Infinite Awakening: My Exp Doubles Everyday novel Chapter 88

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Chapter 88: Flame Vs Flame

Xiang Yu watched the growing flame attack with dread, his mind racing through possible countermeasures. Should he coat his sword with lightning and attempt to split the fireball? No, this wasn’t some fantasy movie. Besides, even if he somehow managed such a feat, what if the separated halves crashed into his carefully buried talismans? The resulting chain reaction would only hasten his demise.

His thoughts turned to using earth qi to burrow underground for escape. That wouldn’t work either—disturbing the ground would trigger the very talismans he’d planted, sending him to meet his ancestors even sooner. Damn it! He’d cornered himself with his own strategy.

"All those novels lied," he thought bitterly. Weren’t villains supposed to be predictable idiots? Shouldn’t this cultivator be cursing and blindly charging at him instead of employing such effective tactics? Xiang Yu exhaled slowly, recognizing he was getting too agitated. He needed to maintain his composure and find a solution.

Before he could formulate a plan, he noticed something concerning. "Hmm, why is it still getting bigger?" he muttered, observing the expanding fireball. "Wait..."

Realization struck him—the Core Formation expert had actually thrown the attack. This wasn’t following the script at all! Shouldn’t the man first demand he kowtow three times, then perhaps magnanimously offer to leave his corpse intact?

The fireball continued growing in size as it descended toward him, the heat intensifying with each passing second. Xiang Yu wondered if this truly marked the end of his journey. "Junior sister," he thought wistfully, "it seems I can’t marry you in this lifetime."

Just as he’d resigned himself to his fate, he felt something shift inside him. "Wait! That’s..." His expression transformed from resignation to hope. "It seems luck is still on my side."

Meanwhile, the Core Formation cultivator pushed the massive fireball toward Xiang Yu, his face deliberately devoid of emotion. Internally, he was certain this attack would annihilate the troublesome youth. He refrained from voicing any curses or premature celebrations—he didn’t want to jinx his victory.

He reflected on the strange progression of their encounter. Initially, he’d dismissed Xiang Yu as a powerless mortal, yet the young man had managed to injure him. He’d attributed this to luck, but then Xiang Yu had killed both his subordinates. Perhaps extraordinary fortune was at play? But after suffering a second and third injury at the youth’s hands, coincidence seemed increasingly implausible.

More unsettling was how Xiang Yu had maintained control throughout their battle despite his apparent weakness. It felt as though the young cultivator was orchestrating every exchange, making the Core Formation expert dance in the palm of his hand. He wouldn’t be surprised if Xiang Yu was actually some ancient master using rejuvenation arts—that battle awareness was unnervingly precise. Facing him evoked the same uneasiness as confronting the sect master; no, not even the sect master gave him such a "seen though" feeling.

He needed to end this quickly before Xiang Yu somehow reversed their positions yet again.

"Hmm... where’s the chain reaction?" the cultivator wondered. He’d expected the buried talismans to begin exploding, creating a domino effect of destruction. Could Xiang Yu have been bluffing all along?

Then he noticed something peculiar. "Is it just me, or is the fireball growing smaller?" From his elevated position, he couldn’t see beneath the massive flaming sphere, and since it was made of qi, it interfered with his qi sense.

After brief deliberation, he descended from his vantage point, gliding cautiously toward the ground. His suspicions were confirmed—the flame was indeed diminishing in size. Within seconds, the entire attack had vanished completely.

Xiang Yu’s face split into a smug smile that made the Core Formation cultivator uneasy.

...

A smile spread across his features as he remembered Elder Huang’s words about the flame. "...but when I tried to absorb this flame, it also tried to absorb my flames..." she had said. He hadn’t paid attention to this before but now... _{fr\eewebno vel .c(o)m}