Chapter Forty: The Fierce Battle with the Mirror Hero

Faced with such an ordeal, Han was deeply shaken. On one hand, he had gained the ability to traverse matter at the speed of light, like the Mirror Hero; on the other, he was forced to accept a heavy responsibility.

Throughout this journey, Han had always positioned himself as a subordinate, a helper. He had always relied on Wu Jue as his pillar of support and had never considered that he might be able to stand alone. Now, confronted with the Mirror Hero Ter’s request, he was torn. The sense of honor within him made him want to accept, yet his instincts resisted.

“I just want to be an ordinary person,” Han said, standing up and shaking his head. “If you want me to help others, to be an assistant to a savior, that’s fine. But to ask me to become a hero myself—I can’t do it.”

“How strange. I’ve never encountered such a situation. Chosen by the Divine Mirror, yet refusing the call.” Ter was clearly disappointed by Han’s response; his expression faltered as if he was weighing his options. Suddenly, he said, “I don’t have much time left. It seems I have no choice but to give you a push.”

He suddenly stretched out his hand, palm aimed at Wu Jue, and a beam of mirror-light shot forth, striking Wu Jue directly.

Fortunately, Wu Jue’s Golden Bell Shield had already surpassed the limits of human skill; a surge of vital energy rushed outward, forming a shield in front of him as he shouted, “Are you insane? Are you trying to kill us to silence us?”

“You’re mistaken! Han idolizes you. Only by defeating you can he let go of his dependence on you.” With that, Ter lunged at Wu Jue.

Wu Jue did not back down. His fighting spirit flared, and the energy gathered before him from the Golden Bell Shield surged even more powerfully, reflecting Ter’s mirror-light right back at him.

But Ter’s figure had already leaped forward, and in a flash, he was upon Wu Jue, both of them locked in a chaotic struggle.

Wu Jue soon realized that Ter’s combat strength had diminished considerably. Perhaps because the Divine Mirror had chosen Han as its successor, Ter’s powers had sharply declined and seemed to be fading further.

At that moment, Huron’s voice suddenly rang out in Wu Jue’s mind: “There’s a way to change all of this. You can spare Han from the burden, let Ter remain the Mirror Hero. Stop Ter now.”

Receiving this cue, Wu Jue immediately blocked another blast of mirror-light, shouting angrily, “Enough! I have a way to resolve this problem.”

At that instant, Ter’s fist passed harmlessly through Wu Jue’s chest, lacking any power. In truth, Ter was already on the verge of collapse.

Just then, Princess An Yi leapt forward, grabbed Wu Jue, then unexpectedly struck Ter with a punch.

Perhaps Ter was too weakened; he was hit squarely, sent flying, and landed hard on the ground.

An Yi stepped on him and said, “You’d better behave. If you completely fade away, no one will be able to save you.”

Without hesitation, Wu Jue followed Huron’s instructions, hurrying back into the cave. Earlier, Huron had noticed something special: the stone coffins that held the remains of two predecessors.

Huron recognized that the coffins were made of extraterrestrial meteorite, a special metal from another galaxy, designed to absorb and lock away human energy. That was why the three elders, upon approaching the coffins, had their bodies consumed, leaving only their skeletons perfectly preserved.

When transferring Duan Mingde’s remains earlier, Wu Jue had already found it odd how unusually resilient the bones were, as if they had been specially treated and were hard to break.

Now understanding the secret, he decided to move the other two elders’ remains out for temporary burial, then placed both Han and Ter into the stone coffins, using the coffins’ properties to transfer the energy Han had absorbed back to Ter.

After setting everything up, Wu Jue took the Bagua Mirror from Ter and placed it between the two coffins, awaiting the Divine Mirror to enact its reversal.

Moments later, both Wu Jue and An Yi saw a faint mirror-light flowing across the coffins’ surface. Ter’s body slowly began to return to normal—their method had worked.

