Techniques and Dao

Chapter 17 The Battle of Candlelight (3)

Hearing the voice behind him, Hua Sheng turned around abruptly.

It turned out that Taishang Xiaojun was standing behind him.

"Supreme Lord! I was worried I couldn't find you! Where did you run off to?" Hua Sheng shouted joyfully.

"That's what I should be asking. You rushed in so fast right at the start, are you trying to get eliminated?" Tai Shang Xiao Jun slowly stepped forward and said, "You can't be so hasty in the Tianmu Trial. Every oversight will lead to instant elimination. So most participants, the faster they rush in, the sooner they leave the field."

"It's because I lack experience," Hua Sheng said, scratching his head.

"You need to be even more cautious if you lack experience. You think you can challenge Tianjizi like this? You might just end up killing yourself. Just thinking about it makes my palms sweat."

"I admit I was careless, okay?" Hua Sheng quickly changed the subject away from himself. "Did you see those two people who suddenly disappeared?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun stroked his chin and said, "Two people? I saw one when I arrived. So one of them had already disappeared before that?"

"Yes! I don't know what's wrong with the glass dome of this candle. I touched it before entering this foggy forest, and nothing happened."

"It must have been a trap deliberately set during the battle of candlelight."

"trap?"

“Not bad. Eliminate the trial participants.” Tai Shang Xiao Jun pointed to the surrounding mist and said, “It seems that many of the candlelight we see on this mountain are traps.”

"Where did all those who fell into the trap go?" Hua Sheng asked.

"Let me take a look." Taishang Xiaojun stepped forward and softly chanted, "Transformation Spell! So be it! Release!"

The candlelight on the ground suddenly became crooked and then disappeared.

Hua Sheng said, "Why is there nothing left?"

"Just as I thought." Tai Shang Xiao Jun smiled slightly. "This teleportation spell must have been placed here as a magic array long ago, and with the aid of illusion magic, it looks like a candle flame. Once touched, one is instantly teleported to another place."

"Where will they be teleported to? The disciples of the Magic Academy have varying levels of magical skill. How can we guarantee that those with stronger magical power will also be teleported out?"

"The Teleportation Spell, if cast on someone, will teleport them further away if the victim's magical abilities are lower. The higher the magical abilities, the farther they will be teleported. But the trick is that it only needs to teleport the victim several miles away," said Tai Shang Xiao Jun. "Moreover, these were probably set up by the immortal masters, so most of the disciples of the Xiyuan Academy will fall victim to them if they touch them."

"All we need to do is get them out of Guangji Mountain," Hua Sheng immediately understood. "That way, the trial participants will be automatically eliminated!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun nodded: "That's why traps placed in this fog are most likely to confuse people. If they were at the foot of the mountain, with good visibility, anyone who falls for the trap would be seen by others, which would easily arouse their vigilance."

"So, most of the candlelight in this foggy forest is untouchable," Hua Sheng said, his brow furrowed. "But how can one tell if a candlelight is real or fake just by looking at it?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun said, "After taking a closer look, I believe there is a way to break this candle illusion."

"How to solve it?"

"temperature."

"Temperature?" Hanamori repeated, then suddenly realized, "That's right! Fire is hot."

"Perhaps the Fire and Thunder Immortal Master deliberately left a flaw. Hua Sheng, you only need to touch the flame with your hand, and you can immediately tell whether it is a real candle flame or an illusion based on the temperature."

Hua Sheng immediately understood, and the two of them flew towards the mountaintop on clouds.

Along the way, they did see two or three more candles. Hua Sheng held his hand to the flames, and despite the distance, he did not feel any heat. Tai Shang Xiao Jun also gave the same conclusion as him: "It's an illusion."

“In that case, let’s continue our ascent to the top of Mount Tian!” said Taishang Xiaojun.

The two flew for a long time before the thick fog gradually began to dissipate. A clear night sky appeared before them, and once visibility improved, Hua Sheng hurriedly glanced at the fire character floating in the sky.

"Trial participants: 1,503 people."

Number of candles: fifty-seven.

So many disciples had fallen into the trap of that mist! Hua Sheng secretly rejoiced that he had escaped a calamity. By the moonlight, he and Taishang Xiaojun searched the mountains and forests, hoping to find the true trace of the candlelight. But after searching for a while, they found nothing.

Hua Sheng was a little anxious and said, "Logically, there should still be more than fifty lamps left, but now we can't find a single one?"

"It's perfectly normal not to find it. Do you remember the tiger spirit at the very beginning of the game?"

"That disciple who destroyed the vast majority of the candles in one fell swoop?"

“That’s right. That roar must have shattered the glass covers of the candles on the mountain. Outdoor candles are easily extinguished by the wind, but indoor ones might not. That means the remaining ones must be inside caves or buildings. So wandering around outside is useless. We need to find a place where we can hide candles.”

Upon hearing this, Hua Sheng immediately looked up at the mountaintop. There, perched atop a steep cliff, stood a three-story wooden building.

