Chapter 299: Suppressing the Serpent

Li Li Xuanling was dead.

The torrential rain was still falling, washing away the blood flowing everywhere. Crows cried miserably in the heavy rain. The sign for "Zhenhui Temple" lay broken into three pieces on the ground, scattered in disarray.

Fahui knelt on the ground, leaning forward. His figure's lines were washed by the rain, appearing as agile as a tiger. He supported Li Li Xuanling, breathing heavily from a distance of three inches. The golden talismans in his palms lit up one by one. Li Li Xuanling beneath him had already stopped moving.

"Hoo..."

Fahui breathed deeply. His secret techniques were triggered, and golden light flickered in his eyes; he was about to swallow Li Li Xuanling's Fate.

"The ninth life... the ninth life... the Jinlian Mohe of the ninth life."

As Fahui inhaled, Li Li Xuanling's Fate and cultivation surged out. The Profound Pearl Talisman Seed in Li Li Xuanling's Qi Sea acupoint was incomparably overbearing. It was preparing to draw Li Li Xuanling's Fate and cultivation to wander the spirit, so how could it be willing to give it to him?

The Profound Pearl Talisman Seed immediately rolled up Li Li Xuanling's cultivation and Fate to leave. Fahui was merely a Jinlian Mohe reincarnation; naturally, he could not compete with it. He continued to cast his spell, looking as if he would end up empty-handed.

"Not good!"

Fortunately, Lu Lu Jiangxian had been watching closely. Ten thousand miles away, he tapped his fingers lightly. The Profound Pearl Talisman Seed's movement was suppressed by him. It hummed and buzzed, dispersing this cultivation and Fate, and fled into the void alone.

It would be a heaven-shaking flaw if Li Li Xuanling could not absorb the Fate under the eyes of the Early Zifu cultivators. He hurriedly controlled the Profound Pearl Talisman Seed to release the Fate and cultivation, and conveniently wiped away the parts of Li Li Xuanling's memory related to the Dharma Mirror to prevent any mishaps. The main body then quickly fled back into the mirror.

"Damn it..."

The Talisman Seed he had planted for decades was lost. Lu Lu Jiangxian cursed in a low voice. Although a Qi Refining level Talisman Seed was of little use to him now, it was still a small loss. He secretly thought:

"Take the Qi Refining cultivation if you want, but as for Li Li Tongya... don't even think about it!"

Fahui here cast a spell and shouted loudly. White ribbons surged from the void, fresh and pleasant, like smoke and mist, flowing into his mouth and nose. He swallowed a mouthful and felt sweet springs surging under his tongue, his limbs burning hot.

"This venerable one has obtained the Dharma!"

Rays of colorful light suddenly appeared behind his head. The copper-colored marks on his body became increasingly profound, and his eyes shone brightly, like two pearls in the dim rain curtain.

"Plop."

As Fahui rode the wind and rose, releasing his body, Li Li Xuanling fell back to the ground with a thud. His eyes were wide open, staring fixedly at the sky, gradually reflecting a grey-robed figure that grew larger and larger, quickly landing in front of the temple.

"Splash..."

Grey, ordinary cloth shoes stepped into the rain puddle. The pale red rainwater quickly retreated, just enough to leave a space for one foot. The black-grey robes billowed lightly in the wind. Li Li Tongya stopped his steps.

"Ling'er..."

The Early Zifu cultivators from all sides took action, and Lu Lu Jiangxian guided silently from ten thousand miles away, compromising and restraining each other, just in time for Li Li Tongya to arrive, allowing the father to watch his eldest son die before his eyes.

Li Li Tongya's grey-white beard fluttered lightly in the air. His expression was slightly dazed. His right hand pressed on his sword, and the rainwater beneath his feet surged incessantly, climbing up his robes.

"Whale Serpent? You came quite fast."

Fahui stared at him with golden eyes. He felt an itch in his throat and could not help but cough loudly, coughing until the sky turned dark. He knelt on one knee, laughing while coughing, and spat out two white, sharp teeth with a 'pfft'.

As soon as these two teeth hit the ground, their color rapidly deepened into dark gold, and their shapes quickly elongated and deformed, transforming into two short sticks covered in patterns. With a 'bang', they smashed two large pits full of cracks into the ground.

"Hahahahaha."

Fahui picked up the two patterned short sticks, wiped the blood off them, held one in each hand, and laughed:

"I ask you, why must you be like this? Isn't his death at my hands something you personally facilitated?"

Li Li Tongya remained silent. The surging rainwater had already condensed into two pale cyan serpents coiling and dancing at his sides. The old man stared silently at the monk in front of him. Fahui did not dodge or avoid, looking him in the eye calmly.

