Mutated Tao

“It’s time!” Huangfu Tiangang shouted.

He was now completely transformed. Everyone resolutely extended their dragon claws and forcibly gouged their eyes out.

“Go!” Huangfu Tiangang said as he threw his Constellation Sword into the air and leaped onto it.

Then he flew toward the Ox Tail Gate.

Xuan Pin’s robes shrank. A strange golden dragon covered in golden claws emerged from it and charged toward the Ox Tail Gate.

Once they left, everyone else used their own unique abilities and followed them toward the Ox Tail Gate.

As they moved, the entire world's Feng Shui and spiritual veins shifted with them. They weren’t only borrowing the luck of the Dragon Veins—they were tapping into the luck of the entire world.

When Li Huowang opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on the ground. He was bleeding heavily from his nose and felt so dizzy that he could barely stand.

Despite this, Li Huowang clearly remembered everything that had just happened, down to the smallest detail. This was not just a display of the secret but a forceful implantation of it into Li Huowang’s mind.

“So that’s what happened! On their own, they couldn’t help the Simings. They needed to borrow the power of two Dragon Veins and the world’s Earth Veins to intervene in the Simings’ battle! I knew Xuan Pin had a backup plan!”

Li Huowang’s excitement gradually faded when he realized that Xuan Pin and the others were still dead.

Before he could mourn, something strange happened. His memories about the events began to fade.

Li Huowang exclaimed frantically, “What’s happening?! Aren’t you helping me? Why are you taking it back!”

As the fading accelerated and even affected the spell Xuan Pin had recited, Li Huowang grabbed his head. “Come back! Don’t disappear!”

He tried to use his “Truth” cultivation abilities to stop the process, but they had no effect on the already fleeting memories.

“I said come back!”

Veins bulged on Li Huowang’s forehead. As he increased his force on both hands, he suddenly heard a crack as his skull fractured.

Li Huowang was momentarily stunned by the shattering sound, then his face showed a trace of joy. He inserted his right hand into the fissure in his skull and began to rummage through his brain.

Li Huowang quickly found the vanishing memory. He tightly held onto it with his right hand to prevent it from disappearing.

He used his trembling left hand to dip into the soft memory and quickly wrote on the ground.He couldn’t let the memory vanish, so he had to record everything.

Li Huowang held the memory in one hand as he wrote frantically. He wrote wherever he could, filling the floor, the walls, and even his own body with notes.

Finally, when he could no longer dip into the memory, he pulled his hand out of his head.

Li Huowang stood in the center of the room, surrounded by his writings. He breathed a long sigh of relief. He had recorded everything.

After resolving this issue, Li Huowang began to review his notes and organize his thoughts.

As he looked through them, he sensed something was off and frowned.

Something’s wrong! If they went to Ox Tail Gate, how did the Dharma Sect ambush them? Didn’t Xuan Pin get killed due to a Dharma Sect ambush?

Zhang Tan wasn’t there, so he might not know, but Gao Zhijian was there. How could he not know?

The truth Gao Zhijian had previously relayed to him now began to blur. Was he lying to me? Was he lying to me as well?

Li Huowang couldn’t believe this possibility. He decided to confront Gao Zhijian and ask him personally.

He found Gao Zhijian on a large road outside of the military camp. He was dressed in his dragon robes and seated on a jade chariot pulled by sixteen carriages. The entire procession looked very grand.

The people dared not block his path, kneeling and bowing as he passed.

Li Huowang’s appearance alarmed the eunuchs and guards, but they stood down at Gao Zhijian’s command.

Gao Zhijian said, “Senior Li, can it wait? I’m heading to the military camp to send off the soldiers. If I’m late, it might upset them.”

Li Huowang jumped onto the chariot and yelled, “Tell me the truth! How did Xuan Pin and the others die?”

“The Dharma Sect ambushed and killed them while they were helping the Simings.”

“Nonsense! They set up the Dragon-Slaying Immortal-Killing Array, borrowed your luck and the world’s luck, then went to the Ox Tail Gate! How could the Dharma Sect have harmed them?”

Gao Zhijian froze. “How do you... know all this?”

“Don’t ask me how I know! I just want to know why you lied! You were there. You even participated in the array, so why didn’t you tell me?”

“Are you still Simpleton, the one I could entrust my life to, or are you now a calculating emperor on the dragon throne?”

The yellow silk of the canopy fluttered in the wind as Gao Zhijian sat silently.

After a moment, he said, “Senior Li, Xuan Pin entrusted some things to be kept from you, and I agreed. I am still the person you can entrust your life to, but you once told me to be a good emperor.

“A good emperor can’t speak freely—a good emperor must be shrewd and capable of lying without blinking.

“A good emperor must prioritize the country’s affairs over personal matters.

“A good emperor must use imperial tactics without hesitation while treading carefully to avoid becoming a tyrant or a muddler.

“But if being a good emperor conflicts with being a simpleton you can entrust your life to, which one should I choose?

“Senior Li, you saved my life multiple times. Tell me which one to choose, and I will choose it without question.”

Li Huowang’s anger dissipated, giving way to a complex expression as he looked at Gao Zhijian. He remained silent.

As they stared at each other, a groan interrupted them. A pregnant woman kneeling nearby collapsed, with blood flowing from her body.

Gao Zhijian urgently pointed. “Quick, help her deliver the baby! Don’t let her die!”

Eunuchs and maids from within the convoy rushed to assist.

Li Huowang finally replied, “A good emperor.”

“Good.”

Another shriek filled the air as the eunuchs and maids assisting in the childbirth fled fearfully.

A monstrous creature with a baby’s head and a vulture’s body emerged from the blood, laughing with a mouth full of rotten teeth.