Mutated Tao

Li Huowang had no intention of fighting the being to the death. This was especially true because Death had disappeared. Killing the being would be difficult.

He hadn't forgotten the reason he was here. It would be a waste of time to try and kill the lump of flesh in front of him.

“I will stall it for at least the length it takes for an incense stick to burn, so swim as far as you can! We will meet again in Si Qi!”

Li Huowang swung his tentacles hard as he charged toward the being.

He got close before he swung the spine sword again to send a rift towards the being.

This time, the rift was not intended to attack Ao Mojie but to ambush it. Li Huowang swiftly vanished into the rift.

The rift then splintered against Ao Mojie. Li Huowang disappeared from the dark depths of the ocean.

Ao Mojie saw Li Huowang disappearing and didn’t stand idly by. It opened the eyes surrounding its body and expelled a hot current from its intestines, propelling itself forward and upward towards the location of Shen Benyou and the rest of the group.

Just then, a rift suddenly materialized out of thin air, revealing a sharp blade that stabbed Ao Mojie. As quickly as it had appeared, the blade vanished once more.

Right after the sword vanished, it reappeared and stabbed Ao Mojie again. This cycle continued, with the sword repeatedly stabbing him until his blood stained the water all around.

Li Huowang stabbed it one final time. Unable to endure any longer, he fell out of the rift.

Even though his cultivation of the “Truth” was strong, the strange liquid from the Qi Kingdom altered his body. His body bulged outwards, and six twisting limbs sprawled out from underneath his robes.

The limbs all ended in a crab-like pincer. There were four thin white stems on his forehead, each with a flower-like structure. Eight green whiskers hung beneath his chin, surrounded by sparse white hair that extended to his neck, concealing a strange little head that had sprouted there.

However, the transformation was temporary. Li Huowang quickly returned back to normal after he used his cultivation.

Just then, the small, shrinking head on his neck said, “Li Huowang, what is the meaning of this? You promised me!”

Li Huowang did not look back. He tore off the small head forcefully.

“Hmph! And you believed my words? To think that you would call yourself Hong Zhong of the Sitting Oblivion Dao. I lied! I’ve already had enough illusions by my side. Compared to Shai Zi’s plan, I’m more worried about what you would do behind my back!”

Li Huowang threw the little head away and faced Ao Mojie again. Despite risking his life to attack Ao Mojie, his attacks had barely worked on the house-sized being.

But Li Huowang did not give up. He was here to buy time and not fight to his death.

Through the compound eyes growing on the back of his neck, Li Huowang saw that Shen Benyou and the others had reached the surface. Li Huowang then sliced off his compound eyes before charging towards Ao Mojie again.

Having discovered the two Dragon Veins, he had partially achieved his goal. His mission would be completed after he stalled for more time, but it seemed like Ao Mojie didn’t want to fight Li Huowang.

The scales on its body vibrated as it called for the boat people to gather around it. A high pitched noise coupled with warm currents spread out far and wide.

The cry reached the ears of both the boat people and water monkeys, prompting each of them to grab a dragon scale and devour a handful of Ao Mojie's flesh. Afterward, they placed the dragon scales on their faces and shielded their eyes.

The aura they gave off was now very different. While they still looked the same, Li Huowang sensed something was fundamentally different. They surrounded Li Huowang as he tried to use his cultivation of the “Truth” to stop them, but it was futile. It seemed like they had obtained some Dragon Qi.

Li Huowang knew something was wrong when he saw more and more dragon scales being distributed. Ao Mojie had an abnormal amount of Dragon Qi.

It didn’t completely absorb the two Dragon Veins, so where is it getting so much Dragon Qi from?

Li Huowang had fought against a Dragon Vein before, but Ao Mojie was very different from the one he had fought before.

When the boat people and water monkeys arranged themselves in a massive snake-like formation with their eyes covered by the dragon scales, Li Huowang finally realized what was happening.

“You… You didn’t rob the Dragon Qi! It’s your own Dragon Qi! You are not a Siming! There’s not a single Siming as weak as you.

“You are a Dragon Vein—a Dragon Vein from their world! Isn’t that right? You’re not stealing the Dragon Qi; you’re reinforcing yourself with it!”

Ao Mojie had no intention of answering. It swam along with the massive array of boat people and sea monkeys like a dragon swimming in the water.

Li Huowang stared at Ao Mojie without fear. “Simings from another world, and now Dragon Veins from the other world. Why are you here? You have your own place, so why are you here to steal ours?”

Against the reinforced Ao Mojie, Li Huowang was suppressed throughout the fight.

Fortunately, Li Huowang couldn’t die under any circumstances since Death was gone.

He was still questioning Ao Mojie even at this point. “Why? Why come and steal our Heavenly Daos? Don’t you have Death in your world, or do you think it’s fun to have two Heavenly Daos of Death?”

Li Huowang stopped when he said that. He recalled the Door God that tried to recruit him last time and realized that he had just hit the nail on the head.

Li Huowang was in a daze, so Ao Mojie seized the chance to attack and cut him in half. However, the black tentacles soon stitched Li Huowang back to normal.

“I understand now! I finally understand! There’s no Death in your world! There’s no Rot in your world! There’s no Pain in your world! There’s also no Lies in your world! You wanted them! You crave for Rot, Pain, Lies, and even Death because you don’t have them!”

He saw Ao Mojie’s eyes shifting slightly. Li Huowang smiled as he drew his spine sword.

“But… Don’t you dare try to take them away! As long as I am alive, you will not take our Heavenly Daos! I want to see what will happen if I kill you! A portion of our time disappeared every time one of our Dragon Veins was destroyed, so let’s see what will happen to your world if I kill you here!”