Techniques and Dao

Chapter 20 The Battle of Candlelight (6)

It's not one candle burning and the other going out. It's two candles burning clearly!
Tiger Spirit was overjoyed, thinking to himself: I can't believe my luck! They're all here! But then he became puzzled.

"Strange! How could the statistics for the Heavenly Eye Trial be wrong! It clearly shows one lamp."

Tiger Spirit suddenly raised his head and looked up into the sky.

"Trial participants: 292."

Number of candles: Two.

"How did it become two candles again? How could the candle flame go out and then be relit?"

If extinguished candles can be relit, what's the point of this trial? Wouldn't it mean that all extinguished candles can be relit? Tiger Spirit's mind suddenly went blank.

I can't worry about that now. Two lamps are perfect! Not only can I sell them, but I also get a free spot and can advance to the next round. That little ant flower display was a complete waste of time; it didn't interfere with anything I was doing.

Tiger Spirit snorted and bent down to pick up the candle. But before his hand could touch it, he was suddenly thrown several feet backward with a whoosh. When he came to his senses, he found himself lying on the muddy ground by the lotus pond.

He had no idea how he had flown out of the lotus pond and slipped on the muddy edge. He landed almost face-first, completely humiliated. He scrambled to his feet in a huff and looked around, but couldn't find a soul in sight.

"Who! Which bastard attacked me? Who was it!" Hu Ling shouted, but there was silence all around.

Looking further ahead, Hu Ling froze. Beside the candlelight at the bottom of the pool, someone was standing there, seemingly out of nowhere.

That figure looked familiar. Hu Ling seemed to have seen him somewhere before; that's right, it was the rich young master who asked him to buy candles.

"How did you get here? Who told you my candlelight was hidden here?" Tiger Spirit gritted his teeth.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun scratched the back of his head and said in a deliberately sarcastic tone, "Oh dear! Senior brother, you're mistaken! I must first correct a grammatical error on your part. Since these candles are placed at the bottom of this lotus pond, and there are no names written on them, they could be yours, or they could belong to anyone else. For example, they could even be mine. Don't you think so?"

Tiger Spirit was furious and yelled, "I didn't tell anyone. How did you know I was here?"

"I don't know," said Taishang Xiaojun.

"So how did you get here?"

"It was you who used teleportation magic to bring me to this place."

"Nonsense! When I was casting my spell, no one around me touched me. Not even a mole ant touched me, not even an insect!"

Taishang Xiaojun said, "Who said I touched you? It was you who touched me."

"I don't believe you! When did I ever touch you?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun lowered his head, looked at his shoes, and said, "You stepped on my foot."

Tiger Spirit roared, "Impossible! I didn't!"

“You have it. Of course you have it.” Tai Shang Xiao Jun said slowly, “The room you were just in is mine.”

Tiger Spirit was stunned and speechless for a moment. He was certain that no one had touched him, but he couldn't deny that he had indeed stepped on the floor of that room.

If he stands on the floor of that room, and that room is the person in front of him in disguise, then it's entirely possible that he came here with him!

"So you're in cahoots with that mole ant!" Tiger Spirit gritted his teeth. "What's with the fire character outside the window? That character was created by the Fire and Thunder Immortal Master. There's clearly only one candle left. How could it change as you think?"

“Indeed, the fire character created by the Immortal Master cannot be altered by my own immortal power. Even if I were to change it, the Fire and Thunder Immortal Master would still be able to detect it. But fortunately, there is an even simpler method: simply block those characters.” Tai Shang Xiao Jun stroked his chin. “That’s why I locked you in the dark room.”

"Did you transform the fire character outside the window?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun shook his head: "That was Hua Sheng's transformation. What do you think? It's a magic illusion-level immortal technique; it seems he's mastered it very well."

"Just a mesmerizing level!" Tiger Spirit stomped his foot in anger. "How could I not have seen through it!"

“You should have been able to see through it, but your mind was in turmoil at the time. Even I think Hua Sheng’s handwriting is a bit too thin, and the color and brightness of the flames are obviously amateurish. If the real and fake fire characters were placed side by side, perhaps anyone could tell them apart at a glance.”

"This is absolutely outrageous!"

“Binghu! You’re right, we are a bit despicable.” Taishang Xiaojun gave a thumbs up. “But the one who really deceived you may not be us. Everyone always thinks they can possess something forever, but what truly belongs to them may just be this illusion called a sense of ownership.”

Tiger Spirit was burning with rage, veins bulging on his forehead. He shouted at the lotus pond, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!"

He wanted to extinguish the candle flames with the pool water. He wanted to ensure that this arrogant young master in front of him got nothing.

But the water remained completely still, the pool water still lingering on either side of Taishang Xiaojun. Taishang Xiaojun then said, "In terms of magical arts, I'm afraid you are no match for me."

Tiger Spirit's eyes practically spit fire. He turned around, and his body rapidly grew enormous. Orange fur sprouted from his face and hands simultaneously, and his ears instantly moved from the sides to the top of his head. Along with this change, his fingernails began to lengthen, transforming into incredibly sharp black hooks. In no time, he had transformed into a magnificent, striped tiger weighing hundreds of pounds.

