Chapter 297
Strangely enough.
How could this small hand, which wields a sword to slay demons, feel so fragrant and soft when held in the palm?
In the end, it was Li Mo who was reluctant to let go.
Ying Bing lowered her gaze to the boy. From his often youthful and cheerful face, she saw a determination and resolve that was different from his usual self.
As long as Han Zhen lives, the crisis in Qingmu City remains unsolvable.
As long as Han Zhen lives, there will always be someone eyeing the Nine Souls of the Nine-Colored Phoenix, leading to endless troubles.
But Han Zhen is not alone; behind him are the Huanmo Sect and the remnants of the Great Shang.
"He's just the national master of the Great Shang."
"I want to give it a shot, to achieve everything in one go."
Li Mo didn’t show his usual sunny smile.
Instead, he imitated Bing Tuozi’s expression, looking cool and composed.
Bing Tuozi’s face, the little Li version.
"Copying me?"
Ying Bing pulled her hand back with a huff, then reached out to pinch his face, squishing his cool demeanor into various silly shapes, as if she were molding a big-headed doll.
But as she looked at her classmate’s bright and handsome face being twisted into funny forms, she couldn’t help but laugh, the ice melting from her beautiful features.
"Then I can’t leave even more."
"Huh?"
"The soldiers rely on you; how can you not have someone to rely on?"
Ying Bing tugged at his face as she spoke.
"Bing Tuozi..."
She sobered up, and Li Mo noticed the seriousness in her expression, his heart skipping a beat.
This sentence translates to...
I can be your support, right?
And she said it so earnestly.
Why does it feel so powerful when Bing Tuozi says such things in her cool, detached manner?
"Let’s go back for now."
Li Mo thought it over.
Since he had decided to give it his all, he needed to adjust his state to its peak from this moment on.
He really needed a quiet place.
He had been too busy since comprehending the Jindouyun (Somersault Cloud).
He hadn’t even had the chance to continue working on the "Wukong Seeking the Way" diagram.
........
In the main military tent.
Qu Sheng had finally finished laying out the battle plan for the next day with the other generals.
As the commanders went off to handle military affairs, he sat alone in his position, polishing a long spear that hadn’t been used in years.
As an external martial artist, he hadn’t fought personally in a long time.
After a lifetime of battles, he had accumulated many lingering injuries and hidden wounds, and as the commander, he couldn’t charge into battle alongside the soldiers.
Unless absolutely necessary.
While polishing the spearhead, he seemed to recall something and asked his bodyguard:
"Where are Li Shaoxia and Han Xianzi?"
"Commander, they’ve already left the camp."
"Mm, it’s good they’ve gone..."
Qu Sheng murmured to himself, seemingly relieved.
He looked down at the old spear, now shining as if new, reflecting his weary eyes in the candlelight.
Once upon a time, those eyes were full of vigor, weren’t they?
As he picked up the spear again, he felt as if he were gazing into the past, momentarily lost in thought.
........
At the Jiawei Tavern, in the same private room.
Now, every household on the street had closed their doors, and the streets were deserted. Even the sugar painting stall was nowhere to be seen. The tavern owner, missing an arm, had joined the militia to help transport supplies.
Inside the private room, it was eerily quiet.
The light of the Jade Phoenix God was especially bright and mystical tonight.
One could feel it.
Bing Tuozi was about to take another step on the path of the Hundred Birds Phoenix.
Li Mo watched her for a moment before taking out the "Wukong Seeking the Way" diagram.
Finally, he could continue the evolution of this ultimate form.
Perhaps calling it the ultimate form wasn’t entirely accurate.
The divine powers imprinted on his consciousness in this diagram were unlike any other divine intent he had observed; they were merely preserved in the form of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Divine Diagram.
If the ultimate form was like this...
What about the divine forms of the Great Dao?
Li Mo’s eyes shone with determined light as he took out the Liujin Zao Hua Seal.
This small seal, containing boundless mysteries, was known as the seal of creation, and it slowly pressed down onto the diagram.
Buzz—
In that instant, as the seal pressed down, the stone monkey divine pattern on Li Mo’s consciousness emitted a sound only he could hear, a deep, resonant hum, as if it were connecting with the rapidly evolving elements within the diagram.
It seemed to be quite 'excited'?
Just like the excitement in Li Mo’s heart.
The tadpole patterns, like golden flames, burned the "Wukong Seeking the Way" diagram to ashes, transforming into wisps of pale golden light that merged into Li Mo’s consciousness, at that moment within the divine pattern.
