Chapter 689: Si Tian Observatory

The person in front of Li Huowang had a very large mask that almost covered his entire upper body. Below the mask, two legs clad in green trousers were visible, creating a very disproportioned appearance.

"This is the Supervising Heavenly Official of Later Shu. You can call him the Altar Master. Since you're here to help, it's only natural for you to get acquainted with the locals."

After introducing him, Xuanpin pointed to Li Huowang. "This is the person I told you about."

Li Huowang examined the man from head to toe, then bowed in a Daoist salute with a mix of curiosity and doubt.

"Li Huowang of Qingfeng Temple greets you, Senior. May I ask which sect you belong to?"

Only a single word emerged from behind the mask: "Nuo."

"Nuo? Nuo opera?" Li Huowang was surprised. As far as he knew, didn't "Great Nuo" refer to this insane world?

The Great Nuo is mad, yet people still worship him? Not only do they worship him, but they can also hold the position of Supervising Heavenly Official? Could it be that the mad Great Nuo can still lend power to others?

Is Great Nuo a Fatesmith? Or is Great Nuo the legendary Grand Fatesmith? Or is it like the Everlasting Heaven of Qingqiu, a god they've imagined?

Li Huowang pondered for a moment, then asked the man again, "Can Great Nuo still grant power to others now?"

However, the Altar Master, wearing the massive mask, did not answer him, merely shaking his head slightly.

Just then, Xuanpin's voice sounded in Li Huowang's ear, "You'd best not ask about that. In any realm, directly asking someone about such a thing is very impolite, especially when it's your first meeting."

Hearing this, Li Huowang dropped the subject. He had only asked casually; his real purpose in Later Shu was serious business. "What's the situation in Later Shu? How are the Dharma Sect's attacks progressing?"

"Not well. Later Shu's dragon pulse has been seized. The dead you saw along the way are the result."

"In fact, the seizure of the dragon pulse has also affected our destiny. We've suffered successive defeats today. If you had arrived any later, Later Shu would have fallen."

Li Huowang's brows furrowed tightly upon hearing this. He had considered how bad the situation might be, but he hadn't imagined it was this dire.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's quickly reclaim Later Shu's dragon pulse! Where is it now?"

After Xuanpin exchanged a glance with the Altar Master beside him, he spoke again, "Previously, it might have been possible, but now, I'm afraid it's quite difficult."

"What do you mean by that?" Li Huowang's brows furrowed. It seemed that while he was traveling, the situation here had changed again.

"On the battlefield, things change in an instant; you can't expect the enemy to wait for you. Last month, on the Yang Day and Yang Hour, the Dharma Sect, by some unknown means, gathered the dragon pulses of Nanping, Siqi, and Later Shu into a single one."

"They are publicly claiming that the Great Li Kingdom also has a dragon pulse."

Hearing this, a chilling image materialized in Li Huowang's mind: three dragon pulses twisted together like braided hemp.

One dragon pulse was already so difficult to deal with, let alone three now. And for such a precious item, the Dharma Sect would undoubtedly deploy heavy defenses.

At that moment, Li Huowang felt immense pressure. Ji Zai was useless, and if he tried to deal with such a thing on his own, he might die there with a single misstep.

After a moment of thought, Li Huowang looked at Xuanpin and the Altar Master before him. "I've just arrived, but you two have been here longer and understand the situation better. Given this predicament, what plans do the Supervising Heavenly Officials and the Later Shu court have?"

Xuanpin pondered for a moment before replying, "Other plans were attempted before you arrived. While they caused some trouble for the Dharma Sect, they ultimately failed to reclaim the dragon pulse. Therefore, the Later Shu royalty intends to abandon Later Shu and retreat to Qingqiu."

"What?! They're just abandoning Later Shu?!" Li Huowang found their recklessness unbelievable. He couldn't believe someone with such a temperament could be an emperor.

"With the dragon pulse lost and fortune depleted, it's natural for him to think that way. Don't worry, the situation hasn't reached that point yet."

"However, we currently have no other way to deal with the dragon pulse. Moving to Qingqiu is also a strategic move; it's closer to Daliang, making it easier for His Majesty to dispatch troops."

Li Huowang paced, his brows tightly furrowed, his face filled with unwillingness. He had come specifically to reclaim the dragon pulse, and he didn't want to arrive only to immediately flee back to Qingqiu.

"Wait! Perhaps there's still a chance!" Li Huowang thought of something and looked up at Xuanpin.

"How much of the Innate Primordial Qi you gave me back then do you still have? Give me as much as you can; I need to use it."

Having come all this way, it made no sense not to try. As long as he had enough Innate Primordial Qi, he could contend with the dragon pulse!

"It's gone," Xuanpin replied very bluntly.

"Gone? How could it be gone?"

"Because all the Heartsoul I could find have been depleted by me. It's not easy to find Heartsoul now."

"What did you say? That Innate Primordial Qi was all taken from other Heartsouls?" Li Huowang's pupils contracted upon hearing this.

"Naturally. Innate Primordial Qi is something without root or source. Where else could it be found apart from Heartsouls?"

"Ordinary people only believe that Heartsoul is valuable for its internal organs and its lost consciousness, but they don't know that those are external. Heartsoul is truly valuable for its Qi."

Li Huowang found it difficult to accept for a moment. He truly hadn't expected that the very thing that made him incredibly powerful was extracted from living Heartsouls.

Just as he said this, a large, plump man floated down from the ceiling, drifting over to Xuanpin and whispering something.

This plump man was likely another one of Xuanpin's illusions. After the plump man finished speaking, Xuanpin spoke again:

"There is always a way. Perhaps we can try again."

"How?" the Altar Master, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.

"The Great Khan of Qingqiu is leading an expedition in person. He doesn't intend to wait for the Dharma Sect to attack; he's preparing to strike first."

However, no sooner had the words fallen than the expressions of all three present changed simultaneously. They uniformly looked up at the ceiling.

As Xuanpin's slender hand extended from his Daoist robe and touched the ceiling, the ceiling gradually became transparent, revealing a gloomy sky. Along with thunder, droplets of rain began to fall from above. The Supervising Heavenly Official seemed to sense something, rapidly calculating with his sharp fingernails. "Strange, the hour doesn't match; half an hour is missing."

"What did you say?" Li Huowang asked in astonishment.

"There should be eleven hours in a day, but now half an hour is missing."

"Half an hour missing?" Li Huowang seemed to realize something, and a chill spread through him.

"Xuanpin, do you think the Dharma Sect doesn't actually want the dragon pulse? Was their purpose in seizing it to destroy it?"

The moment Li Huowang uttered these words, the ground shook violently, as if a great earth dragon had turned over.