Mutated Tao

Li Sui trailed behind Li Huowang as they approached the crossroads, keeping a tight hold on the paper money and ingots.

Li Huowang drew two circles onto the crossroads with his spine sword and then threw the paper money into the cicles. The paper burned up without needing a match.

Li Sui didn’t ask who he was burning the paper money for. As she quietly assisted him in the burning process, she heard a silent chuckle from him.

"Suisui, if only there were an underworld. At least then, the two types of people wouldn’t die for nothing," Li Huowang murmured, his gaze fixated on the flickering flames dancing in the center of the circle, their reflections reflected in his eyes.

He continued, "In the underworld, the king would have the power to judge every ghost, giving them appropriate rewards or punishments. Evil people would suffer in the eighteen levels of Hell, tormented by minor demons who would gouge their eyes, cut their tongues, or even deep-fry them.

“On the other hand, individuals who performed good deeds in their lives would be rewarded by being allowed to reincarnate into wealthy households. There, they would enjoy pleasant lives and reach the age of one hundred without experiencing any illnesses.”

Li Sui raised a tentacle and threw a bunch of paper ingots into the fire. The paper ingots twisted and turned black from being burned. “Father, do you want every world to be like that?”

Li Huowang threw more paper money into the circle to keep the fire alive. “Don’t you think a world like that would be much better than this completely crazy world?”

Just as he finished speaking, a gust of wind blew past them. The ashes from the burned paper twirled and danced in the air.

Li Huowang swung his spine sword and returned to the Qi Kingdom.

He had just entered the Qi Kingdom when the surging False Qi almost suffocated him. There was too much of it.

Li Huowang looked up and saw a statue several stories tall. It was a depiction of him!

The large statue was tied by thick ropes. Many laborers were struggling to pull it upright.

As Li Huowang stared at the statue and then at the citizens chanting and praying, he finally understood where the False Qi was coming from.

There weren’t a lot of people who could organize something like this. It was most likely Chan Du’s doing, and Li Huowang had no intention of stopping it.

He was going to fight against the Tianchen Kingdom soon, so the more False Qi he had, the better.

He needed a lot of it because the techniques of the Sitting Oblivion Dao required the use of False Qi.

One of the soldiers saw that Li Huowang was back and greeted him. Li Huowang replied, “Call for Chan Du, the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, and the generals. I need them to come and meet with me.”

An ancient voice came from behind Li Huowang. “Benefactor Li, I am here.”

Li Huowang turned around and saw Chan Du sitting on a straw mat while twirling his prayer beads.

“You still have time to chant your sutras? The Tianchen Kingdom is going to invade in three days.”

Li Huowang approached Chan Du. By the time the others arrived—Chief of the Surveillance Bureau Liang Yuxuan and General Chen Yurong—Li Huowang had already finished explaining.

“We finally obtained some information, so we need to use it to overcome our challenges. How many more people do we have in the Qi Kingdom that we can still utilize?”

The three of them frowned. A lot of men had died during the clash with the army of Unspeakable. The men that they had painstakingly gathered were gone again.

“Gather as many as you can. This concerns the survival of the Qi Kingdom. Chan Du, there’s a Buddha in the Righteous Monastery, right? Use it too.”

Chan Du’s hands trembled as he held onto his prayer beads. “Benefactor Li, that’s the root of the Righteous Monastery. We cannot sully it.”

“If the Tianchen Kingdom destroys the Qi Kingdom, or if we fail to get a Dragon Vein, then the Righteous Monastery will also be destroyed!”

Chen Yurong helped out by suggesting a plan. “Daoist, since this is an ambush, we can just distract and buy time with a smaller force. There’s no need to go all out.” ṝ

Li Huowang pondered before ultimately shaking his head. “No. Even if the information is accurate, with my understanding of Shai Zi, he could’ve sold the information to the Tianchen Kingdom too.

“We cannot be lax when dealing with the Tianchen Kingdom. We need the power to confront them directly—only then can your plan to distract them succeed.”

This time, Chan Du advised Li Huowang and said, “Benefactor Li, the Qi Kingdom is yours. We will naturally sacrifice ourselves if needed, but you must think carefully. We are all that’s left in the Qi Kingdom. If we sacrifice everything here, the Qi Kingdom would turn into a sitting duck.”

Li Huowang replied, “In that case, we don’t have to spend all our strength fighting them. My goal is to create a distraction before infiltrating the Tianchen Kingdom. I need information because what we need to win.”

“But Benefactor Li, how will you return after heading there?”

Li Huowang patted the spine sword on his back. “I have this. I can come back at any time.”

“With that? Isn’t that sword…”

Chan Du was suddenly interrupted by someone. “You are right. You can return with that sword.”

Li Huowang turned and saw that it was Xuan Pin. He pinched her robes and discovered it was Xuan Pin herself, not a fake or an illusion.

Li Huowang was worried about his daughter’s safety. “Why are you here? Go back. It’s dangerous here.”

“I know it's dangerous. That’s why I’m here to help you. I feel uneasy with you heading there alone.”

“No, go back! Please be obedient and go back.”

“What’s obedient?”

Li Huowang was about to say something, but dense tentacles shot out from the red robes the moment Li Huowang opened his mouth. The tentacles quickly entered Li Huowang’s body.

Li Huowang was about to open up his abdomen when a tentacle sprouted out from his belly button and wrapped around Li Huowang’s wrist.

“Father, I’m not going there just to help you. This concerns the entire Liang Kingdom. Don’t forget that I’m the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau. I can help you a lot—don’t try to shoulder everything on your own.”

Sensing that Li Huowang’s strength was slowly diminishing, Li Sui released her tentacles before patting Li Huowang’s hand. She then slithered back into his abdomen.

Li Huowang said, “I just didn’t want you to risk your life too.”

“Father, don’t think that your life is cheap. I will be sad if you die.”

Li Sui extended her tentacles and touched Li Huowang’s beating heart.

Feeling the familiar presence in his body, Li Huowang thought that Xuan Pin was indeed powerful. He begrudgingly nodded.

He decided that this time, he would just infiltrate and get as much information as he could. He didn’t want to risk confronting the people from the Tianchen Kingdom with Li Sui in his body.

He bent down to pick up Li Sui’s red robes when he saw the three people from the Qi Kingdom staring at him dumbfoundedly.

“What are you looking at? Go!”