Chapter 937: No Surprises

"I can't die... I... I can't die... Feng Erniu...!" The dying Tuoba Danqing weakly clawed with his withered, chicken-like hands.

He was unwilling; truly, he was unwilling. Feng Erniu had caused him to be trapped within the Heart Impurity, and day and night he had thought about escaping and how he would exact his revenge. Now that he had finally emerged, only to face imminent death, he was incredibly unresigned.

But Tuoba Danqing soon realized he had no time for such thoughts; he likely only had enough breath for one last dying wish. "Lady... Bai... go back and tell my son never to join the Supervising Sky Council!"

Seeing Tuoba Danqing utter these words in his fading consciousness, Bai Lingmiao's face showed a hint of distress. "Don't worry, with me here, you won't die."

As Bai Lingmiao spoke, she formed a lotus mudra with one hand and gently pressed it against Tuoba Danqing's forehead. A black lotus briefly flashed on his brow before disappearing.

Immediately, Tuoba Danqing felt the deterioration of his body cease. Though he wasn't reborn, he also wasn't dead; his body seemed perpetually suspended between life and death.

"You won't die now, but you're not truly alive either. This state can last for about two weeks. Use this time to find the grandmasters of Zhengde Temple to properly restore your physical body, then come back to me."

Tuoba Danqing looked down at his current body, astonished by the power of the white-haired woman before him.

He found it incredible that Er Jiu's wife was so formidable. As far as he knew, such life-and-death divine abilities were typically only achievable by the lamas of Qingqiu.

The last time he saw her, she was merely a low-ranking shaman. What had happened in the past few years?

"What happened to him?" Yuan Er asked as he approached with a group of Xinsu.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Bai Lingmiao's heart tightened. Using four hands, she pulled Tuoba Danqing up. "It's nothing. He suffered internal injuries inside, which are now healed. Let's go."

A carriage carrying all the Xinsu departed from the entrance of the White Lotus Church and headed towards the Supervising Sky Council.

Upon arriving at Li Huowang's training room, everyone was stunned by the distorted building before them. As Li Huowang continued his cultivation, his influence on his surroundings grew increasingly immense.

"Are they here?" The tall Xuannu rose from the ground.

Upon seeing the wide red Taoist robe, the weak Tuoba Danqing's knees instantly buckled. He dropped to one knee, saying with extreme trepidation, "Lord Shatianjian!"

In the past, he would never have had the privilege to be this close to such a prominent figure.

Xuannu glanced at him without a word, then turned and pushed open the door to the training room. "Let's go, come inside with me."

The situation inside was no better than outside. Various shifting scenes flickered around Li Huowang, whose body also appeared and disappeared intermittently.

"Just a moment. Waking father right now is a bit difficult," Xuannu said, floating directly past a motorbike drifting in front of her and towards Li Huowang.

"Father..." The stunned Tuoba Danqing stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape as if struck by lightning. He felt his entire world collapse.

If he remembered correctly, Li Huowang was once his subordinate. But now, the person in charge of the entire Supervising Sky Council was calling Li Huowang "father"?

He had worked for the Supervising Sky Council for so long and had witnessed countless bizarre things, but he had truly never encountered a situation like this.

If Lord Shatianjian called Er Jiu "father," then what should he call Er Jiu?

Just as Tuoba Danqing's mind was in a turmoil, agents from the Supervising Sky Council arrived inside, escorting eight strange individuals with yellow talismans affixed to their foreheads.

Without needing an explanation, Bai Lingmiao knew these must be the eight Xinsu found by the Supervising Sky Council.

Currently, both the imperial court and the common folk throughout the land were largely helping to find Xinsu. Yet, even with all these efforts, only eight had been located. It seemed that unless new Xinsu were born, this might be all there were.

Suddenly, the surroundings cleared. As all the chaos vanished and was replaced by a vast expanse of white, Bai Lingmiao knew Li Huowang had awakened.

Li Huowang, holding his head and frowning deeply, walked over. Looking at the group of Xinsu before him, he said with some surprise, "So many this time?"

With so many Xinsu, he might be able to attempt the next two cycles.

"Yes, Mother helped find quite a few."

Hearing this, Li Huowang glanced at Bai Lingmiao, and they both nodded to each other simultaneously.

Next, he turned his gaze to Tuoba Danqing. The man had lost so much weight that Li Huowang almost didn't recognize him, were it not for the prayer beads on his wrist.

Before Li Huowang could speak, Tuoba Danqing staggered forward. "Brother Er Jiu! Where's Feng Erniu? Where is he?!"

"Who is Feng Erniu?" Li Huowang sounded unfamiliar with the name.

"The official we went with to capture the Heart Impurity — the eunuch who used an abacus!"

"Oh, he died. His wife died too."

After saying this casually, Li Huowang ignored the frozen Tuoba Danqing and walked towards the Xinsu. "Time waits for no one; let's begin quickly."

As Li Huowang approached, all the Xinsu immediately tensed. However, when they saw that the Xinsu did not die after having their Innate Qi and Divine Light taken, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This woman truly hadn't lied to them; they could genuinely live.

"Feng Erniu isn't dead," Xuannu quietly explained to Li Huowang, taking the opportunity while transmitting the Innate Qi.

"Not dead? But the Supervising Censor clearly wrote on the paper that he was," Li Huowang said through gritted teeth, struggling to control the power within him that wasn't his own.

"That was just to trick you. After all, you were an adversary of the Supervising Sky Council at the time."

"Hmph, they're all a bunch of old schemers. Don't tell Tuoba Danqing about this, lest they fight to the death. Both of them are petty."

Xuannu nodded. Controlling the unspoken army, she moved to apprehend the next Xinsu, the one with a bushy beard.

As soon as her hand made contact, Xuannu looked at him with confusion. "Why do you have no Innate Qi within you?"

The bearded man chuckled, then grabbed his face and peeled it back, revealing a "Sitting-Forget Path" flower card before everyone. "Because I am a Sitting-Forget Path cultivator! Hahaha!!"

Seeing the strange markings on the man's face, Er Shen gritted his teeth and declared, "I knew it! The Eleventh Xinsu couldn't have inexplicably wanted to be Yama!"

"You bastard!" Seeing a Sitting-Forget Path cultivator, all the Xinsu immediately erupted in anger and surrounded him.

In the end, this Sitting-Forget Path cultivator was torn apart alive by the Xinsu. Yet, even in his final moments before death, his laughter never ceased.