Chapter 934: No Surprise

Chapter 934: As Expected

"I cannot die. I... I cannot die, Feng Erniu!" The dying Tuoba Danqing clawed the air with withered hands, his fingers like the talons of a bird.

He was unwilling, truly unwilling to accept this fate.

Back then, Feng Erniu had trapped him in the filth of the heart’s obstructions, and day and night, he had dreamed of escaping to exact his revenge.

Yet, now that he had finally clawed his way out, he was to perish immediately. The bitterness was unbearable.

But soon, Tuoba Danqing realized he had no time for such thoughts; he likely had only enough strength for one final testament. "Lady Bai, go back and tell my son: never, under any circumstances, join the Celestial Observatory!"

Watching Tuoba Danqing slip into the delirium of death, Bai Lingmiao’s face softened with pity. "Rest easy. With me here, you will not die."

As she spoke, she formed a lotus seal with one hand and pressed it gently against his brow. A black lotus flickered briefly upon his forehead before vanishing.

Instantly, Tuoba Danqing felt the decay of his body halt. He had not been restored to life, yet he was no longer dying; his existence seemed frozen in the liminal space between life and death.

"You will not die now, but you are not truly alive. This state will last for about twenty days. Use this time to seek out the masters at Zhengde Temple to mend your flesh, then come find me."

Tuoba Danqing looked down at his own body, struck with awe at the power of the white-haired woman before him.

The wife of Er Jiu was truly formidable. To his knowledge, such mastery over life and death was a feat reserved only for the lamas of Qingqiu.

When he had last seen her, she was merely a common shamaness; what could have transpired in these few years?

"What happened to him?" Yuan Er approached with a group of Heart-Pure ones.

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Bai Lingmiao tensed, grabbing Tuoba Danqing with four hands and pulling him up. "It is nothing. He suffered internal injuries inside, but he is stabilized now. Let us go."

A carriage, laden with all the Heart-Pure ones, departed from the White Lotus Church and headed toward the Celestial Observatory.

Upon reaching the entrance to Li Huowang’s cultivation chamber, everyone stood stunned by the sight of the distorted architecture; as Li Huowang’s cultivation deepened, his influence on the surrounding reality grew ever more profound.

"You have arrived?" The towering figure of Xuan Pin rose from the ground.

Seeing the broad, crimson Daoist robes, the weakened Tuoba Danqing felt his knees buckle, and he dropped to one knee, trembling with terror. "My Lord of the Celestial Observatory!"

In the past, he had never possessed the status to stand so close to such a titan.

Xuan Pin glanced at him, said nothing, and pushed open the doors to the chamber. "Come, follow me inside."

The scene within was no less chaotic than the exterior; shifting visions swirled around Li Huowang, whose own body flickered in and out of existence.

"Wait a moment. It is difficult to wake Father right now," Xuan Pin said, drifting through a motorcycle that floated past him toward Li Huowang.

"Father?" The dumbfounded Tuoba Danqing stood paralyzed, his jaw agape as if struck by lightning. His entire world felt as though it were collapsing.

If his memory served, Li Huowang had once been his subordinate. Yet, the man who commanded the entire Celestial Observatory now called Li Huowang "Father"?

Having served in the Observatory for so long, he had seen his share of madness, but this was beyond comprehension.

If the Lord of the Observatory called Er Jiu "Father," what was he supposed to call him?

While Tuoba Danqing’s mind reeled, the men of the Observatory arrived, escorting eight strange figures with yellow talismans plastered to their foreheads.

Without explanation, Bai Lingmiao knew these were the eight Heart-Pure ones the Observatory had managed to track down.

The entire world, from the imperial court to the common folk, had been searching for them, yet only eight had been found. It seemed that unless new ones were born, this was the extent of their number.

Suddenly, the air cleared. As the chaos vanished into a vast, white void, Bai Lingmiao knew Li Huowang had awakened.

Li Huowang walked over, rubbing his temples with a furrowed brow. He looked at the group of Heart-Pure ones and said with some surprise, "So many this time?"

With this many, he might finally be able to push through the next two stages.

"Yes, Mother helped find quite a few."

Hearing this, Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao, and they nodded at each other in silent understanding.

He then turned his gaze to Tuoba Danqing, who had grown so thin that Li Huowang would not have recognized him if not for the prayer beads on his wrist.

Before Li Huowang could speak, Tuoba Danqing stumbled forward. "Brother Er Jiu! Where is Feng Erniu? Where is Feng Erniu?!"

"Who is Feng Erniu?" Li Huowang seemed not to recognize the name.

"The Record-Bearer who went with us to capture the Heart-Filth! The eunuch who clicked his abacus!"

"Oh, he is dead. His wife is dead, too."

Having said this dismissively, Li Huowang ignored the frozen Tuoba Danqing and walked toward the Heart-Pure ones. "Time waits for no one. Let us begin."

As Li Huowang approached, the Heart-Pure ones tensed, but when they realized they survived even after their innate energy and spiritual light were extracted, they let out long sighs of relief.

The woman had not lied to them; they could truly go on living.

"Feng Erniu is not dead," Xuan Pin whispered to Li Huowang while channeling the innate energy.

"Not dead? But the Overseer’s records clearly stated he had perished." Li Huowang gritted his teeth, struggling to control the power that was not his own.

"That was merely to deceive you. After all, you were standing against the Observatory at the time."

"Hmph, a bunch of old schemers. Do not tell Tuoba Danqing; I want no blood feuds between them. Both are petty men."

Xuan Pin nodded and commanded the army of the "Say-Nothing" to seize the next Heart-Pure one—the man with the thick, bushy beard.

But as his hand touched him, Xuan Pin looked on in confusion. "Why do you possess no innate energy?"

The bearded man chuckled, grabbed his own face, and peeled it away, revealing a playing card with a flower pattern to everyone present. "Because I am of the Zuo Wang Dao! Hahaha!"

Seeing the bizarre pattern on the man’s face, the Second God gritted his teeth. "I knew it! Eleven Heart-Pure ones could not possibly want to become the King of Hell for no reason!"

"You son of a bitch!" Seeing a Zuo Wang Dao member, the other Heart-Pure ones erupted in fury and swarmed him.

In the end, the Zuo Wang Dao member was torn apart by the Heart-Pure ones, yet even in his final moments, his laughter never ceased.