Chapter 255

Li Zhuiyuan recalled the details of the silver dollar on the little dog's neck.

Playfulness and activity were the dog's nature, and the texture of that silver dollar was severely worn. However, it was certain that it wasn't an ancient foreign coin, nor was it from the "Qianlong Treasure" or a silver cake from the Daoguang era. Judging by its outline and design, it was likely an official "Guangxu Yuanbao" minted by the Qing court, also known as a Dragon Dollar.

This detail pinpointed the exact time of the Divine Sense Map.

This, combined with the fact that the Dragon King Yu family had sealed itself off for sixty years and only recently unsealed, with occasional rumors of Yu family members appearing in the jianghu, meant the entire timeline roughly matched up.

The upheaval that occurred here originally caused a shock to the Dragon King Yu family, even directly leading to a "qualitative" change in them.

Zhao Yi: "A dog, returning home as the Dragon King, could overturn the entire nature of the family's lineage..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Does your Jiujiang Zhao family have someone sleeping in a coffin as a fallback?"

Zhao Yi: "What are you doing?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Just asking."

Zhao Yi: "That's a bit impertinent to ask."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So you do."

Zhao Yi: "Whose family isn't like that?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "A proper Dragon King family wouldn't be."

Zhao Yi: "..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "How could a family that frequently produces Dragon Kings have an old immortal extending their life in a coffin? Is that waiting for the Dragon King to righteously eliminate their own kin?"

Zhao Yi: "So, you mean the Dragon King faces very few restrictions within the Dragon King family, or even none at all."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes, whatever he wants to do, the difficulty will be very low, even if it's unconventional or inconceivable."

Zhao Yi's gaze began to wander around, asking with confusion, "Since the seal is gone, where has what was suppressed back then gone now?"

Immediately, Zhao Yi's eyes fell on the massive wolfdog below:

"It couldn't be, inside this dog, could it?"

As if actively responding to Zhao Yi's question, the wolfdog's previously closed eyes slowly opened at that moment.

Along with it came a powerful pressure that surged outward from the depths of the pool.

Zhao Yi: "It really is."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Its true form was already shattered by Yu Tiannan."

Zhao Yi: "So, the deal back then was to transfer that dog's memories into Yu Tiannan's body, and then the evil entity transferred its own memories into the dog's body."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Without doing so, the evil entity couldn't survive within the formation. It needed a body to sustain itself."

The wolfdog stood up, its fur stretching to reveal the decay beneath.

It opened its mouth and let out a howl. The sound spread, creating continuous echoes in the four surrounding holes.

Runsheng put away his unfinished compressed biscuit, rubbed his hands, and raised the Yellow River Spade. Yin Meng, beside him, drew two demon-slaying whips and stepped back a bit.

Tan Wenbin slid off Lin Shuyou's back and sat on the ground. Lin Shuyou drew his twin maces and rubbed them together in the air with repulsive force.

The Liang sisters walked forward, positioning themselves behind Zhao Yi.

Everyone was ready for battle.

Li Zhuiyuan's attention was more focused on the dark, viscous stream above.

Even when the wolfdog leapt out of the pool, Li Zhuiyuan didn't pay it much attention.

Li Zhuiyuan took out an invitation and casually tossed it onto the ground.

Zhao Yi, pulling out his own invitation, asked, "Why do you think it deliberately created this 'Demon Sealing Conference' charade?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If it can foresee a tribulation and knows it can't avoid it, it's better to proactively control and overcome it, taking the initiative into its own hands."

Zhao Yi: "Is this evil entity that high-level?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If it weren't, it wouldn't be worth the Dragon King's intervention. I suspect it had already made the worst-case preparations. Even if it loses significant power after losing its powerful physical host, as long as it survives the tribulation, it still has a chance to make a comeback, even starting anew from an ordinary person's body. Only by letting go can one take hold. Its original intention was to make this 'letting go' a public performance. In other words, what we're about to fight is an exhibition match."

This was also why Li Zhuiyuan wasn't too concerned about the wolfdog in front of him. A life-and-death struggle that didn't actually involve life or death meant there was no need to be overly nervous, no matter how exciting the fight became.

Zhao Yi: "Actually, you don't have to explain it in such detail."

Just pretend not to know, solve the immediate problem, and don't worry about how cleanly it's handled or what happens afterward. That way, this wave would pass, and most of the merit could be obtained.

Li Zhuiyuan: "That's why I don't agree with your approach."

Zhao Yi: "Everyone has their own suitable method. I believe I've done my duty by solving the immediate problem. Anyway, there are always people lighting lamps and traversing the jianghu in every generation, so future matters can be left to future people."

Young Master Zhao could complete three "waves" in the time it took others to complete one, precisely because he was skilled at identifying and solving key problems. As for omissions and new issues that might arise later, Zhao Yi chose to trust the wisdom of future generations.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't like that."

The young man thought of the grotesque figures in Ali's dreams. He didn't want similar events to recur in the future, so every evil entity he encountered during his journey along the river, he tried his best to completely annihilate, leaving no future troubles.

