Chapter 991: Baiyujing

Chapter 991: White Jade Capital

Ahead, the Nuo dance continued, the bamboo scaffolding shuddering and swaying under the distorted heat waves of the bonfires below.

Watching this, Li Huowang sighed, shaking his head in helpless resignation. Faced with the crushing pressure of Fusheng Tian, the people here were clearly grasping at straws, trying anything, regardless of whether it might work.

The Great Nuo was indeed widely believed in the Later Shu, but pinning one’s hopes on a mad deity to intervene was destined to be an exercise in futility.

"Do they think it works just because they believe it does? Do they take everyone for a Heart-Plain? Such superstition. Let’s go." Li Huowang walked past the Daliang Directorate of Celestial Affairs, leading Gao Zhijian toward the Imperial Temple.

The figure in the golden dragon robe followed, hesitating for a moment before offering a word of caution: "Brother Li, must we truly do this? The White Jade Capital is fraught with peril; even with the protection of dragon qi, it is hardly safe."

"Then tell me, what other options do we have?" Li Huowang countered.

"Are we to simply wait here, idle, until they strike us down?" Li Huowang’s expression grew grave as he looked toward the sky, attempting to pierce the veil of the heavens beyond.

"Even in a common war, one must send scouts to discern the enemy’s strength."

"Do not worry too much. At the very least, the deity within the White Jade Capital is on our side; they owe me a favor."

Though some of his memories had faded, he had not forgotten the threat posed by Fusheng Tian.

He could not simply sit below and ponder strategies; he had to go to the White Jade Capital to see the situation for himself.

With the enemy’s status unknown, he had to ensure the White Jade Capital had not fractured further and determine how far the crisis had progressed.

They could not remain buried in their own work while the enemy was at the gates, ignorant of the current reality.

Furthermore, time held no meaning within the White Jade Capital; if he could find something from the future there, it would be all the better.

Gao Zhijian nodded in understanding. "Very well. I wish you a safe journey, Brother Li. I shall manage everything here with Sister Bai."

"Zhijian, I know you cherish the dragon veins, but do not be stingy with them now. Fusheng Tian possesses them as well. Once we win, you shall have as many as you desire!"

Li Huowang paused, then added, "Moreover, I suspect the dragon veins are part of the Heavenly Dao of Order. If there is an Order, I suspect there is likely a deity governing it."

"If Fusheng Tian’s veins prove unusable, I promise I will find the Deity of Order, strip the Heavenly Dao from them, and forge new veins to restore a clear sky to the lands of Qi, Liang, and Chen."

"Very well, Brother Li. I trust you. Also..." Gao Zhijian hesitated, seemingly weighing whether to speak.

"Also what? Do not be so womanish at a time like this." Li Huowang was clearly dissatisfied with his hesitation.

Gao Zhijian chuckled and shook his head. "It is nothing. Never mind, just trifles. The matter of life and death is far more important."

Li Huowang frowned, casting him a strange look before quickening his pace toward the temple. "Out with it!"

"Brother Li, I only wished to ask: am I a good emperor?"

Li Huowang thought for a long moment, then replied, "You are."

Gao Zhijian was undoubtedly a good, diligent emperor, yet his past self had been too naive. A good emperor alone did not guarantee a prosperous life for the common people.

"That is good. Hahaha, then I have not failed the trust you placed in me, Brother Li." Gao Zhijian laughed heartily.

Soon, his smile faded into worry. "Brother Li, we are all counting on you now. You must not die."

"What madness is this? Hurry!" Impatient, Li Huowang grabbed the dragon robe and yanked hard. The scenery shifted rapidly, and they stood before the Imperial Temple of Daliang.

The massive bronze tree still stood, the fourteen dragon veins hanging from it, howling in a half-dead state, just as they had been left before.

Li Huowang cracked his wrists, and two additional arms sprouted from beneath his armpits. With one hand forming a seal and the other a gesture, he began to weave the Dragon-Slaying, Immortal-Killing Array taught to him by the Xuanpin Sect.

As the dragon qi was drained, the half-human, half-dragon veins visibly withered.

Feeling his body saturated with dragon qi and veins bulging on his forehead, Li Huowang looked to his side. Peng Longteng’s body appeared.

Shouldering his long, slender halberd, Peng used his neck as a lever and swung with all his might, launching Li Huowang toward the sky at breakneck speed.

He tore through clouds and stars, passing through twisted, deformed creatures until he reached the massive Gate of the Yak.

Taking a deep breath, Li Huowang stared into the chaos within the jade gate and stepped through.

It was difficult to say whether the White Jade Capital was dark or bright, but the only thing Li Huowang could perceive was an absolute, hollow silence.

In this place where up and down held no meaning, where time did not exist, the stillness was suffocating.

Li Huowang’s heart sank. "What is happening? Where are the other deities?"

To test his hypothesis, he drew a fingernail across his arm. The skin parted easily, and the blood that welled up drifted away in spheres of varying sizes.

He was injured, yet he felt no pain. He knew not what had become of the others, but at least Ba Hui and the Gu God, who governed pain, were absent.

He wiped the wound, and it zipped shut as if stitched.

He began to move, waving his arms, attempting to discern the nature of this place.

His body flickered as he utilized his cultivation to traverse the void.

But after less than half an incense stick of time, he stopped. Without reference points, he could not even tell if he was moving forward or backward.

"What is going on? What is this?" The inexplicable environment stirred a deep unease within him.

"Jizai! Jizai!" Li Huowang screamed into the void.

To his shock, his cry was answered. Something was approaching.

Though he could not see it, he felt it with terrifying clarity.

"Who is there?" No sooner had the words left his lips than the sensation of strands of hair brushed against the top of his head.

Li Huowang looked up slowly at the empty space above him, and a chill raced from his tailbone straight to his brain. "Sanqing!"