Chapter 143: A Mirror Image and Water's Reflection, Completely Exhausted of Supplies and Ammo

Cao Chengyu originally intended to stall with words and launch a sneak attack once he got close enough.

However, the current situation did not exceed his expectations.

When dealing with fire, whether through the Fire Viscera Deity or a strange celestial flame, he could achieve over 70% flame resistance.

His attainment in this domain was similarly his most formidable aspect.

Even upon sensing the intense heat, such an attack could not kill him; it could even be harnessed for his own use.

The corners of Cao Chengyu’s mouth curved up slightly, and a "whoosh" sound echoed as silver flames ignited all over his body.

The jade gourd appeared at his fingertips, and he poured out some Yin-Yang Pool water onto the ground.

The introduction of this new power caused the Air-Prohibiting Melting Fire Formation to become unstable.

Originally, as they both belonged to the power of fire, the formation should have been able to absorb it.

However, the combination of the Yin-Yang Pool water and the Yin-Cathode Yang-Flame disrupted the balance of Yin and Yang.

"How is this possible? World-grade strange fire?!"

Pang Rong exclaimed in shock, hurriedly plunging both hands into the ground to stabilize the effects of his divine ability.

"It's useless."

Cao Chengyu sneered.

The purple light in his eyes was no longer concealed; the three-foot radiance was enough to shake one's soul, causing Pang Rong to emit a muffled groan.

He discovered that the magical power within his body had begun to clog, and a toxin that rotted flesh and meridians was swimming freely through his body.

"Damn it, when did this happen?"

His skin turned purple, black blood spewed from his mouth and nose, and pustules grew on his face.

"Pop—"

The pustules burst, and an indescribably itchy sensation swept across his entire body.

"Ah, ah, ah!!!"

A scorching river of lava surged backward, but its target was not Cao Chengyu; instead, it lashed out at the immobilized Pang Rong. This was a backlash!

Since divine abilities were the embodiment of rules, if your control went awry, the ability would likewise turn upon its user.

Just as laws could be reasonably substituted but never violated, rules were the same.

In less than a short moment, Pang Rong was reduced to ashes.

Cao Chengyu swept his divine sense outward and launched a soul attack toward a patch of empty air. A bloody-red mist materialized out of thin air, enveloping Pang Rong's soul within it.

Originally, Cao Chengyu intended to kill him outright, but upon second thought, the essence of the Heavenly Demon Pill—which lured heavenly demons—was actually the soul itself, tempting them to seize the body. As long as it was matched with a certain amount of flesh-and-blood essence, the pill could likewise be successfully refined.

A Golden Core-stage Heavenly Demon Pill would undoubtedly significantly accelerate the cultivation progress of his soul.

Therefore, after trapping the soul, he drew it into the Six-Eyed Flying Snake pouch, where it was guarded by the spirits of the two flying snakes.

The second Golden Core cultivator, because he happened to be hard-countered, was dispatched with exceptional ease.

Cao Chengyu wasted no time and arrived at the third Qimen spatial realm.

The mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, Che Jia!

He was also the one who used spider mechanisms and venom.

Regarding the Dao of poison, because he had been influenced by Luo Yuzhu since childhood—even using his own body as a pill cauldron to refine human-poison pills—he paid extraordinary attention to this aspect.

He had also invested considerable effort into refining the initial Poison Pupil technique into the current Wusheng Poison Pupil.

Perhaps dealing with Che Jia would be just as simple as dealing with Pang Rong.

This person possessed a more ruthless and fierce personality than the other two.

Trapped within the formation for a long time, his five senses had gone into chaos, bringing him to the verge of rage. In his understanding, Cao Chengyu should have already fled with the others by now.

Yet he had appeared now, and moreover, was stained with blood—which meant someone on their side had died!

"Bastard!"

As magical power was channeled into the spider-leg mechanism covering Che Jia's spine, it expanded threefold within a few breaths. Eight jointed limbs emanating a foul stench supported him as he hovered in the air.

His spider legs tapped rapidly, and he charged forward, treading on thin air.

Cao Chengyu's hands blurred into afterimages, and the Profound Ice Sword danced in an airtight defense.

