Chapter 556: Elusive Illusions

In his quest for the truth, Zhang Lie took the most direct, the simplest, and the most effective approach.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Quake]!" His fist caused a geyser of water to erupt. The sea and the sky shook. Mist dissipated in a large area around them, and he brought Zhu charging forward.

Zhu asked, "Will this sort of method really work?"

"I don't know, either."

Zhu seemed flummoxed.

"It's precisely because I don't know that it needs to be tested. Staying still is also an option, but I prefer to search for opportunities rather than to let them come for me."

By that point, Zhang Lie had returned to peak condition. He continuously used his fists to shatter the spatial distortions in his way as he proceeded forward.

The way forward was calm and peaceful, and he didn't encounter anything unusual. Just as Zhang Lie was expecting that he would leave the sea of mists safely, a huge rumbling sound sent tremors through the sea and sky as a gigantic cruise ship came within sight.

The cruise ship's hull had all but rusted away, and a huge bloodstain covered its prow. Zhang Lie landed on the ship and Zhu stared anxiously around them. "Mister, I'm scared! I feel like something bad's about to happen..."

Ghosts of all races appeared on the ship, including those from the sea, humans, and even those that had recently appeared in Renhuang. The cruise ship seemed to be hosting a magnificent party.

Some of the figures were dancing on deck, others were guzzling down alcohol and wine, and yet others were holding hands and watching the sea from a distance. Zhang Lie activated his dragon's eye soulshard and confirmed that none of these figures had souls.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Soar]!" Zhang Lie threw out one lone punch, so strong it warped the space all around his fist. Ripples of energy spread out from him, destroying whatever figures they encountered. Zhang Lie stepped below deck and repeated his actions, killing everyone on board as though he were a mass murderer.

Zhang Lie thought that the situation had been resolved, but suddenly, music began to play. As ancient lyrics filtered across the cruise ship, the figures appeared once more.

Zhang Lie walked up to the gramophone and smashed it to pieces, causing the music to come to an abrupt halt. All the figures glanced toward him in shock.

"Brother, what are you doing?" Zhang Hanxiang pushed aside the spectators and walked up to him.

Zhang Lie's eyes widened in shock before he smiled. "You're finally revealing yourself, are you?"

Zhang Lie's fist met her face, and Zhang Hanxiang's head exploded. The lower half of her body fell to the ground, causing everyone on the ship to scream.

"Zhang Lie, what are you doing? Why did you kill your sister?!" His mother rushed out of the crowd and glanced at Zhang Lie in disbelief.

"Sorry, my mother has been gone for a long time now!" Zhang Lie activated his dragon's eye soulshard and confirmed that she didn't have a soul.

"[Fists of the Silent Sea: Fade]!" A black serpent shot out of Zhang Lie's fist and swallowed the facsimile of his mother whole. It ran rampant about the ship, devouring each figure it encountered. Zhang Lie's face distorted; anger thrummed through his body.

Real or not, illusion or not, he had a hard time killing his family. The bulk of that anger was directed at the mastermind behind these events, who had dared to toy with his emotions.

Zhang Lie's eyes filled with killing intent.

He was certain that he was quickly approaching his mysterious opponent, who had no choice but to come up with more and more ludicrous scenarios.

Suddenly, a figure leapt up into the air and grabbed the serpent.

"You bastard, you killed your mother and your sister!"

Zhang Lie glanced at the figure—his father.

"[The Boundless Blade: Yawning Wave]!" Using his finger as a sword, Zhang Lie thrust forward, sending a wave of sword energy toward his father. Zhang Lie's father blocked the attack with a sword that came out of nowhere.

"Enough!" Zhang Lie's aura flared with his anger. Flames that carried the potency of the sun swept over the entire ship, disintegrating each figure.

The gramophone began to spin once more. Zhang Lie frowned. Something was wrong; these figures seemed to be able to respawn endlessly.

Zhang Lie felt as though he could understand what Zhu's father had felt now—as though his fist had landed on a bed of cotton, able to absorb whatever force he threw its way.

While he was thinking about how to progress onward, Zhu vanished from the ship.

Zhang Lie frowned, but he didn't panic. Zhu was with Whitey, and there wouldn't be a problem.

As he activated his dragon's eye soulshard, he found that Zhu's soul was still on the cruise ship. He sent a probing fist slightly off-center in the direction she was in, smashing apart a spatial distortion and revealing her within. Zhu, trapped amidst the mists, was being attacked by another Zhang Lie.

"What?!" This fake Zhang Lie was in the middle of attacking Zhu and was being blocked by the moonlight wyrm. Except for his appearance, the fake Zhang Lie was nothing like the real one. It was far weaker; the real Zhang Lie would be able to take down the wyrm with nothing more than a finger.

The moonlight wyrm and Zhang Lie's dragon's eye soulshard shared a similar set of abilities. They both granted a spiritual sense permitting the detection of the soul. However, much of Whitey's abilities targeted the soul, and the fake Zhang Lie didn't have a soul.

The fake Zhang Lie's face turned cruel as he yelled out, "Useless piece of trash! You're a waste of resources. Go jump into the sea and die!"

Zhu's eyes filled with tears. "No, Mister wouldn't say something like that!"

.

"You can't even bring me out of the sea of mists! What use are you? Why should I keep you around?!"

Zhang Lie shuddered in disgust at his clone's antics before smashing it apart.

When Zhu saw the real Zhang Lie, she was overjoyed. She pounced toward him, hugging his waist. "Mister, I really don't know much about the sea of mists. You aren't going to discard me, are you?"

Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "If you have time to think about such pointless matters, why don't you help me figure out what we should do next?"

Zhu hugged him even more tightly. "You're the true mister, you really are!"

"Let go of me."

"No, never!"

Zhang Lie sighed in exasperation. "We're close to uncovering the truth."

"Why do you say that?"

Zhang Lie's face turned serious. "It's using techniques that are more and more underhanded, as though it has nothing better to resort to."

Zhu asked, "What do you think this opponent is, and where is it located?"

"We might have misled ourselves," Zhang Lie began slowly. "I always thought that our mysterious opponent was hidden among the mists, that we would be able to uncover the truth by heading deeper within, but who's to say that our opponent isn't right by our sides? Or, perhaps, that our opponent's been right by our sides all along..."