Chapter 551

Chapter 551: The Thought of Wandering

The long night stretched endlessly, filled with dazzling lights and indulgent pleasures, within the National Master’s residence in Dalong imperial city.

“Who goes there? Don’t your dog eyes see the plaque? This is…” The guard had not finished speaking when a figure brushed past, and his words turned into a scream as all the guards vanished without a trace.

Li Hui continued forward, stopping in the courtyard, lightly saying, “Tan Tiandi, did you predict that I would come here to settle our grudges, but not who this National Master is?”

To his surprise, Tan Tiandi lifted the curtain and walked out from the side hall, casually twirling an emerald fan and laughing: “Brother Li, you really came! Possession and re-cultivation, or divided souls, are quite common here. National Master Qiao Tianxing treats guests well. Since we have a common enemy, it’s only natural we should grow closer. But I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly, two months ahead of schedule. Many arrangements remain unfinished; it seems I will have to abandon some plans.”

A group of cultivators emerged from the side hall, tall, cold, and mysterious.

Li Hui glanced over, knowing that the cultivators Tan Tiandi brought here certainly had their own strong points. Among them, two had impressive talisman skills, their broad hands subtly glowing with talisman light.

Suddenly, Tan Tiandi sensed something was wrong; Li Hui’s aura had changed as he smiled at him with a flower gesture.

“No…” The curse power spread, and one by one, the cultivators in the residence fell to the ground. Tan Tiandi hadn’t anticipated Li Hui’s transformation into someone so terrifying and fierce, actually bringing out the curse power of Yuan Chen Heavenly Mansion.

“Annihilate!” Tan Tiandi shouted, decisively raising his palm to strike himself dead, erasing all traces of his presence there.

It was just a refined body that could die quickly, while the true self could still survive! If the curse power homed in on the connection, then even the true self wouldn’t survive. Li Hui had outwitted him again.

Meanwhile, National Master Qiao Tianxing sat in the main hall, sneering: “Hmph, these foreign cultivators are truly useless, always clamoring about the Wutu Continent being inferior, yet they couldn’t even withstand three breaths.”

Li Hui remained calm; Tan Tiandi was no longer a threat. If he couldn’t find Traveling Realm Great Powers to protect his soul within thirty-six hours, he would have to bid farewell to his next life!

In contrast, Qiao Tianxing sat at ease without fear of the curse.

“Junior Brother, seeing your accomplishments today truly makes me happy for our master!” Qiao Tianxing said to Li Hui with a friendly smile, showing no hint of malice.

“Hmph, who would have thought that Dalong has been controlled by a dead person for so many years? Who knows how many dragon veins you’ve drained of their dragon energy, allowing your current life of wealth and glory? Of course, you are not Xun Zuoyuan, not even a fragment of his soul, but only a self-proclaimed substitute.” Li Hui had seen through him, shook his head, and turned away.

Qiao Tianxing’s face contorted into a snarl; before he could act, countless shadows flew in, sweeping thousands of troops, sending him straight into endless hell for a slow and torturous annihilation.

Jieyin stepped out, directing the protectors: “Quick, take down the entire National Master’s residence! I annihilated a team of cultivators; their treasures should be left in place, organized by category.”

Li Hui stood with his hands behind his back, allowing them to carry out their tasks, saying, “This Qiao Tianxing is merely a Corpse Emperor raised by Xun Zuoyuan. It seems he will regularly descend in a divine manner. I faintly sense that there are many Corpse Emperors hidden below the Wutu Continent; Xun Zuoyuan has laid plans for many years, and his ambitions must be terrifying.”

“Good! We’ll pull out each nail one by one. You go first, I’ll assist you in collecting the spoils,” Jieyin said with a mischievous grin.

“Let’s first check the Buddhist nation ruins; pulling nails is your job,” Li Hui chuckled. Jieyin’s intention to slack off was absolutely unacceptable.

Before long, most of the National Master’s residence vanished, while part of the structures lay scattered, and many bones and resentful spirits were found in the water prison below. It took a good while of appeasement and guidance to resolve the disaster.

