Chapter 993 - Secret

Amid the chaos of Baiyu Capital, Li Huowang felt the space around him growing unstable. This disturbance didn’t stem from his cultivation of the “Truth.” It came from the influence of the Three Ancient Ones.

Li Huowang felt that the Three Ancient Ones were very close to him right now.

A snarl crossed his face as he remembered what the Three Ancient Ones did last time. He gripped his blade and swung forward, but his blade did nothing, even though he could feel the strands in front of him.

A gunshot rang out as Li Huowang prepared to use a different attack against the Three Ancient Ones. Something in front of Li Huowang trembled and flashed briefly.

What appeared was a massive being with no end. It looked like an amoeba with faint flashing lights.

In that fleeting moment, Li Huowang realized that this being was entirely composed of interwoven secrets.

Li Huowang read the secrets, and they unraveled in his mind without conscious effort. Having grasped all the secrets, He started to learn what the Tree Ancient Ones had tried to take from his body. However, before he could fully comprehend, a scorching heat grazed his head.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out. Li Huowang felt his sweat dripping down his chin but didn’t have time to register what was happening—the Three Ancient Ones was trying to run away!

“Nana, chase after him! Your attack is working!” Li Huowang shouted, running to chase after the Three Ancient Ones.

As he ran, Li Huowang scanned his surroundings to ensure the Three Ancient Ones did not lay any traps for them. Qing Wanglai must’ve come prepared, as he wouldn’t have appeared in front of Li Huowang without a reason.

Yang Na drove past Li Huowang with her motorbike. She stopped a few meters in front of Li Huowang and started shooting the space before her.

“Attack now! I blocked him!”

“Good!” Li Huowang lunged for the Three Ancient Ones while Yang Na continued shooting.

Splat!

The blade, which was stained with Li Huowang’s blood, had successfully wounded the Three Ancient Ones. Secrets continuously leaked out.

The Three Ancient Ones reacted instantly, fragmenting into countless pieces that scattered in every direction. Li Huowang refused to let him escape after finally landing a blow. He chased after one fragment, shouting, “Nana!”

Yang Na looped back on her motorbike, and Li Huowang hauled himself onto the seat behind her. As they closed the distance, Li Huowang finally sensed the leaking secrets. One small secret, no larger than a ping-pong ball, struck Li Huowang’s blind eye.

A chill swept through him as a scene flashed in his mind: an old, blind Daoist sat cross-legged before a statue of the Three Ancient Ones, kowtowing reverently.

The Daoist was whispering, but his trembling voice echoed clearly in Li Huowang’s ears. “Supreme One, I’ve overheard a secret. I don’t know if it’s true, but I beseech you to reveal the answer.

“Why is everyone suffering? Why do Natural Disasters plague us? Why are there so many sects?

“I found a jade tablet, which revealed the answer to me.”

The old Daoist’s eyes dilated with fear, his voice trembling as if he could not believe what he would say next. “It’s... it’s because this is our karma! We're not in the world of the living, but rather the world of the dead! We’re not humans—we’re ghosts repaying karmic debts!

“The process of reincarnation has stopped because Da Nuo has gone mad. That’s why everything is so twisted right now. Humans aren’t humans, and ghosts aren’t ghosts.”

The old Daoist chuckled weakly, as if he had used up all his strength. “Supreme One. If we’re all ghosts, how can we cultivate and ascend to immortality?”

The scene faded. When Li Huowang snapped back, he realized he was back in the Baiyu Capital.

“What’s going on? Is that why the world is so crazy? Is it because the Liang Kingdom used to be the underworld?!”

He recalled the Flesh Buddha of the Righteous Monastery, the Bodhisattva composed of flies in the Benevolent Nunnery, and the charred Sacrificial God of the Ao Jing Sect. He realized that it made sense.

The strange revelation stunned him and gave the Three Ancient Ones more time to escape.

Li Huowang shook his head and cursed. It was a secret, but it could be fake. It might not be the truth.

This was Qing Wanglai’s attempt to shake him off. It was something that only the Three Ancient Ones could do.

Li Huowang saw him escaping and knew that there was no time. Who knew where the Three Ancient Ones would lead him?

He stood up and launched himself from the back of the motorbike.

Just a short distance away from the Three Ancient Ones, he materialized Peng Longteng and used her halberd to throw him even farther.

It was more than enough. Li Huowang raised his blade and stabbed the Three Ancient Ones ruthlessly.

He stabbed numerous times until the Three Ancient Ones almost dissipated. Suddenly, the Three Ancient Ones lashed out with threads, using them to grab Li Huowang’s head and force it upwards.

Li Huowang froze when he saw what was on top of him. The Baiyu Capital was supposed to be chaotic, without any darkness or light.

Now, there was something different above him. The very same iridescent black liquid that had submerged the Qi Kingdom had appeared.

The strange, oily, iridescent color now stained the skies of the Baiyu Capital.

Li Huowang hadn’t forgotten where he was. He was still within the Baiyu Capital, and Fu Shengtian somehow turned a portion of it into itself.

This time, there was a noticeable difference. In the past, it had only tried to squeeze through a crack. Now, it had fully incorporated a chunk of it into itself. In fact, half of the Baiyu Capital’s sky—if it could even be called that—had been assimilated.

In the strange, iridescent darkness, the color pumped like a heartbeat, as if it was nurturing a terrifying lifeform.