Chapter 502: Zhuge

Chapter 502 Zhuge

"It's done!" When Li Huowang opened his eyes in excitement, he found himself falling rapidly from the air toward a ground that had completely changed.

As the earth grew closer, Li Huowang shut his eyes tightly. "So much water—luckily I know how to swim!"

Splash! Li Huowang felt himself hit the surface of the water, splashing high into the air, even tasting a bit of it in his mouth.

In the slightly cool water, Li Huowang began swimming with his arms.

When he opened his eyes again, he realized he had already reached the shore.

Looking back at the hard rock behind him, which ripples disturbed by his movement, he clenched his fist in excitement. "My cultivation ability is growing stronger. If I keep going like this, I'll definitely reach that world... No! That world is real now!"

"That world is already real! What I'm cultivating now is actually to revive Zhuge Yuan!"

Thinking of this, Li Huowang looked toward the distance where Zhuge Yuan stood. "Brother Zhuge, come here!"

Seeing Zhuge Yuan reappear before him, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and trembled as he reached out to slap his shoulder. "Zhuge Yuan is alive! Everything that happened in Shangjing was fake! All illusions!"

This time, unlike before, Li Huowang didn't pass straight through his body—he could truly touch him!

And the sensation was so vivid, almost indistinguishable from reality.

But this state only lasted for several breaths. Soon after, Li Huowang, his face twisted in pain, let go.

"Danyangzi used my innate Qi to become half-immortal so easily. Why does it take me so much trouble when I try to use it myself?" Feeling a splitting headache, Li Huowang pinched his temples lightly.

"Brother Li, it's natural. The innate Qi you borrowed unintentionally before was like lighting a fire—you can all do it, but that fire isn’t yours to control, and the bigger it gets, the more dangerous it becomes."

"Now your fire may be small, but it’s truly yours. Lighting a lamp or steaming rice—it’s all under your command."

Hearing these words, Li Huowang calmed down somewhat. He didn’t need to rush; the innate Qi inside him was there.

Although Zhuge Yuan’s body had only lasted a short while, he had indeed gained a physical form. Once he fully mastered this power within himself, just like Danyangzi had become immortal, he would be able to resurrect Zhuge Yuan.

"No, no more. Brother Zhuge, I need to rest for a while. Otherwise, this innate Qi might become unstable again," Li Huowang staggered toward the cave hut, not even managing to say half a word to Bai Lingmiao before collapsing and falling asleep.

When Li Huowang opened his eyes again, chirping birds outside confirmed that the rain had stopped. Sunlight slanted through cracks in the cave wall, indicating a fine day.

"Senior Brother Li, you seem to have slept very well this time. No nightmares? Are you okay now?" Bai Lingmiao said happily, ladling half a bowl of wild vegetable porridge from the iron pot over the campfire and offering it to him with both hands.

"Just one day—it proves nothing. Let’s see what happens later." Li Huowang took the bowl and drank it greedily. He felt extremely hungry.

After finishing the bowl, while Bai Lingmiao was ladling more, Li Huowang continued: "Let’s wait and see. If the dice continue to visit me in dreams, then I’ll have to find a way to never sleep again."

"Can you really stay awake forever?" Bai Lingmiao brought the bowl back.

"Heh, in this crazy world, dead people can come back to life—what’s sleeping compared to that? Anyway, if the dice uses any other tricks, I’ll just meet them head-on."

"He better not push me too far. If he really drives me to the edge, I’ll report him directly to the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau!"

At that moment, as Li Huowang stared intently at Bai Lingmiao’s face, he noticed several white hairs on the left side of her delicate features.

Li Huowang’s expression stiffened instantly. He immediately pulled out a dagger and stabbed it deeply into his thigh.

When he felt no pain at all, his expression turned cold and icy as he fixed his gaze on Bai Lingmiao standing before him. "Dice Leader, three times is enough. Is this really too much?"

From where the white hair was, Bai Lingmiao’s face peeled away, revealing a constantly shifting face of a die. "Hongzhong, this matter is complicated, but since we’re fellow disciples, I’ll help you. But don’t forget—you owe me a favor. You must repay it someday."

"Okay." With despair and resignation flooding his heart, Li Huowang nodded. Though he didn’t understand why he felt such despair and hopelessness.

"But tell me, why did you want my help?"

"Because… you are the dice. Even if you told me the truth, I wouldn’t believe you afterward."

As Li Huowang watched himself place a handprint on the contract on the dice’s hand, he suddenly came to his senses. It was as if he remembered something—these events had happened before. These were memories altered in the past.

Whenever Li Huowang tried to recall them, his body instinctively resisted!

"No! No! No!! Don’t follow the dice’s path! He’s deceiving me! This is all false!!"

The entire scene before him tore apart like paper. A bony, thin hand reached out and grabbed Li Huowang firmly, desperately trying to pull him up from the cliff.

"Brother Li!! Help me! Help me break free! I’m about to suffocate!" The voice was still Zhuge Yuan’s, filled with desperation and pleading.

"I don’t want to disturb you in your dream, but you’re the only one who can help me now! Help me break free!! Help me remove the seal!!"

"All fake! All fake!!" As Li Huowang wildly shook his arms, he finally broke free from Zhuge Yuan’s grip and fell into the abyss.

Below wasn’t anything else—it was the surging sea where Yin and Yang met.

It was Doumu, the guardian of truth and falsehood. When she looked at Li Huowang with the divine eye stolen from the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, she shouted, “Hah!”

Li Huowang sat up abruptly, as if washed clean, waking up instantly. In the next second, he pulled out his dagger and stabbed it into his left forearm once more.

The sharp pain gave him a sense of safety. Only pain could dispel the uncertainty between reality and illusion.

When Li Huowang regained his composure and looked around, he found himself lying in the cave, everything in chaos. Bai Lingmiao and Li Sui were staring at him in shock, and the rib bone sword had been unfastened and lay before him.

"Senior Brother Li, is that person giving you another dream again? Did they control your body in the dream?" Bai Lingmiao’s eyes were full of deep concern.

"Strange things? What strange things? What exactly did I do just now?" Li Huowang asked hurriedly.

"Brother Li, you were struggling on the ground, pulling out that bone sword, undoing the bandages, seemingly trying to remove the purple talisman from the little head," Zhuge Yuan said beside him.

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang looked at the rib bone sword on the ground, and the miniature head of Zhuge Yuan on its scabbard, along with the purple talisman on his forehead.

"Talisman? Did Zhuge Yuan ask me to remove the talisman?" Li Huowang raised his head sharply toward Zhuge Yuan, feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Could it be..."

As Li Huowang trembled and removed the talisman, the shrunken head of Zhuge Yuan began to grow rapidly, blooming like fruit on the spine. Purple peach talismans mixed in among them. "Ah, finally, Brother Li, thank you so much."

At that moment, as Li Huowang heard those words, the illusionary figure of Zhuge Yuan flickered slightly and nearly vanished.

(End of Chapter)