Chu Sang either.
The mirror image could only watch helplessly as Chu Sang sat comfortably within the formation, even making a face at it, infuriating it further. Then it saw the red-robed young woman quickly take a pill.
Its heart suddenly panicked. Not good, it's the Fire Spirit Pill!
The mirror image frantically punched again and again, the surging spiritual energy creating air-shattering sounds, but the formation remained unmoved.
Chu Sang rose unhurriedly, crossing her arms and taking a few steps forward. She pressed her face against the formation, facing the mirror image. Looking at those red, angry eyes, she hooked her lips into a smile, somewhat mischievously, "You can't break it open. I told you, even I need at least half a day to open this formation."
Who does Chu Sang know best? Naturally, herself.
The mirror image copied everything about her. Well, too bad, she naturally knew her own strengths, but also understood her own weaknesses!
She had many trump cards that even she herself couldn't break through in a short time.
She could play with the mirror image slowly.
"You—despicable and shameless!"
This woman actually specifically set up a formation to trap herself? What was she thinking? Damn, is she sick? What kind of weird thing did she research in her spare time?!
"Tsk, it seems you haven't fully imitated me yet."
"......Indeed, I can't match your thick skin." The mirror image coldly curled its lips, its frenzied gaze almost piercing through her.
"Be modest, don't give me such high praise. I'll get conceited." Chu Sang looked flattered, never expecting to hear herself praise herself one day. It was quite embarrassing.
The mirror image felt even more like cursing.
This woman was truly shameless!
It refused to believe this, frantically trying to shatter the barrier. Chu Sang smiled on the surface, but inwardly she was also wary, tense like a taut string.
The barrier was solid enough.
Even if she were to break it herself, it would take at least half a day.
But the barrier could only trap the mirror image for half a day at most.
She needed to break through her realm as quickly as possible within this half day.
Sitting cross-legged with closed eyes, the Fire Spirit Pill entered her five viscera and six bowels, transforming into an endless stream of the purest, most refined fire spiritual power flowing through all the meridians in her body. Finally, it gathered in her vast, sea-like dantian. The roaring fire sea almost filled the entire dantian. Swelling! Pain!
Her face grew increasingly red, her entire body as if being burned by fierce flames. Her body also swelled more and more, like an inflating balloon...
The scene was somewhat terrifying.
Seeing her horrifying transformation, the mirror image outside the barrier also fearfully retreated a few steps. Then, sensing the changes in the spiritual energy on her body surface, its heart was greatly shocked. Her, her realm was rising!
She had just broken through to Nascent Soul late stage not long ago, yet her strength was increasing again. It was truly terrifying!!
Nascent Soul late stage early phase!
Nascent Soul late stage middle phase!
Nascent Soul late stage late phase!
Only one step away from Divine Transformation stage!
Chu Sang's cultivation speed as an Innate Fire Spirit Root was absolutely incomparable to other spirit roots. Her slow cultivation speed before was partly due to her damaged spirit root, and partly because most of the spiritual energy absorbed by her spirit root was given to Qin Xixue.
Her spirit root had long been repaired, but her cultivation speed couldn't improve later, precisely because of the second reason.
However, later, she also regained full control of her Innate Fire Spirit Root. The spirit root in Qin Xixue's body was probably almost necrotic, unable to obtain excess spiritual energy from her anymore. Chu Sang's cultivation speed had long since returned, advancing by leaps and bounds.
Chu Sang could completely ride this momentum to break through to Divine Transformation on the spot.
However, repeatedly advancing realms in a short time easily leads to unstable realms. Even if the realm advances quickly, it's more harmful than beneficial for later cultivation. Chu Sang wanted to become stronger, but she wasn't someone who sought quick success and instant benefits. There was no need to deliberately pursue breakthrough speed at the cost of shaking her foundation. So she forcefully suppressed her Divine Transformation qi. Of course, there was another equally important reason—she wasn't sure if she could withstand the Divine Transformation stage's tribulation lightning.
