A massive ship sailed on the azure sea. Li Huowang stared at the waves while occasionally checking the Shimmer Mirror.
"Captain, are you sure we are heading in the right direction?" He looked at the man with dark skin and calloused feet.
"I've been sailing for more than forty years. My ship will navigate flawlessly as long as you give the right coordinates."
Just then, a muffled cry came from the bottom of the deck, sounding excruciatingly painful.
But the captain ignored the screaming from the Ao Jing Sect. He continued his work without acknowledging them. When he turned around, a single mahjong tile with the Hong Zhong pattern could be seen at the back of his neck.
The captain was not the only one with the mark. Li Huowang had tricked the entire ship's crew into turning them into his pieces.
Li Huowang didn't want to employ any random group of people because he feared that there could be spies from the Dharma Sect. That was why he used the Sitting Oblivion Dao's tricks.
After confirming they were sailing in the right direction, Li Huowang walked down from the deck and entered the cabin. He had just entered when he saw Li Sui meditating with her legs crossed.
"What are you doing?"
"Father, didn't you say I turned into a Strayed One? I'm learning from you to cultivate the 'Truth.' I want to become as strong as you."
The surroundings did not change, so it was clear that Li Sui did not succeed, but Li Huowang was still touched by her actions.
He patted her shoulders. "Cultivate well. We can solve it together if you encounter any problems. Also, did the illusion of the man appear again?"
Li Sui shook her head as she placed her legs down. "No. He only appeared once."
"Only once..." Li Huowang pondered. It didn't sound like an illusion created by being a Strayed One, so it wasn't a major issue.
"Don't worry, it's just an illusion. I have several of them, which have been following me for a few years. Even if you end up with illusions too, it won't affect you. At most, they would just be annoying."
"Alright father. I won't worry too much about it." Li Sui beamed as she squinted her eyes.
"Sorry for dragging you into this."
"It's alright." Li Sui hugged Li Huowang and snuggled into his embrace. "Father, I want to help you. I want to protect you and make sure you don't die."
As Li Huowang was patting her head, one of the Ao Jing Sect members interrupted them. "Daoist Li, Elder Shen is calling you."
He let go of Li Sui before following the person down deeper into the other cabins.
The cabins in which the Ao Jing Sect were staying was covered in the stench of blood. They also drew various runes using blood, but Li Huowang was used to it.
He approached Shen Benyou. "Is something wrong?"
"Does Daoist Li know who we're facing? Who are the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas?"
Li Huowang briefly explained what he had experienced at Yang Xiaohai's old home. "From the captives, we've learned that we are most likely facing the deities that the boat people worshiped. I've seen it once before, and it seems it controls water."
"The Dragon King's Heavenly Dao appears to control water and could forcibly change someone's Ten Emotions and Eight Sufferings. You should prepare yourself."
But Shen Benyou shook her head. They didn't exist in the past. We knew about the boat people's faith, but most were merely superstitious. They only prayed to calm themselves before they went out to the sea. It seems that an impostor took over and proclaimed themselves as the boat people's deity.
"Is it a Siming from another world? Did they come from beyond the Baiyu Capital?" Li Huowang wasn't surprised since he had a similar conjecture.
Shen Benyou shook her head again. "The Sacrificial God hasn't answered us in a long time. I do not know what to do. We should be careful this time. No matter who these Dragon Kings are, we should be careful since the Dharma Sect recruited them."
"You can't die anyways. What are you afraid of? Aren't you ashamed to call yourself the Ao Jing Sect?" Li Huowang did not hold back. "Also, we are not fighting against them head-on. We only need to take away their tribute. The mission shouldn't be that dangerous. Once we are down there, I will steal their tribute while all of you suppress the Dragon King and the others."
I'm worried, not afraid. There are too many variables. Daoist Li, do you not see them? Do you really think this is a coincidence?
"And what good is it for us to be worried? You are worried, and yet you wanted me to owe you a favor to do this? You wouldn't have accepted it if you were that worried."
Li Huowang wanted to scold her further, but the captain's voice came from above the deck. "Sir, we are here!"
"We've reached the place. I will listen to you once this is over."
Shen Benyou took a bag of metal thorns and opened her mouth. She dumped the contents of the bag into her mouth covered in blisters and ulcers before chewing on the steel thorns forcefully.
Four Ao Jing Sect members walked over and carried her palanquin. They followed Li Huowang up to the deck.
Everyone gathered at the top of the deck. They saw that the ocean was still the same, but Li Huowang sensed danger. He felt gazes coming from the bottom of the ship. Something had noticed them.
Li Huowang opened his mouth and swallowed Li Sui before waving his arm. The Ao Jing Sect members jumped into the sea like dumplings into boiling water.
Li Huowang jumped into the icy water and took a deep breath. The briney sea water surged into his lung and suffocated him.
Li Huowang instinctively struggled as his breathing became rapid and his body turned rigid. The suffocating feeling intensified until it reached a peak. Li Huowang quickly got used to the sensation of drowning.
Under normal circumstances, he would've drowned to death. However, with the Heavenly Dao of Death gone, he couldn't die. That was why he could dive into the water without any hesitation.
Several black tentacles with suction cups and hooks appeared out from Li Huowang's body. He swam swiftly in the oceanic current.
Li Huowang looked at the others. He saw the Lion Dance Palace had fused into a blob before transforming into a fish-like being. Densely layered palms covered in white tassels were arranged into the fins.
As for the Ao Jing Sect, they had turned the water around them into a bloody-red color.
Li Huowang pointed to the deep, dark ocean, and everyone descended even further.
Chapter 801 - Dragon King Temple
The cold seawater surrounded Li Huowang as he slowly descended. The pressure of the water slowly increased and pressed on him. It felt as if two walls were slowly crushing his body from both the front and the back.
However, this was not an issue for him since Death had disappeared.
He slowly sank as the surface grew further away from him. The waters around him turned darker as he descended. His visibility decreased, making it harder for him to detect any danger.
In the dark ocean, Li Huowang slowly sank into the depths as the darkness seemed to stretch on endlessly before him.
He suddenly stopped and stared at the murky depths around him.
He fished out three pieces of glowing rocks from the inside of his clothes before throwing them towards the front.
The green light dispelled the darkness, revealing a dense group of boat people with fish-scale tattoos and water monkeys.
One was human, and the other was an evil entity, yet there wasn't much difference between the two groups this deep underwater.
"Kill them!" Li Huowang charged into the group of boat people as each of Li Sui's tentacles held onto a torture tool. The sharp blades of the torture tools sliced up the boat people easily.
The Ao Jing Sect and the Lion Dance Palace did the same. The Lion Dance Palace swallowed a lot of the boat people before leaving behind a massive writhing pile of twisted flesh.
As Death had vanished, neither they nor their enemies could die, so it was pointless to prolong their fight.
Li Huowang was not here to kill them. He observed the glowing rocks descending, revealing a large crevice at the bottom. Li Huowang ushered Li Sui's tentacles to work hard to swim after the rocks.
