Chapter 1003: Help

The Sī Mìng who had once consumed himself, the one who had altered his own past—they were nothing more than mere fragments shed from Fúshēngtiān.

A profound despair welled up from Li Huowang's heart as he grasped this cruel reality. What was the point of anything they, the Sī Mìng, did when confronted with such an overwhelmingly powerful being?

Words Qingwanglai had spoken to him, and the expression on his face at that moment, now resurfaced in Li Huowang's mind. At last, he understood why Qingwanglai had felt that way before; facing Fúshēngtiān, they had no chance of success.

"What should I do?"

As he gazed at the scene before him, this question echoed in Li Huowang's dulled mind.

"What *am* I supposed to do?"

Intense despair morphed into self-destructive urges, which began to surface in Li Huowang's mind, twisting his features. This sensation was a physical compulsion, entirely beyond Li Huowang's control, despite his nature as a Xinsu.

But soon, out of the corner of his eye, Li Huowang saw Wusheng Laomu directly in front of him, an inexplicable emotion emanating from her densely nested eyes. Clearly, she was unaffected by the Sanqing's secret and couldn't see Fúshēngtiān, who was currently behind her. This meant she could move.

Wusheng Laomu moved, twisting her body and waving a dozen white-feathered water sleeves that passed through Jì Zāi's mind. As the water sleeves were withdrawn, the gathering death-wish in Li Huowang's heart was entirely pulled away, and his thoughts finally regained a measure of clarity.

Though his will had recovered, his body remained frozen. He wanted to move, but the emanations spreading from Fúshēngtiān before him held him completely immobile.

"No! I must move! I cannot sit here and wait for death! I *must*!" With all his might, Li Huowang forcefully opened his mouth and bit down hard. As his tongue was bitten into a bloody pulp, the intense pain finally granted him momentary control of his body.

Li Huowang understood that escape was impossible in this situation; he had to resolve it at its source. With this realization, Li Huowang plunged one hand into his body, seizing the Sanqing's secret. With the other, he plunged it into his brain, pulling out all his previous memories along with a mass of brain matter.

As these two items rested in Li Huowang's hands, the transparent liquid around him rapidly receded, reverting to its dull, iridescent black. The first thing Li Huowang did upon regaining his freedom was to search for Qingwanglai, but he had vanished once more.

Li Huowang now understood: this individual was orchestrating something! Everything was premeditated! He was exploiting the Fúshēngtiān crisis to achieve his own objectives.

The mere thought of Fúshēngtiān filled Li Huowang's eyes with deep fear as he gazed into the depths of the dark liquid around him. With a piece of his brain and fragmented memories clutched in his hand, he no longer knew what he was truly afraid of. Yet, despite this, his trembling body's instincts relentlessly compelled him to escape the area as quickly as possible; the feeling was incredibly strong.

The liquid around him periodically rippled, showing Li Huowang that other Sī Mìng were clashing with Fúshēngtiān's Sī Mìng, a conflict that was steadily escalating without anyone realizing what was truly happening. He had to leave this place immediately, and then he could consider the Sanqing's intentions.

"Go! Quick! Leave them! Go!"

Li Huowang's voice echoed through the liquid as he frantically propelled himself with his hands, swimming desperately towards the opening in Fú Báiyùjīng. Holding these two items made movement incredibly inconvenient. Li Huowang almost discarded them, but after a moment's hesitation, he quickly tucked them into his robes instead.

Upon reaching the opening, Li Huowang stared at the deep fissure, now significantly larger than before, and grew anxious. The small amount of dragon qi he had was nowhere near enough to seal such a vast opening; he needed more to be sent up from below.

Suddenly, Li Huowang had an idea. He quickly bent down, picked up a shattered mirror, and shrieked hysterically at his weary reflection: "Quick! Li Huowang! Báiyùjīng needs dragon qi, the more the better! If it's not sealed soon, the entire heaven will collapse!"

No sooner had Li Huowang's words faded than several prolonged dragon roars echoed from below. Looking down, he saw Gao Zhijian surging upwards, leading four dragon veins entwined with two golden dragons from the Tianchen Kingdom. "Senior Brother Li, where are you?! The dragon qi is here!"

Seeing this, Li Huowang breathed a slight sigh of relief. As Jì Zāi, he could fortunately summon reinforcements by contacting his future self. Li Huowang reached out and single-handedly grasped the two dragon veins, inserting them into the edge of the fissure to begin sealing it. The dragon veins served as needles, and the dragon qi continuously seeping from them was the thread.

However, he hadn't been sealing for long when Li Huowang was forced to stop, as the other Sī Mìng were fighting inside. If he sealed the opening entirely before they returned, Báiyùjīng would be doomed! Yet, he couldn't leave it unsealed, as the fissure continued to widen!

Li Huowang gritted his teeth, tightened his grip on the dragon veins, and prepared to plunge into the black water to help others escape. But he knew he couldn't go in alone; that would only drag him into the same quagmire. Li Huowang's expression was strained, as if his left hand weighed a thousand pounds.

Yet, gazing at the fiercely churning black water, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and again raised the mirror shard in his hand. He spoke to his own red-eyed reflection in the mirror: "We need help here! Báiyùjīng needs help! Call everyone you can!"

The mirror shattered. Beneath Báiyùjīng, faint traces of red appeared and began to spread upwards, accompanied by familiar roars drawing closer. They were the Jiāngxiàngshǒu, two of them.

After careful discernment, Li Huowang immediately realized there was something within the Jiāngxiàngshǒu; they hadn't come up on their own but had been brought. Two Bailíngmiǎo, both partially transformed into dragons, sat cross-legged on white lotus Kongming lanterns. Each held a Twelve-Grade Merit Jade Lotus and was accompanied by six white donkey emissaries, ascending towards him.

Li Huowang, holding the dragon vein in one hand, plunged downwards, crashing heavily into one of the Jiāngxiàngshǒu. In that instant, all fear in Li Huowang's heart vanished without a trace, replaced entirely by killing intent in his eyes. Just as he reached for the other Jiāngxiàngshǒu, a misty entity burst forth from the deep, black-water-filled celestial pit: it was Wusheng Laomu!

Her entire body inverted as she lunged at extreme speed towards Bailíngmiǎo on the Kongming lantern and her six white donkey attendants. As if responding to a summons, both the white lotus mark on Bailíngmiǎo's brow and the white donkeys became blindingly bright.

The six white donkeys, sitting cross-legged on the Kongming lanterns, wore joyful expressions. Surrounding Bailíngmiǎo in the center, they began to chant in unison: "Heaven and Earth darken, Sun and Moon lose their light! The Red Yang Kalpa concludes, the White Yang must ascend! The Great Kalpa is met! White Lotus Nirvana!"