After the Immortal Disappeared

Chapter 365: Chapter 364: Taking Flight

However, a Mage mixed in with the crowd began to murmur a Spell, and the ground beneath Xuguang suddenly softened and caved in. It was so massive that it sank after just a couple of steps, unable to pull its feet free.

Hee Lingchuan shot Wu Jingsong a meaningful glance and jutted his chin toward the Mage. Wu Jingsong and his two companions immediately started climbing down the tree trunk.

The Mage was surrounded by soldiers, well-protected from any stray arrows.

Seeing his companions were ready, Xu Dongdong flicked his wrist and tossed something toward the Mage.

A soldier saw the object flying toward them and, thinking it was a stray arrow, casually knocked it aside with his weapon. But the moment it made contact, it exploded, releasing an impossibly rancid stench that filled the air.

The nearby soldiers were caught completely off guard, and one by one, they doubled over, vomiting uncontrollably.

The Mage could no longer maintain his Spell. He stumbled against the gate, retching violently.

A perfect opportunity!

Wu Jingsong and the others, who had already been taking aim, seized the chance to fire.

He had incredible luck. The Mage had just turned his head when the arrow struck him right in the mouth, sealing it shut for the time being.

However, Wu Jingsong and his companion also discovered that their sharp arrows couldn’t seem to kill these Ghosts; they could only damage the white paper figures they possessed.

No one could withstand the soul-assaulting stench. As the soldiers scattered, the mired giant bull seized the opportunity to wrench its hooves free and scramble back onto solid ground.

Enraged, it no longer bothered with a running start down the long street. It simply turned and charged.

A dozen or so of the Garrison soldiers were trampled to death, the Defensive Array shattered with a POP, and the wooden gates of the Martial Arts Arena exploded at the very same moment!

Now was the time.

With the Array broken, Hee Lingchuan leaped down from the tree, landing beside the Red Bird.

Outside the Mirror, the expression of Third Master Gan, who had been watching the battlefield the whole time, suddenly changed. ”Not good.”

He formed a Mantra with his fingers and was about to unleash a Divine Technique when he suddenly stopped. ”It’ll cost three years of my life? No way, absolutely not!”

”Once he gets out, you’re a dead man!”

Third Master Gan sneered. ”What’s that got to do with me? You’re the one who’s afraid he’ll come looking for payback!”

He muttered to himself as if playing two separate parts. Any outsider would have thought the man was schizophrenic.

In that brief moment of delay, Hee Lingchuan had already leaped into the Martial Arts Arena.

He first tossed an object at Qingxu’s feet, then spun around, drew Floating Life, and swung with all his might at the other Mage!

This strike condensed all his essence, qi, and spirit, yet it held not a shred of killing intent. It was as silent as a fine rain nourishing the earth.

And thanks to the effects of the Soul-Preventing Powder, he would remain invisible until the very moment he struck his enemy.

The Mage was focusing his power into the mirror in his arms when an unseen Qi Force suddenly pressed in. Before he even registered the danger, the red glow around his body flared for an instant and then shattered—his Protective Spiritual Artifact had been destroyed.

In the next instant, his head went flying.

Without its master, the mirror in his arms lost its glow and fell to the ground with a CLANG.

Meanwhile, the object Hee Lingchuan had thrown touched the ground and swelled in size—it was the golden armor copper man!

After transforming, it stood over fifteen feet tall and was incredibly burly. The very first thing it did upon appearing was to send Qingxu flying with a single punch!

With its power, a punch like that would have sent an ordinary person’s head flying from their shoulders.

Qingxu also had a Protective Spiritual Artifact. While it wasn’t destroyed, it didn’t stop him from being sent flying over thirty feet away.

The mirror-wielder’s position is critical. Once he was sent flying, his mirror failed as well, its light dimming.

With two of the six Dharma Mirrors out of commission, the Red Bird seized the chance to break free. It turned and spat several mouthfuls of True Flame at the remaining Mages in revenge, its body reverting to its original size.

Although the flames couldn’t kill them, they left the Mages in a sorry state.