"This is the Dragon King Temple! Follow me quickly before the Dharma Sect comes!"
Soon the battlefield shifted towards the crevice. Under Li Huowang's guidance, everyone swam towards the three sinking glowing rocks. Li Huowang had taken the initiative for the assault this time.
The glowing rocks weren't bright, but in the dark ocean they were like three miniature green suns that lit up the crevice.
Li Huowang saw several human and fish skeletons littered on the uneven rocks.
Li Huowang thought this was where the boat people and the water monkeys buried their dead, but as he swam downwards, he realized he was wrong.
The skeletons weren't scattered randomly but arranged in a specific pattern. Someone had deliberately placed them to form a mural on the walls. "Is that a human?"
The bones were arranged in the shape of a massive human taller than a mountain. The light coming from the glowing rocks wasn't enough to illuminate it.
Li Huowang could only rely on his memories and piece together the sections he had seen with the light coming from the glowing rocks to form a vague image of the man.
Whoosh~ Li Huowang suddenly sensed danger and quickly shifted sideways. He barely avoided a dark shadow zipping past him.
Hair?
Li Huowang couldn't make out what it was. He only saw something as large as a house disappearing in the darkness.
As he approached, the resistance he encountered started becoming fiercer. Something other than the boat people and the water monkeys was underwater. There appeared to be even more entities worshiping the Dragon King in the Dragon King Temple.
"Father, look! There's a temple in the stomach of the bone-man on the wall!"
"A temple in that thing's stomach? I'm looking for the Dragon King Temple, not an organ temple."
Li Huowang looked down when he heard Li Sui's warning. He saw an eerie temple lodged into the wall of the crevice, and its location was exactly at where the liver of the man made from bones on the wall would be.
He read the words on the rusted signage and realized it was exactly what he had been looking for.
Just then, the intense water pressure crushed the three glowing rocks and plunged everything into darkness again.
The moment the light disappeared, numerous shadowy objects swam up from the crevice, and as they did, the surrounding currents grew fiercer. In the darkness, all Li Huowang could see were shimmering scales.
Li Huowang didn't know what those things were, but he knew they would try to stop him from approaching the Dragon King Temple.
Li Huowang turned towards the direction in which the stench of blood was the heaviest before shouting, "Hey, do your job! Is this the limit of what the Ao Jing Sect can do?"
Right then, he heard the Ao Jing Sect all shout at the same time. "Wooden Liver!"
Many of them used the Five Elements Intercalation simultaneously as a dense mat of maggots burrowed into the flesh of the shadowy figures. The maggots made the surrounding waters murkier.
They shared the pain as howls from men and beasts alike resounded in the dark water.
Under the protection of the white tassel and maggots, Li Huowang approached the Dragon King Temple, which was shrouded in darkness.
Li Huowang fished out three more glowing rocks and threw them towards the Dragon King Temple. A horrific scene unfolded in front of his eyes as he saw numerous headless corpses floating upside down in the Dragon King Temple. They were neatly arranged in the water.
"I don't care what those are—it's your job to buy time for me! I will go take the offerings and finish this early!" Li Huowang shouted. Dense layers of maggots and white tassels surged into the Dragon King Temple.
Under their protection, Li Huowang projected his image and swam into the temple with the tentacles.
One of the headless corpses splayed open its limbs and flew towards him like a starfish, but a palm formed from maggots intercepted the corpse and dragged it away.
As the obstacles were cleared away, Li Huowang soon found a massive table filled with offerings. On one of the white jade plates were two entire Dragon Veins! The heads of the Dragon Veins, the Emperor of the An Xi Kingdom and the Emperor of the Luo Sha Kingdom, had been pierced by corals and forced to kneel towards something on the wall.
Faint golden lights were peeling off from the Dragon Veins like golden foil as they drifted towards the wall. Li Huowang followed the path of the light and stared at the wall.
He was certain that the Dragon King was not a dragon even though it looked like it. The thing on the wall looked more like a ball of whiskers covered in dragon scales and dragon claws.
"What is that bizarre thing?" Li Huowang was running out of time. He quickly swam over and grabbed the two Dragon Veins before tying them together and dragging them out of the Dragon King Temple.
But when the two Dragon Veins left the table, the entire Dragon King Temple started shaking vigorously, accompanied by the spread of a horrifying aura.
Li Huowang turned around and stared warily at the mural on the wall.
But the mural did not move. It was something else that moved.
Chapter 802 - Ao Mojie
Li Huowang sensed that the tremor and the terrifying aura were becoming stronger. The currents began to swirl chaotically. He understood what was happening and shouted at everyone, "Get out! The temple is sinking!"
The Dragon King Temple had fallen off from the wall and was sinking deeper.
They were already quite deep in the crevice. Li Huowang had no idea where he would reach if he sank even deeper.
The terrifying aura also came from the bottom of the crevice!
Sensing that the temple was sinking, the Ao Jing Sect and the Lion Dance Palace tried to swim out of the temple under Li Huowang's lead.
But the headless corpses, boat people, and water monkeys were all surging into the temple to block them from escaping. Both sides clashed intensely as they fought in the temple.
Bam! The black tiles of the temple roof blasted apart as Li Huowang's body, now stuck together with the Lion Dance Palace, blasted upwards from the temple as they escaped through the hole in the roof.
He didn't dare to stop as he continued to swim upwards. Halfway through, he looked back down and saw the horrifying aura coming from the darkness below. The darkness was impenetrable, even with the presence of light. Hot currents blasted upwards in a rhythmic pattern, almost as if the darkness itself was breathing.
The Dragon King Temple sank into the darkness and disappeared forever.
Li Huowang sighed in relief when he saw the darkness did not chase after him. He was glad that he managed to make it out alive at the last moment, or he would've been trapped in the stomach of that evil entity.
He then looked upwards. Their fight had altered almost everything in the ocean surrounding them.
He barely saw any empty patches of water on top of him as innumerable evil entities surrounded them from above like a blanket.
Li Huowang looked down at the two Dragon Veins covered in maggots before charging upwards at the evil entities. He wanted to break through the blanket of flesh!
Even though he didn't know what they were or where they came from, he had to admit they were terrifying. But even then, they were no match for Li Huowang. He was no longer the naive and weak Daoist who had just exited the Zephyr Temple.
Several rifts shot forward and cut up the flesh of every entity in the path. The strange fluid leaking out from the rift mutated everything it touched.
The amalgamation of flesh, white tassels, and maggots was even more terrifying. It was like a shark that consumed everything it touched. To it, flesh was nothing more than wet paper.
They charged upwards and reached the depth where the Dragon King Temple had previously been.
Li Huowang thought they were almost at the surface when the evil entities in front of him suddenly parted ways. They revealed the murky surface before a large shadow covered it. Something massive, one larger than a mountain, was sinking towards them.
"Be careful! Something as big as a mountain is coming!" Li Huowang warned his comrades and readied himself for combat.
But as it got closer, Li Huowang realized that he had been mistaken. "This isn't something as big as a mountain, it's an actual fucking mountain! Dodge!"
