Chapter 166: Returning What Was Lost
Chapter 166: Returning What Was Lost
Li Si smacked his lips, feeling a sense of loss.
It seemed things were not going well at the Hall of Fate.
Jiuxuanzi—ah, now she was Qingpingzi—had likely run into trouble, or others thought she had.
Even Feng Qianli had been possessed and controlled by the Big Fly.
“I need to lend a hand,” Li Si thought solemnly. This was important.
That day, following his Fairy Leader’s words, he had actively expanded the coverage of the Yunhua Law Seal and willingly accepted the Heaven and Earth Decree. He even used up all the Fortune from his five wallets, except for his emergency savings, just to secure the title of Calamity-Bearing Human King.
By taking on the responsibility as the king of the Human Race in the Mortal Realm, he had bought this world six months of breathing room.
Without a second thought, his Fairy Leader had sacrificed her Dao Foundation Immortal Body to invest further in him. Although she might have been affected by the Mortal Tribulation and acted a bit foolishly, how could Li Si remain indifferent?
Then, inspired by Zhao Qingxie’s actions, Jiuxuanzi became the second to sacrifice her Dao Foundation Immortal Body. No matter how annoying she was, she was truly like a sister to Zhao Qingxie. Li Si owed her a great debt.
Finally, following Zhao Qingxie and Jiuxuanzi—oh, Qingpingzi’s—lead, Shendanzi also sacrificed his Dao Foundation Immortal Body. Although the Old Man was motivated by potential benefits, the Shendan Sect, Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect, and Floating Cloud Sect had always stood together. When the three great sects united in battle, none had been cowards.
Li Si had to remember Shendanzi’s favor as well.
After the Yunhua Law Seal was upgraded, Li Si first gave Shendanzi’s disciple, Ji Yuan, a divine position, boosting his power to the Void Refining stage.
When given a peach, return a plum.
One should not be like Lingjingzi.
Now, Fairy Zhao, Qingpingzi, and Shendanzi, having lost their Dao Foundation Immortal Bodies, were trapped in the Hall of Fate. Without replenishment, they were like rootless sources. If there were no accidents or battles, they might last thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
But now, that might not be the case.
Under these circumstances, Li Si could not stand idly by.
“I need to go to the Hall of Fate. But before that, I must prepare enough Spirit Nourishing Pills.”
With that thought, Li Si took out the Medicine King Cauldron and worked at full capacity to refine Spirit Nourishing Pills. Although the recipe came from the Heaven-Mending Sect, the materials were made from Six Desires Radish Exuviae, making the effects astonishingly good.
He now had only three million portions of Radish Exuviae left, which wasn’t much. In the future, if his strength improved, he would have to search the Seven Emotions Medicine Field for other great medicines like Seven Emotions Mushrooms or Six Desires Radishes. They were just too valuable.
Over the next ten days, Li Si refined four batches a day, producing 480 Spirit Nourishing Pills. Added to the 70 he already had, that made 550 in total.
If 100 pills could light one Soul Lamp, he could only light five.
But the sixth layer of the Lamp-Lighting Void-Crossing Scripture required a full 100 Soul Lamps to reach perfection.
“Saving people is like putting out a fire. Time waits for no one. Let’s go!”
Li Si took the 550 Spirit Nourishing Pills and used his alternate identity, Xu Changsheng, to go to the Hall of Fate, as his other identities no longer had access.
However, after eight months, the Hall of Fate had changed again. With Xu Changsheng’s authority and his status as Calamity-Bearing Human King, he actually had to wait in line to enter. Then, suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine, his heart pounding with fear. It seemed something was watching fiercely outside the Hall of Fate.
Damn!
Li Si stopped abruptly. What was outside the Hall of Fate?
So, it seemed Zhao Qingxie and the others were trapped inside. No, wait—other World Guardian True Immortals probably weren’t trapped. Some force must have separated the Hall of Fate from the Mortal Realm.
How vicious!
After a moment’s thought, Li Si teleported to the Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect, appearing before Mi Zhou’er.
Mi Zhou’er, who was cultivating in her Quiet Room, was startled.
“It’s me, Senior Sister!”
Li Si stopped Mi Zhou’er from reacting. When she saw it was him, her eyes lit up.
“Don’t speak, don’t alert anyone. Can you contact Master now?”
Mi Zhou’er nodded vigorously, clearly happy. Li Si released her.
“There’s a problem at the Hall of Fate, so I need to send some supplies there. But the path from our Mortal Realm is blocked. We need Master’s Immortal Spirit to descend.”
“Okay!”
Mi Zhou’er nodded again, quickly taking out an incense burner, spirit incense, and a small, lifelike Divine Idol.
After a flurry of activity, a somewhat disheveled Qingpingzi appeared amid the incense smoke and scolded, “Mi Zhou, aren’t you annoying? I already told you, you’re now the leader of the Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect. Expel me immediately! Li Si, what are you doing here?”
When she spotted Li Si standing in the corner, Qingpingzi’s anger flared up instantly.
Something was off about her, but it didn’t matter.