"There it is! Such a large building, there should be candles hidden inside." Hua Sheng pointed to the building. Upon hearing this, Tai Shang Xiao Jun rushed over together.

In no time, the two arrived at the building's main entrance. Hua Sheng pushed open the door, and sure enough, there was a row of candles at the far end of the empty lobby. Unfortunately, the candles had all gone out. The two looked around and saw a staircase leading directly to the second floor, so they quickly ran up the stairs.

The second floor remained empty. Undeterred, Hua Sheng ran straight up to the third floor.

He had only run halfway when he saw the candlelight upstairs. A surge of joy welled up inside him, and he quickened his pace, running up to the third floor.

Before me stood four rows of candles, numbering over fifty in total.

"Great..." Hua Sheng was about to cheer when he suddenly saw someone he least wanted to see standing in front of the four rows of candles.

"Tianjizi!" Hua Sheng blurted out.

The person before me was none other than Tianjizi.

Hearing someone approaching, Tianjizi turned around and immediately spotted Huasheng. "Isn't this the mole ant? I didn't expect you to be able to climb all the way to the top of the mountain."

"Not only am I coming!" Hua Sheng said, "I'm going to win the 'Victorious Buddha's Pass'!"

"Hahaha! You think you're worthy to meet the Victorious Fighting Buddha Sun Wukong?" Tianjizi laughed loudly. "Aren't you afraid of being laughed at for having such a pipe dream?"

"I think that dreams that are ridiculed as impossible are the ones that have value in being realized."

Tianjizi said, "You're quite arrogant, and you even have a Supreme Master next to you to go crazy with you..."

Just then, Tianjizi's smile suddenly froze. Taishang Xiaojun, who had been standing next to Huasheng just moments before, had vanished without a trace. He heard a whoosh of wind behind him, turned around, and saw that Taishang Xiaojun had somehow appeared behind him, holding two candles in her hands.

Tianjizi reached out to snatch it, but it was too late. Taishang Xiaojun leaped backward, narrowly avoiding Tianjizi's palm.

"Tianjizi, please continue your conversation. I won't disturb you any longer!"

With that, Taishang Xiaojun shielded the candle flame with his hand and shouted with a smug expression, "Candle flame in hand!"

Before the words were finished, a muffled thud was heard. Tai Shang Xiao Jun's head hit the beam, and he fell heavily to the floor along with the two candle flames.

The candle flame snapped into several pieces in an instant, and the flames were inevitably destroyed.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun rolled on the ground, clutching the back of his head, and cried out, "Ouch! It hurts so much!"

Hua Sheng ran forward to help him up. Tai Shang Xiao Jun rubbed the back of his head and said irritably, "What bad luck! You were too smug."

“I’m afraid you’d better not try too many tricks in front of me,” Tianjizi said expressionlessly, “lest you suffer more losses than gains.”

Hua Sheng turned around and whispered to Tai Shang Xiao Jun, "You fly from the upper left, and I'll fly to the lower right. Let's see which side he can hold."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun nodded, and the two flew out at the same time. Tian Ji Zi moved and instantly appeared in front of Hua Sheng, who immediately reached out and grabbed Tian Ji Zi's arm.

"Let's see how you can defeat the two of us by yourself!" Hua Sheng clung tightly to Tian Jizi's arms.

On the other side, Taishang Xiaojun hopped to the rows of candles and grabbed two. Tianjizi flicked a finger, extinguishing the two candles instantly. Taishang Xiaojun threw away the extinguished candles and tried to grab the remaining ones, but wherever her hand touched, Tianjizi flicked them out with his finger.

After a while, most of the dozens of candles went out.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Tianjizi shook his entire body, sending Huasheng, who was holding him, flying more than ten feet away. He stretched out his hand and shouted, "Wind Control Spell! So be it!" In an instant, Taishang Xiaojun was blown away by a strong wind.

Before he could react, Tai Shang Xiao Jun crashed into the wooden window and was instantly blown outside the wooden building. The cold wind outside immediately blew into the house, and when he saw the wind, he knew something was wrong. He hurriedly chanted a spell, turned around and flew back into the house, closing the window and doors behind him.

But just as he had feared, when Taishang Xiaojun returned to the room, it was almost completely dark. The wind-controlling spell he had just used, combined with the cold mountain winds that had entered through the doors and windows, had extinguished almost all the remaining candles. The only one still lit was the candle closest to Tianjizi.

Tianjizi barely even looked at the position of the candlelight. He held up two fingers and said, "How can a mere ant win this candlelight battle? You, Taishang Xiaojun, might have a slight chance of winning. But with this good-for-nothing carrying you, the outcome is hard to say."

Having said that, Tianjizi pinched two fingers together, and with a soft hiss, a wisp of green smoke rose. The only candle in the room went out. Then, a white light surrounded Tianjizi, and he disappeared into the white light.

(End of this chapter)