Chapter 632

After slicing off Qiubai Shui's head with the Son of Heaven's Sword, something unthinkable happened: Qiubai Shui's incense body began cracking, the fissures spreading rapidly across her entire form, while vast amounts of incense power began to dissipate.

Qiubai Shui could no longer gather incense to reconstruct her body—this clearly defied logic, for the greatest traits of an incense deity were rapid cultivation and extreme difficulty to kill; just moments ago, Li Yi had slain her multiple times in succession, yet she had always revived using incense power, her strength barely diminished.

But after being struck by the Son of Heaven's Sword, Qiubai Shui did not recover; instead, her cracked body quickly shattered into a pool of mud, scattering into Taihu.

Li Yi sensed her aura but found no trace of Qiubai Shui reappearing.

Did she die?

He was startled and doubtful, for the Son of Heaven's Sword was merely an ordinary iron blade, not a powerful Dao artifact; its only distinction was that it carried the incense of countless mortals—a vessel refined by incense power. Could such a weapon truly be the bane of incense deities? One strike, and the White Water Goddess was slain?

"She may not be dead, but she has certainly suffered unimaginable damage. This Son of Heaven's Sword seems capable of dispersing incense power, erasing a thousand years of accumulated devotion in an instant," Li Yi mused.

Too bad his position as Imperial Tutor had been stripped, his incense power greatly diminished, causing Xiangxiangzi's primordial spirit to sink back into slumber; otherwise, he could have asked this Immortal Lady of the Three Flowers, whose vast experience might have revealed some clues.

Yet he did not grow careless; he continued standing atop auspicious clouds above Taihu.

Yet strangely enough—

For the next one or two hours, Li Yi detected no trace of Qiubai Shui's aura, nor did he suffer any sudden attacks. Clearly, that single strike severing her head had forced the White Water Goddess to withdraw—perhaps dead, perhaps hiding in some corner, barely clinging to life—but regardless, she dared not show herself again.

During this time, Li Yi received word from the Golden Eye Guard.

They reported that in villages near Huaguang City, the statues of the White Water Goddess had inexplicably cracked and collapsed—without any external damage, as if the statues had destroyed themselves.

This phenomenon meant only one thing: the worshipped incense deity was dead.

"It seems the White Water Goddess is no longer a threat," Li Yi thought, and paid her no further attention.

Yet he did not leave the shores of Taihu; instead, he sat calmly atop golden auspicious clouds, waiting for other experts to appear. The letter mentioned more than just the White Water Goddess—she had merely been impatient, the first to step forward. The others would surely arrive together; they would not face him alone.

After this exchange, Li Yi had gained some understanding of these incense deities' strength.

They were powerful, yet unable to unleash the true potential of incense power. Had they understood cultivation principles or mastered magical arts, the outcome would have been vastly different.

He wondered whether the other experts had, during their deification, ventured into cultivation or studied magical techniques.

Li Yi waited from day until evening.

Now the sun set, the lake surface glowing red.

Soon, seated atop golden auspicious clouds, Li Yi suddenly sensed something and looked northward.

He saw an unnatural cloud mass moving toward him—its color strange, white tinged with blue, dense and unyielding, gathering incense power. Within the cloud, he faintly discerned humanoid shapes, towering and immense: the shorter ones stood over ten feet tall, the tallest at least a hundred feet.

As the cloud drew nearer, a deep, rumbling sound echoed from the sky.

It sounded like rolling thunder, like war drums.

As it neared, the sound grew louder, shaking the heavens, sparking thunderclaps.

Li Yi followed the noise.

Within the bluish-white cloud, two six-zhang-tall armored warriors held massive hammers, striking a colossal drum. Each blow shattered the air, releasing powerful waves of force; the dual drumbeats collided, summoning lightning out of thin air.

"Making such a spectacle—do they think no one will notice?" Li Yi remained calm. He knew the enemy had arrived.

But this was how incense deities traveled.

Full ceremonial procession, grand display, asserting status and authority.

Only thus could mortals witness them and grow more devout in worship—this aided the spread of their reputation and the consolidation of belief. If every incense deity remained hidden, how would the people know gods existed? How would they willingly build temples and erect statues?

Manifestation itself was a means of spreading faith.

The drumbeats now quickened, like a general leading troops into battle, drums pounding to spur morale.

"Where is the Heretical Daoist Taiyi?"

From within the cloud came a commanding shout, echoing across dozens of li and covering all of Huaguang City—intended to make the townsfolk know: Taiyi True Person was no Imperial Tutor, merely a heretical daoist. Today, the gods had endured enough; they came to slay the heretic and purify the mortal realm.

This was not mere provocation—it aimed to drain his incense power, turning the people against Taiyi.