Without a word, Li Si took out one hundred Spirit Nourishing Pills and handed them over.
“This morning, the Tribulation-Bearing Dragon came to see me. It said we should help each other through difficult times. Please accept these one hundred Soul-Nourishing Pills, Master.”
“I’m not your master, and I have no connection to you. Don’t be hypocritical like your master! Huh? This thing…”
Qingpingzi’s furious expression suddenly froze. Clearly, she had seen these before—likely Zhao Qingxie had given her some, though whether she accepted them was unknown.
So, she sneered, “You cunning brat, you only gave your master thirty pills, but you give me one hundred? What are you scheming?”
Li Si stood there calmly, not saying a word, quietly watching her face, distorted with anger. Indeed, one’s inner state reflects on their appearance.
But before the truth was clear, making any conclusions was meaningless.
“So, you, the Calamity-Bearing Human King, are here to pity me?” Qingpingzi’s anger faded, replaced by a cold detachment, like a wounded beast ready to bare its claws and teeth at any provocation.
Li Si watched quietly, then turned silently. Just before stepping out of the room, he turned back and said seriously,
“Because you have a great figure, I trust you!”
Whoosh!
Li Si teleported away in an instant, fleeing for his life. He was still very afraid of an enraged Fairy Qingping. All he could do was hope to provoke her anger this way.
Back in Mi Zhou’er’s Quiet Room, Mi Zhou’er huddled in the corner, pretending she hadn’t seen or heard anything. She thought her Quiet Room would explode, but her hot-tempered Master, who tolerated no nonsense, showed little rage, leaving only a deep, lingering sorrow.
“Mi Zhou, do you believe in me?”
“Yes, Master. Even if I die, I believe in you.”
“But I don’t even believe in myself anymore. My Immortal Spirit was nearly taken over by someone. I’m not sure if the possession succeeded, and no one can tell. You know, the proudest achievement of my life was earning a Dao title others could only dream of. It was my lifelong pride and belief.”
“And now, the person I respected and admired most in my life, for their own selfish gain, caused billions of lives to perish without remorse. And my Dao title, Jiuxuanzi, was just a coordinate they used to try and seize my body…”
“My whole life has been a joke.”
“Now, the person who was like a sister to me doubts me, the comrade I fought alongside doubts me, and I doubt myself.”
“Damn it!”
“Master, please don’t say anymore. I believe in you!” Mi Zhou’er cried bitterly, terrified as if the sky had fallen.
Whoosh!
Li Si returned and saw Qingpingzi and Mi Zhou’er hugging each other and weeping.
“Li Si, have you come back to humiliate me again?” Qingpingzi roared, but Li Si simply raised the Dusty Flying Sword. Qingpingzi froze instantly.
Li Si slowly activated it. Gentle heavenly light spread from the Dusty Flying Sword, its mottled blade full of ancient charm, but that antiquity couldn’t hide the sky-blue sword body or the figure of a young girl, dancing like a spirit amid mountains of red leaves.
The fragrance of flowers and the shadows of swords from that time flowed through the Quiet Room.
If there was one period in Qingpingzi’s life that was most precious, that time was now in Li Si’s hands.
Qingpingzi’s face shifted from surprise to greed, to silent tears, to a sinister smile—truly Bizarre. This scene was enough to show that even if she hadn’t been fully possessed, that Jiuxuanzi must have left some winning tactic within her Immortal Spirit.
“Take it back. I don’t need it,” Qingpingzi finally said, her voice trembling, showing she was struggling to control herself.
Li Si shook his head, smiling gently as he looked at the Dusty Flying Sword, as if it were his own daughter.
“This Dusty Flying Sword has saved me more than once. I tried to refine it with Fortune, but it refused. That means I’m still not its true master. It belongs to you, and you belong to yourself. No one can replace you. I don’t care what state you’re in now—that’s none of my business. Your path is yours to find.”
After speaking, Li Si took one last look at the sword-dancing girl in the flying sword. Bright sunlight filtered through her hair, like a warm afternoon many years ago, with dappled shadows under the trees, thinking of nothing, free as a wandering breeze, letting thoughts roam across the world.
Li Si threw the Dusty Flying Sword.
The sword, which he had failed to refine even with a thousand portions of White Fortune, now turned into golden light that filled the room and merged into Qingpingzi’s body.
Then, Li Si directly summoned the Yunhua Law Seal and pressed it down above Qingpingzi’s head. Well, he didn’t care what happened to her, but his Dusty Flying Sword couldn’t suffer the slightest loss.
His heart ached terribly even now.
Li Si had already kicked Mi Zhou’er out. After receiving the Dusty Flying Sword, Qingpingzi turned to return to the Hall of Fate—likely not her own will—but she was immediately suppressed by the Yunhua Law Seal.
My territory, my rules.
Qingpingzi shrieked sharply, countless sword lights flickering, and terrifying demons sprouting.
Li Si controlled the Yunhua Law Seal, not interfering too much. He knew that if Qingpingzi could survive this tribulation, the rewards would be immense. But if she couldn’t hold on, he would have to step in and use the Fortune of Heaven and Earth for his own gain.