But it was too late. There were no more paths to evade the mountain. It was a crevice, and there was nowhere to hide. At the last moment, Li Huowang swam towards the mountain and extended his arms towards it. "Stand behind me!"
When his hands touched the mountain, the rock turned soft and became white tofu.
Li Huowang destroyed the tofu easily before revealing the next layer of rocks. He continued to use his cultivation to turn them into tofu as he tunneled through the mountain.
With Li Huowang carving up a tunnel in the mountain by turning the place he touched into tofu, the Lion Dance Palace and the Ao Jing Sect members were unharmed.
Li Huowang dug through the entire mountain and successfully survived being crushed by the mountain.
Li Huowang heard a massive crashing noise coming from down below in the crevice and thought that the mountain had most likely fallen into the darkness down there. He wasn't sure what the darkness was, but he was certain the mountain would hit it.
However, his happiness was short-lived as a terrifying chill came from below.
Suddenly, with a warm current surging from below, a large mass of dragon scales covering a lump of rotting flesh surged towards Li Huowang.
Li Huowang fought back and sent several rifts towards it.
The lump crashed into the rift and broke it apart like glass. The rift, which had been incomparably sharp, was destroyed just like that.
Li Huowang shifted his body and barely avoided it. He steadied himself and saw what it was.
He had seen it before. It was the mural in the Dragon King Temple just now, Ao Mojie.
"It's ... It's actually below us? There's a Siming below us?" Li Huowang saw the lump of dragon-scale flesh swimming towards him again.
Sensing that Li Huowang was being attacked, the maggots and white tassels swiftly attacked Ao Mojie, but none of them worked. Both the maggots and white tassels stopped moving the moment they touched Ao Mojie's body.
Li Huowang realized what was happening when he saw the scene. "Be careful! It absorbed the Dragon Qi, and normal techniques are useless!"
Li Huowang had once seen the Dragon Vein destroying the rifts coming from the spine sword and understood that the thing in front of him was going to be hard to fight.
Ao Mojie immediately charged towards him again. Li Huowang barely dodged it with his tentacles.
Just as the two zipped past each other, Li Huowang extended his arms and grabbed one of the dragon scales.
He ripped it off the lump of flesh, but a strange triangular head grew from behind the dragon scale and bit Li Huowang's hands with its two singular fangs.
Li Huowang grabbed the head and crushed it with his fingers.
He took a deep breath and stared at the lump of flesh. Both the Ao Jing Sect and the Lion Dance Palace are worthless here now.
He threw the Dragon Veins towards the back. "Take them and run! I will stop it!"
Chapter 803 - Dragon Vein
Li Huowang had no intention of fighting the being to the death. This was especially true because Death had disappeared. Killing the being would be difficult.
He hadn't forgotten the reason he was here. It would be a waste of time to try and kill the lump of flesh in front of him.
"I will stall it for at least the length it takes for an incense stick to burn, so swim as far as you can! We will meet again in Si Qi!"
Li Huowang swung his tentacles hard as he charged toward the being.
He got close before he swung the spine sword again to send a rift towards the being.
This time, the rift was not intended to attack Ao Mojie but to ambush it. Li Huowang swiftly vanished into the rift.
The rift then splintered against Ao Mojie. Li Huowang disappeared from the dark depths of the ocean.
Ao Mojie saw Li Huowang disappearing and didn't stand idly by. It opened the eyes surrounding its body and expelled a hot current from its intestines, propelling itself forward and upward towards the location of Shen Benyou and the rest of the group.
Just then, a rift suddenly materialized out of thin air, revealing a sharp blade that stabbed Ao Mojie. As quickly as it had appeared, the blade vanished once more.
Right after the sword vanished, it reappeared and stabbed Ao Mojie again. This cycle continued, with the sword repeatedly stabbing him until his blood stained the water all around.
Li Huowang stabbed it one final time. Unable to endure any longer, he fell out of the rift.
Even though his cultivation of the "Truth" was strong, the strange liquid from the Qi Kingdom altered his body. His body bulged outwards, and six twisting limbs sprawled out from underneath his robes.
The limbs all ended in a crab-like pincer. There were four thin white stems on his forehead, each with a flower-like structure. Eight green whiskers hung beneath his chin, surrounded by sparse white hair that extended to his neck, concealing a strange little head that had sprouted there.
However, the transformation was temporary. Li Huowang quickly returned back to normal after he used his cultivation.
Just then, the small, shrinking head on his neck said, "Li Huowang, what is the meaning of this? You promised me!"
Li Huowang did not look back. He tore off the small head forcefully.
"Hmph! And you believed my words? To think that you would call yourself Hong Zhong of the Sitting Oblivion Dao. I lied! I've already had enough illusions by my side. Compared to Shai Zi's plan, I'm more worried about what you would do behind my back!"
Li Huowang threw the little head away and faced Ao Mojie again. Despite risking his life to attack Ao Mojie, his attacks had barely worked on the house-sized being.
But Li Huowang did not give up. He was here to buy time and not fight to his death.
Through the compound eyes growing on the back of his neck, Li Huowang saw that Shen Benyou and the others had reached the surface. Li Huowang then sliced off his compound eyes before charging towards Ao Mojie again.
Having discovered the two Dragon Veins, he had partially achieved his goal. His mission would be completed after he stalled for more time, but it seemed like Ao Mojie didn't want to fight Li Huowang.
The scales on its body vibrated as it called for the boat people to gather around it. A high pitched noise coupled with warm currents spread out far and wide.
The cry reached the ears of both the boat people and water monkeys, prompting each of them to grab a dragon scale and devour a handful of Ao Mojie's flesh. Afterward, they placed the dragon scales on their faces and shielded their eyes.
The aura they gave off was now very different. While they still looked the same, Li Huowang sensed something was fundamentally different. They surrounded Li Huowang as he tried to use his cultivation of the "Truth" to stop them, but it was futile. It seemed like they had obtained some Dragon Qi.
Li Huowang knew something was wrong when he saw more and more dragon scales being distributed. Ao Mojie had an abnormal amount of Dragon Qi.
It didn't completely absorb the two Dragon Veins, so where is it getting so much Dragon Qi from?
Li Huowang had fought against a Dragon Vein before, but Ao Mojie was very different from the one he had fought before.
When the boat people and water monkeys arranged themselves in a massive snake-like formation with their eyes covered by the dragon scales, Li Huowang finally realized what was happening.
"You... You didn't rob the Dragon Qi! It's your own Dragon Qi! You are not a Siming! There's not a single Siming as weak as you.
"You are a Dragon Vein—a Dragon Vein from their world! Isn't that right? You're not stealing the Dragon Qi; you're reinforcing yourself with it!"
Ao Mojie had no intention of answering. It swam along with the massive array of boat people and sea monkeys like a dragon swimming in the water.
Li Huowang stared at Ao Mojie without fear. "Simings from another world, and now Dragon Veins from the other world. Why are you here? You have your own place, so why are you here to steal ours?"
Against the reinforced Ao Mojie, Li Huowang was suppressed throughout the fight.
