The Unruly Immortals

"Senior Brother Li, is it my turn?" Upon hearing that familiar voice, Li Huowang's body trembled violently.

When he looked up, he saw Bai Lingmiao with a silk band covering her eyes.

Li Huowang gazed at her, recalling the mantou she gave him at the Qingfeng Taoist Temple, and all the bits and pieces along the way. His expression gradually became pained with the memories.

"Why... why!! Why is it like this!!"

Just then, Bai Lingmiao gently pried Li Huowang's hand away from his head. "Senior Brother Li, is it my turn?"

"No! It's not your turn yet! Not yet! Let's go! Let's get out of here!!" He didn't know where to escape to, but instinct drove him away from this suffocating environment.

Li Huowang pulled Bai Lingmiao along, running continuously using his cultivation abilities. The surroundings kept changing. One moment they were in Da Qi, the next they were in Tianchen, and then suddenly they found themselves in Huo Shu.

But no matter where he ran, the thing he was avoiding clung to him like a shadow.

Li Huowang kept running, continuously passing through places he had traveled before, but as he ran, he became slower and slower.

Eventually, when he returned once again to the smoke-blackened Qingfeng Taoist Temple, he finally ran out of places to escape to.

Looking at the three soot-stained statues behind the altar, Li Huowang clutched his head and screamed hysterically.

He knew that no matter where he went, he couldn't escape. If he didn't let Bai Lingmiao take the two Prime Ministers up, history would change as it had before.

If past history changed, everything would truly be over.

On one side was the entire world, and on the other was personally sending Bai Lingmiao to her death. He could only choose one.

The inner torment of being enough for Cangqiang Ascension left Li Huowang wishing for death, and this inner turmoil instinctively drove him to do something, anything, to alleviate the pain.

He drove the barbed spike into his palm and yanked it out sharply, but the intense pain did nothing to ease his heart's anguish. Tears mingled with blood, falling to the ground.

As Li Huowang prepared to use the torture tool again, Bai Lingmiao reached out to stop his self-destructive actions. "Senior Brother Li, just say what you need to. Don't keep everything bottled up inside."

"I... I can't..." Faced with Bai Lingmiao, Li Huowang's pain-distorted face was at a loss for words.

He wanted to change everything, but now he was helpless. All of this was debt he had incurred before, and he could only follow the previous path.

Bai Lingmiao seemed to understand the predicament she faced, but she appeared calm. Her fair and slender fingers lightly touched Li Huowang's lips. "Senior Brother Li, there's no need to worry. Wu Sheng Lao Mu has already informed me."

Li Huowang lunged forward, holding Bai Lingmiao tightly, his overwhelming reluctance almost driving him mad.

Pressing her head against Li Huowang's, Bai Lingmiao softly asked, "Senior Brother Li, will I die after going up?"

Li Huowang shook his head, painfully saying, "I don't know, I really don't know!!"

Hearing this, Bai Lingmiao gently stroked Li Huowang's back, softly saying, "Senior Brother Li, it's okay. Wu Sheng Lao Mu said I'll only be gone for a while. Once this is over, she'll send me down."

Li Huowang desperately wanted to believe her words, but he knew it was impossible. Bai Lingmiao was only trying to console him by lying.

Bai Lingmiao was the White Lotus Saintess. From the frescoes in the secret chamber of Niuxin Village, it was clear Wu Sheng Lao Mu wanted Bai Lingmiao to ascend to undergo rebirth, to become the Wu Sheng Lao Mu who once ruled over Tianchen.

Between the Fate Commander and the mortals, except for the enigmatic Heavenly Dao Fate Commander, all else was an endless abyss.

He didn't know what fate awaited Bai Lingmiao after she ascended, nor if he could ever see her again.

"No! I refuse to accept this outcome!" Li Huowang, regaining his resolve, looked earnestly at Bai Lingmiao.

"Miaomiao, don't worry, I'll rescue you! I will!!"

"I won't be defeated by this ordeal! Absolutely not! We promised to return to Niuxin Village together!!"

"I won't accept this result! For now, I can't act against Wu Sheng Lao Mu, but once I deal with Fusheng Heaven, I'll tear Wu Sheng Lao Mu apart and save you!!"

"This world doesn't make any scientific sense, anything is possible! Nothing is impossible!"

"I'll definitely find a way to bring you and Suisui back!!"

Upon hearing these words, the Second God behind him smiled and gave Li Huowang a forceful kiss on the head. "Now that's the Li Huowang I know, who can't be beaten down no matter what."

"Don't worry, we're just going up to help, not to die. Together we'll take down Fusheng Heaven!"

Li Huowang nodded with difficulty, wiping away his tears and blood as he stood up again.

There was still a chance. He couldn't give up. If he was defeated by this hardship, how could he save Suisui!

He turned to look at the three Heavenly Venerable statues blackened by fire in the Qingfeng Taoist Temple, took a deep breath, and roared sharply. "San Qing! You damn well wait for me!!"

With Li Huowang's roar, the three statues instantly shattered into pieces.

"Senior Brother Li, send me back; time waits for no one."

Hearing Bai Lingmiao's words, Li Huowang, his expression grim, shook his head. "No, we still have one more place to go. It wasn't just six Bai Lu who went up with you."

Gao Zhijian soon returned from the White Jade Capital, perplexed by the unexpectedly smooth journey and wondering why Senior Brother Li insisted that all five emperors send the two Dragon Veins together.

As he crossed Mao's Gate and returned to the Capital City, he saw the solemn-faced Li Huowang standing with Junior Sister Bai at the altar, waiting for him.

"Old Gao, there's something else to take to the White Jade Capital," Li Huowang said to him.

"Hmm? What? Just say it."

"Two Prime Ministers."

Li Huowang's words blew through everyone's hearts like a cold wind, and those present understood the weight behind those five simple words.

After a brief moment of surprise, Gao Zhijian consulted with the other emperors, wearing a difficult smile. "Alright. I'll give the order now."

Then he looked at Bai Lingmiao beside him. "Junior Sister Bai, we'll need the White Lotus Sect's help with this matter. Is that feasible?"

At this moment, Bai Lingmiao no longer seemed at ease. The clear tears soaked her eye-covering silk band, streaming down her face, unstoppable no matter how many times Li Huowang wiped them.

"Feasible!" The Second God readily agreed to this, her words as heavy as a ton.

With the dual summons of the White Lotus Sect and the Imperial Court, the troops tainted with evil qi from the Military and White Lotus Sect gradually gathered in wastelands on the left side of the Capital City.

As military orders were passed down layer by layer, everyone knew what they would face next.

The hearts of a million Military personnel began to waver, but most were both Military and White Lotus Sect believers, or they were once White Lotus followers who later became tainted with evil qi; the boundaries between the two weren't clear-cut.

The followers of the White Lotus Sect converged on Bai Lingmiao, kneeling devoutly before the Saintess and kowtowing to her.

The sight of a million followers bowing in unison was overwhelmingly spectacular.

The leading Bai Lu spoke on behalf of all White Lotus believers: "Saintess, is this the divine will of Wu Sheng Lao Mu?"

"Yes." The word from Bai Lingmiao, nearly drained of tears, took all her strength to utter.

Upon receiving the precise answer, the followers all stood up in unison with a whoosh.

"Wu Sheng Lao Mu! True Home of Emptiness! Brothers and sisters!! The time has come for us to return to our True Home of Emptiness!!" The voice spread like waves.

Upon hearing this, a booming cheer erupted from the White Lotus followers, and the evil qi magnified this fervor even more.