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In ancient times, there was a saying about lingering spirits, and now Hen Duan has returned to Yu Long and his disciples in this very way. Like someone who has found an opponent they have never faced before, Hen Duan enjoys the challenge that forces him to use illusions. After several rounds of combat with Yu Long, Hen Duan shows no signs of losing ground, even gathering malevolent energy into a purple orb and launching it at Yu Long.
As Yu Long jumps back to the ground, he immediately uses vitality to create a protective shield to block the attack. Luo Yue seizes the opportunity to follow up with a Sky Dry Butterfly Dance, pushing Hen Duan back.
"Little girl, taking advantage of others' misfortunes is not good character. But I do like your approach," Hen Duan sneers, instantly flashing in front of Luo Yue, extending his hand filled with malevolent energy. The purple glow envelops Luo Yue, and a gust of wind ruffles her hair, while another blue light shields him.
"You have a point, but bullying a girl is not something a man should do!" Ran Xing exclaims as he opens his vitality to absorb Hen Duan's attack and pushes him away, ready to pursue. However, Hen Duan flashes behind him again, using his eagle claw hand aimed directly at Ran Xing's eyes. Two beams of light illuminate the forest at night, sending leaves tumbling from the trees around them.
Luo Yue quickly realizes her situation and swiftly creates distance from Hen Duan, while Fire, along with Shao Meng and Yu Long, surrounds Hen Duan from three directions.
"Kid, your skills as a Four Valiant Constables are quite rare; you can actually withstand my malevolent attack," Ran Xing responds coolly to Hen Duan's compliment.
"Why be so surprised? Water flow can make your attacks feel like nothing!" Ran Xing grins wickedly, quickly changing his hand position as his vitality flows. Surprisingly, he easily tosses Hen Duan several steps away with his technique.
Just as Hen Duan is taken aback, he senses the rushing vitality coming from behind him and reaches out to catch Shao Meng's fire-based attack. Although his opening was somewhat awkward, it doesn't matter; since they are just Four Valiant Constables, they are not enough to force him to use his full strength.
At this moment, a strange scene unfolds—Ran Xing and Hen Duan face each other without any movement.
"Ran Xing, dodge!" Yu Long shouts loudly as he prepares to activate his technique. Behind him, both Luo Yue and Shao Meng are startled: why is this kid standing still?
"Don't worry; this kid has thought of something," Shao Meng reassures as he observes. Indeed, it seems that Ran Xing has prepared some new strategy.
"But..." With skepticism, Luo Yue looks forward and suddenly notices that in mid-air above Ran Xing, Hen Duan's attack has already been launched and is dangerously close.
At that moment, Ran Xing, looking at himself reflected in a puddle of dirty water on the ground, comes up with an idea.
It turns out that water acts like a mirror; we can see our own reflection on its surface. If it freezes into ice, it can shatter these false images to reveal true techniques. Although currently restricted by the reversed effect of the Five Elements Seal, this technique of gathering water into ice successfully misleads Hen Duan, exposing his back.
This move is one that Ran Xing often reads about in ancient texts—Water Attribute: Ice Shadow Break. From the enemy's perspective, the user appears motionless, drawing their attacks while the illusory ice shadow shatters, allowing the attacker to discover the target's true form. Utilizing this characteristic, the sender can find an opportunity to reorganize their offense or defense. By transforming himself into an ice shadow, Ran Xing attracts Hen Duan's proactive attack while the malevolent energy orb approaches the position of the ice shadow.
With a sound of shattering ice, the illusory body of Ran Xing disappears. The real him seizes this gap to leap behind Hen Duan, launching a punch infused with his vitality that knocks him down from mid-air before quickly retreating back to join Yu Long.
With a smile, Shao Meng notes that this kid seems to have finally woken up. He then gives a signal to Luo Yue, and the three stand around Yu Long. As soon as Hen Duan lands on the ground, Yu Long takes advantage of the situation to activate Giant Wood Mystique. Just as he stands up, he is immediately immobilized by the light of Yu Long's vitality; when it dissipates, the scene before him has transformed entirely.
Leaves cover the path beneath their feet; the wind before dawn blows them aside as Yu Long stands before Hen Duan, flanked by his three students who await his command.
"What's wrong? Do you need this illusion to unleash your power? Is the great Tai Chi Swordsman really so timid?" asks Hen Duan. However, this question does not concern Yu Long, for this scene is one he meticulously prepared; beneath their feet lies no sand or soil but decayed trees, shrubs, broken stumps, and fallen leaves—there are no elements of earth for Hen Duan to manipulate.
"It is said that while the Six Hen may rival the great heroes above them, they may not measure up to the four valiant constables below; it seems there is truth in that. However, your fixation on whether this is an illusion is unnecessary because whether it is or not, since I invited you here, you must enjoy it thoroughly," murmurs Yu Long, swiftly taking position to launch an attack. Following closely behind him is Ran Xing, while both Shao Meng and Luo Yue keep watch behind them for any movements from Hen Duan.
