Chapter 577: Gathering at Taihu Lake

After using the Son of Heaven Sword to slice off this Qiu Baishui's head, an unbelievable thing happened: Qiu Baishui's incense body actually developed cracks. The cracks quickly spread over her whole body, and at the same time, a large amount of incense power began to dissipate.

Qiu Baishui could no longer gather incense to reshape her body. This was clearly somewhat unreasonable, because the biggest characteristics of Incense Gods were their fast cultivation speed and their extreme difficulty to kill. Just now, Li Yi had successively slaughtered her several times, but she had still relied on the power of incense to revive again, and her strength had almost not been affected.

However, after being struck by the Son of Heaven Sword, Qiu Baishui did not recover. Even her cracked body quickly shattered, turning into a pool of sludge that scattered in Taihu Lake.

Li Yi sensed the aura but did not find Qiu Baishui's figure appearing again.

Did she die?

He was somewhat suspicious, because this Son of Heaven Sword was just an ordinary iron precious sword, not some powerful Daoist tool. The only thing special was that it carried the incense of the masses and was an item refined by the power of incense. Could such a weapon be the nemesis of Incense Gods? With one sword, Lady Baishui had drunk the hatred?

"Not necessarily dead, but at least it caused her unimaginable heavy damage. This Son of Heaven Sword seems to be able to scatter the power of incense, causing the accumulation of a thousand years of an Incense God to be lost in one morning." Li Yi thought thoughtfully.

It was a pity that his position as Imperial Preceptor had been stripped, and the incense power had dissipated a lot, causing Xiang Xiang Xiangzi's primordial spirit to fall into a deep sleep again; otherwise, he could have asked this Immortal Aunt of the Three Flower Realm. She was knowledgeable and experienced, and perhaps she could have seen some clues.

However, he did not take it lightly, but continued to stand on the golden auspicious cloud, towering over Taihu Lake.

It was just strange to say.

For a full one or two hours after this, Li Yi did not perceive Qiu Baishui's aura, nor did he encounter any more sudden attacks. Clearly, after Li Yi sliced off her head with that sword, this Lady Baishui had exited the stage. Perhaps she was dead, or perhaps she was hiding in some corner and lingering on her last breath, but regardless, she dared not show her face again.

And during this period, Li Yi also received news from the Golden Pupil Guards.

They said that the divine statues of Lady Baishui in the villages and towns near Huguang City had suddenly cracked and collapsed for no reason, and no one had destroyed them; the divine statues had damaged themselves.

The appearance of this situation meant one thing: the worshipped Incense God was dead.

"It seems this Lady Baishui can no longer make a scene." Li Yi knew in his heart upon hearing this and stopped paying attention.

But he did not leave the shore of Taihu Lake, sitting directly on the golden auspicious cloud, quietly waiting for other experts to appear. The experts in the letter were not just this Lady Baishui; it was just that she was impatient and acted as the bird that stuck its head out. Other experts would definitely come together; it was impossible for them to fight him one-on-one.

After this exchange of moves and probing, Li Yi also understood the strength of these Incense Gods somewhat.

Their strength was very strong, but they found it difficult to unleash the true power of incense. If they could understand some Dao of cultivation and understand some spells, it would be completely different.

It was just unknown whether other experts had stepped into cultivation and studied spells during the time they became gods.

Li Yi waited from day until dusk.

At this moment, the sun was setting, and the lake surface was turning red.

However, soon, Li Yi, who was sitting on the golden auspicious cloud, suddenly sensed something and raised his eyes to look toward the north.

He saw a cloud layer that was contrary to reason moving toward this side. The color of the cloud layer was different—white mixed with green—and it gathered without dissipating, gathering the power of incense. Moreover, in the cloud layer, he vaguely saw some human silhouettes appearing. Those human silhouettes were particularly large; the short ones were a zhang high, and the tall ones were at least ten zhang high.

