Mutated Tao

The people from Tianchen Kingdom surrounded Li Huowang, but he did not run away. He sat calmly on the crown of the tree instead.

Another Li Huowang popped out from his back, and the two chanted simultaneously. “In the shining light, the sun and moon conceal themselves. When the treasures activate, the spirits shall tremble in fear. Manifesting in the mortal world, guarding the chariot in the realm of Hell...”

When the people from the Tianchen Kingdom heard him chanting, they were filled with immense shock. According to the Unspeakable army that had invaded previously, the Daoist in red could summon Doulao to fight for him!

While they vastly outnumbered Li Huowang, they could not fight against Doulao. Using their various techniques, they quickly escaped and vanished in front of Li Huowang.

Li Huowang completed his chant just as they disappeared. However, nothing happened.

Li Huowang chuckled and stood up. The Li Huowang on his back trembled and turned into a beautiful woman. It wasn’t something from Li Huowang’s “Truth” cultivation—it was Li Sui.

Li Huowang did not intend to summon Doulao, so he altered the chant. There was no need to summon Doulao against them when he could trick them and save his energy.

Despite the people in the Qi Kingdom continuously giving him False Qi through their prayers, the amount of False Qi needed to summon Doulao was still massive. There was no need to waste it on a minor skirmish like this.

The crisis had been averted, and the Qi Kingdom was temporarily safe. Li Huowang looked around the dense forest and prepared to leave.

He was sure that the people in Tianchen Kingdom had been notified of his arrival. He had to gather as much information as possible before they caught him.

Li Huowang knew very little about the place. All he knew was that they held a grudge against the Heavenly Mater.

He needed to know how strong the people in the Tianchen Kingdom were and what price they were willing to pay to bring down the Heavenly Mater again.

The forest was dense, but thankfully, Li Huowang’s sharp senses helped him spot fresh shoe prints on the ground.

Through the shoe prints, Li Huowang found several traps meant to catch wild beasts. Li Huowang deduced that the shoe prints belonged to a hunter. All he needed to do was follow the tracks to locate some kind of settlement.

However, the sky was slowly turning dark, and Li Huowang had yet to find the owner of the shoe prints.

When he saw the setting sun, Li Huowang remembered something important. “Suisui, help me count the time and see how many Dragon Veins are here.”

“Alright.”

Suisui nodded, and an hourglass appeared beside Li Huowang. The sand slowly fell to the bottom of the hourglass.

The hourglass represented a single division in time. A single cycle meant that a single division had passed. With the hourglass, Li Huowang would know how many Dragon Veins were in the Tianchen Kingdom.

By the time half of the sand had fallen, Li Huowang finally found a settlement in the dense forest. He saw a small village with several lit bonfires in the dark forest.

Li Huowang observed the village for a long time, taking his time until he was satisfied there was nothing suspicious about it.

“Let’s see if we can get information about the Tianchen Kingdom from the regular people here.”

Li Huowang wiped his face and transformed his appearance into Yang Xiaohai's. He proceeded to make his way towards the village.

Li Sui's tentacles sprouted from Li Huowang's back. They then grew and transformed into a big rucksack.

As Li Huowang approached, he smelled the aroma of bamboo leaves being used as a spice. He quickly calculated the time and realized that it was dinner time.

Li Huowang had just entered the village when a woman confronted him. They locked eyes, both shocked by the unexpected encounter. The woman was surprised to see a stranger, while Li Huowang was taken aback by her appearance.

She had a humanoid figure and was adorned in a large shirt paired with a pleated skirt. Additionally, she had a deep blue apron with intricate embroidery depicting birds and fish.

However, her most striking feature was her elongated neck covered in silver hoops—it was twice as long as a regular person’s!

The slightly intimidating sight of someone with such a long neck on a dark village path surprised Li Huowang.

“Father, she’s not an evil entity.”

“I can see that.”

Li Huowang cleared his throat and imitated Yang Xiaohai’s voice. “Uhm… Excuse me, miss… May I know where this place is?”

The woman answered honestly, perhaps because she suspected nothing or because Yang Xiaohai appeared young and innocent. “This is Yixiong Village. Little boy, where did you come from? Why are you here?”

Her voice was normal. Aside from her long neck, she looked and sounded like a regular person.

“Yixiong Village? That means I’ve come to the wrong place. Where is the closest county?”

The woman pointed. “It’s in that direction, though you probably shouldn’t go there now. You need to pass several mountains and walk for at least two days.”

Their voices caught the attention of the other villagers, causing them to gather around. Li Huowang took notice of them just as they took notice of him. All of the villagers wore silver hoops on their long necks.

More importantly, most of them were women. The few remaining men were children.

“Miss, I’m an outsider, so can I ask you a question? Why do you wear those silver hoops?”

“Because it looks good.”

Li Huowang paused—the answer was too bizarre. Did the Sitting Oblivion Dao trick them?

He wanted to ask more questions, but an old woman gave him two pieces of bamboo before he could. He stood still in confusion as the woman split open the bamboo, revealing the fragrant rice hidden inside it. They were asking him to eat.

“Thank you, Grandma! Thank you, thank you! I haven’t eaten today!”

Li Huowang took the bamboo and ate the rice. He wasn’t afraid of them poisoning his meal—poison wouldn’t work on him.

As he ate, he realized that the meal was not only ordinary but also delicious. The fragrance of the bamboo and rice paired well, leaving a delightful fragrance in his mouth after he finished.