Chapter 59: Where Flame Defies Water(2)

The swirling, suffocating fog of the Mountain of Death rolled endlessly over the desolate, jagged terrain. Cutting through the gloom, Ethan’s secondary black-magic clone materialized near the base of the trial path, its shadowy form crackling with dark, dense energy.

Hovering playfully in the air beside it was a diminutive Red Fairy, her translucent crimson wings beating with rapid, luminescent strokes as tiny embers drifted from her heels like falling stardust.

The Red Fairy fluttered in a tight circle, her glowing eyes narrowing as she surveyed the colossal, necrotic peak above. "According to my ancient navigational senses, the legendary **Red Dust Magic Flame** is resting right at the summit of this mountain," she chirped, turning her head to glare at the clone.

She crossed her tiny arms with a huff. "Dusk... this mountain’s mental trials will instantly reject any clone body. You can’t ascend here. You’re completely useless on your own! I told you we should have brought the real Ethan with us."

Before the black-magic clone could retort, a sudden, violent distortion ripped through the empty air directly behind it.

*Crack—!*

The spatial fabric fractured like thin glass, shattering into millions of glowing blue fragments that dissolved into the mist. Stepping gracefully out of the spatial rift came the true Ethan.

He had discarded his heavy black outer robes, now dressed in a sleek, tailored blue-and-black tunic that hugged his athletic frame. His striking golden hair whipped wildly in the sudden psychic gale, catching the ambient golden-blue aura radiating from his skin as he absorbed the residual pressure of the environment.

"So, the Red Dust Magic Flame is resting on this peak," Ethan murmured, a thoughtful, calculating smirk touching his lips.

"If this is Arthur’s designated opportunity, it must be far more valuable than I originally anticipated. In my past life, he never stumbled upon a flame of this caliber. It seems Heaven is desperately trying to rewrite his destiny and patch up his depleted luck by feeding him supreme treasures."

*Ding!*

A crisp system interface flashed instantly into Ethan’s field of vision.

> **[System Notification: Detected a major protagonist opportunity belonging to Arthur. If the Host intercepts and completes this trial, you will obtain: The Red Dust Magic Flame, a Peak Rank 6 Magic Sword, and a high-tier Rank 6 Spatial Artifact. Host will also harvest a massive influx of Fate Points.]**

Ethan’s eyes gleamed with cold amusement as he read the prompt. He mentally inquired, *"And if I completely usurp this opportunity, how much will Arthur’s luck and fate points drop?"*

*Ding!*

> **[System Notification: Intercepting this trial will drain Arthur’s remaining luck reserves by a full 200,000 Fate Points. However, warning: Arthur has already progressed deep into his psychological trial. Time is running out; he is on the verge of clearing it himself.]**

Ethan chuckled softly, stepping past his frozen black-magic clone. "Who ever said I was going to play by their rules and complete their little trial?"

*BOOM!*

An overwhelming, suffocating torrent of pure, abyssal-blue spiritual mana erupted from Ethan’s body, instantly shattering the ambient necrotic pressure within a fifty-meter radius. The sheer density of his fifth-rank spiritual cultivation caused the air to warp and distort.

The Red Fairy squeaked in alarm, stumbling backward through the air as the sheer weight of his aura pressed against her. "H-His mana is terrifying! How is a mere fifth-rank cultivator emitting pressure that rivals a peak sovereign?!" she stammered, her tiny wings beating frantically to keep her balanced against the psychic tempest.

Ignoring her, Ethan infused his boots with high-density mana and intricate blue-runic suppression spells. With absolute nonchalance, he took his first step onto the sacred stone trail of the Mountain of Death.

*RUMBLE—!*

The entire mountain shuddered violently, as if a sleeping primordial beast had been jolted awake. The gray fog surged forward like a living wave, wrapping around Ethan’s limbs and dragging his consciousness straight into the core of the psychological trial.

Seeing him swallowed by the mist, the Red Fairy let out a mocking giggle. "Big words about not getting trapped, yet you walked right into the illusion anyway!"

***

Inside the illusionary domain, the world dissolved into an infinite expanse of swirling slate-grey mist. Ethan stood calmly, his hands resting inside his pockets, observing his surroundings with clinical detachment.

A split second later, the fog parted directly in front of him.

Materializing from the mist was a tall, imposing shadow-entity draped in deep blue robes and a pointed aquatic hat—the exact same conceptual trial guardian Arthur had faced. Raising a slender hand, the guardian chanted an ancient incantation, and a dozen glowing blue magic circles ignited in mid-air.

*Hiss—!*

From the fluid symbols, three massive water-type serpentine clones surged forward, their bodies forged from high-pressure aquatic plasma, aiming to crush Ethan instantly.

