Chapter 117: Close Combat (1)

Flame Heart!

Dozens of points of fire damage—anyone seeing it at this time would consider it trash.

This is indeed a supreme quality, or even the strongest divine skill, for those who can unleash hundreds or thousands of attacks in an instant.

Liu Qing, seeing Lu Yu so delighted, couldn’t help but frown as she handed over the mutated Star Spirit Pearl in her hand.

Lu Yu took it and glanced at it, saying, “Indeed, it’s exactly the same. Learn it quickly; you won’t regret it.”

Liu Qing was very intelligent. In the midst of Lu Yu’s transformation, she immediately sensed something.

“Can you see through the inside of things?”

“There’s nothing much to hide during this period,” Lu Yu said seriously. “I can indeed see through the hidden secrets within the mutated Star Spirit Pearl. The skill attributes inside the mutated Star Spirit Pearl are constantly changing. At this critical moment, we cannot afford to waste even the slightest bit of damage. I will give it to you when the pearl’s attributes reach their peak, and you can learn it right away.”

After Lu Yu finished speaking, he began to stare at the Mutated Star Spirit Pearl. At the moment its attributes reached their peak, he swiftly placed it in Liu Qing’s hand.

Liu Qing didn’t hesitate either; in an instant, he crushed the Star Soul Pearl.

“Flame Heart!”

Liu Qing looked at the attributes flashing before her eyes and, in astonishment, stared at Lu Yu. “You really saw through it!” she exclaimed.

“Hiding things during times like this is not very helpful for staying alive, right?” Lu Yu smiled and said, “If you don’t mind, you can give me the grade-three stardust crystal you have in hand. I own a warehouse and can temporarily store it for you, which will reduce the burden you carry. I’ll leave instructions inside the warehouse—if I die, go to Fanggang and find a girl named Xiaoxiao; she’ll help you retrieve your belongings.”

“Is there such a thing as this?”

Liu Qing indeed didn’t believe Lu Yu at first!

The note she gave to Lu Yu was actually also for the purpose of helping him become stronger. If Fan Tian ever threatened their lives, having one more strong ally would at least increase their chances of survival.

No one could have predicted that things would escalate to this point.

Lu Yu even revealed her ability to see through the Mutated Star Spirit Pearl, and she was well aware of how significant such a capability was in this era.

Liu Qing also knew that at this moment, she must show her sincerity, as Lu Yu had already made his position clear.

At least gaining temporary trust in exchange for more than a dozen grade-three star spirit stones is worthwhile.

Liu Qing handed all the Grade-3 Spirit Stones to Lu Yu and said, “My twisted ability allows me to create an invisible space within reality, enabling me to cultivate two different skills simultaneously—existing both in the real world and within this hidden space. Although this state doesn’t last very long, it effectively doubles my cultivation speed compared to ordinary people. The reason I could cultivate other abilities while being monitored by Fan Tian, all while secretly practicing Demon Severing, was precisely because of this.”

Lu Yu took the Star Spirit Stone from Liu Qing and placed it into the warehouse, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He told Liu Qing some secrets as a way of testing her.

If Liu Qing doesn’t give him the Star Spirit Stone, it means this woman isn’t genuinely interested in cooperating.

Therefore, one must be extremely cautious.

Liu Qing handed over the Star Spirit Stone, even if the two would go their separate ways in the future. But at least it proved that their current cooperation was still trustworthy.

This did not mean that Lu Yu would let his guard down; rather, it allowed him to focus most of his energy on searching this cave.

“Now, there are twelve channels. Choosing any one of them gives you a one in twelve chance; it’s all down to luck,” Lu Yu replied after a moment’s thought.

“It doesn’t matter which passage we take,” said Liu Qing with a frown. “Choosing won’t make any difference.”

“Then the third one on the left,” answered Lu Yu.

Liu Qing nodded and then made a mark with her lipstick on the top of the passage.

Fifteen minutes had barely passed after the two entered the passageway when a dark figure suddenly appeared inside the stone chamber.

“Do you still want to escape?” the dark figure sneered. “Daring to flee before me with only a third-level Star Soul? Your audacity is impressive!”

Fan Tian paused briefly, then tightly followed the passage that Lu Yu and the others had entered.

At this point, Lu Yu and Liu Qing were already dizzy from several turns.

Both of them returned to their original positions three times in a row.

Liu Qing frowned, stood in front of the mark for a long time, then chose another unmarked path.

Not long after the two walked in, Fan Tian hurried over and stood there with a frown on his face as well.

He pursued him by following his breath.

But here, the aura is too chaotic, with several passages all around. How can one possibly track it down?

Finally, Brahma chose a passage that Lu Yu and Liu Qing had taken and chased after them.

Lu Yu and Liu Qing wandered through the maze for nearly a day, and finally, exhausted, they leaned against the wall to rest in a corridor.

Lu Yu took some water and food from the warehouse, and the two of them started eating.

Liu Qing, meanwhile, was drawing something on the ground while eating, as if calculating something.

Lu Yu was resting with his eyes closed.

Although he doesn’t have Liu Qing’s level of familiarity with mazes, his memory is excellent.

All the paths he has ever traveled are separated and stored in his mind, then reconstructed into the shadows of a labyrinth.