The continuous clanging sound of metal collisions rang out endlessly.

Alas, two fists were no match for four hands, let alone when he was facing eight legs.

Before long, his shoulder blades were pierced by the spider legs, lifting him high into the air. Venom entered his body, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

The Profound Ice Sword had also become pitted and scarred.

Mechanicians generally lacked the habit of refining magical treasures; the mechanical creations they forged were the magical treasures best suited for them. Cao Chengyu's Profound Ice Sword was clearly a grade inferior and had been hacked to pieces.

He had been hoisted up like a string of fishballs.

Both shoulder blades were pierced, his hands were rendered as useless as waste, unable to move at all, and the flow of magical power through the meridians of his arms was also cut off.

Furthermore, he was afflicted with a potent poison.

Having reached this point, he was thoroughly defeated.

Che Jia found it somewhat hard to believe that he had disabled this fellow so easily.

The reverse blades sprang out from the spider legs behind him, and he intended to slice off Cao Chengyu's head in one stroke to eliminate future troubles once and for all.

At the very instant the blade was about to sever his neck, it stopped.

"Something's wrong..."

Che Jia scanned his surroundings in a panic. The mist had vanished at some unknown time, but the Pang family's elder patriarch was nowhere to be seen, and Pang Rong and Che Miaomiao had also vanished without a trace.

"What is going on? An illusion? No... it's hallucinatory poison!"

"When did this happen?"

Che Jia's expression changed drastically.

When he cast his gaze toward Cao Chengyu, he was astonished to find that the latter was slowly drifting apart like mist.

"To think you noticed. You truly live up to being a poison user yourself."

The surrounding scenery dissolved layer by layer like water, and Cao Chengyu was standing right before him, emitting a mocking laugh.

"Damn filthy trickster, do you think you can fool me? Go to hell!"

Driven by his volatile temper, Che Jia subconsciously lashed out.

The spider limbs struck out like lightning, fiercely plunging into Cao Chengyu's heart and head, yet the latter offered no resistance and continued to smile.

"This..."

In that instant, the surrounding environment truly began to recede, and reality pulled back its curtain.

When Che Jia recovered his consciousness, the spider legs were already deeply embedded in his own head and heart, and his consciousness sank completely into silence.

After capturing his soul using the same method, Cao Chengyu collapsed to the ground.

Blood leaked from his seven orifices, his flesh spasmed, and his pair of purple eyes lost their focus, making his view of the surrounding environment extremely blurry.

This was because the venom within the Wusheng Poison Pupil had leaked.

It was currently damaging his eyes and would even cause irreversible, permanent harm to his vision.

Just now, Che Jia had fallen into an illusion constructed by both hallucinatory poison and phantom imagery.

Needless to say, the poison came from the spatial realm within the poison pupil; the quantity of fused poisons he had refined was massive, each serving a different purpose.

As for the illusion, it stemmed from Qimen arts.

Building upon the foundation of Master Wanxiang's Heavenly Mystery Divine Technique—which derived from the chaos of the five senses—he had comprehended the ability of "Flowers in a Mirror, Moon in the Water."

He was able to construct illusions seamlessly connected with reality.

Such a formidable ability placed an extremely heavy burden on his soul. After narrowly managing to trick Che Jia to his death,

his magical power was completely exhausted, his physical blood and qi had declined, his entire body was weak, and even his soul had suffered injuries, causing blood to seep from his seven orifices.

One could say he had reached the end of his rope.

It would be very difficult for him to fight and defeat the final mid-stage Golden Core cultivator who controlled heavenly thunder.

This also meant he had thoroughly probed his own limits.

In his peak condition, he possessed the ability to slay a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

After fighting four consecutive battles, he had reached his limit.

Perhaps this was what that back-stage titan meant when he said that birth, old age, sickness, and death all had their own laws; he had seen through Cao Chengyu's limits, and therefore advised him not to meddle.

Struggling to keep his consciousness from fading, Cao Chengyu gritted his teeth and opened the intermediate treasure chest he had acquired from the Black Lotus Holy Mother.

A familiar golden light drifted past, revealing a scroll...