Last time, the Nascent Soul stage tribulation lightning nearly took her life. This Divine Transformation stage tribulation lightning probably wouldn't even give her a chance of nine deaths and one life, or a narrow escape from death. It would directly send her to meet the founding ancestors. No, she probably wouldn't even be able to meet the founding ancestors. Her three hun and seven po would most likely be obliterated by the lightning.
Just accidentally exposing a hint of Divine Transformation aura, a large patch of black clouds gathered above her head. This was just the tip of the iceberg. As time passed, more and more thunder clouds gathered, getting thicker and lower, almost pressing down on her head, dark and heavy. Purple-gold heavenly lightning rolled. Even a single lightning thread in the cloud layer was comparable to a main lightning bolt from her previous Nascent Soul stage tribulation!
Chu Sang was rarely so hesitant. She didn't break through that last layer of bottleneck, now as thin as paper, suppressing her strength below the Divine Transformation stage.
The thunder clouds quickly dispersed again.
Even though she hadn't truly broken through to Divine Transformation stage, her strength had reached Divine Transformation level. To use a more professional term, half-step Divine Transformation.
Just half a step away from entering Divine Transformation.
Compared to Nascent Soul late stage, it was a vast gap.
The moment the mirror image broke through the bottleneck with its sword, Chu Sang suddenly opened her eyes. A flash of red light passed through the depths of her eyes. She directly stood up and grabbed the black sword in the mirror image's hand. At the same time, her left hand violently struck the mirror image!
One palm, just one palm, sent the mirror image flying hundreds of meters. With a boom, its body was fiercely nailed to the stone wall. Then Chu Sang's figure suddenly flashed in front of it, one hand gripping its neck. In the mirror image's terrified reflected pupils, the young woman looked down, her eyes full of coldness. Finally, another black sword materialized in her palm, mercilessly piercing into the mirror image's body without hesitation.
The mirror image completely dissipated and disappeared.
As the mirror image was destroyed by one sword strike, the surrounding mirror surfaces also shattered.
Chu Sang returned to the real world. There were still over a hundred small spaces formed by mirror surfaces. All the disciples who came were trapped in a mirror world.
Currently, it seemed she was the only one who had come out of the mirror world?
It looked like she was the first to come out.
After coming out, Chu Sang didn't relax. She carefully observed the operational patterns of the mirror surfaces while reviewing her winning method from earlier.
The mirror images projected by the mirror surfaces didn't continuously change according to the original body.
In other words, the appearance, strength, and everything about the mirror person were fixed at the moment it walked out of the mirror.
The mirror person didn't change after being projected by the mirror surface.
The reason Chu Sang decided to break through her realm temporarily was that she discovered this not-quite-a-bug bug—The wounds on the mirror image's body were not equivalent to hers. After she took pills to heal her wounds, the wounds on the mirror image didn't disappear, still remaining the same.
At that time, Chu Sang had to reasonably guess, was it possible that the mirror person no longer changed once formed? From then on, it became an independent entity, with no other connection to the original body.
In other words, if her realm suddenly improved, the mirror image's realm would still remain the same, with no changes at all.
Of course, no matter how reasonable this guess was, it was still just a guess.
The only way to turn the guess into fact was to take a risk and gamble!
If the mirror image advanced along with her, the situation would become a complete deadlock.
But she guessed right, and her gamble paid off. She succeeded!
Crack—
Another mirror surface shattered.
Mo Qingchen was the second person to come out.
His cultivation had also broken through to Divine Transformation mid-stage. It seemed he had also discovered the mirror image's bug like her, forcibly breaking through his realm for a quick win.
However, compared to Chu Sang's ease, the young man looked much more disheveled. His black clothes had darkened by several shades. If it weren't for the uneven bloody footprints he left as he staggered, Chu Sang would have thought he was as calm and collected as he appeared on the surface.
