Chapter 437
Chapter 437
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 437
>Chapter Title: Stone Slab
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At this moment, Li Huowang, completely devoid of any sensation of pain, looked at the enormous vertical pupil before him without the slightest hesitation.
He immediately hoisted his own body, slumped on the ground nearby, onto his shoulder. Then he rushed to Zhuge Yuan’s side, slung him over his other shoulder, and bolted backward.
This place was far too dangerous—it wasn’t somewhere a mortal should linger. He had to get Zhuge Yuan out of here!
But just as he turned to flee, his body felt as if it were crushed under a mountain, weighed down by a thousand jin, and an invisible suction pulled at him from behind, dragging him relentlessly backward.
From Li Huowang’s gaping chest cavity, writhing tentacles surged out madly, wrapping around his legs to help him inch desperately forward.
He crawled forward inch by inch, the maggots on his body dying off rapidly, as if locked in some invisible battle.
Once more than half the maggots on his body had perished, Li Huowang suddenly felt his body lighten—he had finally broken free of that suction.
Freed at last, Li Huowang was just about to carry Zhuge Yuan away from this accursed place when, after only a few steps, a massive burst of flames roared right in front of him, nearly singeing his hair.
He swiftly retreated several paces before he could make out the distant Great Liang Emperor, flanked by the State Preceptor and the Supervising Heaven Bureau agents.
They had clearly pulled out all the stops, unleashing every magic tool at their disposal. Li Huowang even spotted one Junior Celestial Supervisor cradling a square stone slab upside down as he performed a ritual.
He remembered that slab—it was the one Danyangzi had once used in his mad bid for immortality. It seemed this man had gotten his hands on one too.
“So that’s how you hold it—upside down?” Li Huowang blinked in surprise, but he quickly shook his head hard. Now was not the time to ponder that!
Li Huowang first looked up in astonishment at the colossal burning golden tree before him, then glanced down at Zhuge Yuan on his shoulder. “What’s going on? Where’s your Great Qi?”
A ring of Great Qi history should have constantly encircled his heart anchor, ever-present. Yet for some inexplicable reason, it had now vanished without a trace.
This was terrible news for Li Huowang—it hurled him right back into the heart of the fray.
Regaining his composure, Zhuge Yuan flipped himself off Li Huowang’s shoulder and landed on his feet. His face darkened as he took in the scene. “Where is this?!”
“Who cares where this is! It’s Great Liang! Wherever it is, we escape first and ask questions later!!” Li Huowang grabbed his long sleeve and charged off to the side.
A burst of manic laughter drew Li Huowang’s gaze to the Great Liang Emperor before the giant tree. As he laughed, the jade beads dangling from his crown crown shook wildly.
The Great Liang Emperor thrust his hand forward, pointing fiercely at the distant giant eye. “Sitting Oblivion Dao! The God-Mountain Ghost Eye has risen! You dogs are finished! This is the perfect chance to sweep you all away in one fell swoop!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Li Huowang felt the golden bricks beneath his feet soften rapidly, flowing swiftly toward the giant eye behind him.
Not just the bricks—the distant golden palace halls followed suit. The gold converged, gathering before the giant eye radiating terrifying pressure, rapidly coalescing into a mountain-sized golden mask.
The mask had long beast-like ears, a gaping maw stretching to its ears, triple-layered lips, and upturned corners forming a smile—just like the mask at the Supervising Heaven Bureau’s entrance.
The only difference was that the Bureau’s mask had outward-protruding cylindrical pillars for eyes, while this forming one had an empty left socket—and crammed into the right socket was that massive vertical pupil!
Li Huowang shuddered uncontrollably. He didn’t know what the Great Liang Emperor meant by “God-Mountain Ghost,” but he knew one thing for certain: something huge was coming! The bizarre chanting that had vanished when the intercalary Five Phases were placed returned with a vengeance.
As anxiety surged in his heart—hurry, faster, faster still—the worms in his chest cavity writhed furiously, twisting together to form two new legs for Li Huowang, propelling him forward even swifter.
The dice watched the golden mask take shape, along with the intensifying oppressive force in the air, as the pips on their faces all turned to sixes.
One of the dice spoke up. Facing such dire peril, its tone held not a trace of fear—in fact, it carried a hint of glee.
“Excellent. You must’ve gone to great lengths to retrieve this single eye of a Si Ming dead for over a millennium, haven’t you? Well then, we’ll gladly accept it.”
“Hmph! Do you think this emperor will swallow your pack of lies? Say what you will—my ten-year plan won’t be thwarted by the likes of you!”
“Lies? Heh, I wouldn’t be so sure. Care to guess why we came here today, all four of us? You’ve prepared long—we’ve prepared even longer.”
After the four dice spoke in perfect unison, they sat cross-legged once more, their overlapping voices rising again.
“King of the Vacuum Wonderful Aspect Dharma, Supreme Xuanyuan Heavenly Mother presiding; where golden light flashes, sun and moon hide their glow; as the treasure pestle spins, ghosts and gods pale; manifesting divine traces in the mortal world, guarding the holy chariot in the Jambudvipa...”
Though the chant was soft, it carried far—and farther still.
When it reached the Great Liang Emperor’s side, the stone slab in the Junior Celestial Supervisor’s hands suddenly cracked.
Amid the cracking sounds, a mocking laugh bubbled up from the fissures in the stone.
“Hahaha! Worked hard on your cultivation, did you? It’s all fake! Just messing with you! You big dummy!”
With those words, the slab shattered completely, crumbling into a jumbled heap of pai gow tiles and mahjong pieces.
“What?! Impossible!!” As the duped Junior Celestial Supervisor stared in shock at the fragments in his hands, a beam of ghostly purple light shot from between his brows, racing toward the pips on the dice.
But this was merely the beginning. As the Sitting Oblivion Daoists’ chant spread ever farther—even reaching Oxheart Village...
In his sleep, Gao Zhijian heard voices in his room and jolted awake, instantly on guard. Grabbing a sharp weapon, he rushed into the side room to find the stone slab—given to him by Senior Brother Li as makeshift armor from Clear Wind Temple, taken from Master Danyangzi—split open.
“Hahaha! Still dreaming of immortality? You’re illiterate as hell, and you think you can become immortal? Let me tell you—you’ve been had! That cultivation method for immortality is fake!! Hahaha!!”
(End of chapter)