Chapter 497

The sharp blade sliced through the air, causing a sudden whoosh above Li Huowang’s head. As the tattered, blade-covered robe descended like a flying guillotine towards his head, Li Huowang instantly severed and flung two of his fingers.

While the severed fingers momentarily knocked the robe away, Li Huowang moved to close in on the purple-lipped woman. However, Hong Da's familiar face suddenly appeared, blocking his path, and the tattered robe settled firmly onto Hong Da's body. Though unable to see Li Huowang, Hong Da seemed to possess a method of detection. "Who's there! Come out!" he demanded.

Li Huowang had no desire to prolong the confrontation with Hong Da. He immediately peeled off his own face and lunged to press it onto Hong Da's. Unexpectedly, the distant Taoist, with a light stroke of his Judge's Brush, instantly split the face in two. Then, with a quick hand seal, the invisible Li Huowang was suddenly revealed. "I've seen this move! Be careful! This person is from the Zuowang Dao!"

Seeing the woman finish bisecting the shadowy figure, now with free hands and ready to strike him with the Marrow Sword, Li Huowang swiftly drew his dagger, sliced open his chest, grabbed the two lowest ribs with both hands, broke them off, and forcefully plunged them back into his own chest. Centered around Li Huowang, everyone present simultaneously bent over, groaning in agony. The woman's attack was instantly disrupted.

Though the pain was universal, the battle-hardened Li Huowang adapted to it far quicker than anyone else. While the others were still clutching their chests, he had already moved past the blocking Hong Da and reached the purple-lipped woman. As a Registrar of the Skymirror Department, tasked with preventing natural disasters, Li Huowang had no desire to take her life. He only wanted to reclaim Zhuge Yuan's remains from her grasp. Gripping his dagger tightly, Li Huowang aimed a fierce chop at the slender fingers holding the sword.

With a sharp 'clang,' Li Huowang's dagger snapped into two pieces. Immediately afterward, a finger-sized golden Buddha, identical in appearance to the woman, emerged from her sleeve and began to weep mournfully at Li Huowang. It had been this Buddha, using its shimmering golden head, that had just broken Li Huowang's weapon.

"Are you kidding me? This woman is actually a Buddhist disciple!" Li Huowang cursed inwardly, but still reached for the purple hilt of his sword, ready to draw it. However, a rusty long saber suddenly appeared at his side, forcing Li Huowang to halt. He swiftly swept his hand over the sword tassel; the purple tassel turned black, and several mahjong tiles hung from it. "No, Hong Da has seen my sword. If I draw it, he'll likely recognize my identity!"

He quickly shifted position, evading Hong Da's attack. Just as Li Huowang prepared to end the fight swiftly, he noticed that the woman's body was now entirely covered by finger-sized Buddhas. These Buddhas, some crying, some laughing, wriggled incessantly across the woman's face like golden maggots, eventually coalescing into the discernible features of a man. Facing Li Huowang, the thumb-sized Buddhas spoke in unison: "Amitabha, lay down your butcher's knife and instantly become a Buddha!"

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang felt an immediate urge to drop all his weapons. However, just as a bewildered Li Huowang prepared to unfasten the two long swords from his back, he twisted his hands, fiercely grabbed the ribs still impaled in his chest, violently ripped them out, and then plunged them back in again, reversed. The intense pain instantly cleared Li Huowang's mind, completely reversing the situation.

"Ahhh!!" Li Huowang savagely pulled out his ribs and immediately plunged them back into his chest, enduring the excruciating pain as he charged at the bent-over woman before him. During this gruesome display, Li Huowang pulled out and re-inserted the ribs a full three times. Around him, everyone except Li Huowang collapsed to the ground, clutching their chests and screaming in agony.

Under the grip of extreme pain, Li Huowang, now exceptionally brutal, fiercely lifted his right foot and stomped down hard on the woman's sword-holding wrist. The golden Buddhas on her wrist were poised to push up with raised hands, but as Li Huowang suddenly twisted the ribs in his chest, the Buddhas on the woman's wrist instantly fell into disarray. As Li Huowang's foot, bearing immense force, stomped down on the Buddhas, they were immediately pressed into the flesh.

With her wrist so severely injured, the woman could no longer maintain her grip on the Marrow Sword, and her five fingers weakly unclasped. Li Huowang hooked and lifted with his right foot. As his hand closed around the still-warm hilt, he felt a surge of reassurance; it was Zhuge Yuan's remains.

With the item secured, Li Huowang no longer hesitated and prepared to withdraw. Just then, four palm-sized, triangular apricot-yellow flags flew directly from the forest, precisely pinning themselves to the four corners of Li Huowang's shadow on the ground. Instantly, Li Huowang's feet felt glued to the ground, rendering him unable to move.

When Li Huowang twisted his head to look, he discovered that the members of the Skymirror Department, who had been encircling the Dharma Sect, had all returned. The Dharma Sect members, having seized the perfect opportunity presented by his sneak attack, had long since vanished without a trace.

"What now?" Li Huowang's expression turned grim as he looked at their faces. "Do I really have to unleash my full power?" If he truly fought with all his might, Hong Da would undoubtedly recognize him. In that case, to protect the secret of his identity, he would have to kill every single one of them.

Honestly, Li Huowang genuinely didn't want to resort to that. After all, the Skymirror Department members before him hadn't done anything wrong; they were merely diligently pursuing evil cults. It wasn't yet a life-or-death situation, so he could try other methods first.

As Li Huowang's abdomen rhythmically expanded and contracted, an unusually hoarse voice rumbled from deep within him. "Withdraw at once, before this venerable one loses patience. What transpired moments ago was merely this one's amusement." However, Li Huowang's bluster failed to intimidate the five Skymirror Department members. Two of them, dressed as ascetics, somersaulted above his head, then unfurled a large net, soaked in defiled blood, which covered Li Huowang's head, preventing any further escape.

Immediately, the Taoist from earlier raised the Judge's Brush with both hands, gritting his teeth in exertion as he struggled to point it at Li Huowang. His sideburns visibly turned from black to white. Just as Li Huowang's vitality seemed poised to be drained onto the brush tip, he gritted his teeth and abruptly closed his eyes. A tall, headless figure suddenly appeared, blocking him—it was Peng Longteng, General of the Four Qi Rebel Army!

"Careful! He truly has reinforcements!" Faced with the sudden appearance of the headless female general, the Skymirror Department members' expressions instantly grew grim. They gripped their weapons as if confronting a formidable foe. Yet, profound as the reactions of the other four were, none matched the shock of the Taoist wielding the Judge's Brush. He stood with his mouth agape, staring in utter disbelief at Peng Longteng in the distance. "How is this possible! That's Zhuge Yuan's Kui Xing Brush! How can this person still be standing?!"