Chapter 976 - Switch

“Li... wake... up...”

Li Huowang's trembled all over. He stumbled backward, his eyes wide with disbelief as though confronted by a monstrous beast. His gaze darted to Yi Donglai, panic written across his face. “What did you just say?!”

“What?” Yi Donglai frowned, confused by Li Huowang's outburst.

“It wasn’t you? Didn’t you just speak?”

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

“No,” Yi Donglai replied firmly.

“If it wasn’t you, then there’s only one explanation. That voice... it was Gao Zhijian’s! This is bad. He’s in danger!” Li Huowang exclaimed, his voice rising sharply.

“Dr. Yi! Think of something! Hurry, find a way to send me back! Gao Zhijian is the Dragon Vein, and he’s my junior! He can’t be in danger!” Desperation gripped Li Huowang as he lunged forward, grabbing Yi Donglai by the collar.

“I haven’t even started treating you yet! How can I make you experience delusions again?!” Yi Donglai staggered back with a trace of fear in his eyes.

Li Huowang stood anxiously, his mind racing for a solution.

Suddenly, he stopped and shouted, “I don’t care who you are! If you dare touch the Dragon Vein of Great Liang. Try it if you have the guts!”

“Hahaha~” A piercing laugh echoed, causing Li Huowang’s ears to throb painfully.

However, Li Huowang ignored the pain entirely. He looked up at Zhao Shuangdian. “Check your computer! See if it’s someone from Fu Shengtian attacking!”

Zhao Shuangdian slowly shook her head. “Senior Li, I’m fine. No one is threatening me.”

Li Huowang froze and stared blankly at Zhao Shuangdian.

“No threats? There’s no one from the Tianchen Kingdom threatening Gao Zhijian right now. Then whose voice was that just now?”

Li Huowang looked back hesitantly at Yi Donglai.

Was it his voice? Why would he want to wake me up? Could it be that I’m not actually awake right now?

Or... could it be that the world I’m perceiving now is fake?

“Wake...” The harsh voice returned, causing Li Huowang to wince in pain as he clutched his ears.

Ba Nanxu laughed again, sounding extremely unpleasant. Li Huowang had never seen her laugh so much before.

“No... Something’s wrong! Why is she laughing? Ba-Hui, you who controls pain, why are you laughing?! What are you laughing at?!” Li Huowang lunged forward, pinning her down.

“What are you doing? You’re going mad.”

“Let her go!”

“So troublesome.”

The others rushed to restrain him, struggling to pull him away. But as he stared into Ba Nanxu’s face, a realization struck him like lightning. “I understand now! I finally know why you’re laughing! Somewhere, something extremely painful is bringing you joy! Ba-Hui, I understand you! Because I used to do the same thing!”

The kind of agony that could make Ba-Hui laugh like this was no ordinary pain—it was something unimaginable.

Ba Nanxu didn’t seem angry at being pinned down. She merely smirked, her laughter taunting him. “Hahaha, trying to entertain me? You’re just a high school student, so that’s a tall order.”

“Cut the crap! What are you doing? Answer me! What happened, and where? Where is this pain coming from?!”

Li Huowang was about to look around. However, the entire study and everyone in it turned into piles of sand, scattering across the floor.

Gao Zhijian stood nearby, staring at the frantic Li Huowang with wide eyes. “Senior Li... are you okay?”

He was back. Somehow, the scene had switched again.

“Shh... wait a second... Let me think! Li Huowang's expression showed torment. He raised both hands and repeatedly hit his own head, trying to use the pain to clear his mind.

As his head began to bleed, his figure flickered and disappeared, only to reappear before Gao Zhijian once again.

“Where are the fifteen Dragon Veins now? They haven’t been sent away yet, right?!”

“Not yet. Senior Li, only you can deliver them. They’re still coiled at the imperial temple. Why are you asking about the Dragon Veins?”

“I’m going to the Baiyu Capital! I need to figure out what’s going on here!” Li Huowang shouted hysterically. He grabbed Gao Zhijian by the shoulders and, with one swift step, returned to the imperial city of the Great Liang.

They were now before the imperial temple. Li Huowang slammed his hands against the ground and roared.

A deafening crash followed, and an enormous bronze tree erupted from the earth, shattering the temple as it rose. The writhing Dragon Veins were hung around it.

Six arms grew from Li Huowang.

He chanted and began to activate the Dragon-Slaying Immortal-Killing Array.

The invisible Dragon Qi swirled around him, gradually being absorbed into his body. The Dragon Qi had once transformed everything it touched into dragons. Now, it had no effect on Li Huowang, who was very proficient in his “Truth” cultivation.

With a powerful stomp, Li Huowang shot toward the heavens while surrounded by Dragon Qi. He pierced through the clouds and the stars beyond, breaking into the outer world.

Strange, indescribable, and grotesque creatures emerged from the vastness of space as he journeyed among the stars.

When Li Huowang arrived, these chaotic beings all turned to look at him.

However, they seemed to sense something and quickly vanished. A colorless jade tablet was suspended in the void, drawing in the chaotic beings.

The tablet seemed to be tethered to something deep in the extreme darkness. The tablet rose and fell as those formless beings writhed and flowed.

Through its doorway, Li Huowang saw something moving inside the Baiyu Capital. Many things were moving. The Simings of Baiyu Capital were all there!

Wrapped in Dragon Qi, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and charged inside.

However, to his shock, as he passed through the hole in the jade tablet, he came out the other side.

What?! How can this be?!

Suspended in mid-air, Li Huowang looked at the massive, mountain-like Ox Tail Gate before him. He could not believe that there was now a day when he couldn’t enter.

He had been able to enter when he had followed Dan Yangzi, but he was now barred from entering.

“Let me in! I’m Ji Zai!” Li Huowang roared, then charged toward the Ox Tail Gate again.

This time, just as he was about to enter again, everything around him became transparent. A strange sense of stasis enveloped his entire self.

Li Huowang once more found himself ejected from the other side of the Ox Tail Gate.