Fortunately, Li Huowang couldn't die under any circumstances since Death was gone.
He was still questioning Ao Mojie even at this point. "Why? Why come and steal our Heavenly Daos? Don't you have Death in your world, or do you think it's fun to have two Heavenly Daos of Death?"
Li Huowang stopped when he said that. He recalled the Door God that tried to recruit him last time and realized that he had just hit the nail on the head.
Li Huowang was in a daze, so Ao Mojie seized the chance to attack and cut him in half. However, the black tentacles soon stitched Li Huowang back to normal.
"I understand now! I finally understand! There's no Death in your world! There's no Rot in your world! There's no Pain in your world! There's also no Lies in your world! You wanted them! You crave for Rot, Pain, Lies, and even Death because you don't have them!"
He saw Ao Mojie's eyes shifting slightly. Li Huowang smiled as he drew his spine sword.
"But... Don't you dare try to take them away! As long as I am alive, you will not take our Heavenly Daos! I want to see what will happen if I kill you! A portion of our time disappeared every time one of our Dragon Veins was destroyed, so let's see what will happen to your world if I kill you here!"
Chapter 804 - Destroy
Li Huowang cut the water monkey in front of him in half, its flesh ripping apart audibly.
As the battle dragged on, both Li Huowang and his allies suffered severe injuries.
But it wasn't over. There were too many enemies that had obtained Dragon Qi. Li Huowang was surrounded by enemies and encircled by the Dragon Vein.
Due to the disappearance of Death, no one could fatally harm the other.
Li Huowang understood that dragging things on was worthless, but his efforts would be in vain if they dismembered him.
The small fries weren't the problem. It was the Dragon Vein called Ao Mojie!
Li Huowang calculated his distance with the Dragon Vein before taking a deep breath of water and swinging his spine sword.
The rift appeared once more, and Li Huowang slipped into it using his tentacles.
The briny smell of seawater was exchanged by the shimmering strange liquid. Li Huowang's heart was filled with despair as his flesh began mutating.
Li Huowang endured it and charged towards where Ao Mojie would be. Since he couldn't do anything in the Liang Kingdom, he had to find a way to deal with it from the Qi kingdom instead. As long as he could align himself with the position of the Dragon Vein in the Qi Kingdom, he could appear directly in the stomach of Ao Mojie!
Time was ticking. Li Huowang acted swiftly as he approached Ao Mojie's location in the Liang Kingdom. His swimming speed increased thanks to the strange fins that were growing out of his tentacles.
"You think... You think you can escape if you don't materialize me? I've always been in your body, and I am Li Huowang!" A strange diminutive face appeared on Li Huowang's neck and struggled to grow outwards. "You are already a part of me, or else you wouldn't have thought of lying to me with your usual demeanor!"
"Scram! I don't have time to waste on you!" Li Huowang said.
He shaved off the skin on his neck, but he soon saw a new face appearing. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
"Rubbish! Without me, you are just a pile of gullible rubbish that anyone could deceive!"
"Aiya, Aiya, stop fighting!" a third voice rang out.
Another head popped up in between them. This time it was the old monk trying to block them from fighting.
The old monk was not the only head that was growing on the back of his body like a strange tumor. Jin Shanzhao, Qiu Chibao, and Peng Longteng were all growing on his back with faces of fear, unease, and anger.
"Fuck!" Li Huowang cursed.
With the heads on his back, Li Huowang swiftly reached Ao Mojie.
He found the correct location and swung the spine sword, only for the rift to shatter when it appeared. He was too close—the rift touched Ao Mojie the moment it formed, causing it to shatter.
"I refuse to believe that I will die here!"
Li Huowang swung the spine sword rapidly as numerous rifts shot out.
Finally, after he tried shooting out the rifts from numerous angles, he found a particular angle that allowed the rift to stay up for a short period. Li Huowang knew that it was his chance.
The rift could sustain itself for a while, meaning that Ao Mojie's body was hollow inside. There was a space in there that he could fit himself in!
When he shot out another rift, he projected his body and slipped through it immediately. He had just come out from the other side when he felt his body was burning up. It appeared to be the stomach of Ao Mojie.
"Die!" Li Huowang yelled.
He stabbed the spine sword forward, and a splash of burning liquid splattered on his face. He tasted it and realized it was blood. Li Huowang perked up immediately.
He controlled the tentacles around him and sliced up his surroundings with his torture tools. Blood flowed out from the wounds and covered him.
The seawater couldn't drown him, so naturally, he couldn't drown in the blood either. As Li Huowang carved out more and more wounds, the space around him started to shake.
"How is it? You must've never felt this before right? This is the pain that you lack on the other side! You better savor it!"
Li Huowang stabbed his sword downwards and carved out a table-sized chunk of flesh.
His allies and enemies were fighting on the outside, but Li Huowang's battle was fought inside. He refused to get out until he dismembered Ao Mojie.
He was busy carving out the flesh when a hole in Ao Mojie's stomach suddenly appeared. A water monkey with a dragon scale covering its face swam from outside the hole and charged towards Li Huowang.
This was just the start. As Li Huowang cut the water monkey in half, more and more of them surged into the stomach. They were trying to stop Li Huowang from harming the Dragon Vein any further.
And thus a bitter battle began, this time inside of Ao Mojie's stomach.
Still, it was much easier for Li Huowang to fight inside there. He was fighting inside of Ao Mojie after all, so Ao Mojie couldn't do much. Victory was his.
Blood and seawater merged together and turned the area murky. The lack of light didn't help at all either.
Li Huowang was in the middle of ripping out the head of one of the evil entities when a chaotic turbulence erupted in the bloody water to his left. A massive ashen-white being, as big as a tree truck, crashed into Li Huowang.
The being was slimy and smooth on the outside until it revealed its spiral mouth.
The evil entity shot something out from its snout. It was so fast that Li Huowang only saw a blur in the dark when it crashed into him and sent him flying. The stomach wall suddenly opened up, and Li Huowang was shot out of Ao Mojie's stomach.
Li Huowang steadied himself in the cold seawater and was surrounded once more by the enemies cloaked in Dragon Qi.
However, things had changed. Ao Mojie had sustained a severe injury. Its body was dented and dehydrated, with numerous small wounds across the surface of its body. It wriggled around, yet it couldn't heal itself.
The flesh on the outside was rotting, but the interior of Ao Mojie was completely different. It was mismatched.
Staring at the strange beings entering Ao Mojie's body, Li Huowang asked with uncertainty, "Your appearance... Is it not what it was in the past?
"Is it because of the lack of Death? Is that why your appearance slowly changed to what it is now?"
Ao Mojie ignored him.
Its worshippers shielded Ao Mojie as they charged towards Li Huowang. Countless beings, all with a dragon scale covering their faces, were charging towards him!
Li Huowang was going to use the same trick again. However, before he could, a large portion of the evil entities were knocked away by a fleshy blob covered in white tassels.
"That's... The Lion Dance Palace. What are you doing here?"
