Chapter 1404
Repairing the Fake
Chapter 1404 Repairing the Fake
"Boom..."
Chengdu was originally built by Xiao Wu. When the Wu king lost Jiangnan, he fled here and lost his ambition. He then built this city into a magnificent and dazzling place, with the imperial palace standing on a lake and connected to the outside world by only four bridges.
The most famous of these is the bridge to the due east, which was named after a princess by Emperor Xiao Zi'an, hence the name Dujuan Bridge. This princess, Xiao Dujuan, was originally married to the son of the Zifu, but she committed adultery with the Wang family of Shu, disrupting the government and ultimately causing the once prosperous immortal clan to collapse.
Just like the life of this princess who brought chaos to the world, the Azalea Bridge was also a place of fighting and bloodshed, and the folk songs often linger here.
As the sky shimmered with the light of Jade True Qi, the shattered green cliffs, like a collapsing giant beast, plunged into the sparkling waves. The array patterns on the bridge flickered, and the dark gold boots finally stepped onto the bridge surface.
The crescent-shaped golden halberd blade gleamed.
The palace was eerily quiet, and the bridge was deserted. King Wei raised his broken jade sword and saw a line of golden characters on its blade:
[To repay with military force].
This person was not a powerful figure. In fact, if he had not received the favor of martial arts, he might not have been able to reach the Purple Mansion realm. However, when the palace was completely silent and all the people of the Qing clan had disappeared, only he stood up and fell in front of the city.
Li Zhouwei casually tossed the sword into the bridge, letting it guard the palace gate in place of the general. Without another glance, he slowly stepped forward.
"pat..."
The sound of his boots hitting the ground was crisp, just as Li Zhouwei had expected—no one came out to stop him.
The palace before me was now a ruin. The light that had shone on the earth had faded into darkness and stillness. Rain was falling softly from the sky, making it seem like a long-abandoned, broken wall.
Li Zhouwei looked up, his golden eyes slowly moving towards the sky. As his gaze moved, the pitch-black, empty night sky finally revealed an extremely intense brilliance.
A colossal creature stood in the sky.
This creature soared to the heavens, its two horns resembling those of an ox, its entire body covered in jet-black mane that hung down like thousands of withered vines draped over a mountain. Its two hands, like iron rakes, were thin and long, stretching across the sky like two giant spiders.
A human face grew on its head, with blood-red eyes and teeth like a dragon. Only a small plaque, about the size of a palm, was pasted on the top of its head. It looked like a spot on the face, but it was golden and outlined with cinnabar, seemingly a talisman.
'An object of spirits and deities.'
The enormous Shu Emperor's palace was nestled beneath this thing.
Above this thing, the clouds in the sky had condensed into a rolling vortex, extending into the endless sky. There was a bit of white in that spot, revealing the edge of a celestial palace or temple. It seemed that a figure was standing on the edge, looking down from above.
Li Zhouwei lowered his head, and everything before him returned to complete darkness. The palace remained empty, but the King of Wei laughed:
They withdrew.
The step was not surprising. Rather than saying that the Qing family abandoned the Shu Emperor, it would be more accurate to say that the Qing family abandoned the path of 'preventing Li Zhouwei and the Shu Emperor from fighting'... And the ghost god remained here, waiting for the next step.
Li Zhouwei didn't care. He took another step, crossing the entire Azalea Bridge and entering the deep palace.
The walls of the passageway were stained with blood.
Blood flowed like rivers on both sides, and headless corpses were everywhere. These people wore all sorts of clothes, some were court officials, some were slaves, and some were guards. They all lay on the ground, their heads cut off.
Li Zhouwei's smile faded slightly. He stepped inside and saw the courtyard full of ruins. The Xuanzhu pillars standing in the pavilion were leaning to one side and the other side. Finally, there was a living thing.
He was a boy.
He looked to be no more than a teenager, with an unusually youthful and delicate face. There was a faint trace of blood on his lips. He was sitting upright on the ruins, with a jade sword as thin as a cicada's wing lying horizontally beside him.
He gripped the sword's spine with one hand, while gently wiping the bloodstains from its blade with the other. Beneath him, on numerous boulders, lay countless heads: beautiful women, imposing officials, treacherous eunuchs… all staring with open eyes, gazing reverently at him atop the ruins.
He was just wiping his sword.
The bloodstains seemed impossible to wipe away; every time he brushed them away, they would seep out again from the sword and flow down his wrist, the only sound in the quiet ruins being the dripping sound of blood.
Li Zhouwei raised his eyes, and in the darkness, a pair of pure white lights stared straight at him.
The boy said:
"You are the White Qilin."
