Chapter 575
Chapter 575
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 575
>Chapter Title: Xuanpin
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Chapter 575: Xuanpin
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> Gao Zhijian was still laughing heartily in the air, coiling through the sky like a true dragon.
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> And as he laughed, even more lotus-shaped Kongming lanterns filled the sky.
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> "When the fighting starts in a bit, you take Li Sui and get out of here first. Head back to Niuxin Village and wait for me." Li Huowang glanced at Gao Zhijian in the distance and pulled out his torture tools, preparing to slice open his own stomach.
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> But an ice-cold hand pressed down on the one holding the torture tools. Bai Lingmiao said softly, "Senior Brother Li, you don't need to do this anymore. I can help you now too."
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> "White Lotus Cult? Heh heh heh, you think you scraps can stop me?"
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> Seeing the white lotus on Bai Lingmiao's forehead and the Kongming lanterns all around, Li Huowang knew that a lot must have happened while she was away.
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> Though he desperately wanted to know what, the dire crisis right in front of him left Li Huowang with no time for such trivialities.
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> "Do these people all listen to you?" Li Huowang asked Bai Lingmiao.
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> "Yeah, they do." Bai Lingmiao's answer was straightforward.
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> "Alright then. In a bit, see if you can get them to hold Gao Zhijian down for a short while." Li Huowang took a deep breath as he stared at Gao Zhijian in the distance and gripped his sword tightly.
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> Since he'd severed it once as a child, he could sever it again now that it had grown.
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> Between the lanterns, some White Lotus believers clad in paper bellybands sat cross-legged in midair, sharp half-moon blades pierced through their cheeks, various copper gourds hooked to their earlobes.
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> "Incense God, descend!" With Bai Lingmiao's shout, they all drew serrated knives from their waists and struck their own foreheads.
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> "The Way comes from the heart's learning, the heart fakes through incense transmission. Incense burns in the jade furnace, heart dwells before the Emperor. True spirit looks down, immortal banners descend to the hall. Now this subject humbly reports, straight to the nine heavens. All prayers and wishes granted as spoken." Their chanting buzzed, drowning out all other sounds around them.
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> Gao Zhijian's elongated body coiled tightly, paying no mind at all to the lotus Kongming lanterns encircling him. There was even a hint of mockery in his eyes, as if he wanted to toy with the people before him.
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> "Thousands of homes summon, thousands respond; myriad homes summon, myriad spirits heed. Disciple bows thrice with single mind to invite, invite the Incense God to descend, lift the medium's form and face, lift the medium to speak, speak clear guidance and directions plain. Divine soldiers fire urgent as by law command!"
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> As they finished chanting, they pointed their bloodied serrated daggers forcefully at Gao Zhijian in the distance.
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> Another face seemed to appear on Gao Zhijian's face. His serpentine body suddenly froze in place, and the scent of temple incense spread through the air.
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> The White Lotus Cult had actually summoned a god onto Gao Zhijian's body—something Li Huowang hadn't anticipated.
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> Seizing the moment, Peng Longteng grabbed Li Huowang and hurled him toward Gao Zhijian's position.
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> Just like back in Da Qi, Li Huowang gripped his sword tight, sliced along Gao Zhijian's back to sever him from the leyline, and thrust toward his chest once more.
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> It all went incredibly smoothly. Gao Zhijian didn't resist in the slightest.
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> Just as the baleful-energy sword in Li Huowang's hand was about to pierce his chest, the utterly unresisting Gao Zhijian curled the corners of his mouth slightly upward and said mockingly, "You want to kill me? You'd better think that through. If I die, Da Liang's leyline is done for~"
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> Sensing the blade in Li Huowang's hand shift upward an inch, Gao Zhijian burst into laughter and brazenly thrust his chest toward the sword.
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> "Red, we're not soldiers—we don't need to go blade-to-blade like that. We're Sitting Oblivion Dao~ We use our brains!"
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> "Look, everyone knows Sitting Oblivion Dao isn't strong in raw power. I know that too. So why would I clash head-on with you? I'm the leyline now. I could stand here with my eyes closed and let you kill me, and you still wouldn't dare. Heh heh~ That's using your brain."
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> The Dice could deal with Li Huowang recklessly, but Li Huowang had to hold back because of the Dice's current identity. He was constrained at every turn.
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> Just as Li Huowang was about to be seized by Gao Zhijian again, several fingers shot up from below, bailing him out.
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> Retreating to the Kongming lanterns, Li Huowang looked down to see a group of people in black robes standing on the rooftops. He recognized one: Zu Yi from the Mantled Belief Cult.
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> Not only that, sects and factions of every bizarre stripe had gathered, nearly filling the entire imperial palace of the capital.
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> "Boom~" The ground trembled faintly. A colossal figure approached from afar—it was the Bodhisattva carved from an entire mountain! And now, it lived!
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> As the massive Bodhisattva slowly crouched down, its house-sized eyes fixed on Gao Zhijian, the latter laughed.
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> "Heh heh heh~ Looks like the big shots are back. You think you can trap me like this? You can't fool me. Don't forget, I'm Sitting Oblivion Dao. Xuanpin—I've got what I came for. You're too late~~~"
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> With that, Gao Zhijian opened his mouth wide and began devouring the leyline from the tail end. His jaws stretched enormously, gulping down the emperors along the leyline whole.
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> He devoured faster and faster, more frantically, until he'd swallowed the entire leyline and vanished completely.
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> At that moment, Li Huowang clearly sensed the world around him growing unreal. By the time he snapped back, the hallucinations were rapidly fading.
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> When he came to again, he and Bai Lingmiao were on the ground.
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> There were far fewer people around now. Aside from the Mantled Belief Cult and some White Lotus Cultists, everything else had been fake—an illusion from the Bureau of Astronomy.
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> The red-robed Bureau of Astronomy was on one knee, tending to the gravely wounded Da Liang National Preceptor.
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> The National Preceptor's chest wound, vivid red before, had its color swiftly stripped away by his six hands, leaving only ashen gray.
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> "The Dice ambushed me while I was at the ancestral temple! If I hadn't held something back, I'd really be done for!" Huangfu Tiangang spat through bloodied lips, grinding his teeth.
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> "Don't talk." The Bureau of Astronomy peeled a patch of pale yellow skin from a nearby corpse and smeared it over the National Preceptor's now-black-and-white wound.
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> Watching his unhurried motions, Li Huowang looked up and realized that more than just those things had vanished—Gao Zhijian was gone too. Da Liang's leyline was gone!
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> "Where's the Dice headed? What does he plan to do with the leyline next?" Li Huowang's mind was in utter chaos.
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> But before he could think further, the risen Huangfu Tiangang raised his Star-Mansion Sword and swung at Li Huowang.
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> Li Huowang had just lifted his sword to block when his vision blurred. Suddenly, he and the Da Liang National Preceptor sat facing each other across a table.
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> "Tiangang, you really think this is the time for infighting?" The Bureau of Astronomy sat slowly to the side.
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> "He brought the man! Everything's connected to him! He's with the Dice! If we don't get rid of this menace, are we saving him for New Year's?" Huangfu Tiangang slammed the table in fury.
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