Chapter 770: Method

Chapter 770: The Method

"How did Xuanpin die? While I was fighting Madao here, what on earth happened on their side?"

This was the question Li Huowang desired to know most right now. Had Xuanpin and his group overestimated their own strength and meddled in a clash between the Siming? Or had they been ambushed by the followers of the Fa Sect?

Both were possible, but recalling it now, the former seemed unlikely.

After all, that man’s duty was to oversee the Celestial Bureau; it was impossible for him not to know the true extent of a Siming’s power. His group were no fools; they would never have rushed blindly into the White Jade Capital just to provoke a Siming.

If it were the latter, it would be the worst-case scenario Li Huowang could imagine—if the Fa Sect had the leisure to deal with Xuanpin and the others while simultaneously summoning Madao’s avatar to handle him.

Then the strength of the Fa Sect must have long surpassed everyone else's, and they could defeat them whenever they wished.

In that case, the Fa Sect's retreat to Nanping was not because they had been beaten back, but because they intended to conserve their strength and swallow everyone on this side in one fell swoop.

They absolutely could not lose now. Siqi, Houshu, Qingqiu, and Daliang had all staked everything here. If they lost, these lands would likely be occupied by the Fa Sect, and in the end, every place would suffer the same fate as the current Daqi.

Hearing Li Huowang’s inquiry, the lesser chancellors of Daliang's Celestial Bureau did not reply immediately. They whispered among themselves, occasionally seeking instructions from Gao Zhijian.

"Let me speak instead. They do not know much either. There are some things Xuanpin did not share with anyone else."

Hearing an unfamiliar voice from the crowd, Li Huowang looked around and stood straight up, spotting a man wearing a massive Nuo opera mask sitting in the furthest corner of the gathering.

Looking at that wooden Nuo mask, where two distorted faces fused into one, Li Huowang recognized him. He was the altar master of Houshu’s Celestial Bureau. When Xuanpin died, this fellow seemingly had not gone, thereby escaping the disaster.

"Xuanpin deduced through the hexagrams of heaven and earth that the White Jade Capital was about to fall into great chaos. He conceived a method, attempting to use three dragon veins as formation eyes to lend a hand to the Siming who was clashing with the God of Yuer," the altar master recounted slowly.

"As for how he did it, do not ask me, for I do not know. Xuanpin’s divine arts were exceedingly peculiar."

"Hold on a moment," Li Huowang asked in precise detail, "Which Siming did he want to assist?"

"Jizai, Kuilei, Doumu, the Birthless Old Mother, Jiangxiangshou, the Five Wisdom Tathagatas, Sanqing Yuanzun, Ba Hui. The Bull God."

"Wait! The Yin-Yang Doumu was there too? It was also helping the other Siming deal with the God of Yuer?" If he remembered correctly, hadn't Jizai just been fighting to the death with Doumu not long ago? How were they resisting a common enemy together now?

If what the other party said was entirely true, he truly could not fathom what on earth had transpired in the White Jade Capital.

The altar master did not answer, continuing instead, "I did not go that day. I stayed with the others beside the dragon veins to prevent the Fa Sect from making a feint."

"I know not how things went over there either, but judging by the corpses of the Fa Sect strewn across the ground, the Fa Sect must have been informed of the location by the God of Yuer, so they sent people to disrupt the plan."

"So..." Li Huowang involuntarily clenched his fists, "So while Xuanpin was setting up the formation and casting his spell, he was ambushed by the Fa Sect? Is that why he failed and died?"

"No." The altar master shook his massive Nuo mask with its two distorted faces. "No, Xuanpin and his men succeeded. They did die, but now, the God of Yuer is dead as well."

"What did you say?!" Hearing these words, not only Li Huowang, but everyone else present stood up one after another. By this stage, probably no one was unaware that the God of Yuer was the deity worshipped by the Fa Sect. If the God of Yuer was truly gone, the Fa Sect would completely crumble before long!

"No, that's not right!" Li Huowang’s words brought the others back to their senses. "If it were merely the God of Yuer alone, it would be impossible to require so many Siming to act together, with Xuanpin and his men assisting from below at the end!"

The altar master nodded slowly, confirming Li Huowang’s thought. "Correct. The God of Yuer is dead, but the Fa Sect does not only possess the God of Yuer; there is also Shidu, and perhaps even more in the shadows."

Hearing this, everyone sank back into their chairs, and the atmosphere grew heavy once more.

However, Li Huowang exhaled a long breath. Xuanpin’s death was not without value. At the very least, they had taken down the God of Yuer. Although the situation remained far from optimistic, there was at least still a chance.

Seeing that Li Huowang had fallen silent, a mummified lama from the Bardo Temple stood up, walking over to Gao Zhijian to whisper softly in his ear.

Hearing the other’s words, Gao Zhijian’s face filled with astonishment. "Is that truly so? Then bring them in quickly!"

"What, have the lamas of the Bardo Temple thought of a way to deal with the Fa Sect?"

Seeing the lama walk out to invite someone in, Li Huowang picked up the completely cold tea on the table and drank it down in large gulps.

"Senior Brother Li, why are you wearing Master Xuanpin’s Daoist robe?"

Hearing the inquiry from Bai Lingmiao beside him, Li Huowang felt the robe on his body, his expression turning somewhat complex as many thoughts crossed his mind. After a brief moment, he finally spoke, "It is sturdy, and not afraid of fire."

Li Huowang touched the bizarre characters flowing slowly upon the red Daoist robe with his hand. "In any case, Xuanpin is already dead, and he has no use for this thing anymore."

He was not squeamish about it being a dead man's clothing; as long as it possessed value, it could be put to use.

Furthermore, this clothing could grow large or small. In the future, he could even pretend before the followers of the Fa Sect that Xuanpin was not dead, to deceive the Feigang.

Right at that moment, seeing the mummified lama lead someone inside, Li Huowang hastily set down the teacup in his hand.

It was an old man with blank white eyes, holding a white streamer banner, tapping it continuously against the ground as he walked forward with trembling steps.

Li Huowang’s eyes scrutinized this fellow without any restraint, yet he still could not discern the man's true origin.

While Li Huowang was ceaselessly guessing in his heart, the blind old man groped about and knelt on the ground, following the eunuch's direction to kowtow to Gao Zhijian. Immediately afterward, he drew a tortoise shell covered in crisscrossing lines and various patterns from the sack on his back.

He pulled a few copper coins from his bosom, tossed them into the tortoise shell, and shook the shell in his hand while muttering something incantation-like under his breath.

Once his chanting concluded, the old man poured the tortoise shell's contents onto the ground; six face-up copper coins and two face-down copper coins appeared before them.

When his wrinkled hands groped and determined the heads and tails of the coins, a look of pure joy instantly bloomed on his face. Kneeling on the ground, he chose a direction at random and began to kowtow. "Your Majesty! A hexagram of supreme auspiciousness!"

"Good grief!" Li Huowang pressed his head with both hands in agony and stood straight up.

"What on earth are you all playing at! At a time like this! Can you stop being so superstitious! Can your divination strike all the people of the Fa Sect dead?!"