"Here, don't force yourself."
Chu Sang casually tossed him a bottle of healing pills. Mo Qingchen didn't refuse, silently accepting it and walking to her side to sit down and adjust his body.
Chu Sang originally wanted to try if she could help others break the mirror surfaces, but unfortunately found that these mirror surfaces could only be broken from the inside. She had no way to help, and could only silently wish in her heart that the other disciples would show some spirit. She didn't want to spend money on over two hundred sets of spirit money.
As the sun slowly rose in the east and set in the west, Chu Sang took out a fruit, took a couple of bites, and waited to see who would be the next person to break through the mirror surface.
She speculated whether it would be Senior Sister or Shang Ziling?
When she saw the blue-robed young man approaching, as colorful as a peacock, she was stunned for a moment. She never expected the third person to come out would be Fifth Senior Brother? It was completely unexpected!
There wasn't a single wound on his body. He was fanning himself quite stylishly, a cool breeze of ease. He looked even better than Chu Sang, not like someone who had just fought a life-and-death battle with a mirror image, but more like someone who had just come out of a brothel after drinking.
It was... quite an unusual scene.
She jumped down from the rock and curiously asked, "Fifth Senior Brother, how did you get out?"
Su Chen'an closed his folding fan, sounding somewhat resentful, "I originally thought this Double-Faced Mirror would have great power. Who knew it was such a coward! I actively gave it the opportunity to come out, but that mirror image didn't appreciate my kindness? I hadn't done anything yet, and the mirror image sent me out!" Looking at the two of them, he was surprised, "Little Junior Sister, aren't you the same?"
Chu Sang, who had nearly gambled her life away: ......
Mo Qingchen, who had exchanged stabs with his mirror image: ......
What? So everyone's mirror image battles had different scenes?!
After Chu Sang's detailed questioning of Fifth Senior Brother, she finally realized. Oh, it wasn't that everyone's scenes were different, only Fifth Senior Brother's scene was rather unique.
He and his mirror image tried to outdo each other in slacking off. Neither wanted to go out, whoever wanted to go out could go out. After all, going out only meant being exploited as a tool-refining worker by the sect and Little Junior Sister.
Su Chen'an and the mirror image had a small fight in between, betting on—whoever lost would go out to work as a laborer.
Then the two fought to a draw.
Su Chen'an sighed, lamenting about working 996 every day, and now still owing 300 orders for reserved magical tools at the Treasure Pavilion that hadn't been refined yet. He wanted the mirror image to go out and take over.
Then... then the mirror image kicked him out.
End of story.
Fifth Senior Brother gripped his folding fan tightly, his smile somewhat gritting his teeth. The resentment of a working person was almost materializing into black energy.
Chu Sang and Mo Qingchen both fell silent for a second.
Alright, alright, so even mirror images are afraid of 996?
Seeing Fifth Senior Brother's resentment that was almost turning him into a demon, Chu Sang thought kindly that she should give him some time off in the future.
Chu Sang paused, her gaze drawn to Mu Chihuai not far away. She had originally thought that since she and Mo Qingchen came out first, the sword cultivators would probably break through faster. Unexpectedly, after half a day, there was still no fourth person to break through.
The sword cultivators' strength was strong enough, but the mirror images' strength was equally strong.
Compared to the sword cultivators over there with their flashing blades and swords, each move deadly, the pill cultivators' side was much more harmonious. Both the original person and the mirror image were weaklings, not fond of fighting and killing or competing with brute force. Some pill cultivators even sat cross-legged to discuss life philosophy with their mirror images.
Mu Chihuai had a few exchanges with his mirror image at first, originally wanting to poison the other to death, but unexpectedly, the mirror image could also detoxify.
"Since we can't determine a winner through fighting, why don't we have a pill-refining competition? Let's use our own methods to decide the victor, how about it?" The young man smiled, his eyes curving, looking completely harmless.
The mirror image didn't think much and agreed.