Mutated Tao

Li Huowang did not move, so Gao Zhijian repeated his command. “Surveillance Bureau, Third General Li Huowang, accept the decree.”

Li Huowang was about to say something when Gao Zhijian stood up from his chair, approached Li Huowang, and stared at him calmly.

“Left and Right Jinwu Guards, Cavalry Commander Er Jiu, accept the decree.”

Li Huowang looked at Gao Zhijian with a complicated expression on his face.

Gao Zhijian, in his dragon robes, suddenly knelt on both knees and kowtowed, his crown hitting the ground heavily in the process. “Senior Li, please accept the decree!”

Li Huowang looked at the massive body kneeling in front of him and relented. He took the decree and raised it up high in the air.

“Thank you, Your Majesty! Li Huowang accepts the decree!”

Li Huowang kept the decree in his robes and walked out.

Gao Zhijian stood back up after seeing Li Huowang exiting. The eunuchs quickly dusted him off with their horsetail whisks.

Gao Zhijian calmed down and sat back down on his throne. An imposing pressure emanated from him as he resumed his duty as the Emperor.

He said, “Da Nuo is facing great danger. Issue my imperial orders, and summon everyone into the palace. I shall meet each sect and each faction myself.”

Li Huowang walked out from the cold palace without opening the decree. He didn’t know what Gao Zhijian had ordered him to do.

Gao Zhijian wouldn’t help Li Huowang even though he had finally obtained the Dragon-Slaying Immortal-Killing Array. And without Gao Zhijian’s help, he couldn’t use the Array.

Nevertheless, he was more worried about Gao Zhijian than himself.

Li Huowang had barely left the city when the sound of rapid drumming reached his ears, coming from within the city.

He listened carefully and recognized the signal. It was the signal for the soldiers to prepare for battle. They were heading out to Nan Ping.

It was hard to believe they only managed to obtain a brief respite before heading out to a gruesome battle.

Li Huowang’s heart felt heavy when he recalled Gao Zhijian and the weight of the foreign object in his robes.

Gao Zhijian had changed immediately after saying that he had to change. He was not a stranger to Li Huowang, but there was nothing he could do. He was the one who had told Gao Zhijian to change in the first place.

“Father, are you upset?” Li Sui piped up.

“There’s nothing to be sad about. No matter what I chose, we would still be sad,” Li Huowang replied, feeling tired.

He then walked past a White Lotus Sect disciple who only had a single leg. Li Huowang stared at the white lotus motif on their shirt before approaching the White Lotus Sect’s main hall.

He wanted to find someone to vent to, but there weren’t many people he could talk to. Somehow, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer people he could confide in.

There was only one person he could rely on, the one who could make him feel slightly better, even if it meant resting on her shoulders temporarily.

Li Huowang soon found Bai Lingmiao. She was reading some papers.

As he approached her, she suddenly stood up. “No, this won’t work. Nan Ping is too far away, and there are too many people. We don’t have enough food for them. Quick, contact the people and find a way to do this.”

“Understood, Saintess.”

“Also, send out some of our people to test out their capabilities on the battlefield. If they do well, we can rotate some of our people to go to war to help the Liang Kingdom end this as soon as possible. Please give me notice every time our disciples are heading to war. I will request the Heavenly Mater to bless us so that we may achieve victory. One last thing… Send out orders for our disciples to stop any rumors the moment they encounter them.”

Bai Lingmiao suddenly felt something to her left and stopped talking. She felt a familiar gaze and turned around.

She walked towards the direction from which she sensed the gaze and extended her hands, searching for someone. However, no one was there.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, everything’s fine,” Bai Lingmiao said, shaking her head. She turned around and resumed her work.

They were in a crisis. As the Saintess, she had various things to do. She could not rest now.

Just as the situation had finally stabilized, everyone was spurred into unrest again. The Dharma Sect, who had been forced away from Si Qi, would not relinquish it that easily. The witches from the Dharma Sect also detested the Surveillance Bureau. Neither side refused to go down without a fight.

Li Huowang had no choice. He followed the decree’s instructions and accompanied the military as they marched down towards Nan Ping.

Near the borders, both the soldiers and the Dharma Sect charged towards each other on sight.

Words were useless here—there was no room for reconciliation.

Li Huowang was the vanguard. Black tentacles sprouted out from his body as he raised his spine sword high into the air. He stood on the skull of Peng Longteng’s horse as he charged into the Dharma Sect.

Explosions of blood came into view wherever he went. Every path he took turned crimson red.

Li Huowang was like an incredibly sharp weapon for the soldiers. Every time he broke through one of the Dharma Sect’s formations, the soldiers following him would immediately surge into the cracks of the formation, destroying any members of the Dharma Sect they encountered.

Li Huowang’s appearance had attracted the Dharma Sect’s attention, but they did nothing. It was as if they were waiting for something. Meanwhile, Li Huowang continued butchering their ranks.

Half a division later, when the Dharma Sect was slowly breaking down, a ragged umbrella brushed past Li Huowang. A tall and skinny man wearing ragged Daoist robes appeared in front of him.

Li Huowang recognized that man. It was the same person who had tried to ambush him! He never thought the umbrella man would appear.

The man was tall. His head seemed elongated, with the top of it stuffed into a white urn. The only thing he revealed was his mouth.

There was a red cloth wrapped around the white urn. One word was written on the cloth—tribute.

Li Huowang took half a step back when he felt someone behind him. An eye opened on the back of his head, and he saw another umbrella man standing behind him. The newcomer looked exactly like the first umbrella man.

No, there were two more, one on his left and another on his right. They had isolated Li Huowang from the others.

It was clear that they were here to ambush Li Huowang!

Just then, a massive general appeared. He expanded before exploding into bits of flesh. An old monk wearing a robe of flesh walked out from the remnants of the general’s body. It was Chan Du.

“Daoist Li, do not be afraid. We are here to help!”