Chapter 717: Ambush

Li Huowang never imagined that a Law Sect follower would utter words like, "Great Qi, a world of Great Harmony?"

He immediately pulled out his spine sword and swung it forcefully at the massive door.

A crack appeared, from which various red liquids seeped out, staining everything they touched.

Li Huowang pointed at the door god on the door and roared, "Is this your 'Great Harmony'? Great Qi is now infested with these abominations! Say it to my face again! Are all the people of Great Qi truly alive? Living in peace and prosperity, a world of Great Harmony?!"

"Li Huowang, you are fixated on superficiality. I thought that as a Heart Pan, you would possess some understanding, but it seems you know nothing. Xuanpin and the others have clearly kept their secrets well from you."

No sooner had the door god finished speaking than a twisted mass of flesh—a deformed, ugly, grayish-white viscous body—squeezed out from the rapidly closing crack.

Due to the closing crack, the creature was only half-formed, yet it still writhed on the ground, expanding and contracting, showing no sign of a fatal injury.

A cluster of short, twitching pink tentacles protruded from its forehead, emitting a cry like that of an infant. The creature had no fixed form; its body was constantly transforming.

"All good deeds are fundamentally illusory; all evil karma created is also illusory. The body is like accumulated foam, the mind like the wind, conjured without root or true nature."

"What gibberish! I don't understand! Speak plainly!" Li Huowang stared intently at the deformed creature in the distant courtyard.

What made him uneasy was that, for some reason, he could vaguely discern the shape of a human in the monster's outline.

"All good deeds performed by living beings are illusory and unreal. All evil karma they create is also illusory and unreal."

"The bodies of living beings are like a pile of gathered foam—mere appearances lacking substance. Their thoughts are like passing gusts of wind, appearing without a trace and vanishing just as quickly, providing only a sensation but no true substance. In essence, everything we perceive is illusory and unreal."

"But now, things are different. The Yu'er God can free us from this illusion, allowing us to become true existences. We will no longer be mere foam or ephemeral wind!" At this, the door god on the panel pointed at the monster outside the courtyard.

"Once we pledge allegiance to the Yu'er God, we will no longer be false! Think, Li Huowang! Even immortals are no different. Aren't you a Daoist? If you believe in the Yu'er God, you are guaranteed to achieve enlightenment and ascend to immortality! You will become an immortal with a lifespan equal to the heavens, enjoying eternal blessings!"

"Become an immortal? A lifespan equal to the heavens?" A sudden chill ran through him as he watched the creature still writhing on the ground. At that moment, he finally understood what they meant by a world of 'Great Harmony' without death.

The people of Great Qi were probably indeed alive, but in a way more terrifying than death.

"Li Huowang, what do you say?" The door god seemed unwilling to give up.

"I refuse."

"You refuse?" The door god looked at Li Huowang in disbelief, clearly taken aback by his response. "You don't want your loved ones to live again? You don't want to become an immortal?"

"Heh, though I have some doubts, if such a thing truly exists, of course I want it," Li Huowang tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.

"However, I've always disliked begging for favors. Since you claim the Yu'er God possesses the Heavenly Dao that can restore life, why should I negotiate? Wouldn't it be far better if I found a way to kill the Yu'er God and seize this Heavenly Dao directly from him?"

To the Law Sect followers, Li Huowang's words sounded utterly blasphemous.

"You're taking kindness for weakness! Absurd! How dare you blaspheme the Heavenly Venerate!!"

"Bang!" The massive door slammed shut, and the red cloth God of Wealth figure affixed to the panel gradually turned dark green.

Seeing their true colors revealed, Li Huowang showed no surprise. "I knew you had an ambush!"

With a swoosh, a crack was flung out, flying towards the door with the door gods pasted on it.

By the time the two doors suddenly opened, avoided the crack, and slammed shut once more, Li Huowang had already vanished.

The two door gods looked at each other, raised their right hands, and clapped them together forcefully, saying, "The Dharma itself is without Dharma, and what is without Dharma is also Dharma. Now, when the time of no-Dharma arrives, how can Dharma ever be Dharma!"

The moment the last 'Dharma' left their lips, the entire house was instantly enveloped by their divine sense; no trace could escape their perception. "Beware, this person can use earth-escape!"

No sooner had the door god finished speaking than Li Huowang's body leaped out of the ground, splattering soil. His Purple Tassel Sword directly struck one of the door panels, instantly cleaving the entire door in half.

Having dealt with one door god, as Li Huowang prepared to confront the second, Li Sui's voice reached his ear.

"Father! He's on you!"

"What?" Li Huowang looked down and saw a door god pasted onto his blood-red Daoist robe.

"Hmph!" The door god raised its treasured sword and slashed forcefully at Li Huowang's arm. Li Huowang's entire arm was severed in response, and dense black tentacles rapidly writhed out from the severed end.

"Get off me!" Pulling a rib from his navel, Li Huowang forcefully plunged it into his own chest. The intense pain from his body immediately transferred to the door god.

In such pain, it could no longer bother with Li Huowang and slid away along the ground. However, this time, it wanted to leave, but Li Huowang was unwilling.

He immediately stepped on it with his right foot, pinning it down, and raised the Purple Tassel Sword in his hand, ready to stab.

Just then, it grew dark in front of Li Huowang. He looked up and saw the other door panel, also bearing a door god, swinging towards him.

Just as it was about to strike Li Huowang, with a "crack," Peng Longteng, riding his warhorse, appeared on the door panel, directly smashing it and the door god into pieces.

The next moment, she, covered in blood, crashed into the left wall, laughing maniacally, causing the entire house to begin to totter.

Li Huowang looked at the door god he was pinning on the ground. He extended one hand, grabbed a corner of the door god, and pulled hard. As the force increased, the door god's body stretched longer and longer.

Finally, amidst the door god's screams, Li Huowang tore it directly in half.

Simultaneously, the entire roof beam, like loose tiles, crashed down upon Li Huowang.

As the dust gradually cleared, Li Huowang slowly emerged from the ruins. Looking at the breached city walls in the distance, he muttered, "Is this all they've got? It seems the Law Sect won't last much longer."

He wondered if his strength had grown too quickly, or if there was something else, but it all felt too easy.

"Is that so? Hehehe, I don't think so." A strange woman's voice came from behind Li Huowang.

Li Huowang slowly turned around and saw a woman with a large ceramic doll head casually sitting atop a roof ridge beast. Her hands were inserted into two door god puppets.

The two door god puppets in her hands were clearly unusable now; one was torn in half, and the other was split into several pieces, identical to the fate of the previous door gods.