Book 3: Clear River in Turmoil – Chapter 55: Showdown 3
When he charged out of the forest’s brush, Old Jin saw He Lianwei and Su Chen facing off.
Old Jin was also caught off-guard when he found out that Su Chen was their opponent.
However, what truly shocked him was what Su Chen had said.
He was planning on defeating two Yang Opening Realm cultivators in a two-on-one fight?
Yes, it wasn’t rare in the Primordial Continent for elite Blood Boiling Realm cultivators to defeat opponents of a higher cultivation tier, but that was on the premise that the Blood Boiling Realm cultivator had a high-tier bloodline that could suppress the Yang Opening Realm cultivator’s weaker bloodline.
But who was Su Chen?
He was just a commoner without a bloodline, not even a mixed one. Even so, he still considered himself equal with someone with a high-tier bloodline? How arrogant!
Old Jin was incensed.
This was why, when Su Chen said those words, Old Jin said, “Do you think you’re good enough to do that?”
“Whether or not I’m good enough, won’t we know once we start fighting?” Su Chen replied.
“Alright. If that’s the case, then I’ll cross swords with you for a bit,” Old Jin laughed coldly. “He Lianwei, this battle is between me and him. Don’t interfere.”
There was no response.
Old Jin was startled. He turned around and found He Lianwei staring at him in a daze, not moving at all.
“He Lianwei, what’s going on with you?”
He Lianwei didn’t reply.
On the other hand, Su Chen suddenly gestured, unleashing an Erupting Firehawk.
That Firehawk, however, was a bit strange. It flew into the air and then exploded on its own. The flames from the explosion washed over Old Jin, but because they had lost their concentrated power and explosiveness, it didn’t wound him at all. It looked more like a practical joke than an attack.
Old Jin was caught off-guard by this development when He Lianwei suddenly laughed, “Old Jin, you’re awake? So this illusion can’t seem to withstand attacks. A single blow is enough to wake you up.”
What?
What illusion technique? You’re the one who’s under an illusion, alright?
Old Jin was infuriated. He was about to say something when he suddenly saw He Lianwei step forward and punch him.
Old Jin wasn’t prepared and didn’t defend himself in time, causing him to be struck by the blow. Even though it wasn’t forceful, Old Jin still said angrily, “He Lianwei, you idiot, why are you hitting me?”
“I’m helping you,” He Lianwei replied.
Old Jin was completely pissed off by his reply. He knew that He Lianwei was being tricked by Su Chen’s illusion.
Su Chen’s skill in creating illusions wasn’t actually that high. He couldn’t compare with Jin Ling’er and others like her in terms of controlling other people
However, Su Chen was much more clever with his tactics.
He couldn’t use his illusions to totally control someone, but he could use them to constantly muddle the truth.
When He Lianwei saw Old Jin fall under Su Chen’s control, he had just fallen under Su Chen’s illusion technique. At that moment in time, everything that he believed was happening was actually just in his mind, not in reality.
When Su Chen took away the illusion, He Lianwei’s movements would shift from only being in his head to actually being carried out, and his attacks would become very real.
Old Jin didn’t know the specifics of Su Chen’s illusion technique. He only knew that, at this moment, He Lianwei was under Su Chen’s control.
However, he was still restraining himself, so he didn’t counterattack.
However, when He Lianwei attacked a second time, Old Jin’s anger flared, and he counterattacked with a punch.
This made things a lot easier for Su Chen.
He Lianwei was infuriated. “Old Jin, dammit, have you lost your mind? You’re actually hitting me?”
Su Chen continued to use his illusion skill at just the right time. In that moment, He Lianwei saw Old Jin with bloodshot eyes, and it was as if he had completely lost his humanity.
However, he didn’t know that the Old Jin he saw was just an illusion. The real Old Jin had been given Su Chen’s likeness. When he was attacking Su Chen with all his strength, he was actually attacking Old Jin with all his strength.
To Su Chen, this was the most difficult part.
His illusion technique could only create a realm of illusion and muddle the truth, but he couldn’t use it to directly control someone. With the power of Fata Morgana, it was impossible for him to on the one hand confuse He Lianwei into thinking that Old Jin was Su Chen while on the other hand allowing him to launch attacks at Old Jin in the real world.
