As the current of flames strengthened, Shao Xuan felt the opposing force strengthen. Every step forward became more difficult. An obvious sign of this was the strong vibrations every time the giant took a step.
When the flames aggregated into a current, they separated into streams once more like snakes of fire, lunging at the giant.
The red figure waved its arms, every swipe violent as ever. Its body was not as clumsy as it looked, for it squashed the fire snakes quickly, directly and arrogantly. Nothing could escape its hands! Several snakes exploded upon impact!
The flying snakes shattered into countless fireballs, flying in all directions. The current form from its moving arms blew flames away, clearing Shao Xuan’s vision ahead.
Yi Tuan stared at the giant, walking figure. He did not understand. What the heck was that giant? He could sense that this giant was different from the Bone Reading Beasts. Giants should not exist in this world either? Or were there other explanations?
But it was just a passing thought. He did not have time to wonder about Shao Xuan’s flame giant. Shao Xuan’s resilience was shocking too. He thought this tribesman would have disappeared after the collision between the tortoise and Yi Xiang but not only was he well, he could even produce a flame giant. Was this their ‘hope for survival’ from the prophecy?
Their ancestral heirloom was unable to create a crack in the boundary but what if they combined efforts with the tribesman? Would that work?
Yi Tuan focused again and searched for possible cracks. Once the crack appeared, they would slip out immediately. He obviously saw how Yi Xiang directed more hatred towards Shao Xuan. Yi Xiang currently directed more firepower in Shao Xuan’s direction than towards the entire camp.
Admittedly, Shao Xuan was powerful enough to create this flame giant. He was probably as powerful as their ancestor’s shell. However, his flame giant might not hold against Yi Xiang for long either. Yi Tuan did not care, privately delighted that Yi Xiang’s attention was now on Shao Xuan. This bought them more time to find a way to escape! He couldn’t care less for Shao Xuan’s survival.
More and more flames poured out of the fire wall, swift as ever. The red giant’s footsteps slowed down. They could see that the giant was reaching its limit. The moment the giant could no longer stand, and become engulfed in the current of fire, that was the moment Shao Xuan would die.
The Yi clan was secretly relieved that Yi Xiang did not use this move on them. Even with the giant tortoise and the combined totem of one hundred people, they might not last longer than this tribesman.
Shao Xuan sensed that he had utilised his powers to their maximum. His body felt like an overloaded machine, crackling and creaking, as if about to fall apart any moment now.
His feet seemed to be weighted down by shackles, every step immensely difficult. He still had to keep his balance in the face of the rushing current threatening to swallow him whole.
He must not retreat! Not even one step backwards! At a moment like that, one step backwards would become two, three.... Until he is overcome by the current!
All the white energy in his body had been activated. He no longer felt cold, instead his blood surged and boiled, steam rising out of his pores.
He suddenly noticed that within his sea of consciousness, the usual white shell around his totemic fire was starting to ‘melt’!
The initial light shell turned into white light streaming outwords. Very soon, the outer layer disappeared.
Although the white shell was gone, Shao Xuan did not feel this white energy leaving his body. It was still around him. Furthermore, he felt it concentrating in his arms. His five senses, which had numbed from the effort, sharpened once more and the oppression around him weakened. As if someone moved a mountain from his shoulders, he felt light and his breathing eased suddenly.
Amid Yi Xiang’s orange-red current of flames, the red giant halted but did not step back. It merely stood like a pondering philosopher.
Within the Yi totem, the observers all wondered, ‘Had he finally reached his limit?’
However, in the next moment, they felt a powerful force forming from that direction, stronger than when the giant first appeared!
What?!
Even Yi Tuan, who was concentrating on looking for a crack, looked over. Anxiety surfaced in his heart, along with fear. It felt as if something deep in slumber had finally awakened.
“Totemic ripples!” gasped an elder next to Yi Tuan.
When a fire seed’s powers formed a totem, unique energy ripples would be formed. Since Shao Xuan’s arrival, there had been no totem beneath his feet. This was to the bafflement of the Yi family. If he had mastered a Yi family technique, his appearance should also involve a totem but they still had not seen Flaming Horn’s totem yet.
So was his totem finally going to appear?
No, more specifically: the totem is ONLY appearing NOW?! This was unbelievable.
