Chapter 694: Scholar

Chapter 694: Scholar

Li Huowang had lost all hue.

He looked down at his now grayscale self, then he drew a dagger and slashed his palm. Black blood flowed out instead of red.

This wasn’t just an illusion but rather some strange supernatural power from a sect.

An elderly voice rang in Li Huowang’s ears. “Yu Qing captures the essence, Da Fan divides the spirit, Yuan Gang flows and evolves, Xing Zhu stabilizes the realm, Chang Yang dispels Yin, Zhong Yuan conceals shadows!”

Then even the black and gray shades on Li Huowang gradually faded, turning an eerie white. His facial features blurred and distorted as the colors drained away.

Li Huowang turned towards the voice and saw an old scholar with a black beard. He wore a silk hat and a purple robe embroidered with green patterns.

One of his hands rested near a sword at his waist, another hand held a feather fan, and a third painted quickly on a scroll suspended in mid-air.

Li Huowang didn’t know which sect or faction this three-handed scholar belonged to, but the black cloth on his shoulder made it clear whose side he was on. There was no need for conversation.

The Dragon Vein was evidently guarded, which was as expected.

Swoosh!

Li Huowang raised his spine sword and swung it forcefully, sending a rift flying towards the scholar.

The rift was spraying a strange liquid from the Great Qi.

Clang!

Nevertheless, a massive guandao[1] with a black tassel swiftly sliced the rift apart.

It was the act of an eight-foot-tall general. He stood imposingly as he pointed menacingly at Li Huowang with two fingers.

“Ha! You rogue, you dare to provoke me?! Shameless scoundrel, do you think a crow can occupy a phoenix’s nest? Who do you think you are, pushing forward with all your schemes?”

Li Huowang thought this was an Immortal Soldier at first, but when the general moved, Li Huowang noticed he was as thin as paper. It was as if the general had just stepped out of a painting. Furthermore, his body only had black and white colors.

Li Huowang studied the scholar’s brush and understood the general’s origin.

“Sink!” Li Huowang roared.

In despair, the old scholar watched Li Huowang raise his spine sword. Then Xuan Pin suddenly appeared beside the scholar and swiftly waved his sleeve across, taking off the scholar’s head.

The scholar’s body crumpled to the ground. This left Li Huowang feeling frustrated, like he was punching air.

“Go deal with the Dragon Vein. Leave the rest to us,” Xuan Pin said.

Li Huowang barked, “Where were you!? I had almost finished him off by the time you showed up!”

He was reminded of his classmate stealing a win from him back in a game.

“Don’t think I wasn’t busy. The fact you could duel leisurely with this scholar of Minglun Hall meant we blocked the other troubles for you.”

Li Huowang looked at the chaos around him and had no time to argue. He turned back towards the distant quagmire.

With the old scholar dead, the colors near the pit returned to normal. Li Huowang made haste. He drew his bronze coin sword and hurled it at the stone pillars pinning the Dragon Vein.

The sword extended like a whip and coiled around a pillar.

“Rise!” Li Huowang bellowed and yanked the massive pillar free.

Accompanied by the dragon’s roar, the Dragon Vein struggled even more violently.

Li Huowang saw hope, and he continued to pull out the remaining pillars.

One by one, the pillars were uprooted, and the first Dragon Vein began to rise from the mud.

He noticed the panicked expression of the emperor atop the Dragon Vein. Li Huowang was rather stumped. Did the Dharma Sect not control the Dragon Vein like Shai Zi had previously? Was it because they couldn’t control it?

Nevertheless, it was a piece of good news. They had rescued the Dragon Vein, and the Dharma Sect hadn’t found a way to control it yet.

It made Li Huowang happy to witness this, as he did not need to battle the Dragon Vein.

Li Huowang was about to speak to the chubby emperor. However, the frightened emperor was dragged along the Dragon Vein and then sent flying into the sky in terror.

1. A Chinese polearm. ☜