Mutated Tao

Even though Xuan Pin had told him they had lured away most of the Dharma Sect members, the people conducting the ritual here were still very powerful. It was clear that they didn’t come from the Dharma Sect.

Li Huowang took one look at the glowing red dot in the Shimmer Mirror before turning to the incense smoke arising from multiple directions around him. He gripped his spine sword tightly.

“Xuan Pin said that you would die if I ordered all of you to do so. Now is the time! I don’t know what they are worshiping, but we have to stop them! I will charge in with everyone. Your life is in your hands from now on! Go!”

No one hesitated as Li Huowang gave his order. They all followed Li Huowang’s red robes as they charged into the horde of chicken-feet men. The sound of them killing each other never stopped.

Li Huowang’s purple-tassel sword stabbed into one of the chicken-feet men’s abdomen. At the same time, the chicken-feet man stabbed his talon into Li Huowang’s abdomen. While they made their moves simultaneously, Li Huowang could tolerate pain beyond what the chicken-feet man had imagined.

Li Huowang opened his mouth as several tentacles shot out and plastered themselves onto the chicken-feet man’s face.

He took advantage of the chicken-feet man’s panic and twisted his sword upwards. The chicken-feet man was bisected.

Li Huowang stomped on the censer, but he wasn’t happy. He only killed one of the many chicken-feet men.

The censers continued to release incense smoke, covering the entire ritual area in a white haze. No matter where it drifted, the smoke ultimately floated towards the top of the statue.

The ritual continued uninterrupted, and they knew they were losing time. They had to deal with it no matter the cost.

Li Huowang dragged one of the corpses closer to him and tore its abdomen open. He then vomited his own daughter into the corpse before setting his own skin on fire.

Ba-Hui somehow sensed his presence, and Li Huowang’s body tore open. Flames surged into his wounds and burned his organs too.

“AAAAAH! BA-HUI, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” Li Huowang kneeled on the ground in pain as he cursed.

The pain had somehow increased even more than it did last time.

He looked at the flames on his body, which were being extinguished by the rain before lighting up again and again, and he realized why.

Li Huowang tasted the rain—it was salty.

It was a bad premonition, and his heart raced. Xuan Pin was right! This is not god Yu’er coming down here! I need to hurry up and stop them!

Li Huowang stood up and flames burst forth from his body. He was like a wicker man that burned everything around him.

The chicken-feet men felt something was wrong after seeing Li Huowang’s transformation. Many of them surrounded Li Huowang as they worked together to bring him down.

Various beasts howled as their bodies turned beast-like. They attacked Li Huowang simultaneously as the red ribbons pumped rhythmically.

Li Huowang brandished a dagger and opened a slit on his abdomen. He tore off a large piece of his flesh and skin before throwing it at one of the chicken-feet men. The burning skin covered the chicken-feet man and didn’t break, no matter how hard he struggled.

Li Huowang then picked up several stones and chewed them forcefully. He spat out his broken teeth along with his burning blood.

The burning molars shot forward like a buckshot, piercing many of the chicken-feet men and inflicting burning wounds.

Li Huowang was about to charge into the fray when two birds appeared in the rain.

They flew high up as they circled the statue. One had the face of a human, while the other had the face of a horse. They sang in unison in an ugly tone.

“Recollect the murderous aura~ Receive their souls~ Recollect the murderous aura~ Receive their souls~”

As they sang, the red ribbons originating from underneath the bamboo hat started to vibrate a little.

Even though the vibrations were minute, Li Huowang still managed to sense them. He became anxious and launched several heavy-hitting attacks.

However, the chicken-feet men didn’t budge—they just stood still as they took on the attacks. They only started to dodge when they realized that Li Huowang outmatched them.

Even when Li Huowang and his group used all of their strongest attacks, the white smoke only cleared a little bit. The ritual continued on since the white smoke had yet to dissipate.

“Slow! It’s too slow!” Li Huowang tore off his rib bones, and maggots sprayed outwards like confetti. He used the Five Element Intercalation as he sprayed the burning maggots onto the group of chicken-feet men.

Li Huowang knew they were in deep trouble when he heard the scalp-numbing sound of the moving statue. Everything would be over if he didn’t stop them now.

Li Huowang rapidly thought about his array of techniques, only to realize that none of them could help avert the crisis—except for the Cang-Qiang Ascension.

Just then, Zhao Jiabao jumped to Li Huowang’s side, enduring the heat. With his only remaining arm, he took out a piece of paper and held it out. “Daoist Li! Take this! This is the note that the Chief told me to give you!”

“A note at this time? Who the fuck does he think he is?” Li Huowang swiftly opened the note for fear that the fire would burn it before he could read it.

Li Huowang was shocked. “What?! You mean the teleportation technique was due to my cultivation? He never had any teleportation techniques?!”

But he didn’t have time to bother with that now as he continued reading.

Li Huowang, now that you know the truth, I can't save you through teleportation. We're sinking the boat with an axe, leaving no escape. Only then can you use your full powers. Don’t worry—there is a way out. Your ability to bring yourself all the way here from Qing Qiu shows your mastery in cultivation. If you’re in danger, you can conjure up anything with your cultivation to save yourself. Think carefully, the clue to averting this crisis is within you. What can you conjure now to save yourself?

“Something that I can conjure to save myself?” Various memories surfaced in Li Huowang’s mind.

He remembered something, and his pupils shrunk. Li Huowang immediately pressed his temple and started using his power. A white figure slowly appeared in the air.

Li Huowang’s veins were bulging and his head was engorged from the exertion, but the figure never fully materialized.

He was dismayed as his arteries continued to pump blood into his brain. He suddenly remembered his spine sword. He unsheathed and stabbed it onto the ground.

He then stared at the sword.

Blood flowed out of his nose as he continued to use his powers. Even the blood vessels in his brain started to pop one by one.

But the spine sword slowly transformed itself. First, there were organs, then flesh, then skin, and finally, clothes.

Pak! A white fan opened and Li Huowang saw the four words written on it.

Everyone. Has. Their. Purpose.