Ch 380: The Candle

Liu Ke widened his eyes, his face filled with fear as he looked at the bizarre Xu Liang before him, a surge of intense fear rising in his heart.

The candle flames on Xu Liang’s eye sockets burned fiercely, as if they were about to engulf his entire being.

“Little Liu, let’s make a mark here, a mark in this place…” Xu Liang said, with a hint of madness and eeriness.

Liu Ke’s gaze fell on Xu Liang’s other eye, and he was surprised to find that eye clouded and murky; a white candle, which should have been there, had vanished!

In its place, a new candle had grown from Xu Liang’s other eye; the scene was utterly unbelievable.

Xu Liang looked somewhat frantic; his behavior had completely lost its rationality, as if he were being controlled by some power.

“No, he’s not mad; he’s being controlled by the crying faces on the candles,” Liu Ke suddenly realized, his fear intensifying.

At that moment, wax dripped constantly from the two candles, more and more white wax covering Xu Liang’s body. His body seemed to be gradually enveloped in white wax, as if he were about to become a brand-new candle.

“Little Liu, hehe, let’s make a mark too,” Xu Liang’s laughter echoed in Liu Ke’s ears, sending chills down his spine.

Liu Ke found himself in a difficult situation; he didn’t know whether he should first deal with the humanoid thing wrapped in white cloth or first save Xu Liang, who was controlled by the candles.

As Liu Ke hesitated, a white wick suddenly sprouted from Xu Liang’s head, like the wick of a candle. At the same time, the thing wrapped in white cloth was rapidly approaching them at an alarming speed.

Liu Ke made a quick decision, swiftly striking out a mark. The mark rapidly deformed in mid-air, eventually transforming into an exact replica of Liu Ke.

This clone swiftly rushed towards the thing wrapped in white cloth, engaging it in combat.

Meanwhile, Liu Ke seized this opportunity and dashed towards Xu Liang, who was enveloped in white wax with a wick sprouting from his head. He knew that if he didn’t rescue Xu Liang quickly, the situation would likely turn grim.

Liu Ke muttered incantations, striking out a golden mark, attempting to dispel the strange white wax from Xu Liang’s body. But the white wax was unusually stubborn; the light only trembled slightly upon contact, showing no signs of dissipating.

At this time, the battle on the clone’s side intensified; the thing wrapped in white cloth possessed astonishing power, and the clone was gradually struggling to cope.

It was less a fight and more a one-sided beating.

The eyes beneath the white cloth quickly injured his clone; Liu Ke’s clone reverted to a mark.

Liu Ke felt a piercing stiffness in his legs, as if his blood had been frozen by ice.

He suddenly lowered his head, his pupils contracting sharply—the once firm muscles of his calves were losing their color at a visible rate, his skin turning pale yellow and smooth. Fine wax lines spread upward from his ankles, reaching his knees within a few breaths; faint red light seeped from beneath the waxy texture, as if a flame were burning inside.

“No good!”

His heart tightened, and he smelled the familiar scent of pine resin and burnt things.

It was the smell of the candles in the cave, those “predecessors” eternally trapped here, all of whom had ended up in this state.

A piercing chill crawled up his spine, but Liu Ke instantly steadied his mind. He glanced at Xu Liang beside him, who was painfully curled up; the other man’s shoulder had solidified into a lump of pale wax, unable even to cry out.

“No time to hesitate!”

Liu Ke gritted his teeth, a deep shout erupting from his throat: “Use that technique!”

Before the words were finished, he immediately chanted: “Absolute Seal Qi Technique, Empty Heaven No Sorrow One Qi Three Pure Transformations, Second Turn Four Souls Xuan Yin—Hundred Turn Dragon’s Cry Heaven No Red, No Life No Dao Hundred Universes Born! Boundless Mysterious Annihilation!”

As soon as he finished chanting, a golden light exploded—it was the Celestial Aspect of the Power God, surrounded by swirling Internal Energy, each strand like a sharp blade spinning “Drink!”

Liu Ke drew the Long Sword from his waist; the blade hummed in the golden light.

He leaped up, using the Celestial Aspect’s Internal Energy to strike down forcefully. Before the blade reached, the waxy substance on his legs was torn apart by the Internal Energy; amidst the crackling debris, the original flesh and blood were reborn from the golden light.

As soon as this strike landed, he spun around and punched Xu Liang.

The Fist Wind, carrying golden light, struck the lump of white wax; a crisp “crack” sounded, and the white wax shattered like glass. Xu Liang groaned, finally breaking free from the stiffness, collapsing to the ground and gasping for breath.

However, Liu Ke had no time to rest; he could feel the power controlling the candles surging from the depths of the cave, carrying vicious malice. He looked up at the cave ceiling, where the thing covered with white cloth hung slightly trembling; dark red wax seeped from the cloth, like a pair of eyes peering out.

“The source is there!” Cold light flared in Liu Ke’s eyes, the Internal Energy around him madly gathering on the Long Sword; the golden light on the blade grew stronger, even spreading upwards along the cracks in the cave ceiling. He raised his Long Sword high, the veins on his arm bulging like coiled dragons; the Aspect’s phantom merged with him, as if he were the Celestial Aspect himself.

“Break for me!”

The Long Sword stabbed upwards fiercely; the golden light surged along the blade, piercing through the cave ceiling’s rocks and transforming into a gigantic sword shadow in the night sky. The blade shimmered with cold light under the moonlight, even splitting a gap in the cloud layer.

Immediately, Liu Ke flipped his wrist, and the giant sword shadow crashed down.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only an eerie silence. The thing covered with white cloth instantly melted away in the Blade Light, as if it had never existed. The swaying red and white candles in the cave, along with their twisted shadows, turned to ash the moment the golden light swept over them. Even the sickening smell of wax in the air vanished with the wind of the blade.

When the dust settled, Liu Ke leaned on his sword, panting; the last trace of wax on his legs faded in the golden light. He looked towards the outside of the cave; the giant sword shadow in the night sky was slowly dissipating, revealing a few scattered stars.

Just as Liu Ke thought the crisis was over, suddenly, a low roar echoed from deeper within the cave.

A huge Dark Shadow rushed out like a ghost, its speed incredible; it was instantly before them.

Without needing to think, this was the Nuhu, with organs but no body, Liu Ke thought: “While the effect of the Boundless Mysterious Annihilation hasn’t worn off, deal with this first, otherwise Xu Liang may not be able to win against this Evil Calamity!”

Liu Ke roared, the golden light around him flashing again. Taking advantage of the effect of the “Boundless Mysterious Annihilation,” he charged towards the Nuhu like a released arrow.

His Long Sword carried a fierce Gale, striking hard at the thing that had organs but no body.

The Nuhu shrieked, its intestines stretching out like Tentacles at high speed, colliding with Liu Ke’s Long Sword, producing a harsh scraping sound.