In that brief opening, Hee Lingchuan leaped onto the shoulder of the golden armor copper man and shouted to Wu Jingsong and the others, ”Get down here!”

The three jumped down, clinging to the golden armor copper man’s shoulders and back.

As the Red Bird lowered its head to pull out an arrow, the golden armor copper man, under Hee Lingchuan’s control, leaped onto its back.

Outside the Mirror, Third Master Gan had finally reached an agreement with himself. He muttered an incantation and pointed a finger into the Mirror!

A beam of red light descended from the sky, enveloping Hee Lingchuan.

Marked in such a large, bold fashion, he naturally became the center of everyone’s attention.

Just then, General Youu arrived from down the long street. Seeing the red light, he drew his bow and fired without a moment’s hesitation.

It’s hard to say what sort of illusion Hee Lingchuan appeared as in the General’s eyes.

’Damn it!’ Hee Lingchuan hadn’t seen the General draw his bow, but a sudden warning flared in his mind. He quickly ducked under the golden armor copper man.

The golden armor copper man was clinging to the Red Bird’s neck, its body arched like a bow. By ducking underneath it, Hee Lingchuan was mostly safe.

A moment later, General Youu’s arrow arrived. With a THUD, it pierced the golden armor copper man’s arm and zipped right past Hee Lingchuan’s ear.

The arrow’s power was undeniable. The golden armor copper man was forged with Zhu Gold, making it resistant to blades, yet this arrow had pierced straight through its forearm.

With the General taking the lead, the Garrison soldiers swarmed into the Martial Arts Arena, thrusting their spears and pikes at the Red Bird.

The Red Bird, burdened by the extra weight, had wanted to shake the golden armor copper man off. But it couldn’t bear being stabbed by the swarm of tiny humans below, so it beat its wings and took to the sky, deciding to get away from the ground first.

A volley of arrows shot up from below. Especially wary of General Youu’s shots, the bird had no choice but to climb higher as fast as it could.

Wu Jingsong and Xu Dongdong scrambled under the golden armor copper man’s chest to take cover from the arrows. The third man, however, was a fraction too slow. He was riddled with arrows and plummeted to the ground.

Fortunately, the two survivors felt no grief. They simply shouted to Hee Lingchuan, ”What do we do now?”

He pointed to the bright moon in the sky. ”Fly toward the exit!”

As he spoke, the golden armor copper man gripped the Red Bird’s long neck and pulled upward, steering the Spiritual Bird higher into the sky.

”You insolent ants!” the Red Bird suddenly shrieked in human speech. ”Get off me!”

It was using all its strength to dodge the arrows from below; it had even evaded two shots from General Youu. Once it was high enough, it vowed to deal with the fleas on its back.

Wu Jingsong and his companion were completely bewildered; they couldn’t understand it.

Hee Lingchuan’s diligent study of the Immortal Language finally paid off. ”Carry us upward, and I won’t hurt you. How about it?”

”Hurt me?” The Red Bird cackled. ”You think you can?”

The bird’s cackle was hideous, completely devoid of any immortal grace. Hee Lingchuan drew his Floating Life Blade and made a light cut across its back.

Its skin split open, and its flesh tore.

The Red Bird felt a sharp pain in its back and cried out in shock, ”How can you possibly harm me?”

It possessed a Vajra Indestructible Body. Even those fools Flying with Magical Artifacts could only restrain it, not kill it. How could this insignificant pipsqueak break through its defenses with a single strike?

’You’re just a paper bird,’ Hee Lingchuan thought. ’In the face of the Floating Life Blade’s Void Shattering property, it’s all show and no substance. These things can fly through heaven and earth, fight and start fires, and look incredibly powerful, but who knows what rules this Illusion Realm even follows. In essence, though, it hasn’t changed. It’s still a paper doll driven by a Resentful Soul, which means Floating Life is its bane.’

That, too, was a rule of this place.

He had no idea how powerful a real Red Phoenix might be, but he knew for sure that this paper version could be cut by Floating Life.

Hee Lingchuan slashed it twice more, and the Red Bird finally relented. ”Where do you want to fly?”

”Toward the full moon.”