"Such noise."

Li Yi's gaze darkened; he showed no mercy. He rose from the golden auspicious clouds, and a crimson aura surged skyward, radiating overwhelming power. The surrounding air instantly grew scorching; the dimming sky blazed bright once more. He further activated wood energy.

The Five Elements generate each other: liver wood fuels heart fire. Combined with the magic power from his twelve acupoints, the crimson aura became terrifying, instantly transforming into a sea of red light spreading in all directions.

And that was not all.

Li Yi let out a long howl, swallowing the entire sky's glow, then activated the Dao technique.

Summon Wind!

A gale erupted, instantly turning into raging fire—fierce, merciless, penetrating everywhere. In the blink of an eye, it consumed three hundred li of sky; the drifting bluish-white cloud was instantly engulfed.

The cloud turned crimson, like a burning sky.

The thunderous drumbeats ceased abruptly. Then screams erupted from within the cloud—figures could not withstand the Summon Wind technique; their bodies were torn apart, their souls ignited by heart-fire, vanishing without resistance.

Some lesser spirits tumbled from the cloud, blazing with fire, but before they could strike Taihu, they turned to charcoal mid-air—wind blew them into mere ash.

"Fools shouldn't have joined. Just step aside," Li Yi observed calmly. He felt much quieter now.

The heart-fire still burned; the gale still raged.

The bluish-white cloud began to dissipate, revealing chaos—the fire had left them disarmed, broken, and slaughtered.

Yet several figures broke through the flames, emerging into the sky and landing on Taihu. Even so, they were all covered in soot, reeking of char, some still smoldering—flames they could not extinguish. They were forced to sever parts of their own bodies to escape the heat, finally finding relief.

"Is this the same fire that burned Marshal Wang Qijun alive in the capital? I dismissed it before, but now I see its power—my elite troops are all dead, even my veteran bearers who fought beside me for decades didn't survive."

A man, soot-covered yet still majestic, gripped a coiled-dragon spear, his eyes filled with rare shock.

He was none other than the Marquis of the Champion, Zhao Zhen Shan—his real name, not Zhao, granted the imperial surname for his great merits.

"This fire isn't just powerful—it's terrifying. Three hundred li of flame—who can withstand it? I nearly perished in it. Fortunately, Taiyi True Person's magic didn't target me directly—I'm not sure I'd have survived otherwise." A middle-aged man in blue robes, his beard burned to cinders, his body partially missing.

Clearly, he had sacrificed part of his body to resist the fire—but his form was visibly regenerating.

His identity was no ordinary one: a thousand-year-old pine spirit, known as Qing Song, enshrined as the Mountain God of Shoushan, receiving mortal incense.

A lesser spirit elevated to a true deity, with a thousand years of cultivation—such beings were exceedingly rare.

"I knew the man we were to face together would be no ordinary foe. Where is the White Water Goddess? This is her domain—why hasn't she emerged to extinguish this fire?" A general in armor, wielding a long blade, his tiger-like eyes scanning the surroundings.

Aside from Li Yi, the White Water Goddess was nowhere to be seen.

"She's probably dead. Didn't you notice Taiyi True Person holds the Son of Heaven's Sword? I recognize it—Shanque, Emperor Yingzong's blade. He lost it to the White Water Goddess in a wager while boating on Taihu and had to throw it into the lake. Now that Shanque is in Taiyi True Person's hands, the situation is obvious."

The speaker was a young man in black brocade robes—Hei Shan Jun, a tiger spirit who had cultivated into a deity. Yet as he looked at Li Yi, his gaze held no hostility, only respect and reverence.

"The White Water Goddess is dead?" Marquis Zhao Zhen Shan's face darkened. "Wasn't she supposed to wait here for us?"

"She must have grown impatient, trying to protect her shrine. But who knew that drawing the Son of Heaven's Sword would still get her killed? Taiyi True Person is truly unfathomable," Qing Song Dao Ren said gravely.

Not just him.

The others felt the same.

After all, he had incinerated their entire retinue without even letting them show their faces—and even they barely escaped with their lives.

Such power was exceedingly rare in the world.

"You're not leaving? Do you wish to die too?" On the golden auspicious clouds, Li Yi regarded them with calm indifference.

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

Hei Shan Jun was clearly the black tiger from the emperor's side, now in human form, ready to betray his allies at the critical moment.

Poor fools—they were still clueless.

With the White Water Goddess already gone, the remaining three were already doomed before the battle even began.

This was a fight with virtually no chance of victory. Once these men died, the world would tremble—no incense deity would dare openly challenge Li Yi again, unless the Yin Emperor himself intervened.

But the Yin Emperor shared the fate of the state—he would never risk himself so lightly.