Chapter 955: 司命

Li Huowang, impaled on a bamboo shoot, was unable to move. He could only passively feel something continuously growing inside him.

Just then, Bai Lingmiao rushed to Li Huowang. With a forceful swing of Ershen's sharp black claws, the bamboo shoot beneath Li Huowang snapped cleanly at its base.

At that same moment, Xuanpin appeared before Li Huowang. With a swift flick of his tentacles, a bloody line was drawn directly from Li Huowang's glabella.

Four hands grasped Li Huowang's left and right arms and pulled forcefully. Before Li Huowang could react, his entire body was instantly torn into two halves.

Xuanpin reached into Li Huowang's split body, ripped out the still-growing bamboo shoot, then quickly rejoined the two halves of Li Huowang's body.

Immediately after, Xuanpin swiftly wiped his hand across Li Huowang's body, and the bleeding line down his center vanished.

Xuanpin quickly retreated with Li Huowang, moving as far as possible from Zuoqiuyong's sphere of influence over the Heavenly Dao.

Although seemingly elaborate, all of this transpired within a few breaths. After these brief moments, Li Huowang was not only free from control but his injured body had also fully recovered.

Despite his temporary escape, Li Huowang showed no trace of joy. He gazed at Zuoqiuyong, who loomed before him like a mountain.

This enemy was overwhelmingly powerful. The immense pressure was suffocating, and Li Huowang knew his chances of victory were slim, almost nonexistent.

Nevertheless, Li Huowang refused to give up. Zuoqiuyong sought Bai Lingmiao's life. Li Sui was already gone, and Bai Lingmiao was the last person he cared about.

After quick deliberation, Li Huowang realized he couldn't defeat the Flesh Divine Ruler before him alone. He needed external help for any chance of survival.

"Xuanpin... Xuanpin!" Li Huowang, veins bulging on his forehead, suddenly screamed hysterically, "Tell me! Is Sui Sui really dead?"

"Yes, how many times do I have to tell you? Your daughter is long dead."

This time, Li Huowang did not evade the truth but fully believed the other's words. He needed the ultimate pain in his heart at the moment of Li Sui's death.

Seeking external help came with a price. For Li Huowang, that price was to tear open the raw wound in his heart, pour coarse salt into it, and then offer it with both hands to Bahui, beyond the Heavens.

As he fully accepted the fact that Li Sui would never return, Li Huowang's face contorted. He cried out heartbrokenly, feeling as if thousands of red-hot needles were piercing his heart.

He plunged his hands into his throat. Amidst splashing blood, he tore out his own throat and tongue, flinging them onto the "Great Thousand Record" on the ground, which glowed with an eerie red light.

The moment Li Sui's tongue and throat landed on the "Great Thousand Record," it instantly came to life.

"One tongue turns the wheel, one lash encompasses the vastness. Eyes capture the void, fire drives the clamor. Intent creates all illusions, breaking primordial chaos. Heaven favors the divine and strange, not by carved breath. My Lord is supreme, how dare I be startled!"

As the "Great Thousand Record" finished its chant, Li Huowang's five senses began to overlap. Both his physical and mental pain gradually transformed, coalescing into another kind of substance.

The next moment, an aura of extreme fear and despair emanated from Li Huowang—a power that absolutely did not belong to the mortal realm.

As if under immense pressure, everything near Li Huowang creaked and bent, tilting away from him. It was pain, excruciating pain.

The Cangqiang Ascent temporarily granted Li Huowang control over the Heavenly Dao of Pain. The trees and plants that had been growing towards him now shrieked in agony, struggling to move as far away from him as possible.

Those living things unable to escape sought every means to kill themselves, preferring death to the endless torment inflicted upon their bodies.

Gazing at Zuoqiuyong in the distance, Li Huowang, racked by pain to the point of tearing flesh, raised his head and looked towards the gaze from beyond the heavens.

"Bahui! Help me... Come down and help! Don't forget, I was the one who saved White Jade City! All the Divine Rulers of White Jade City owe me!"

As Li Huowang finished speaking, he felt the gaze on him vanish. Bahui had only granted him the Heavenly Dao of Pain but offered no further assistance. "Damn it!"

Li Huowang was unwilling, deeply unwilling. Feeling the surging Non-Gana within him, he sat down again, preparing to perform the Boundless Sky's Grand Ceremony once more.

To deal with Zuoqiuyong, he had to drag other Divine Rulers into the fray to have any hope of survival.

But before he could finish chanting, Zuoqiuyong moved towards him. As Zuoqiuyong swayed, his flesh continuously twisted and grew, and large and small replicas of Zuoqiuyong squeezed out from his body, falling to the ground and burrowing into the earth.

With each piece of his flesh buried in the earth, Zuoqiuyong gained more control over the world.

A colossal foot, like a mountain, stomped down, silencing Li Huowang's chanting along with a small hill.

Just as Zuoqiuyong believed he had dealt with his opponent, he suddenly felt his foot begin to ache, the pain intensifying.

It was as if he hadn't stepped on a person but on a needle, and the pain was spreading up his calf.

However, he showed no concern for the bone-deep pain. "Hahahaha~ Li Huowang, that's all you've got. But you're finished."

No sooner had he spoken than countless bone spurs sprouted from his flesh, rapidly growing downwards and impaling Li Huowang, who was buried within the flesh, through and through.

However, Li Huowang, in his Ascended state, could not die now. He exerted all his effort to push the pain from his body onto Zuoqiuyong.

Yet, the Cangqiang Ascent, which had always been effective, failed. The opponent's physical body was simply too vast, and his pain was too little to affect it.

With a thought from Li Huowang, the ground for several miles around instantly liquefied, turning into seawater.

As Li Huowang entered the water, fins and webs rapidly grew on his body, allowing him to escape his opponent's restraints.

But when Li Huowang stood firm on a mountain peak, he noticed that his opponent wasn't pursuing him. Instead, Zuoqiuyong regarded him with the gaze of a cat toying with a mouse.

"You're a slippery one, hard to catch, kid. No matter. I'll deal with you last. Just watch."

"I know you're not afraid of death. Even if I kill you now, you won't yield. But unfortunately for you, I know what you care about. I'll show you what happens when you defy me!"

Zuoqiuyong's colossal hand suddenly slapped down to the left, seizing Bai Lingmiao, who had just retreated.

The next moment, countless bone spurs erupted from his flesh, piercing through Bai Lingmiao and Ershen's limbs, heads, and internal organs.