Li Huowang couldn't understand what was happening when the blob of flesh covered in white tassels attached themselves to him.
Chapter 805 - Arise
"What are you doing here? I thought I told you to run?" Li Huowang tried to push the blob of flesh away.
"Help you. Deal with them first."
The Lion Dance Palace uttered those words before increasing the speed of its fusion with Li Huowang. The white tassels and flesh started to force themselves into Li Huowang's body and take over Li Sui's space. Li Sui had no choice but to move most of her tentacles into Li Huowang's mouth.
It was not over yet. Li Huowang's body bulked up as his organs shifted around.
It wasn't only him. The four strange tumor-like heads on his back were shifted around too.
Li Huowang had changed. His red robes covered in strange runes were the only thing that hadn't changed.
Xuan Pin's robes were somehow enchanted, fitting Li Huowang's body no matter what. It didn't matter that the Lion Dance Palace had enlarged his body.
In just a few breaths, in the dark depths of the ocean, Li Huowang had transformed into a monster several stories tall.
He was still wearing his red Daoist robes even though he was now several stories tall. The black tentacles were hanging down from his mouth, and the sensory organs on his face had shifted slightly. After sensing the change in his aura, the boat people, water monkeys, and the other evil entities became wary of Li Huowang.
Li Huowang felt as if he had grown a lot of eyes in this form. Each white tassel gave him a line of sight. He could even feel the white tassels inside the box that Puppy had stashed away for himself.
It wasn't just his vision—his body had changed too. He couldn't quite describe the way it felt.
The Lion Dance Palace wasn't assimilating with him—it was fusing with him! Li Huowang experienced a peculiar sensation, as if he had the power to control every aspect of his own body.
Suddenly, one of Li Huowang's eyes rolled down to the back of his left hands. "Ao Mojie is running away!"
Li Huowang was going to move when numerous white tassels sprouted out of his body and moved like a fin.
The evil entities tried to block Li Huowang as the Lion Dance Palace's voice came from inside his mind. "A sword made from a live Strayed One is very unique. Try using it. We can block the current danger with it right now."
Li Huowang reached behind his back with his disjointed right arm and shoved his hands into his flesh before pulling out his own spine. A bloody spine-like sword appeared in his hand.
He swung it around his body, and everything in the path of the attack was pushed back. Li Huowang also realized that even if his sword didn't touch them, the evil entities' bodies all became elongated beyond what was reasonable.
He no longer needed to be wary of their encirclement. He quickly swam to chase after Ao Mojie.
Ao Mojie tried to run but it was too late. Just as it had almost reached the bottom of the sea, Li Huowang caught it.
"Shatter!" Li Huowang swung his spine sword down hard and split Ao Mojie's rotting body in half.
But it wasn't over. Li Huowang swung his sword again and again. Rotten flesh floated around in the area as he continued his assault.
After torturing it to the point of being unrecognizable, Li Huowang tied Ao Mojie up in a knot.
He then swung the entire thing towards the wall of the crevice before pulling out a boulder larger than his own body and smashing Ao Mojie with it.
The dust settled and Ao Mojie was flattened into a meat paste. Everything became quiet as Li Huowang looked at the flesh floating upwards.
Li Huowang slowly swam upwards while the Lion Dance Palace slowly detached itself from his body.
Li Huowang broke through the surface of the water and stood on it.
He winced in pain as he forced his facial sensory organs back to where they belonged.
His body slowly turned back to normal and the four heads on his back slowly withered away.
Li Huowang looked down at the Lion Dance Palace hiding under the surface of the sea before asking, "What's going on? I thought I told you to go first. Why did you come back?"
Ao Mojie's flattened flesh floated up to the surface and Li Huowang kicked it away. Due to the disappearance of Death, Ao Mojie was still alive, though the condition it was in was no different from being dead.
He wanted to take back two Dragon Veins but now he had three. It was a surprising harvest.
"We can't go."
"Why not?" Li Huowang thought he had misheard. He turned around and looked at the Lion Dance Palace again.
The Dharma Sect has surrounded us. All twelve of their Grand Witches are here. Shen Benyou frowned as she surfaced from the water too.
Her engorged abdomen was now flat and flaccid. She exposed a large hole on her abdomen where her flesh had been pulverized.
The Ao Jing Sect members were behind her, but many of them were missing. Even the two Dragon Veins had disappeared.
"What's going on?" Li Huowang was frustrated as he looked at the horizon. He soon saw numerous ships of different sizes.
Behind the ships were large waves and torrential rain.
As the boats got closer, Li Huowang saw someone unexpected in front of him. It was Xuan Pin. Xuan Pin was wearing his red Daoist robes as he stood at the bow of the ship!
"Li Huowang, surrender. You are finished. We have kept you occupied here while the Li Kingdom fights back on the other front. Victory has been decided. Everything is over. You've lost to us."
Li Huowang stared at Xuan Pin with an incredulous expression. "Are you stupid? I'm wearing Xuan Pin's robes. Who are you to try and imitate Xuan Pin?"
The Xuan Pin on the bow of the ship shook his head slowly. "I just faked my death. I defected to the Li Kingdom a long time ago."
He continued, "I've told them the secrets of the Surveillance Bureau. Everything is over."
Just as he said that, several azure gourds were thrown from the ship into the water. The strange black liquid slowly spread and formed a large circle around Li Huowang. The strange liquid slowly made its way towards Li Huowang.
At the same time, twelve individuals, each wearing a veil with the word "Witch," appeared at the bow of the ship. All of them had a black cloth tied to their shoulders.
Even though they were very far away, Li Huowang could still feel how special they were. It was as if they were much heavier than the others that caused even space to distort around them.
"Hmph! Grand Witch?" Li Huowang spat out some blood. "Dream on if you want me to surrender! Victory has yet to be decided!"
Li Huowang's face contorted in pain and blood sprayed out from his nose. Veins bulged on his forehead and his brain started expanding. "AAAAAAH! ARISE!"
A massive bronze tree shot up from the depths of the ocean. It pierced the flattened Ao Mojie on its crown and towered behind Li Huowang.
Chapter 806 - Ascend
What... What is that thing? Shen Benyou stared at the bronze tree behind Li Huowang in shock.
Ao Mojie, now nothing more than a flattened piece of meat, was impaled on the massive tree. Its broken flesh rained down from the impact as it landed on the tree branches on the lower levels.
The bronze tree that had been emitting a golden light was now covered by a layer of flesh. It was both bizarre and incredible to see.
This was the Dragon-Slaying God-Killing Array. Even though he was surrounded, Li Huowang still had one last card to play.
He was well aware that fighting in this place would be futile. Not only was he uncertain of his ability to defeat the twelve Grand Witches, but he also couldn't kill them since Death was no longer present.
Since they would act in the mortal realm, Li Huowang just needed to ascend and fight up there instead!
The twelve Grand Witches were flustered and charged towards him as they stepped on the strange iridescent liquid.
But Li Huowang had materialized the bronze tree, so it was too late to destroy the Dragon-Slaying God-Killing Array.
"Suisui! Hands!"