Zhao Yi: "But what you're capable of doing, I... at least the current me, might not be."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Ability is just an excuse. A perfunctory attitude can be sensed."

Zhao Yi: "You're still talking big without feeling the pain, bringing attitude into this now."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Your attitude isn't for me to see. Guess who will see it?"

Zhao Yi's eyes immediately widened; he understood what the young man meant.

Some truths weren't misunderstood, but merely superficially comprehended, only revealing their deeper meaning after being pointed out by someone else.

Li Zhuiyuan: "The Heavenly Dao is easy to fool. Even before committing evil deeds, people in the jianghu like to fabricate a righteous reason, claiming to represent the righteous path. This is almost a default practice. But this relates to punishment, namely tribulations and heavenly retribution. In this regard, the reason the Heavenly Dao seems easy to fool might be because it itself is bound by certain limitations, or perhaps it finds this 'self-deceiving' tacit understanding to be an acceptable situation. But are we lighting lamps and traversing the rivers just to avoid the Heavenly Dao's punishment? Even if you're so worldly as to treat it as a business transaction, you must remember that your client has always been unique. Your perfunctory attitude—an isolated incident might be understandable, but repeatedly acting this way? Do you think the client wouldn't know? In terms of punishment, the Heavenly Dao has its limitations and considerations, but when it comes to rewards, it clearly has more autonomy and can actively favor based on intent. The effect of my single 'wave' is equivalent to your three, and this is one of the reasons. Furthermore, you need to consider one thing: if you do too much sloppy work, the river will keep assigning you rotten tasks."

Zhao Yi looked earnestly at Li Zhuiyuan:

"What exactly do you consider the Heavenly Dao?"

Although the young man's words just now seemed to be from the Heavenly Dao's perspective and for its consideration, this kind of study and control was essentially a form of contempt for the Heavenly Dao.

Li Zhuiyuan did not answer.

The wolfdog in front was slowly approaching, its cold eyes constantly assessing everyone present.

Perhaps it felt the tense, oppressive atmosphere wasn't intense enough, so it howled again.

Unfortunately, the effect still didn't meet its standards; it wasn't what it wanted.

Because the two "leaders" were still chatting, clearly discussing matters unrelated to the present situation, this relaxed disregard made it difficult for those below to feel nervous.

Zhao Yi: "You used to be so reluctant to share these insights with me. Now you've said so much all at once. What do I owe you for this?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You know, I want to completely cut off any possibility of its comeback."

Zhao Yi: "Then it will fight with all its might."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So, you have to fight with all your might too."

Zhao Yi: "Then the difficulty of this 'wave' has gone up! Didn't you say your 'wave' would be relatively simple? Just because it's simple, you're actively making it harder for yourself?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "This wave is actually very difficult. The reason it became simple is because the river pushed you to my side."

Zhao Yi's mouth twitched several times. He knew the young man was deliberately giving him emotional leverage, knew the young man hoped he would help fight with all his might, and knew this was a form of exploitation.

But there was nothing he could do. Precisely because he knew what kind of person Li was, when he was willing to say such words, Zhao Yi himself truly couldn't resist.

Therefore, no matter how much he tried to hold back, Zhao Yi finally gave in and smiled.

"Damn it, this wave is a joint effort. Even if you want to go crazy, how could I not cooperate?"

Li Zhuiyuan stepped back a few paces, and a red thread released from his right hand, connecting with his companions.

Immediately, Li Zhuiyuan's voice resounded in the hearts of all four of them:

"Help me set up the formation."

Next, a highly incongruous scene unfolded.

The wolfdog continued to project its imposing aura, yet Runsheng, Yin Meng, and Lin Shuyou on the opposite side took out formation flags and began to diligently set up a formation.

Even Tan Wenbin, who was sitting on the ground, directed the two children to help move the formation materials.

While it wasn't uncommon to use formations in battle, they were either secretly set up beforehand, or allies would fight fiercely to create time. It was rare to see a formation being openly set up right in front of the opponent before the fight had even begun; this was truly treating a wolf like a dog.

Liang Yan: "What does this mean? We'll block it."

Liang Li: "It seems so."

Liang Yan: "A-Li, you've studied formations. What kind of formation is he setting up?"

Liang Li: "Although it's very unusual, looking at the underlying logic, it seems like a Spirit Gathering Formation."

Liang Yan: "A Spirit Gathering Formation, isn't that usually for 'that' purpose?"

Liang Li: "Yes, it's for..."

Zhao Yi's gaze glared over, and Liang Li shut her mouth.

A Spirit Gathering Formation was generally used to summon wandering spirits to help them achieve transcendence.

Li was setting up this formation here to trap and bind the evil entity, leaving it no escape route.

Zhao Yi didn't know if the wolfdog could understand formations. If it couldn't, then it could continue its performance, and he could amicably cooperate. If it did understand, then it would fight with all its might