"Is that so? I recall there’s an unwritten rule among heroes: perhaps it's unspoken but boasting leads to dire consequences!" remarks an unfazed Hen Duan, charging toward both Yu Long and Ran Xing. To his surprise, he easily breaks through their combined assault just as he had anticipated.
Yet an unusual intuition arises within him; everything seems too easy. Through the smoke created by colliding vitality and malevolence, this intuition proves correct: once again facing that four-element kid's technique—Ice Shadow Break—unbeknownst to him as water nourishes wood. As soon as he leaps into action at that moment when he sees Hen Duan strike out again using Ice Shadow Break again creates illusions of himself and Yu Long .
As Hen Duan turns around in an instant two streams of vitality rush toward him—that's Shao Meng and Luo Yue ’s combined assault!
Hen Duan leaps up but miscalculates; he gets hit by Luo Yue ’s Sky Dry Butterfly Dance and crashes down onto the ground littered with decayed trees.
In the dark forest at night, Yu Long continues unleashing his technique while Ran Xing and their companions observe closely; it’s evident that Hen Duan has sustained several injuries. Luo Yue immediately begins probing for information and discovers that their previous attacks during the illusion indeed had an effect— Hen Duan has been injured to some extent. But how can they break through that troublesome Deathly Curse technique?
"How's it going?" Shao Meng leaned closer to Luo Yue, staring at the unmoving Hen Duan, then glanced at the retracted probing Luo Yue.
"It worked, but there's still something to worry about," Luo Yue recalled Hen Duan's earlier words. That move, Deathly Curse—Indestructible Soul, would be used at a critical moment to protect himself from a fatal blow. So far, however, there had been no signs or details indicating its use. How should they resolve this?
"What if it's similar to the logic of a swordsman?" Shao Meng suddenly remembered that during her battle with Long Shan, the opponent always made a noticeable movement before mobilizing a large amount of vitality, such as stepping back, taking a bow stance, or lowering their body. If Hen Duan were to use this move, would there be a clear action indicating it?
"That's possible. But just like the mobilization of vitality, I felt that Teacher Yu Long's vitality suddenly surged to a peak just now, and now it has calmed down a bit," Luo Yue nodded in agreement with this line of thought. Since probing could detect vitality, it could also sense malicious intent—specifically, any sudden increase or decrease in Hen Duan's malicious intent at certain moments.
"Good idea. However, just now, Hen Duan should have made a stationary movement right before he charged at me. We both faced each other without moving; one side had to strike first. Didn't that give us an opportunity?" Ran Xing recalled the scene where she faced Hen Duan's sudden stillness and felt a chill pass over her head before immediately using Ice Shadow Break; waiting even a moment longer could have led to her being taken out directly.
The group discussed strategies while the falling leaves obscured the moonlight. They closed their eyes and returned to the illusion; the battle continued.
Luo Yue took the lead from Ran Xing and Yu Long and initiated an attack on the grounded Hen Duan. As Luo Yue rushed forward before landing, she saw Hen Duan clearly jump back and sweep his leg toward her throat. She immediately unleashed vitality to interrupt Hen Duan's movement and then countered with a kick that knocked him to the ground.
Hen Duan shook his head and slowly stood up. It seemed he had underestimated this girl; she indeed had some skills. Hen Duan cracked his knuckles and began to walk slowly around Luo Yue.
A leaf swept through the air as Luo Yue quickly observed her surroundings from her position. She heard the rustling of leaves falling and an indistinct sound of wind nearby, which made her react instantly by activating vitality to block Hen Duan's palm strike. A cold purple-black light flashed across Luo Yue's face as she pushed aside Hen Duan's arm with her palm, then saw Luo Yue swiftly circling around Hen Duan's arm toward his face, delivering a palm strike infused with vitality that pushed him away.
However, this was yet another feint from Hen Duan. As Luo Yue landed, she began observing her surroundings again. But Hen Duan had already charged toward the bewildered Ran Xing.
Luo Yue immediately activated Sky Dry Butterfly Dance; golden giant butterflies transformed into countless small butterflies that flew toward Hen Duan in the distance. It seemed that Ran Xing sensed something was wrong and quickly jumped back; the airborne Hen Duan was hit again but this time struck only an illusionary form. Luo Yue was becoming impatient. "Damn it, both are like this."
Before she could think further, another sound came from beside her; Luo Yue reacted again as Ran Xing quickly arrived behind her and kicked back the illusionary Hen Duan that had reappeared.
The two stood back-to-back, anxiously assessing where Hen Duan's true form might be located.
"Eight directions; two have already appeared... six remain," Luo Yue recalled her experience during Teacher Yu Long's trial—eight directions with eight points; if three were broken, five remained. How could they determine the final position?
While they hesitated, one of Hen Duan's illusions charged toward Shao Meng. Shao Meng looked up just in time to see the illusion attempting a sweeping kick attack from mid-air and immediately dodged out of the way. Then she curved her arm to block the sweeping kick; its force surprised Shao Meng, but she calmly assumed an eagle claw stance in preparation for battle.