And as the cloud layer approached, dull sounds came from the sky.

This sound was like rolling thunder, or like war drums.

As it approached, the sound became more and more resonant, shaking the firmament and splashing thunder.

Li Yi followed the sound and looked.

He saw that in the blue-white cloud layer, there were two strong men six zhang high, wearing armor, holding large hammers at this moment, beating a giant drum. Every strike caused the air to explode, and the powerful force vented, forming circles of air waves. Moreover, the collision of the two drum sounds actually caused streaks of lightning to appear out of thin air.

"Making such a big scene, are you afraid others won't know?" Li Yi's expression was calm; he knew the enemy had come.

However, Incense Gods traveling were always like this.

The retinue was complete, and the momentum was huge, showing their status and position.

Because only by doing so, when seen by mortals, would they kneel and worship more devoutly, which was beneficial to the spread of the Incense God's reputation and the gathering of belief. If every Incense God were low-key and didn't show their face, how would the common people know there were gods in this world, and why would they spontaneously build temples and set up divine statues?

Manifestation itself was a way of spreading belief.

The drum sounds began to become urgent at this moment, as if a great general was setting out on the battlefield, beating drums to assist in the momentum.

"Where is the Evil Daoist Tai Yi?"

From the cloud layer, a majestic shout came. The sound spread throughout dozens of miles in an instant, and even covered the entire Huguang City, clearly intending to let the common people in the city know that the True Person Tai Yi was not an Imperial Preceptor, but an evil Daoist, and now that he had offended the gods, today they were coming to execute the evil Daoist and clear the human world.

The purpose of doing this was to weaken his incense power, so that the nearby common people would not trust Tai Yi; it was not just a simple challenge.

"Truly noisy."

Li Yi's gaze sank, but he didn't indulge them in the slightest. He stood up from the golden auspicious cloud, then a streak of red glow shot into the sky. A powerful aura was emitted, and the surrounding air instantly became scorching. The originally dim sky brightened up once again. Besides this, he operated the wood energy again.

The five elements generated each other; the liver wood assisted the heart fire, and with the magic power of the twelve meridians, this original red glow became even more terrifying, instantly turning into a sky full of red light, scattering everywhere.

And this was not all.

Li Yi let out a long whistle, swallowing all the red glow in the sky, then operated the Daoist art.

Call the Wind!

The fierce wind rose, instantly turning into a raging fire. This fire was violent and fierce, entering through every pore. In just the blink of an eye, it burned the three hundred miles of firmament, and the blue-white cloud layer that had drifted over was covered by this fierce wind and raging fire in an instant.

This cloud layer was immediately roasted red, like a piece of fire-burning cloud.

And the drum sounds that had been deafening just now stopped abruptly at this moment. Then, one could hear miserable screams continuously rising from the cloud layer. One after another, the silhouettes could not withstand the "Call the Wind" Great Art; their bodies were blown apart, and their souls were ignited by the heart-fire energy. Without even having the chance to resist, they had already vanished between heaven and earth.

Some spirits and monsters fell from the cloud layer with their whole bodies on fire, but before they could fall into Taihu Lake, they had already turned into charred remains in mid-air. With a gust of wind, only some residue remained.

"Small fry shouldn't have gotten involved; obediently exit the stage." Li Yi looked at this scene calmly; he felt that his ears were much quieter now.

The heart-fire energy was still burning at this moment, and the fierce wind was still raging.

The blue-white cloud layer began to dissipate at this moment, and the chaotic scene was revealed. This fire killed them until they threw away their armor and abandoned their weapons, suffering heavy casualties.

And among them, a few silhouettes forcibly broke through the area covered by the raging fire and killed their way out from the sky, arriving at Taihu Lake. But even so, they were all gray-faced and dirty, their whole bodies emitting a charred smell. Some still had flames on their bodies that could not be extinguished, and finally, they had to forcibly sever a part of their bodies to forcibly get rid of the scorching, only then feeling a bit better.