During the defense of Fanggang, there was a period when he constantly evaded various dangers.

Chased by the yakuza and the police.

Therefore, he developed a unique method for memorizing routes.

In his mind, the road map of Fanggang had always existed and never disappeared.

Now, another more intricate maze passage also appeared in his mind.

It’s no small challenge to search through a network of interconnected passages for what might be the only possible way out.

He didn’t possess Liu Qing’s knowledge of mazes, unable to find a way out, but he could remember the paths he had already taken.

“This time it should be correct,” Liu Qing stood up and pointed at a passage ahead. “Going this way should get us out of this area.”

“Hopfully, I’m not wrong!” Lu Yu also stood up and tidied himself up. He thought for a moment, then placed some of the leftover food by the side of another passage as a marker of his presence.

In the following days, the maze map in Lu Yu’s mind grew larger and larger, as if it were expanding infinitely.

One by one, gigantic mazes connected together, eventually forming an even larger and more terrifying mega maze!

“Wu, I can’t take it anymore,” Liu Qing said, sitting down on the ground in frustration. “This is even harder to navigate than the largest maze I’ve ever seen. This isn’t just a maze—it seems this passageway’s sole purpose is to trap and kill anyone who enters.”

The two not only circled back, but returned to the very chamber where they had initially obtained the Flame Heart.

“This time, let’s take this path!” Lu Yu thought for a moment and said, “Since we can’t calculate it, we’ll just keep exploring until we find something.”

The two walked into another passage.

On the seventeenth day, Lu Yu led Liu Qing into another stone chamber!

Liu Qing looked at Lu Yu in surprise.

Because Lu Yu almost never takes the same route twice. That kind of memory capacity amazes her.

Most importantly, Lu Yu didn’t actually understand mazes; he was simply using his exceptional memory to search for any unexplored path through repeated attempts.

Liu Qing had already figured it out; this maze seemed like countless tiny labyrinths pieced together, resembling thousands of threads crisscrossing and intertwining completely.

Lu Yu, with his powerful memory, actually managed to solve such a complex maze.

Liu Qing couldn’t help but look at Lu Yu twice with a serious expression!

However, when they arrived at the second stone chamber, it seemed as though the two had walked into a dead end.

There was no other way out of the stone chamber.

“It seems this path is also a dead end!” Liu Qing began to lose hope.

Because they had already explored eleven paths, and this was the last one.

This was also a dead end; either they continued to stay here and wait to die, or they could take a chance and fight their way out against the Demon King to see if they could escape.

“No, this is absolutely not a dead end!” Lu Yu looked around at the stone walls and said, “Didn’t you notice? Although the rocks at the top of the stone walls here are the same, pay attention to the bottoms of these walls!”

Lu Yu walked to a stone wall and pointed at several thin scratches at its base, saying, “This is clearly caused by movement. Therefore, this stone wall can be moved.”

Lu Yu tried to push the stone wall. With his strength of seven ten-thousands, even a boulder would be toppled.

He was a bit worried about the weight of the stone wall, so he used all his strength.

However, when the power in his palm pressed against the stone wall, the wall actually split open on its own and swallowed Lu Yu inside in an instant.

As the stone wall split open, Liu Qing was also drawn in together.

Before the two of them, countless stars surrounded their bodies, then gradually spread outward in all directions.

As the light spread, the ground beneath their feet began to transform into a stony, barren terrain, lush green grass started to grow, and a gentle, cool breeze brushed against them.

Barren mountains turn green, the sky turns blue, and dense forests provide shade.

In an instant, the place transformed from darkness into a lush, green mountain range.

A gentle breeze blew, causing the leaves on the distant mountain peaks to rustle softly with a “sh沙沙” sound.

Before the two, a bright ball of light rose from the grassland and stopped in front of them. It spoke, “The Mysterious Passage welcomes the thirteenth and fourteenth successful passers. According to the rules of the Mysterious Passage, passers may remain in this secret realm for three days. Whether one can find treasures depends entirely on one’s fate. At this exact moment three days later, the secret realm will close, and you will automatically be transported to the next trial.”

Lu Yu and Liu Qing exchanged a glance, and upon hearing the sound of light and shadow, they became even more excited.

“Welcome to the fifteenth member of the Divine Communication Channel…”

The light and shadows are speaking the same words.

“Damn it!” Lu Yu’s first reaction was not to look back, but to attack.

The Yellow Spring trembled violently, and with a loud “bang,” flames erupted from all eight thousand Yellow Spring blades!

Boom!

Liu Qing’s reaction was no less swift; in the instant she turned around, a thousand blades of azure light between her fingers shot out.

“Looking for death!” A voice, the one they feared the most, rang out.

This sound, like waves, sent ripples of sonic energy expanding outward in all directions.

All the blades of the Yellow Spring were shattered, and the thousand green swords were also completely broken.

“Do you two really think you can escape from my grasp with just your meager abilities?” Lu Yu roared in fury.

Suddenly, the shattered blades of Huangquan and Qingfeng exploded one after another, bursting into flames midair. One by one, fireballs ignited, eventually forming a massive fireball that separated Fantian, Lu Yu, and Liu Qing.

“This is the Flame Heart! This is the Flame Heart!” Fan Tian froze, then shouted in astonishment, “You actually found the Flame Heart!”