From then on, there would be no more Qiao Tianxing, and the Dalong royal family would be in disarray for a while. If Zhu Chongba grasped the opportunity, the vast territory would be at his fingertips!

Li Hui arrived at the location of the teleportation array, observing it repeatedly, saying, “This is a trap. Fortunately, you didn’t act rashly; once this array is activated, it will instantly obliterate everything, including the Dalong imperial city.”

“What?” Jieyin and Guang Jin exclaimed in shock.

Que San suggested, “I clearly monitored them using this array before.”

“Then that may have been the last time,” Li Hui said as he looked off into the distance and shook his head. “Don’t count on getting to the Buddhist nation ruins; Xun Zuoyuan has sealed all paths. I can only see so much; perhaps continuously pulling out nails will lead to discoveries. This will require everyone’s hard work.”

“Ah! Is the path to wealth cut off just like that?” Jieyin sighed heavily, feeling downcast. Right now, he was broke, supporting a whole bunch of refugees and protectors. Surely they needed to eat and drink? Yet he had only a few pieces of silver left; it was questionable whether they could last a month.

Li Hui pondered thoughtfully; just as Tan Tiandi predicted, he wouldn’t have returned to Dalong so quickly. It was all because of the explosion of the demonic heart, plotting against the Ominous Array of Covering Sky, and devouring the demonic energy inside the array to construct the treasure cabinet of the Six Paths of Reincarnation; thus, his heart of Dao had returned to the Haotu Sect in due time.

Now surveying Dalong, it felt like just a tiny speck.

Considering his options, he decided to leave Yao’er and the others to struggle in the Daxia, giving the disciples time to grow; there was no need to return just yet. Xun Zuoyuan had set up a façade and was hiding well; his motives were unclear. As for going far to attack the Hongmo Sect, he feared the demonic heart would seize the opportunity to cause chaos again.

“What are you thinking about?” Jieyin suddenly asked.

“I’m thinking that Dalong is too small. Although the Wutu Continent has many mysterious places worthy of exploration, they are too far away and costly to reach. Just at this moment, there’s a certain location that might allow me to temporarily escape the grievances of the Wutu Continent, allowing me to wander and gain experience and opportunities.”

“You’re the laziest person in the world! You rank ninth in the Jin Tian Sect but don’t strive to reach the top three? And Xun Zuoyuan is still lurking in the shadows making trouble. By the time he reveals himself, will he let you and me go? Besides, what do you intend to do with Zhang Daoheng’s calamity power? It makes those kids at home and elder brother treat me with such formality; they act like I’m a stranger or a monk. It’s utterly tedious!”

“Alas!” Li Hui sighed softly: “My sister-in-law fell into the demonic path; I want her to forget everything and return to her innocent self. So, while I could easily break the seals, I maintain the calamity power around us.”

“Oh, Master, you are wrong, completely wrong. Demons arise from the heart. You have no right to make decisions for your sister-in-law. If she doesn’t want to forget, forcing her to do so is the very definition of demonic thoughts.” Jieyin put his hands together, a halo appearing behind him, resembling the most virtuous of high monks.

“True! Demons stem from the heart,” Li Hui lamented. “The reason they are so difficult to eliminate is that a careless thought can lead to obsession and thus form demonic thoughts.”

Jieyin nodded: “Cultivating the Dao means letting go of obsessions, safeguarding the heart of Dao, and going against life and death. Therefore, achieving the Dao is exceedingly challenging! Alright, I understand. Master, you have touched a bottleneck—not a cultivation bottleneck, but a struggle between the heart of Dao and the demonic heart. Ultimately, is the heart of Dao a shadow of the demonic heart, or does the demonic heart become a shadow of the heart of Dao? It seems there will be a fierce conflict.”

“Having been a monk for a long time, your understanding is quite good, and your ability to preach is impressive,” Li Hui chuckled lightly and said, “If I were to fail, you would be the backup, tasked with fighting against the demonic heart, so don’t die on me.”