Chapter 682: Water

Soon, blood streamed down Lu Xiucai’s forehead, covering his entire face as he rapidly chanted an invocation spell.

“Disciples sincerely come to pay homage. May the revered deity of this altar swiftly descend, body transform into god, god transform into body, manifesting a sacred path across mountains and rivers! Step by step, guide us! Inch by inch, support the medium! Help the medium awaken spiritual light, open their golden mouth to reveal clearly, divine soldiers and divine fire, heed my command!”

As Lu Xiucai entered his trance, the torchbearers had already approached Li Huowang and his group. Their appearance was now clearly visible.

They were the same people who had fled earlier. Despite losing so many, they dared to return.

Li Huowang quickly spotted what gave them the confidence to return: at the very front of the crowd stood several elderly individuals dressed in fish-skin robes.

These individuals, distinctly dressed from the others, wore solemn expressions. They held a giant incense stick, as thick as a bowl, with both hands and continuously bowed in all four directions, muttering something under their breath.

Li Huowang could hear them, but couldn't understand; it was a local dialect.

The white incense smoke did not dissipate. Instead, it coalesced around them, forming a swirling mass that seemed to drift yet remain close.

Behind them, the others, chanting in unison, carried a mural.

No, more accurately, they had dismantled and brought an entire wall.

“What kind of evil is this?”

Seeing these fishermen with dragon-scale tattoos reminded Li Huowang of the water bandits he had encountered on the great lake.

“Forget it, who cares!” Li Huowang didn't bother to analyze further. He pushed off the ground and charged towards them, sword in hand. Lu Xiucai, with a bleeding head and wearing a paper apron, followed behind.

As Li Huowang approached, the old Dan people in fish-skin robes raised their enormous incense stick and plunged it into the ground. The coalesced white smoke instantly formed a dragon’s head and lunged towards him.

Li Huowang didn't flinch. He gripped the Purple Tassel Sword in one hand and the Copper Coin Sword in the other.

The moment he made contact with the dragon smoke, he crossed his two demon-slaying and evil-breaking swords and thrust them forward.

The dragon-shaped smoke was instantly sliced open in a cross shape. As Li Huowang, enveloped in incense, unhesitatingly rushed towards the Dan people, the mural on the wall, along with the entire wall itself, crashed down towards him.

“Boom!” With an earth-shattering tremor, the entire wall shattered into pieces, completely burying Li Huowang.

However, when the smoke cleared, Li Huowang emerged from behind Peng Longteng’s towering body. At the critical moment, Peng Longteng had acted as a shield.

Holding his two swords, he glanced at the shattered mural on the ground, then looked at the Dan people in the distance, who were continuously kowtowing and bowing towards the sea. “That’s all? Is this it?”

As he thought this, he felt the distant, dark sea surface seemed to grow even darker, as if a range of incredibly oppressive mountains stood there.

“Mountains?” The moment this thought occurred to Li Huowang, a cold sweat broke out all over him. “No! That’s not mountains, that’s a tsunami!!”

The next moment, the distant tsunami, carrying the Dan people's boats and their wooden houses built on the sea, approached Li Huowang with a truly overwhelming, mountain-toppling force.

“Watch out!” Li Huowang quickly reached out and caught the bucket from the stumbling Yang Na. Barely, the dirty water in the bucket didn't spill completely.

“Hey, young mistress, can you just stay put and stop working?” Li Huowang carried the bucket to the latrine and emptied its contents.

Yang Na pouted slightly, feeling wronged. “I... I just wanted to help. Why are you so harsh with me? I didn't do anything wrong.”

“See? I just said something casually, and now you’re upset.” Li Huowang put down the bucket, walked over to her, and gently pulled her into a hug.

“It’s okay! Everything’s fine! Get out of here quickly! This rotten place isn’t right!!” Li Huowang shouted to the others in the pouring rain.

“Brother Li, you should also leave quickly!”

Li Huowang, standing half-submerged in water, wiped his face forcefully with his hand. He shouted to the others again: “Stop talking nonsense! This heavy rain isn’t normal! I’ll cover your retreat! Hurry and go!”

The moment Li Huowang finished speaking, he instantly felt a sharp pain in his legs. There was something in the water!

He took out several fluorite stones and threw them into the water. As the faint light emanated, several dark figures circling him instantly dispersed.

Seeing some dark figures rushing towards the carriage, Li Huowang plunged his hand into the water and pulled forcefully.

The waist-high rainwater on the ground rolled up like a blanket, naturally preventing anything from approaching the carriage.

Li Huowang’s cultivation had advanced to the third cycle. He had naturally learned some new abilities.

Although Li Huowang’s abilities had improved, he couldn’t use his strength effectively without knowing the enemy’s location.

What exactly was this? Li Huowang frowned, scanning his surroundings, unsure of the opponent's strategy.

Such a grand display didn't seem like the work of ordinary evil spirits. “With this much rain, it couldn’t be the Dragon King summoning clouds and rain, could it?”

As Li Huowang pondered this, using the fluorite's light, he again saw several dark figures rushing towards him along the bottom of the water.

“Suisui! Ribs!” As Li Huowang held the ribs and crossed his arms into his chest, the dark figures instantly stopped and writhed in place.

A tentacle pulled out the Copper Coin Sword and swung it powerfully at one of the dark figures in the water. As the copper coins lengthened with a rattling sound, the figure was dragged out of the water.

This person had tattoos on his bare upper body, proving he was part of the same group as the previous one. However, at this moment, he was wearing a wooden mask in the shape of a dragon's head.

“Who is performing the ritual?! Where are they?!” Li Huowang, enraged, demanded, gripping his throat.

The other person angrily retorted. “The Dragon King has manifested! How dare you offend the Dragon King? You are doomed!”

“To hell with you!” Li Huowang roared, his mouth wide open. A barbed tentacle emerged from his throat, covered the man's neck, and directly tore off most of the flesh from his throat.

“You cultist trash! Come out, all of you!” Lu Xiucai, standing in the water nearby, roared.

Just then, the Dan people crawled out of the water. They stood scattered in the rain, angrily cursing at both Li Huowang and Lu Xiucai.

Amidst the torrential rain, the curses only fueled Li Huowang’s rage. At that moment, he had only one thought: to kill these scumbags first!

Just as he tightened his grip on his sword and was about to charge to slaughter them all, a rapid drumbeat began.

The rhythmic drumming began to drown out the sound of the rain and the curses. Bai Lingmiao, who was playing the drum, came to his side and stood back-to-back with him.

“Li Huowang! What the hell is wrong with you?! I told you to leave quickly! What are you dragging your feet for?!”

When he heard Bai Lingmiao’s angry shouts, Li Huowang’s heart sank. He realized something was wrong.

He didn’t know when it had started, but everyone, including himself, felt their hearts consumed by uncontrollable rage. It was as if, in that moment, they were all being controlled by this emotion, as if something was manipulating their innermost feelings and afflictions!