Chapter 605: Heart and Mind Entwined

In the ship's dark interior, with ample oxygen filling his lungs, Li Huowang was now without weakness. The fate of the Eight Immortals submerged in the sea was, naturally, apparent. Soon, black and yellow wood fragments covered the water around Li Huowang. Even if they had any mobility left, they were now completely immobilized.

Having dealt with the Eight Immortals, the black tentacles extending from Li Huowang's limbs swayed rapidly, propelling him towards the surface. Once he was back on the deck, Li Huowang, still catching his breath, resolved to go on the offensive. Since his opponent already knew of his presence, attempting a stealth attack was pointless. Besides, even in a direct confrontation, as both were Heart-Bound to a Siming, he might not necessarily be outmatched!

A rift sliced across, striking the giant bronze cauldron holding three tall incense sticks. The massive cauldron, used for offerings, shattered, spilling its ash onto the ground.

"Come out! If you don't, I'll burn this entire ship down!" Li Huowang declared, glancing at his skin, half-burned away. He then pulled out a fire-starter from within his body, scraped it hard against his skin, and flames instantly erupted, completely engulfing him. The surging flames began at Li Huowang's feet, gradually spreading outwards.

The cabin doors swung open, and suddenly, large groups of people rushed out from inside. Li Huowang had never seen the attire of these dark-skinned people before; they were somewhat unfamiliar. However, these strangely dressed individuals, seeing Li Huowang about to burn the ship, had fury in their eyes. They rushed towards him desperately with various weapons. Among these people, there were many skilled fighters, but their efforts were futile. As the flames spread faster and faster, their fate was to become nothing more than fuel for the intensifying blaze.

The fire grew larger and larger, and just as the entire ship was about to become a burning vessel, the flames on Li Huowang's body and on the deck quickly vanished. As if time had reversed, the scorched wooden planks rapidly returned to their original colors. Even stranger, the giant bronze cauldron at the bow, which Li Huowang had damaged, also restored itself to its original state.

A creaking sound echoed as the cabin door slowly opened. A tattered man, with a collar bound around his neck, slowly crawled out, prostrating himself on the ground. The rusted chain connected from his neck to the cabin dragged on the ground, emitting a grating metallic screech. But this was not just one person; soon, a second person crawled out from inside, followed by others, until five such individuals had emerged. These individuals looked no different from normal people, but their eyes all had identical double pupils.

With a solemn expression, Li Huowang clenched his fists. He knew that after all this commotion, the true master was finally about to appear. As an aged voice echoed from within the dark ship cabin, the five individuals, with vacant eyes, slowly rose from the ground, repeating the words after the voice.

Facing these five peculiar individuals, Li Huowang was not overly flustered. He stared at the dark cabin and asked, "Are you the Heart-Bound that Doumu hid?"

Just then, Li Huowang suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves from his left. He turned his head to look and saw plumes of yellow dust rising from the distant dock. It seemed someone had arrived at the dock, but no matter who it was, it wouldn't matter now, because the ship had already sailed some distance into the sea at an unknown point.

With a solemn expression, Li Huowang turned his head back, continuing to stare into the darkness of the distant cabin. "Come out," he called, "Now that I've come knocking, is there any point in hiding?"

"Bang!" The headless Peng Longteng crashed heavily beside Li Huowang. He strode forward, vigorously charging towards the five individuals.

"This man's legs are broken," the aged voice echoed again. As the five individuals repeated the words in unison with the voice, Peng Longteng, who was charging forward, instantly had his legs snap, and he crashed heavily onto the wooden deck.

When Li Huowang looked at these five individuals again, a chilling feeling instantly ran through him. Their ability to make words come true reminded him of something ominous. "Xin Su? Are all five of these people Xin Su?!" Upon learning the true identities of these five individuals, Li Huowang finally understood how the wooden wall he had just cut had healed itself. To make a severed bronze cauldron revert to its original state, it now seemed that only the cultivation abilities of Xin Su could achieve this in the entire world.

Facing Li Huowang's inquiry, the person hiding in the cabin did not wish to answer. As the Xin Su opened their mouths in unison again, the entire deck suddenly split open, and Li Huowang, losing his footing, instantly plunged into the cabin below.

Once he landed steadily, he raised his head and looked forward. He saw the five Xin Su hanging from the distant wall, pulled by the iron chains around their necks, like five hanged ghosts. As a Xin Su himself, Li Huowang empathized; he felt a deep aversion to the opponent's use of Xin Su as mere magical artifacts. Five living, breathing individuals had, in their hands, been turned into mere puppet tools to be commanded.

Conversely, Li Huowang understood Xin Su very well, and he had his own methods for dealing with them. Seeing the opponent open their mouths, about to say something, Li Huowang unhesitatingly pulled out an awl and pierced both of his eardrums. Immediately after, Li Huowang unhesitatingly closed his eyes and charged towards the five Xin Su on the wall ahead.

Although through Li Sui's eyes, the wooden planks on the ground beneath were cracking and liquefying, his father remained completely unaffected, rushing forward as if treading on solid ground, stepping on various objects. Even giant walls covered in sharp spikes and boiling molten iron were easily broken through by Li Huowang without any hindrance.

"Die!" Two rifts leading to Da Qi flew towards the five Xin Su. When Li Huowang opened his eyes, he found that the Xin Su had been lifted by their chains, narrowly escaping. However, no expression of disappointment appeared in Li Huowang's eyes, as he had already prepared for how to compensate for this potential failure.

Just as Li Huowang thought the person hiding in the cabin was about to command the Xin Su to make another move, he instantly pulled out a verdigris-covered Daoist bell from his embrace and vigorously shook it. Li Huowang had no intention of summoning Master You; he merely wanted to use the piercing bell to interrupt the opponent's command over the Xin Su. Xin Su were indeed difficult to deal with, but interrupting the opponent's ability to issue commands to them seemed not so difficult.

Seeing the five Xin Su rendered immobile, Li Huowang, still airborne, forcefully swung his left hand towards the cabin door. Two slender tentacles instantly shot out, coiling around the doorframe. The next moment, the tentacles pulled with immense force, and Li Huowang, like a stone from a slingshot, flew into the dark cabin, leaving an afterimage.