Mutated Tao

Li Huowang swung open a rift, slicing through a bandit on horseback and instantly cutting him into several pieces. His internal organs scattered on the ground as he screamed in agony.

Li Huowang roared, and the ground within dozens of meters around him instantly turned into a swamp, trapping the bandits.

Liquid sand and stone filled their mouths and noses, and the swampy land returned to its original form.

This was the You Capital of the Great Qi. The forces of the Tianchen Kingdom were launching a full-scale attack, and the entire area had become a battlefield.

It wasn’t just Li Huowang fighting; Li Sui was also giving it her all. Tentacles emerged from Li Huowang’s back and darted at odd angles. They went from bandit to bandit, entering through their left ears and exiting through their right ears.

Dozens of tentacles strung people together like a skewer. With a quick pull, all the bandits impaled by Li Sui’s tentacles turned on their comrades, raising their weapons to attack them.

Dealing with these bandits was overkill for them. The bandits and thieves from the Tianchen Kingdom were no match for them.

The bodies kept piling up, with each fallen bandit being replaced by another—there was a seemingly endless number of them. The Tianchen Kingdom clearly intended to use them as cannon fodder.

They had to use a more efficient method to deal with them.

Li Huowang let out a resounding chant, igniting himself in an instant. The flames swiftly traveled along Li Sui’s tentacles, creating a breathtaking and blinding spectacle—a human bonfire that emerged at the heart of the battlefield.

The flames he conjured at the cost of his own skin carved a massive, fiery trench across the You Capital.

Li Huowang charged forward amidst the chaos. The bandits spontaneously combusted wherever he went, experiencing the agony he had endured.

Seeing the flames engulf everyone around him, Li Huowang stomped his feet and leaped onto a catapult. “Launch me! Aim for the densest crowd outside the city! Let’s see how many can burn!”

The taut rope was quickly cut with an axe.

Whoosh! The catapult launched Li Huowang high into the air. Li Sui’s tentacles unfurled from his body mid-air, and Li Huowang spread like a blazing net while flying toward the crowd below.

As Li Huowang was about to land, a rift suddenly opened in the sky. Long, delicate, flowing sleeves emerged from within. They spun rapidly and stripped the flames from Li Huowang, gradually extinguishing them.

The flames and Li Huowang’s intense pain were taken away. The army of Unspeakable, who could touch the Heavenly Daos, had arrived.

“You dare come again?” Li Huowang immediately crossed his legs and prepared the Heavenly Treasure of Deception[1].

However, it seemed the army of Unspeakable had found a way to counter him. The moment they saw him sitting down, the newly opened rifts closed, and the army of Unspeakable retreated to the Tianchen Kingdom.

Li Huowang stretched out his hands, ready to burn the endless hordes of bandits. However, the army of Unspeakable reappeared through the rifts and suppressed his attack. Their mastery of the Twisted One’s abilities was flawless, and Li Huowang found himself unable to act.

“Father, the Surveillance Bureau and the military of the Great Liang have arrived. They’re at the Altar of the Great Liang right now.”

“Good! I’ll go get them! Hold the line here. I’ll be right back!” Li Huowang quickly pulled Li Sui out of his body, stomped hard, and shot toward the altar.

The army of Unspeakable was about to give chase, but the illusion of Shangguan Yuting got in their way, constantly multiplying and blocking their path.

By the time the illusions were dispelled, Li Huowang had already returned to the Great Liang through the rift.

Li Huowang descended from the sky and crashed heavily into the ground, causing the white jade tiles beneath him to shatter. A crowd had already gathered at the Altar of the Great Liang, with members from various sects and groups. Li Huowang recognized a few familiar faces.

It wasn’t just the Chief present—palace guards and some elderly eunuchs holding whisks were also there. The Great Liang had quickly summoned all their available forces.

With their help, the You Capital wouldn’t fall to the bandits and thieves, although dealing with the army of Unspeakable would still be tough.

As the Surveillance Bureau members bowed to him at the altar, Li Huowang said, “There’s no time for formalities! Follow me!”

Just like when he was delivering grain, he sliced open a rift and quickly grabbed people by the arm before throwing them through. “Pay attention! Our enemies are soldiers from the Tianchen Kingdom, and they reek of death!”

Now that the Great Liang’s Chief and the soldiers from Great Liang had arrived, the situation began to stabilize.

They quickly cleared the city of bandits and thieves. Then, they sealed the four gates once again.

However, the situation soon took a turn for the worse. The Tianchen Kingdom had a countermeasure. There were over a hundred faceless figures painted in theatrical makeup scattered throughout the You Capital, and they began to steal the Heavenly Daos from the Great Liang’s Surveillance Bureau.

Soon, a Lama whose Ten Emotions and Eight Sufferings had been completely extracted fell like a dried corpse.

This was just the beginning. The Surveillance Bureau was no match against the faceless enemies who could steal the Heavenly Daos.

They would be doomed if this situation continued. If the Surveillance Bureau were to be wiped out, they would lose before the real fight even began.

This is a trap! Their target isn’t me! They are targeting the Surveillance Bureau! Li Huowang pressed his face against a nearby ally’s, crossed his legs, and began to cast the Heavenly Treasure of Deception.

The faceless ones realized what was happening and quickly opened rifts to the Tianchen Kingdom to escape.

At that moment, Li Huowang suddenly stopped. He peeled off his face, revealing Li Sui’s disguised face as Shangguan Yuting.

The one casting the Heavenly Treasure of Deception was a fake. The real Li Huowang had slipped into the crowd and followed one of the faceless ones back to the Tianchen Kingdom.

Li Huowang realized that passively reacting to the enemy wouldn’t work. He needed to seize the initiative!

As the saying goes, capture the ringleader to win the fight. When dealing with the Tianchen Kingdom, neither the army of Unspeakable nor anything else truly mattered—the key was their Twisted One, who could open a path between the Tianchen Kingdom and the Great Qi.

Li Huowang scanned the area as soon as he arrived in the Tianchen Kingdom. His gaze locked onto a man in a red robe with a fox mask, walking on stilts in the distance. That person was the Twisted One.

1. The technique from the Sitting Oblivion Dao that he had used to summon Doulao. ☜