Chapter 602: Eight Immortals

Chapter 602: The Eight Immortals

In the dimly lit and vast ship’s cabin, before Li Huowang now stood a dark brown root-carved figure of the Eight Immortals. Their twisted, knotted wooden bodies gleamed under the fluorescent green light, exuding an unsettling horror.

Compared to Tie Guai Li and Lü Dongbin, the other seven immortals were even more terrifying, each retaining the same root base but possessing their own grotesque quirks. How Xiangu, for instance, had her neck twisted like a corkscrew.

Han Zhongli, with his chest exposed, was another sight to behold—his two breasts unequal in size, one larger than the other, and the count itself was off. His flesh protruded like decayed meat, revolting in its grotesqueness.

The black cabin was eerily silent. Faced with these horrors, Li Huowang could hear nothing but his own breathing.

Looking around at the wooden carvings of the Eight Immortals, Li Huowang knew that in this utterly deranged world, anything associated with "immortal" was no good!

“Li Sui, let's go! Find Doumu’s heart core and end this quickly!” With that, Li Huowang once again vanished through spatial displacement, swiftly passing by the root sculptures and heading toward the distance.

But just as he stepped out from among the group of root carvings, a chilling sound of wood scraping against wood suddenly echoed from behind him.

Li Huowang spun around instantly and saw the eight root sculptures standing in a row, their bizarre eyes fixed on him. They moved!

With a sharp “pop,” the fluorescent stone Li Huowang had thrown hit the ground and exploded, its glow fading instantly.

And that was only the beginning. As more fluorescent stones burst and dimmed, the eight root sculptures before Li Huowang gradually sank into darkness as if rolling within it.

Even though Li Huowang had excellent vision, under such conditions, he could only see clearly within a short range.

From the darkness came the flute music of Han Xiangzi, followed by strange voices—male or female, old or young.

"The superior man does not compete; the inferior man loves to compete. The highest virtue does not claim virtue; the lower virtue clings to virtue. Those who cling are not called virtuous."

After speaking, low laughter—male, female, old, young—rose in layers from the darkness.

Hearing those sounds, Li Huowang clenched his teeth and swung his spine sword with his right hand toward where the Eight Immortals had been, sending the rift leading to Dachi flying in that direction.

Just as he turned to dodge possible attacks to his left, Lü Dongbin’s root sculpture appeared without warning at his side.

As Li Huowang moved, the large hole in Lü Dongbin’s chest opened wide like a blood-stained mouth, waiting for him to fall in.

Fortunately, at the last moment, Li Sui’s suction-tentacle emerged from Li Huowang’s body, firmly gripping the floor, saving him from contact with Lü Dongbin’s form.

“What the hell are these things!” Li Huowang gritted his teeth and raised both swords, swinging them forcefully at the Lü Dongbin sculpture before him.

Crack! The root sculpture of Lü Dongbin was instantly severed in half.

Suddenly, something tripped Li Huowang’s foot, causing him to lurch to the left. In that direction, Han Xiangzi’s twisted bamboo flute was already planted, waiting to pierce his temple.

Just as he was less than an inch away from the flute, a sudden pull from the darkness yanked Han Xiangzi away from Li Huowang.

“Bang!” He drove his sword into the ground to steady himself, slowly rising with a furious expression. “Have you had enough fun with these rotten pieces of wood?!”

Fire flared across Li Huowang’s body, and the blazing flames instantly engulfed him. In the next instant, the fire spread like infection to the other root sculptures, turning the dark cabin into a blaze.

The Eight Immortals, who had always remained motionless, finally stirred. Burning tree knots and roots stretched out their fiery forms, crawling toward Li Huowang.

Just as he was about to set the entire ship ablaze, the wooden planks beneath his feet suddenly split open, and seawater poured in violently.

Not only did it extinguish the flames, but it also brought back the darkness.

Water and fire clashed with a sizzling sound, making Li Huowang’s body convulse in pain. Not willing to waste this opportunity, he tore ribs from his navel and stabbed them into his own chest.

In the next moment, all the pain from his body was shared with everything around him, and silence fell over everything.

“You want to play this game, huh? Fine! Then I’ll sink the whole ship!” Li Huowang, charred black like a water ghost, swam to the wooden wall and wildly swung his spine sword.

Each slash carved cracks, draining massive amounts of seawater while tearing the wooden walls apart.

As the cold seawater poured into the gaps, something unexpected happened—those wooden cracks, like flesh, began to move and swell, healing themselves quickly.

That wasn’t all. In the pitch-black sea, strange figures began to emerge—those were the root sculptures of the Eight Immortals.

After being burned, their bodies, already horrifying, were now covered in charcoal. The charcoal spread like black mist in the water, making them even more terrifying.

Moreover, the part of Lü Dongbin that Li Huowang had cut open had healed. Now, he joined the others in circling Li Huowang.

The Eight Immortals moved, enveloped in black mist that extended from their burnt bodies. Like monkeys, they lunged at Li Huowang with agility.

With his right hand, he blocked He Xiangu’s lotus flower, while his left hand plunged the purple sword into Zhang Guolao’s face. Then, Li Huowang opened his mouth wide, and countless tentacles shot out from his throat, twisting off Han Zhongli’s head.

Behind him, Li Sui fought alongside him with his coin sword. Even underwater, despite being ambushed, Li Huowang held his own.

But these semi-immortals were incredibly tenacious. Simply severing them wasn’t enough—they had to be ground to dust to stop them.

Dealing with them wasn’t difficult, but what mattered most was that Li Huowang was running out of breath.

Intense activity combined with the deep sea pressure made his lungs feel like they were on fire. His face grew increasingly pained, and veins bulged on his forehead.

Instinctively, he wanted to surface, but now trapped beneath the deck of the great ship, entangled by these strange Eight Immortals, there was no way to escape the water.

In the oxygen-deprived state, his consciousness grew hazy, and hallucinations began to appear.

“Hah~!” With a dagger in his mouth, Li Huowang surfaced, gasping for air. After taking several deep breaths, he dove back down into the depths.

After inhaling deeply, Li Huowang regained clarity, his body filled with strength.

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Next chapter updates at 11:32 PM

(End of Chapter)