"Is this the big fire that burned the Guardian God Wang Wang Qijun to death in the capital back then? I didn't take it seriously before, but seeing it today, I finally know how powerful this big fire is. The elites I brought are all buried in the sea of fire, and even the tripod-carrying strong men who followed me in the south and north battles didn't escape..."

A gray-faced but heroic-looking man held a coiled dragon spear at this moment, his eyes revealing a hint of shock.

This person was none other than the Marquis of Champion appointed by the founding Emperor. His real name was Zhao Zhenshan, but he didn't have the surname Zhao; he was given the imperial surname because his merit was too great.

"This fire is not just powerful; it's simply terrifying. Who in this world can withstand this big fire that stretches for three hundred miles? I almost died in the sea of fire. Fortunately, this True Person Tai Yi's spell wasn't aimed at me, otherwise, it's hard to say." A middle-aged man wearing green robes and a long beard had his beard burned off at this moment, and his body had missing parts.

Clearly, to withstand this fire, he had to sacrifice a part of his body, but his body was recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.

And this person's identity was also not simple. A thousand-year-old pine tree that had become a spirit, named Qingsong, he was appointed as the Mountain God of Shou Mountain, enjoying incense from the human world.

After the spirit became a spirit, he was appointed as an official god, and he had a thousand years of cultivation. Such an existence was rare in the world.

"I knew that the person we few had to join forces to deal with would not be simple. Where is Lady Baishui? This is Taihu Lake, her territory; why don't I see her coming out to extinguish this big fire?" A general wearing armor and holding a long saber was heroic and extraordinary, his tiger eyes scanning the surroundings.

Besides Li Yi, he didn't see Lady Baishui.

"She's likely dead. Don't you see that this True Person Tai Yi is holding a Son of Heaven Sword? I recognize that sword; it's named 'Mountain Sparrow,' the sword of Emperor Yingzong. Back then, when he was boating on Taihu Lake, he lost a bet with Lady Baishui and had no choice but to throw his sword into Taihu Lake. Now that the Mountain Sparrow sword is in this True Person Tai Yi's hand, the situation is obvious."

The one speaking was a young man wearing black embroidered clothes. He was named Black Mountain Lord, a fierce tiger that had become a spirit. It was just that at this moment, when he looked at Li Yi, there was no hostility in his gaze, only respect and reverence.

"Lady Baishui is dead?" Marquis of Champion Zhao Zhenshan's face sank: "Wasn't it agreed that she would wait for us to arrive at Taihu Lake?"

"She likely couldn't wait, wanting to protect her temple. But I didn't expect that even after Lady Baishui took out the Son of Heaven Sword, she would still be killed. This True Person Tai Yi is truly unfathomable." Qingsong Daoist's tone was very solemn at this moment.

It wasn't just him.

Everyone else was the same.

After all, seeing him burn all the accompanying personnel to ashes as soon as they met, without even giving them a chance to show their faces, and even they themselves had suffered a lot before escaping the sea of fire.

Such methods were truly rare in the world.

"You few aren't leaving—do you also want to die?" On the golden auspicious cloud, Li Yi was very indifferent when facing these people.

He hadn't expected that his father had planted a mole among them.

That Black Mountain Lord was clearly the black tiger beside the Emperor, now having turned into human form to participate in this battle, clearly intending to backstab his teammates at a critical moment.

It was a pity that the other few were still kept in the dark.

Plus Lady Baishui exiting the stage early, these remaining three were already in dire straits before the fight even started.

Clearly, this was a battle with almost no chance of winning, and after these few died, the world would definitely be shaken, and no more Incense Gods would dare to jump out and openly oppose Li Yi, unless the Yin Son of Heaven came out in person.

But the Yin Son of Heaven shared the fate of the dynasty; how could he easily take risks? ===== CHAPTER 578 =====