Chapter 692: Scholar

Chapter 692: The Scholar

Color, hue, luster—Li Huowang had lost every trace of color from his own being.

Beneath him, looking at himself now reduced to black and white alone, Li Huowang drew out his dagger and slashed it across his palm. The blood that flowed was not crimson but pitch-black.

It was clear this was no mere illusion; it was some strange art or technique from a sect.

“Yuqing Seeks Essence, Great Brahma Divides Spirit, Yuan Gang Flows in Evolution, Star Pearl Solidifies Realm, Long Yang Eliminates Yin, Zhongyuan Hides Shadow!”

With an ancient voice echoing beside Li Huowang’s ear, the blackness gradually receded from his body, transforming him entirely into an eerie shade of white.

As the colors faded away, his facial features began to blur and waver. Turning his head toward the source of the voice, he saw a scholar with a silk headband, wearing a purple robe embroidered with green patterns, his long black beard flowing freely. One hand rested on his waist where a long sword hung, another held a feather fan, while the third held a brush hovering over a scroll in midair, swiftly sketching toward Li Huowang.

Li Huowang did not know which of the three hands belonged to whom, nor what sect they hailed from. But the black cloth on his shoulder proved his allegiance. There was no need for further explanation.

Clearly, someone guarded the dragon vein here. If there were no guards, it would be abnormal indeed.

“Whoosh!” Li Huowang raised his rib-bone sword and flung it forcefully. A rift shot forward at lightning speed toward the figure.

“Clang!” A massive black-bristled halberd crashed down heavily, cleaving the gushing fissure apart.

Before him stood a general eight feet tall, majestic and imposing, standing before the scholar. With middle and index fingers extended, he pointed sharply at Li Huowang.

“Hey!! You insolent scoundrel, how dare you try to usurp the phoenix's nest? How dare you pursue relentlessly with cunning schemes?!”

Li Huowang initially thought this man was a martial immortal, but as the general moved, he realized otherwise. His side was paper-thin, like a figure emerging from a painting, and his body possessed only black and white hues.

Staring at the scholar’s brush, Li Huowang suddenly understood where this warrior came from.

“Get him down!” Roared Li Huowang. Instantly, the ground beneath both the scholar and the general melted like sand, dragging them down.

Despite Li Huowang’s assault, the three-handed old scholar showed no panic. He raised his feather fan and blew forcefully toward Li Huowang.

A gentle breeze swept through. The towering general lifted off the ground, blown high into the sky like a kite, drifting toward Li Huowang.

When the general reached Li Huowang’s front, he unfurled like a giant New Year painting in the air, raising his halberd to strike down upon Li Huowang’s head.

“Fire!!” With a click, Li Jiancheng turned the gear on a plastic lighter, and a flame—orange below, blue above—sprang forth, reflecting in Li Huowang’s pupils.

“Boom!” The entire general ignited instantly, turning into a fiery figure in mid-air. In the next moment, Li Huowang crashed through the disintegrating body, the red of fire infusing his form with new color. Mid-air, he hurtled like a blazing ball toward the old scholar.

Seeing this, the scholar knew he had truly met a formidable opponent. He immediately unleashed his trump card, raising his brush and rapidly sketching on his fan.

“Supreme Supreme, Heaven Among Heavens! Primordial Qi, Chaos First! Illuminated Three Realms, Birth of All Worlds, Great Luo Yuqing, Void and Nature!”

As the brush continued its strokes, the fire on Li Huowang’s body quickly lost its hue, becoming a gradient gray.

But soon even that gray vanished, leaving nothing behind. His entire being was about to lose all color, completely erased.

Though he didn’t know exactly which celestial power this man used, Li Huowang clearly understood—if he were fully erased, he’d vanish forever!

Just as his body was about to become transparent, he gritted his teeth and chanted frantically in his mind: “I have color! My body has color! My hair is black! My blood is red!”

His body began to recover rapidly—but then, under the other’s movement, it faded once more.

At that moment of stalemate, Li Sui’s voice echoed in Li Huowang’s mind: “My father has color! My father’s body has color! My father’s hair is black! My father’s blood is red!”

To Li Huowang’s surprise, his body actually began to restore slowly. Li Sui could help him even in such a situation.

This was the first time this happened to Li Huowang—no, more precisely, the second time. Back then, Dan Yangzi had borrowed his heart essence from within his belly.

In such circumstances, he had no choice but to deal with the enemy first.

His hidden power hadn’t even been used yet. The old scholar realized he was likely going to lose.

Just as he looked upon the despair in the old scholar’s eyes, Li Huowang raised his rib-bone sword. From nowhere, Xuan Pin appeared by his side, swung his sleeve, and directly scooped the scholar’s head into his pouch.

Watching the scholar collapse to the ground, Li Huowang felt as if he had punched a cotton ball—his frustration mounting.

“You go handle the dragon vein. Leave the rest to us,” Xuan Pin said to Li Huowang.

“What the hell were you doing all this time!? I nearly died here, and now you show up?” Li Huowang was visibly irate, recalling the moment he'd been robbed of a kill in a game by a classmate.

“Don’t think I wasn’t working. You’re able to fight this Minglun Tang master one-on-one, which proves we’ve already taken care of the other troubles.”

Looking around at the chaos, Li Huowang had no time for idle talk. He turned and walked toward the distant marsh.

With the death of the old scholar, the surrounding area slowly regained normal color. Li Huowang, tired of delays, pulled out his copper coin sword and hurled it at the stone pillar driving into the dragon vein.

The sword grew rapidly, wrapping around the pillar like a whip.

“Lift it!” Roared Li Huowang. The massive stone pillar binding the dragon vein was yanked free.

With a dragon’s roar, the dragon vein, half-buried in mud, writhed more violently.

Li Huowang saw hope for saving the dragon vein and immediately pulled out more pillars.

One by one, the pillars were torn loose, and the first dragon vein rose from the marsh.

Seeing the emperor’s panicked eyes at the top of the dragon vein, who had grown fat, Li Huowang paused slightly. The Dao Sect hadn’t controlled the dragon vein like the dice had before. Was it because they couldn’t control it?

The dragon vein had been saved, and the Dao Sect hadn’t found a way to control it—this was recent good fortune.

Such matters pleased Li Huowang more than anything else—he didn’t want to fight the dragon vein himself.

Just as he prepared to speak to the plump emperor, he saw him terrified, dragging the long dragon vein beneath him, flying straight into the sky.

(End of Chapter)