’Are these people insane?’ But with the Treasure Saber at its neck, the bird had no choice but to obey.

Hee Lingchuan wasted no time gathering intelligence. ”You’re the Red Phoenix?” The great bird’s features were easy enough to recognize.

”Obviously!”

”What’s General Youu’s full name?”

”Youu Shanming.”

”Why didn’t he kill you?” General Youu was capable of shooting down the Red Phoenix, so he likely had the power to kill it. Yet he only had his sect brothers trap it. Why?

”He wants to make me his National Guardian Spirit Beast,” the Red Phoenix said with contempt. ”A pipe dream!”

Hee Lingchuan asked another question. ”This White Elephant City we’re in, what kingdom is it part of?” He had seen the city’s name on a stone tablet at the base of the tower earlier.

”The Pu Kingdom, of course!” ’This person must be seriously touched in the head!’ the Red Phoenix thought.

”General Youu and Qingxu—which Sect are they from?”

”The Celestial Derivation Sect,” the Red Phoenix said, puzzled. ”How is it that you people know nothing?”

Hee Lingchuan rubbed his nose. ”We’re just innocent passersby.”

Xu Dongdong suddenly said, ”We have company.”

Hee Lingchuan glanced down and saw that they were indeed ”people”:

Qingxu and the others were flying in pursuit on their artifacts. Their speed was no match for a natural Spiritual Bird like the Red Phoenix, so they could only trail behind, but their hands weren’t idle. They continuously launched Divine Techniques at them.

The Red Phoenix was truly remarkable; even with its tattered wings, it managed to dodge every single attack.

The moon grew larger and brighter in front of them.

Through the ”full moon,” they could see Third Master Gan’s livid face; even the veins on his temples were clearly visible. The Red Phoenix, of course, saw none of this. It said to the humans, ”I can’t go any higher.”

There was an invisible barrier above them that it couldn’t break through, no matter how hard it flapped its wings.

This was the boundary of the Mirror World; it could not fly out.

At that moment, Qingxu sent a beam of sword light shooting toward them. The Red Phoenix failed to dodge in time, and two of its flight feathers were sliced off with a SWISH.

A Spiritual Bird like it possessed an innate talent for Wind Control, but with its wings damaged, it was no longer nimble enough to dodge the Divine Techniques.

In the blink of an eye, it was struck twice more.

Outside the mirror, Third Master Gan formed a hand seal. Two bolts of thunder suddenly descended from the sky.

Then, Third Master Gan’s nose began to bleed. Clearly, forcibly summoning Celestial Thunder into this battlefield was taking a toll on him.

One of the two Thunderbolts struck the Red Phoenix, knocking it senseless and sending it into a nosedive.

The other Thunderbolt hit the golden armor copper man. Though sparks danced across its body, most of the damage was absorbed, with very little being conducted to the three humans.

The golden armor copper man had been forged with the property of protecting its master.

The full moon was within arm’s reach, yet they were on the verge of failure. Hee Lingchuan decisively shouted to Wu Jingsong and his companion, ”Let go!”

”Huh?” The Red Phoenix was tumbling as it plummeted. ’If we let go now, we’re dead, aren’t we?’

”Trust me! Let go!”

This was where their missing souls proved to be an advantage. Feeling no anxiety, fear, or doubt, the two men immediately let go.

The golden armor copper man grabbed the three of them and hurled them with all its might toward the full moon!

In the next instant, the golden armor copper man and the Red Phoenix plummeted downward, but Hee Lingchuan and his companions felt as if they were soaring through the clouds as the full moon swelled rapidly before them—

They passed right through.

With a series of thuds, the three of them landed back in the bamboo building. Xu Dongdong unfortunately slammed into the wall face-first, once again becoming Hee Lingchuan’s human cushion. ’My apologies,’ Hee Lingchuan thought, stepping on Xu’s back to launch himself forward and charge at Third Master Gan.

Despite his unsteady gait, the scoundrel snatched the Mirror from the table and tried to flee. At the same time, two ferocious tigers leaped out from within the room, baring their sharp fangs and claws as they pounced on Hee Lingchuan.