Ethan didn’t even blink. A cold, predatory smile curved his lips. "Water manifestations against a sovereign of fate? This mountain truly understands nothing."

Instead of dodging, Ethan raised his right hand. The dense blue mana swirling around his palm condensed into a razor-sharp crescent blade of psychic flame. With a lazy flick of his wrist, he unleashed a horizontal arc of incandescent energy.

*Slash!*

The water serpents were sliced cleanly in half before they could even close the distance, evaporating into harmless steam in an instant.

The robed shadow-guardian didn’t falter. Emitting a piercing, metallic shriek, it slammed its staff against the illusionary floor. The ground beneath Ethan split open, erupting into a towering geyser of crushing, dark-blue glacial pressure—a localized tsunami designed to completely suppress and drown any cultivator’s foundation.

"Too slow," Ethan whispered.

Before the tsunami could crash down upon him, Ethan’s eyes flashed with a terrifying, golden-blue dual luminescence. He didn’t just counter the spell; he seized absolute control of the ambient mana in the illusionary space. Utilizing his advanced soul-level perception—carried over from his supreme mastery of fate systems—he inverted the flow of the guardian’s magic circle.

*CRACK!*

The colossal wave of glacial water suddenly froze mid-air, turning into a massive, jagged sculpture of blue ice under the weight of its own inverted pressure. With a casual wave of Ethan’s hand, the entire ice structure shattered inward, raining crystalline shrapnel across the slate floor.

The robed guardian stepped backward, its shadow-face flickering with uncontainable instability as the illusionary system recognized an anomaly—an intruder whose strength and mental fortitude completely defied the parameters of the test.

"You want to test my path?" Ethan stepped forward, his voice echoing with the cold, absolute authority of a supreme ruler. "My path is not one of trial and redemption. It is the path of the butcher, the architect of fate, and the one who trims the garden of this world."

*WHOOSH!*

The guardian shrieked, a high-pitched, soul-rending sound that vibrated through the very air of the illusion.

It swung its heavy, rune-etched staff downward, unleashing a torrent of high-pressure water spears that multiplied mid-air into a lethal, converging cage of azure death. At the same time, the slate floor beneath Ethan’s feet liquefied into a swirling vortex of abyssal suction, attempting to drag him down into a watery grave.

Ethan didn’t even blink. A cold, predatory smirk curved his lips.

"Insignificant tricks," he muttered.

With a flick of his wrist, dense waves of abyssal-blue spiritual mana surged from his body, forming a shimmering, multi-layered barrier of spiritual pressure. When the convergence of water spears slammed against his defense, they shattered instantly upon impact, turning into fine, harmless mist.

Before the guardian could recover from the recoil, Ethan vanished from sight.

*Spatial Shift!*

He reappeared directly above the robed entity, moving with a speed that defied the laws of the illusionary domain. His right hand clenched into a fist, now entirely enveloped in a blazing, terrifying aura of dark-purple soul-flame—a manifestation of pure destruction.

The guardian reacted with desperate survival instincts, thrusting its staff upward to parry the descent.

*CLANG!*

The collision of spiritual mana and ancient divine energy triggered a concussive shockwave that leveled the surrounding mist in a fifty-meter radius. The force of Ethan’s punch drove the guardian down to its knees, the heavy stone floor cracking and spiderwebbing outward beneath it.

Yet, the trial guardian refused to break. Channeling every remaining ounce of the mountain’s ambient energy, its blue robes flared with blinding luminescence. It opened its shadowy mouth, unleashing a point-blank, concentrated beam of glacial-blue destruction straight at Ethan’s chest.

At point-blank range, the destructive beam hit Ethan dead-on, detonating in a blinding flash of freezing blue light that swallowed them both.

Outside the core of the blast, the Red Fairy gasped, fluttering frantically. "Dusk! Did it actually hit him?!"

As the freezing light cleared, Ethan stood completely unphased. The glacial beam hadn’t even scratched his skin; his advanced soul-level cultivation and mastery over fate energy allowed him to passively deflect the elemental attack.

His eyes glowed with a terrifying, dual-colored golden-blue luminescence.

"Time to end this farce," Ethan whispered, his voice chillingly calm.

*BOOM-KABOOM!*

A silent, world-shaking detonation ripped outward from his palm. The dark-purple soul-flame burrowed deep into the entity’s core, igniting a chain reaction of pure annihilation. The guardian’s blue robes instantly dissolved into fine black ash, its pointed hat crumbled into shimmering dust, and its entire shadowy frame imploded from the inside out.

*CRACK... SHATTER!*

The entire illusionary domain cracked like fragile glass, breaking into a million glowing blue shards that dissolved into the wind.