Chapter 911: Leverage

Chapter 911: Borrowing Momentum

Everything happened in a heartbeat; within mere seconds, before Li Huowang could even draw near, Zuo Qiuyong had already pushed him to the brink of death.

His body was a wretched sight, no different from a skeleton draped in raw, exposed meat.

"It is... it is Growth! The Heavenly Dao this monster commands is Growth!" Li Huowang stared at Zuo Qiuyong with his single, bloodshot eye.

"My... my body is whole! There is nothing wrong with my body!"

Li Huowang struggled to focus, attempting to use his cultivation techniques to revert his flesh, hoping to hold on for even a fleeting moment.

As his dying body began to normalize, Zuo Qiuyong withdrew the true essence he had exerted, and Li Huowang’s flesh immediately began to wither and regress once more.

The disparity in their strength was insurmountable. Zuo Qiuyong was unlike any other sect master; he did not merely utilize a fragment of the Heavenly Dao—he governed the entire path. This man was, for all intents and purposes, a Siming of the mortal realm.

Even when facing the Simings of the Dharma Sect, Li Huowang had never felt such utter despair. He was trapped, unable to flee and unable to fight; there was no path to victory.

Zuo Qiuyong, in no rush to finish him, watched Li Huowang’s struggle with detached amusement.

"Li Huowang, you have caused me no end of trouble in the past. I ignored you before simply because you were beneath my notice, but do not mistake that for an eternity of grace."

"Brother Li! Are you alright?" Seeing Li Huowang’s agony, Bai Lingmiao broke free from the army of the Unspeakables and rushed to his side, catching him before he could collapse.

Under the guise of supporting him, she reached behind his head and drove a Red-Middle tile directly into his skull.

As a sudden message flooded his mind, Li Huowang’s eyes widened in profound shock, and he stared at the young girl beside him.

"Brother Li, what is wrong? Please, don't scare me." Tears soaked the silk blindfold covering her eyes, her face etched with deep sorrow.

"Hmph!" Zuo Qiuyong watched this display with utter disdain. "Rest assured, I shall send you both on your way together—at least you can be reincarnated as a pair."

The battered Li Huowang suddenly began to chuckle, his laughter brimming with triumph and mockery.

"Do you truly believe you have won? Do you think I came here alone, wasting time in this stalemate, just to wait for death?"

"Hm?" Zuo Qiuyong’s expression stiffened as he scrutinized Li Huowang. No matter how he looked at it, this boy was no match for him. What gave him the audacity to speak so?

"You have a grudge against the Unborn Mother. With such a grand display of force, do you truly believe she has no defenses? Do you know what it means to lure the tiger from the mountain? With you here, there is no one left to guard your own house." Li Huowang wrapped an arm around Bai Lingmiao’s waist, a smug grin plastered on his face.

Zuo Qiuyong’s face darkened. With a flick of his right hand, dozens of needles trailing long threads pierced Li Huowang’s mangled body, pinning him to the spot.

He stared at Li Huowang for a long moment, then covered his mouth with a handkerchief and giggled affectedly. "I heard you had ties to the Zuowangdao, but to think you could deceive me with such a ruse—you underestimate me, boy. I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice."

Li Huowang clutched his stomach and roared with laughter. "Hahahaha! Good! It is best you think that way. Regardless, once a Siming strikes, I doubt you will make it back in time."

No sooner had he spoken than the world shifted violently. Li Huowang felt his pain vanish instantly, and with it, the rot.

A natural disaster had struck—and it was a disaster involving the disappearance of two Heavenly Daos.

"Hahahaha!" Li Huowang pointed a finger at Zuo Qiuyong and laughed. "You eunuch! How about that? Do you believe me now? This time, I have won!"

Just as Zuo Qiuyong’s expression wavered between uncertainty and rage, another Heavenly Dao vanished—this time, Compassion.

Zuo Qiuyong could no longer remain calm. With a single pull of his hand, the threads within Li Huowang’s body tightened, slicing him into pieces in an instant.

He did not even spare a glance for Bai Lingmiao, the Unborn Mother’s Heart-Pan; something else was clearly far more vital. He leaped onto the back of a dragon and vanished into the clouds, heading due east.

With Zuo Qiuyong’s retreat and the cataclysmic shift in the world, everyone knew a great upheaval was at hand. The army of Unspeakables and the fox-faced Heart-Pan followed him without hesitation.

Before long, only the remains of Li Huowang and Bai Lingmiao were left behind.

A light, translucent sheet of human skin emerged from the gore, rapidly expanding and lengthening. As it inhaled the scattered shadows around it, Li Huowang was restored to life.

Bai Lingmiao crossed her arms and said to him, "Look at that. Other Heavenly Daos can be summoned or dismissed at will, but not Lies. In the realm of deception, only we of the Zuowangdao can wield it with such fluidity. No matter how powerful they are, they will always fall for it."

Li Huowang stooped to retrieve his spine-sword from the blood-soaked earth. "Let us retreat quickly. If Zuo Qiuyong realizes I was merely using the momentum of the natural disaster to bluff him, we will not be able to escape."

It had been nothing but a ruse; Li Huowang had used the chaos of the natural disaster to force Zuo Qiuyong’s hand.

The Unborn Mother had never moved at all; Li Huowang did not even know what Zuo Qiuyong was truly afraid of.

A rift leading to the Great Liang opened, and the two vanished through it, returning to the capital.

Compared to the chaos of the Tianchen Kingdom and Great Qi, the Great Liang remained eerily tranquil. They stood in the Imperial Garden, where concubines were enjoying tea and flowers, attended by maids and eunuchs.

The sudden appearance of the naked, blood-stained Li Huowang shattered the peace, triggering screams and frantic shouts.

Li Huowang grabbed a eunuch, tore off his robes to cover himself, and turned to a woman wearing a phoenix crown. "Are you Gao Zhijian’s wife? Go and fetch him at once. Tell him the trouble has been temporarily averted."

As he watched the woman run off in tears, Li Huowang let out a long breath, his taut nerves finally slackening. The situation had been razor-thin; a single misstep would have cost him his life at Zuo Qiuyong’s hands.

"Indeed—merely averted. They will return." Bai Lingmiao walked to a table, picked up a cup of tea, and took a sip.

"Change your face! It annoys me!"

Bai Lingmiao flicked her hand, and a twelve-sided die, its numbers shifting constantly, appeared before Li Huowang.

Li Huowang frowned at it. "How did you know a natural disaster was about to occur?"

Had the disaster not happened at that precise moment, he never could have scared Zuo Qiuyong away.

The die chuckled, lifted its teacup, and took another sip. "Don't you worry about that. I have my connections."