"You know I want to eat you, and you also know I would use your clansmen to lure you out."

Anger rose in Fahui's golden eyes. The patterns on the two short sticks lit up bit by bit. He spat out Sanskrit sounds:

"It's just that you didn't know who I would use to lure you out... so you deliberately sent Li Li Xuanling north, sacrificing your own child... It was also caused by Fate, allowing me to eat him and break through to become a Dharma Master. I really should thank you!"

Fahui stared at Li Li Tongya and indeed saw a flash of annoyance and regret. His lingering doubts vanished, and he laughed:

"I don't know where you got the news, to come so fast. Fortunately, my previous life had precautions and set up supernatural power disturbances, so I wasn't interrupted in achieving this life's success."

"You are quite bold. Knowing you were targeted by the Jinlian Mohe, you actually wanted to use your child to lure me out. Yet you were trapped by my supernatural power and were a moment too slow. Now that you feel regret in your heart, I fear it is beyond words!"

Fahui's combination with the Wrathful Jinlian Mohe became increasingly tight, and the golden light in his eyes shot out in all directions. He wanted to say more to stall for time, but a white light suddenly lit up in the mountains.

Li Li Tongya drew his sword.

The cyan-white Mount Qingchi Sword suddenly left its sheath, bringing out a vast white sword light, as large as a ship's sail, whistling as it arrived. It illuminated the surroundings in a vast expanse of white. The statue fragments, temple ruins, and rain puddles on the stone slabs were all shrouded by the white light.

"Good!"

Fahui let out an angry shout, holding a short staff in both hands as he charged forward. The golden patterns on his body shimmered, winding intricately along his graceful lines, erupting with thick golden light that collided with the white light between heaven and earth.

Who would have thought that the white sword light was extremely agile, flickering between large and small. It feinted, drilled beneath him, and drifted around to his upper arm, landing lightly.

"Clang!"

The "Moon Palace Sword Canon" was inherently most ferocious in this opening stance, and it was executed with the Green Ruler Sword. In an instant, golden light burst forth, and Fahui's left arm fell off cleanly. He raised an eyebrow and laughed:

"So it is Sword Essence... Good!"

Though he said this, Fahui's remaining right hand hurriedly went to catch the left hand. Suddenly, his vision brightened as three rays of white flowing light emerged, each floating up and down, heading toward his heart, the center of his brow, and his lower abdomen.

"Pfft...!"

Fahui had only just broken through to become a Dharma Master. Li Li Tongya was wielding the Moon Palace Sword Essence with the Green Ruler Sword; each sword light possessed its own spiritual consciousness. How could he possibly resist? Pierced by the three rays of Moon Flowing Light, small holes were left through his body at his heart, brow, and abdomen.

"Hit!"

Before Fahui's body could even hit the ground, the Sword Essence, like a mountain collapse or a tsunami, rushed toward him. Cutting through him like vegetables, in a few breaths, it hacked him into a pile of fragments.

"Li Li Tongya."

For a moment, the entire ruin was covered in white skin and flesh. Only half of Fahui's face remained, landing squarely on the fallen puppet of mud and clay. His vermilion lips opened and closed, and he laughed:

"Since I have inherited the fate of Li Li Xuanling, I must ask you something."

Li Li Tongya's expression did not change. The long sword in his hand emitted a crystalline, translucent blue-white glow. The various limbs on the ground showed neither blood nor organs; they were like sticky dough, growing hands and feet and running around, sticking to each other. That mouth landed between the palms of the mud puppet, still crying out:

"By what right? When Jia Jia Nixi marched east back then, it was I who rescued Li Li Jingtian. It was I who took her deep into the enemy camp, weaving through the various East Shanyue tribes, serving as a slave and a laborer. It was I who brought her out, I who preserved her purity, and I who saved my own life so that I would not become a handle for others..."

That half-face twitched, the red mouth opening and closing, revealing bright white, sharp teeth, emitting sounds of lamentation:

"In terms of intellect, where am I inferior to Li Li Xuanxuan? In terms of methods, I am even several notches stronger than him! In terms of talent and cultivation, Li Li Xuanxuan couldn't catch up to me even if he whipped his horse!! By what right!"

That mouth opened and closed, emitting no divine abilities or magic arts, nor using any curses or witchcraft, yet it caused Li Li Tongya's unchanging expression to move as if a snow mountain were collapsing.

"Father! By what right was he the head of the family for twenty-eight years! By what right was it I who married the daughter of an enemy, remained unknown, and obediently went to my death!"

(End of chapter)