novelraw Chapter 323 - 296: A Stick of Incense
Chapter 323 - 296: A Stick of Incense
Having made up his mind, Lu Jiangxian gently tugged at the fine threads in the void, reflecting dazzling white rays of light. He murmured:
"Li Xuanling is in Bianyan Mountain... Li Tongya is on the way to the North..."
With a gesture of a spell cast with his hand, Li Tongya, thousands of miles away, immediately gained enlightenment. Without changing his expression, he altered his direction, swiftly flying towards Bianyan Mountain. Lu Jiangxian silently watched the father and son, feeling inexplicably complex in his heart.
"Li Xuanling is already doomed, only by killing Li Xuanling to achieve Magehood, will Furious Moha begin to merge with that body of Fa Hui... According to the arrangements of the various Zifu, after the death of Li Xuanling, there should still be a period of Fa Hui moving North, and Li Tongya’s part in the chase..."
"However, the longer the delay, the tighter the fusion between Fa Hui and Furious Moha. With full-force intervention, the likelihood of Li Tongya surviving decreases, and the farther to the North, the more he escapes my field of vision... It would be best if Li Xuanling could hold on a little longer and intercept Fa Hui at Bianyan Mountain during the breakthrough!"
As he was lost in thought, there was a sudden jerk in the void. Lu Jiangxian quickly raised his hand, staring intently at the myriad of tangled and intertwined threads of various colors in the void. With a light touch of his finger, he whispered softly:
"Stay calm and composed, endure for the duration of an incense stick."
Having spoken, he summoned all his mana, concentratedly gazing at the thin lines in the void, silently calculating.
————
"Clang!"
Li Xuanling drew his sword to block the iron fist hurled by Fa Hui, creating a grating sound of clashing metal. He took several steps back, the sword Qi splintering a nearby pillar, leaving it riddled with holes. Li Xuanling was sweating profusely, feeling as if there was fire burning in his organs; he couldn’t help but vomit a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Hiss...hiss..."
Before the blood even touched the ground, it had turned into a cloud of golden mist, joining the golden mists wafting throughout the courtyard. As Fa Hui raised his elegantly lined arms, a series of punches bombarded Li Xuanling’s Dharma Shield.
Thanks to the invigorating cool breeze, Li Xuanling’s mind cleared, no longer confused by Fa Hui’s spells. He prepared to soar into the wind, thinking to himself:
"Although I cannot escape, having the high ground will allow me to last a little longer..."
Little did he know that the golden mist, like parasitic maggots, clung to his Dharma Shield. For a moment, Li Xuanling felt his body heavy as if his feet were weighed down with immense iron, his movements ceased a mere foot off the ground. Fa Hui seized the opportunity to leap up and with a palm strike, sent him crashing down.
"Thud!"
Li Xuanling smashed into the wall of the hall, dust-covered and disheveled. Fa Hui chuckled lightly, stepping forward and said with a smile:
"Once I kill you and breakthrough to become a Mage, I’ll then hunt down your whale dragon of a father and kill him too, achieving Compassion and certifying Maha."
"Certifying Maha..."
Li Xuanling, struck down by him, felt his organs shake, his gathered mana dispersed, originally powerless to fight any further. Upon hearing his words, he gnashed his teeth in anger, and out of nowhere, found new strength. He reached for his Storage Bag at his waist and flicked out five Talismans.
Thanks to Li Xuanxuan’s endless nights of drawing Talismans, Li Xuanling had many at his disposal. Two at the Fetal Breathing Peak, three at the early stage of Qi Cultivation—they transformed into flames and ice storms, lightning and poison mist, exploding all at once on Fa Hui.
Fa Hui may have awakened his memories, but they were largely fragmented, and he had little experience in spell battles, even less so in battles with Cultivators. Caught off guard by the five Talismans, he quickly raised a golden light to block.
Those two Fetal Breathing Peak Talismans were hard to ward off, the initial Qi Cultivation Talismans were solidly hitting his body, exploding upon his Dharma Body covered in golden patterns, forcing him to step back. Li Xuanling’s face turned pale, also shaken by the remnants of the Spell, once again spitting out fresh blood.
Fortunately, Fa Hui had already retreated. Li Xuanling flipped over, pulling away with a pale face, back and forth, thus gaining a few dozen breaths more time.
Fa Hui brushed off the dust from his body and, looking straight at Li Xuanling, he laughed,
"You are indeed much stronger than these Taoists, perhaps it is the distinction in memory between those mixed Qi Cultivators and pure Qi Cultivators... In our Buddhist Practitioners’ ranks, we also have this distinction. With just a brief confrontation, we can know whether or not what’s obtained is the Orthodox Law."
Li Xuanling didn’t care at all about the monk’s rambling madness, his mind racing, only thinking about delaying this monk for a while longer. He shouted,
"I also understand some, the Orthodox Law of Buddhist Practitioners is indeed those worlds of indulgence, Ultimate Bliss worlds. As for someone like you, who kills people like scything flax, that’s no Orthodox Law at all!"
As expected, upon hearing this, the monk froze for several breaths, staring at Li Xuanling with a smile that was not quite a smile, fingers shaping a spell, he said coldly,
"You’ve seen Murong Xia!"
Not waiting for his response, Fa Hui nodded to himself, the complex patterns and golden lines on his body getting denser. Merely taking a step forward, he instantly crossed over a dozen feet, directly grabbing Li Xuanling by the throat and furiously said,
"Having seen is good! Now you ask yourself, why, regardless of gender or age, wicked or good, can all enjoy pleasures in his land!? Those who are evil should suffer all sorts of punishment and die in agony, whereas only the good deserve to be consumed by us. Tell me, is it so or not?! Tell me, is it so?!"
His eyes ablaze with golden light, his skin radiating a bronzed glow, between his palms was the extinguishing Mana, faintly carrying a constricting intent. Accompanied by the words of Fa Hui, lines of golden Talisman Script emerged, locking Li Xuanling tightly.
Li Xuanling’s face turned red, but luckily, as a Qi Cultivator, he wouldn’t suffocate to death in a moment or two, and he barely managed to retort,
"What a fine ’only the good deserve to be consumed by you’."
Fa Hui was fury incarnate, disbelieving the answer he got from Li Xuanling’s mouth, grinding his teeth he said,
"Still don’t know how to be grateful?!"
Suddenly, Fa Hui raised his hand and threw with all his might; Li Xuanling flew like a cannonball, striking hard against the top of the hall. The hall, already riddled with damage from their battle, collapsed with a thunderous crash.
"Boom—"
A cloud of grey-white dust rose suddenly, broken tiles and wood fragments raining down like a storm, darkening the hall that had been somber for who knew how long, until it finally fell. Debris of bricks, tiles, and wood were everywhere, and Li Xuanling, with who knew how many bones shattered, lay on the steps in front of the demolished hall like a lump of flesh.
At the doorway, one of the two majestic and solemn statues was shattered on the ground, the other had lost its limbs, leaving only a solitary head standing on the floor. Drops of rainwater fell from the finely polished face of the stone statue, dropping into a pale blood-red puddle.
The signboard that had been hanging from the roof, covered by tattered cloths, finally fell down, clanging before him. The cloth fluttered in the wind, revealing the gilded characters underneath.
"Zhen Hui Observatory... "
The gilded letters shone into his eyes like the sun, Li Xuanling’s cheek split open, his mouth expressing an extremely ugly smile as he expelled a few words.
"An incense stick... burned out."