All three of them breathed a sigh of relief. At last, a great weight was lifted from their hearts. After half an hour, with both men restored and the mirror-light faded from the coffins, they helped Han and Ter out.

Han exhaled, saying, “That was close! I almost became the savior. Just the thought is exhilarating.”

Xiao Yang teased, “Be honest—were you actually tempted?”

Han replied, “Give me a break. I’m perfectly happy as I am—following you guys, I want for nothing. Why should I have to lead? I’m no fool!”

Everyone laughed. Ter stood silently for a while, deep in thought, before suddenly walking up to Wu Jue, bowing deeply. “I was wrong. Perhaps the ways I’ve relied on are not entirely right. I hope we can be friends from now on.”

Wu Jue nodded to him and replied, “Let’s hope so. The road ahead for both of us is still long.”

With the dispute with Ter settled for now, it was time to plan for survival. Having fallen off the cliff, they had no idea what was happening outside—whether the town was safe.

They knew they couldn’t stay here forever. Wu Jue asked Han what had happened earlier.

After falling with Ter, Han had gotten into a fierce battle with Desai, suffering severe injuries and almost dying. At a critical moment, Ter had used the mirror’s light to teleport Desai to the other side of the globe, but was gravely wounded himself and needed to heal.

Unfortunately, as Ter was using the Bagua Mirror to recover, Han was drawn to it, accidentally capturing his own image in the mirror. By chance, he absorbed half of the mirror’s power, becoming the chosen inheritor of the Divine Mirror.

As the devout executor of the Mirror Hero’s mission, Ter had chosen to sacrifice himself so Han could inherit his duty, which led to everything that followed.

But this experience changed many of Ter’s views, making him less bound by the Divine Mirror’s will.

Wu Jue asked, “So, where did Desai end up? Is it far?”

Expressionless, Ter replied, “Barring accidents, he should be on the other side of the planet. He won’t be coming back anytime soon.”

The others were astonished by this. Looking up at the sky, they wondered—would peace finally return?

Xiao Yang said, “I’ll try to access the Fortress’s communications system, see if I can find any data, though the power’s likely to run out soon.”

An Yi said, “I’ll help you deal with the wolf-leopard corpses. Han, get some rest—maybe look for some wild fruit?”

Ter stood up and said, “I’ll help. I can extract the beast cores and separate out the poisonous flesh so the rest is safe to eat.”

The others were grateful—this would solve their food problem.

Teaming up with Ter, they left the cave for the valley where the beasts’ bodies lay. Ter scanned the carcasses with mirror-light, quickly splitting open their skulls. The first wolf, unfortunately, had no core and was defective.

Still, under the mirror’s glow, they managed to separate some wolf meat and pelts, which An Yi began to skin and collect. She was no stranger to butchering wild animals.

They worked methodically through the beasts. On average, only one in two or three had a core, a sign that these mutant animals were of a lower evolutionary level.

Wu Jue squatted and, guided by Huron’s voice in his mind, gathered his pure yang energy in both palms, levitating the blood-red beast core before him. He channeled his energy into the core, attempting to refine it into a pill for future use.

Half an hour later, the first red core was fully formed.

Holding it in his palm, Wu Jue said, “With this, we can increase our strength and need not fear the Heaven Execution Clan’s army.”

Ter smiled faintly. “I don’t need it. As long as I have the Divine Mirror, I can absorb sunlight to replenish my energy. You don’t need to worry about me.”

With that, he soared into the air, basking in the weak sunlight, absorbing the energy streaming from the sun. His whole body seemed enveloped in a gentle, mysterious glow. The Bagua Mirror on his chest began to shimmer with a unique red light, dazzling, within which a human face seemed to emerge and fade.

***

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Han—who had been resting—suddenly seemed to sense something. He floated into the air, strange lights flaring in his eyes, his whole body suffused with newfound power.

He had not yet severed his connection to the Divine Mirror.

End of Chapter 40.