Hen Duan struck first; his fingers shot toward Shao Meng's throat like sword tips. Shao Meng withdrew into a horse stance and quickly stepped forward while launching a high kick at Hen Duan’s head. At that moment, she shifted her position just enough to push him back by mere inches before activating vitality to evade another punch aimed at her throat from Hen Duan as he got back up, clapping her hands together to deflect his follow-up attack and then shattering the fourth illusionary form with a strike.
Ran Xing and Luo Yue were not falling behind either; relying on sound and falling leaves alone allowed Luo Yue to pinpoint the direction of the fifth attack—it was right in front of them!
The two jumped up simultaneously; Ran Xing unleashed vitality against the ground, creating a cloud of dust while Luo Yue rapidly closed in on Hen Duan. Ran Xing was startled and hurriedly followed to catch up with the anxious Luo Yue.
However, as Luo Yue landed, Hen Duan’s high kick followed suit; she immediately executed a stomp aimed at his knee while Ran Xing rushed in behind her. Seeing Ran Xing successfully repel Hen Duan with a burst of vitality gave Luo Yue an opening to follow up with Sky Dry Butterfly Dance once more, shattering the sixth illusion...
But as soon as she withdrew her attack, both remaining illusions along with his true form converged above Teacher Yu Long’s head—the so-called capture-the-thief-first-capture-the-king strategy dictated that since the starting point of this illusion lay with Yu Long, defeating him would allow her to use Deathly Curse—Indestructible Soul to withstand any attacks from this illusion against her real world and wipe out these swordsmen within it once and for all!
"What!" The three were alarmed and immediately retreated toward Teacher Yu Long’s direction.
At that moment, a critical action unfolded before them in reality: Hen Duan had begun channeling his hands to unleash malicious intent—Omen!
Luo Yue immediately activated probing and realized her earlier judgment was correct; she quickly relayed this information to Yu Long and the others.
"He moved! And his malicious intent is rising! It's happening soon!" Luo Yue retracted probing and waited alongside Shao Meng for Ran Xing’s next move.
"Alright then! If he wants to move, let's freeze him!" Ran Xing instantly unleashed vitality, encasing everything within ten steps around herself in ice centered on her position—including Hen Duan’s distance from Fire—and upon probing again, Luo Yue found that the gathering of malicious intent had slowed down significantly.
What stood before Yu Long was seeing three layers of solid ice enveloping each of the three illusions of Hen Duan above him in this illusion!
Yu Long realized the moment had come and immediately opened his eyes, which had been closed for a long time. In the illusion, the decaying trees transformed into vitality and concentrated towards Yu Long, gradually morphing into a giant dragon under Yu Long's Technique. This was the killing move Yu Long had attempted to use against Shang Qing last time— Wind Attribute: Yu Long's Green Shadow.
This move would gather vitality, gradually turning it into a dragon that could shoot straight out or descend from the sky, causing a large-scale explosion upon impact. Its power was immense, but it also consumed a lot of vitality, and while using this move, one’s position would be fixed, making it extremely easy to interrupt.
“Finally, it's time! Wind Attribute: Yu Long's Green Shadow!” Yu Long shouted. The giant dragon instantly devoured the bodies of three Hen Duan, and the black shadows vanished in an instant. However, the Hen Duan frozen by Ran Xing remained starkly in front of the four.
Seeing Teacher Yu Long retract his Technique, Shao Meng immediately added fire vitality, burning the severely injured Hen Duan out of the solid ice, causing him to drop to one knee, gasping for breath.
Hen Duan was about to flee when Luo Yue’s detection had already locked him in place, so he decided to reveal his trump card.
Thus, Hen Duan hastily got up, preparing to use another Evil Thought Technique, sacrificing his own life to detonate this place and take these guys down with him.
“Good, good, good! You’ve truly left a deep impression on me. But Yu Long, this grand gift has been saved just for you!” Hen Duan suddenly laughed ominously as a massive cage formed from an enormous Earth attribute evil thought descended from above. Yu Long sneered.
“Is that all you have?”
Hen Duan continued his speech, claiming that if he caused an explosion, it would affect an area of fifty miles around them, blowing apart all plants and animals in that region. Even if it were the Tai Chi Swordsman, he would be left with injuries. This was his last attempt to make a final stand since he could no longer return to claim credit.
Yu Long sneered again and waved his hand with a smile: “Alright then, I’ll send you fifty miles away!”
In an instant, a pillar of towering vitality shot up from beneath Hen Duan, sending him and the barrier flying. Soon after, a piercing explosion echoed through the air. After some time, blue vitality gradually began to converge towards Ran Xing.
“It’s vitality, Water Attribute’s vitality. Could it be that the seal in the north has been broken?” Luo Yue exclaimed in shock.
Naturally, Ran Xing hadn’t yet pieced together the cause and effect, while Shao Meng, glancing towards the south, slowly said: “The five elements restrain each other. Since Hen Duan is earth and was sent north by Teacher Yu Long, earth is restrained by water. Consider it lending a helping hand!”
The group laughed heartily; only one remaining seal of the Fire Attribute had yet to be broken.
Meanwhile, on his way, Shang Qing seemed to have noticed the breaking of the Water Attribute seal and couldn’t help but snort coldly in his heart. Was this really help? How ridiculous!
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