Chapter 437: 斗姥

In Hou Shu, Qing Qiu, Si Qi, and Da Liang, a faint purple light emerged from the glabella of every person deceived by the stone tablet. They hadn't lost anything; if one were to insist, the only thing they lost was the sensation of being deceived in that moment.

These purple lights converged, rapidly gathering towards the Imperial City of Shangjing. This phenomenon drew the attention of various factions. The faint purple lights in the sky flew in from all directions and continuously burrowed into the black pips of the four dice.

As these purple lights joined them, the square heads of the four dice grew larger and more purple, and their bodies began to gradually vanish from this world, as if they were inherently illusory. As their bodies disappeared, the chanting of the dice grew louder, eventually sounding like the only voice in heaven and earth.

"Do these Zuowang Daoists truly believe they can fight the Siming with their mortal bodies? Absolutely impossible!"

The Emperor of Da Liang looked up at the still-unfinished mask. Though he thought it unlikely, he dared not ignore it. As he waved his hands, adorned with flipping reverse dragon scales, the black clouds in the sky churned and coiled directly towards that direction. The other people of Da Liang, seeing this scene, also took action to assist. In an instant, the battle, which had just cooled down, intensified once more.

At this moment, the remaining Zuowang Daoists, as if risking their lives, desperately lunged towards that direction, blocking the approaching black clouds.

Amidst this chaos, the dice's chanting ceased.

"If sentient beings are in distress and call your name, Great Being, you will seek out their voices and come to relieve their suffering. Great Compassion and Great Vows, Great Saint and Great Benevolence, Holy Spirit, Queen of Great Light, Marici Deva, Great Sage. Yuanming Doumu Tianzun!"

The instant the last character, 'Zun,' faded, the six pips on the dice's faces detached from their bodies and, enveloped by faint purple light, merged into the intensely dark clouds in the sky.

The next moment, all the Zuowang Daoists simultaneously looked up and shouted in unison towards the sky above.

"Doumu Yuanjun, quickly come! The Great Nuo is about to awaken!!"

"Whoosh!" The thick clouds that had lingered in the sky all night vanished rapidly, like foam dissolving in water.

Li Huowang, who was about to leave the area, felt the ground give way beneath him, and his right foot sank directly into the earth. The ground was indeed still there, but its texture had become extremely peculiar, as if it had turned into some kind of liquid. Not only the ground, but Li Huowang's own body also felt the same, limp and soft. Had it not been for the worms in his abdomen supporting him, he would have completely fallen beneath the earth.

"What in the world is this..." Li Huowang subconsciously looked up and saw a Yin-Yang Bagua symbol far, far above, like a sun in the sky. No, two suns. No, four suns! The more Li Huowang looked, the more eyes he felt he had.

Just as Li Huowang's thoughts began to splinter into six parts, he heard the dice's triumphant laughter from afar.

"Hahaha, I tricked you! The Great Nuo hasn't actually awakened yet. Look how scared you are."

With a boom, the dice loudly and brazenly mocked the heavens, showing no respect whatsoever for their Siming. "Look what I've sent you. Weren't you just missing an eye? I found one for you!"

"Whoosh~" The massive Yin-Yang Bagua symbol rapidly expanded, like a colossal lid, instantly covering the entire sky. Not only the ground, but the entire city of Shangjing began to become extremely unstable at this moment. Some things that should have existed vanished, while other things that should not have existed appeared out of thin air.

Li Huowang, at this moment, was also struggling intensely. Even though he was currently in the state of the Intercalary Five Elements, he appeared incredibly minuscule before this entity.

Li Huowang looked up again. Now he saw more clearly: it wasn't a Yin-Yang Bagua symbol, but two intertwined oceans!

"And beneath that black and white ocean..." Li Huowang had clearly seen something. He clutched his head in agony as dark red blood gradually streamed from his seven orifices. His head swelled to the size of a painted longevity star. This was his first time seeing a Siming in the real world, and his first time realizing how powerful such an existence truly was. Even a mere glance was unbearable.

Just as a chaotic, distorted perception began to gradually invade Li Huowang's entire being, an intense pain pulled him back. Li Huowang's body seemed to be tearing apart. Scars appeared out of thin air without warning, bringing him endless agony, while also gradually clearing his consciousness.

Once clear-headed, Li Huowang found himself moving. He was sitting on a painting scroll, which Zhuge Yuan, with a solemn expression, controlled, moving across the undulating ground. This narrow scroll was like a wooden boat, carrying them out of their predicament.

"Brother Li, hold on tight. Let's get out of here first." Looking at the completely discolored sky, Zhuge Yuan's expression was grim, but he showed no panic.

The other's composure allowed Li Huowang to breathe a slight sigh of relief. He had only wanted to find a North Wind and never expected to be caught up in such a momentous event. Is this the Siming Doumu of the Zuowang Daoists? The Zuowang Daoists brought this thing out! What exactly do they intend to do?!

When Li Huowang looked back at the giant eye, he saw it, still wrapped in the golden mask, rapidly flying towards the Yin-Yang Bagua in the sky. It seemed to be trying to struggle. As it fell into the white eye within the black ocean, the entire ocean began to churn. However, it was clear that with just one eyeball, it was no match for whatever lay beneath the ocean.

Zhuge Yuan looked up, observing everything above, and said in a rare, low voice, "Brother Li, I hope I'm overthinking this, otherwise..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Let's just leave here first."

As Zhuge Yuan took out his judge's brush and wrote the character 'Ji' (swift) in the air, the scroll beneath them moved a little faster.

Time seemed to pass strangely, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. As the Imperial City's gate appeared before his eyes, Li Huowang's heart pounded. He didn't care what was happening in the sky. All he knew was that he would soon be able to extract the method to escape his Xinzu hallucinations from the North Wind.

"Brother Zhuge, once we're out, I'd like to borrow your old almanac. I need to force out—" Li Huowang stopped abruptly mid-sentence. He trembled as he looked at the Bagua ocean covering the sky. Within the white circle of the black ocean, a vertically oriented pupil now floated, which was precisely the eye that had been behind the golden mask.

And now, that eye was staring directly at him!!