His gaze was fixed intently on him, his eyes not filled with hostility, but with a burning fighting spirit. When he saw the calm in those golden eyes, he seemed to feel a surge of joy.
He brandished the sword in his hand and said:
"To see you, I... really went to great lengths!"
Li Zhouwei marched all the way from the south, unstoppable and as blazing as the sun. He easily stepped into the most prestigious territory of Shu, yet he showed little arrogance. He gazed at him quietly, as if looking at a friend who shared his plight.
This look made the young man slightly furrow his brow. He stood up, rotated his wrist, gripped the sword hilt in a reverse grip, letting the blade rest against his forearm, and pointed his index finger at the heads on the ground, saying:
"This... is my concubine, surnamed Xiao. She is said to be an orphan of the previous dynasty, but as I have grown older and gained more supernatural abilities, I have learned that her surname is actually Qing, and she is of the same clan as me."
His Adam's apple bobbed, and he moved his forearm, pointing to the other side, and said:
"This... is a member of the Imperial Guard. He was supposed to be my younger brother, but he's not really a brother. He was a child we brought down from the mountain and gave to that commoner family..."
He stepped forward, grabbed the head by the hair with his free hand, lifted it up, and showed it to the newcomer, saying:
"Actually, it doesn't seem like it."
The King of Wei stared at him silently, offering no reply. Qing Ting smiled and said:
"Actually, none of this is real. It's just a stage, yet they want me to cultivate immortality. I was puzzled by this, but after thinking about it carefully, I realized that if they can't stand that I'm cultivating immortality, they might want me to cultivate a fake one."
"Repairing fakes is our lifeline."
He looked up and said:
"The King of Wei said...is that right?"
Li Zhouwei was much taller than him, and even though he wasn't arrogant at the moment, he still had to look down on him. But the emperor didn't expect Bai Qilin to speak, or perhaps he hadn't even asked Li Zhouwei in the first place. The young man stood up and smiled:
“But I forgot that the King of Wei’s mandate of heaven is greater than mine. You cultivators naturally cannot understand those who cultivate falsehoods.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a whooshing sound suddenly arose above the ruins. He straightened his back, looked around at the many heads laid out, and seemed to be admiring them.
Li Zhouwei said softly:
"The Battle of the Desert...who gave the order?"
Li Zhouwei's greatest desire to kill him stemmed from the great battle in the desert that nearly destroyed his northern plans and endangered Li Quewan. Of course, it is understandable for the two sides to fight each other, and the Shu Emperor has not committed any crime. However, Li Zhouwei's arrival here today is also a case of seeking revenge.
Upon hearing this, the boy laughed and said:
“I don’t know if it’s true or not, but people like you and me are beyond the comprehension of fate. I’ve seen the so-called Tian Su. In this respect, you and I are no less than the great figures. You won’t follow Tian Su’s arrangements, and neither will I.”
"But Bai Qilin... do you know? The conquest of the desert wasn't Qing Clan's request. It was a tacit promise from the other side that I've been trying to win over, but have never received a response from..."
"None of that matters anymore, just take it as my order."
He looked up at the sky, stood up, and said:
"Out of indignation, or perhaps for some form of revenge, I should have stood still and ordered you to be eliminated on the spot. But I am, after all, the ruler of a nation, blessed by the Emperor's might; there is no reason for me to commit suicide in the face of battle..."
"They allowed me to fight you here because they thought you couldn't beat me... Even if you could beat me, you couldn't kill me, this monster with the Heavenly Martial Metal nature and the Martial Star shining upon me."
"I'd like to give it a try too."
The boy laughed:
"Come on, White Qilin... unleash your full power..."
The sound resounded through the sky without the slightest hesitation. Dense darkness had already enveloped the night sky, and the broken walls and ruins were swept away like sandstorms. The emperor was now standing on the rolling, smoke-filled Blood Desert.
A huge sunset lay prostrate on the horizon.
The young emperor raised his head and smiled:
"Magic?"
He did not use the Heavenly Martial Daoist artifact that he had been intimately connected with since he began his cultivation. Instead, he turned his wrist, gripped the jade sword that was as thin as a cicada's wing, and pointed it diagonally at the ground.
The next moment, Li Zhouwei's magic arrived, and bright flames burst from his body, while countless bright black and gold meteors flashed in the sky!
"Boom!"
Intense flames mingled with the aura of the sun, spreading out and smoke billowing across the desert. The young man slowly took a step forward, and the flames flowed over his body like dancing water before disappearing into the blood desert.
He is a man of refined taste.
Not only was he the first cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Path that Li Zhouwei had ever fought, but he was also a supreme being in the mortal world who was blessed with an imperial mandate and whose martial arts were illuminated by a star!
