Chapter 741: Real or Fake

Chapter 741: Is It Real or Not?

"Heh... you're quite the schemer, boy!"

Six Wan clutched his bleeding wound in pain, his face twisted with agony as he forcibly rotated his wrist, gripping the handle behind his back in an attempt to pull out the Vampiric Diamond Hammer embedded within him.

But no matter what method he tried, he couldn't manage it—the Vampiric Diamond Hammer seemed fused into his body like it had been welded in place.

"Don’t even try, Elder Liu Wan. Heh heh heh, you won’t be able to pull it out. I am a practitioner of the Forgetful Dao—I already knew what tricks you would use. This artifact was obtained through great effort and deception, meant specifically to counter you," Li Huowang said casually, strolling over to Six Wan's side.

Six Wan’s expression flickered between anger and confusion as he stared at the young man before him. "You... you were just pretending all along? You can manipulate non-gang so effortlessly—it’s clear you’re not new to this. I actually believed your lies."

"You pretended to be junior under me just to trick me? Do you know I set a trap, and then played right into it?"

At that, Six Wan nodded approvingly. "Well done. Each wave surpasses the last. The Forgetful Dao truly produces outstanding talents. You’ve beaten me—take the Heart Bead! I won’t contest it!"

Li Huowang shook his head slowly as he approached him. "Elder Liu Wan jests. What use do I have for the Heart Bead? You should know what I truly want, shouldn’t you? Strictly speaking, I don’t even have an identity yet—I’m not officially part of the Forgetful Dao."

Six Wan seemed to understand what Li Huowang was about to say, his face showing a hint of panic. Instinctively, he touched his own face—he was being asked for his face by this cunning junior!

Li Huowang pulled out a dagger and walked toward Six Wan. He still intended to fight back, but it was too late. Soon enough, he found himself disarmed and helpless.

Looking down at Six Wan sprawled on the ground, ready to be butchered, Li Huowang bent down and sat directly on his chest. With his right hand choking him, he raised the dagger and began slicing along the edges of the old Taoist’s skin.

"Do you know how long I planned for this day? How long I’ve secretly watched you? I know how many hidden pawns you have, I know your backup plans, and I even know you have a son."

Li Huowang peeled off the old Taoist’s face and pressed it onto his own. His voice immediately took on the same authoritative and aged tone as the old man.

"But none of that matters anymore, because now it’s all mine." Li Huowang peeled another face from the old Taoist and placed it over his own. "Now your hidden pawns are mine, your contingency plans are mine, and even your son is mine."

One after another, faces were stripped away and affixed to Li Huowang’s face. Finally, only a blood-soaked, distorted square face of Six Wan remained. Yet Li Huowang’s hands did not stop.

"Heh heh heh, don’t blame me. That’s just how the Forgetful Dao operates—we become whoever everyone believes we are, and then we truly are that person."

Li Huowang placed the final face of Six Wan over his own and, with one swift motion, slit the throat of the faceless figure standing before him. "So now! You are no longer Six Wan. I am Six Wan!"

Seeing hatred burning in the other’s eyes, Li Huowang grinned widely and burst into hearty laughter. "Elder, you were right—tricking people means doing it big! It feels so good! Hahaha!!"

As Li Huowang laughed, his face changed rapidly like flipping pages, eventually returning to his original form.

He slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again, pulling his thoughts away from the memories of the Forgetful Dao.

In the quiet upper-class room of an inn, Li Huowang sat on a chair, reviewing the recent memory.

Through this experience, his understanding of the Forgetful Dao deepened further.

"Must one deceive others to obtain non-gang... and then use non-gang to practice the Forgetful Dao techniques?" Li Huowang pondered over the memories.

As the former Hongzhong, he had long since mastered all the illusionary arts and techniques of the Forgetful Dao. The methods themselves weren’t the issue—he needed non-gang.

Unlike Xin Su’s innate Primordial Qi, non-gang required deception to be acquired.

To escape the side effects of cultivation, this kind of cultivation was necessary. But how to deceive—this was something to think carefully about. After all, Li Huowang didn’t truly wish to become a member of the Forgetful Dao.

He glanced at Li Sui, who lay sprawled on the bed, and followed him outside.

"Dad, where are you going?"

"Keep watch here. I’ll be back soon."

Though the capital city of Qingqiu reeked of foul smells, with cow dung and horse droppings scattered everywhere, it was still one of the few cities in Qingqiu. Even now, amid war with the Sect of Law, it remained bustling with activity.

"Deceive people? How exactly do I go about it?" Li Huowang looked around, finally squatting down beside a street vendor’s stall.

The Qingqiu vendor, noticing Li Huowang’s different appearance from the locals, stammered in Mandarin: "W-what d’you want?"

Looking at the random assortment of horns, combs, and decorative items on the stall, Li Huowang picked up a few, feeling their texture. He looked at the honest, wrinkled face of the vendor, opened his mouth, and ultimately put the items back down.

"Sigh." Attempting something contrary to his nature made Li Huowang feel deeply uncomfortable.

Just as he was contemplating how to proceed, his keen hearing caught a strange sound among the shouts and cries.

Ordinary people weren’t good targets for deception. Perhaps he could find some villains to trick instead—this way, at least he’d feel better about it, as if he were doing divine justice.

Following the sounds, Li Huowang quickly spotted several young men from Qingqiu cornering a man in an alley, wielding boar horn knives.

The man appeared to have pale skin unlike the Qingqiu natives—he was clearly whiter, perhaps someone fleeing from elsewhere.

"Maybe... this might work..." Li Huowang walked toward them.

"Cough, fire!"

Hearing the cough, the Qingqiu youths turned around and saw the ground beneath Li Huowang’s feet suddenly erupt in blazing flames.

With a light tap of his palm, the fire spread rapidly toward them, causing the youths to scream in terror and scramble to escape the walls.

After they were gone, Li Huowang stood still for a moment, but received no feedback from the supposed non-gang.

"What’s wrong? I clearly scared them. Why isn’t it working?"

Then he realized. Though he had frightened them, the fire was real—produced by his cultivation. It was genuine, capable of killing them. That wasn’t deception.

"If I use cultivation to create an illusion... No, wait—what I need is to make the fake seem real. I cultivate the false... the true illusion..."

Li Huowang frowned deeply, feeling slightly confused by his own logic.