Li Sui sprouted four tentacles from Li Huowang's armpits. Under his guidance, the four tentacles split and became four arms instead.
Li Huowang recalled what Xuan Pin did to activate the array, copying his movements from memory.
As the array started, the skies beneath the dark cloud split apart. A dark rift appeared and was gradually being pulled apart by invisible hands.
Li Huowang saw the path to the Baiyu Capital!
Li Sui extended her head out of Li Huowang's robes using one of her tentacles. She held the bronze coin sword with her left tentacle and three talismans on her right tentacle.
As the tentacles moved swiftly, she impaled the three talismans using the bronze coin sword and started chanting according to Li Huowang's instructions.
"Walk barefoot, step on the Heavenly Gates with haste. The dark aura of the demons approaches Nanyang ..."
As Li Sui chanted, Li Huowang, the Lion Dance Palace, and the remaining Ao Jing Sect members all grew dragon scales and claws, and their bodies started to grow.
Two twisted dragon horns grew out from Li Huowang's forehead. They grew longer and blood trailed down his face.
Ao Mojie, the Dragon Vein that was impaled onto the bronze tree, slowly dried up. It looked like it was on the verge of death. If Death hadn't disappeared, it might've really died.
Just then, the Dharma Sect attacked. The seas around them were completely black, and a large wave crashed into Li Huowang and the rest.
The wave didn't do anything. They remained unscathed as the wave retreated. Thanks to the Dragon Qi, a once formidable technique had become utterly ineffective against them.
The dark clouds had been split in half, and a dark circle rotated slowly above Li Huowang. It was incredibly far, but the horrific aura emanating from it made everyone want to run.
"The Ox Tail Gate is open! Let's go!" Peng Longteng appeared beside Li Huowang and threw him high up towards the black rift in the air.
The twelve Grand Witches also flew upward, trying to intercept him.
Li Huowang smiled when he saw their frantic actions. They panicked the moment they realized I was going to the Baiyu Capital to nip this in the bud.
That also indirectly proved that his method was correct. He needed to head upwards to deal with the issue from the root!
Several artifacts and techniques crashed into Li Huowang's body, but the Dragon Qi shielded him from all harm without fail.
One of the Grand Witches tried to block Li Huowang from the front when a Dragon Dance imitating a real dragon appeared from below and wrapped the Grand Witch around its body. "Go! We will stop them!"
Shen Benyou stood at the crown of the bronze tree. She removed her clothes, skin, and finally her flesh. Each layer of hers was connected by the blood vessels.
She bathed herself in the pain and took out a book—the Ascension Volume.
"I owe you guys one!" Li Huowang shouted. Peng Longteng appeared once more before throwing Li Huowang towards the black rift.
With the Lion Dance Palace and the Ao Jing Sect buying him time, he flew faster and faster as he approached Ox Tail Gate. "Faster! Faster! I need to be faster!"
He barely entered the rift in the skies when it sealed up. Rain poured down once more.
After passing through the clouds, Li Huowang continued flying upwards into the star-filled skies.
He crossed through the stars and saw some familiar faces. They were the strangely mutated horrors that he had seen once before.
He saw the flesh Bodhisattva still siphoning something from its surroundings with a pink tentacle wriggling at the front of its body.
He saw a dull ash-red maggot with slime covering its body. There were incense sticks stuck all over it, and it expanded and contracted rhythmically.
He also saw the God of Happiness and the Immortal Families.
Li Huowang came here once before, but this time it was different. All of them scattered and made way for Li Huowang after seeing him.
He wasn't certain if they were afraid of him or the Dragon Qi on his body.
Li Huowang sped up because this was not the Baiyu Capital. He reached the deep part of the stars and saw a chaotic, colorless jade plate suspended in the air.
The jade plate was suspended by something hiding in the depths of the darkness, wriggling and moving.
The mountain-sized jade plate bobbed from time to time. There were three large contorted words on it: Ox Tail Gate.
But this time, it was different. Li Huowang saw that the two serpents holding the gate were gone.
There were also several cracks on the jade plate. Something black was trying to take over the Baiyu Capital!
Li Huowang realized that even the Ox Tail Gate was affected. His heart sank.
He shuddered whenever he thought the Ox Tail Gate could shatter and spill unspeakable horrors into the mortal realm.
"Thankfully I'm still not too late! I'm here now!" He looked inside the jade plate and saw nothing but primal chaos.
Li Huowang wasn't sure what would happen if he entered now, but he was clear that he had to do it one way or another. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
"Everyone, hang on! I'm here to help!" Li Huowang shouted into the jade plate to notify the Simings before running into the Ox Tail Gate.
Chapter 807 - Mental Image
"Where are we going?"
Li Huowang walked down an illuminated corridor, his hands handcuffed as a nurse escorted him. They were following behind Yi Donglai.
"Somewhere nice. You will know when you see it," Yi Donglai said without turning around.
Li Huowang had been in the hospital for quite some time and his hair had grown to the point where it almost covered his eyes. Through his bangs, Li Huowang stared at the back of Yi Donglai's head. I wonder what Siming he is. He should be a Siming, right? Why isn't he helping me escape if he's on my side?
They reached their destination while Li Huowang continued making assumptions.
The nurse stood guard at the entrance while Li Huowang followed Yi Donglai into the room.
It was a simple room with several stools, a table of sand, and several cupboards filled with random knickknacks.
"Wait, a sand table?"
Li Huowang looked at the square table. Blue boards surrounded the edge of the tables while yellow sand filled the top.
Li Huowang looked at the table and then checked the cupboards. He saw various little models placed in them.
There were miniature humans, animals, trees, flowers, grass, cars, boats, flying objects, stones, and monsters. Li Huowang had a sudden realization.
"Oh. I understand now. You want me to make a miniature scene? I will have to place those objects in the sand table as a way to express my inner world?"
"Oh, so you know about it? In that case, there's no need to explain. You can start when you are ready." Yi Donglai took out a key and unlocked Li Huowang's handcuffs.
Li Huowang rubbed his wrists and frowned. "You trust me that much? Aren't you afraid that I will go crazy and kill you?"
"Li Huowang, you still have the time to joke with me? You don't seem desperate enough. Did you know that your mom cried for a very long time yesterday when she called me?"
Yi Donglai sat on the opposite side of the sand table after he saw Li Huowang's bitter face. Li Huowang was also clenching his fist in pain.
"You are already a regular here. I won't explain much to you either. If you want to get discharged quicker, you have to follow the treatment plan. There's no other way here."
Yi Donglai tapped the edge of the table with his pen and placed a small human figurine in the center of the sand table.
"Imagine that this is you. What would you do next? Don't think too deeply and just follow your heart."
Li Huowang looked at the figurine with a complicated look on his face. He stood silently as he contemplated before he approached the cupboards. He returned with an armful of figurines and models.
Li Huowang picked up the human figurine in the middle of the sand table and contemplated a little before placing it back. He then started placing different models and figurines onto the sand table.
