261: Chapter 261 My Heart is Free

Shen Xingchen looked at each and every familiar face.

For him, illusions of this level were not enough to disturb his mind; rather, it was mostly that he couldn't bear to strike at friends from his past.

"Die!"

Shen Xingchen charged at He Yan without hesitation.

To everyone's surprise, He Yan possessed Tier 7 combat power at this moment.

On the surface of Shen Xingchen's body, silver armor appeared once more. Driven by the Myriad Gods Thunder Department, this precious armor named "Thunder Emperor" erupted with the most blazing light.

His long spear swept horizontally across.

While sending He Yan flying, Shen Xingchen delivered a whip kick that caused Tang Chen on his left to cave inward.

These people were enemies to begin with, so there was no need to hold back.

Right now, the most important thing was to find the hiding place of that "Mirage Demon". According to the records, the Mirage Demon liked to hide within illusions and deliver a fatal blow when the opponent hesitated.

Shen Xingchen looked at the clear and graceful figure in the distance. If he were the Mirage Demon, he would definitely choose Jiang Qingyao's illusion as his trump card.

Even though he knew it was an illusion, he still couldn't bring himself to attack, simply because he didn't want to see the girl's terrified and miserable appearance.

On the other side, He Yan rushed up again.

Puchi—

Shen Xingchen pierced straight through He Yan's head with his spear.

That pretty-enough face flashed a trace of panic before scattering across the ground like shifting sand.

"Pretty realistic." Shen Xingchen praised.

The Mirage Demon had the ability to project an enemy's memories. Coincidentally, he had seen the terror before He Yan's death during the martial arts gaokao, so it was cast into the illusion.

Without lingering.

Shen Xingchen continued to charge forward toward the illusions of Tang Chen and Jiang Cheng.

These two prodigies, who were considered his formidable enemies half a year ago, appeared so helpless at this moment.

After just a few consecutive thrusts, their illusions were shattered.

Shen Xingchen bypassed Jiang Qingyao and slaughtered his way toward Du Xiaoyue in the rear.

"Sorry, Senior Brother Xiaoyue!"

He had once dealt ruthless blows to Senior Brother Xiaopang in the virtual projection, so this time he treated it as a projection as well and attacked directly.

Bang—

The Fire Dance Flowing Flame Style stained the crimson spear tip, erupting with dazzling light that directly ignited Du Xiaoyue's illusion.

"Sorry, my good son!"

Chen Feiyu's round body came charging at Shen Xingchen. Shen Xingchen gave him two disgusted glances before ending him with a single spear strike.

Finally... only that lovely figure remained.

The Mirage Demon seemed to be waiting for Shen Xingchen to finish off the first five.

It had deliberately created six people from Shen Xingchen's memories, deduced the most important one based on Shen Xingchen's decisiveness, and then used that for the final fatal strike.

"Brother Xingchen!"

The girl's soft voice resounded within the domain as she walked briskly to Shen Xingchen's side.

Shen Xingchen retreated again and again, his expression somewhat gloomy. "Do you think this is fun?"

Jiang Qingyao, transformed by the Mirage Demon, maintained a smiling face. "Brother Xingchen, why are you dodging me?"

Her voice turned bewitching, causing Shen Xingchen to experience a momentary trance.

Seeing Shen Xingchen's reaction, the Mirage Demon couldn't help secretly rejoicing, and its actions became even bolder.

"Brother Xingchen, come on over!"

Jiang Qingyao, transformed by the Mirage Demon, boldly untied two of her cuffs, revealing her fair and pretty collarbones, and flashed a charming smile at Shen Xingchen.

Shen Xingchen was thoroughly angered, slightly tightening his grip on the long spear in his hand.

However, this momentary emotional fluctuation of his was perfectly captured by the Mirage Demon.

At the split second Shen Xingchen hesitated, Jiang Qingyao, transformed by the Mirage Demon, wielded the frost dragon-locking sword and thrust it straight into Shen Xingchen's shoulder.

Having succeeded, the Mirage Demon laughed loudly. "Hahaha."

At that moment, Shen Xingchen suddenly moved. The long spear in his hand abruptly erupted with a dazzling red glow, carrying tens of thousands of overlapping shadows as it counter-stabbed toward the face of the girl transformed by the Mirage Demon.

According to the Mirage Demon's speculation, this was the face deep within Shen Xingchen's heart that he cherished the most, and a spot Shen Xingchen could never possibly attack.

Yet Shen Xingchen attacked anyway, and with firm resolution.

The Mirage Demon was puzzled. "How can this be?"

Shen Xingchen's long spear pierced like a rainbow through the sun, abruptly stabbing into the center of the brows of the girl transformed by the Mirage Demon.

Struck in its true form, the Mirage Demon immediately materialized into the appearance of a clam. "You clearly couldn't bring yourself to do it!"

Shen Xingchen sneered, "When she smiles, she isn't as wretched as you!"

At this moment.

Shen Xingchen's Fire Dance Flowing Flame Style reached the realm of perfection, officially entering the Grandmaster level.

Most spear-type martial arts techniques required slaughter amidst life and death to achieve sudden enlightenment, but the requirements for the Fire Dance Flowing Flame Style seemed even higher—it required breaking through one's own inner self.

This illusion could also be considered a disguised trial of the heart.

It questioned Shen Xingchen in a straightforward manner—if your heart is burdened, can your spear technique still be unleashed? Can it still reach fulfillment?

Shen Xingchen's answer was very simple—My heart is free!

...

The outside battlefield.

In just a few minutes, nearly half of the hundreds of surrounded people had fallen.

"Fight these beasts to the death!"

Some soldiers shouted and charged into battle, only to be easily beaten back or even killed due to physical exhaustion.

On a battlefield where every second counted, the few minutes Shen Xingchen disappeared felt far too long for them, as if several centuries had passed.

"Why... why hasn't anyone come to rescue us?"

"Can we really fight our way out alive?"

"In fact, we have never had any hope, have we?"

Other soldiers had already begun to waver, doubting whether Shen Xingchen would return.

Although Shen Xingchen's charge at the vanguard earlier made him look very much like a pillar of the battlefield, the time was after all too short, and he had not left a deep enough imprint in the soldiers' hearts.

Only Liu Hero firmly believed that Shen Xingchen would definitely return.

He remained at the very front. Liu Hero was already covered in wounds, relying solely on his willpower to stubbornly fight the enemy. "Hold on a little longer, just a little longer..."

Just at that moment.

A ball of black fog appeared and vanished.

Following its appearance was a figure wearing silver armor. His eyes were dazzling, his back straight, and his entire body radiated endless fighting intent.

That was Shen Xingchen!

Once again, at a moment of universal despair, a youth named Shen Xingchen stood in front of everyone.

Facing the countless demons, Shen Xingchen casually stretched lazily.

At the same time, the system prompt sounded.

{System Upgrade Quest:}

{Total Progress: Kill Demonic Royal Bloodline × 1 (1 / 1)}

{Total Progress: Kill Tier 7 Demon × 100 (100 / 100)}

{Total Progress: Kill Tier 6 Demon × 1000 (1000 / 1000)}

{...}

{Congratulations Host, for completing the System Upgrade Quest}

{System Upgrade!}

{Lv2 → Lv3}

{10%}

{30%}

{...}

{100%}

{System Upgrade Complete!}

{Distributing additional reward: Randomly draw a Talent Divine Ability.}

{...}

{Ding!}

{Draw Result: SS-level Innate Divine Ability, Destruction Killing Pupil! (Forbidden spell type)}

{Please click to confirm!}