Thankfully, Su Chen still knew another handy skill.
Confusion Technique!
That year, Jin Ling’er had taught him the Confusion Technique, a skill that had a similarly large number of limitations, but it could affect reality to a certain degree.
Back then, the members of the Bai Clan had attacked their own clan’s stewards because of the influence of the Confusion Technique.
The requirements for using the Confusion Technique were quite high. Su Chen didn’t have the ability to manipulate too many conditions to affect He Lianwei. Thankfully, he wouldn’t need to affect many.
While He Lianwei was mired in Fata Morgana, Su Chen had used the Confusion Technique to bait He Lianwei. More specifically, he hadn’t forced He Lianwei into viewing Old Jin as Su Chen; rather, he had simply put Su Chen’s appearance onto Old Jin. If He Lianwei had taken a closer look in the beginning, he would’ve found that the “Su Chen” he was looking at was actually a bit blurry, as if someone had altered the image.
Unfortunately, he hadn’t. When Su Chen’s Confusion Technique baited him in, He Lianwei completely lost his discernment. With Darkness Lotus further limiting his vision, he had no way of figuring out what was the truth.
Simultaneously, Old Jin didn’t know that he himself had actually fallen victim to Fata Morgana.
Unlike He Lianwei, Fata Morgana’s influence on Old Jin was more related to his perception. That way, Old Jin wouldn’t be able to figure out the crux of Su Chen’s illusion techniques, and he would think that they could be used to directly control another person rather than just trick his opponents by muddling the truth.
This misunderstanding caused him to miss the opportunity to reawaken He Lianwei, which resulted in a fierce battle between him and He Lianwei.
The only thing that Su Chen hadn’t anticipated was that Old Jin had concealed his true strength. His cultivation base had actually already reached a high cultivation layer in the Yang Opening Realm.
When Darkness Lotus had been activated at full force and turned into a massive beast, swallowing up He Lianwei’s Golden-Winged Tiger image, he had finally settled things down.
He Lianwei finally reawoke from his confused state.
“Old Jin……” he muttered.
“He Lianwei, you’ve finally awoken?” Old Jin replied a little short of breath as he rubbed his chest. “It’s okay now that you’re awake. Don’t be tricked again.”
He took a step forward to hug He Lianwei and infuse him with some Origin Energy. Even though the previous blow was quite powerful, he hadn’t killed He Lianwei; he had only made it so that He Lianwei would temporarily have no strength to continue fighting.
When Old Jin saw that He Lianwei had recovered, he let out a sigh of relief.
But just as he was about to infuse He Lianwei with his Origin Energy, he saw He Lianwei’s eyes suddenly glaze over again.
Not good!
He’s under an illusion again!
Old Jin yelled loudly in his heart.
But just as he wanted to retreat, a fierce explosion of energy erupted from He Lianwei’s body.
“NOO!”
Old Jin howled madly.
The violent eruption of energy, however, swallowed him up quickly.
“AHHHH!” After a long, tragic howl, the eruption of energy finally subsided. All that remained was a figure that had been charred black.
“SU CHEN!” Old Jin said in a raspy voice filled with hatred and anger.
“You’re still not dead?”
Su Chen rubbed his temple, feeling a bit of a headache coming on.
This headache wasn’t because of Old Jin’s stubbornness, but because the repeated use of Fata Morgana had consumed an incredibly great amount of his consciousness energy.
Even though using Fata Morgana to blur reality was quite effective, it expended an incredible amount of consciousness energy. If it weren’t for the fact that Su Chen’s consciousness energy was more powerful than a Yang Opening Realm cultivator’s already, he wouldn’t have been able to sustain this kind of consumption.
However, wiping out two Yang Opening Realm cultivators without using any energy of his own was something to be proud of.
No, it seemed like he was going to have to use a little bit of his energy.
As he stared at Old Jin, Su Chen said, “I respect your resilience. What a pity…… farewell!”
He gestured. An Ultra Erupting Firehawk surged forth, the powerful flames engulfing Old Jin.
This time, he wasn’t able to survive.