"Reveal yourself?" Tai Shang Xiao Jun said disdainfully, "Then we'll see what you're capable of."

Tiger Spirit slammed its two fan-sized claws into the ground, instantly creating two craters. Then, it stood upright, opened its blood-red maw, and let out a deafening roar at Tai Shang Xiao Jun. "The same trick twice, you think?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun raised his palm, instantly forming an invisible barrier half a zhang in front of him. The roar of the tiger spirit was blocked by the invisible barrier, causing the water in the lotus ponds on both sides to splash.

Then, Tai Shang Xiao Jun pulled his palm back and shouted, "Raise the stone and level the mountain!" As soon as he finished speaking, the invisible curtain wall flew straight towards Hu Ling like a solid wall, crashing heavily into Hu Ling's face. It actually sent Hu Ling flying three zhang away.

Before Hu Ling could even get up, Tai Shang Xiao Jun turned back to protect the two candle flames at the bottom of the pool, chanted an incantation, and vanished in a flash. As soon as Tai Shang Xiao Jun left, it was as if a thick pane of glass had been removed from the pool, and the water immediately merged from both sides. The water sloshed and churned as if boiling.

Tiger Spirit finally managed to get up, but seeing that all was lost, he beat his chest and stamped his feet, roaring to the sky.

"Damn it! I, Tiger Spirit, have fallen for your trick!"

Meanwhile, Hua Sheng was sitting cross-legged on a rock in a secluded spot in the mountains, meditating. Just as he had predicted, Hu Ling disappeared with Tai Shang Xiao Jun.

The two worked together flawlessly in this play. The only unexpected thing was that the magic power of the exquisite ring lasted longer than he had anticipated. That's why he had to talk to the tiger spirit for a long time to buy time. If he really couldn't buy time, he planned to secretly tell the Supreme Lord Xiaojun to reduce the magic power so that the tiger spirit could easily remove the exquisite ring.

The only purpose of that exquisite ring is to seal the tiger spirit's magical power, allowing him to glimpse the fake numbers I've conjured. If the tiger spirit doesn't notice anything amiss in that single glance, he'll surely become agitated. The plan will then be ninety percent successful.

Just as Hua Sheng was pondering this, a figure suddenly appeared before her.

It was Taishang Xiaojun who appeared before him, holding two candles. Hua Sheng immediately jumped up with joy and did a backflip: "I knew it would work!"

"That was close. But we made it through at least." Tai Shang Xiao Jun tossed a candle to Hua Sheng.

Hua Sheng quickly caught it and shouted, "Don't throw it around! What if it goes out?"

"Once you've eliminated me, I can go back to sleep." Tai Shang Xiao Jun yawned. "Otherwise, I'll have to stay up all night with you."

"Alright, alright! Didn't we pass the level? When is the next round?" Hua Sheng asked.

"I don't know. Maybe in a few days! I'm so sleepy, I need to go back and get some rest." Tai Shang Xiao Jun complained, opening the glass cover of the candle and extinguishing the flame with her fingers. Then, the same radiant light that she had shown before Tian Ji Zi appeared on her body and disappeared.

Hua Sheng looked up at the character for "fire" in the sky.

"Trial participants: 103 people."

Number of candles: One.

Hua Sheng gazed at the candlelight and took a deep breath.

"This Heavenly Eye Trial was incredibly difficult. But at least I passed it. I'll rest well and fight again another day!"

I should go and tell Wei Yu about this experience; maybe it will impress her. Hua Sheng thought, opening the glass dome and extinguishing the flames with her fingers.

With a soft hiss, the candle went out. Colorful light appeared on Hua Sheng's body, and everything before her eyes turned white.

After the white light, a huge rock the size of a water vat suddenly appeared in front of him, and this rock was flying straight toward his head!

Hua Sheng immediately shouted, "As the law commands!"

He braced his hands against the boulder, then shouted, "Split!"

He moved the boulder aside, and it shattered with a crash. In the distance, he saw dozens of disciples in academy uniforms besieging a young boy.

The boy dodged and weaved with incredible agility. Despite the attackers using various spells, none of them could get close to him.

Hua Sheng looked closely and realized that the one being besieged was actually Tian Jizi. And Tian Jizi was holding a piece of paper in his hand.

One of the attackers shouted, "Stop Tianjizi! Don't let him throw the numbers into the ring!"

Hua Sheng looked again and realized that she was inside a huge stalactite cave. The cave was filled with strange lights and bizarre rocks. The cave walls were covered with glowing moss, and torches were burning everywhere, illuminating the vast stalactite cave as if it were daytime.

High inside the cave, a circular ring hung in mid-air, its edges radiating golden sparks. For some reason, the disciples were preventing Tianjizi from placing the piece of paper in the ring.

Just as Hua Sheng was wondering what was going on, he saw Tai Shang Xiao Jun's back!

"Supreme Lord Xiaojun!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun was rubbing his temples and said, "Are you trying to kill me?"

"What happened? Why are these people chasing Tianjizi?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun did not answer, but simply pointed to the cave wall high up.

Hua Sheng observed carefully. The first thing that caught her eye was the four large characters carved on the cave wall:
"The Divine Mind Calculation Game".

(End of this chapter)