Chapter 2306: Freedom to Improvise

The Ice Azure Pill is an extremely cold-natured medicine. Someone within the sect once mistakenly took it, and the result was being frozen solid into an ice sculpture from the inside out in just thirty seconds.

After the injured person swallowed the Ice Azure Pill, their internal heat subsided, but the swelling blisters and ulcerations on their skin were still spreading. What a fierce fire poison. Had Elder Chu not reacted promptly, this disciple would have spontaneously combusted from within and burned to ashes.

Elder Chu pointed a hand, and a phantom fire ape leaped over, furiously sucking at his wound with its mouth.

At this moment, a market appeared ahead. The buildings were arranged closely together, all kinds of shops and gatehouses, and they were all lit up.

But there was no one, not a single person.

"This market wasn't here when we arrived. Elder, I think we've taken a wrong turn."

"Wrong about what?" Elder Chu retorted irritably. "It's not us who are wrong, it's this cursed place. It's trying to confuse our sense of direction!"

If they could fly, they would have long since reunited with Sect Master Yuan. However, after entering Wei'an City, everyone's bodies felt extremely heavy, and flight and levitation abilities seemed difficult to use. Elder Chu knew that the laws in some ancient ruins differed from the present world, and those who couldn't adapt would quickly face life-threatening danger. But was this small world also considered a ruin?

Naturally, he was unaware that many large cities in the real world also employed elemental energy to impose flight restrictions, making it impossible for those without wings to fly.

Elder Chu pointed towards the market, and several phantom fire apes charged forward again. They wouldn't stop until these paper houses were burned to the ground.

However, a figure darted out from the market. It suddenly bit the neck of the smallest fire ape, then violently shook its head, directly shaking the fire ape into a scattering of sparks.

It was the lizard that had just caused the injury.

It then opened its mouth and inhaled, sucking all the flames in the market into its belly in one breath.

Then it even burped, exhaling a puff of black smoke.

"Indeed, a fire-elemental demon immortal!"

Elder Chu was furious. As he was about to command the other fire apes to surround this large lizard, the other disciples' phantom spirits also surged forward. But it burrowed into the ground again and vanished.

In this mirror world, the demons of Cangyan moved about with such ease.

There was no time to bother with it. Elder Chu formed a hand seal, and the remaining fire apes merged together, instantly transforming into a huge creature. This fire ape was over ten meters tall. It pulled out two whips from its back and began to swing them towards the market.

This large market area might conceal many dangers, so Elder Chu had the fire ape clear the way.

Furious flames imbued the whips, and wherever they passed, buildings turned into scorched smoke.

However, after the fire ape swung the whips a few times, the flames disappeared.

The fire lizard was up to its tricks again. It also had another name: the Flame-Eating Lizard. Liu Qingdao had sent it specifically to deal with Elder Chu's phantom fire spirits; it was a perfect counter. The whip-flames were also a manifestation of the phantom spirit's power. The more the fire lizard consumed, the weaker the phantom spirit naturally became.

As long as the whips were not imbued with flames, the collapsed buildings emitted a red glow and could recover within a few seconds.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror was still diligently performing its duty.

Elder Chu grew agitated.

The controller of this secret realm surely didn't think paper houses could block his path?

Elder Chu pointed at the giant fire ape and told everyone, "All of you, get on."

There were only six people behind him. Upon hearing this, they all leaped onto the giant fire ape's shoulders and sat down. The creature's surface temperature was extremely high, but under Elder Chu's control, it posed no harm to his disciples.

As soon as everyone was seated, the fire ape took a giant leap forward.

Although flight was not possible in this small secret realm, the ape's jumping ability was beyond doubt. A single leap covered over one hundred thirty meters.

When it jumped to a height of thirty-three meters, only then did everyone get a clear view of the path ahead, and they were all startled.

There was no path ahead, only dense trees and buildings! If they had pressed forward on the ground, they would never have been able to get out of this residential area.

As for the red pagoda, it was still in the distance.

Wei'an City was not like this at all. Was this cursed place an illusion that could freely change its layout?

In fact, the mirror had already deviated from the replication blueprint of Wei'an City and began to act on its own. After all, its master had given it only one task:

To cause as much trouble as possible for the Qixia Sect.

But the fire ape's jumping ability was excellent. After a dozen more leaps, it wouldn't have time to reconfigure the scenery. After all, its main energy was focused on fighting the seven dark gold giants who were actively demolishing things. At this point, it was inevitable that it would be overwhelmed.

"Quick, help!" It could only desperately call for aid. "How can I, alone, stop this person named Chu?"

It instantly forgot there was also a fire lizard here. The latter angrily spat a stream of fire.

However, as soon as the mirror finished speaking, a spray of golden threads shot out from the ground, exploding into a large net in mid-air. The fire ape had just jumped and was in mid-air. At this moment, it swept its whip outwards, entangling a large tree. It was about to use the momentum to pull itself away.

However, another net shot out from below, trapping it from both above and below, right in its face.

A huge force dragged both the fire ape and the Qixia Sect members towards the ground.

The fire ape could have transformed into flowing flames and escaped through the net's holes, but its master and disciples were also caught in the net, and the mesh was particularly fine. If it left on its own, wouldn't the Qixia Sect members be captured without a fight?

So after it landed, it roared furiously. Gripping the net with both hands, it pushed outwards with all its might, trying to tear it apart.

Everyone else also drew their weapons, trying to cut the netting.

However, this net was never afraid of being torn. The fire ape pulled twice but couldn't rip it. It became even more agitated, and flames flared all over its body, their color changing from dark red to pale white, subtly shimmering with a golden glow.

The temperature around its body was so high that buildings within thirty-three meters were scorched.

But this net itself glowed red and remained unharmed under the fierce flames. It merely tightened abruptly.

From behind a red house more than thirty-three meters away, the culprit leisurely stepped out.

This was a giant spider, over three meters tall when standing. Its body was red and black; it was unclear whether it had black patterns on a red background or red patterns on a black background, but in any case, its colors were strikingly vivid.

Two Qixia Sect members shot magical artifacts at it through the net's holes. Blades and arrows flew out together, and as soon as they neared the spider, they transformed into dozens of cold points of light, all striking its body simultaneously.

Elder Chu saw this and cursed loudly, "Fools! Why disperse your strength!"

The spider's shell looked incredibly hard at a glance. The disciples should have concentrated their power to break through, yet they dispersed their limited strength into dozens of streams. The result was that each strike felt like a mere tickle to the spider.

Foolish, truly foolish. Were these really the disciples he had taught?

Seeing the relaxed demeanor of this Cave Spider Queen, it was clear that it didn't care about such attacks, and it kindly reminded everyone:

"My web is not afraid of fire. The fiercer your flames, the tighter it contracts."

Madam Zhu wasn't lying. Under the fire ape's scorching heat, the net had already tightened so much that marks were left on everyone's faces.

If this continued, they would surely be strangled.

"What grand boasts!" Elder Chu sneered. "You haven't even reached the demon immortal level!"