Chapter 910: Growth

Chapter 910: Growth

"Brother Li, how are you? You aren't hurt, are you?" Bai Lingmiao, her eyes veiled in white silk, approached Li Huowang and tugged at his sleeve, her face etched with profound concern.

Li Huowang looked at the woman before him and parted his lips, momentarily at a loss for words. He knew, of course, that this was not the real Bai Lingmiao; it was the Dice, wearing a mask.

The Dice’s disguise was seamless, perfect in every detail save for one: he could never replicate the deep-seated, jagged resentment Bai Lingmiao harbored in her heart over the slaughter of her entire family.

Others might be deceived by the Dice’s performance, but having dealt with the Sit-and-Forget Dao so often, Li Huowang had long since seen through the charade.

The Dice clearly knew he had been exposed, but he cared little for Li Huowang’s thoughts; he continued to play his part. Bai Lingmiao stepped forward, shielding Li Huowang from Zuoqiu Yongzhi.

With a furrow of her delicate brows, she barked at Zuoqiu Yong, "If you want to touch Brother Li, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"

Zuoqiu Yong stared at her, momentarily dazed, before the corners of his mouth curled upward. What began as a faint smirk soon erupted into a boisterous laugh.

He slapped his thigh and pointed at her, laughing, "Hahahaha! A double blessing! What a coincidence this is! I was worried you’d be hiding in some rat hole, hard to track down, and here you are, delivering yourself to my doorstep!"

As Zuoqiu Yong finished speaking, the surrounding army of the Unspeakables and a band of bandits swarmed toward Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao.

Li Huowang tightened his grip on the spine-sword, glancing at the silver hair cascading from Bai Lingmiao’s head. He could not fathom the Dice’s true intentions, but since he had come, it was likely to offer aid.

Otherwise, from the perspective of a swindler, it made no sense for this fellow to run into a death trap.

"Be careful, don't let your guard down. These creatures will draw everything out from within you, and that Zuoqiu Yong might even be able to wield the past Heavenly Dao of the Unborn Mother." Li Huowang spoke as if to Bai Lingmiao, though he was truly warning the Dice.

"Brother Li, do not worry. I know. The Unborn Mother has sent down an oracle, revealing the true nature of this thief."

Hearing this, the smile on Zuoqiu Yong’s face faded, replaced by a flicker of irritation. "Stiff-lipped, are you? Let’s see how long you can keep that up!"

He flicked the pink handkerchief in his hand. The translucent fabric instantly unraveled into countless fine threads, which flew toward Li Huowang like slender, lethal needles.

Li Huowang stomped his feet and lunged toward Zuoqiu Yong. As he brushed past Bai Lingmiao, he whispered, "I will hold him off; whatever you came here to do, do it quickly!"

Before Bai Lingmiao could react, Li Huowang was already facing the sky-filling web of threads.

He swung the spine-sword with all his might, sending fissures of reality flying. The edges of the dual-history cracks collided with the threads.

To Li Huowang’s surprise, instead of snapping, the threads rang out with the sound of clashing metal—a phenomenon he had never encountered before.

The long lines descended from the sky like a torrential downpour, raining upon Li Huowang’s body, yet they failed to bind him in the slightest.

His body flickered, closing the distance to Zuoqiu Yong. He had already shifted his position; the threads had only pierced the afterimage he left behind.

In the blink of an eye, the two were nearly upon each other. Just as they were about to collide, Li Huowang dropped low, sinking into the earth. The sharp spine-sword erupted from the ground, aiming to sever Zuoqiu Yong’s legs.

The battle-hardened Li Huowang felt the sensation of the blade slicing through flesh, but with a sharp "clang," a massive force surged back, nearly knocking the sword from his hand.

Li Huowang poked his head out from the soil, staring at Zuoqiu Yong, who was descending slowly nearby.

He was certain he had severed the man’s feet! Yet, the man remained unscathed, just as he had been when Li Huowang drove the blade through his chest.

"Oh my~ Li Huowang, is that all the tricks you have? I’m truly beginning to look down on you." Zuoqiu Yong sneered.

Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao, who was locked in a chaotic skirmish with the Unspeakable army, and cursed through gritted teeth, "You castrated, dead eunuch! Stop the chatter and fight!"

Zuoqiu Yong was not in the least angered by the retort; a look of contempt played on his face. "A eunuch? And what of it? Today, even a eunuch can claim the throne; today, even a eunuch can be king!"

"You lot need to pass on your lineage because you are destined to die. As long as I am immortal, there is no need for descendants."

As he spoke, Zuoqiu Yong’s face was filled with arrogance, seemingly satisfied with his own existence.

"Hmm~~ Enough~ Let’s put the idle talk aside; it’s time to get serious." As Zuoqiu Yong raised his right hand, Li Huowang noticed for the first time that the tips of his three fingers were adorned with intricate, dragon-carved white jade nail guards—the long, sharp kind worn only by the consorts of the palace.

As the man pointed those guards toward him, Li Huowang flickered, dodging the strike.

Yet, just as he prepared to counterattack, something began to happen to his body. His flesh, previously scorched by fire, was healing at a terrifying speed.

Before he could rejoice, his body began to develop in a way he could not control.

The beard on his chin, the hair on his head, and even the nails on his hands and feet began to grow with frantic, unnatural speed.

"This... is this the Heavenly Dao once controlled by the Unborn Mother?!" Li Huowang watched as his rapidly growing nails twisted like vines, wrapping around the spine-sword and becoming a cumbersome burden.

"The utmost Yin is solemn, the utmost Yang is radiant; the solemn emerges from Heaven, the radiant issues from Earth; when they intersect, harmony is formed and all things are born~~" Watching Li Huowang, whose long hair now dragged upon the ground, Zuoqiu Yong wore a look of triumph, as if he had already secured his victory.

"Is that it? Is this all you’ve got?!" With a roar from Li Huowang, his nails, hair, and beard shattered instantly. Constrained by the very things that had grown, Li Huowang regained his freedom.

He lunged at Zuoqiu Yong, sword in hand, but after only a few steps, he felt a sharp pain in his hands.

Li Huowang glanced down, horrified to see that the nails that had just grown were now rapidly retracting. His ten fingernails pulled back into his fingertips, leaving his nail beds a bloody, mangled mess.

If it were only the nails, it would be one thing, but more alarmingly, Li Huowang felt the skin he had just regrown thinning rapidly! Everything on his body that had grown was now retreating at a breakneck pace.

Every old wound Li Huowang had ever suffered began to reappear; every bone that had ever been broken in his life returned to the exact moment of its fracture.