Clearly, this invincible fire-based technique posed no problem for the young man. His pupils dilated as the golden halberd rapidly approached, and his eyes finally brightened. He raised his longsword, holding it before him.
"Clang!"
The jade sword burst forth with a bright white light, like a soaring flame, standing a full three zhang tall. The flame was surrounded by a red and black radiance, and it did not appear out of place in his frail hand!
The golden halberd clashed with the jade sword, and billowing flames surged forward along the King of Wei's hand, enveloping the halberd. His black robes were already billowing and dancing in the whirlwind generated by the collision, transforming into a suit of scales.
'Supporting sexual activity and abstaining from lust... the effect of maintaining a proper balance away from fire is not significant.'
Li Zhouwei had made a prediction before the duel with him, and now that he had used the [Southern Emperor's Profound Strike] first, it was to verify his guess. He was not surprised at all at this moment. The difference between the lineages is huge. This Fire Separation Technique was very effective when fighting Water Convergence in the past, so it is to be expected that it will be effective when encountering weak True Qi now.
The two exerted their strength simultaneously, and a moment of tranquility descended upon the desert.
The halberd trembled slightly, making a creaking sound, as if it had already lost ground. The golden patterns on the face of the King of Wei seemed to be stimulated by something, lighting up inch by inch, like densely packed Qilin scales appearing one by one on both sides of his neck.
"You are in danger!"
As the gold grew brighter, the halberd not only became more radiant, but the flames above it also burned more intensely. Li Zhouwei had traversed the Jianghuai region and fought across the north and south. Few could stand firm against him in a contest of supernatural powers, magic strength, or even physical strength, let alone as he charged in—Gu You of yesteryear could not, and neither could the Shu Emperor before him!
Under the intense brilliance, the boy's wrist remained as steady as a mountain, yet his body moved silently and subtly by the slightest movement.
However, this did not cause an earth-shattering retreat. In that instant, Li Zhouwei could clearly feel a binding force emerging on his body, which not only suppressed his supernatural power but also stopped the opponent from moving backward.
A series of illusory red and black serpents coiled around his thick forearms, their scale-like tails tapping restlessly against his scales, making a clanging sound.
The young man before them was born with divine power, and his cultivation was not low.
"Jun Dao Wei" breaks through the stalemate and has the ability to return to the right track. It is not afraid of confusion, obstacles, or even most blockades. The most effective means of stopping it is this kind of silent, layered confinement in the instant of stalemate!
The dense, intertwined snakes began to climb onto Li Zhouwei's body. The pitch-black world suddenly vanished, and the setting sun, lying on the horizon, dissipated like smoke, leaving only a clear, bright light.
Chongyin Ferry Business.
Once the "Crimson Severing Arrow" was broken, he suddenly broke free from these layers of restraints, his figure already stepping into the sky. He raised one hand, his five fingers clenched tightly, and golden light rushed over, smashing into the boy's face with a bang!
Qianyang Bracelet.
This bracelet was a ritual object of Wei Li. It was not particularly wondrous, but it possessed the unique quality of appearing and disappearing like the wind. At this moment, in the blink of an eye when the lightning and the supernatural power had faded, it appeared and indeed had a miraculous effect.
"Boom!"
The blow caused the boy to tilt his head back slightly, leaving a small, rice-grain-sized dent between his eyebrows. However, the expected confusion did not appear. Instead, the boy seemed to have been stimulated, and his eyes suddenly turned pure white!
White flames shot up from his body, surrounded by a mixture of black and red light. At that moment, the shadow of a person in formal attire appeared on his body.
The atmosphere across the entire sky suddenly froze.
He seemed possessed by a god, a celestial warrior descended to earth, slowly raising his head, raising his left hand, and suddenly grabbing!
The next instant, six pitch-black mouths emerged from Li Zhouwei's left and right sides, each no bigger than a palm, wriggling like living things, spewing out colorful water and fire!
True Qi consists of six elements: water and fire!
It is without measure, without boundary, without limit, without light, and without constancy!
Any one of these six water and fire elements could be used by the Immortal Sect as a powerful treasure to suppress their fortune. Back then, Tinglan was able to force the Buddhist cultivators to retreat simply by relying on the Wuzhang water and fire elements. Now, all six elements have emerged simultaneously!
It was as fast as lightning, giving no chance to react, and crashed down on the person in front of him. The bright white-eyed youth had already stepped into the air and appeared above the King of Wei. The surging light of true qi enveloped the entire sky, and the long sword flipped, pointing straight at his brow.
"Boom!"
Only then did they hear the boy's icy voice that echoed through the sky:
“I uphold my nature and abstain from lust; how dare you, my humble subject, disobey me!”