Yi Donglai frowned as Li Huowang placed more and more figurines onto the sand table. What is he thinking? Why is his mental image so weird? He placed several figurines next to each other... But why are they planted upside down into the sand?
Li Huowang stopped. Yi Donglai stared at the sand table and was unsure of what to say.
Li Huowang had used the monster figurines the most, but they weren't standing on their legs. Instead, they were either planted upside down or clumped together in a group. Li Huowang also dug a large pit in the sand.
"These things... Are they related to you?" Yi Donglai pointed at the human figurines at the edge of the pits.
Li Huowang shook his head and said nothing.
Yi Donglai stared at Li Huowang before he extended his right arm and grabbed the little figurine that represented Li Huowang. He then hovered the figurine at the top of the monsters before making a gesture of tossing the human figurine into the pit that was being observed by the monsters.
Yi Donglai observed Li Huowang's face cautiously as he did that. He wanted to detect any changes in Li Huowang's expression.
He did the same gesture a few times before he noticed that Li Huowang was staring at him with a weirded-out gaze. "Are you alright? I've already set it up. I want to go back if there's nothing else to do."
"Wait, don't be hasty. We are just getting started." Yi Donglai placed the figurine representing Li Huowang into Li Huowang's hands before taking out all of the figurines in the miniature scene. He then reset the sand table. "Come, continue. I want to see what else you will make."
Li Huowang sighed and did it again.
The miniature scene remained largely unchanged, except for one difference—the figurine representing Li Huowang was now positioned closer to one of the upside-down monsters.
"If..." Yi Donglai pushed the Li Huowang figurine forward until it touched the monster. "What about this? Is it better?"
"It's better if you say that it's better. Do we need to continue?"
"Yes." Yi Donglai said, placing the figurine back into Li Huowang's palms.
Li Huowang soon finished the third miniature scene. This time, the little figurine was buried in the sand with two monsters at the side.
Yi Donglai somehow understood something and started taking notes. "Don't look at me. Continue. Don't stop until I tell you to."
Li Huowang continued to place the figurines. The little Li Huowang figurine was sometimes in the pit and sometimes at the edge, but the two monsters continued to be by his side.
On the twelfth iteration, the figurine was placed on the head of the monsters.
"Continue, don't stop." Yi Donglai placed the figurine back in Li Huowang's hands.
This time, Li Huowang placed the figurine on the board at the edge of the table as he stared at Yi Donglai.
Yi Donglai asked, "What is the meaning of this?"
"It means that I've had enough!" Li Huowang punched the sand table, and the monsters were sent flying. Even the little plastic figurine of himself fell to the ground.
"Yi Donglai, do you think it's fun to play with me? You only need the patient to arrange the miniscape once if you want to learn of their inner heart!"
"The rules are dead. We are alive. Everyone has a different method in doing this."
Li Huowang endured his frustration and started arranging the miniature scene again.
"Since you're already frustrated, we can stop here for today. Go back now. It should be time for your meal too." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
Hearing this, Li Huowang stood up and approached the door.
He came to a halt at the doorway. "Yi Donglai, I will go along with your treatment plan, but I have one condition. If my mother calls you again, just tell her that my treatment is progressing smoothly and that I will be discharged soon."
Chapter 808 - Dream
Li Huowang wolfed down his meal inside the brightly-lit canteen of the White Tower Prison. He was still thinking about what had happened just now.
Shai Zi is smart. He knows that he can't fight against the Simings. He has no choice but to work with me to get what he needs. He's just someone that I can kill at any time now.
Li Huowang was distracted and choked on something while his face turned red.
He stood up and clenched his throat with his hands.
Someone suddenly patted his back forcefully, causing him to regurgitate what he had eaten just now.
Li Huowang braced himself and looked at the messy table. He saw a small plastic figurine amidst his vomit.
The plastic figurine laid there silently and stared at him with the beady eyes.
"This is..." Li Huowang wiped his mouth and picked up the plastic figurine. He inspected it under the LED light and realized that it was the very same plastic figurine that Yi Donglai had given to him at the sand table just now!
Li Huowang was trying to figure out why the figurine appeared in his food when he saw the figurine opening its mouth to shout at him. "Ji Zai...! Ji Zai...! Ji Zai, don't get distracted!"
"Ah!" Li Huowang sat up from his bed out of shock. He panted as cold sweat poured out from his body.
He glanced around and realized what had happened.
"It... it was just a dream?" Li Huowang sighed in relief and looked at the clock on the wall. It was only three in the morning.
Li Huowang frowned and massaged his temples. He grumbled and complained about Yi Donglai's treatment plan. It included the miniature scene, which subsequently gave him that nightmare.
"Ji Zai!" Li Huowang turned around an saw the little plastic figurine somehow glowing and standing atop his bedpost!
Bam! Li Huowang smashed his head to the wall and woke himself up from the intense pain.
He looked around him and found that the little figurine was not anywhere. He then realized that it was another dream. He had dreamed within a dream.
Thinking back about what had happened, Li Huowang pressed his head in pain and lay back down on the bed. "Shit. To think that the figurine could glow in the dark."
Li Huowang rolled around in the bed, but he couldn't sleep at all. He ended up staying up all night.
The breakfast at White Tower Prison today was plain congee and buns. Though the buns were made using old flour, they were still tasty and chewy.
Li Huowang, who was tired from the lack of sleep, took his plain breakfast and sat in a corner. "Damn that Yi Donglai. Why does he want me to go and play with a sand table? My mind's a mess now!"
Li Huowang stared at the other patients and thought to himself. I've already sent Shai Zi out. As long as he manages to speak with Zhao Lei, Qing Wanglai and the others should come rescue me soon. I pray that Qing Wanglai's's contact will help me get out of here "legally." I hope they don't try to resort to a jailbreak.
Li Huowang didn't care that the Three Ancient Ones were using him as a pawn. He didn't mind as long as the trouble could be taken care of.
But... I think the Simings from the Dharma Sect could find me first. I hope that Qing Wanglai and the others aren't too late.
Li Huowang stared at his surroundings as he thought about it.
Even though he was back in this place, he still knew how to tread carefully.
He was thinking about what to do when someone approached him. "Why are you back here? What happened outside? Is everything alright?"
It was a familiar face. She was Zhao Ting, the girl with depression. It seemed like she was doing much better after receiving treatment. She even came to greet Li Huowang on her own accord.
Another youth followed her and greeted Li Huowang. It was Wei Shili, the man with mania. His fingers still twitched occasionally. "You are back? Why? Did you relapse?"
Behind Wei Shili was a large youth. It was the one that Li Huowang had helped before. "Brother, here. Apple."
Li Huowang frowned and was wary of them. Even though he knew them, he couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't harm him.
Li Huowang looked at the apple on the table and didn't take it. He still remembered how it felt to have a needle stabbing into his tongue.
"It's nothing. Just a small issue. I can get out again once I'm done with it." Li Huowang left after tossing them those words.
He had no desire to make friends there or involve them in his life, regardless of their opinion of him.
