Chapter 716: Gatekeeper

As a decapitating strike was launched, it became clear the Dharma Sect had already prepared for such an event.

The moment Li Huowang stepped out of the house, three dark figures lunged at him.

*Thud!* With a dull, muffled sound, they crashed directly into Peng Longteng's sturdy armor.

The towering Peng Longteng slowly lowered her head. As Li Huowang watched, her head regenerated, and a massive halberd materialized in her hand, seemingly out of nowhere.

"I was suffocating! Kill!!!" Peng Longteng's face, emblazoned with the tattoo "Serve the Country Loyally," twisted into a bloodthirsty grin as she lunged at Wuchen like a ferocious tiger.

With her weapon in hand, she fought with renewed vigor, an unstoppable force against the Dharma Sect's hidden ambushers, who couldn't even get close to her.

"Bring me a horse!"

Mounted on a warhorse, Peng Longteng charged like a colossal boulder, slamming into the yamen's main gate.

*Boom!* With a deafening crash, the entire gate, along with the roof eaves, the plaque, and even the people behind it, shattered into splinters.

Peng Longteng, covered in debris, stormed inside. Whether it was to vent her fury or not, she made no attempt to avoid any of the structures within. She simply used her immense body to relentlessly crash through and demolish every house and wall.

While Peng Longteng was drawing attention at the front, Li Huowang had already circled around to the back courtyard.

To avoid detection, Li Huowang didn't even surface; he submerged himself directly into the earth and moved through it.

A hidden sentry was on alert. A longsword emerged from the wall, pierced his body, and then swiftly retracted.

It must be said that after his breakthrough, Li Huowang found his control over the innate *qi* within his body had become far more proficient and effortless.

After silently neutralizing all the hidden sentries in this manner, Li Huowang slowly entered the building.

He saw the people he was looking for: several white-haired officials, their shoulders draped with black cloth, who were observing a sandbox before them, constantly orchestrating troop movements.

*This must be them,* Li Huowang thought to himself.

Li Huowang didn't act immediately. He simply stared silently at the ground, his right hand gripping his temples tightly.

Suddenly, the entire floor instantly softened, and everything inside the room—including the officials—sank directly into the earth, leaving nothing behind. They were all buried alive.

The bustling room instantly fell into profound silence.

"Just like that? Is that all?" Li Huowang was momentarily stunned; it had happened too quickly.

Was that it? Had he just single-handedly incapacitated the very heart of the city?

Li Huowang still suspected a trick. It was only when he heard genuine chaos erupting at the city gates that he truly grasped how much he had changed.

But just as he prepared to emerge from underground, he felt someone stomp directly above his head. "Heh heh! You've killed everyone. Care to chat a bit before you go?"

The ground instantly cracked open, and Li Huowang's three swords pierced through the floor, emerging from the soil.

What made Li Huowang's heart sink, however, was that none of the three swords bore any trace of blood.

He scanned his surroundings but saw no one.

"Careful, no need to look further. I am right here!" Li Huowang followed the voice and quickly located its source on the door itself—it was a Door God.

Just like the Door Gods commonly posted during New Year's, these two figures had bare chests and exposed bellies, bushy beards like tiger whiskers, wore armor, held spears, carried bows and swords, sported horns on their heads, and wielded peach wood swords.

The only difference was that a black cloth was also depicted on the Door Gods' shoulders.

Evidently, in Siqi, even the Door Gods were now under the Child God's authority.

"You may call me Shen Tu," the Door God on the door declared, staring at Li Huowang. "I am here today to offer you all amnesty."

"Amnesty? The Dharma Sect wants to offer *me* amnesty?" Li Huowang nearly believed he had misheard.

"Precisely. Although you've thwarted so many of Dali's endeavors, the Grand Master believes you are someone who knows how to adapt."

"Ha!" Li Huowang nearly burst out laughing. "You've killed so many people and committed countless monstrous acts, and yet you still want to offer *me* amnesty?"

"Did any of your family members perish in this catastrophe? If you accept amnesty, the Grand Master can immediately bring them back to life."

"Do you expect me to believe that? Something the Divine Fates themselves cannot achieve, you claim you can?!" Without hesitation, Li Huowang charged forward, thrusting a sword into the door.

"The Divine Fates here might not be able to, but those elsewhere might. We are sincerely offering you surrender."

Hearing this, Li Huowang frowned, retracting his sword as he stared at the Door God. "What did you just say?"

Li Huowang was no longer in a hurry to fight. The other party seemed to know things he didn't, and he wanted to see if he could extract some information first.

"The Divine Fates govern the Great Dao of the world and are, by all accounts, immortals. Yet, the Great Dao encompasses fifty principles, and they are not omnipotent. After all, returning from the dead goes against the Heavenly Way."

"They can't do it, but the Child God can? Doesn't *he* also govern the Heavenly Way?" Li Huowang feigned disbelief, hoping to prompt the other party to elaborate.

"The Child God can, because he governs a Heavenly Way from elsewhere. The Heavenly Way of Grand Nuo cannot achieve it, but a Heavenly Way from another place can."

"Else... elsewhere?" Li Huowang was momentarily confused. If Grand Nuo referred to this living world, then where was this "elsewhere" he spoke of?

"It seems you truly know nothing. See, Xuanpin hasn't even informed you of this; he's always been wary of you."

After that, the Door God continued, "In fact, you believe you know a great deal, having learned of the White Jade Capital and the Divine Fates, which are unknown to ordinary mortals. But there's still so much you don't comprehend."

"The Heavenly Way of Grand Nuo clearly separates life and death, and it cannot be transgressed. Yet, it's not so elsewhere. In other places, the deceased can return to life, so the realms of Yin and Yang are not as strictly divided."

"You live only within Grand Nuo, like a frog in a well, completely unaware of how vastly different the Heavenly Way of other realms is from this one."

Li Huowang stared at the Door God, pondering. The fact that he was willing to share this information seemed to genuinely indicate an intention to offer amnesty.

"Think carefully, what I'm telling you is true. Don't you wish to revive Zhuge Yuan, or Bai Lingmiao's family whom you accidentally killed?"

Li Huowang's pupils instantly constricted. The other party knew even these details!

"Don't you pedantic individuals always claim you wish to save all living beings? As soon as the Child God descends, everyone who has died in the world can be brought back to life. Isn't that salvation for all?"

"Stop spouting nonsense!" Li Huowang retorted angrily. "Do you truly think I'm blind? Grand Qi has been completely taken over by the Child God! What do you think Grand Qi has become now? Do you believe I haven't seen it?"

The strange liquid seeping from those fissures flashed through Li Huowang's mind. That world had long since been entirely engulfed by this substance, capable of deformin_g living beings into monsters.

"Hmph! Ignorant child, have you even visited Grand Qi in its current state? You only spread hearsay! Now, not only are all the people who died in Grand Qi alive, but from this day forward, they will never hunger or die again. The common people live in peace and prosperity, the elderly are cared for, the young are nurtured, and there is great harmony throughout the land!"