In his eyes.
A crimson-gold flame began to spread.
"Huh?"
Ying Bing gently opened her eyes and looked at the boy with his back to her.
She saw him sitting there, seemingly in a trance.
But she also felt...
He had become somewhat different?
Ying Bing could only vaguely sense it; she couldn’t see the images in Li Mo’s eyes.
Breath after breath gathered.
It felt as if Li Mo’s consciousness had left his body, entering another realm.
He looked up.
He saw a heavenly scene, a thousand times more real, grand, and mystical than in his small world, standing above the white clouds.
The figures standing on the cloud were not tall, yet their presence was overwhelming.
The wind blew from above.
It brought with it a chilling aura and the sound of fluttering banners. Though he couldn’t see the expressions of those figures, they were far stronger than any martial artist Li Mo had ever encountered.
If one were to compare the pressure of a disaster beast attacking a city, it would be like a firefly against the bright moon.
Yet, the rain of killing intent could not extinguish a single torch.
Those two points of gaze burned like eternal flames, seemingly piercing through all illusions. Though they looked into the distance, it felt as if they had never left his side.
The body wrapped in golden chainmail was somewhat slender, and a purple-gold crown adorned his head. In his hand, he held an iron rod, with gold hoops clamping down on dark iron, and engraved near the hoops were a line of carved characters.
Li Mo was momentarily stunned.
Keywords.
Heavenly Palace, heavenly soldiers, monkey.
---
Chapter 323: Today, the Great Sage Sun is Cheered Again as the Demon Mist Returns
A powerful monkey emerged from Huaguo Mountain. He apprenticed himself to learn the arts, took the Ruyi Jingu Bang (the Golden-Hooped Rod) from the Dragon Palace, and proclaimed himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
Until he disrupted the Peach Banquet.
Shocking the heavens and the earth.
This time, the heavenly forces that came were not just decrees but a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals, the Four Heavenly Kings, and even the revered True Monarch who listens to commands but not proclamations. Each one was a being of immense power, each one a high and mighty deity.
A cataclysmic battle was about to erupt. He did not look back but seemed to hear a voice filled with laughter:
"They only think of me as a mischievous monkey, unruly and hard to train, bold and combative, feeling wronged for not being invited to the Peach Banquet, and thus acting recklessly."
"But if the heavens are pierced once..."
"From now on, if there’s chaos in the Heavenly Palace, who needs Sun Wukong?"
The heavens drew near, and the rolling dark clouds parted, like a starry sea churning with stormy winds and rain. Even if they were not in the same world, one could feel the overwhelming pressure.
He raised his gaze, his pupils the color of real gold, shimmering as if flowing in the midst of raging flames, growing ever brighter.
He stood between heaven and earth, declaring himself unassailable, and no one could refute him.
Yet, Li Mo’s almost frozen thoughts involuntarily conjured another story.
Jing Ke’s assassination of Qin.
Prince Dan feared that the Yan State would be destroyed by Qin and asked Jing Ke to take the Yan State’s map of the capital to the Xianyang Palace to assassinate Ying Zheng.
Jing Ke had an assistant named Qin Wuyang.
After entering the palace, the brave and fierce Qin Wuyang, who dared to kill at thirteen, trembled in fear before Ying Zheng’s imposing presence.
But Jing Ke remained calm and collected, ultimately bringing forth the map, revealing the dagger when the plot was laid bare.
Those who are bold and combative are inherently weak; they only show off their strength against those weaker than themselves. When faced with someone stronger, they become even more cowardly, like Qin Wuyang.
But those with true courage and fearlessness, with a firm belief, dare to assassinate the King of Qin, to tread the skies, to cause chaos in the Heavenly Palace.
As enlightenment arose.
That divine intent of battling heaven and earth suddenly dispersed, then converged at his brow.
In an instant, a torrent of spiritual light surged from his mind, more overwhelming than when he first received the "Wukong Seeking the Way" diagram.
"Law of Heaven and Earth"!
"Body Outside Body Technique"!
"Three Heads and Six Arms"!
"Secret of Equal to Heaven’s Battle"..... "Body Freezing Technique"....... "Gathering Qi and Dispelling Form"...... "Drawing the Earth as a Prison".....
Various divine powers flashed by, some Li Mo had seen in artistic works, others completely unfamiliar, and some he found difficult to articulate.
He felt like a small boat in a vast ocean, about to be submerged by these waves.
In a daze, a thought arose in Li Mo’s heart.
It’s still better to rely on family.
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