Mutated Tao

Li Huowang had lost all hue.

He looked down at his now grayscale self, then he drew a dagger and slashed his palm. Black blood flowed out instead of red.

This wasn’t just an illusion but rather some strange supernatural power from a sect.

An elderly voice rang in Li Huowang’s ears. “Yu Qing captures the essence, Da Fan divides the spirit, Yuan Gang flows and evolves, Xing Zhu stabilizes the realm, Chang Yang dispels Yin, Zhong Yuan conceals shadows!”

Then even the black and gray shades on Li Huowang gradually faded, turning an eerie white. His facial features blurred and distorted as the colors drained away.

Li Huowang turned towards the voice and saw an old scholar with a black beard. He wore a silk hat and a purple robe embroidered with green patterns.

One of his hands rested near a sword at his waist, another hand held a feather fan, and a third painted quickly on a scroll suspended in mid-air.

Li Huowang didn’t know which sect or faction this three-handed scholar belonged to, but the black cloth on his shoulder made it clear whose side he was on. There was no need for conversation.

The Dragon Vein was evidently guarded, which was as expected.

Li Huowang raised his spine sword and swung it forcefully, sending a rift flying towards the scholar.

The rift was spraying a strange liquid from the Great Qi.

Clang!

Nevertheless, a massive guandao[1] with a black tassel swiftly sliced the rift apart.

It was the act of an eight-foot-tall general. He stood imposingly as he pointed menacingly at Li Huowang with two fingers.

“Ha! You rogue, you dare to provoke me?! Shameless scoundrel, do you think a crow can occupy a phoenix’s nest? Who do you think you are, pushing forward with all your schemes?”

Li Huowang thought this was an Immortal Soldier at first, but when the general moved, Li Huowang noticed he was as thin as paper. It was as if the general had just stepped out of a painting. Furthermore, his body only had black and white colors.

Li Huowang studied the scholar’s brush and understood the general’s origin.

“Sink!” Li Huowang roared.

The ground beneath the scholar and general turned to quicksand and dragged them down.

The three-handed scholar was unfazed by Li Huowang’s attack. He lifted his feather fan and waved it at Li Huowang. A gust blew over and lifted the burly general off the ground. He floated towards Li Huowang like a kite.

When the general was close, he unfurled like a massive flag and raised his guandao to strike at Li Huowang’s head.

“Fire!” Li Huowang yelled.

With a click, Li Jiancheng’s thumb turned the gear of the plastic lighter. It sparked, and an orange-blue flame ignited, reflecting in Li Huowang’s eyes.

Boom!

The paper general burst into flames in midair.

Li Huowang crashed through the general’s disintegrating body, with the red flames giving Li Huowang a new color. He looked like a fiery comet as he lunged at the scholar.

The old scholar realized he had met a formidable opponent. He pulled out his trump card and drew rapidly on his feather fan.

He exclaimed, “Supreme of the supreme, the sky within the sky! Mysterious primal energy, chaos before all! Three realms of enlightenment transforming all heavens, Grand Luo Yu Qing, void and natural!”

Li Huowang’s fire quickly faded, turning into a grayish color.

Very quickly after, even the gray was erased. It seemed he was going to lose all color.

Li Huowang didn’t know which Siming’s power the scholar was borrowing, but it was clear to him that he would disappear forever once all of his colors were erased.

Right before he turned utterly transparent, Li Huowang chanted inwardly, I have color! My body has color! My hair is black! My blood is red!

Li Huowang started to regain color. However, the scholar countered, and Li Huowang’s colors quickly faded again. They reached a deadlock.

Then Li Sui’s voice echoed in Li Huowang’s mind, My father has color! His body has color! His hair is black! His blood is red!

Surprisingly, this helped Li Huowang slowly regain his colors. Li Sui was able to help him under such circumstances.

This was a new experience for Li Huowang. No, it was actually the second time. The first was when Dan Yangzi borrowed his Strayed One’s power within his stomach.

Li Huowang focused on dealing with the opponent first. The old scholar saw his hidden abilities were useful and knew he was about to lose.

In despair, the old scholar watched Li Huowang raise his spine sword. Then Xuan Pin suddenly appeared beside the scholar and swiftly waved his sleeve across, taking off the scholar’s head.

The scholar’s body crumpled to the ground. This left Li Huowang feeling frustrated, like he was punching air.

“Go deal with the Dragon Vein. Leave the rest to us,” Xuan Pin said.

Li Huowang barked, “Where were you!? I had almost finished him off by the time you showed up!”

He was reminded of his classmate stealing a win from him back in a game.

“Don’t think I wasn’t busy. The fact you could duel leisurely with this scholar of Minglun Hall meant we blocked the other troubles for you.”

Li Huowang looked at the chaos around him and had no time to argue. He turned back towards the distant quagmire.

With the old scholar dead, the colors near the pit returned to normal. Li Huowang made haste. He drew his bronze coin sword and hurled it at the stone pillars pinning the Dragon Vein.

The sword extended like a whip and coiled around a pillar.

“Rise!” Li Huowang bellowed and yanked the massive pillar free.

Accompanied by the dragon’s roar, the Dragon Vein struggled even more violently.

Li Huowang saw hope, and he continued to pull out the remaining pillars.

One by one, the pillars were uprooted, and the first Dragon Vein began to rise from the mud.

He noticed the panicked expression of the emperor atop the Dragon Vein. Li Huowang was rather stumped. Did the Dharma Sect not control the Dragon Vein like Shai Zi had previously? Was it because they couldn’t control it?

Nevertheless, it was a piece of good news. They had rescued the Dragon Vein, and the Dharma Sect hadn’t found a way to control it yet.

It made Li Huowang happy to witness this, as he did not need to battle the Dragon Vein.

Li Huowang was about to speak to the chubby emperor. However, the frightened emperor was dragged along the Dragon Vein and then sent flying into the sky in terror.

1. A Chinese polearm. ☜