Li Huowang walked outside and stood behind the wire mesh. He looked outside and saw the eighteen-sided die that he had thrown out was gone. With a sense of satisfaction, he made his way back inside.
He was soon called by a nurse and escorted back to the room with the sand table. Yi Donglai had been waiting for him.
"Feeling better today? Let's finish this early so you can rest." Yi Donglai tapped the table with his pen. The little figurine was already in the middle of the sand table.
Li Huowang wanted to explain something to Yi Donglai, but he ultimately said, "I need to go to the toilet."
Yi Donglai nodded. "Go. Third door on the left. Do you need tissues?"
Li Huowang ignored him and entered the toilet. He turned on the tap and splashed his face with cold water.
Who does Yi Donglai represent? Can I trust him? Can I explain everything that I've encountered to him?
Yi Donglai was different from Li Huowang. He had helped Li Huowang before and hadn't harmed him so far, but Li Huowang didn't want to leave his fate in someone else's hands.
More importantly, Li Huowang was afraid that Yi Donglai was part of the Laws. He had once angered the Laws and was punished severely because of that. He feared something grave would happen if he angered them again.
He kept thinking before deciding on continuing to observe the situation once more. He chose to wait for the Three Ancient Ones to come and rescue him.
Li Huowang calmed down and returned to the room. He sat down on the plastic stool and reached for the plastic figurine in the middle.
Five enormous fingers, even larger than mountains, exerted pressure on the figurine, causing space-time to warp and emitting a resounding boom.
"Alright, let's start."
Chapter 809 - Baiyu Capital
"Where... where are they?" Li Huowang floated around in Baiyu Capital and stared at the empty space around him.
The various beings—the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the gods—were gone. The once-populated Baiyu Capital was surprisingly vast and quiet.
Li Huowang was here to help. He thought that the war in the Baiyu Capital was intense, but apparently, that was not the case. He couldn't find the Simings at all.
He did find several dangerous things, but he wasn't sure if they were the Simings trying to invade Baiyu Capital.
Tentacles wriggled around his body, pushing him around in the empty space to search for clues.
Li Huowang still recalled how fast the Dharma Sect was acting down there. This place shouldn't have been this calm.
"Ji Zai! Come out! I'm here! Where are you? What's going on?"
This wasn't what he had expected. It was not what Xuan Pin had seen when he was out here. Xuan Pin wouldn't have died if it was this calm up here.
"Ji Zai! Ba-Hui!" Li Huowang continued to shout, but there was no response.
"Was I mistaken? Should I head back?"
Li Huowang was thinking about that when he felt a mirror appearing below him. He touched the mirror gently.
In the next instant, he saw himself being reflected in the mirror. His reflection was staring at him through the lake at Cowheart Village! Li Huowang himself rarely goes there.
In the blink of an eye, he caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror. Surprisingly, his mirrored self was gazing back at him through the lake at Cowheart Village, a place he rarely visited.
"Ji Zai?" His reflection spoke from the other side of the mirror. Li Huowang was so startled that he let go of the mirror.
Li Huowang raised and looked at his trembling hands. "I'm Ji Zai? I become Ji Zai the moment I reach Baiyu Capital?"
Li Huowang was filled with confusion as he realized that he had transformed into the very Siming that he had once resented. The disbelief washed over him as he reached out to touch the mirror once more. The familiar voice echoed from the other side once again.
The Li Huowang on the other side was very angry. "Hey! Speak! Why aren't you speaking?"
"The Natural Disaster this time is different! In the past, the sun disappeared and everything stopped decaying. But now, Death is gone!"
Li Huowang let go of the mirror and his reflection paused. His reflection was waiting for him to answer.
Li Huowang looked at the scene in front of him with shock. He had said the exact same words previously! He was talking to his past self now! He was Ji Zai!
The moment Li Huowang understood what was happening, more mirrors appeared below him. Each mirror represented the different times that Li Huowang had been trying to find Ji Zai.
Some of them had happened in the past, while others had yet to happen.
He stared at his past and future self before he realized something. Only the mortal realm had time—there was no concept of time here in the Baiyu Capital. In this place, the past was the future. There were no distinctions between them. "Simings... Beings without past nor futures?"
As Li Huowang vaguely remembered what Zhuge Yuan had written on his fan, the surrounding space changed again. The space around him became very cramped as more and more mirrors appeared.
Some of the scenes happened in the past, and others happened in the future. The Baiyu Capital was a place without the concept of time, so everything occurred within the present.
"Something is moving!" Li Huowang snarled and swung the tentacles covered in dragon scales around him. He barely missed the beings around him.
His surroundings slowly became more chaotic, and Li Huowang found what he was looking for—the Simings. They were back!
They were fighting. The Heavenly Daos clashed against each other. The Baiyu Capital was torn apart and then stitched back together, again and again.
Li Huowang was currently stuck in a small pocket dimension, and his surroundings became increasingly dangerous.
He hadn't figured out why the Imperial Preceptor and the others blinded themselves before coming here, but now everything had become clear.
Those with eyesight would stare too far into the Baiyu Capital and would know too much to focus, just like what was happening to him now.
"AAAAAAH!" Li Huowang's pupils darted around as he stared deep into the Baiyu Capital and saw the things in the past.
He witnessed the unfolding of the past and why Da Nuo went mad. He also observed the Heavenly Daos that shouldn't have existed creeping in.
The Heavenly Daos were still here, but the Heavenly Daos that were not from this world had caused Da Nuo to go crazy. The world had gone crazy!
As more Simings appeared, more details stemming from different time frames forced themselves into Li Huowang's mind. They continued to push into Li Huowang, forcing out the things that were supposed to be his from inside his body.
Li Huowang dug out his eyeballs and felt his surroundings finally return to normal. He could finally focus on what he needed to do.
Despite losing his eyes, he retained other organs to perceive his surroundings, along with six dragon whiskers. Although his range of perception had diminished, he could still sense everything in his vicinity.
He could still hear the Simings' voices, smell them, and taste them.
He felt Ba-Hui! He felt Death! He even felt Rot! They were fighting against something sticky, a sticky Heavenly Dao that was foreign to the Baiyu Capital.
The Heavenly Daos were glued together, cycling out one after another. The sticky Heavenly Dao were laws that didn't exist in this world.
They were trying to consume Baiyu Capital. Li Huowang had lost his eyesight, so he wasn't sure what they looked like, but he was confident that they were just a large black mass.
Li Huowang felt that suns were colliding above him as the Simings fought.
Li Huowang wanted to help—he was Ji Zai, the Siming of Bewilderment, but he wasn't sure what he could do given the intensity of the fight.
"No, it shouldn't be like this!" Li Huowang ducked and weaved while attacking whenever a gap presented itself.
"Xuan Pin and the others were up here! They should've killed god Yu'er!"
He seized an opportunity and jumped out from the little pocket that he was in. He floated in the space and swung both arms forcefully. "Die!"
Nothing happened. Ji Zai was somehow thrown back. He didn't have the qualifications to join in the fight.
If not for Dragon Qi on his body, even looking at them for a moment would have been lethal.