This brat could not even form his own totem, yet he was still sprightly as ever in this realm! The totem’s appearance was a little too late.
Also, why was there such a huge commotion when it appeared? It had just begun to form and there was already strong oppression.
Was the Flaming Horn’s totem THAT powerful?
“No way, that’s not the Flaming Horn’s totem!” Yi Tuan’s chest tightened, for he had sensed something unusual. “That’s definitely not the Flaming Horn’s totem!”
“But I usually recognise this as a sign of a totem’s formation. So if it isn’t the Flaming Horn totem, what is it?” asked the elder next to him.
Just as they wondered, the currents that almost drowned the fiery figure were suddenly pushed away! Like a pair of invisible hands blocking the angry river of fire.
All the fire around the flame giant was pushed away. But Yi Tuan and his clan, as well as Yi Xiang, ignored that. They were watching something else. Beneath the red giant’s feet, white flames appeared.
Two white lines crossed each other, both ends in a ‘t’ shape. They were now two elongated ‘工’ shapes and rapidly stretching!
The 工 lines continued to expand, blocking the current. The space around the flame giant expanded.
“What the heck is that?!” yelled someone. He had never seen a totem like that. Isn’t that a Flaming Horn? Shouldn’t it be a totem of two horns? What was this?
Within the Yi camp, many people stumbled backwards from the force.
Even Yi Tuan struggled to maintain his balance. He did not step back but still felt a strong oppression. If this was his real body, he would have coughed up blood by now.
If one could see his eyes, one would see they were filled with shock and fear, like he had just witnessed a terrifying scene.
“That’s...” Yi Tuan felt an icy current raise goosebumps all over his body, causing his hair to stand on ends.
Fear? Worry?
All emotions were forced to the back of his mind. He only had one thought: Why would this pattern appear now?!
The atmosphere was strange. Those who did not understand the appearance of a double ‘工’ pattern also sensed fear from the three elders. Such discomfort caused their hearts to sink.
Both elongated ‘工’ overlapped in a cross. Its appearance seemed to stop time across the entire battlefield. Even Yi Xiang’s hand holding the necklace of ornaments trembled slightly.
Yi Xiang had not reacted to the flaming giant with much emotion but this white pattern seemed to worry Yi Xiang.
On Shao Xuan’s side, the changes continued.
Shao Xuan felt a powerful force surging beneath his feet, strengthening along with the expansion of the cross, spreading in all directions as if about to blast this entire realm to pieces!
Shao Xuan’s fiery silhouette had initially merged together with the flame giant, its outline unclear. However, when the white light appeared on various parts of Shao Xuan’s body and shone behind him, the shape of Shao Xuan’s body became clearer once more. Then, the white lights one step’s distance behind him aggregated once again and stopped shining in other directions.
The concentrated ball of light enlarged, brighter than the shell Yi Tuan took out. If that giant tortoise’s appearance was a star in the night sky, then the white ball of light behind Shao Xuan was a shining sun!
The white light formed into a blurry silhouette like a clone of Shao Xuan, though made of different flames and blurry. The Yi family would perceive this to be the same as the first time Shao Xuan entered this realm, flickering like a beginner unfamiliar with the technique.
However, there was a difference. The moment this white figure appeared, the entire battle field dominated by three gigantic figures changed once more.
The cross had cleared a large space around the flame giant, white-hot flames curling out of it. The giant grew several times taller, this time more intimidating than before! Under such circumstances, the Yi family totem looked weak.
Yi Tuan grew even more bitter and frustrated like there was blood stuck in his throat.
The Yi family’s camp consisted of a hundred people and their ancestral treasures. Yi Xiang was a thousand-year old monster, a rare prodigy of the Yi family.
And Shao Xuan? What was Shao Xuan?
Just a primitive, coarse tribesman!
While he was quite irritated, he quickly calmed down when he thought about how Shao Xuan could occupy Yi Xiang and maybe give them a chance to escape.
But...
Why is that giant now rushing towards them?!
[DOGE Note: I’ve done my best to translate this chapter but to be honest, the descriptions were a little difficult to understand, especially the white 工 pattern part – this translation is what I understood out of it and I HOPE it’s right!! Thanks for reading!]