Chapter 908: Fight

Chapter 908: Engagement

With a wet "squelch," Li Huowang’s blade sliced through the air, cleaving the mounted bandit into jagged segments as viscera and screams spilled across the earth.

Following a thunderous roar from Li Huowang, the ground for dozens of yards around him liquefied into a mire, swallowing the bandits who failed to flee.

As the liquefied sand and stone choked their mouths and noses, the swampy earth reverted to its former state.

This was Youdu of Daqi, and the forces of Tianchen were launching a full-scale assault; the battlefield was everywhere.

It was not just Li Huowang fighting; Li Sui was also exerting every ounce of her strength. Tentacles erupted from Li Huowang’s back, striking at treacherous angles, piercing through one man’s left ear and out the right, only to burrow immediately into the skull of the next.

Dozens of tentacles strung men together like candied hawthorns. As they twitched, every bandit pierced by Li Sui’s touch became a puppet, turning their weapons upon their own comrades.

For the two of them, dealing with these mountain brigands was like using a butcher’s cleaver to slaughter chickens; the bandits of Tianchen were no match.

Yet, no matter how many they slaughtered, endless waves of brigands rushed to fill the gaps. They were too numerous; it seemed Tianchen was using them as mere cannon fodder.

He realized that to deal with them, he needed a more efficient method.

"Damn it! Fire!" A towering inferno instantly engulfed Li Huowang, racing along Li Sui’s tentacles. Soon, a spectacular and blinding human torch stood at the center of the battlefield.

As Li Huowang charged forward, the flames fueled by his own skin carved a magnificent wall of fire through the city of Youdu.

Wherever he passed, bandits spontaneously combusted, inheriting the very agony Li Huowang endured.

Seeing the surroundings consumed by flame, the burning Li Huowang leaped onto a catapult. "Launch! Throw me where the crowds are thickest! Let’s see how many of them can burn!"

As the taut rope was severed by an axe, with a sharp whistle, Li Huowang was flung high into the air.

As Li Sui’s tentacles unfurled from his body, he hung in the sky like a burning web, descending upon the masses.

Just as he was about to land, a rift tore open in the air, and long, slender water-sleeves emerged. As they spun rapidly, the flames on Li Huowang’s body were stripped away and extinguished.

It was not just the fire that vanished, but the searing pain as well—the flames and the agony had been stolen. The "Shuobude" army, capable of touching the Heavenly Dao, had arrived!

"You dare come back?" Li Huowang sat cross-legged, ready to unleash the Wangtian Baohao.

However, the Shuobude army seemed to have found a way to counter this move. The moment they saw him sit, the rift closed, and the army retreated back into Tianchen.

But just as Li Huowang regained his footing to incinerate the swarming bandits, the Shuobude army emerged once more from the rift. The enemy wielded the power of the Heart-Pan with masterful precision. Li Huowang found himself stalled, unable to act.

"Father, the Dali Jian-Tian Division and the Imperial Guard have arrived. They are at the Dali Altar."

"Good! I will fetch them! Hold the line! I’ll be back!" Li Huowang pulled Li Sui out, stomped his right foot onto his left, and vanished toward the Altar.

As the Shuobude army moved to pursue, illusions of Shangguan Yuting appeared, multiplying endlessly to block their path.

By the time the illusions were cleared, Li Huowang had already returned to Dali through a rift.

He descended from the sky, crashing into the ground and shattering the white marble tiles. The Altar was already crowded with members of various sects, some of whom were familiar faces.

Beyond the Jian-Tian Division, there were palace guards and aged eunuchs clutching horsetail whisks. In such a short time, Dali had mobilized everyone they could.

With them, while defeating the Shuobude army would be difficult, at least Youdu would not fall to the brigands.

Looking at the Jian-Tian officials bowing to him, he said anxiously, "No time for talk! Follow me!"

He tore open a rift, grabbing them two by two and hurling them through. "Beware! Your opponents are the soldiers of Tianchen—the ones reeking of malice and filth!"

As the Dali forces arrived in Daqi, the situation began to stabilize.

They cleared the bandits from Youdu with lethal speed and began to barricade the four city gates.

Yet, the situation turned dire in an instant. Tianchen had a countermeasure: hundreds of faceless figures in theatrical garb scattered throughout Youdu, beginning to touch the Heavenly Dao of the Dali officials.

Soon, a lama, his essence completely hollowed out, collapsed like a dried corpse. This was only the beginning; against the faceless ones who could touch the Dao, they were helpless.

If this continued, they would lose before the battle truly began.

"It’s a trap! Their target isn't me! It's the Jian-Tian Division!" Li Huowang pressed his face against another’s, sat cross-legged, and invoked the Wangtian Baohao.

The faceless ones reacted, opening rifts to Tianchen to retreat.

But at that moment, the Li Huowang performing the ritual stopped. He peeled off his skin, revealing the face of Shangguan Yuting—Li Sui.

The Li Huowang performing the ritual was a fake; the real one had long since slipped behind a faceless figure, following them back into Tianchen.

Seeing the stalemate, Li Huowang understood that being led by the nose was futile; he had to seize the initiative!

As the saying goes, to catch the bandits, one must first catch the king. The key to Tianchen was not the army, but the Heart-Pan capable of opening the rifts!

Arriving in Tianchen, Li Huowang scanned the area, his gaze locking onto a man in red with a fox mask, walking on stilts in the distance. He was the one!