Mutated Tao

There were so many soldiers that they covered every inch of land around them. In addition to the soldiers of the Liang Kingdom, there were soldiers from Qing Qiu, Hou Shu, Si Qi, An Xi, and even the Qi Kingdom.

Each soldier raised a blade behind their head and severed their hair ties in unison, their long black hair cascading down like flowing capes.

The soldiers’ eyes were cold and resolute as they faced the Simings. Although they were mortals, they had no fear.

Even the heads of Xuan Pin had their hair flowing in the wind.

“With the body standing tall and with black hair flowing in the wind, all the generals and ministers will come and greet me. The heavenly constellations and Taiyi shall follow around me! The twin souls of Jia and Gang shall follow me!

“I care not if they are Door Gods and the Gate Guardians. I care not if they are the various wicked evil entities and wicked gods. I care not if they are the mountain gods and the misfortuned souls. I care not if they are evil demons or evil deities!”

With the rhythm of the war drums, the soldiers' swords inched closer to their necks.

“Place your praise onto the altar! Sever the heads and turn the bodies to dust! I serve the people, not the master! The broken Heavenly Dao…”

The soldiers paused. Then, they shouted their final verse with all their strength, saying, “THE BROKEN HEAVENLY DAO SHALL BE MENDED BY US!”

Splatter! The millions of soldiers beheaded themselves, including Xuan Pin. Xuan Pin beheaded all of his heads at the same time.

A dense cloud of burning murderous aura and blood rose into the air. The huge plume rapidly condensed into a gigantic, roaring, chaotic head.

Li Huowang finally realized what the Siming was, as his own anger and bloodlust were affected. It was the Siming of the soldiers, Jiang Xiangshou!

Fu Shengtian’s Simings and Jiang Xiangshou crashed into each other viciously. As they did, heaven and earth started to unravel along with the divisions. The rampaging Heavenly Daos were destroying the Tianchen Kingdom.

Although Jiang Xiangshou was injured in the clash with Fu Shengtian’s Simings, its power did not diminish. As the Siming that controlled Massacre and War, its existence vastly differed from that of the other Simings.

It appeared anywhere strife and hatred existed.

The more intense the battle was, the stronger it was. Fights between Simings were one of the most intense clashes the universe had to offer.

Li Huowang's sanity couldn't contain his bloodlust. He swung his broken arm at the beggar’s leg and managed to knock him down.

Li Huowang's veins bulged as he hoisted himself up with one hand, harnessing the power of his newfound strength.

“DIE!”

Li Huowang ignored the beggar shooting at him. He was shot in the abdomen many times, but that didn’t stop him from carving the beggar into pieces.

Li Huowang only stopped when his knife broke on the beggar’s bones. By then, he was already completely drenched in blood. He wasn’t sure if it was his own blood.

The gunshots and sirens had entirely stopped, as if they had disappeared.

Snapping out of his frenzy, Li Huowang ignored his injuries and frantically began searching the piles of headless corpses.

There were too many headless soldiers. Their bodies became mountains, and their blood became rivers.

“Suisui! Suisui!” Li Huowang shouted while panicking. He dug around the mountain of corpses and the rivers of blood, holding onto the faint hope that he would be able to find his daughter. “Suisui, where are you?!”

At last, his fingers brushed a limp tentacle. He followed its trail, digging through the carnage until he unearthed a pile of tentacles with a pair of eyes nestled within.

Li Huowang jumped and hugged the pile of tentacles tightly. “Suisui, don’t be afraid. Your father is here! Don’t be scared!”

“Father?”

Joy washed over him, but Xuan Pin’s calm voice shattered it. “Li Huowang, Li Sui is dead. How many times must I tell you?”

Li Huowang shook his head in denial. “It’s alright! It’s alright! As long as you’re alive! I will find a way to turn you back. I just need to remove the things devouring you from the inside!”

“Li Huowang, there’s no chance of saving me. I will die soon.”

Xuan Pin’s voice was very calm, without any hint of sadness or anxiety.

“Summoning Jiang Xiaoshou to help comes at a price—human lives. How could it be called a war if no one died? That would just be called an act.”

Xuan Pin’s tentacles started to shrivel, with fluid seeping out.

“No… No! Miaomiao, come quick! Suisui is dying! Take Death out of his body!”

Bai Lingmiao rushed over and placed her hands on Xuan Pin’s body.

“No… It’s no use… He doesn’t have the Heavenly Dao of Death anymore…”

Bai Lingmiao’s voice was trembling when she said this.

“It’s useless. I now belong to Jiang Xiangshou and not the Heavenly Mater.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Xuan Pin’s body gradually grew weaker, and his voice became quieter. “It’s time to talk about official matters, Li Huowang.

“You might be Ji Zai’s Twisted One, but I know you are different from the other Simings. Ji Zai is different from the other Simings because he doesn’t even know what he is.

“Maybe he’s different, just like Jiang Xiangshou. Perhaps he can help us navigate through these difficult times, but I fear that it’s not enough. Fu Shengtian would never stop. I fear that the suffering our ancestors went through will occur again.

“If you don’t want the people here to return to how they once were—incoherent, not knowing right from wrong, not knowing truth from lies—we must fight back hard.

“Do not trust the other Simings. They are not tied down to us. We alone can control our own lives. We let the people prosper and breed so that we can use their lives for ceremonies like these. Do not be afraid of sacrificing people. As long as some people survive and as long as the Heavenly Dao of Lust is still here, people will continue to give birth and multiply again.”

But Li Huowang wasn’t listening. He was holding onto Xuan Pin while mumbling something fervently.

“I don’t have much time left. Once I die, go and find the Imperial Preceptor of the Liang Kingdom. He will tell you everything you don’t know. Also, my advice is still… the same… We can… use Simings… but we cannot… we cannot…”

“Enough! Stop talking, Li Sui! You won’t die! You won’t die!”

Li Huowang shouted, persistently using his cultivation at the seventh stage to try to revive Li Sui. It wasn’t working. Only his surroundings were being affected.

“I really… am not… Li Sui. Li Huowang… You cannot… fool yourself… The bonds between the child and the parent… are insignificant… You must… let go…”

Xuan Pin’s body slowly crumbled. The pile of tentacles slowly withered and went limp. As it did, something appeared from the deepest part of the pile of tentacles.

They were the three clay figurines.

The clay figurines looked ancient. The color had faded and there were cracks on it, but Li Huowang could still make out the faces of the figurines.

They were the three clay figurines of Li Huowang, Bai Lingmiao, and Li Sui.

“I am not Li Sui… I am not… I am… not her…”

A single black tentacle hugged Li Huowang’s clay figurine, struggling to pass it to Li Huowang with its final strength.

Li Huowang was about to accept it, but the tentacle went limp.

The cracked clay figurine fell onto the ground and shattered into pieces.