Chapter 167: Mixed battle

"When the ritual's effects wear off, I'll probably die, won't I?"

Li Huowang slowly raised his sword. The worms from his abdomen crawled up his Daoist robe and swarmed onto his severed arm. Within moments, a new left hand, formed by intertwining worms, appeared.

Li Huowang tested his new hand and nodded in satisfaction. He then looked towards the distance, where five "Sit-and-Forget Dao" practitioners were locked in combat with Danyangzi.

In Li Huowang's eyes, Danyangzi still looked terrifying, but the faces of the other five had transformed entirely into bloody mahjong tiles. The thought of his impending death, surprisingly, brought a sense of calm to Li Huowang's heart. Gripping his sword, he advanced towards them in the distance.

Li Huowang charged forward and, with a single swift sword stroke, severed Danyangzi's central head.

"Master, do not fear! Your disciple is here to assist you!"

The instant Li Huowang ambushed Danyangzi, the distant "Sit-and-Forget Dao" practitioners seized their chance. All five swiftly sat cross-legged in the air, surrounding the two and chanting, "What is Sit-and-Forget!" The sound reverberated continuously throughout the empty cavern, growing louder with each echo.

As the words rang out, Li Huowang and Danyangzi instinctively pushed off each other's bodies. They split, one to the left and one to the right, each lunging at a "Sit-and-Forget Dao" practitioner.

A black Pai Gow tile flew swiftly towards Li Huowang's wrist. Just as he was about to dodge, Yaoji, from a distance, quickly snapped his fingers with two crossed fingers. The black shadow beneath the Pai Gow tile instantly inverted; the shadow became the tile, and the tile became the shadow. Caught off guard, the tile pierced Li Huowang's wrist, leaving a perfectly square void. Without the support of a wrist bone, Li Huowang's hand began to droop limply. Yet, the square opening was quickly filled by the worms, and the sword in his hand was once again gripped firmly and steadily.

"Heh, you get what you pay for. It seems the gains from sacrificing one's internal organs are truly different." Li Huowang finished speaking, then stomped his feet and charged towards Qiwan in the distance.

This time, Li Huowang didn't bother dodging anything thrown his way; he simply took the blows directly with his body. After all, any damage or loss was instantly replaced by the wriggling worms. With the abilities borrowed from Bahui, Li Huowang found himself an even match for them for a while.

Li Huowang, Danyangzi, and the Sit-and-Forget Dao practitioners – three factions with entirely different objectives – clashed in a chaotic battle. At times, Li Huowang and Danyangzi teamed up against the Sit-and-Forget Dao; at other times, Danyangzi and the Sit-and-Forget Dao ganged up on Li Huowang.

Danyangzi, wielding a sword of flesh and copper coins, possessed astonishing power; even with one head severed, he could still dominate the Sit-and-Forget Dao practitioners. The Sit-and-Forget Dao seemed more skilled at manipulating minds than at direct combat. Despite their numbers, all five were surprisingly being overpowered by Danyangzi. However, Li Huowang also played a part in this. While Danyangzi was undeniably more powerful, the three factions were now in a delicate balance, with none wanting the other two to gain the upper hand. In this chaotic melee, Li Huowang consistently sided with the weaker party and attacked the stronger. He had already gambled his life, so there was no reason not to drag a few more down with him. If Danyangzi and the Sit-and-Forget Dao practitioners were to perish alongside him, it would be the best possible outcome.

The intense battle, surprisingly, reached a stalemate, with each participant calculating their own interests.

While Danyangzi suppressed the others, Yaoji quickly moved closer to Li Huowang, his voice clearly urgent: "Boss! Stop messing around! Can't you see this semi-immortal's power? If we keep this up, people are going to die!"

"Heh, you think calling me 'boss' will make me spare you? Even calling me 'ancestor' won't work!"

Li Huowang gripped the edges of the wound on his chest with both hands and pulled sharply. Blood-red worms instantly burst from his abdominal cavity, swarming towards Yaoji like a tide. These worms were all under Li Huowang's control; even a slight touch would cause them to burrow instantly beneath the skin, tearing through flesh and organs.

"Boss Hongzhong! Seriously, stop fighting! Feel what's beneath the skin on the back of your neck! See if what I'm saying is true!"

Li Huowang reached for the back of his neck; worms breached his skin, pushing out a hard object. It was a mahjong tile: the Red Dragon. A flicker of hesitation crossed Li Huowang's face. Yaoji quickly and anxiously explained: "Your true identity is Hongzhong, one of the three leaders of the Sit-and-Forget Dao. You felt you had experienced everything, grown bored, and found life uninteresting, which is why you sealed your divine consciousness and had us play along."

"Now Erbing has been played to death by you. We can't continue this charade. We're all brothers; fighting further would be too much. You can't make us sacrifice our lives just for your amusement."

"Are you telling the truth??" Li Huowang's expression was deeply confused as he stared at the Red Dragon mahjong tile in his hand.

"Hey! Didn't you see this mahjong tile was dug out of your own flesh?! How could there still be—"

No sooner had he spoken than Yaoji felt something amiss. He looked down and saw that several worms had, unnoticed, burrowed into his calves. As his attention was on his legs, a cold glint flashed ahead, and Li Huowang's longsword plunged directly into his neck.

Li Huowang looked at Yaoji, a mocking smile appearing on his face, and continued to play along with the other's fabricated story. "Yes, I remember now. I am Hongzhong, one of the Three Lords of Sit-and-Forget Dao. And I also recall that you stole my woman back then, which is why I'm settling old scores now."

Once their Sit-and-Forget Dao identity was confirmed, dealing with them became simple: just dismiss everything they said as utter falsehoods.

"Boss, I'm telling the truth!" Yaoji desperately clutched Li Huowang's sword, protesting indignantly.

"I'll be damned if I believe you!"

With a sudden burst of force from one hand, Li Huowang sent Yaoji's fingers and his square head flying into the air. As the worms swiftly exited Yaoji's body and returned to Li Huowang's chest cavity, he turned and charged back towards the distant battlefield.

One of the Sit-and-Forget Dao deceivers was dead; now it was time to weaken Danyangzi.

"Master! Xuanyang is here to help you!" Li Huowang charged towards Danyangzi, sword in hand.

Under the concerted assault alongside the Sit-and-Forget Dao, with a wet thud, Danyangzi's child-like head was instantly severed. But before Li Huowang could catch his breath, a bloody, underdeveloped infant's head rapidly regrew from the severed neck.

Yiwan, observing this, quickly turned to Li Huowang and said, "Your master is a semi-immortal; fighting him like this is utterly futile! Hold him off for us for a moment, and we'll help you finish him!"

Li Huowang's only reply was a mouthful of spit.

"Alright! We did trick you before, but you've killed both Erbing and Yaoji. Isn't that enough to satisfy your anger? Surely two lives are enough to atone for anything?"

"And compared to us outsiders, shouldn't you harbor more resentment towards your own master?"